VOLUME 74 • ISSUE 27 • APRIL 14, 2020
STUDENT JOURNALISTS IN PANDEMIC: ‘WE HAVE A JOB TO PROVIDE STUDENTS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS WITH INFORMATION’
NEWS WHAT SHOULD THE MINIMUM WAGE BE IN PORTLAND? ‘$28 AN HOUR’ ARTS & CULTURE RESTAURANTS NEAR PSU FIGHT TO SURVIVE SPORTS PSU ATHLETES RESPOND TO NCAA
CONTENTS COVER BY DANA TOWNSEND
NEWS ASPSU 2020 ELECTION DEBATES
P. 3
THIS WEEK AROUND THE WORLD
P. 11
POLICIES, COVID-19 ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
P. 4–5
YOUR VOICES, THEIR QUESTIONS
P. 6
ARTS & CULTURE PORTLAND RESTAURANTS FIGHT TO SURVIVE
P. 12
INTERNATIONAL PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA EXTENDS NATIONWIDE LOCKDOWN
P. 7
OPINION HAVE YOU HEARD?
P. 13
COVER STUDENT JOURNALISM IN THE ‘NEW NORMAL’
P. 8–9
SPORTS PSU ATHLETES RESPOND TO NCAA DECISION ON ELIGIBILITY
P. 14–15
INTERNATIONAL VIOLATORS OF QUARANTINE FACE BRUTALITY
COMICS
P. 16
P. 10
STAFF
EDIT ORI A L EDITOR IN CHIEF Dylan Jefferies MANAGING EDITOR Hannah Welbourn NEWS EDITORS Hanna Anderson Justin Grinnell INTERNATIONAL EDITOR Chloe Dysart SPORTS EDITOR Rich Rigney ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Nick Townsend OPINION EDITOR AJ Earl
ONLINE EDITOR Annie Schutz COPY CHIEF Sophie Concannon CONTRIBUTORS Madison Cecil Ida Ayu Dwijayanti Missi Jarrar Aidan Kennelley Emily Price Isabel Rekow Emma Wallace PHO T O & MULTIMEDI A PHOTO EDITOR Alex Wittwer MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Owen Demetre
PRODUC TION & DE SIGN CREATIVE DIRECTOR John Rojas
A DV ISING & ACCOUN TING COORDINATOR OF STUDENT MEDIA Reaz Mahmood
LEAD DESIGNER Dana Townsend
STUDENT MEDIA ACCOUNTANT Sheri Pitcher
DESIGNERS Brandon Pahnish Sam Person
STUDENT MEDIA TECHNOLOGY ADVISOR Corrine Nightingale
DIS T RIBU TION & M A R K E TING DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Dylan Jefferies
To contact Portland State Vanguard, email editor@psuvanguard.com
T ECHNOL OGY & W EB SIT E TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANTS Juliana Bigelow George Olson John Rojas
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
ASPSU 2020 ELECTION DEBATES
CANDIDATES TALK TUITION, TRANSPARENCY AND STUDENT ENGAGEMENT ASPSU HOLDS ITS FINAL SENATE ELECTION DEBATE VIRTUALLY THROUGH ZOOM. ALEX WITTWER/PSU VANGUARD
ISABEL REKOW The Associated Students of Portland State University (ASPSU) held election debates on April 6–8. The debates took place on Zoom and were live-streamed on Facebook, so the public could watch and ask questions. Candidates discussed student engagement, tuition and fees, transparency and disruptions caused by COVID-19.
main focus is to make sure people know ASPSU is an actual body that can help students, and make sure all students are being heard.” Joshua Childs said the Portland State Action party’s goals are “lowering overall costs for students, local and university representation and addressing food insecurity and accountability within PSU and ASPSU.”
APRIL 6: PRESIDENTIAL AND VICE-PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
APRIL 7: STUDENT FEE COMMITTEE DEBATE
Two presidential candidates, each with their vice president, participated in the debate. Motutama Sipelli is running for president, with Victor ChavezGonzalez for vice president, on the “In the Mood for Change?” slate. Sipelli is a senior majoring in pre-med Health Science and Biology and has been in ASPSU for one year. He is the current director of the Student Life Committee. “I think the best way to get other people to be engaged is for ASPSU itself to be more engaged,” Sipelli said. “I feel like student voices are not heard properly and sometimes they’re ignored. I want to change that. I’ll make sure that every student’s voice is heard. I want to make sure students are comfortable coming to us for their concerns, to use us as their student champion and advocate.” “It’s the start of something new, a re-formation of what student government should mean on our campus,” Chavez-Gonzalez said. They are running against Jose Rojas Fallas for president and Joshua Childs for vice president, both of whom are on the Portland State Action slate. Jose Rojas Fallas is pursuing a master’s degree in economics. He has been in student government for three years. He is currently the chair of the Student Fee Committee. “People have apathy toward ASPSU,” Rojas Fallas said. “I believe that we can bring ASPSU back to the forefront to make sure all students on campus know they have representation in everything university related. We can actually enact change from within. Our
Seven candidates are running for the seven positions on the SFC: Zee Brewer and Kierra Wing on the “In the Mood for Change?” slate, Tatum Duke, Aydia Johnson, Hayden Farris and Christopher Silago on the Portland State Action slate, and Hakan Kutgun as an independent. Duke, Johnson and Kutgun are all current members of the SFC. “Support resources for students with disabilities, childcare for students, SMSU, student clubs, the rec center, a big chunk of student employment on campus—these are all made possible by student fees,” Kutgun said. A huge pot of the money that gets collected from students actually goes back to the students in payment,” Duke said, adding the SFC reduced student fees as little as it did this term in order “to try to keep as many students working as possible.” The candidates agreed students should understand the difference between fees and tuition. “It is a good thing students are actually in charge of allocating these funds,” Kutgun said. “But there’s a distinction between student fees and tuition. While the only source of revenue for student fees is students themselves, there are multiple avenues of revenue that can be explored to reduce tuition like state support, increased philanthropy and all that. I believe university administration has much more flexibility in terms of getting more money.” “PSU is increasing tuition yearly more than the inflation rate,” Farris said. “Tuition should be increased relative to inflation, but anything [increased beyond the inflation rate], PSU should have an explanation for every dollar.”
Candidates debated ways to increase transparency. Brewer and Wing spoke of making an interactive website, where students can find information about where their fees go. “The SFC and [ASPSU] decisions may be public, but do students have to seek that out, or is it easily publicly available to them?” Farris said. “Transparency is important. It should be one of our top goals, and the best way to do that is by helping students find us.”
APRIL 8: SENATE DEBATE
Four candidates participated in the senate debate: Elijah Roach and Nicholas LaHusen on the Portland State Action slate, Teri Walters on the “In the Mood for Change?” slate and Nathan Mapes as an independent. Lahusen, Walters and Mapes are current members of ASPSU. The candidates who attended are the only students running for the Senate’s sixteen seats. The positions have proven hard to fill, so whether or not they debated, candidates are assured a position. The prospective senators all support postponing commencement, and agreed PSU should have taken students’ voices into consideration before making a decision. They also stressed the importance of student input in the university’s decision to restrict access to campus buildings, such as Smith Memorial Student Union. ASPSU Advisor Candace Avalos closed with a message urging more students to run in the Senate election. “We’ve got a bunch of seats open for Senate, so if you’re interested in joining, this would be a great opportunity to do a writein campaign,” Avalos said. “That means you tell your friends to put your name in the write-in section, as long as it has your name and email [and] some way I can contact you to let you know if you win. Spread the word. We’ve got lots of opportunities for people to get involved, and I hope you all will come out and vote.” Virtual polls will open on April 13 at elections.aspsu.pdx.edu, and close on April 29. Results will be announced May 1.
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NEWS
POLICIES, COVID-19 ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL AN INTERVIEW WITH OREGON’S 3RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT CANDIDATE ALBERT LEE AIDAN KENNELLEY Albert Lee is a U.S. Army veteran and former dean of business and computing at Portland Community College. He’s running to unseat Earl Blumenauer in Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District primary. Portland State Vanguard caught up with Lee to discuss why he’s running, his policy platform and the impact of COVID-19. Vanguard: If there were three things about your background that you’d really want PSU students to know, what would they be? Lee: The first one would be my origin; I’m an immigrant and a sixth-generation American at the same time. I was born in South Korea where my African-American army dad met my Korean mom during the Vietnam War. I think that’s impacted the worldview I hold. The second thing is to understand regardless of the things I’ve done professionally, I have a lived experience of growing up in the working class. I’ve faced a multitude of real world struggles that have shaped who I am. Lastly, I want PSU students to know that I am a firstgeneration college grad who understands the struggles of what it’s like to try to make one’s way through school. VG: Let’s talk about your platform. Two of the pillars of yours and Rep. Blumenauer’s housing policies are Medicare For All and Housing First programs. Where exactly do you differ from the representative in regards to housing? Lee: Well, during the 24 years that our representative has served, those weren’t issues. I think he hardly had a distinct policy on solving our housing crisis before we entered the race a year ago. And when it comes to these things, I think there’s a difference between saying you believe in something and actually believing it. The difference between myself and our representative is he’s a lip-service progressive and I am not. We don’t need more lip-service progressives. We need people who are actually going to fight hard for progressive issues here in this district.
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VG: Housing first can be a confusing term. What exactly does that mean to you?
does the ability to thrive mean for residents of Oregon’s 3rd District?
Lee: The United Nations stated housing is a human right. If housing is a human right, we shouldn’t have people living on the streets. If there’s somebody in a tent, the government ought to provide basic housing for that person. What housing first means is we’ll provide you housing without preconditions. We want to say, ‘We’re not going to make you jump through all of those hoops. We are going to ensure you have housing so you can take care of other issues: mental illness, securing a job or addressing a drug/alcohol problem.’ I think housing first in conjunction with Medicare For All is the solution to our current housing crisis.
Lee: Living wages for all and affordable housing. Those two things go hand-in-hand. Here in the Portland metropolitan area, you have to be making about $28 an hour full time in order to provide for yourself and your family. There is not one zip code in this country where you can live on the minimum wage. That’s because we’ve had a minimum wage that has remained flat and stagnant for the last 40 years. We have to fix that.
VG: If you were in Congress right now, what would you be doing to ensure that people have affordable and stable housing in light of the effects of COVID-19? Lee: First of all, you put a moratorium on evictions. Second, with hotels being shut down, you could provide housing for the houseless there. We should be giving vouchers to hotels so they can take in the houseless and ensure they are safe. VG: Do you think the government should institute a total rent freeze so that tenants aren’t indebted to their landlords once this all clears up? Lee: Yes. I think we need a rent freeze and a mortgage freeze. Quite honestly, I think this is the time for a complete reset. We could cancel all student loans, medical debt, mortgages and credit card debt. We’ve already dropped $3 trillion into the stock market without question. It’s time for us to give relief to the people. VG: You have a section on your website that is titled “inability to thrive.” What exactly
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VG: What should the minimum wage be in Portland? Lee: $28 an hour. It’s not going to happen overnight because we haven’t allowed it to grow over the last 40 years. VG: Another thing you talk about in your platform is instituting a maximum wage. Can you explain that? Lee: What I’m proposing is a cap on the top earners of a business where the owner or CEO is only allowed to make 100 times his or her minimum wage employees. So, for example, for a company where the minimum wage is $15 an hour, the top earner is only allowed to make $3 million max. VG: How much money should Congress be sending to people while the economy is shut down, and for how long should this go on? Lee: Well, I’m a skeptic of universal basic income. I don’t think it’s viable because of the math. If you take Andrew Yang’s proposal of $1,000 a month per person per year, it comes out somewhere around $4 trillion. That’s greater than our entire budget. So, I don’t think it can be done in the long term. I’m also concerned that UBI would replace the remnants of our already dismantled social safety net. However, I want to separate that from our current crisis and emergency.
I think we need emergency economic support for people in the realm of $2,000 a month per person. And that should go on as long as the crisis continues. VG: What kinds of things should Democrats have on the bargaining table right now as Congress looks to pass another economic stimulus package? Lee: I think this is a prime time to secure Medicare For All. This current crisis demonstrates our employee-based health insurance system is flawed. I also think cancellation of all debt should be on the table. VG: Let’s talk about your education policy. Your position is to expand public education through two-year colleges and trade schools. Does that include public four-year universities? Lee: I think we should have universal free education all the way from preschool through college. I don’t know where all of the numbers are on making four-year college free, but I do think that all education in America should be tuition free. We need to invest in our people so that they can eventually reinvest in our country. VG: You believe in free public transit for all. In Portland, how would we transition Trimet into being completely free? Lee: I sat on the board of Trimet’s Transit Equity Advisory Committee. I can tell you that only 17% of Trimet’s revenues come from fares. Today, right now, we could have free public transit. This isn’t about the math, this is about political will. VG: How is your campaign adapting to the consequences of COVID-19? Lee: We’re trying to connect with our supporters virtually as much as possible. We’re doing regular virtual town halls and trying to connect with constituents the best we can through social media.
NEWS
"I THINK THIS IS A PRIME TIME TO SECURE MEDICARE FOR ALL." COURTESY OF ALBERT LEE
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NEWS
YOUR VOICES, THEIR
LILY LAMADRID Students fill out course evaluations at Portland State every term, but their input is one small part of how the university evaluates its professors. The term course evaluation may bring to students’ minds a multiple choice scantron—but in reality, the evaluation of courses is multifaceted. There is no one system used across PSU. Instead, the Institutional Assessment Council (IAC) sets guidelines which are further developed by individual departments. The guidelines include student input, as well as peer reviews among instructors, instructors’ self assessments and administrator or committee ratings. Summative assessments are performed at the end of the term, and formative assessments are performed throughout. One table found on PSU’s Institutional Assessment Council website lists 19 different types of evidence. This can be confusing, and points to the flaws of the current system. The course evaluating process can never be completely objective, and many people have a stake in the outcome. So who gets the final say in whether a course is good, bad or ugly? The process starts when PSU wants to create a new course. According to Dr. Janelle Voegele, the director of teaching, learning and assessment at PSU, most departments would start by looking at how the department defines good teaching. From there, PSU would create a pilot draft of the survey, which students would see at the end of the term. It gets refined, and then the survey goes to students. However, how much weight is being put into these students’ comments? A document found on the IAC website lists faculty concerns with student input. Among the top concerns is comments similar to “I hated you for forcing us to learn this material, but now I’m glad you did—thank you and keep doing what you’re doing,” which accounts for the feeling students may initially not have enjoyed a learning process, but later found its form and/or content helpful. A few other concerns include that currently, student assessments are mostly summative—gathered only at the end of the term—and small class sizes have small sample sizes. The list goes on, but perhaps most pressing is the concern that current measures reflect student satisfaction, not student learning. However, student satisfaction can be impacted by a high degree of bias. There are many different biases at work, including the potential of gender bias. Voegele explained this means while a male professor might be decisive and perceived positively, a female professor exhibiting the same behavior could be seen negatively. According to the IAC document, “more difficult classes tend to get lower scores.” At the same time, 100-level courses consistently get scored lower as well. The IAC lists many alternatives to student input on a separate document; these include observations of teaching, peer review, curriculum maps and mentorship of students and faculty. All of these are “direct methods...collecting information require[s] a display of knowledge and skills." The opposite is indirect methods, which involve “reflection on learning, behavior and attitudes.” Once course evaluations are collected and read, they are used for a number of things, including hiring, promotion decisions and course scheduling. However, Voegele expressed the number one area in which course evaluations are used is to better the student experience. “Faculty really care what students say about their experiences and their courses,” Voegele said. Professor Paul Collins, chair of PSU's english department, suggested that students’ role in course evaluations should be expanded to running them. When he was at University of California, Davis, student government ran course evaluations. “They would collect those evaluations into a…volume of comments about each professor. They would publish it and you could buy it in the school bookstore for a couple bucks,” Collins stated. Will that happen anytime soon at PSU? Probably not. There are currently no plans from Associated Students of PSU or IAO to initiate such a process. The switch to online in light of COVID-19 both will and will not affect the course evaluations process. “We may not [know] until after spring quarter. But over the last decade, the majority of course evaluations were moving to digital anyway,” Voegele said. This means the method of course evaluations will not change much nine weeks from now. However, the way the content of the upcoming surveys is viewed might. “Talk about your experiences…they’ll help us,” Voegele said.
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PSU Vanguard • APRIL 14, 2020 • psuvanguard.com
QUESTIONS HOW COURSE EVALUATIONS REALLY AFFECT CLASSES Very Likely
Somewhat Unlikely
Very Likely
Somewhat Likely
Very Unlikely
Somewhat Likely
Very Likely
Somewhat Unlikely
Very Likely Submit JOHN ROJAS
PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA EXTENDS NATIONWIDE LOCKDOWN
A DENSELY PACKED NIGHT MARKET IN MUMBAI, INDIA. TAKEN APRIL 3, 2016. NICOLAS VIGIER/FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS
INTERNATIONAL EMILY PRICE Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an extension on April 11 to India’s lockdown, which was originally due to end April 12, according to BBC. Modi described the next few weeks as critical to witnessing the impacts of recent provisions. It has been more than two months since the first COVID-19 case was detected in India. Nearly 8,000 people have tested positive as of April 11, and approximately 288 have died according to BBC. As testing services increase, the virus is spreading rapidly in dense communities and cities. India’s economy is also built on interstate migration of workers who make up the service and construction industries. Many of the infectious hotspots are in dense cities such as Mumbai, which is home to approximately 20 million people and makes up more than a third of India’s tax revenue. Additionally, the manufacturing and service industries have been on strict lockdown to prevent contamination. Unemployment rose to more than 20% after the lockdown in March, according to a report by the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy. 1.3 billion people are confined in their homes, prohibited to attend any public gatherings or non-essential businesses. Business shutdown will affect nearly 81% of workers, threatening an already low wealth economy. Factories have been shut down, which has halted construction sites. Many at risk are migrant workers in hospitality, retail trade and transport who already have limited or no access to healthcare or social security. A report by the World Bank Group warned widespread food security will be under threat in the future. “The priority for all South Asian governments is to contain the virus spread and protect their people, especially the poorest, who face considerably worse health and economic outcomes,” stated Hartwig Schafer, World Bank vice president for the South Asia region in a press release. Gabriel Leung, an infectious disease epidemiologist and dean of medicine at the University of Hong Kong, suggested rounds of supperess and lift cycles might be India’s best chance. Leung described these periods as "restrictions are applied and relaxed, applied again and relaxed again, in ways that can keep the pandemic under control, but at an acceptable economic and social cost,” according to The New York Times. Some areas’ attempts to control the pandemic have been successful. The Washington Post reported in the state of Kerala, the government’s response has been successful at flattening the curve. Efforts include aggressive testing, contact tracing, enforcing longer quarantine and providing shelter and cooked meals to those in need. Kerala was the first state in India to report a coronavirus case back in January. As of April, the number of cases have dropped 30%, according to India Today. Succession areas such as Kerala does not mean the emergency is over. “We hoped for the best but planned for the worst.” said K.K. Shailaja, Kerala’s health minister to The Washington Post. Throughout India, screenings in airports have tightened and travelers from coronavirus hotspots are required to quarantine upon arrival. Temporary quarantine shelters are available for tourists and non-residents in need of shelter. Rural areas in India are most vulnerable to contracting COVID-19, as the areas lack access to clean water to provide basic hygiene resources. The National Survey’s Office reported 80% of rural Indian households do not have piped water, compared to nearly 60% of homes in urban areas. The need extends beyond India into other communities that lack access to water facilities. A study from the World Health Organization reported nearly 40% of the global population doesn’t have access to running water. Ganna Pogrebna, a business professor of the University of Birmingham, told National Geographic, “the main issue is that it is caused not just by human psychology or habit, but also by objective factors, like water shortages.” Modi promised in 2019 piped water would be provided to every rural household by the year 2024. The World Bank Group is also enacting a response that will increase disease surveillance, improve public health and help the economy continue to operate and sustain jobs. $160 billion in financial support will be deployed over the next 15 months to help slow the pandemic.
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COVER
STUDENT JOURNALISM IN THE ‘NEW NORMAL’ 8
PSU Vanguard • APRIL 14, 2020 • psuvanguard.com
OREGON NEWSPAPERS AR AMID PANDEM NEWS TO THEIR CO
N’S STUDENT RE ADAPTING MIC TO BRING RESPECTIVE OMMUNITIES
COVER MISSI JARRAR Despite closed campuses and social distancing throughout the state, Oregon student journalists are committed to bringing news to their communities. The Washington Post confirmed student journalists across the country have not stopped working since the pandemic outbreak: “they’ve diligently chronicled the impact of the virus on their communities—even as they found themselves losing advertisers, unable to access their newsrooms and unsure when, or even if, they’d be able to return to school.” The article goes on to state, “in some cases, student-run outlets were among the first to report infections connected to their universities.” Oregon’s own student journalists are running their newspapers from all over the country. Editor in chief Sophie Smith, from Willamette University, is directing The Collegian from a small town in Ohio. Copy editor Clarissa Lam is contributing to the Reed College Quest from Oakland, California while Portland State Vanguard news editor Hanna Anderson is working from her dorm room on PSU’s campus. Autumn Micketti is living with her parents in Ashland, Oregon while she co-edits The Siskiyou. The Linfield Review—the student newspaper of Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon—has staff working from Alaska, Washington, Idaho and across Oregon. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, student journalists return to their beats for spring term, many out of an ethical obligation to their communities. “I hadn’t considered not coming back,” said Autumn Micketti, co-editor of The Siskiyou at Southern Oregon University. “In fact, with COVID-19 happening, I feel more of an obligation than I did before to come back this term. I think right now [campus communities] are going to need students to produce news more than ever.” “We made the decision five nights before we laid out our [March] issue to go in a completely new direction and do a completely coronavirus-related issue,” said Jo Tabacek, photography editor from Lewis and Clark’s The Pioneer Log. “It was a pretty big turnaround. We told people [on staff ] ‘if you’re not up for this, we totally get it.’ Pretty much everyone was like ‘yeah, we want to be here for this. This is what journalism is.’ This is a historic moment. That issue is going to be a historic Lewis and Clark issue. There was a lot of passion about capturing that throughout our entire team.” On a Facebook page created by the University of Portland’s student newspaper The Beacon, the heading reads: “The Beacon is here for you, Pilots!” “We’ve never considered stopping working this term because of COVID-19,” said Alex Jensen, editor in chief at The Linfield Review. “It’s one of the biggest news stories in the world and in Linfield history. It’s really important that we keep reporting and being a link to the campus when everybody is so spread out.” Quest, Vanguard, The Beacon, The Collegian, The Siskiyou, The Pioneer Log, Oregon State University’s The Daily Barometer and The Linfield Review have all ceased print copy entirely and moved their newspapers online. According to The Oregonian, news site traffic for Oregon newspapers has doubled or tripled since the outbreak of COVID-19. While Oregon student newspapers were already using their online platforms as a supplement or for breaking news, the conversion to an online-only platform presented challenges. Hanna Merzbach, editor in chief of The Pioneer Log, spoke about the sudden transitions. “We typically don’t have breaking news at Lewis and Clark that needs to be published ASAP. That changed with COVID-19. We saw a need to get content up immediately, and the truth is we did not have the operations or task force to do that. We mobilized the best we could at the moment, but it really showed us we need to be adapting our operations more to the online model.”
The Linfield Review has been permanently online since fall 2019. The Siskiyou has been exclusively online since 2011. According to Micketti, “so much of journalism is going online anyway. A lot of interviews are held remotely, so that part might not be too much of a change for us.” Among student journalists’ concerns was their ability to stay on top of changes in their communities. Getting updates within the campus community without events has been rated among the greatest challenges expressed by student editors. Claire Desmarais, editor in chief of The Beacon, stated, “a large part of our reporting and how we obtain information comes from having established relationships with club leaders, faculty/staff, students and the administration. We use social media and word-of-mouth to find pieces of information, and then go on to confirm that information with sources on the record.” Beat management is a way to stay informed about what’s happening in student government, university politics or niche specific university communities. It’s establishing a connection for information through a network of sources that writers and editors speak with regularly. These connections are often people in student government and university offices. among other connections within the community. “During social distancing, [beat management] must become literally picking up the phone and talking to the people reporters usually rely upon for information. If they practice good beat management, they are in a good position to be close to breaking changes in their campus communities,” said Geoff Pursinger, editor for Pamplin Media. Student journalists are looking for ways to manage their beats. Nick Townsend, arts and culture editor for Vanguard, stated “without events to cover, we lost our foothold in the [arts and culture] campus community. Culture is the collective spirit of community, and that’s still out there, it’s just harder to track down now. That’s this term’s mission.” The Beacon created the Facebook group “Pilots Navigating the New Normal” for current University of Portland students. The description of the page states: “The Beacon has created this group as a place to seek out questions or concerns that students have going forward.” “We wanted to provide a space for all students to interact with each other and share their experiences as they navigate a new normal,” Desmarais said. “Through having this sense of community, we can support each other.” The Barometer’s Facebook page, called The Baro, allows students to both garner and contribute news. Sourcing from their social media pages, The Barometer is adding to its 19-part series about “diving into the unique perspectives of the Corvallis community as they face COVID-19 and all its social and economic effects,” according to part seven of the series. The Barometer is also running a unity log where readers can submit stories and positive experiences amid the pandemic. “We’re really looking to stay connected with the community,” said Jaycee Kalama, The Barometer’s news editor. “We need, I think, really strong social media presences,” Smith said about The Collegian. “Moving forward, I think we’ll be less dependent on paper copy and more on social media.” The Siskiyou has its own media specialist, but the other university newspapers claimed no social media administration, much less a social media manager designated to draw readership from platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Most university newspaper social media sites have little, if any, interaction. “We have mailing lists and newsletters, which we haven’t used much lately, so it might be time to implement [those],” Micketti said about The Siskiyou.
The Quest put out print copies of its paper every Friday, but just before spring break, everything went online. Now, the Quest reaches readers by advertising its website in an email to Reed College’s student president, who sends it to the entire student body multiple times a week. The visual elements of student publications are equally challenging during this time of social distancing. Photographers are using old photographs and graphic departments are picking up the slack. “As far as news photography goes, [it has] become a bit more challenging—our usual coverage has shifted dramatically,” stated Alex Wittwer, photography editor at Vanguard. “There’s no events to attend, nor is there a place on the front line in protests with camera in hand.” “Alex is our sole active photographer right now,” Townsend stated. “He’s using a combination of photos he already took, photos off the internet and new photography conducted within the framework of social distancing.” The Siskiyou doesn’t have a designated photographer. “Generally our writers were taking pictures,” Micketti said. “Now, we’d consider using the screenshots of Zoom calls or ask interviewees if they have a photo to share. I don’t know. Maybe that’s where we are now: taking pictures of our computer screens. We have a relationship with a professor who teaches a photography class [at Southern Oregon University] and generally his students were at the events we were covering, so we had used those photos in the past. Now that we’re social distancing, we are probably going to be more reliant on that relationship.” Tabacek found herself working differently than before social distancing. “Our last issue was completely a coronavirus issue,” Tabacek said about taking photographs for The Pioneer Log. “I took between 250–300 photos and edited about 50 of them. I photographed things on campus that could relate to coronavirus stories. Now I’m finding out about what’s being written by using Trello. Then it’s a matter of trying to find an image which would complement that. I’m hoping to continue to do that. If I see something that is worthy of noting I’ll photograph it, like the Xs taped on the floor six feet apart in the mailroom. It’s really a different way of working than we’re used to. The whole process does feel a little disconnected to me.” The Collegian had a small group of photographers initially. “I think we only have one photographer who is on campus now,” Smith said. “We have a few graphic designers on staff, and we’re thinking of ways to utilize their skills in the coming months. Art can be done remotely and safely, so that’s a good consideration.” “We are living through a historic time right now, and I believe that as student journalists, we have a job to provide students and community members with information,” Desmarais said. “People are unfailingly dedicated to bringing news to the campus,” Lam said about the Quest. “I don’t foresee any change in those ideals moving forward.” The Pioneer Log dedicated an entire issue to COVID-19 concerns before the end of March. Student journalists wrote about 13 Lewis and Clark students trapped in Morocco and two students and a professor stranded in Ecuador because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Beacon has an entire section dedicated to the pandemic, featuring an article about a student’s grandmother who died from COVID-19. Housing adaptations and climate activism during COVID-19 issues feature prominently on The Collegian’s website. “I feel a responsibility, within myself, to really capture these moments,” Tabacek said. “It’s a way to pass it on and let generations to come know what was happening here during this time.”
NEWSSTANDS OUTSIDE OF SMITH MEMORIAL STUDENT UNION. ALEX WITTWER/PSU VANGUARD
PSU Vanguard • APRIL 14, 2020 • psuvanguard.com
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INTERNATIONAL
VIOLATORS OF QUARANTINE FACE BRUTALITY IN THE PHILIPPINES IDA AYU DWIJAYANTI President Robert Duterte of the Philippines ordered the police, military and local officers on April 1 to shoot violators: those who might cause ‘trouble’ during the imposition of the community quarantine amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Amnesty International. “I will not hesitate,” Duterte said in a televised address. “My orders are to the police and military, also the barangay, that if there is trouble or the situation arises that people fight and your lives are on the line, shoot them dead. Do you understand? Dead. Instead of causing trouble, I’ll send you to the grave.” Duterte’s statement came after reports of citizens in Manilla protesting the lack of sufficient government food aid, according to France 24. Residents of San Roque Village in Quezon City gathered along a major highway in Metro Manila on April 1, where relief items were supposed to be distributed. However, the distribution never happened, leading to a protest in the area. “I can’t agree that Duterte’s informal speech is acceptable at all,” said Kim Louise, the political chair for Portland State University Kaibigan, also known as the Filipino American Student Association. “With his position, he should know how to talk to all the people in the country.” Louise grew up in Portland. However, she said “[I am] close to my family back home, travel back frequently and understand the social culture very well.” When the statement by Duterte came out, she said “I reached out to my family” and “I was concerned for their safety, since we usually don’t take statements like this lightly in the United States.” In a response by Amnesty International, Amnesty Phillipine Section Director Butch Olano stated, “It is deeply alarming that President Duterte has extended a ‘shoot to kill’ policy to law enforcement agencies. Deadly, unchecked force should never be used in an emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic.” Olano voiced concerns for Filipinos and residents of the Philippines because of Duterte’s response to the pandemic control in the country. “The violent police response to calls for help is heartless and unjustifiable, especially while millions of Filipinos are prevented from earning a living,” Olano said. He also emphasized “the lives of those most at risk must be considered a priority, in the effort to minimize the threat of the virus.” According to France 24, the Philippines has 96 coronavirus deaths and approximately
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2,311 confirmed cases as of March 4. President Duterte addressed residents because he felt the situation was getting worse, as the infections are now being reported in the hundreds every day. Over 17,000 people have been arrested for violating pandemic rules such as lockdowns and curfew orders in various regions in the country, including in the capital city according to Amnesty International. Reports depicted inhuman punishments such as sitting for hours in the hot sun and being detained in dog cages. Activists criticized Duterte for being violent and stated his comments invited vigilantism in the country, as he also has a history of violence with his war on drugs: ordering police officers and mystery gunmen to kill thousands
PSU Vanguard • APRIL 14, 2020 • psuvanguard.com
of people who were accused of selling and using drugs. Police said that Duterte’s anti-drug campaign has been lawful, as reported by France 24. The Philippines has not been the only country criticized for brutality against citizens during the pandemic. Kenya has also been named for its violent enforcement of a curfew according to Al Jazeera. Kenya currently has 197 confirmed cases. Emily Nyambura, a local coffee business owner in Mathare, Kenya was hit while trying to flee from a scene where police officers fired tear gas and shotguns in the air. Police also beat people with rubber canes and hoses. “There was no warning, they just started to beat people,” Nyambura said. “Everyone
on the road—it didn’t matter your age, even grandparents. All were being beaten.” The government enforced a dusk till dawn curfew, so police descended on areas such as the streets of Mathare in order to slow the spread of COVID-19. This forced the people to be home at 7 p.m., which reduced working hours for those selling goods and outdoor markets. Al Jazeera also reported President Uhuru Kenyatta apologized for the violence enforcement of a nationwide curfew in Kenya, stating “I want to apologise to all Kenyans for...some excesses that were conducted.” He also stated he wanted to assure Kenyans “if we work together, if we all understand that this problem needs all of us, and if we pull in the same direction, we will overcome.”
A POLICE CHECKPOINT OUTSIDE MUNTINLUPA, PHILLIPINES SCREENS CITIZENS FOR SYMPTOMS OF COVID-19. COURTESY OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT OF MUNTINLUPA
INTERNATIONAL
THIS WEEK
around the
WORLD
April 6–12
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April 6
GUINEA
President Alpha Conde enacted a new constitution via television announcement following a controversial referendum held on March 22. Conde, who was the country’s first democratically elected president in 2010, claimed the new constitution will implement measures to create necessary social change, including a ban on female genital mutilation and underage marriage. Conde’s opponents boycotted the referendum in March, claiming the president would use the new constitution to hold office for an additional two terms, despite currently serving his second and final term as president. The United States, the European Union and France questioned the legitimacy of the March referendum, according to News24.
April 7 2
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
The High Court of Australia overturned Cardinal George Pell’s sexual assault conviction in an unanimous decision on April 7. Pell was sentenced to six years in prison after being
found guilty of five charges in December 2018 regarding an alleged sexual assault of two 13-year-old boys in 1996. The High Court cited “compounding improbabilities” and determined there was a “significant possibility that an innocent person [had] been convicted” in Pell’s case. “I have consistently maintained my innocence while suffering from a serious injustice,” Pell stated following his release, according to The New York Times. “This has been remedied today with the High Court’s unanimous decision.” 3 April 8
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
The Personal Status Court in Dubai suspended all personal legal services relating to family matters, including marriage and divorces, “until further notice” due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With over 2,600 confirmed cases and 12 deaths in Dubai thus far, authorities have also put a 24-hour curfew in place while banning all social gatherings and any non-essential business. According to The Middle East Eye, officials made the decision
to suspend legal services based on the rules of Islamic jurisprudence, which state “repelling an end is preferable to securing a benefit.” 4
April 11
GUERRERO, MEXICO
Victor Fernando Alvarez, a journalist who was reported missing on April 2, was found dead on April 11. He is the second journalist in 2020 to be murdered in Mexico, a country known to be dangerous for journalists. Maria Elena Ferral, another journalist, was found dead in March. Over 100 journalists have been killed since 2000, according to Al Jazeera. Human rights organizations in Guerrero called on authorities to investigate Alvarez’s case despite the COVID-19 pandemic. 5
April 12
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Prime Minister Boris Johnson was released from the hospital where he had been receiving treatment for COVID-19 since April 5. Johnson was in an intensive care unit from April 6–9, before returning to the general ward and eventually being released from the hospital several days
later. While the prime minister recovers, the U.K. government is being run by Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who could remain in charge for up to a month. In a video statement posted on Twitter, Johnson commended the “personal courage, not just of the doctors and nurses, but of everyone: the cleaners, the cooks, the healthcare workers of every description.” 6
April 10–12
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
A 26-year-old electrician and an 11-month-old girl died after being diagnosed with Ebola at the same hospital two days before the World Health Organization was set to give an official statement to end the Ebola outbreak on April 12. The two cases came after nearly seven weeks of no new cases in the country, which has been fighting the world’s second-worst Ebola outbreak since August 2018. WHO reassured the public flare-ups near the end of an outbreak are relatively common, but it does not mean the virus will spread out of control again.
PSU Vanguard • APRIL 14, 2020 • psuvanguard.com
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ARTS & CULTURE
PORTLAND RESTAURANTS FIGHT TO SURVIVE SLOW BUSINESS, HIGH DELIVERY COMMISSIONS AND LITTLE SUPPORT THREATEN BUSINESSES NEAR PSU
NICK TOWNSEND Food carts and restaurants on Portland State’s campus are facing a new array of challenges serving food during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the wake of Governor Brown’s stay-at-home order, businesses must grapple with reduced clientele, lackluster government relief and delivery services that charge hefty commissions. “Before the stay-at-home order, when they cancelled classes, it cut the cart’s sales by about 85%,” said Robert Grant, an employee at The Local Grind, a popular food cart with two locations near PSU’s campus. “By the last day before the stay-at-home order, it was about 5% of normal sales.” The Local Grind, which normally operates its popular cart outside of the Simon Benson House off of SW Montgomery Street, was forced to close on the first day of the stay-at-home order. “Our permits don’t allow us to stay open because we’re not on a private property,” Grant said. “We’re operating on public space.” Both carts stopped serving from the sidewalk on March 23. The Local Grind was by no means the only food cart struggling with the new situation. On the other side of campus, the owners of Tokyo Sando were making their own calculations. “We had just opened in the beginning of February, but had already been getting really busy at lunch time for our nearby office workers, as well as PSU students,” explained Andrea Nakajima, owner of the Tokyo Sando food cart alongside her husband Taiki Nakajima. “We were thinking we might have to close the food cart. After the stay-at-home order came out, we set up our delivery and pickup options for customers to hopefully meet their needs.” Opting in to delivery apps such as DoorDash and Grubhub presented new challenges for both Tokyo Sando and The Local Grind. “They showed us all these charts about how much they could increase our revenue, I think they said by 40% percent,” Taiki Nakajima said. In reality, both businesses dealt with steep commissions and inflexible promotion guidelines from the delivery services. “With the way the delivery services work, if you have any kind of promotion on that, you end up losing money on the orders,” Grant said. “The amount that it’s costing just to be open is not paying for the delivery.” The Nakajimas expressed similar concerns. Taiki Nakajima said DoorDash might take as much as 30% of an order as commission, before promotions. “They don’t factor in the cost of running my business, they only think about their cut.”
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PSU Vanguard • APRIL 14, 2020 • psuvanguard.com
“I think it’s really sick that they’re doing this,” Grant said. “Right now, they’re making [money] hand over fist. There’s nothing wrong with making money, but to take it out on the people who are not is wrong.” The full scale of the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on restaurants in the Portland area remains unknown. The Oregon Employment Department saw 56,646 unique unemployment claims in the week of April 4, roughly three times the rate at the peak of the Great Recession. Specific data on OWNERS ANDREA AND TAIKI NAKAJIMA AT THEIR FOOD CART, TOKYO SANDO, ON 4TH AVENUE. ALEX WITTWER/PSU VANGUARD furloughed and laid-off restaurant employees in Oregon does not yet exist. have been better off if they distributed a million lottery tickets.” Restaurant analysts estimate as much as 75% of all independent Grant voiced similar concerns about the Payroll Protection restaurants in the United States may close permanently as a result of Program, a $349 billion relief program passed by Congress to loan the pandemic. The result would be a homogenous restaurant land- money to small businesses to maintain staffing during the panscape populated primarily by large restaurant groups and chains. demic. “We were planning on a PPP loan, but nothing is materiGrant is aware of the odds. “If [the stay-at-home order] lasts alizing. Everybody is laid off until we can get some kind of payroll through July and there’s no funding coming in, then the business compensation or until we can pay for that [ourselves],” Grant said. would fold. That’s just undoable. At best, I don’t know what the The loan program is far from foolproof. Many business ownsummer session looks like, but all the revenue for the remainder ers across the country question whether the $349 billion will be of the [spring] session is gone.” enough to make a difference. Paul Stevens, owner of the Night Many businesses hoped to receive support from the federal, Light Lounge, a popular restaurant and bar in Southeast Portland, state or city governments, but availability has been spotty at best. wrote in a guest editorial for the Portland Mercury the program Prosper Portland, a development corporation created by the city fails to meet the needs of the restaurant industry. government, assembled $1.38 million in grants and $1 million in “Essentially, I will be paying back a loan that is two-and-aloans to distribute to affected Portland businesses, but many fear half times our monthly payroll, with a two-year term, to pay emit’s not enough. ployees who I am putting at risk and who I don’t have work for,” Nick Zukin, owner of Chinatown restaurant Mi Mero Mole and Stevens said. former owner of recent downtown closure Zapapizza, voiced his DoorDash announced a slight relief to businesses on Friday, concerns with the relief program on Twitter on April 7. “Over April 10, reducing their commission fee by 50% for local partners. 10,000 of us rejected for @prosperportland grants. Only 2% got The move did not draw Grant to revoke his criticism. “This is three money. Will be interested to see who were the chosen ones. Might weeks overdue. I hope the backlash they receive is massive.”
OPINION
HAVE YOU HEARD: THE “I’M SORRY, WHAT?” EDITION AJ EARL
DANA TOWNSEND
I don’t know what to say to y’all right now except I’m so, so sorry we’re all locked inside or working in an essential position, our hobbies and socializing on hold. I could say I relate, but I’m disabled and generally unable to do any of that. What I do have, though, is all of you, my dear readers! Consider this my love letter to each and every one of you—pretend it’s soaked in the finest perfumes and I dotted every “i” with a heart. Anyways… Have you heard conspiracy theorists have started to blame 5G for COVID-19? Yep, it’s true. The radiation, somewhere between a TV two rooms away and a Tamagotchi, is doing something to our DNA, or mutating cells into some kind of Teenage Mutant Ninja Pathogen. The only solution is to tear down 5G masts, set them on fire and draw a binding circle around them in salt. This hasn’t been a problem locally, and although here in Portland we’re used to seeing strange people holding torches, it’s something to be aware of as you gaze out your window at the fresh air and empty streets, birds tweeting and flaming cell towers lighting up the sky. Did you know Lownsdale Square in Downtown Portland used to be men-only, largely due to the various vices that occurred within its grassy confines? It’s true! Fighting, gambling and unspeakable sex acts dotted the park throughout its early years. This created a conundrum for the town fathers; how do we protect women and girls from these men who clearly do not want to know them carnally, but are probably doing things in the bathroom that might offend sensibilities? The answer was clear—they declared the park off-limits to women. Chapman Square to the south of Lownsdale became women-only at the same time, and this arrangement lasted until the latter half of the 20th century. Has anyone notified you of the fact that staying inside has done wonders to flatten the curve? It’s true! Consider that when you’re contemplating going about your business as usual prior to the end of our stay at home order here in Oregon: staying home saves lives. Hey, are you hungry? Then check out the Portland State Food Pantry. For the duration of this pandemic, it will be doing by-appointment sessions, allowing you to drop in at a selected time to get food and various health supplies provided by the Student Health and Counseling Center. The PSU Food Pantry is presently located in the Fifth Avenue Cinema, so be sure to check it out if you’re having trouble getting groceries. Last and least, if you are so bored right now, consider donating some online time to a variety of worthy causes. First stop is the Smithsonian’s Digital Volunteers program. There are two components to this program, the first being a transcription effort at the Smithsonian Transcription Center. The second is a Wikipedia editing program. Catchafire is a website dedicated to matching professionals with nonprofits, from programming to project management. Finally, local governments are having a helluva time updating unemployment systems because the systems are in an ancient programming code called COBOL. If for some reason you have this skill, consider helping out—people need these programs to work, and your effort will contribute to the financial security of thousands.
PSU Vanguard • APRIL 14, 2020 • psuvanguard.com
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SPORTS
PSU ATHLETES RESPOND TO NCAA DECISION ON ELIGIBILITY RICH RIGNEY Following the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s decision on March 30 to grant an additional year of eligibility to spring sport athletes, Vanguard encouraged any student athletes who have been impacted by the NCAA’s cancellations—or the subsequent adjustments to eligibility—to share their thoughts. A number of athletes from various sports reached out with responses. What follows is a Q&A featuring selected responses from student athletes and the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships on the NCAA’s decision.
RESPONSES FROM STUDENT ATHLETES How do you feel about the NCAA’s decision to grant an extra year of eligibility to spring sport athletes only, and not winter or fall sport athletes? Nina Nikitovic • Junior, women’s tennis: Being an athlete that has competition during all three terms, I am personally really happy that I will be able to get one extra year of eligibility. As it comes to winter athletes, I think they should have had a chance to finish their conference championships. Because the NCAA did not grant them an extra year, I think they should at least give them a chance to finish their conference championships. I don’t think fall sports were impacted that much for now, they were not in their season, and they did not miss their competitions. We still don’t know how the situation is going to be in the fall, but if they are not able to compete, I think they should also be granted one extra year of eligibility.
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Eszter Zador • Senior, women’s tennis: I think it is a great initiation because us seniors worked really hard during the four years of college, and all of us deserve a closure we cannot receive this year, as our season ended very abruptly. Kaila Gibson • Senior, cross country: As student athletes, we spend all year training and preparing for our championship events. For those who were literally at their championship events and had to come home, it must be absolutely heartbreaking. I am actually grateful my outdoor track season was taken away before it started, because I would have been even more devastated having made it to regionals or nationals to then be told to get on the plane to go home. I am very grateful to be given the option to return for my spring season if I want, but I think the NCAA should have given winter sports their seasons back as well. For those athletes that have dreams of competing after college, it would be like if you were taking a class that was a prerequisite for your future career and you had completed all of the assignments, essays, quizzes [and] presentations, and then showed up for the final only to be told it is canceled and you won’t be receiving a grade in that class. The NCAA made the correct decision to cancel the events and spring season, but this will undoubtedly throw many student athletes into a tailspin. What were your feelings when you heard all spring sports for the 2020 season would be canceled?
PSU Vanguard • APRIL 14, 2020 • psuvanguard.com
Gerda Upeniece • Junior, women’s tennis: I was devastated and heartbroken. I wish everyone could have seen our team’s growth and hard work this year. I’m only a junior, I have another year to shine. My heart breaks for all the seniors who missed the most significant moments of their seasons and careers.
up [until] the season. Being my senior year, I had very high hopes and expectations for my final year. To see all of this fall apart and be for nothing, it really hurt me. I’ve been playing tennis my whole life, almost 18 years, and this was probably the last chance I would get to play competitive tennis at such a high level.
Sam Roberts • Junior, men’s tennis: Obviously very disappointed and sad. However, that being said, I do believe that the correct decision was made was everyone’s health and safety.
How do you feel athletes who are not granted an extra year of eligibility should be compensated for their seasons being cut short?
Otto Holtari • Junior, men’s tennis: Shocked would probably be the best word to describe it. We had just gotten back from Montana the previous weekend, and we were getting ready to play Weber State here at home on Friday. Then suddenly, things started happening so fast that we didn’t really even know what was going to happen. I think it was Thursday evening when we heard the news that the season has been postponed, and will most likely be canceled, and that we would not play our match the next morning. So, in the moment it was all just a big mystery that we were trying to solve and come to terms with, and it really took some time [for us to] realize the season is actually over. I was still supposed to have one more year to play, so I didn’t feel too sad about it, but I really did feel bad for the seniors. Tommy Edwards • Senior, men’s tennis: At first, I couldn’t believe it. Our whole team had been working so hard for a very long time
Upeniece: There are more questions than answers to this situation. But I would be in favor of allowing all those that were seniors that have not had a chance to compete—not given the opportunity to play their spring season... another opportunity to play next year, regardless of what that does to scholarship count. The NCAA should financially support senior student athletes for another year of their careers. Holtari: For the winter sport athletes whose seasons got cut short at the very end of their seasons, there is really not much that the NCAA could have done for them in my opinion. I don’t think the NCAA or any of the schools would have had enough money to grant an extra year of eligibility for both winter and spring sports. The most fair solution could have been to postpone events like March Madness until they could be played, but then again, I don’t really think we have enough information to truly understand the consequences of those actions either.
SPORTS
BRANDON PAHNISH
Ruchae Walton Redshirt junior, women’s basketball: I honestly do not think that there is much that can be done in this situation. It is very unfortunate but, in this crisis, hard decisions had to be made. Edwards: I think for the athletes who got their seasons cut short, the only thing you can do is to celebrate them and try and honor them in a special way. Their season may have ended poorly but it would be awesome if family, friends and their school made it special for them and find a way to salvage something from the season. Jacinta Milenkoski Sophomore, women’s tennis: I think that they should be subsidized for their tuition in some way. What sort of response have you heard from senior teammates or athletes who would have graduated, but now have the opportunity to return for another year—are any considering returning for a final season? Upeniece: I know a lot of senior athletes who would definitely take this opportunity and would be ready to come back stronger. There’s no doubt!
I really wanted. Now, that decision relies on other situations I can’t control, like scholarship, financial aid, masters or certificates, deadlines, etc. Which I’m not surprised, given the circumstances. With many of my future plans changed, I do want to come back and hopefully have more time to adapt to these changes. Regarding other athletes, some of them are in the same boat as me, but others are not considering coming back because they already applied for graduate school or a job in a company. I believe this decision depends on how big it impacted your plans in the short-term perspective. Jasmine Cabajar • Senior, golf: I am a senior who is about to graduate and I am considering returning for another season, and I know my other senior teammate is considering returning as well. Although, it is up to the financials of our golf program and PSU athletics if we are able to come back. I’ve been at PSU and part of PSU women’s golf for four years now and I don’t want to leave this program like this. I have made a mark in this program and to leave without a strong finish would be heartbreaking. How has this decision by the NCAA impacted your plans for the future?
Nikitovic: A lot of my friends already have plans for after their graduation. Some got accepted in grad schools, some already got jobs. It is a really difficult decision for them to make. I also heard from my friends that they got offered from their coaches to stay and do grad school as an extra year of eligibility.
Upeniece: For now, the hardest part is that we didn’t have our chance this season to give something in return to the people who supported and rooted for us from the sidelines—all the fans, sponsors, coaches, athletic department friends, family and teammates. I’m very proud of my team this year. I just wish we could have shared our success with all these fantastic people for a little bit longer.
Valerie Hernandez • Senior, golf: As a senior, I’m considering staying for another year and hopefully end my season how
Hernandez: It gave me another perspective of what I can do for the next year. With this, I’m thinking of applying for a masters, which I
never had planned for me, or finishing a minor or certificate. It opens many doors, but it also requires a lot of thinking at the end. Cabajar: I had plans to further with my golf career after graduating, but also with my future occupation as a physical therapist. I wasn’t fully set with all my plans, but I was ready to move on with my life. With another year of eligibility, I am willing to go back for another season, but it won’t be an easy decision due to certain circumstances. After the season being cut short, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to have another go at another season. It would have been upsetting to leave my college golf career so abruptly without finishing out my senior season. I was filled with joy to find out the NCAA’s decision. Has anyone informed you of how this might have an impact on your financial aid or scholarships were you to return for an additional season? Roberts: From what I’ve heard, which is very little, the university will honor your scholarship for the fifth year should you decide to take it. Gibson: My understanding is that PSU has about 20 student athletes that could return next year, but the athletic department does not have the budget to pay for all of their current scholarships. So this means everyone that decides to return could now be receiving 0–100% of their scholarship next year. It will be an internal athletic department decision on who and how much each athlete gets. Windy Huang • Junior, golf: Yes. Our athletic director has told us the department might encounter problems getting enough funds, especially for the seniors. Cabajar: Yes, I was informed that scholarships and financial aid are not guaranteed for this extra year. It is not an easy situation for
my coach or within the athletics department. I know PSU athletics and my coach would love to have me and my senior teammate back, but the hardest part is finding the funds for both of us. We have three incoming freshmen for our team so it is a difficult financial situation for my coach to bring us back. However, I do know my coach will do her absolute best to figure something out for me and my teammate financially.
RESPONSES FROM FINANCIAL AID How might this affect students’ financial aid packages? Deanna Smith Associate Director of Financial Aid and Scholarships: Effects on financial aid packages depends on whether students are offered Athletic aid during their additional year of eligibility. Athletic aid is a financial resource and must be counted as part of a student’s aid package. Pell Grant and Oregon Opportunity Grant would not be affected, but eligibility for all other grants, work study and loans potentially would be. Brian Janssen Director of Student Organization Advising: I can say the legislation will not impact the financial aid of the general student body, as the legislation is for student athletes only. For student athletes who decide to return, good questions to ask would be, what types (e.g., loans, grants, scholarships) and amount of financial aid am I eligible for? If I do not receive athletic based aid, how much will it cost me to return for another year? Finally, like many PSU students who face this dilemma, I think student athletes need to ask themselves if it is [in their] best financial and personal interest to return to school for another year.
PSU Vanguard • APRIL 14, 2020 • psuvanguard.com
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