Touring downtown food carts with President Barry Glassner

Photos by Alicia Kroell

By Alicia Kroell /// Staff Writer

As I left work at the bookstore for a much extended lunch break, my manager reminded me, “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

I was about to embark on tour of downtown food carts with President Barry Glassner. As a man who has been cultivating food preferences and appreciation since his college days in the foodie paradise of Chicago, Glassner established himself as a respectable perspective in the food world with the publication of The Gospel of Food: Why We Should Stop Worrying and Enjoy What We Eat in 2007. In his book, Glassner advocates for taste over ambiguous marketing labels with promises of quality. With food from all of the world and cooks taking pride in quality ingredients, whether local, authentic or meatless, Portland’s food carts are a haven for a food lover of any background.

As we stepped up to the Alder St. Pod at SW 9th and 10th, the stakeout closest to the Pioneer Express drop off, we started with a couple of staples at one of Glassner’s favorites.

El Cubo de Cuba

Cuban carts come and go in Portland, but after opening in November 2010, El Cuba de Cuba is one of the few able to stay put. After years of failed attempts at opening a restaurant in a declining economy, owners Emily Roskam and Milko Vigil Escalera settled in the 10th street cart serving up Havana recipes from friends and family. We ordered the Cuban Sandwich with a side of fried plantains. The hint of citrus in a mojo marinade fused well in the tender ham and pork sandwich, topped with swiss cheese and pickles, and the sweet and salty plantains rounded the dish out, leaving no sense of want. Glassner then introduced me to the one thing he cannot go without at the downtown carts—El Cubo de Cuba’s extremely sweet but addicting mango smoothie. As we finished up the sandwich, we got a second order a few carts down at E-San.

E-San Thai Food

Waiting on food at E-San brings up the issue of exactly how convenient a block of carts is, and if time is an issue you might as well hit up a grocery store deli. E-San’s lines for ordering and pickup are infamous for clogging up 10th, but that’s the price for made-to-order food. After a good fifteen minutes of munching and waiting, we were rewarded with E-San’s Pumpkin Curry, requested with medium spice. While my first bite was mostly the creamy red curry and coconut milk base, Glassner gladly pointed out a piece of fresh pumpkin to sample. As someone who has declined the delicious taste of gourd vegetables purely for the strange texture, I can assure you that the tender fresh pumpkin of E-San will melt on your tongue. As we continued through the tupperware of curry, Glassner stopped in a short series of edge-of-tearing-up coughs.

“The other thing I like about this [dish], and others, is the levels of hot are real.”

Euro Trash

Our next stop at the pod was Euro Trash, inspired by the owner’s travels along the Mediterranean Coast. While the menu holds true to this with items such as Piri Piri Chicken and Portuguese Chorizo, there is one particular dish that makes this menu a particular anomaly among the world of quick, basic food of the carts—Foie Gras.

“The first time I just couldn’t believe it was possible, so I had to try it,” Glassner said.

I was in a state of shock that was only increased as a man handed us down a disposable serving dish filled with the cart’s signature Nah Nah Chips (thinly sliced and well oiled potato chips) and two small traces of duck liver. But damn, were they good, and so surprisingly tender considering the locale and conditions for cooking. As Glassner put it so simply, “it is exactly what they say.”

As to be expected, the Foie Gras is priced substantially higher than any other dish at the carts, and so perhaps one to be visited more for the sensationalism than anything else. Glassner himself admitted that this was only the second time he could justify indulging in cart-style Foie Gras.

Before leaving the Alder St. Pod, we finished the walk around the block and Glassner pointed out a few other notables.

The Portland Soup Co.

With finished cedar siding and trimmed windows, The Portland Soup Co.’s cart looks like an all alluring storybook home that Goldilocks certainly couldn’t resist, especially upon realizing that the soup temperatures are not only just right, but maybe the best to ever be served in compostable cups.

The Soup Co.’s menu revolves around seasonal ingredients. In a way to embrace this constantly evolving dynamic, the soups served each day are never the same. And with that, there is no option but to “just pick what looks good,” as Glassner says. Hungarian Mushroom with dill and cream was the eye catcher on our visit, and the creamy taste to follow far exceeded expectations.

Homegrown Smoker Natural Barbecue

Our final stop was one initially quantified solely by the promise of a good price: five sides for $5 to be precise. Only upon reading the side “Mac-No-Cheese” did we realize that what started as a meat lovers tasting at El Cubo de Cuba was ending without even a trace of animal product in a genre of food so regularly associated with meat dripping in a thick brown-red sauce. And both of us were pleasantly surprised by the Mac-No-Cheese’s smoky chipotle flavor, shattering any preconceptions regarding the relationship between veganism and barbecue.

This sort of revelation perfectly illustrates Glassner’s own attitude towards food and the beauty of the smorgasbord put forth by the Portland food carts. A firm believer in “eat and let eat,” Glassner respects diverse tastes and preferences in food. He makes his own decisions based on mood and food quality.

“That’s what’s so great about food carts: there is something, or actually many things, for everyone.”

Faculty opposed to business curriculum “from on high”

Illustation by Samantha Sarvet

By Megan Quint///News Editor

Controversy and discussion surrounding pressure by the board to institute more business programs on campus has embroiled the faculty in recent weeks, as Lewis & Clarks struggles to define where entrepreneurship belongs in a liberal arts program.

This discussion comes in response to a purported mandate from the Board of Trustees, who have said that they “would not fund other programs until a Business Program was installed” at the College of Arts and Sciences, according to a letter written by Professor of Religious Studies Alan Cole.

LC historically had a business program, and many board members are involved in business, which has been rumored to be a motivating factor behind the move. Cole cites additional motivations in his letter, including the claim that “a more robust business/entrepreneurship program would provide greater ideological diversity on campus,” attracting students with different interests as well as more male students.

Cole and other faculty members have concerns about the effects of instating such a program, concerns which they were able to express during interdepartmental Business Task Force Report discussions in February and March. The first of these, as Cole said in his letter, is a concern with “curriculum initiatives arriving from on high.”

Students also had mixed responses when the idea of a business program was first presented to the ASLC Senate in October of last year.

“I love the idea of a business or entrepreneurial major. Those are relevant skills, and would enhance our diversity,” said Senator Tyler Church (‘14). Others expressed concerns about the additional cost to students of programs such as Winterim and other entrepreneurial workshops.

Another large issue raised by faculty is the fact that business programs are not generally associated with liberal arts colleges, and is irreconcilable with the college’s image and the students it attracts.

“Like it or not, we have a board whose members do not universally recognize how a liberal arts education differs from other colleges,” said Sr. Professor of Natural Sciences Paulette Bierzychudek at a discussion on March 1.

“Our students come here as real explorers who want to change their minds. They come here ready to have their minds changed,” said Associate Professor of English Kurt Fosso, who also said that any business program instituted will need embrace the college’s quirkiness.

Rigor is also a common concern.

“I look at empirical evidence,” said Associate Professor of Philosophy Rebecca Copenhaver. “Business programs are the lowest performers at undergraduate student learning. In addition, students who are attracted to business majors are consistently the lowest performing students. Also, there is no evidence to support the claim that schools with a business program have a different sex ratio.

Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Chemistry Tuajuanda Jordan has been working as the key liaison between the Board and the faculty to reach a solution that will satisfy both parties.

“We have to get something done,” said Jordan during a Business Task Force Report discussion with faculty on March 1, “the question is to find a way that makes it work with the faculty.”

 “They said that in the past they had in mind a business major because that’s what they knew from when they were in school,” said Jordan during a discussion on March 9, who says that the Board has been open to her suggestions. “They told me that they trust me.”

“They now understand that the faculty controls the curriculum, said Vice President and General Counsel David Ellis at one Business Task Force report discussion. “They have heard it meeting after meeting. They get that. But they are very interested in doing things that will benefit our students. They are continuing to push, trying to find out what we should do as an institution.”

At the current time, the compromise that Jordan has found to be most agreeable to both the faculty and the Board has been an emphasis on entrepreneurship.

“My thoughts are that there cannot be a business program at the College just by the nature of where we are as an institution and looking at our faculty and students,” said Jordan on March 5. “The idea is to introduce students to some basic business principles if they’re so interested, and then give them opportunities to engage in entrepreneurial activities.”

These activities might include internships, grant writing workshops and related courses. In the short term students will have the opportunity to earn a certificate in entrepreneurship, and, in the longer term, a minor or major in Entrepreneurship or a major in Management of Science.

Challenges with this plan include funding, primarily in regards to bringing in appropriately trained faculty and staff members. In her presentation, Jordan estimates the total cost of these activities, both short and long term, at $709,000 annually, between personnel and other funds. No money will be taken from the College’s endowment to fund these activities.

“I would encourage you to put the worry about the money in the background,” Jordan said to faculty members at a discussion on February 27.

“I have had conversations and have no doubt that no money will be taken from the current endowment to fund this and that it will bring in money to the college, and our endowment will grow. I have been guaranteed.”
Rather, it seems at least some of the funding will come directly from the Board themselves. “Several board members told me after the presentation that if we get this going, they promise there will be money to support it,” said Jordan on March 1.

Evidence of these doubts comes in the form of the Curriculum Committee’s rejection of Personal Finance, a business-related economics course that was proposed in February.

The minutes from this meeting reveal the connection between this course and the larger plan for a business program, reading “Dean Jordan informed the Committee that this course proposal is part of an ongoing response to the Board of Trustees’ wish that the College better and more proactively prepares students in areas that enhance their potential success in entering the business/entrepreneurial field.”

However, they also state that it “is not meant to start a business major or department but to provide students with new knowledge and perspective.”

The committee’s reasons for rejecting this course included the fact that the course emphasized teaching life skills and did not have an essential academic focus. “Teaching financial life skills belongs in places such as Student Support Services and not the academic curriculum,” read the meeting minutes.

Committee member Associate Professor of Biology Greta Binford suggested the course title be changed to Financial Literacy, and “[frame] the curriculum in such a way that begins with those necessary personal skills but then ties them to a global landscape, showing students how their personal financial decisions can impact the broader economy.”

The minutes for the Business Task Force Report discussions can be found at http://college.lclark.edu/administration/dean/business_task_force/.

The minutes for the Curriculum Committee can be found at https://college.lclark.edu/live/news/13315-curriculum-committee-minutes-20112012.

Community Counseling Center supports local minority and LGBTQ populations

The Lewis & Clark Community Counseling Center, located at 4445 SW Barbur Blvd, offers low-cost service on a sliding scale of $10-50.

Photos by Danielle Blechert

One of the six private rooms within the counseling center

By Danielle Blechert /// Staff Writer

This past January, the Lewis & Clark Community Counseling Center, conveniently located at 4445 SW Barbur, opened its doors to the public. Individuals who find it difficult to afford or receive support elsewhere may find solace knowing that the Center provides low-cost service ($10-50 sliding scale) to under-served communities, particularly African-American, Spanish-speaking and LGBTQ.

While the idea has been floating around for a number of years, it finally came to fruition thanks to countless hours of planning and funding made available through the President’s Strategic Initiatives fund. Since LC’s graduate school has about 4,000 graduates living and working in the Portland area, director of the Center Antonio Mueller noted that to “create a building much like the law school, to say we are going to put our footprint in the community and say, ‘this is where we are, this is where we are located,’ is a really important step.”

They currently serve about fifty clients, but have the capacity to assist over one hundred, depending on the number of students present at any given time. These students, who are in their last years at the grad school, work at the Center and come to obtain firsthand experience and guidance in conducting group and individual counseling sessions from the eight faculty members. Hanna Neuschwander, Director of Communication at the grad school, said, “There has also been some talk about hopefully one day making the counseling clinic an internship site for interested undergraduates in the psych department.”

Each of the six treatment rooms and two group therapy rooms is equipped with a camera and a two-way mirror to facilitate observations of each session. While this may elicit concern about confidentiality, Mueller explained that complete transparency is given and if clients are apprehensive they can meet with faculty and students to ensure they are comfortable with the process.

Services provided by the Center include marriage, couple and family therapy (MCFT), traditional mental health counseling and co-occurring addiction counseling. They aim to help children, adolescents and adults (patients under the age of 18 require parental consent) tackle a wide range of issues including, but not limited to trauma, depression, stress, eating disorders, school problems and career concerns.

Mueller explained, “When somebody calls in, it’s wonderful to say we can offer all of these services and it’s not limited to age. That’s a great thing, because sometimes you can be limited in the services you offer due to funding.”

Plans for expanding their services to the community are continuously developing. Along with increasing services to Spanish speakers, Mueller mentioned, “Right now, we are actively working with SMYRC (Sexual & Gender Minority Youth Resource Center) to start a trans support group. We hope to start that in the next couple of months as it’s a need in the community.”

Another facet of the Center is its use of the transformative family therapy model. In accordance with this model, Mueller notes that counselors work to not only look at individual problems but “also recognize the larger impacts on the individual. That could be related to power, privilege, oppression, discrimination. It recognizes the resilience of the individual and how they have survived through these larger systems, values and beliefs.”

To achieve this, Neuschwander explains, individuals or families gather in groups—one group, for example, may consist of all men—and ask questions, such as “What do you know about being a husband or father? Where did you get those ideas about those roles?” Preconceived notions of social identity are broken down and questioned, to “work towards solutions that are liberating and help empower people and their relationships.”

Neuschwander also points out the importance of distinguishing between the counseling service on campus, the primary source of services for students, and the Community Counseling Center. She notes that the “counseling service on campus is geared towards student’s particular needs, the challenges undergraduates face, and is very good at delivering those services.” Still, students may seek an off-campus alternative and, if so, are welcome to explore the services provided by the Community Counseling Center.

To celebrate the fruits of their labor and showcase their services, the Community Counseling Center will hold an open house for the LC Community in mid-April. All are encouraged to stop by and see the Graduate School’s “footprint” in the community.