Event of the day
TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2010 • PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY • VOLUME 64, ISSUE 114
A free showing of the film The Garden will be hosted by the Multicultural Center and Sustainability Leadership Center. The film follows the plight of farmers as immigrants from Latin America tell the story of the country’s largest urban farm, land developers, money, poverty, power and racial discord.
When: Noon Where: SMSU Multicultural Center
WWW.DAILYVANGUARD.COM • FREE
INSIDE OPINION Guest Opinion Future in clean energy necessary for U.S. PAGE 2
Portland minorities at a disadvantage Study shows that Portland is not as progressive as it appears Courtney Graham Vanguard staff
Blackboard out of my mind Online courses at PSU lowers the bar for all PAGE 3
NEWS Campus Connections Males with low GPAs more likely to drop out PAGE 5
ARTS
Royal Return Forgotten Sands takes Prince of Persia back to its roots with poise PAGE 6
Portland State recently released a report in conjunction with the Coalition of Communities of Color that found that communities of color—including newly profiled African immigrants and Slavic communities—are substantially disadvantaged compared to their white counterparts in Multnomah County. Ann Curry-Stevens, an assistant professor in the School of Social Work, contributed significantly to the report with her research and worked closely with the coalition to produce what will be the first in a series of detailed profiles of Portland’s disadvantaged minorities. Curry-Stevens moved here three years ago and thought Portland was a “progressive enclave,” she said. Through her research, however, she found “the degree of divergence between the common rhetoric and how toxic it is for communities of color” to be very surprising. In addition, Curry-Stevens said that it seems that this misconception is a common selfperception for Portland residents. However, commenting on this perception, she said, “Whose reality is really being reflected in that perception?”
The second author on the report, Amanda Cross-Hemmer, a senior research assistant in the School of Social Work, said that “it’s one thing to have a vague sense that disparities exist…but you can’t put them somewhere else; this is our home community.” “Putting that responsibility somewhere else does not help the very real disparities here,” she said. The report, titled “Communities of Color in Multnomah County: An Unsettling Profile,” was released late last month. Funds from PSU, the Northwest Health Foundation, the City of Portland and Multnomah County went towards the production of the report. The Coalition of Communities of Color is an organization of several groups in the Portland metropolitan area, including the Asian Family Center, the Native American Youth and Family Center, the Urban League of Portland and El Programa Hispano. In its introduction, the report explains that it is intended to examine “issues of inequality, inequity and injustice,” as well as “the failings of mainstream institutions to address the needs of communities of color are abundant and must create the impetus to act, [and] to act holistically.” It is important to note from the outset that the report acknowledges that there may be some reporting error, due to underrepresentation and miscounting of communities of color in census numbers and local data. Minority groups historically underreport and are left uncounted in counts due to a variety of socioeconomic and political factors.
Ann Curry-Stevens
In addition, many government service providers do not report their data in a way that shows community impacts, but instead aggregate data, according to Curry-Stevens. This does not reflect large disparities in access between different groups to such services. Similarly, when only certain groups are individually identified in data, it reflects a specific choice and set of intentions, according to Cross-Hemmer. For example, the U.S. census does not take mix-raced persons into account. “Nothing is natural, it’s a very sociopolitical choice,” Cross-Hemmer said. Ultimately, the report found that while 23.6 percent of the county’s population was, in 2008, composed of communities of color—defined as African American, African immigrant and refugee, Asian/Pacific
Adam Wickham/Portland State Vanguard
Islander, Latino, Native American and Slavic—their social, economic and educational outcomes are even worse than King County, Wash., which is home to Seattle. For example, youth of color make up 45 percent of public school enrollment in Multnomah County, but 30 percent of these students do not graduate from high school, compared to only 7 percent of whites. In addition, the collective child poverty rate is 33.3 percent, compared to 12.5 percent for whites and only 21.5 percent for communities of color in King County. Additionally, only 13.8 percent of members of communities of color can expect to receive a bachelor’s degree, compared to 24.5 percent
REPORT continued on page four
Improving portable classrooms
Local Film Highlights New and classic films playing locally this weekend PAGE 7
PSU working to improve Portland Public School portable classrooms
SPORTS
Catrice Stanley Vanguard staff
A tale of two seasons Softball struggled early, but coasted to PCSC championship after 18-2 run PAGE 9 Bonding with the Free Radicals Chemistry students form an intramural flag team PAGE 10
Michael Pascual/Portland State Vanguard
PSU creates temporary solutions: The architecture department is working with others on new
designs for temporary classrooms in the Portland Public School System.
About a year ago, a Portland State University professor was prompted by the Portland Public School System to envision what the “school of the future” might be like. Since that time, Sergio Palleroni and a team of architecture students and faculty have worked to redesign the aesthetic and functionality of mobile classrooms. But Palleroni, associate professor of architecture, realized that this would not be a simple task. “As we were working in the schools, we realized the problem was bigger than simply [designing a school of the future],” Palleroni said. According to Palleroni, it has been over 50 years since PPS has had a public funding initiative to build school buildings. With lack of funding for bond measures and the public unwilling to pay more taxes,
schools have had to look elsewhere to find extra space for students. “It’s not just New Orleans or Haiti that are in trouble, it’s our own communities that are suffering,” Palleroni said. PPS has been adressing the problems, but underfunding is evident in schools throughout the U.S. Many are dealing with the issues in a similar fashion. “All over the country, people are ordering mobile classrooms,” Palleroni said. Instead of building new buildings, schools are buying portable classrooms, which are the equivalent of mobile-style manufactured homes, adjusted to fit the needs of a classroom. “Schools are buying portable classrooms because they don’t have to raise bonds for them. They can pay for them out of operational and management expenses from the school. However, there is an extraordinary expense [to buy a portable classroom]. They cost an average of $250,000–350,000 for a lousy little classroom,” Palleroni said.
PORTABLES continued on page five
Vanguard 2 | Opinion May 25, 2010
OPINION Online Comments
Sarah J. Christensen Editor-in-Chief
A look at what you’re saying online at www.dailyvanguard.com
Virginia Vickery News Editor Theodora Karatzas Arts & Culture Editor Richard D. Oxley Opinion Editor Robert Britt Sports Editor Bryan Morgan Production Manager Marni Cohen Photo Editor Zach Chastaine Online Editor Kristin Pugmire Copy Chief Kristin Pugmire Calendar Editor Jae Specht Advertising Manager William Prior Marketing Manager Judson Randall Adviser Ann Roman Advertising Adviser Illustrator Kira Meyrick Associate News Editor Corie Charnley Production Assistants Stephanie Case, Justin Flood, Shannon Vincent Post-production Assistant Adiana Lazarraga Contributors Stacy Austin, Will Blackford, Bianca Blankenship, Leah Bodenhamer, Meaghan Daniels, Sarah Engels, Sarah Esterman, Amy Fylan, Courtney Graham, Natalia Grozina, Patrick Guild, Joe Hannan, Rosemary Hanson, Steve Haske, Carrie Johnston, Sara M. Kemple, Tamara K. Kennedy, J. Logue, James MacKenzie, Natalie McClintock, Daniel Ostlund, Tanya Shiffer, Wendy Shortman, Robert Seitzinger, Catrice Stanley, Amy Staples, Nilesh Tendolkar, Robin Tinker, Vinh Tran, Andrea Vedder, Katherine Vetrano, Allison Whited, Roger Wightman Photographers Drew Martig, Michael Pascual, Liana Shewey, Adam Wickham Copy Editors Noah Emmet, Amanda Gordon Advertising Sales Sam Gressett, Iris Meyers, Ana SanRoman, Wesley Van Der Veen Advertising Designer Beth Hansen Distributor Cody Bakken The Vanguard is chartered to publish four days a week as an independent student newspaper by the PSU Publications Board. Views and editorial content expressed herein are those of the staff, contributors and readers, and do not necessarily represent those of the PSU student body, faculty, staff or administration. One copy of the Vanguard is provided free of charge to all community members, additional copies or subcription issues may incur a 25 cent charge. The Vanguard is printed on 40 percent post-consumer recycled paper. Copyright © 2010 Portland State University Vanguard 1825 SW Broadway, Smith Memorial Student Union, Rm. S-26, Portland, Ore., 97201
The story doesn’t stop when the print hits the page. Don’t like something that you read, want us to cover a story or feel that there is more to be said? You have the opportunity to praise or rip us apart here at the Vanguard. Post a comment online or write us a letter and tell us what you think. Here are some highlights from the Vanguard’s online comments. Maybe they taste like chicken Shoot the damn things. There are too many sea lions and seals on the pacific coast. I wonder what seal tastes like. I know they make fine
coats [“Sea lions vs. fishermen,” May 18]. —valmet62 Illegal = illegal Officers should be tackling actual crime—which is why previous legislation allowed for officers to request proof of authorization only if a suspected illegal immigrant was violating some other crime. Furthermore, the law-abiding hard-working immigrants that are un-authorized are already fearful of the vengeful eyes of Narcos (drug-traffickers) and Coyotes (human-traffickers)
Guest Opinion Future in clean energy necessary for U.S. Mark Costigan Daily Emerald staff
A high school English teacher once told me, “While college is often all theory, life is putting it into action.” I’ve heard an awful lot of theories about addressing the oil wound British Petroleum inflicted on the Gulf of Mexico. So far, the only action taken has been finger-pointing and corner-cutting. Today marks the onemonth anniversary of the deepwater horizon disaster. Oil from the bleeding earth has entered the “loop current” and is headed toward the Atlantic Ocean. Despite this tragedy, the current Kerry-Lieberman bill still plans to expand offshore oil drilling. It’s time to take some action. Last Thursday, President Obama vowed to end “the cozy relationship between the oil industry and regulators.” Turns out this cozy relationship enabled the largest environmental catastrophe of our lifetime. As the Gulf oil spill continues to unfold right before our eyes and accelerate in its devastation, we should examine how this was allowed to happen.
Oil corporations are among the most profitable in the world. With money comes power, and mark my words—our oil tycoons have a scary amount of power. So much power that when BP, Shell and Exxon first proposed drilling the Gulf, they successfully lobbied the Minerals Management Service out of giving them the proper permit. They weren’t required to assess the potential for an environmental disaster, which enabled BP to install bare bones, cheaply constructed Transocean valves despite their multi-billion dollar profits. Seventyfive million dollars would have ensured they didn’t take any shortcuts. Seventy-five million out of billions. But why would BP fork up the money for safe valves when they spent $16 million lobbying in Washington last year? Maximize efficiency at all costs. Even if that cost is the entire commercial tourist industry, commercial fishing industry and sea life from Louisiana to Florida. And the loop current isn’t going to stop in the Southeast. Soon the entire eastern seaboard will get to line its beaches with oil-booms. It’s no mystery why Chris Oynes of the Minerals Management Service announced his resignation Monday. So far, BP has made several attempts to stop the oil geyser
[“Racially suspicious,” May 7]. Being an illegal immigrant IS a crime...it’s...wait for it...ILLEGAL. —Anonymous A sound, well-thought out, right-wing argument Ah more liberal crap [“Racially suspicious,” May 7]. —Anonymous Legalize it I smell burnt tax revenues and additional expenses related to the fact that these young women are most likely going to lose their access student loans [“$5,000 worth of
from fouling the Gulf waters. Between lowering a 100-ton “top hat” container, frantically trying to activate emergency valves and installing exit tubes—the spill carries on. For a month now, the mainstream media has reported that the estimated amount of oil entering the Gulf is around 5,000 barrels a day. But sure enough, BP and Transocean have been suppressing the truth. Last Monday, the New York Times reported that BP has “resisted entreaties from scientists that they be allowed to use sophisticated instruments at the ocean floor that would give a far more accurate picture of how much oil is really gushing from the well.” Tom Mueller, a BP spokesperson, insisted that Americans didn’t need to know the true estimate. “The answer is no to that. We’re not going to take any extra efforts now to calculate flow there at this point. It’s not relevant to the response effort, and it might even detract from the response effort,” Mueller said. You got it, Tommy. I’m sure telling the truth to the American public would really “detract” from our response. Sounds more like you’re scared of the Louisiana fishermen who will show up on your doorstep when they find out how you afforded that extra weekend in Vegas. Heck, maybe you’re afraid the truth will land you and the BP peanut gallery in a federal penitentiary! As oil heads toward the East Coast, I think the appropriate charge might be “treason against the environment and economic security of our nation.” Guilty on all counts. So how much is BP underestimating? Some scientists think the real amount of oil gushing into the Gulf is around 80,000 barrels
marijuana found in dorm room,” May7]. This will either push them to sell more weed because they will have to pay for their education in cash, or it will shove them into low-wage jobs and a host of public services which will cost taxpayers far more than the $5,000 in weed that CPSO took from their dorm room. Until pot is legal, these girls should take their entrepreneurial skills and start selling massive quantities out of an estate in Dunthorpe, because the authorities would politely look away. —J
per day. That’s a repeat of the Exxon Valdez tanker oil spill every three days. And it looks like this rodeo won’t be finished for another three months. It sure pays to be the largest oil-consuming nation in the world. We need clean-energy legislation now. The effects have become painful and graphic. Industry and ecology are being destroyed on a scale never seen before. Rush Limbaugh and offshore drilling advocates argue that we need to drill to protect our national security. They say renewable energy is too expensive. Well I have a question for Mr. Limbaugh. If we can spend more than $995 billion fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, why can’t we spend a quarter of that investing in a clean-energy future for our own country? We need a rude awakening of our country’s leaders, communities and campuses. We need to wake people up to the toll oil is taking on our planet. We need to tell our leaders we oppose offshore drilling on any coast whatsoever. We need to demand the United States invests in solar and wind power. Attend next Wednesday’s “Crude Awakening” demonstration in the EMU Amphitheater. We’ll have live music from environmentally conscious bands, a visual demonstration of what’s going on, street theater and a petition to squash this awful bill. We’re going to have live streaming footage of the event to set a nationwide example. We’re going to awaken the masses. We’re going to have a “crude awakening” ourselves and demand clean energy legislation now. And it’s going to start right here in Eugene. *This article was originally printed in the Daily Emerald. It is reprinted here in its original form.
Online courses at PSU lowers the bar for all Will Blackford Vanguard staff
We come to university not only to get a degree that will help us get a good job and lucrative career. We also come to university, at least a little I hope, for education itself. Online courses may be effectively lowering the bar when it comes to actual learning. I had an interesting opportunity thrust upon me this quarter—the opportunity to take a fully online course at Portland State. I have never held much love for the online course, personally. There is something about the classroom environment that seems to me to be essential to a robust education— especially a college education. Nevertheless, the only course available to me was one entirely online through the Blackboard system. For the sake of progress and necessity, I decided to dive right in and see what it was all about. After a couple weeks of readings and quizzes I realized, to my dismay, that this course was, quite bluntly, a joke. The quizzes are made up of multiple-choice questions pulled straight from the book—often the quiz consists of questions from practice quizzes found in the e-book for which the answers are readily provided. The essays are simple fact-stating and book-regurgitation that require no citations or individual thought. There is no midterm and no final. The entire workload for this course is maybe half an hour a week on average, yet still counts for four credit hours. This is a course that many people would consider below par for junior high, let alone a university. There is no critical thinking, no incentive to do more than spew out the course text, and no stimulating discussion of any kind. The course does have a discussion board in case anyone wanted to have a real conversation about the materials. Unfortunately, the board has over 200 posts about technical
Blackboard out of my mind problems with Blackboard and quizzes, or complaints about how expensive the e-book was. Now I understand that sometimes people need a break from “real” schoolwork and may turn to an easier online course for a short respite. But there are also people who are earning their degrees with a majority of online courses—courses for which the standard of learning and achievement have been significantly reduced. The School of
Extended Studies even offers fully online degrees in social science and liberal studies. Portland State may not be an Ivy League university, but is this really where we want to take our college education? Lowering the bar for even one course diminishes the quality and importance of everyone’s education, and the bar here has been lowered substantially. Just imagine if the next time you told someone you go to Portland
Illustration by Kira Meyrick/Portland State Vanguard
Modern education It’s time to rethink a college education Richard D. Oxley Vanguard staff
I have always found attempts to modernize the education process rather annoying and just plain silly. Sure, Schoolhouse Rock might have worked for some, but only on a wave of retro appeal or nostalgia. In general, efforts to make textbooks more engaging or have mathematics taught via hip-hop should be halted. Whatever happened to learning from challenge and general interest? However, I don’t apply this notion to the issue of online education. The Vanguard recently reported that one form of online education, the hybrid course, has been receiving positive results. Such courses offer the best of both worlds, taking half of what would be done in class and moving it online. Having both methods working hand in hand offered students an avenue to the material that best fit their learning style and ability. For example, students who might not engage in class discussions had no problem speaking out online. A teacher once told me that a Victorian mother didn’t raise her child like a Medieval
mother, or a mother of the 20th century. They didn’t train or teach alike because the times and cultures were different and each culture had its own way of doing things and thinking. We are now facing such an age where we must admit that the times have changed, and our culture along with it. We don’t learn like we once did. Computers and other technology have become engrained within our society and, more importantly, our businesses. The businesses in our society rely upon and actively use modern technology as do, for example, our military. It’s everywhere. We interact perhaps as much online as we do in person. A variety of media, including TV and computers, shape how we take in information and in turn process it. Given how we now learn and communicate, why would we expect to slow down and change how we operate to get an education? It is almost as if we have to relearn how to, well, learn. Once upon a time, a fraction of students could leave home immediately after high school and go to a university where they had access to a well-rounded education that not only taught skills, but enlightened the students on a number of intellectual fronts.
Four years later, they would be molded into top thinkers and doers of society. But that was then. Today, students are lucky to get through college in one shot or even in four years. More and more people are heading into universities across America. College degrees are becoming more common, though the need for workers and innovators in a variety of fields remains. To think that our centers of education should continue an outdated model is absurd. It is like trying to teach people how to fix a Model T, when everyone is driving Priuses and SUVs. Our universities need to focus on cranking out an educated and skilled populace—one that can move society and the country forward. Teaching applicable skills is the key and the way we teach these skills can be essential to this end. Online education programs exist within the spectrum of our modern civilization. They operate in the manner of communication that is becoming ever more so common. This is not to say that sitting in a lecture course has no use. There will always be an essential need for listening, reading and studying the old fashioned way. Though we should not forget the wisdom of past educational methods, we should also not neglect our educational future.
State they replied with “You mean that online university?” It embarrasses me to think that there are individuals out there getting college degrees with courses like these, courses with close to zero difficulty that do little more than encourage repetition and regurgitation. This is not what a college education should be. An important part of the classroom experience is being around other individuals who think differently than you do and having discussions with professors and students about the material. Online courses are essentially providing the opposite, while simultaneously diminishing the importance of hard work, study, and critical thought altogether. There is something to be said for progress. As technology evolves, so do the ways and degrees to which we use it in all facets of life. It’s only natural that this would extend to education and the university setting. But we need not lower our standards of excellence to incorporate technology into our learning experience. Online courses could still be challenging and rewarding experiences if anyone gave a shit. It seems now that some are content to debase our university for the sake of convenience and expediency. We need to preserve the importance of the classroom experience and the wide range of perspectives that come with it. We are more than just memorizers and regurgitators and our education should be consistent with that. If this is the direction of progress I’m glad I won’t be in college any longer to see what happens when we get there. Don’t insult students’ collective intelligence by trying to pass off a joke of a course as the college experience.
What Do You
?
Think
Love them or hate them, online classes aren’t going anywhere. Some students enjoy the flexibility and freedom of an online class, while others may thrive on the personal face-to-face atmosphere that only a classroom and professor can provide. Though only decades old, computers and other modern technology continue to change the way we communicate, learn and interact with each other. This has the potential benefit to revolutionize education. Or, could such a technological intrusion into the world of learning have negative side effects that lessen the quality of education? What do you think? Should we embrace online courses and other computer-driven learning models? Have you had an online course and did you find it beneficial or a waste of time? Write us at the Vanguard and tell us what you think. Send an email to opinion@dailyvanguard. com, or to make it easier on you, use our letter-to-the-editor option on our website.
Vanguard Opinion | 3 May 25, 2010
On this day in history 1844 The first news dispatch communicated via telegraph is printed in the Baltimore Patriot. 1895 Found guilty of being a sodomite—which is old bigot-talk for being gay—Oscar Wilde is sentenced to two years of hard labor. Hmm, you don’t like a guy being gay so you make him hang out with a bunch of hot and sweaty guys working out?! 1927 Ford ceases production of the Model T automobile. They instead begin on the Model A. 1928 Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, though only as a passenger. Earhart was noted saying, “This is bulls***, I could do that!” 1961 President John F. Kennedy announces plans to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. 1968 The Rolling Stones release the single “Jumping Jack Flash.” 1969 The film Midnight Cowboy hits movies screens across the U.S. with an X rating. 1978 Star Wars is released into theaters, contributing to the emergence of the modern nerd. 1983 Return of the Jedi premieres. 1986 The numbers are debated, but up to 6 million people participate in “Hands Across America,” holding hands from California to New York. Germaphobes stay inside, predicting a mass germ transfer. 1992 Jay Leno steals The Tonight Show, for the first time, from David Letterman—a crime later to be repeated against Conan O’Brien.
Letters to the editor are gladly accepted and should be no longer than 300 words in length. Submissions may be edited for brevity and vulgarity. E-mail letters to opinion@ dailyvanguard.com.
Vanguard 4 | News May 25, 2010
News Editor: Virginia Vickery 503-725-5690 news@dailyvanguard.com
NEWS Student publication leaders for the 2010–11 school year Joe Hannan
Students improve Woodstock streets Five students from Portland State’s master of urban and regional planning program are working to improve the streets in Southeast Portland’s Woodstock neighborhood. Since January, the students have been advising the Woodstock Neighborhood Association on inexpensive and efficient ways to upgrade its streets, according to an article published by The Oregonian on May 21. According to the article, 7.8 percent of the neighborhood’s streets lack some combination of pavement, curbs and sidewalks. The city will not pay to improve the streets, nor will it pay to maintain any that aren’t built to city standards, according to the article. As a result, property owners are forced to make the expensive fixes. Matt Wickstrom, the students’ technical adviser and the Southeast District liaison for the city’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, told the Oregonian that the project, called Roadway Not Improved, is an example of recessionera planning. As part of their masters program at PSU, the students are required to work with the community. The findings will be incorporated into the Portland Plan, which will guide Portland’s development for over 25 years, according to the article. The students have inventoried the neighborhood’s unimproved roads, discovering issues such as poor drainage. They also surveyed residents and found that a majority of respondents did not want all streets to have pavement, curbs and sidewalks. The group has created models of several street uses and will make policy recommendations to the city. Lastly, if all goes as planned, they will present their findings to the WNA and to the City Council. —www.oregonlive.com
Vanguard staff
Portland State’s student publications and productions recently hired their new managers, editors and directors for the next academic year.
New hires hopes to incorporate more photos and infographics into the pages. Vickery also plans to redesign the layout, as well to make the Vanguard a more online-oriented publication, which will help reduce the number of print issues in future years. In addition, she said that next year’s Vanguard will provide videos of on-campus meetings and events on its website. Vickery hopes to recruit more writers for the Vanguard. She has worked at the Vanguard since the spring of 2009.
Jaqueline Treibert, The Review editor-in-chief Jaqueline Treibert, a junior, will become the new editor of The Review, a quarterly literary review that is geared towards addressing world issues, rather than those in PSU’s community. Treibert said she plans to work with PSU’s art department to add interactive elements to the publication, such as animation and art. According to Treibert, the publication’s content will focus on fiction, although she would like to add poetry and nonfiction sections. This is the first year that Treibert has been on The Review, although she has had previous editing experience for various books and reviews. She will officially begin at The Review on July 1.
Virginia Vickery, the Daily Vanguard editor-in-chief In June, News Editor Virginia Vickery, a senior, will become the Vanguard’s editor-in-chief. Commenting on her goals for the publication, Vickery said that she hopes to make the content more reader-friendly by providing a wider breadth of snappy content. She also
REPORT |
All photos by Adam Wickham/Portland State Vanguard
Brett Campbell, the Rearguard editor-in-chief Brett Campbell, a senior, recently took the position of editor-in-chief for the Rearguard, PSU’s alternative news magazine. Campbell assumed the role after Isaac Mayo, the Rearguard’s former editor-in-chief, stepped down due to scheduling conflicts and other job opportunities. Campbell wishes to put emphasis on the reformation of the Rearguard to suit a “capital ‘P’ progressive” style, rather than the previous “capital ‘A’ alternative” style, he said. As part of its reformation, Campbell plans to alter the magazine’s content to include more news and less commentary. In addition, design elements will be smaller and will not feature a double fold, he said. He also wants the Rearguard to become more online oriented, meaning more stories can be found exclusively online, rather than in print. “Each printed issue will be the ‘best of ’ from all the online stories that month,” he said.
“Our goal is for a liberal to pick up and read the magazine and look at an issue from a conservative angle,” Miles said. In addition, Miles said he may change the layout to provide more pictures and graphics.
Doug Friend, KPSU station manager Christy Zilka, PSU Graphic Design Center manager Senior Christy Zilka, will be returning as the manager of PSU’s Graphic Design Center. The center, located in the sub basement of Smith Memorial Student Union, caters to a wide variety of clients both at PSU and off-campus. Next year, Zilka, a graphic design major, plans to increase promoting of the center beyond the PSU community. According to Zilka, any student group funded by the SFC may use the design center’s resources for up to five hours. The GDC can be reached at gdesign@pdx.edu
As the new KPSU station manager, Doug Friend, a senior, plans to promote new digital FM and terrestrial listening options. KPSU’s goals include creating a wider-community of PSU listeners and establishing the station as a leader in local radio programming. Currently, KPSU broadcasts on campus at 98.1 FM, on the Internet at www.kpsu.org and on 1450AM, during the evenings and weekends. Friend would like to turn KPSU into a platform for music that would compete with cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. According to Friend, KPSU is always looking for diverse volunteer, student-DJs who can host programs— which can vary in content. Friend has worked with KPSU since June of 2008.
Jonathan Miles, the Spectator editor-in-chief
Joel Eisenhower, Pathos editor-in-chief
Jonathan Miles, a senior, was hired as the new editor of the Spectator, PSU’s conservatve publication. According to Miles, he plans to restructure the publication’s design and content. “We want to be the opposite of Glenn Beck,” he said. Miles said he has ideas to make the Spectator less biased in opinion than the previous year’s editions. Next year, his staff will publish straight, unbiased news, while providing correlating opinion articles that offer a conservative viewpoint.
Joel Eisenhower is the new editorin-chief of the Pathos Literary Review, a thrice-yearly published production that contains student writing and art work. The distribution for the publication is on-campus only, but Eisenhower plans to expand Pathos’ website to feature online video submissions and artwork. Eisenhower also plans to place more emphasis on featuring more student artwork. He said that in previous editions, Pathos would only get about 15 art submissions, but plenty of writing. Eisenhower was previously the copy editor of Pathos.
from page one
Stevens encourages interrupting oppression of white students. For a graduate or master’s degree, the ratio drops to 7 to 15.7 percent, respectively. In Multnomah County, the likelihood of having a degree as a person of color is 3 percent less than the national average in 2008, at 20.8 percent attainment. Retention rates at PSU are seen as another indicator of educational achievement, and they have been slowly declining for Native American, Black and Hispanic undergraduates since 2000. However, the retention rates of persons with Asian descent have risen slightly. Retention is measured in the report as students who graduate from PSU within six years of enrollment. Students
within the Black community had the lowest retention rate. In 2002, the Black community had a 10.2 percent retention rate, compared to a 40.9 percent rate for Asian students. Occupationally, communities of color are only more proportionally represented in the service industry, forestry, construction and maintenance and production and transportation. The largest disparity is in the service industry, where communities of color are represented 10.4 percent more than whites. Beginning to change these outcomes starts by setting an “advocacy-based agenda that reaches as high as it can to create policybased solutions,” Curry-Stevens said.
“It is now time for commitments to be made,” she said. More specifically, the report makes a series of 11 recommendations to address the needs of communities of color. One of the key recommendations asks for firm timelines and commitments of resources, as well as commitments from elected officials for specific policies that will begin to reduce some of the key disparities— such as in education and economic outcomes—in concrete ways. The eleventh recommendation— “name racism”—is one that students can begin to enact in their communities even before there are major policy interventions, Curry-Stevens said.
Adam Wickham/Portland State Vanguard
Ann Curry-Stevens
According to Cross-Hemmer, it is important that students engage with the issue of race and discrimination represented by this research, rather than continuing to believe that Portland is a utopian state. “Notice race. Notice voice and visibility and power,” Curry-Stevens said. “Notice how the current distribution of power contributes to the silencing [of communities of color and] practice stronger ally skills, interrupt oppression.” A full copy of the report can be found at www.coalition communitiescolor.org.
PORTABLES |
from page one
Affordable, green and truly portable models are on the drawing board At this point, BaSiC Initiative stepped in. According to its website, it is a community of faculty and students from Portland State University and University of Texas at Austin, who design and build structures, in order to create more economic and ecological spaces. On April 8–9 of 2010, BaSiC Initiative, architects, manufacturers of the portable classrooms and PPS gathered at a symposium aimed at transforming these portable classrooms into more economical, modular spaces. “There are over 200,000 of these classrooms all over the United States. If you do the math, that is billions and billions of dollars of investment in poor buildings that are going to be obsolete the moment they hit the ground,” Palleroni said. Palleroni reports that the portable classrooms are not great environments for students, either. “They don’t have good light. They don’t have good ventilation. They are not going to last,” he said. At the symposium, Palleroni realized that the manufacturing
companies were interested in creating more suitable portables. “[We got] everyone to sit around the table [at the symposium] and work together to design the portables…We created all sorts of options,” Palleroni said. Since the symposium, students at PSU have taken over the project. “Each of the ideas that emerged from that [April] meeting are now being [worked by students to] make them into better designs. Our hope is that we are going to take these ideas and influence the way in which these classrooms are made in the future,” Palleroni said. The department of architecture offers the courses involved with PPS and the BaSiC Initiative project. Professor Margarette Leite, assistant professor of architecture, has been involved in running Design Studios at PSU that deal with portable classroom designs. Palleroni is teaching a similar studio course, as well as two capstone courses relating to the portables. Students have been designing portable classrooms based on ideas
So far, the students seem to be making progress. “It’s just gaining incredible momentum. We’re actually hoping to build experimental super green classrooms that will break new ground of what [a portable classroom] can be,” Palleroni said. Green portables are not the only development Palleroni has seen in the project. Lately, engineers and economic professors have become involved in the project, as well as other faculty members. “We are trying to split the problem up…as part of the research agenda. We’re breaking it down into a series of problems that the school districts normally don’t have the funding to deal with. We’re going to start figuring out how to make this a reality,” Palleroni said. Palleroni has high hopes for the designs. He is confident that they will produce superior, more affordable classrooms. “It’s not just a school exercise. We are trying to overturn the system,” Palleroni said.
that came out of the first design session in April. The architecture courses are designed to expand and improve the ideas proposed at the symposium. One of the biggest problems designers have faced is creating a “truly” portable classroom. Right now, sites tend to get polluted with abandoned portable trailers that are no longer in use. They remain where they are because they are not as easily moved as the name suggests. Palleroni hopes to make the new portables in such a way that when a classroom is no longer needed, the trailer can easily be removed. Palleroni reports that, at the end of the semester, students will have prepared many different portable classroom options. At this point, Palleroni expects to meet with the portable manufacturers and get the designs into circulation. “We hope to have a whole bunch of different ideas of how we can make better classrooms, how to improve the ones that are already in place, and also how [to make] them truly portable,” Palleroni said.
CAMPUS CONNECTIONS News for students, by students
Males with low GPAs more likely to drop out A study published by a University economics professor found that males are more likely than females to drop out of college after being placed on academic probation. Jason Lindo, the researcher behind the study, found that in particular, male college students who did well in high school had the hardest time being placed on academic probation. The study also found that college students who get back on their feet after being placed on academic probation are more likely to succeed throughout college and graduate. The study used data collected from 1996 to 2005 by a three-campus Canadian university. The research studied 12,530 firstyear students with GPAs just above or just below the point that triggers academic probation and watched the students proceed with their education or drop out. Lindo thinks it’s interesting to see how male and female students
who excelled in high school reacted to being placed on academic probation in college. “While I can only speculate as to why, it suggests that those who are most accustomed to success are most sensitive to negative feedback,” Lindo said. A University student who requested anonymity for privacy said he was a straight-A student in high school, but the reality of college hit him hard his freshman year. “It’s a blow to your self-esteem,” he said. “It’s an indescribable feeling because you know it’s your fault and you’re disappointed (in yourself).” Although he declined to say how he got onto academic probation, the student said he is now in good academic standing after working hard for several terms. Lindo is also surprised by the lack of research on how students feel about being placed on academic probation, and he said past research on academic probation compared students not on probation to students who were. “I thought it was crazy that nearly all post-secondary institutions have
academic probation policies yet we knew pretty much nothing about how they affect student outcomes,” Lindo said. “I was most surprised that the impact on drop-out rates are greatest among students with the best high school grades. Going in, I would have expected the opposite to be the case.” Jennifer Joslin, University director of academic advising, said Lindo’s research is extremely important for advisors to consider. She said there are more male University students on academic warning, academic probation and academic disqualification, which is in line with Lindo’s research. What fascinated Joslin, though, was the amount of qualitative, or reaction, research in the study. “We see students on academic probation (and) it either motivates or discourages them,” Joslin said. “The data does match.” Lindo believes that while the data were collected from a Canadian university, the findings are still applicable to American universities because academic probation policies are usually the same from university to university. He would
be interested in conducting a research like the Canadian one on an American university. “It’s not that hard to conduct the analysis,” Lindo said. “The hardest part is getting administrators on board in order to get the data.” Joslin knows students can be discouraged by being placed on academic probation, but he also sees how students can bounce back. “We hear students all the time who were smart in high school and who never had to put in the time to study (before college),” Joslin said. “Their success was based on being sharp, but they didn’t bring good studying strategies to college. (However), there are reasons for resilience.” Joslin said successful students who recover from academic probation visit their instructor’s office hours after exams, learn how to read their degree audit and understand how they’re doing in classes. “It’s about turning everything around at an everyday level,” Joslin said. —Kaitlin Flanigan, Oregon Daily Emerald
Vanguard News | 5 May 25, 2010
FBI report shows crime rates down in Oregon and U.S. According to a press release from the Oregon Senate Majority Office, 2009 data shows that property and violent crime have both decreased. Yesterday, members of the Interim Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony that crime rates in Oregon dropped, as have national crime rates. A presentation on the FBI Preliminary Uniform Crime Report from 2009 indicated that both property and violent crimes are down across the state. “The presentation we heard this afternoon indicates that crime numbers in Oregon are at their lowest point since the 1960s,” said Senator Floyd Prozanski, chair of the Interim Senate Judiciary Committee. The report indicated that seizures of meth labs in Oregon have declined dramatically since 2004, a contrast to rising rates across the nation. “Increased community policing, strengthening laws on the sale of materials used to manufacture meth, and the promotion of evidence-based practices have all contributed to the lowest crime rates Oregon has seen in a generation,” said Senator Suzanne Bonamici. The Senate presentation by the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission also noted that violent crime was down in Oregon’s largest cities. Violent crime decreased nationally last year by 5.5 percent and property crime was down 4.9 percent from 2008. A decline occurred from 2008 to 2009 in all four categories of violent crime: robbery, murder, aggravated assault and forcible rape.
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The FBI also reported that in metropolitan counties violent crime declined by 4 percent, and by 3 percent elsewhere. The FBI collected crime data from more than 13,000 law enforcement agencies around the country. —orsenatemajority.org
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Vanguard 6 | Arts & Culture May 25, 2010
Arts Editor: Theodora Karatzas 503-725-5694 arts@dailyvanguard.com
Out today: New albums to tickle your fancy
ARTS & CULTURE • ROYAL RETURN • Forgotten Sands takes Prince of Persia back to its roots with poise Steve Haske
Beach Fossils: Beach Fossils (Captured Tracks) Andy Bell: Non-Stop (Mute) David Cross: Bigger and Blackerer (Sub Pop) (CD/DVD) The Cure: Disintegration (Three-disc reissue) (Polydor/Universal) (U.S. release) Karen Elson: The Ghost Who Walks (Third Man/XL) First Aid Kit: The Big Black & the Blue (Wichita) Damien Jurado: Saint Bartlett (Secretly Canadian) Bettye LaVette: Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook (Anti-) Neverever: Angelic Swells (Slumberland) Peter Wolf Crier: Inter-Be (Jagjaguwar) (U.S. release) The Ponys: Deathbed + 4 EP (Matador) (vinyl release) Ty Segall: Melted (Goner) The Smashing Pumpkins: Teargarden by Kaleidyscope 1: Songs for a Sailor (Rocket Science) (limited edition box set) Solvent: Subject to Shift (Ghostly International) DM Stith: Heavy Ghost Appendices (Asthmatic Kitty) Stone Temple Pilots: Stone Temple Pilots (Atlantic) Tobacco: Maniac Meat (Anticon) Various Artists: Be Yourself: A Tribute to Graham Nash’s Songs for Beginners (Grassroots) Walking Sleep: Measures (SR) Wild Nothing: Gemini (Captured Tracks)
—pitchfork.com
Vanguard staff
You have to hand it to Ubisoft Montreal—when it comes to bigbudget titles, they really know how to put together a well-made game. Aside from the likes of the Assassin’s Creed series (whose pedigree has come a long way since inception) and Splinter Cell, arguably their biggest—or at least most well known series—has been Prince of Persia, beginning with last generation’s Sands of Time. With the release of the PoP film just around the corner, the newest entry in the venerable adventure series, The Forgotten Sands, could be easily dismissed as a cheap movie tie-in. But rather than go that route, Ubisoft elected to make Forgotten Sands a quality game, and it’s all the better for it. Gone are the drastically changed mechanics of the (highly underrated) PoP 2008 reboot, as Forgotten Sands actually acts as a sort of lost adventure for the Prince, taking place between the original Sands of Time and its sequel Warrior Within.
Before Forgotten Sands came out, I was a little skeptical about Ubisoft seemingly turning tail to retreat away from the bold, striking art direction and refreshing change of pace PoP 2008 offered. But I must admit, even for a more traditionallyminded PoP, Forgotten Sands is damn good, and a lot of fun. It’s not surprising, then, that Forgotten Sands’ gameplay will be familiar to anyone who’s played Sands of Time. The Prince once again has the ability to rewind time (although Sands of Time’s dagger is conspicuously absent), and there’s plenty of puzzle-based platforming to be had. This time around, however, you also have control over the elements—most notably water— which the Prince can now freeze in order to create makeshift stepping stones to get across chasms and the like. Thankfully, the developers haven’t crammed in so much combat as in previous iterations of the series, and although it’s pretty hack-and-slash simple, the Prince has access to a basic experience tree that will afford him some elemental upgrades that keep things interesting (particularly when the screen is overflowing with sand-baddies). As a nice added flourish, there are also some small nods to PoP’s 2008’s acrobatic one-on-one duels.
A LO-FI TRIP
down memory line Nucular Aminals has a gritty warmth and vintage sound to melt your soul Leah Bodenhamer Vanguard staff
Indie pop quartet Nucular Aminals has created a buzz not only from its independent style, but its extensive 2010 tour, which has the group playing a large number of shows in Portland and the Northwest, as well as destinations like Kansas City, Mo. Nucular Aminals is made up of Erin Schmith, Wiley Hickson, Jheremy Grigsby and Robert Comitz III. The group, who came up from California after struggling
to find show opportunities and lacking a vehicle, has fit in perfectly in the Portland scene and plans on taking advantage of that fit in the coming months. “Jheremy, Erin and Robert started playing music together in San Francisco in 2007,” Comitz said. “We played some shows there but it is hard to play shows in the city sometimes. We moved up to Portland in 2008 and met Wiley here. We have been playing together for a year and a half now and are starting to get each other’s chemistry for writing now.” The band has released multiple recordings, including a seven-inch and a cassette tape. Currently, the group is planning for a release of a full-length album this summer. When it comes to writing, the band has many influences including
And even though I was slightly disappointed by the developer’s decision to nix the living-watercolor cel-shading look that made PoP 2008 such a visual delight, Forgotten Sands is still just as sumptuous in its own right. Everything from the detailed, large character models to the beautifully designed, colorful sets make this game quite a looker— even though you might not have expected it to. The addition of the Prince’s new elemental powers really make the series’ trademark platforming shine, however. Adding geysers of the water that must be frozen and unfrozen in order to ascend the game’s labyrinthine chambers makes for a fun (and aesthetically gorgeous) mechanic that only improves as the game goes on. A seasoned gamer will be able to blow through this one in a day or two, but if you’re a fan of adventure games—a genre that’s so underrepresented now—you owe it to yourself to check out Forgotten Sands.
All photos courtesy of Ubisoft
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands Ubisoft PS3, Xbox 360 $59.99
friends and situations particular to its environment. Nucular Aminals is not easily narrowed down to a particular genre or style. Each track mixes pop, rock and possibly the hint of folk, which has made its style unidentifiable yet still consistent. Tonight Nucular Aminals will play at East End, a venue the band has performed at before and looks forward to visiting again. Though Portland is known for great indie venues, Comitz and the band feel that East End is one of the best performing spaces around. “…the staff there are nothing but nice...one of our three favorite places to play. The others are Duckett’s and The Know,” Comitz said. Nucular Aminals has a lot to look forward to with a June tour coming up and a possible release this summer. The band hopes that the diversity of cities and venues on its upcoming tour will increase its fan base and help to sell the group’s latest releases in preparation for new material. “We are looking forward to our tour in June...to all of the shows on the tour,” Comitz said. “We will be traveling to many places that
we have never been so it will be an adventure. Just hope the van is nice to us, as we are nice to the van.” With the support of the band’s tour vehicle, Nucular Aminals hopes to move to the next level after its extensive tour with new venues and audiences. Nucular Aminals will perform tonight with Jacuzzi Boys, Total Bros and Orca Team—a lineup of four bands that will be sure to draw excitement and a solid turnout at the southeast Portland venue. With diverse styles from each band and a venue that is an enjoyable viewing and performing experience, tonight’s show with Nucular Aminals is not one to miss.
Nucular Aminals East End 203 SE Grand Avenue Tonight, 8 p.m. 21+
All photos courtesy of Nathan Backous/Flickr
Local film • highlights • Photo courtesy of Jigsaw Productions
Pop
The Square
1. “Break Your Heart,” Taio Cruz feat. Ludacris
Sarah Esterman
Critically acclaimed as the best film noir in a long time, The Square is one of those films that you want to see without knowing much about the plot. But I will tell you this: The plot involves a man, a mistress and large sum of cash. The film, directed by Australian brothers Nash and Joel Edgerton, is a thriller that you will not want to miss.
There are a lot of sweet films playing at local theaters this week and unless you’re graduating to be an unfortunate statistic in the boomerang generation, you probably don’t have time to pick out the best ones. But don’t worry about it—we’ve searched through them for you.
Cinema 21 7 p.m., 9:10 p.m. $7 All ages
The Lady Vanishes
The Square
Photo courtesy of Woodshed Films
Photo courtesy of Australian Film Finance Corporation
Week of May 29
Thursday
Tuesday
180° South
Billboard Top 10
New and classic films playing locally this weekend Vanguard staff
Casino Jack and the United States of Money
Vanguard Arts & Culture | 7 May 25, 2010
One of Alfred Hitchcock’s last British films, The Lady Vanishes is a display of the suspense-genre genius at his best. Margaret Lockwood stars as the young and wealthy Iris Henderson, heading home to London to unhappily marry. Along the way she meets Miss Fray, an elderly governess, as well as the handsome, obnoxious Gilbert. After receiving a blow to the head, the two take in Iris. But in the morning, the governess is gone, and when Iris asks around about her disappearance, everyone feigns ignorance, and she must depend on Gilbert to assist her in discovering the truth.
Laurelhurst Theater 7 p.m. $3 21+ Wednesday
3. “Rude Boy,” Rihanna 4. “Your Love Is My Drug,” Ke$ha 5. “Hey, Soul Sister,” Train 6. “In My Head,” Jason Derulo 7. “OMG,” Usher feat. will.i.am 8. “Alejandro,” Lady Gaga
Friday
9. “Breakeven,” The Script
Woman on the Beach
10. “Need You Now,” Lady Antebellum
Having debuted his latest film at this year’s Portland International Film Festival, one of South Korean director Hong Sang-Soo’s earlier films is playing at Northwest Film this week. Woman on the Beach follows a filmmaker’s struggle to write a new screenplay, which results in his attempt to woo his product designer’s girlfriend, and even another girl that looks exactly like her.
Rock 1. “Between the Lines,” Stone Temple Pilots 2. “The Good Life,” Three Days Grace 3. “Lay Me Down,” The Dirty Heads feat. Rome 4. “Uprising,” Muse 5. “1901,” Phoenix
Whitsell Auditorium 7 p.m. Free w/PSU ID All ages
6. “Savior,” Rise Against
Saturday
8. “Resistance,” Muse
180° South
Casino Jack and the United States of Money
Inspired by the recent discovery of the lost cans of film that documented the legendary Yvon Chouinard’s 1968 expedition from the coast of California to deep Patagonia, the adventurer Jeff Johnson and his buddies set out to follow Chouinard’s route. Weaving the old film in with the new, this awesome documentary tells two tales of adventure, and, ultimately, two tales of the preservation of the natural world. 180° South is definitely a must-see.
Tagged as the film that will show you where your democracy went, Casino Jack and the United States of Money is a documentary that follows Washington D.C. super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. As the film shows, Abramoff is good at one thing and one thing only: taking money from the American people through casinos and Indian reservations. Surrounded by the greed and corruption that his lies bring, the film doesn’t exactly portray Abramoff in the most positive light.
Hollywood Theatre 8:30 p.m. $6.50 All ages
Cinema 21 Time TBA Price TBA All ages
Woman on the Beach
2. “Nothin’ On You,” B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars
Photo courtesy of BOM Film Productions
7. “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To,” Weezer
9. “Cryin’ Like A Bitch!,” Godsmack 10. “Your Decision,” Alice in Chains —Billboard
Vanguard 8 | Arts & Culture May 25, 2010
Weekend box office: Top 10 highestgrossing films for the weekend of May 21–23 1. Shrek Forever After Weekend Gross: $70,838,207 Gross to Date: $70,838,207 2. Iron Man 2 Weekend Gross: $26,361,258 Gross to Date: $36,063,385 3. Robin Hood Weekend Gross: $18,769,220 Gross to Date: $66,615,690 4. Letters to Juliet Weekend Gross: $9,006,266 Gross to Date: $27,332,507 5. Just Wright Weekend Gross: $4,290,431 Gross to Date: $14,697,071 6. MacGruber Weekend Gross: $4,043,495 Gross to Date: $4,043,495 7. Date Night Weekend Gross: $2,913,504 Gross to Date: $90,748,818 8. A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) Weekend Gross: $2,321,388 Gross to Date: $59,967,500 9. How to Train Your Dragon Weekend Gross: $1,901,211 Gross to Date: $15,089,070 10. Kites Weekend Gross: $958,673 Gross to Date: $958,673 —boxofficemojo.com
Land as
ART Land Art redefines the boundary between art and landscape Roger Wightman Vanguard staff
The work of a typical artist is hard enough, but compared to that of a land artist or earth artist sitting behind a canvas doesn’t seem too bad. It makes sense that the beginnings of land art took place somewhere in the throngs of the ‘60s hippie movement. Originating mostly in the southwestern U.S., artists would make giant creations in the earth itself using tractors, bulldozers and whatever else was needed to put a new face to the earth. This artistic sect was started as a protest to the commercialization of art and the tools needed to create art. At about the same time, artist, sculptor and craft maker David Shaner had his own way of protesting his increasingly expensive hobby. Shaner was always fascinated with clay, stating in a 2001 interview for the Smithsonian Institute, “Clay always felt good to me. Whenever I would start a project with a painting or a blank sheet of paper, there was always a certain fear about ‘what am I going to do.’ But with a piece of clay, it just seemed like it was automatic. You just started working and it was a wonderful thing.” By shifting away from the use of synthetic means, Shaner set the motion for what would become a lifetime of work. Shaner was wildly influential to the world of ceramics, leading both the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts and garnering the first grant for ceramics from the NEA. Shaner settled down in Montana in 1970 where he worked on his projects
By: Sarah Engels
before passing away in 2002. The exhibit is a collection of work that spanned Shaner’s career as an artist. Not limited to solely ceramics, the exhibit also includes photographs and notes that provide greater insight into the complexities beyond the clay. Shaner’s work itself is not particularly impressive to look at—unless you understand the difficulty of making ceramics—but the thoughts, emotions and questions that the work brings up are surprising. The work puts us back into our proper place in the planet—if even for a moment, we are once again an emerging superpower only beginning to understand our true potential. A major theme of the exhibit is a celebration of the American west. The rich earthy tones of the dishes and molds remind us of the soils that we see around us, still rich in organic matter and full of nutrients. The red hues are uniquely western, bringing us back to the days of playing cowboys and Indians in the backyard. Shaner’s work is an embodiment of life and environment in the west: rugged, weathered and beautiful. The Museum of Contemporary Craft is a partnership with Pacific Northwest College of Art and is one of only a handful of places in the Northwest that devotes space to the exhibition of craft. Along with the exhibit, a book written by Peter Held on Shaner’s work, Following the Rhythms of Life: The Ceramic Art of David Shaner will also be available.
Land Art: David Shaner Museum of Contemporary Craft 724 NW Davis St Tue-Sat, 11 p.m.-6 p.m. Runs through August 7
All photos courtesy of David Shaner/Museum of Contemporary Craft
Creative clay: Ceramics by David Shaner are now on display at the Museum of Contemporary Craft.
SPORTS Rodrigo Melgarejo/Portland State Vanguard
A tale of
Photo courtesy of PSU Athletics
two seasons Softball struggled early, but coasted to PCSC Championship after 18-2 run James MacKenzie Vanguard staff
After a 9-0 loss to Oregon State on March 28, the Viking softball team fell to a 10-21 record, a far cry from what would be expected from a team unanimously picked to win the division in the preseason polls. However, the Vikings caught fire at just the right time and when the smoke had cleared on the season, PSU softball stood atop the Pacific Coast Softball Conference’s Mountain Division with an 18-2 record—the best conference record in program history. Tickets punched to the inaugural PCSC Championship Series, the Vikings headed to Moraga, Calif. to face St. Mary’s College in a best-of-three series. The Vikings took Game One before dropping the next two and losing the series. Among the questions the Vikings faced heading into the season, the largest was whether the loss of five members of last year’s playoff squad would be surmountable through the addition of six freshmen and one transfer. Though the transition was slow, it was simply a matter of time and outlook that kept the team going into conference play.
“We all tried to maintain our positive outlook on everything, because we knew we had talent,” said head coach Tobin Echo-Hawk. “It was just a matter of putting it together. We are also a very young team, as far as how half of the team is newcomers, so it was just going to be a little bit of time before they figured it out.” Though the team’s youth may have contributed to a slow start, with the team as a whole batting .224 on March 28, the preseason was a showcase for two of the season’s most consistent players. Freshman pitcher Anna Bertrand entered the season already expected to be one of the best pitchers to come through Portland State. She didn’t lower any expectations when she struck out the side in one inning of relief in her debut and then followed it up with a complete game onehitter against Cal Poly in her third college start. Bertrand never slowed down as the season wore on, as she would go on to post one of the finest seasons pitched in school history. Far and away the best pitcher in the PCSC, Bertrand led the league in ERA and strikeouts, posting a 1.61 ERA with 218 strikeouts in 165 innings. The league recognized Bertrand’s accomplishments by awarding her the 2010 Mountain Division Pitcher of the Year. While senior catcher Brandi Scoggins struggled early along with the rest of the offense, batting .200 through the season-opening
Rodrigo Melgarejo/Portland State Vanguard
Division champs: The Viks started the 2010 season in a slump, but caught fire during conference play.
Kajikawa Classic and Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament, Scoggins found her swing at the Eller Media Stadium Tournament and never looked back. Against Southern Utah and UNLV on March 5, Scoggins tallied eight hits in eight at-bats with two doubles and five RBI, on her way to hit .367 on the season. Scoggins would join Bertrand with her own offseason accolade, co-winning the Mountain Division Player of the Year Award with Idaho State’s Taylor Marchione. “It just goes to show that we had great players and they were consistent,” Echo-Hawk said. “That’s the most important thing and it’s a bummer when you have two fantastic pitchers and only one gets the Pitcher of the Year, because Nichole [Latham] is just as deserving as Anna was… you look at Nichole’s numbers and they’re good and what she overcame with her injury, it’s so hard as a coach to say ‘Oh congratulations’ to one player, when you know the other one is just as deserving.” On April 10, the Vikings entered conference against Northern Colorado, looking to move past the early nonconference record and begin their defense of the PCSC Championship. What lingering doubts remained about the stalling offense were answered when senior infielder De’Chauna Skinner launched a home run that Vikings’ broadcaster and former head coach Teri Mariani described as the longest home run she’d ever seen hit at Erv Lind Stadium. Disappearing into the tree-lined outfield, Skinner’s home run sealed a game two victory over Northern Colorado as the Vikings went on to sweep the four game series over the Bears. Skinner epitomized the transition of the Vikings offense from the anemic early season incarnation to the productive and effective version that appeared during conference play. Skinner entered conference batting a mere .143 while slugging only .196. After her home run against Northern Colorado, she went on a tear that would see her hit five home runs in only 50 conference at-bats, as she went on to hit .380 and put up an on-base plus slugging percentage of 1.195. Much like Skinner, the rest of the offense found their stroke in conference, as the team batted .315 with 12 home runs and 27 doubles, walking 47 times to only 58 strikeouts. Becca Diede would lead much of the attack, as her 16 doubles on the season
Rodrigo Melgarejo/Portland State Vanguard
paced the club and her pen chance for the big hit helped Portland State to several wins. Scoggins, who was on fire all season, broke Portland State’s career doubles record, setting the new mark at 44 two-baggers. With conference underway, the Vikings quickly gained steam as the offense continued to click and the pitching staff mowed down opponents with the precision of a surgeon. Both Bertrand and Latham carved apart the PCSC, posting ERA’s of 0.88 and 0.60 respectively while senior Tori Rogers ended her career by posting a 2.10 ERA in 20 innings. The Vikings sole losses in conference came against Utah Valley, as Portland dropped two games, 1-3 and 2-3. Going into the third week of conference sitting
Vanguard Sports | 9 May 25, 2010
Sports Editor: Robert Britt 503-725-4538 sports@dailyvanguard.com
PSU softball’s 2009–10 schedule and results Kajikawa Classic (at Arizona State) Feb. 11 vs. Ohio W, 2-0 Feb. 12 vs. N. Dakota St. L, 2-1 at No. 15 Arizona St. L, 14-0 (5) Feb. 13 vs. Ole Miss L, 5-3 vs. Purdue W, 3-2 Feb. 14 vs. No. 12 Cal L, 8-0 Stacy Winsberg Memorial (at UCLA) Feb. 19 vs. Cal State Northridge W, 7-1 vs. Cal Poly L, 0-1 (8) Feb. 20 vs. UC Davis L, 2-3 vs. Cal Poly L, 0-6 Feb. 21 vs. Cal State Northridge W, 12-6 at No. 7 UCLA L, 0-11 (6) Eller Media Stadium Classic (at UNLV)
Rodrigo Melgarejo/Portland State Vanguard
with a 6-2 league record, the Vikings would not lose another game to a conference opponent until the Championship Series, sweeping through Idaho State, Weber State and Seattle University on their way to face St. Mary’s. According to Echo-Hawk the tough early schedule was just what the team needed to propel it forward as it coasted through the Mountain Division to the PCSC Championship Series. “We have to prepare ourselves before we get to conference because our division isn’t as strong as the Coastal Division,” she said. “We need to make sure that we continue to challenge ourselves throughout the season to prepare for the tournament at the end.” Despite losing the championship series, Echo-Hawk is more than proud of her team. After facing the adversity of an exceedingly tough preseason, the Vikings can walk away from the season without any doubts as to the talent of the team or where they’re heading next year. “The biggest thing was how they dealt with adversity and how they dealt with not being as successful in the beginning,” Echo-Hawk said. “A lot of people were doubting us and counting us out as far as conference goes, and I think the maturity and growth they showed was tremendous and it was great to see them come together as a team and really finish the season as a team.”
March 5 vs. S. Utah W, 9-0 (6) at UNLV W, 10-9 March 6 vs. No. 13 Cal L, 0-7 at UNLV L, 0-8 March 7 vs. New Mexico St. L, 2-3 Husky Softball Classic (at Washington) March 12 vs. Miami (OH) L, 1-4 March 13 vs. Miami (OH) W, 6-3 at No. 1 Washington L, 0-5 March 14 vs. Seattle L, 4-6 Spring Hill Suites Classic (at Boise State) March 20 vs. Minnesota W, 1-0 at Boise State W, 9-1 (6) March 21 vs. Minnesota L, 3-6 at Boise State W, 9-3
Continued on Page 10
March 23 vs. No. 25 Oregon (DH) L, 2-3 L, 0-2 March 27 vs. No. 1 Washington (DH) L, 2-3 L, 0-7 March 28 at Oregon State (DH) L, 0-4 L, 0-9 (6) April 10 vs. N. Colorado* (DH) W, 1-0 W, 4-0 April 11 vs. N. Colorado* (DH) W, 5-2 W, 5-2 April 16 at Utah Valley* (DH) L, 2-3 W, 7-2 April 17 at Utah Valley* (DH) L, 1-3 (9) W, 4-3 April 21 vs. Oregon State L, 1-2 April 24 vs. Idaho State* (DH) W, 6-1 W, 10-1 (5) April 25 vs. Idaho State* (DH) W, 1-0 W, 7-1 April 30 at Weber State* (DH) W, 6-3 W, 11-1 (5) May 1 at Weber State* (DH) W, 14-6 (5) W, 3-2 May 5 at No. 19 Oregon (DH) L, 4-5 W, 4-1 May 8 vs. Seattle* (DH) W, 4-1 W, 1-0 May 9 vs. Seattle* (DH) W, 6-3 W, 7-3 PCSC Championship Series May 14 at St. Mary’s* W, 1-0 May 15 at St. Mary’s* (DH) L, 0-3 L, 4-7 DH – Doubleheader * - Pacific Coast Softball Conference game
Tanya Shiffer Vanguard staff
With the sounds of race cars speeding in the background and low-level commercial airliners flying overhead, PSU Campus Recreation held its Spring Golf Tournament at Heron Lakes Golf Course just off Marine Drive in North Portland on Friday. Students, faculty, alumni and friends gathered despite the rain clouds and soggy ground to play a round of golf Portlandstyle. The event had prizes for lowest and highest scores and a poker challenge where players accumulated cards throughout their time on the links, with a prize going to the person holding the best poker hand at the end of the round. Graduate students Kosti Efftathiou and Kashyap Nutulapati greeted players and got the (golf) ball rolling for the day. Because of the weather some moving around had to be done, but according to Efftathiou there were only four cancellations. Jamie Harrell was the overall winner with 76 strokes, and was also the winner of the poker challenge with four aces. Blaine Mcelfish finished with a net score of 78 strokes. Cody Wagner won the longest drive on the 12th hole, and Michael Smith and Darren Haines won the closest to the pin contests on the fourth and 15th holes, respectively. Although there have been PSUsponsored golf tournaments in the past, Campus Rec just started hosting the event this year, including the fall tournament held at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club. Student Intramurals Coordinator and former Vanguard sports editor Skyler Archibald has high hopes for future Campus Recsponsored golf tournaments. “Hopefully we will start making it a regular tradition, with a tournament in the fall and one in the spring,” he said. With all the golf courses the Portland area has to offer, there are many options for upcoming tournaments, but Heron Lakes is a perfect fit for PSU, according to Archibald, because of its affordability, challenge to participants and its proximity to campus. “We are always striving to create new events and offer programming to fit our diverse student populations’ needs,” Archibald said. Information about Campus Rec and the Intramural Programs can be found at www. pdx.edu/recreation.
Tanya Shiffer/Portland State Vanguard
Rainy-day rec: Students, staff and alumni braved the rain for the Spring Golf Tournament on Friday, held at the Heron Lakes Golf Course.
Chemistry students form an intramural flag football team Allison Whited Vanguard staff
One might think that it takes a mighty powerful catalyst to get chemistry students to react with a football. The Free Radicals, the aptly named intramural flag football team that is comprised of chemistry students, is out to show otherwise. They are a part of the eight-man, five-team spring flag football league run by Campus Recreation. The spring league is different from the fall five-man league in that contact is allowed in the form of openhanded blocking, and the entire length of the football field is used. Alex Rudine, a second year graduate student and team captain, is quick to point out that though the team has plenty of fun, it had yet to score going into Sunday’s first round playoff game against the Wanna Brees. Consequently, the Free Radicals are at the bottom of the league standings with a 0-4 record, though it did score a touchdown in the 21-6 loss. As team member and senior Devin Thompson puts it,
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“You know that Hollywood movie where the chemistry department gets together and puts together a team...and they wind up winning the championship with 10 seconds left? This is the slightly less popular version where they get together and play exactly like a chemistry department is supposed to play. But they have a good time doing it at least.” Rudine started the team this year and would like to keep competing when fall comes around. He got the idea to start the team from a friend of his in the chemistry department while Rudine himself was still an undergraduate at Portland State. “Things fell together [ for the team] this year,” Rudine said. Because the team is made up of students applying themselves to such a difficult and time-consuming major, flexibility within the game and practice schedule has had to develop. As an example, there was a biochemistry exam last Friday so Thursday’s practice was cancelled. For Rudine, the biggest benefit of being involved with the team has been the relationships everyone has developed. “You know, I see all of these students in a working relationship or in chemistry talking about reactions and this and that.
Illustration by Shannon Vincent
To be able to just go out and exercise and just gel as a team has been a lot of fun,” Rudine says. Thompson’s favorite thing is the physical activity he gets from participating, which is exercise he might find hard to come by otherwise. “It’s been awhile since I played high school ball. It’s nice to get out there and throw a ball around and actually have enough people around to do it. It’s hard to get 20 people together to [play] out in the real world.” With graduate students and undergraduates lining up shoulder to shoulder, a stronger sense of community has developed. Thompson says that through the team, he has learned about the various research fields of the graduate students and he has been able to talk to them about it. Their knowledge of chemistry gives them a common ground. This past Sunday league playoffs began. The Free Radicals played the Wanna Brees, a team comprised of staff from the student rec center.
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Vanguard Etc. | 11 May 25, 2010
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Announcements Low Stress romance The Romantic Relationship Institute, LLC, would like to announce the release of Dr. Billy Lee Kidd’s new book LOW STRESS ROMANCE. In the book, Dr. Kidd shows how people who strive to have high-performance lifestyles can have meaningful and exciting relationships. See it now at RomanticRelationshipInstitute.com.
Today Greening Facilities Not Owned by PSU Noon Market Square Building, 1515 SW Fifth Avenue The Department of Justice green team will present some innovative approaches to “greening” an office space in a building that you don’t control. Other presenters will include RecycleWorks and the city of Portland’s BEST Business Center Speak Out 2009 1 p.m. Smith Memorial Student Union, room 229 Molly Franks from the Multnomah County Health Department will present the results of the Speak Out Survey 2009. The survey measured the health and wellness among Portland’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex communities. Part of PSU Pride Week
Wednesday
KenKen® is a registered trademark of Nextoy, LLC. ©2010 KenKen Puzzle LLC. All rights reserved. Dist. by UFS, Inc. www.kenken.com
● Each row and each column
must contain the numbers 1 through 4 (easy) or 1 through 6 (challenging) without repeating.
● The numbers within the heavily outlined boxes, called cages, must combine using the given
operation (in any order) to produce the target numbers in the top-left corners. Fill in single-box ● Freebies: cages with the number in
the Vanguard
Transgender Legal Issues 1 p.m. SMSU, room 229 A presentation by Sasha Buchert as part of PSU Pride Week
the top-left corner.
5-25-10
Your Ad Here Call the Vanguard 503.725.5686
46th Annual Nina Mae Kellogg Awards 5 p.m. SMSU, room 327 The Kellogg awards in English recognize excellence in student writing in 23 categories from memoir to journalism. This year’s speaker will be Elise Paschen, a poet and literary critic as well as co-founder of Poetry in Motion Film: Made in LA 5:30 p.m. SMSU Multicultural Center Made in L.A. is an Emmy award-winning documentary that follows the story of three Latina immigrants working in Los Angeles garment sweatshops while struggling to win basic labor protections from a trendy clothing retailer. The film will be followed by a discussion. Part of the Roots Festival
To place an event: Contact vgcalendar@ gmail.com or pick up a calendar request form at the Vanguard advertising office, SMSU, room 115.
SPORTS EXTRA
Vanguard Sports | 12 May 25, 2010
Forecast calls for snow in Pioneer Square on Friday
Bruises, welts and
Some of the best pro snowboarders and skiers will take to a makeshift snowboarding course 20 feet tall and 100 feet long in Pioneer Courthouse Square Friday for the final event of the 2010 Campus Rail Jam Tour.
championship belts
All photos courtesy of Mike Bitton/Flickr
Newcomers and a new champ rocked the ring on Saturday Robert Seitzinger Vanguard staff
Shortly before making their mixed martial arts debuts, two fighters listened to officials explain the rules for the night’s bouts. “I’m ready to get out there, and I feel excellent,” said Chuck Cooper of Team Cannon, while punching a fist into his other hand. “I’m just here to break some faces,” said Daniel Perkins, an independent fighter from Clackamas. The energy was palpable as spectators filled their seats surrounding the octagonal caged ring. All chatter died down as Brad Pitt’s voice filled the room: “Gentlemen, welcome to Fight Club.” After the “eight rules” sound bite from Fight Club, Kevin Keeney stepped into the ring with a microphone in hand. Keeney, coowner and matchmaker for the Full Contact Fighting Federation, served as announcer for the FCFF’s Rumble at the Roseland 51. “Fight fans: Are you ready?” he asked the crowd in a booming voice, and they cheered as the first bout got underway. Bouts lasted for three minutes and could go for as many as three rounds. Most bouts on Saturday ended in tapouts or technical knockouts called by referee Kelly Whitlock.
The first five bouts pitted a blend of debuting fighters and up-andcomers against one another, as the cage became a blur of kicks, punches and grappling moves. Victors were interviewed by Keeney following the bouts, with most giving short answers punctuated by heavy breathing, though some did a victory back flip. The sixth bout featured female fighters Janna Piper of Touch M Up MMA and Idaho independent Maygen Sato. Both entered the cage with two wins and a loss on their records, and they threw fists, feet and knees into one another— both standing and grappling— until time ran out in round three. Piper was awarded victory by a panel of judges. “She’s a tough girl, very powerful,” Piper said of Sato. “I feel pretty good about the win.” Two bouts later, super heavyweights Jason Baker of Alive MMA and Hood River independent Tim McAlexander—both of whom weighed in at over 270 pounds— climbed into the cage. They exchanged several punches to one another’s faces, while Keeney yelled to the crowd, “The big boys are getting after it, just like we wanted ’em to!” Baker kept landing blows to win by TKO in the first round. Championship bouts followed the super heavyweights. Jake Zeliff, a Grants Pass independent who entered the light heavyweight championship undefeated, was powerfully knocked out by Kevin Fox of Touch M Up MMA just
Welcome to Fight Club: Rumble at the Roseland pitted fighter against fighter in mixed martial arts action.
31 seconds into the first round— prompting spectator Tyler West to scream “he straight f***ed him up!” so enthusiastically that the crowd nearby laughed in appreciation.
In addition to the three-rail course complete with snow trucked in from Mt. Hood, a beer garden for patrons 21 and over will be available, with proceeds benefitting the Risk/Reward Art Festival. According to a statement released by event organizers, the Campus Rail Jam Tour “merges snowboarding, art, music, progressive business and environmental activism to create an event enjoyable by a wide variety of attendees.”
The main event Lightweight champion Jake Morris of Team Quest entered the night’s final bout with a 6–0 record to defend his belt against Clint Patterson of Alive MMA, who had been undefeated when his bout with Morris was scheduled. Patterson lost two bouts in the interim, but said he felt good heading into his bout with Morris. “Jake’s an experienced, capable fighter and I came prepared for this fight,” Patterson said. “I’m going out there to win.” And that’s what he did. The bout went into a second round with Morris sporting a bloody nose as the two exchanged quick strikes and powerful grapples before Patterson gained the advantage and Whitlock declared him the victor. “Clint is a phenomenal fighter and great wrestler, and he did exactly what he said he would during his training for the bout… he’s the evolution of MMA,” said Jeremy Barber, Patterson’s coach. “Much respect to Jake Morris as well. He’s beaten two of my fighters, he’s definitely skilled and he had a great run.” The next FCFF event, Caged on the Coast 2, is scheduled for June 26 in Lincoln City at Chinook Winds Casino Resort. The next Rumble at the Roseland is slated for July 17.
The event is the culmination of a 10-city nationwide tour and will feature the top riders from the tour, all competing for a $5,000 prize. The fun is set to begin at 4 p.m. and is free to the public.
Construction of the course will begin Thursday morning, and snow will be trucked in from Timberline Friday afternoon. Over 60,000 pounds of snow was brought into Pioneer Square for the 2009 finals, where Josh Bishop won the firstplace prize of $1,500 in cash.
Female fighters: Janna Piper and Maygen Sato took the fight to the mat on Saturday.
The Ring Girls speak! FCFF Ring Girls Courtney and Kristi presented victory medals and championship belts to the winners of bouts, in addition to making laps around the ring in short shorts and tight tops while holding numbered posters to reflect the upcoming round. Both said they enjoy working at FCFF events and with the crew. “We have developed like a family, we travel together and work together—it’s a very satisfying and wonderful feeling,” said Courtney, who has been involved since the inception of the FCFF in 2001. “It’s fantastic getting to interact with the crowd.” Saturday was Kristi’s first night as a Ring Girl, and she said she enjoys presenting the winners with their rewards and seeing an excited crowd. “My favorite part is seeing the crowd get into it and get so excited,” Kristi said. “I would love to keep being a Ring Girl and see that sort of excitement again and again.”
“Our main goal is to promote the amateur ski and snowboarding scene while involving students and faculty in a live event production demonstration,” said Campus Rail Jam Co-founder Dan Genco. “This unique experience allows CRJT staff to work hand-in-hand with university student programming and campus-based clubs.” —Robert Britt