NEWS City of Portland enacts controversial homeless ban P. 6 ARTS & CULTURE Hit musical makes a bang at Portland Armory P. 4-5 OPINION Oregon’s wildfires are getting worse— are policy changes enough? P. 7 VOLUME 77 • ISSUE 10 • AUGUST 31, 2022
STAFF EDITORIAL EDITOR IN CHIEF Tanner JustinOPINIONKatARTSEricMULTIMEDIAAidenNEWSKarisaMANAGINGToddEDITORYuasaEDITORTuanNEWSEDITORShelby&CULTUREEDITORLeonEDITORCory PHOTO EDITOR Alberto Alonso Pujazon Bogani ONLINE IsabelAnalisaCamdenCONTRIBUTORSTannerDISTRIBUTIONNovaCOPYOliviaMULTIMEDIAChristopherEDITORWardEDITORLeeCHIEFJohnsonMANAGERToddBeneshLanderosZerr PRODUCTION & DESIGN CREATIVE DIRECTOR Whitney ZahiraLeoDESIGNERSMcPhieClarkZuvuya TECHNOLOGY & WEBSITE TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANTS Rae TannerSaraGeorgeFickleOlsonRayTodd ADVISING & ACCOUNTING COORDINATOR OF STUDENT MEDIA Reaz STUDENTMahmoodMEDIA ACCOUNTANT Maria VanguardToRaeADVISORSTUDENTDominguezMEDIATECHNOLOGYFicklecontactPortlandStateemaileditor@psuvanguard.com MISSION STATEMENT Vanguard’s mission is to serve the Portland State community with timely, accurate, comprehensive and critical content while upholding high journalistic standards. In the process, we aim to enrich our staff with quality, hands-on journalism education and a number of skills highly valued in today’s job market. ABOUT Vanguard established in 1946, is published weekly as an independent student newspaper governed by the PSU Student Media Board. Views and editorial content expressed herein are those of the staff, contributors and readers and do not necessarily represent the PSU student body, faculty, staff or administration. Find us in print Wednesdays and online 24/7 at Followpsuvanguard.com.usonFacebook, Twitter and Instagram @psuvanguard for multimedia content and breaking news. CONTENTS COVER DESIGN BY WHITNEY McPHIE COVER PHOTO COURTESY OF SHAWNTE SIMS/PORTLAND CENTER STAGE CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS SEND US YOUR LETTERS TO THE EDITOR P. 3 ARTS & CULTURE PORTLAND CENTER STAGE PRESENTS TICK, TICK … BOOM! P. 4-5 NEWS: PORTLAND ENACTS HOMELESSNESS BAN NEAR SCHOOLS P. 6 OPINION BURNIN' DOWN THE HOUSE P. 7 EVENTS CALENDAR P. 8 OPEN OPINION PLATFORM COLUMN FOR ALL AT PSU • STATE NAME AND AFFILIATION W/PSU • SUBMISSIONS ARE UNPAID, NOT GUARANTEED AND CHOSEN BY THE EDITOR • SEND THOUGHTS, STORIES AND OPINIONS TO EDITOR@PSUVANGUARD.COM
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After a month-long hiatus from publishing, the Portland State Vanguard is back—with an update! We will be reviving our “Letters to the Editor,” a recurring Opinion feature that publishes and spotlights voices from around PSU, as well as the larger community of Portland, Oregon. This is a section devoted to spotlighting the opinions and feelings of our readsers, rather than the writers and contributors in our newsroom, and we welcome submissions from anyone. We’re particularly interested in perspectives related to current Portland events and community issues, as well as circumstances that impact the Pacific Northwest overall. We’d also love to hear your thoughts on stories we’ve covered—if you have a strong opinion about something we’ve reported, write us! We’ll happily read your submissions. To share your letters for publishing consideration, email your thoughts to opinion@psuvanguard. com with the heading LETTER TO THE EDITOR, followed by your subject line. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
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“Theater often brings productive discomfort to the surface,” PCS stated. “Portland Center Stage at The Armory is committed to grappling with that discomfort, on and off the stage, and we invite members of our community to participate in that growth process with us.”
tick, tick ... BOOM!BOOM!
In the 1970s and ‘80s the AIDS pandemic rocked the LGBTQ+ community, disproportionately affecting gay men. In addition, misinformation and stigma during this time caused increased homophobic discrimination and prevented many from receiving adequate or even life-saving care.
PSU Vanguard • AUGUST 31, 2022 • psuvanguard.com PORTLAND CENTER STAGE PRESENTS 4 ARTS & CULTURE
Overall, the government massively failed to respond to the effects of the pandemic. “In 1997, researchers calculated that the government’s resistance accounted for 4,394 to 9,666 avoidable transmissions,” Bush said. However, like many other significant moments in history, artists and activists were able to turn the tide. “While the official government response to the epidemic was slow and insufficient, the artists’ and activists’ responses were swift and, ultimately, effective,” Bush said.
In addition to encouraging growth and producing productions that fight stigma, PCS remained dedicated to the safety of its performers and guests. “PCS was really intentional about being safe and really mindful of trying to keep people healthy,” said Lauren Steele, who plays Susan in tick, tick … BOOM! “We were rehearsing with the heavy-duty KN95 masks. It felt good to feel so safe—we’re testing biweekly too.” Of course, in a world of COVID-19, it is good to know that PCS is taking proper precautions. That being said, it also comes with its own set of issues. On top of the fact that the performers are adjusting to live performances again after years away, the masks added extra challenges. “You can’t always hear what you need to hear, and you can get away with a little more in terms of what you know and don’t know when your face is covered with a mask,” Steele said. “It was a challenge, but we made it through without any symptoms or any COVID or any illness at all.” As far as the actual production, PCS remained true to Larsen’s original vision. As Bush pointed out, “He [Larsen] created the show to be smaller and ‘more producible,’ with just three actors, including himself.”
KAT LEON A PORTRAYAL OF HONEST LOVE AND DEFEATING FEAR LAUREN STEELE, JESSE WEIL AND TYLER ANDREW JONES SINGING IN FRONT OF A WALL THAT READS ART IS WORK. COURTESY OF PORTLAND CENTER STAGE.
Additionally, worries mount that with the influx of Monkeypox cases, stigmatization against gay men will once again increase.
With Portland Center Stage’s (PCS) production of tick, tick … BOOM!, individuals will hopefully be able to once again look upon this art and recognize the harm of stigmatization.
One such artist named Johnathan Larsen wrote the autobiographical play tick, tick … BOOM! , which is currently playing until Sept. 18 at The Armory. Larsen is recognized most for his production of Rent, which was a candid look at the effects of the AIDS pandemic on people’s lives. Although tick, tick … BOOM! does not focus primarily on AIDS, instead being more about Larsen’s experience during this time, the elements of this period—fear, uncertainty and the brevity of life—are present and shed light on the emotional weight LGBTQ+ people dealt with without naming the stigmatized pandemic. Larsen’s focus on AIDS in his art stems from his experience watching several friends develop the disease and die from it. This is why this element of his life became an important aspect for him to weave into his productions. Ultimately, his work was among many that worked to humanize those living with AIDS and was a bold statement at the time. This message seems to be ever relevant today as the COVID-19 pandemic has led to greater stigmatization of Asian individuals.
According to Portland Center Stage Literary Manager Kamilah Bush, some of the stigmatized practices from the AIDS pandemic have lasted for decades. “There were immediate bans on gay men donating blood—a restriction that still hasn’t been fully lifted and only became less rigid during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Bush said. “Travel bans were put into place, which were not lifted until 2010 by President Obama.”
The PCS production also casted only three individuals—Tyler Andrew Jones, who plays Michael and other background characters; Jesse Weil, who plays Jon; and Lauren Steele, who plays Susan and other background characters. Even though all of the actors were phenomenal in their own rights, Steele’s performance was by far the most impressive. Throughout the audience, whispers of her name were heard both before and after the performance, and she did not disappoint. The actress was able to slip in and out of Susan’s character effortlessly, and each of her characters had their own distinctive personality. Without looking, it would not be apparent that only one woman was playing the role of her characters.
“We come in [on the first day] and our music director, Ash, was just so lovely and really was paying attention to how each of us learns and thrives,” Steele said. “And I think that was the same for the whole team. Just a really supportive, warm environment where everybody could do their best work.”
ABOVE RIGHT: JESSE WEIL AND TYLER ANDREW JONES STANDING ARMS AROUND THE OTHER AND SINGING. COURTESY OF PORTLAND CENTER STAGE
“The cool thing about this show is that we— each of the non-leads, the supporting characters, play multiple different characters, which is super fun,” Steele said. “I love the opportunity to step into different bodies and roles and find out how each of them walks, how each of them talks, and what each of their arc and story is.” Steele reported that she was nervous when starting the journey of playing Susan and the other supporting characters at PCS, recognizing that it was a big deal for her. But, ultimately, the supportive team calmed her fears and allowed her to be her best.
Steele also recognized the honest love it takes to step away from something or someone you love to allow for growth, and hoped the audience does as well. “I hope that people take away a deep appreciation for friendship and for love,” she said.
“And [recognize] that [love] looks many ways.”
PSU Vanguard • AUGUST 31, 2022 • psuvanguard.com
ARTS & CULTURE 5
ABOVE LEFT: JESSE WEIL AND LAUREN STEELE LOOKING AT EACH OTHER ACROSS A ROOM. COURTESY OF PORTLAND CENTER STAGE
Steele said she loved music and theater from a very young age. “Music was always a part of me,” she said. “I never really thought I would do anything else. I think I knew pretty early on that I wanted to be a musician. I started doing theater in the third grade… and I just absolutely fell in love. And so both of those kind of became my primary passions, and I’ve been doing it since. I just love it. I love telling stories. I love giving peopleEveryvoices.”actorfinds different ways to embody their character. Steele said that embodying Susan came naturally, as she related to many elements of Susan’s life and personality as an artist and human. “Particularly with Susan—I relate really deeply to her story,” she said. “She’s battling being in love with John and this ambition around being an artist and also wanting a family and wanting some peace and kind of getting sick of New York. I lived in New York for two months, and that was about all I needed to relate to that story—that balance of trying to make a living as an artist and achieve your goals but also wanting love and peace and a family.”
TYLER ANDREW JONES, JESSE WEIL AND LAUREN STEELE LOUNGING ON A COUCH. COURTESY OF PORTLAND CENTER STAGE
AIDEN TUAN
PORTLAND
The housing issue is a contentious one for many cities in the U.S., and it’s one that Portland often grapples with. Earlier this year, Wheeler was also quoted in OPB about the crisis. “I would be an idiot to sit here and tell you that things are better today than they were five years ago with regard to homelessness,” he said. “People in this city aren’t stupid.” Many of Portland’s residents fear for their safety and neighborhoods as tensions brew between Portlanders and homeless folk, with destruction of property and trespassing becoming a common occurrence.
Most major cities in the United States struggle with providing affordable housing, and Portland is no exception.
One of the biggest problems people have with the mayor’s new ban is that experts and advocates about homelessness were not involved in the planning process. “It is concerning, because we are the experts on the ground in addressing housing barriers and understanding where the challenges are to getting people the addiction treatment or mental health treatment or hygiene or rent assistance that they need,” the director of the Northwest Pilot Project told KOIN However, finding a good solution to the problem is not easy.
HOMELESS CAMPS ON WALKWAYS NEAR PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY. CAMDEN BENESH/PSU VANGUARD
PSU Vanguard • AUGUST 31, 2022 • psuvanguard.com6 NEWS
According to KOIN, homeless camps have already been banned near high crash corridors. Now, that ban has been extended to also apply to pedestrian routes leading to schools as well as within 150 feet of school buildings.
Given factors such as the relatively high cost of living in cities like Portland, it comes as no surprise to see rows of homeless camps lining streets in some parts of the city.
One potential negative effect of this ban is that it might make people view the homeless with even more fear and suspicion than they already do. As advocacy organization Northwest Pilot Project pointed out , while homeless people may act out due to problems such as addiction, people who are not homeless are equally likely to do so. Daman spoke about the challenges of striking a balance between avoiding stereotypes about homeless people while considering certain negative experiences. “A few years ago my friend was stabbed by a homeless man while volunteering,” he said. “Another friend of mine was sexually harassed by one, which resulted in her being inflicted with a fear of homeless people. It is often hard to overlook actions like those when it comes to making a generalization of the homeless population. I struggle to not get cautious and wary around homeless people, but I do try to help them when I can.”
In light of the Portland Street Response that has been hard at work since their full inception just over a year ago and the various homeless bans that were enacted, residents of Portland could face safer streets. But as various students and members of the community have mentioned in the past, it is a communal effort that both PSU and Portland will likely have to undertake to achieve a tenable solution for the homelessness situation. BANHOMELESSNESSENACTSNEARSCHOOLS
Ted Wheeler, the mayor of Portland, was quoted in KOIN saying, “School-age children should be able to walk, bike, and ride buses to get to and from schools without potentially dangerous hazards as a result of encampments, including trash, tents in the right-of-way, biohazards, hypodermic needles, and more.”
PSU COMMUNITY REACTS TO RESTRICTIONS ON PUBLIC ENCAMPMENTS
“The only real likely option I can think of is to increase the security around campus, but that would also carry negative effects as well,” Daman said. “Too much security could lead to the uncomfortableness of the students, yet I cannot think of an immediately beneficial solution. Other solutions might be to increase awareness and instead of trying to push them under the rug, we acknowledge them better. Coming up with a proper plan of action in how to handle a situation that might make one uncomfortable with said individuals. Otherwise, just enlightening students to treat them kindly, since they’re also humans, would help.”
The problem is well known by Portland State students. When asked for his thoughts about the new ban, PSU student Daman McConnell said, “I would honestly say that illegalizing camps like that sucks, but it’s necessary for the comfort and safety of the students. I understand that 99% of homeless people are not dangerous in any way, but I’ve had multiple people as well as myself experiencing harmful encounters with them.”
I am well aware that we are nowhere near the critical mass necessary for those changes. Short of all of that, Oregon has taken some steps in an attempt to mitigate the danger wildfires pose. While protecting lives is a consideration, it seems that the primary concern—as always—is economic.
According to the Oregon Department of Emergency Management (OEM), at the end of that horrendous wildfire season over one million acres had burned, 40,000 Oregonians evacuated their homes with 500,000 more on an evacuation notice, 4,000 homes had been destroyed and their conservative estimate of the total costs for the wreckage was $380,228,948.
Not addressing these wildfire concerns will mean tax subsidized bailouts for the communities devastated by wildfires. You may recall how the 2020 OEM wildfire damage estimate was $380,228,948. The 2020 wildfire season was declared a disaster by the federal government, allowing federal funds to flow into the state for recovery—so where private insurance did not help survivors, our taxes did.
2020 was an eventful year, with the new COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide uprising for Black lives and police abolition after the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. In Sept. of that year, we Oregonians also faced poisoned skies choked by millions of acres of burning forest. During this two-week period, the Portland and Salem areas had the worst air quality in the world with Air Quality Index readings literally off of the charts.
Homeowners in these high-risk zones are furious that these new classifications may mean lower property values and much higher homeowner’s insurance policies. The building and real estate industries have been resistant as well, arguing that these new codes create costs that are prohibitive. Once again, the motives of capitalism intercede to put profit before the lives of people and nature.
All things considered, I am not opposed to using our collective taxes for situations such as this. However, shouldn’t we get a democratic voice in consideration of building codes and where people should be able to build or rebuild based upon the risk factors? The private insurance industry often feels like a racket, but they do also face bankruptcy if too many extensive claims are filed from a major disaster—and we are certain to have many more major disasters in the years ahead as the climate catastrophe worsens. We really need to face the structural issues underneath these disasters, such as exploiting ecosystems for profit, burning carbon-emitting poisonous fossil fuels for our energy “needs” and exploiting one another via capitalism, as well as the theft of these lands from the people who stewarded them for millennia. The original sins of our culture and society can’t be repaired with the bandages of a “more conscientious capitalism” or more prohibitive building codes in the thresholds where forests and human dwellings meet.
The Oregon Department of Forestry has faced fierce outcry in response to the Oregon Wildfire Risk Explorer map commissioned through Oregon State University. “The agency has received 750 appeals from property owners who say they were mislabeled on the wildfire risk map and more than 2,000 comments,” OPB reported. “It has a backlog of 1,700 voicemails from the public that haven’t been heard because the forestry department staff is also working to fight several fires across the state.”
We have already been living with the alternative to maps like these and their attendant new building requirements.
In the meantime, we will see how this battle plays out between the interests of rural Oregonian communities, the building and insurance industries and the officials who are elected to supposedly voice our collective democratic aspirations.
In 2021 the Oregon State Senate passed Senate Bill (SB) 762, which requires that any new building permits—including for upgrades to existing structures—would have to include firehardening measures. These measures require the use of firehardening materials for roofing and siding, as well as making sure trees and other fire risks are cleared away from the perimeter of built structures for all remodels or new building permits in areas of the high-risk map of the wildland urban interface.
PSU Vanguard • AUGUST 31, 2022 • psuvanguard.com OPINION 7 ZAHIRA ZUVUYA
BURNIN’ DOWN
THE HOUSE NEW BUILDING CODES ARE NOT ENOUGH JUSTIN CORY
Since then, wildfires have only gotten worse across the west, with an unprecedented three-decade-and-counting megadrought—the worst in 1,200 years according to Earth Island Journal—and wildfire seasons ranging 40–80 days longer now than they did on average 30 years ago. That report reiterates the all-too-familiar fact that scientists have been warning us about for over 50 years—human-caused climate change is the major driver of these megadroughts and the increased destruction and volatility of wildfires. Add the fire suppression policies the United States Forest Service have implemented for the past two centuries and we have a tinderbox surrounding us. The Indigenous people of these lands prior to settler colonialism have always recognized that fire is an indispensable part of the ecosystem. They applied this wisdom to steward these lands with controlled burns that helped reduce the severity of wildfires and at the same time increased the biodiversity across forests. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I have argued— and firmly believe—that the solution to the many crises facing Oregonians and the larger U.S. is to give these lands back to their rightful Indigenous stewards. We need to ask their permission to live upon them, as well as massively overhaul our whole economic and societal relationship with one another and nature, focusing on interdependence and mutual flourishing. Basically, we need to transition away from capitalism and attempt to make reparations and restitution for white supremacy and settler colonialism.
PORTLAND SATURDAY MARKET DOWNTOWN PORTLAND WATERFRONT ALL FREEDAY THE SATURDAY MARKET RETURNS WITH FOOD AND MUSIC COMEDY OF TERRORS
PSU Vanguard • AUGUST 31, 2022 • psuvanguard.com8 EVENTS Events Calendar Aug. 31-Sept. 6 ERIC SHELBY ART MUSIC FILM/THEATER COMMUNITY FORCES OF NATURE PORTLAND ART MUSEUM ALL $22+DAY ECOLOGY IN JAPANESE PRINTS SIGN OF THE TIMES: THE GREAT AMERICAN POLITICAL POSTER OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY ALL DAY $10 HISTORY OF PROPAGANDA POSTERS FROM 1844 TO 2021 NORTHWEST/SOUTHWEST: INDIGENOUS ART AFTER 1980 MARYHILL MUSEUM OF ART ALL DAY $2+ EXHIBIT OF INDIGENOUS ART FROM AFTER 1980 ART IN THE PEARL FINE ARTS & CRAFTS NORTH PARK BLOCKS ALL FREEDAY THE CITY’S LARGEST ART FAIR OPEN UNTIL SEPT. 5 MOONLIGHT MARKET LAN SU CHINESE GARDEN 2 $10+P.M. ART, MUSIC AND FOOD, CELEBRATING THEIR FIRST EVER MARKET I AM AN AMERICAN OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY ALL DAY $10 PHOTOGRAPHY RAISING AWARENESS OF THE HISTORY OF ASIAN XENOPHOBIA JEREMY OKAI DAVIS: A GOOD SPORT ELIZABETH LEACH GALLERY 10:30 A.M. FREE A COLLECTION OF FIGURATIVE PAINTINGS FROM THE ARTIST ALICE IN CHAINS WITH BREAKING BENJAMIN HAYDEN HOMES AMPHITHEATER 4:30 $59+P.M. ALICE IN CHAINS IN PORTLAND THE JUICY JAM! PARKER’S HIDEAWAY 7 FREEP.M. MUSICIANS AND BANDS PLAY THEIR MUSIC, BUT NO COVERS LOSE YR MIND FEST 2022 MULTIPLE VENUES IN PORTLAND 6:20 P.M. $25+ MUSIC FESTIVAL LASTING UNTIL SEPT. 3 LUNCH & SOUL WITH TYRONE HENDRIX ALBERTA STREET PUB 12 FREEP.M. PORTLAND-BASED DRUMMER AND COMPOSER WALNUT CITY MUSIC FESTIVAL EVERGREEN AVIATION & SPACE MUSEUM 1 $20+P.M. MUSIC FESTIVAL UNTIL SEPT. 4 THE PRETTY RECKLESS ROSELAND THEATER 8 $32P.M. WOMAN-LED ROCK AND ROLL OPEN JAM THE BIG LEGROWLSKI 7 FREEP.M. DRINKS AND VEGAN FOOD AT AN OPEN JAM SESSION WANDA HOLLYWOOD THEATRE 7:30 P.M. $10 RESTORATION OF BARBARA LODEN’S 1970 FILM A KADDISH FOR BERNIE MADOFF HOLLYWOOD THEATRE 7:30 P.M. $10 PORTLAND PREMIER WITH Q&A BY THE DIRECTOR AMANDA MIGUEL & ANA VICTORIA KELLER AUDITORIUM 8:30 $50+P.M. CONCERT IN TOUR TE AMARE POR SIEMPRE MOVIE IN THE PARK: SOUL WOODSTOCK PARK 7:30 FREEP.M. CHILL AT THE PARK AND WATCH A MOVIE WITH FRIENDS LOS TIGRES DEL NORTE ARLENE SCHNITZER HALL 8 $50+P.M. MEXICAN POP AND ROCK BAND IN THEIR REUNION TOUR BOTTLE ROCKET HOLLYWOOD THEATRE 7:30 P.M. $10 WES ANDERSON’S FIRST FEATURE FILM FROM 1996 B-MOVIE BINGO HOLLYWOOD THEATRE 7:30 P.M. $8+ PLAY BINGO AND ENJOY A B-MOVIE ON THE SIDE OREGON STATE FAIR OREGON STATE FAIRGROUNDS ALL DAY $8+ OREGON STATE FAIR OPEN UNTIL SEPT. 5
FUNHOUSE LOUNGE 7 $13+P.M. COMEDY AND IMPROVISATION PORTLAND FLEA 240 SE CLAY ST. ALL FREEDAY VINTAGE MARKET AND FOOD TICK, TICK BOOM! PORTLAND CENTER STAGE 2:30 P.M. AND 7:30 P.M. $25+ ROCK MUSICAL WITH THE SAME VIBE AS RENT COME THRU MARKET THE REDD ON SALMON 3 FREEP.M. BLACK & INDIGENOUS MARKET SPARROWHAWK NATIVE PLANT SALE ONLINE 8 $3+A.M. PLANT SALE WHERE PROCEEDS GO TO THE COMMUNITY WED AUG. 31 THURS SEPT. 1 FRI SEPT. 2 SAT SEPT. 3 SUN SEPT. 4 MON SEPT. 5 TUES SEPT. 6