PORTLAND STATE VANGUARD
VOLUME 74 • ISSUE 6 • OCTOBER 8, 2019
New SFC members, PSU community calls for ASPSU to apologize NEWS PSU president launches student success initiative • OPINION Partnering with Jay-Z doesn’t make the NFL less racist INTERNATIONAL Egyptian protesters call for the resignation of President el-Sisi
CRIME BLOTTER
Oct. 1–4
SOPHIE CONCANNON OCT. 1
OCT. 4
Theft A Portland State student reported theft of unattended property in the Park Blocks on Oct. 1. The theft occurred on Sept. 29.
Trespass Campus Public Safety officers responded to PSU students in Broadway Residence Hall who stated someone had tried to enter their room at 1:30 a.m.
OCT. 2 Peeping Tom A PSU student reported a male looking over the bathroom stall in the Millar Library at 11:30 a.m.
Motor Vehicle Theft
A PSU student reported the theft of their motorcycle from Parking Structure 1 at approximately 11 a.m.
OCT. 3 Fraud By Deception A PSU student reported being a victim of a scam. The report was filed off campus, but the student/report was referred to the dean of student life.
CONTENTS COVER BY ALEX WITTWER NEWS HILL TO HALL OCT. 1–4
P. 3
BOARD OF TRUSTEES PUSHES PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH TO SPRING 2020
P. 4
‘THE FOUR PILLARS OF SUCCESS’: PSU INTERIM PRESIDENT LAUNCHES INITIATIVE TO IMPROVE STUDENT SUCCESS
P. 5
STUDENT ACTIVISTS DEMAND APOLOGY AFTER CONTROVERSIAL SFC MEMBER RESIGNS
P. 8
NEW SFC MEMBERS REFUSE TO GO FORWARD WITHOUT ASPSU APOLOGY
P. 9
INTERNATIONAL THIS WEEK AROUND THE WORLD
P. 6
YOUNG PEOPLE CALL FOR CLIMATE ACTION
P. 7
STAFF
EDIT ORI A L EDITOR IN CHIEF Nada Sewidan MANAGING EDITOR Marta Yousif NEWS EDITORS Sophie Concannon Dylan Jefferies INTERNATIONAL EDITOR Madison Cecil ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR HIRING
ONLINE EDITOR Sangi Lama COPY CHIEF Hannah Welbourn CONTRIBUTORS Emily Price PHO T O & MULTIMEDI A PHOTO EDITOR Alex Wittwer MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Jackson Schrader
DESIGNERS Brandon Pahnish Sam Person DIS T RIBU TION & M A R K E TING DISTRIBUTION & MARKETING MANAGER Dylan Jefferies T ECHNOL OGY & W EB SIT E TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANTS Juliana Bigelow Tien Pham John Rojas
OPINION EDITOR Anthony Montes
PRODUC TION & DE SIGN CREATIVE DIRECTOR John Rojas
A DV ISING & ACCOUN TING COORDINATOR OF STUDENT MEDIA Reaz Mahmood
SPORTS EDITOR Adam Holland
LEAD DESIGNER Dana Townsend
STUDENT MEDIA TECHNOLOGY ADVISOR Corrine Nightingale
‘DOWN WITH SISI’: EGYPTIANS PROTEST PRESIDENT ABDEL FATTAH EL-SISI
P. 10
MEXICO REOPENS FIVE-YEAR-OLD INVESTIGATION
P. 11
OPINION DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP FLOUNDERS TOWARD IMPEACHMENT
P. 12
NFL’S PARTNERSHIP WITH JAY-Z DOES NOT CHANGE ITS RACIST HISTORY
P. 13
ARTS & CULTURE TELLING STORIES: LGBTQ+ OREGONIANS SHARE COMING OUT NARRATIVES
P. 14
COMICS
P. 15
EVENTS CALENDAR
P. 16
STUDENT MEDIA ACCOUNTANT Sheri Pitcher To contact Portland State Vanguard, email info@psuvanguard.com
MIS SION S TAT EMEN T 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.
A BOU T 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 Tuesdays and online 24/7 at psuvanguard.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @psuvanguard for multimedia content and breaking news.
NEWS HANNA ANDERSON
OCT. 1: PORTLAND INSTITUTES NEW PLASTIC POLICY
Portland restaurants are no longer allowed to offer single-use plastics—including plastic straws, stirrers and utensils—unless a customer asks for them. The policy applies to all businesses that sell food and beverages, including coffee shops, food trucks and restaurants. Businesses who do offer these plastics upfront may face up to $500 in fines for repeated violations. The new plastic policy follows a more broad bill passed in the State Legislature in May 2019. Senate Bill 90, also called the “Straw Bill,” restricted straws to only be available upon request.
OCT. 1: NEW AUDIT SHOWS OVERTIME ACCOUNTS FOR 8.8% OF THE PPB’S BUDGET
OCT 1–4
A new audit was released showing the Portland Police Bureau spent over $15.7 million on overtime wages in the 2017–18 fiscal year. According to the audit, PPB does not cap overtime, which allowed patrol officers to “work more than 20 hours of overtime in a week almost 1,100 times” in 2018. In response to the audit, PPB reported staffing shortage as the main cause of overtime. The audit cited possible solutions such as overtime data collection and imposing overtime caps. Police Chief Danielle Outlaw responded that the Bureau was already in the process of implementing these changes.
OCT. 3: OREGON SECRETARY OF STATE REJECTS BALLOT INITIATIVE TO LIMIT CLEARCUTS AND PESTICIDES
Oregon Secretary of State Beverly Clarno rejected three initiative petitions to limit the use of aerial pesticides and clearcuts near certain bodies of water and expand rules against conflicts of interest on the State Forestry Board. The reason given for rejecting the petitions—which stops them from being on Oregon’s 2020 ballot—is that they do not meet the single subject requirement laid out by the Oregon Constitution. Supporters of the initiative said money given to the Oregon legislature by timber companies is to blame.
OCT. 4: GOV. KATE BROWN SIGNS TEMPORARY BAN ON FLAVORED VAPING PRODUCTS
Oregon’s Gov. Kate Brown signed an executive order imposing a temporary ban on almost all flavored vaping products. The order calls for a 180-day ban, roughly six months, although its starting date is unclear. The temporary ban is a response to a national outbreak of vaping related illnesses—including eight cases in Oregon as of Oct. 8, two of which resulted in deaths. The Oregon Health Authority suggested Brown ban the sale of all vaping products for six months—however, the executive order will only apply to flavored products and additives. The temporary ban does not apply to products with marijuana-derived terpenes.
apply online at psuvanguard.com PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 8, 2019 • psuvanguard.com
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NEWS
BOARD OF TRUSTEES PUSHES PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH TO SPRING 2020 SOPHIE CONCANNON The Portland State Board of Trustees stated on Oct. 2 that the presidential search will be pushed to spring 2020, making the earliest possible appointment for a permanent president projected for fall 2021. At the Board meeting on Sept. 24, Board Chair Gregory Hinckley—who took up the position after former Chair Gale Castillo retired—said there was no need to rush into finding a new president. “We need a period of time...to recover,” Hinckley said, referring to the circumstances surrounding former President Rahmat Shoureshi’s resignation from PSU. Hinckley said he felt the search for a new, permanent president was a “fine topic” to leave in an agenda for subsequent meetings. “I’d share that there is a sense [the] exit of Dr. Rahmat Shoureshi was difficult [and] painful both personally [and] professionally, and that it made probably all the people involved—the staff, the faculty, the trustees [and the] administration—wary and a little gun-shy,” Hinckley said. PSU General Council and Secretary to the Board of Trustees Cindy J. Starke said typically, a presidential search takes a full academic year. “I don’t want to speak for everyone on campus, but I think there’s a general sentiment among the folks I’ve been talking to that it’s kind of nice to have some calm right now before we launch into a presidential search, so there’s a sense of maybe not rushing into it,” Starke said. Starke also said the process would typically begin in spring by getting the community together and doing “pre-work.” “That doesn’t mean that’s the only way to do it, but that’s the way it’s typically done,” Starke said. According to Starke, the PSU Faculty Senate passed a resolution regarding the upcoming presidential search, of which the details are unclear. The Board stated pushing the search back to spring 2020 is out of “consideration for... the Faculty Senate Steering Committee’s review.” At present, the review has no slated date to be released. “I know they’re going to be looking at university governance over the next few months and potentially be making recommendations about changes they would like to see in uni-
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BRANDON PAHNISH versity governance,” Starke said about the Faculty Senate. Hinckley confirmed the search for a permanent president was intentionally moving slowly. “I don’t think there has been much internal discussion yet about the timing of a presidential permanent president,” Hinckley said. Interim President Stephen Percy agreed with taking the process for appointing a permanent president slowly, saying the departure of the last president and the associated turmoil happened as the academic year ended, so delaying the search for a permanent president might help reassure the community. “I also think that putting some time between the departure of the last president and
PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 8, 2019 • psuvanguard.com
recruitment for the next president may help other people looking from the outside in [see] that things have calmed down,” Percy said. Board member Christine Vernier agreed, saying it would be good to communicate that the earliest the Board would start a search would be spring 2020, with a potential president elect by fall 2021. “I think having folks come back on campus and know it’s going to be steady for the entire academic year would be a really good thing,” Vernier said. The Board—in consultation with the governor or the governor’s designee, according to Board bylaws—has the sole power to appoint a permanent president. Typically, the Board appoints a committee to oversee the
hiring of the president, which must include “representatives of the university community and at least one other president of the public university based in Oregon.” However, the Board is not required to create a committee to oversee the hiring of the president. In 2016, the Board chair created a Presidential Search Advisory Committee to identify candidates for president. The Board also held forums for faculty and staff and students. Several members of the Board voiced their preference for waiting for a response from the Faculty Senate, saying they would welcome their suggestions and would hope to delay the start of a search before hearing back from the senate on the issue.
NEWS
‘THE FOUR PILLARS OF SUCCESS’
PSU INTERIM PRESIDENT LAUNCHES INITIATIVE TO IMPROVE STUDENT SUCCESS DYLAN JEFFERIES Portland State Interim President Stephen Percy has launched a full-scale initiative aimed at improving student success in what they call “the four pillars of success,” which include improving student persistence rates, affordability, academics and student experience. A Board of Trustees meeting was held on Sept. 24 where Percy and other PSU faculty presented a new campus-wide initiative to improve student retention and graduation rates, increase communication between students and advisors and implement a new Transfer and Returning Student Resource Center that will begin operating this fall. “Last year, we talked a lot about student success, but much of that was a lead-up to this year,” said Board member Susan Jeffords. “We actually are launching a much more intentional, coordinated, committed, campus-wide effort to set ourselves some ambitious goals to increase student success.” “I’ve absolutely committed myself,” Jeffords said. “This is the one thing I’m going to be spending my time on during the next year and for the rest of my time here. But I’m really thrilled that [Percy] has signed on to this and decided to make this his super goal. He has lots of goals, but his super goal is to support student success.” The strategy to achieve Percy and Jeffords’ goals was laid out as “the four pillars of success,” including initiatives toward improving student persistence rates, affordability, academics and student experience. Each pillar has been assigned two faculty members as chair and co-chair to oversee the pillars implementation.
PILLAR ONE: PERSISTENCE RATES
The student persistence pillar seeks to tighten the gap between enrollment and graduation rates. According to Michele Toppe—vice provost for Student Affairs, dean of Student Life and co-chair of the pillar—student persistence will involve the expansion of an already existing program at PSU, which gathers data about individual students and the impediments that keep them from graduating. “We will employ the use of predictive analytics and other key data in order to provide the right support to the right students at the right time,” Toppe said.
COURTESY OF PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY
PILLAR TWO: AFFORDABILITY
The affordability pillar seeks to help students with finance-related impediments in order to keep them enrolled through graduation. The chair and co-chair of the pillar will be in charge of finding ways to reduce the cost of textbooks, to effectively inform students about financial resources available and to support students’ financial wellness.
PILLAR THREE: ACADEMIC SUCCESS
The academic success pillar will implement new tools in order to assist both professors and advisors in getting students who are struggling academically to seek help they need when they need it. An “early alert system” was implemented in a number of core classes as part of the academic success pillar. The system will alert professors and advisors about which students may need additional help in order to pass their courses. The system is part of an effort to help students academically before it’s too late. “Early alert is, at its core, an opportunity for advising and faculty members to work together to support student success inside and outside
the classroom,” said Carla Harcleroad, associate vice president of Advising and Career Services.
PILLAR FOUR: STUDENT EXPERIENCE
Lastly, the chair and co-chair of the student experience pillar will set out to find ways to help students feel at home at PSU. The pillar intends to help students feel involved and appreciated on campus through physical and digital services, such as cultural resource centers and interactive webpages. “[The student experience] pillar is about making sure that all of the ways students interact with the campus—whether it’s the physical campus, whether it’s the online system, whether it’s the registration system or the financial aid system—each of those interactions contributes to a student’s sense of belonging,” Toppe said. The four pillars of student success were put together after a group of faculty members traveled to the University of South Florida to study their comprehensive student success program. “[PSU faculty] really wanted to figure out what [USF] were doing, how they were doing it and what parts of that could serve as a blueprint for our work here at Portland State,” Toppe said.
ADDITIONAL TOOLS FOR STUDENT SUCCESS
Another tool implemented this fall to help increase student success is a Transfer and Returning Student Resource Center, located in the new Fariborz Maseeh Hall. According to Randi Harris, director of the Transfer and Incoming Student Center, the center will focus on getting non-traditional students connected with all the resources they need, as well as help introduce them to the PSU community. In an email sent out to PSU faculty and students, Percy stated that many of the services provided in the new Fariborz Maseeh Hall will be aimed at improving student success. “Maseeh Hall has always stood at the heart of our campus,” Percy stated. “Now it will stand at the center of our student success mission. It will help us support students from the day they walk on campus to the day they walk with their fellow graduates. Initiatives to bolster student success have been launched in the past, but Toppe highlighted that the work being done today is part of a set of longterm goals. “This is a marathon, not a sprint,” Toppe said.
PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 8, 2019 • psuvanguard.com
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INTERNATIONAL
THIS WEEK
around the
WORLD
Sept. 29–Oct. 6
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Sept. 29
LESBOS, GREECE
Protesting migrants set two fires at the Moria refugee camp, demanding to be transferred to mainland Greece from the small, overcrowded eastern island of Lesbos. The fires killed at least one person, but there are unconfirmed reports of a second death. The Moria refugee camp was designed to hold a maximum of 3,000 people but currently is at more than quadruple that number with approximately 12,000 migrants and refugees, according to Al Jazeera. While Greece has long been a destination for migrants and refugees, the numbers have increased in recent months, with over 8,000 people arriving in September 2019. 2
Oct. 1–6
BAGHDAD, IRAQ
Demanding reduced unemployment rates, the end of corruption and the provision of better services to the general public, thousands of Iraqis staged demonstrations across southern Iraq, with the epicenter of the protests located in the country’s capital, Baghdad. By the end of the first day of protests on Oct. 1,
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200 protesters were injured and one was killed. Iraqi authorities used tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets, stun guns and live ammunition to disperse the crowd, but the protests continued. The death toll reached 91 by Oct. 5, with over 2,000 people wounded. “We are peaceful protesters, but the security forces treated us with brutality as if we were animals, not humans demanding our rights,” protester Ibrahim Ahmed Yusuf told The New York Times. Yusuf was injured in the neck during the protests.
Oct. 1 3
JAKARTA, INDONESIA
The Indonesian Parliament unanimously elected the country’s first female House Speaker, who leads discussions in the House of Representatives. Puan Maharani Nakshatra Kusyala is the granddaughter of Indonesia’s first president and has served as the coordinating minister for human development and cultural affairs since 2014. She is a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which is the largest political party in the Indonesian Parliament and is led by Kusyala’s mother. “This will be
PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 8, 2019 • psuvanguard.com
the first female House Speaker after 70 years,” Kusyala said, according to Al Jazeera. “I hope it will be an inspiration.” 4
Oct. 3
PARIS, FRANCE
An unnamed computer assistant attacked Paris Police Headquarters and killed four people with a knife before officers shot and killed him. The attacker—who had been an employee of the Paris police force since 2003— also injured one person who went through surgery and is now recovering in the hospital. The motivation behind the attack remains unknown as the attacker had not previously presented as a dangerous person. “He had never presented any behavioral issues; he had never presented the slightest cause for alarm before going on his deadly rampage,” French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said at a press conference, according to Al Jazeera. 5
Oct. 4
KINIGI, RWANDA
Several unknown attackers killed eight people and injured 18 more near Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, a popular tourist
destination to see endangered mountain gorillas. “Those criminals killed eight people, including six who were killed using traditional weapons and two who were shot dead,” police spokesman John Bosco Kabera said at a press conference, according to Al Jazeera. While authorities have yet to identify the attackers, they are investigating Hutu rebels and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda. Both groups have staged similar attacks in the past. 6
Oct. 4
SOUM, BURKINA FASO
A group of attackers killed 20 people at a gold mining site in northern Burkina Faso. “Armed individuals attacked the gold mining site at Dolmane…leaving around 20 dead, mainly gold miners,” an unnamed security source told The Guardian. Authorities have yet to release an official statement, and no further information was provided to the public. Reuters reported increased violence and rebel insurgency in Burkina Faso over the last several years. Approximately 585 people have died since 2015 as a result of this violence, according to Al Jazeera.
INTERNATIONAL
YOUNG PEOPLE CALL FOR CLIMATE ACTION
IRIS DUQUESNE OF FRANCE SPEAKS AT THE UN YOUTH CLIMATE SUMMIT ON SEPT. 23, 2019 IN NEW YORK. SHE STANDS NEXT TO GRETA THUNBERG OF SWEDEN, WHO HAS MADE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES WHILE SPEAKING OUT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE. MARK LENNIHAN/AP IMAGES MADISON CECIL AND EMILY PRICE The Youth Climate Summit was the opening event for the three-day UN Climate Action Summit and came less than 24-hours after thousands of students from over 120 countries skipped school to stage demonstrations and demand immediate climate action. The Youth Climate Summit is the first time youth activists have been invited to speak at an international event on such a large scale. According to a press release from the UN, the summit was designed to allow for a more open dialogue between youth and decision-makers and featured over 700 young climate activists, entrepreneurs and innovators. “Yesterday, millions of people across the globe marched and demanded real climate action,” 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg said in the summit’s opening statements. “We showed that we are united and we, young people, are unstoppable.” In order to attend the summit in the United States, Thunberg sailed across the Atlantic Ocean for two weeks in a racing sailboat designed to be emission-free. The teenager was accompanied by her father, Svante Thunberg, as well as two co-skippers, Pierre Casiraghi and Boris Herrmann. UN Secretary-General António Guterres was the event’s “keynote listener” and was responsible for listening to the speakers and taking note of their demands and experiences. “We are not there yet, but there is a change in momentum,” Guterres said in a UN press release. “Largely this change in momentum was due to [Thunberg’s] initiative and to the courage with which [she has] started this movement.”
“Millions around the world [are] saying clearly, not only that they want change, not only that decision makers must change, but they want them to be accountable,” Guterres continued. “I have granddaughters. I want them to live in a livable planet. My generation has a huge responsibility. It is your generation that must hold us accountable to make sure we don’t betray the future of humankind.” Some young activists, including Fiji’s Komal Karishma Kumar, came to the Youth Climate Summit with demands. Kumar called for the phasing out of fossil fuels, increasing climate education and the inclusion of youth in any future climate policy decisions. “Is it really too much to ask you to stop wasting time and walk the talk?” Kumar asked during her opening statements at the summit, according to Science News for Students. “From young leaders all over the world, we are here in our rightful place to demand consequential climate action.” Wanjuhi Njoroge from Kenya and Argentinian activist Bruno Rodriguez joined Kumar and Thunberg in making opening statements at the Youth Climate Summit. “The climate and ecological crisis is the political crisis of our time, it is the economic crisis of our time, and it is the cultural crisis of our time,” Rodriguez said, according to France 24. Throughout the day, young environment-conscious innovators addressed large crowds and pitched their ideas for a more sustainable future. Regional winner of the 2018 Pan African Award for the Most Influential Women in Business
and Government Lalita P-Junggee was one such entrepreneur. P-Junggee discussed her experience turning old billboards and textile waste into bags that can be used everyday. Priyank Hirani, 30, is an electrical engineer tackling environmental issues in his home country of India, where he is leading a project called “Water-to-Cloud” to help monitor river pollution levels. He believes water pollution in India is “an economic crisis, institutional crisis [and a] political crisis.” “Climate justice is crucial,” Hirani told Science News for Students. “The communities that are most affected by climate change are often the ones that least contributed to it.” The three-day UN Climate Action Summit concluded on Sept. 23 where Thunberg made a keynote speech to conclude the event. “This is all wrong,” Thunberg said. “I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you?” By the end of the three-day Climate Action Summit, several countries, including Russia, had agreed to ratify the Paris Agreement. There are now 187 countries that are a part of this climate-action agreement. According to a UN press release, on the last day of the summit Germany committed to carbon-emission neutrality by 2050 and Pakistan pledged to plant at least 10 billion trees over the next five years. The EU also promised to devote at least 25% of the organization’s next budget to climate-related goals that are in line with the Paris Agreement.
PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 8, 2019 • psuvanguard.com
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COVER
STUDENT ACTIVISTS DEMAND APOLOGY AFTER CONTROVERSIAL SFC MEMBER RESIGNS SOPHIE CONCANNON Student activists are demanding an apology from the Associated Students of Portland State University following the resignation of Student Fee Committee member Philip Arola, effective 1 p.m. on Sept. 30.
AROLA’S RESIGNATION
SFC MEMBERS VOTED AGAINST PHILIP AROLA’S IMPEACHMENT ON SEPT. 20. ALEX WITTWER/PSU VANGUARD
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PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 8, 2019 • psuvanguard.com
Arola, who faced impeachment proceedings on Sept. 23, resigned after ASPSU’s Judicial Board voted 2-2 not to impeach. When asked why he resigned after sitting for the impeachment proceedings, Arola said he did it to prove a point. “I wanted to prove that I didn’t do anything wrong...because if I resigned in the middle of that impeachment process, it would sort of be a tacit admission that...I did something wrong, I did something that would justify removing me from student government, and I would just be evading the consequences,” Arola said. According to a statement ASPSU President Violet Gibson read at the senate meeting on Sept. 30, Arola resigned due to a “hostile work environment.” Arola said he felt like he could no longer be a part of ASPSU after other members “subtly hinted” they would make official business impossible to conduct if Arola stayed on the SFC. “Every decision the SFC would make would be questioned because of my presence on the SFC,” Arola said. “I decided that instead of risking the entire student bodies’ wellbeing and funding over this petty argument, I’d just step aside.” Shortly after a public forum held on Aug. 22 addressing the conduct of SFC members on social media, a photo circulated depicting Arola with Roger Stone and members of the far-right group the Proud Boys. Arola said he apologized for past association with the Proud Boys. “There’s nothing else I want to apologize for...I don’t apologize for my political beliefs because at no point in my life have I ever been a white supremacist or a white nationalist or anything like that,” Arola said. “I’ve never been a violent homophobe.” Arola cited an incident within ASPSU where one of his peers brought up that he voted in favor of an overage request for the Queer Resource Center as evidence that he was biased against [the LGBTQ+ community]. “It doesn’t logically follow that if I were in fact a white supremacist I would be giving money to the QRC, but that’s what he said,” Arola said. “I already apologized for associating with the Proud Boys in the photo, but beyond that there’s nothing to apologize for...and I don’t think there’s anything for people in ASPSU to apologize for, but I’ll leave that up to them.”
Arola is staying on as the head of the PSU College Republicans. He said the atmosphere was completely different than ASPSU. “We don’t control where any funding goes or any real university activities besides...our own,” he said. “We don’t really serve anybody directly aside from being a conservative voice on campus. I don’t think I’d be disruptive of anything in my role in [PSU College Republicans].”
STUDENT RESPONSE
Several student activists voiced their complaints during the public comment section of the senate meeting after the official announcement that Arola had resigned, demanding both an apology from Arola and ASPSU. After the public forum addressing the conduct of SFC members, ASPSU published a notice through the Instagram story feature, stating “derogatory comments coupled with assumptions of race, identity and sexual orientation led to an unproductive and hostile social environment.” The statement also read that in the future, ASPSU expects the comment section to be “used as a space for respectful civil discourse” and as a “place for differing opinions to be shared.” ASPSU Senator India Wynne said they didn’t know the reason why ASPSU couldn’t make a formal public apology. “I think that making constitutional changes is more than feasible,” Wynne said. “A member of this body should not be able to cause that much pain and fear. We’ve just got to do better. It should not be allowed to happen again.” Student activist and community organizer Angeline Booth said she is demanding—along with other students—that “ASPSU make an apology that goes out to every single student via email that details the harm that has been caused [and] that apologizes that Philip was ever even allowed to be on ASPSU and the SFC.” Booth also said she thought it was necessary for Arola to make a “true” apology. “He has already made an apology on the record,” Booth said. “However, it by no means addresses the harm that he has caused.” Booth said the email sent out to the student body should detail how ASPSU will be holding people accountable in the future. “We’re not done here,” Booth said. “Even though [Arola] may be gone, that does not mean there isn’t more harm that can be caused or will be caused. We are working to help create a better student government—one that is more inclusive, one that more marginalized people not only feel like they can be in the room, but to be able to be at the table and able to create programming.”
COVER
NEW SFC MEMBERS REFUSE TO GO FORWARD WITHOUT ASPSU APOLOGY SOPHIE CONCANNON The Associated Students of Portland State University voted during a senate meeting on Sept. 30 to elect two new members to the Student Fee Committee: Faith Pauken and Aydia Johnson, who both stated separately they would not go forward without an official apology from ASPSU. Regarding flyers passed out by student activists with a photo of former SFC member Philip Arola gathering with the alt-right group the Proud Boys on it, Pauken said at the senate meeting: “Having this flyer be one of the first things I see is embarrassing. I’m his replacement, and we should apologize. I will refuse to move forward in this position if we do not make a public apology—we held Philip accountable, and should hold ourselves accountable.” Johnson later agreed with Pauken, saying others on ASPSU—including directors and some SFC members—held the same beliefs. “I think yes, ASPSU should make a formal apology,” Johnson said. “Their apology was not okay in my opinion and in many other people’s opinions. The more transparency, the better.” On Arola’s resignation, Pauken said she was disgusted to be walking into a position where the first thing she sees is a former member acting out of hate. “One of the most important qualities to possess as an SFC member is to have a strong sense of neutrality, which Philip did not,” Pauken said. “It is not a political belief; it is hatred and will not be tolerated. As a white person, it is my responsibility to uplift the voices that are not heard and be an ally to those of all identities.” Both Pauken and Johnson stressed the importance of accountability going forward as SFC members. “I will hold myself accountable for all my actions, maintain an unbiased point of view when making committee decisions and be an inclusive member,” Pauken said. Johnson stressed that her role on the SFC should be unbiased and neutral. “Once I started going to [SFC meetings], I understood what was going on, and I realized a lot of members on the SFC don’t understand what’s going on...it didn’t seem like it was working,” Johnson said. Faith Pauken and Aydia Johnson were both elected 14-0-1.
FAITH PAUKEN MAJOR: Communications MINOR: Spanish ALMA MATER: Lincoln High School QUALIFICATIONS: President of Gay-Straight Alliance at Lincoln High School, worked with Mayor Ted Wheeler on issues of gun safety, helped organize tribute at Lincoln High School after Parkland shooting REASON FOR JOINING THE SFC: ”I really want to make sure underrepresented communities are becoming represented communities. I definitely [have had] to live by ‘take space make space’...I want to make a lot of space for people who haven’t had the space.” FUN FACT: An incoming freshman, hopes to continue on SFC for college career “Communication and respect are of utmost importance to me. I’ll provide information questions and so on to the best of my ability while keeping in account each and every one of your opinions, ideas and comments.”
COURTESY OF FAITH PAUKEN
AYDIA JOHNSON MAJOR: Political Science, focus in Public Service MINOR: Conflict Resolution ALMA MATER: Central Catholic High School QUALIFICATIONS: ASPSU Senator, president of Opus Editorial at PSU, vice-president and public relations officer for volunteering of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars at PSU, helped with Disarm PSU through ASPSU REASON FOR JOINING THE SFC: “I was originally [an ASPSU] senator last year, and I felt like I didn’t do that much...I wanted to do more.” FUN FACT: Participates in a Dungeons and Dragons group with the same people that participate in Opus Editorial “I....believe the SFC should have more representation, more voices heard, and I believe that I do have that voice.”
AYDIA JOHNSON. ALEX WITTWER/PSU VANGUARD
PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 8, 2019 • psuvanguard.com
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INTERNATIONAL
‘DOWN WITH SISI’ EGYPTIANS PROTEST PRESIDENT ABDEL FATTAH EL-SISI
MADISON CECIL
PROTESTERS IN CAIRO, EGYPT RALLY AND SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT ABDEL-FATTAH EL-SISI, CALLING FOR HIS RESIGNATION EARLY SATURDAY, SEPT. 21. NARIMAN EL-MOFTY/AP IMAGES
Hundreds of Egyptians began protesting on Sept. 20, calling on President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to resign from office. Demonstrations continued for over 14 days. Former contractor and Egyptian military veteran Mohamed Ali called for the protests against el-Sisi through Facebook videos, citing corruption as a main factor. Ali is currently in Spain on self-imposed exile, according to The New York Times. By the end of the first day of protests on Sept. 20, authorities had used tear gas on protesters and arrested at least four people. Many people remained in the streets of Egypt until the next morning, some with signs that read “Down with Sisi” or “Leave now.” “The Friday protest was such a shock to me, because people were not able to voice any of their anger,” Hafsa, a teacher who participated in the Cairo protests, told The Guardian. “I feel encouraged to protest…Now in Matareya, there’s a heavy police presence with riot police at the entrance to all main streets. There are also plainclothes policemen who search people at random.” Authorities arrested 74 people at the end of Sept. 21 for their participation in the demonstrations. The Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights predicted as many as 274 people were arrested by the end of Sept. 22, according to The Guardian. The Egyptian Office of the Public Prosecutor reported “less than 1,000 people” were arrested by Sept. 26, but ac-
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cording to The New York Times, at least 2,285 people were arrested by Oct. 4. El-Sisi took power in 2013 through a military takeover and was re-elected in a contested 2018 election. Freedom House reported the majority of Egyptian media is pro-government, and the country’s government frequently blocks websites or shuts down pro-opposition media. People who question the Egyptian government are often faced with long prison sentences or harsh punishments, according to The New York Times. “Participating in a peaceful protest is not a crime,” said Naija Bounaim, North Africa Campaigns Director for Amnesty International said in a press statement. “The Egyptian authorities’ draconian response to the peaceful demonstrations illustrates their utter contempt for human rights and displays a flagrant disregard for the rights to peaceful protest and freedom of expression. The authorities must immediately and unconditionally release anyone detained solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of assembly or expression.” While the protests continued on Sept. 27, the turnout was smaller due to the government’s attempts to end the demonstrations. According to The New York Times, a concert and several soccer games were canceled ahead of the protests. Authorities patrolled busy intersections, stopped and searched cars and people at random and shutdown the city’s shopping district. While some of those arrested have made public statements against el-Sisi, others have no connection to the protests. One
PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 8, 2019 • psuvanguard.com
journalist was arrested despite making a social media post in support of el-Sisi hours earlier, according to The New York Times. Alaa Abd El Fattah, a well-known opposition leader who participated in 2011 protests against the Egyptian government, was among those who were arrested by authorities. His lawyer was arrested the following day when he arrived to view El Fattah’s interrogation by authorities. “President el-Sisi’s security agencies have time and time again used brutal force to crush peaceful protests,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East and North Africa Director for Human Rights Watch in an interview with Al Jazeera. “The authorities should recognize that the world is watching and take all necessary steps to avoid a repetition of past atrocities.” “This movement is not run by high-ranking politicians or activists,” Assem, a lawyer from Alexandria told The Guardian. “It’s normal people protesting. Mohamed Ali is not a hero, but he got people talking and getting angry. I will participate in whatever protests occur, but I will be careful because the level of police response [on Sept. 20] was suspicious. Anything is possible, and who knows what might take place.” Many protesters plan on continuing the demonstrations, despite the government making arrests and implementing random searches in the streets. El-Sisi has yet to release an official statement regarding the protests. None of Egypt’s North American or European allies, including the United States, have released a statement in response to the protests.
INTERNATIONAL
MEXICO REOPENS FIVE-YEAR-OLD INVESTIGATION ALLEGED POLICE CORRUPTION IN DISAPPEARANCE CASE
HUNDREDS OF CIVILIANS HAVE DISAPPEARED IN MEXICO. EDUARDO VERDUGO/AP IMAGES
MADISON CECIL Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced authorities have reopened a criminal investigation involving the disappearance of 43 student teachers from police custody in September 2014. After he was sworn into office in December, Obrador swore to reopen the investigation due to allegations of police corruption and violence. According to a 2018 UN Human Rights Council report, dozens of suspects were tortured during the original investigation. “We will make a comprehensive rethinking of the investigation, correcting the omissions, contradictions and the lack of evidence that led to the so-called ‘historical truth,’” Deputy Interior Secretary Alejandro Encinas Rodríguez said at a press conference, according to Al Jazeera. “And those authorities that incurred in omission or
illegal practices, as has been proven…such as torture on some of the people detained, will be held responsible.” The original investigation was closed when authorities claimed the 43 students were kidnapped by a violent gang. Authorities reported the students were incinerated the same day they were kidnapped. TeleSUR reported only one of the 43 remains were ever recovered and positively identified, according to official reports made by Mexican authorities. A later independent investigation performed by Argentine forensic experts, however, did not “back up the hypothesis that there was a fire on the morning of Sept. 27, 2014, of the required magnitude and duration that would’ve resulted in the massive incineration of the 43 missing students,” according to CNN.
Mexican officials are now searching the area surrounding the city of Iguala—where the students disappeared five years ago—for the students or their remains. Public Radio International reported one place of investigation is a garbage lot in Tepecoacuilco, a small town south of Iguala. “The poorly named ‘historic truth’ was built with a foundation of cover-up, fabrication of evidence and torture to the benefit of the perpetrators and against the victims’ rights,” Encinas Rodriguez continued at the press conference. “The historic truth collides with reality.” CNN reported authorities detained over 140 suspects during the original case, but 77 were released by judges or the court system due to a lack of evidence or claims stating the detained were tortured by officials during the investigation. Among those released was alleged gang
leader Gildardo López Astudillo, who authorities in the original investigation claimed had ordered the disappearance of the 43 student teachers. “Unfortunately, it has been five years of feeding lies; we practically prefer to start from scratch because at first everything was done so badly,” Felipe de la Cruz, a father of one of the missing student teachers, told Reuters. According to The New York Times, the case of the 43 missing students has come to represent Mexico’s tens of thousands of missing persons. “We ask the rest of the country to put themselves in our shoes for just one day, for them to feel what it is to have a loved one missing,” María Martínez, mother of one of the missing students told The New York Times. “It’s not only our 43. There are thousands of other families suffering.”
PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 8, 2019 • psuvanguard.com
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OPINION
DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP FLOUNDERS TOWARD IMPEACHMENT ANTHONY MONTES Democratic Party leadership’s hollow, moral grandstanding on impeachment and meek efforts to resist President Donald Trump is an embarrassment to the Democratic base. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi formally announced an impeachment inquiry in September 2019 following Trump’s visit to Ukraine. Trump allegedly asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who sat on the board of a Ukrainian energy company while Vice President Biden served as vital diplomat for the region. Trump and the right-wing machine have spun this story to paint Biden and his son as corrupt in an effort to deflect from the overt illegality on the part of the president. But is this truly the breaking point for the Democratic Party? Of the many reasons to draw a line in the sand—the aforementioned obstruction of justice, the separation of families at the border, the millions of dollars Trump is making off his position, aiding Saudi Arabia in the massacre of nearly 100,000 Yemeni people— Pelosi and party leadership chose to shield a fellow elite from scrutiny. Hunter Biden did not have any expertise of the Ukrainian energy sector and received the position after being discharged from the U.S. Navy for failing a drug test, all while his father served under the most influential world leader. Let’s be real; if an average person tested positive for cocaine and was fired from their job, they wouldn’t fall into $50,000-a-month position. This is the type of self dealing that Americans are sick of, and there is a strong
case to be made that Hunter Biden cashed in on his last name, which makes Pelosi’s decision to focus her impeachment messaging on this one offense remarkably senseless.
PREVIOUS IMPEACHMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Party leadership hedged their political bets on the FBI’s special counsel investigation into whether or not the Trump campaign worked in concert with the Russian government during the 2016 election. For two straight years, Trump claimed “Witch Hunt” as the entire “liberal” media and establishment pushed the narrative that he was a Russian asset and a “Putin puppet,” only to have the rug pulled underneath them when former FBI Director Robert Mueller found no evidence of a Trump-Russia conspiracy. In a press conference, Mueller said his report did not exonerate Trump with regards to obstructing the investigation and cunningly remarked that “the Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing.” The word he was looking for was impeachment. Many House Democrats responded to Mueller’s dog-whistling on obstruction of justice and pushed for Pelosi to open im-
peachment proceedings, but Pelosi reeled them back, understanding the momentous failure the Trump-Russia narrative was politically. They, in essence, accused the president of being a foreign agent, setting the bar incredibly high and anything short of such malfeasance would be difficult to politically maneuver. Proponents of impeachment argued that the rule of law needed to be upheld, and impeachment was an institutional lever falling under the purview of the house in order to hold the president accountable. Pelosi, with her eye on the polling data, resisted calls for impeachment and was not swayed by a moral imperative to hold the president to account for obstructing the investigation. At the end of the day, with 85% Republican voters opposed to impeaching the president, it is safe to assume the Republican-led Senate would not vote to remove the president, even if the House brought a solid case to floor. Pelosi also provided political cover for the moderate wing of the party that was afraid to go on the record in favor of impeachment, fearing blowback from their constituencies. Impeachment, in this Congress, is not a tool to uphold a system of checks and balances; it is a political weapon meant to mire your political opponent in controversy and
negative headlines with the intention of hurting their electability. Pelosi is not naïve, and she understood this.
THE QUESTION OF MORAL OBLIGATION
With previous impeachment opportunities, why is there a formal impeachment inquiry now? House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler cited a “moral obligation” as a reason for impeachment. However, Pelosi and Democratic leadership do not have a moral obligation to impeach Trump. They have a moral obligation to fight price-gouging pharmaceutical and health insurance companies, not take over $90 million in campaign contributions from these industries in 2018; they have a moral obligation to end interventionist wars and house the 500,000 people experiencing homelessness, not hand out billions of dollars to defense contractors that manufacture weapons of war and destruction; they have a moral obligation to pass sensible gun reform and protect a woman’s right to choose, not endorse an anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ+ Democrat Dan Lipinski, and National Rifle Association, Aplus rated Democrat Henry Cuellar, as Pelosi did recently. Pelosi and the party risk being perceived as vapid and out-of-touch if they proceed with impeachment. The Democrats won the House in 2018 running on the issues Americans care about: health care and the economy. If they want to win in 2020, they need to oppose Trump not through impeachment but through a robust, policy-oriented platform that promotes justice and equity for all Americans.
BRANDON PAHNISH
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PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 8, 2019 • psuvanguard.com
OPINION
NFL’S PARTNERSHIP WITH JAY-Z DOES NOT CHANGE ITS RACIST HISTORY ANTHONY MONTES The National Football League isn’t racist—just ask their new Black friend: Jay-Z. Let’s be very clear about what happened. The NFL, with the help of an amicable Black entrepreneur in Jay-Z, is fooling their viewers and fans, parading business deals between members of the owner class as progress for communities of color. This sentiment was expressed in a Twitter post by Carolina Panthers’ Eric Reid: “Jay-Z doesn’t need the NFL’s help 2 address social injustices. It was a money move 4 him & his music business. The NFL gets 2 hide behind his black face 2 try to cover up blackballing Colin. #NeoColonialism” The NFL did what the elite do best in times of crisis: public relations and philanthropy, which are much easier than engaging with a structural analysis of social issues like police violence and the effects of mass incarceration in Black communities. The NFL owners, displaying a severe lack of self-awareness, failed to assess their own investments, partnerships and social status as a compounding factor for the systemic oppression of communities of color. The NFL and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, in August, launched Inspire Change, a player-owner organization that will sell apparel and produce songs performed by players, with proceeds going to “education and economic empowerment, police and community relations, and criminal justice reform.” In addition, Roc Nation received an advisory role in organizing the Super Bowl halftime show, as well as organizing several free concerts. At face value, this partnership seems like it was done in good faith, but critics, including Reid, still point to the exclusion of former-NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick as an unaddressed grievance. Kaepernick, who knelt during the national anthem to protest police brutalization of Black people, has been unsigned since 2016 and recently settled a lawsuit—along with Reid—against the NFL, alleging league owners colluded in their efforts to blacklist the two players. Prior to the partnership, Jay-Z engaged in myriad philanthropic initiatives, ranging from posting bail for folks arrested for protesting police violence, to creating educational trusts for the children of a Black man slain by police. He agreed to this partnership with the NFL as it was mutually beneficial for the two parties. The NFL received the positive public relations coverage using Jay-Z’s social capital to smooth things over with the non-activist faction of the Black community, while Jay-Z expands his business dealings and taps into the NFL’s vast viewership and fruitful network of elite owners. Most importantly, the NFL
NFL COMMISSIONER ROGER GOODELL AND JAY-Z APPEAR AT A NEWS CONFERENCE AT ROC NATION, JAY-Z'S ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY, ON AUG. 14, 2019 IN NEW YORK. BEN HIDER/AP IMAGES
and the owners avoid a reckoning for the mishandling of the Kaepernick and subsequent protests, as well as their own role in the institutional oppression of communities of color. A more egregious example of the NFL’s tone deaf initiatives is the OneTeam Collective, a coalition of venture capitalists and players that invest in start-ups and new businesses. On the website, it lists Black Rock as one of the founding partners of the collective. Who is Black Rock? Black Rock is an investment group and a prominent shareholder of GEO Group and
CoreCivic, two notorious private prisons that have been accused of inhumane treatment of prisoners and immigration detainees at Immigration Customs Enforcement facilities. Private prisons and the 1994 Crime Bill provided the capacity and resources to accelerate mass incarceration, leading to a 1600% increase in prisoners from 1990 to 2009, while assholes like Black Rock CEO Larry Fink amassed a wealth surpassing $1 billion. Basic research could have led anyone to the same facts, however, the league does not care about the player it fooled into in-
vesting in a company that supports the inhumane treatment of imprisoned people of color. Even the largest, slimiest banks in the country are divesting $2.4 billion from all private prisons. The NFL owners ooze with entitlement and cannot see past their own noses, let alone understand the plight of communities of color in this country, so it makes sense they turned to the newest, hippest member of the owner class, a person teetering a dualconsciousness as a Black man and billionaire, the latter being more important.
PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 8, 2019 • psuvanguard.com
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ARTS & CULTURE
TELLING STORIES
LGBTQ+ OREGONIANS SHARE COMING OUT NARRATIVES NADA SEWIDAN Stories build human connection, and it’s through story that people can begin to understand one another. That’s what Producer CM Hall said she hopes the Coming Out Monologues will inspire—human connectedness, a story for everyone. The Coming Out Monologues aren’t necessarily composed of writers, authors or known speakers, although they might be, but more concretely, Hall said the event is meant to present true-to-life stories of everyday LBGTQ+ folks, spanning all different aspects of story, age ranges, gender identities and expressions, as well as sexual orientation. These experiences are told from those who may be lesbian, gay, bi, pan, trans, queer or non-binary. There’s a story from State Representative Rob Nosse and former Portland Mayor Sam Adams. Hall recalled Nosse’s coming out story when he was seduced by a Republican staffer as a young adult man. There is a story by a 12-year-old girl who was assigned male at birth; a story from a man who hadn’t come out while in a relationship with a partner who then suddenly died; a story about a Latino man who had come out to his family as gay and had to come out again as HIV and AIDS positive—stories about navigating grief and loss and fear. “Everyone has a story,” she said. “There’s still trepidations, there’s still anxiety, there’s still that sense of ‘I hope they will accept me,’ and that questioning of ‘will I be accepted for who I am and my truth’’ still is a thread throughout all the stories. And because that questioning still exists, the power of story is still critical.” The fruition of the Coming Out Monologues dates back to when Hall was an undergraduate and first came out as a queer young adult, during a period which she recalled as a really dark time to openely come out and decalre any kind of nonheteronormative sexuality. It was during that time that Hall was working to defeat anti-LGBTQ+ ballot measures in Oregon. The Coming Out Monologues were inspired during that period by this idea of storytelling as a vehicle for understanding. “I just knew how powerful it was to be out as a queer young adult back then,” Hall said, “and has just always really resonated with the the idea of story in our marginalized community.” Hall explained people might think that in today’s time everyone is accepted, but she said that’s not the case, and there’s still discrimination against LGBTQ+ folks. “It’s not a done deal,” she said. “[LGBTQ+ folks] tell these stories because people have not heard these stories. There’s still value in understanding all the different aspects of queer identites.” In this year’s Coming Out Monologues, storytellers from the previous five seasons have been invited back to be part of the audience. Hall said she believes this production is going to be reoccuring well into the distant future because of the elements that differentiate it from other productions. “What’s really different about the Coming Out Monologues is we’re hearing raw, vulnerable stories from fellow Oregonians.” “I hope people walk out with a sense of connected humanity...I want people to recognize we are all connected, and that there are still base elements of love and belonging that transcend sexual orientation, that transcend gender identity and expression.” According to Hall, the event is a fundraiser for Basic Rights Oregon, specifically for their equality pact, which helps encourage, recruit, support and fund LGBTQ+ folks running for all levels of office. This event is purposefully lined up with National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11, which also coinscides with the upcoming presidential debate focusing on queer issues slated for Oct. 10
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For anyone interested in submitting a story for next year’s monologues, Hall welcomes them to do so at comingout@wou.edu Every storyteller who submits or is chosen has to be out. Hall reviews all stories, edits them and works alongside director Ted deChatelet, who she considers a straight ally. When asked who she hopes will attend the event, Hall said, “Everyone...I want families to come, families who have family members that are LGBTQ+; I want the queer community to come. This is an everyday people walking in to hear some stories, to be connected in community, and there’s something that will resonate with every person regardless of identity. The quest to be loved, accepted, to have belonging and to be seen in our truth resonates regardless of identity.”
I SAID, “VERA, I WORRY THIS COULD BE USED AGAINST YOU IN THE CAMPAIGN. BEFORE I TAKE THIS JOB, I WANT YOU TO KNOW, I AM GAY.” -SAM
Coming Out Monologues will be held 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at Alberta Abbey. All stories are ASL interpreted.
PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 8, 2019 • psuvanguard.com
WHAT WASN’T A SECRET BETWEEN THE TWO OF US WAS THAT WE WERE FALLING IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER. THE ONE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY 48 YEARS, I FELT COMFORTABLE IN MY OWN SKIN. -MARK
THING I KNEW WITH ALL OF MY HEART WAS THIS TIME WAS NOT A PHASE. -BRUCE I WAS TURNING GAY, AND I WAS PRETTY SURE I DID NOT WANT TO BE GAY. -ROB
DANA TOWNSEND
COMICS “AFTER ALL THIS TIME”
“CLASS FRIENDS”
“IT ADDS CHARACTER”
“I’M HEALING”
DANA DANA TOWNSEND TOWNSEND
PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 8, 2019 • psuvanguard.com
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Nada Sewidan & Hannah Welbourn
OCT 8-14 ART
MUSIC
FILM & THEATRE
COMMUNITY
TUE OCT 8 WED OCT 9 THU OCT 10 FRI OCT 11 SAT OCT 12 SUN OCT 13 MON OCT 14
BLUE SKY AHEAD: FOUNDERS BLUE SKY GALLERY NOON–5 P.M. FREE This exhibition is in celebration of the gallery’s 44th anniversary along with its founders.
FLOR, JOAN, LOSTBOYCROW WONDER BALLROOM 7:30 P.M. $18
‘MEMORY: THE ORIGINS OF ALIEN’ HOLLYWOOD THEATRE 7 P.M. $9, $7 W/ STUDENT ID
THE PUMPKIN PATCH SAUVIE ISLAND 9 A.M. FREE, EXCEPT COST OF PUMPKIN
“A PERSONAL SELECTION” CHARLES A. HARTMAN FINE ART 11 A.M.–5 P.M. FREE Mark Steinmetz’ collection of black and white photographs will be on display until Oct. 26.
KPSU DJS KELLY’S OLYMPIAN 8 P.M.–12 A.M. FREE • 21+ See student media in action! This week’s featured DJ is DJ Rachelle.
SCI-FI FILM FESTIVAL: ‘THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS’ EMPIRICAL THEATRE AT OMSI 7 P.M. $7 See Neo do his thing ,again, in the threequel of the Matrix franchise screening at OMSI’s Sci-fi festival.
COMING OUT MONOLOGUES ALBERTA ABBEY 7:30–9:30 P.M. $15 Coming out stories told by a range of people within the LGBTQ+ community.
“NECK OF THE WOODS” GALLERY 114 NOON–6 P.M. FREE Jeremy Gregory and Curtis Settino collaborated on this exhibition featuring dioramas and lots of puppets.
OH, ROSE, PLASTIC CACTUS, NO ALOHA HOLOCENE 8:30 P.M. $10 The night will be full of indie rock with this lineup of Pacific Northwest-based babes.
‘WEST SIDE STORY’ WINNINGSTAD THEATRE 7:30 P.M. $28.00–48.00 Two Romeo-Juliet-esque lovers find themselves midst New York City’s clashing street gangs.
BEERQUEST HAUNTED PUB TOUR KELLS IRISH RESTAURANT & PUB 7–9:30 P.M. $45 • 21+ Don’t spill your drink.
“BESTIARY” FROELICK GALLERY 10:30 A.M.–5:30 P.M. FREE This exhibition of Rick Bartow’s past works feature mixed media creatures of all kinds.
HOBO JOHNSON & THE LOVEMAKERS, MOM JEANS CRYSTAL BALLROOM 8 P.M. $25 Frank Lopes’ spoken word songs will attract all the sadbois at this show.
PORTLAND UNKNOWN FILM FESTIVAL DISJECTA 5 P.M., 7 P.M. $7–12, EVENING PASS A norm-defying, experimental and unconventional gallery of films.
PORTLAND TATTOO EXPO EXPO CENTER 2–10 P.M. $20 DAY PASS Artists and tattoo parlors unite in this expo all about tattoos.
“FLOWERS OF EMPTINESS” URBANITE 9 A.M.–6 P.M. FREE These works by local artist James Bradley are on display until October 31.
SENSES FAIL, HOT MULLIGAN HAWTHORNE THEATER 8 P.M. $19.50 Sad season is in full swing.
ALL NIGHT HORROR MARATHON HOLLYWOOD THEATRE 9 P.M.–5 A.M. $15 Who wouldn’t want to be scared silly with classic ‘70s and ‘80s horror flicks?
LIGHT THE NIGHT SE WATER & MARKET STREET 5 P.M. FREE • ALL AGES A light festival hosted by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in support of cancer research.
“JOURNEYS IN FIBER” ALBERTA STREET GALLERY 9 A.M.–5 P.M. FREE Alycia Allen Tolmach created quilts using vintage Japanese kimonos in collaboration with Kim Tepe’s nature-based fiber works.
JONAS BROTHERS MODA CENTER 7:30 P.M. $29.95–$496.95 The reunion tour we could only ever dream of—until now.
‘THEY LIVE’ NW FILM CENTER, WHITSELL AUDITORIUM 2 P.M. $10, $8 W/ STUDENT ID The 1988 film directed by John Carpenter critiques the effects of mass media.
FAMILY CLAY SUNDAY MULTNOMAH ARTS CENTER 1:30–4 P.M. $16 Spend Sunday funday sculpting some stuff.
RICHARD BOYER GALLERY 903 10 A.M.–5 P.M. FREE These works consist of oil paintings of Portland’s cityscapes by artist Richard Boyer.
CAVETOWN WONDER BALLROOM 7:30 P.M. $20 At just 20 years old, Robin Skinner has gone from posting ukulele covers on YouTube to touring the world.
NOCHE DE PELÍCULA THE HOLLYWOOD THEATRE 7:30 P.M. $9, $7 W/ STUDENT ID LGBTQ+ folks from Peru, Argentina, Colombia and more share their experiences in a series of films.
NACHO WEEK VARYING LOCATIONS & TIMES Need I say more?
All the strictly lowercase, dreamy, indie pop you could ever ask for.
A documentary focusing on the origins of the 1979 movie Alien with “never-before-seen materials” from the writers and artists.
Get your pumpkins at the selfdubbed “original pumpkin patch.”