VOLUME 76 • ISSUE 7 • MAY 11, 2021
14 ADJUNCT FACULTY MEMBERS WILL NOT HAVE THEIR APPOINTMENTS RENEWED FOR NEXT ACADEMIC YEAR
NEWS Free COVID-19 vaccines at PSU May 12–13 P. 4
ARTS & CULTURE 70 years of Cheerful Tortoise P. 13
OPINION Healthcare in the age of COVID-19 P. 15
CONTENTS
COVER BY SAM PERSON
NEWS HILL TO HALL
P. 3
PSU HOSTS FREE COVID-19 VACCINATIONS ON CAMPUS MAY 12–13
P. 4
MANY ASPSU CANDIDATES RUN UNOPPOSED, SEVERAL SEATS ARE LEFT VACANT
P. 5
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY CHINA’S SPACE AGENCY CRITICIZED AFTER P. 6 ROCKET DEBRIS TAKES A HIGH DIVE INTERNATIONAL INDIA’S SECOND WAVE SHOCKS THE COUNTRY
P. 7
COVER 14 UNIVERSITY STUDIES ADJUNCTS LAID OFF, FACULTY P. 8–9 SENATE TO CONSIDER CUTTING SINQ COURSES AS ENROLLMENT DROPS
STAFF
EDIT ORI A L EDITOR IN CHIEF Justin Grinnell MANAGING EDITOR Nick Townsend NEWS EDITORS Conor Carroll Rachel Owen INTERNATIONAL EDITOR Karisa Yuasa SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR Béla Kurzenhauser ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Morgan Troper
OPINION EDITOR Nick Gatlin ONLINE EDITOR Lily Hennings COPY CHIEF Sophie Concannon CONTRIBUTORS Karina Agbisit Alana Baldwin-Joiner Diane Erickson Luke Harkins Dylan Jefferies Nova Johnson Catherine Kane Allison Kirkpatrick Analisa Landeros Mackenzie Streissguth
INTERNATIONAL THIS WEEK AROUND THE WORLD
P. 10–11
ARTS & CULTURE ZOOM FATIGUE MAKES ME WANT TO BUY A HOUSE
P. 12
70 YEARS OF CHEERFUL TORTOISE
P. 13
OPINION ROOT CAUSE OF MIGRATION CRISIS IN LATIN AMERICA IS U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
P. 14
THE INHUMANITY OF FOR-PROFIT HEALTHCARE IN THE AGE OF COVID-19
P. 15
EVENTS CALENDAR
P. 16
PHO T O & MULTIMEDI A PHOTO EDITOR Annie Schutz
A DV ISING & ACCOUN TING COORDINATOR OF STUDENT MEDIA Reaz Mahmood
MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Olivia Lee
STUDENT MEDIA ACCOUNTANT Sheri Pitcher
PRODUC TION & DE SIGN CREATIVE DIRECTOR Sam Person
TECHNOLOGY ADVISOR Corrine Nightingale
DESIGNERS Sam Garcia Shannon Steed T ECHNOL OGY & W EB SIT E TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANTS Juliana Bigelow Kahela Fickle George Olson
To contact Portland State Vanguard, email editor@psuvanguard.com
MIS SION S TAT EMEN T Vanguard ’s mission is to serve the Portland State community with timely, accurate, comprehensive and critical content while upholding high journalistic standards. In the process, we aim to enrich our staff with quality, hands-on journalism education and a number of skills highly valued in today’s job market.
A BOU T Vanguard, established in 1946, is published weekly as an independent student newspaper governed by the PSU Student Media Board. Views and editorial content expressed herein are those of the staff, contributors and readers and do not necessarily represent the PSU student body, faculty, staff or administration. Find us in print Tuesdays and online 24/7 at psuvanguard.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @psuvanguard for multimedia content and breaking news.
MAY 3–7 CONOR CARROLL
MAY 3: FORMER OREGON STATE LAWMAKER CITED IN SEX TRAFFICKING RING
Clackamas Community College board member and former Oregon State Speaker of the House of Representatives Dave Hunt has been cited by the Portland Police Bureau in an undercover sex traffic sting operation that took place in April, according to a PPB press release. “The subjects who contacted undercover police officers to arrange payment for sexual acts were criminally cited on the charge of Commercial Sexual Solicitation,” the announcement from PPB stated. Hunt’s legal representative, Michael De Munis, said that Hunt is innocent. While a legislator, Hunt was one of many sponsors of the bill which criminalized sex trafficking in 2007. In 2011, he similarly voted for H.B. 2714. That bill created the crime of “commercial sexual solicitation,” which is what Hunt was arrested for, according to a Portland Tribune report.
MAY 4: LAWMAKERS IN OREGON MAKE IT EASIER TO CREATE HOUSELESS SHELTERS
The Oregon State Legislature has approved a resolution that makes it easier to create a houseless shelter throughout the state of Oregon. In a 26-1 vote, the Oregon Senate passed H.B. 2006 on May 3. The bill requires some municipalities to support planned houseless shelters if certain criteria is met. On average, more than 10,000 Oregonians do not have permanent housing on any given night, which is a nearly 40% increase from six years ago, according to Oregon State’s Office of Policy Development and Research. The lowered threshold for homeless shelters will regress on July 1, 2022. H.B. 2006 also makes it simpler for cities to “approve parking lots where people can sleep in their cars as a form of transitional housing and creates grant funding opportunities for organizations that want to create shelters,” according to an OPB report.
MAY 5: P OLITICAL COALITION SEEKS TO END OREGON STATE REPUBLICAN WALKOUTS
A Democrat-funded faction created to push back versus obstruction tactics used by Republican lawmakers says it means to end the GOP practice, an OPB article stated. In a press conference on May 6, the No More Costly Walkouts Coalition revealed eight legislative initiative petitions which attempt to penalize lawmakers who leave the Capitol during session. “Oregon deserves better than lawmakers who walk off the job, or keep others from working,” stated Reed ScottSchwalbach, vice president of the Oregon Education Association, in an OPB report.
MAY 7: U .S. DOJ SAYS PPB VIOLATED CONSTITUTION, SETTLEMENT
The Department of Justice has issued a reprimand of the PPB for its use of violent tactics against protesters and journalists in 2020. The DOJ’s rebuke noted U.S. Constitutional violations as well as PPB policy violations and criticizes leadership—Mayor Ted Wheeler is in charge of police in Portland—for seeing “all force as justified.” Portland police used force like tear gas, rubber bullets and baton-striking in excess of 6,000 times in 2020, a PPB third-quarter police violence report stated. The city’s official response states the federal government bears responsibility for the violence as well. However, the PPB has been under federal supervision since 2012, in a legal agreement settling DOJ findings that the “PPB engaged in a pattern or practice of unnecessary or unreasonable force.”
PSU Vanguard • MAY 11, 2021 • psuvanguard.com
NEWS
3
GIVE A E FUCK K apply online at psuvanguard.com or contact managingeditor@psuvanguard.com
CONOR CARROLL
ENTRANCE TO THE SMITH MEMORIAL STUDENT UNION BUILDING. JUSTIN GRINNELL/PSU VANGUARD
On May 7, Portland State announced a free on-campus COVID-19 vaccination clinic taking place on Wednesday, May 12 and Thursday, May 13, located at the Smith Memorial Student Union Ballroom from 9 a.m.–5 p.m., according to the press release. “First doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will be available by appointment,” the announcement stated. “Those who receive the vaccine will be automatically sent a link to register for their second dose, the week of May 31.” PSU’s President Stephen Percy announced on May 5 all students, faculty and staff who are returning to in-person learning in the fall are required to have a COVID-19 vaccination. “Starting fall term 2021, the COVID-19 vaccine will be required for inperson students, faculty and staff unless they claim a medical or religious exemption,” Percy said in the statement to the campus community. Safeway-Albertsons pharmacy is running the free clinic for PSU. The vaccine is available to all members of the PSU community, including students, faculty, staff and their immediate families. “This clinic is an important first step in making the vaccine readily available to the PSU community. We expect to host additional clinics on campus in the months ahead,” the announcement stated. Parking will be included at no additional cost to people participating in the vaccination clinic at PSU’s campus, and is available in Parking Structure 1 on campus.
4
NEWS
PSU HOSTS FREE COVID-19 VACCINATIONS ON CAMPUS MAY 12–13 PSU Vanguard • MAY 11, 2021 • psuvanguard.com
MANY ASPSU CANDIDATES RUN UNOPPOSED, SEVERAL SEATS ARE LEFT VACANT SAM GARCIA
RACHEL OWEN In the most recent Associated Students of Portland State (ASPSU) elections, most candidates ran unopposed and several seats were left empty. “The election was uncontested within ASPSU ranks and within the student body,” said Director of Student Life James Peterson. “It seemed to be a very straightforward election as to who would be chosen for the next administration and who would be the right choices.” During this spring term, ASPSU held elections for Student Fee Committee (SFC) and student senate positions. Although the election boasted 1,286 votes—5.3% of the PSU student body—there were more seats open than candidates to fill them. According to Interim Coordinator of Student Government Relations & Adviser to Greek Life Madeline Frisk, University of Oregon only drew 369 votes out of a student body of 22,760, accounting for 1.6% “When you look at it that way...comparatively, I think we are kind of making strides in...how we’re reaching out to people and kind of getting the word out more,” Frisk said. “I think there’s always more to improve on every year. But I will say comparatively, in a virtual environment, I think we figured out some ways to kind of improve that communication.” Despite an uptick in voter turnout, election seats still remained empty. Although there is a passion and interest in of-
PSU Vanguard • MAY 11, 2021 • psuvanguard.com
fice seats, positions for senators remained open, resulting in a quick turnaround to get those seats filled. “We received a considerable amount of additional write-ins,” Frisk said. “But these were people [who] wrote in probably just themselves, because we got a bunch of write-ins [with] just one vote. So after that, we were...looking at…[if ] we [were] going to be doing a special elections process. So we did kind of put together that process with our judicial review board as well as the elections review board. Our constitution basically states they have to...come up with a process for that.” To complete this process, the review board, Frisk and her colleague, Executive Director of Student Leadership Aimee Shattuck, contacted write-ins to confirm their eligibility and interest in the role. No one responded. According to Peterson, ASPSU comes up with a lot of its own projects and initiatives that serve the student body. Since it’s now able to scout people to fill open positions, it has an opportunity to be more selective about who it chooses to represent the student body. For Peterson, being a senator is a great opportunity for those that want the role, but also for ASPSU to find a potential candidate. According to Peterson, ASPSU is in charge of providing voices for students. It encourages a space where students can be heard and present their opinions on ongoing issues and projects on
campus. With the turn around of online education and the possibility of in-person classes in the fall, having a say in student safety and conduct is important now more than ever. Student engagement in a virtual environment has posed a challenge for student government. With everything online, it’s harder to access students and encourage them to participate in student affairs, even in ones where their voice matters. “I really want students to understand that their voice has power,” Peterson said. “You think that student government doesn’t have a lot of power [and in] reality, it doesn’t have a ton. But the fact that you have the ability and the platform to coalesce and organize, that’s massive. You can make institutional change at any level if you have enough people behind you. There’s plenty of instances where your grassroots activism or organization or organizing produces tangible results that we see.” As fall term fast approaches and decisions are made regarding COVID-19 guidelines and safety, Peterson mentioned ASPSU is doing what they can to mobilize student voices during this time. It provides a platform in which students are able to comment on the situation and open up a dialogue. “We can only do so much with our own projects or our own resources,” Peterson said. “That’s the missing part of the organization—[that’s] the life of any representative body, the constituents. So, get involved, please get involved.”
NEWS
5
CHINA’S SPACE AGENCY CRITICIZED AFTER ROCKET DEBRIS TAKES A HIGH DIVE LONG MARCH 5B-Y2. COURTESY OF TWITTER
BÉLA KURZENHAUSER China’s National Space Agency (CNSA) has come under fire by the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) after remnants of its Long March 5B-Y2 rocket plummeted into the Indian Ocean after re-entry. The reckless disposal of the 5B-Y2 residual scraps has revived discussion in the need for regulation of space materials and safe disposal of space junk. This is not the first time China has received criticism for its management of extraterrestrial property. In 2007, China shot down one of its own aging weather satellites with a mediumrange ballistic missile from 500 miles away. The practice of launching missiles into space isn’t new, as many of the world’s most active space agencies have tested anti-satellite weapons (ASATs) on decaying satellites in the past. The United States used an ASAT in 2008 to prevent a plummeting satellite from crashing into the Earth and potentially causing catastrophic damage. Additionally, both Russia and the U.S. performed numerous ASAT tests in the midst of the space race of the late 20th century. The demolition of satellites using missiles is extraordinarily dangerous because it dispels thousands of pieces of space junk into orbit, which makes space travel more risky and puts currently-active satellites in danger. According to physicist David Wright, China’s satellite explosion 14 years ago likely caused more than two million pieces of scrap larger than a millimeter in size each to hurtle off into orbit. Objects of that size might not seem so deadly, but in Earth’s orbit, space junk can travel at speeds upward of 20,000 miles per hour, turning even the smallest bits of metal into speeding particles capable of causing more damage than a round shot from a tank.
6
Beyond reckless disposal of satellites, Earth’s orbit is also getting more and more crowded, raising concerns about how many satellites should be allowed to orbit the planet. The House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics previously assembled in February 2020 to discuss mitigating damages in an increasingly-overcrowded orbit. Potential plans include working with NASA and the Department of Commerce to strike deals with privately-owned space companies, as the planet’s orbit is not only packed with government satellites and stations, but also with tens of thousands of commercial satellites from companies such as OneWeb and SpaceX. So-called satellite constellations also risk polluting the night sky and causing potential chain reactions of satellites smashing into each other (also known as the Kepler effect). As far as judicial action is concerned, space is effectively the wild west or the high seas. There’s very little regulation in place to prevent companies or agencies from launching what they want into the midnight sky or to punish perpetrators of orbital pollution. Many national space agencies have guidelines in place to mitigate creation of space junk— such as the “Preserve the Space Environment” section of the U.S. National Space Policy or the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space’s Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines— but without legal enforcement, such guidelines are completely platitudinous. It doesn’t help that allowing national governments to remove or dispose of its aging satellites or space debris could open up international security issues. After all, if the U.S. or China can shoot down their own satellites with ASATs, what’s preventing them from shooting down
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
their adversaries’ satellites? Clearly, space debris poses a considerable threat to the tens of thousands of satellites currently orbiting Earth, but what about its threat to us on the ground? A majority of space junk burns up upon re-entry, so any small particulate junk that falls out of orbit will have melted away long before it reaches the surface of the planet. However, much larger pieces of debris can pose a considerable threat, depending on where they land. Most rocket re-entries are relatively harmless. Some Oregonians may remember the light show produced by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 debris burning up over the state at the end of March. Although some may have mistaken the glowing astral streaks as a UFO or a harbinger of doom, they were in fact harmless molten space junk. Center of Astrophysics astronomer Jonathan McDowell noted that reentries of this size occur “about once a week” nowadays. About two weeks later, a large black cylindrical object— currently suspected to be a residual pressure vessel from a SpaceX rocket—washed ashore in Lincoln County, Oregon. The Long March 5B-Y2’s crash landing in the Indian Ocean is a particularly striking event given that most rockets burn up upon reentry. NASA administrator Bill Nelson criticized China’s failure to ensure full burnup of the rocket, stating that “it is clear that China is failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris.” It is currently unclear whether the rocket debris collided with land or water, and the U.S. Space Command has stated that the exact location of impact—estimated to be near the Maldives archipelago—will not be released to the public.
McDowell also chastised China, noting it was completely possible that the rocket debris could have landed in a densely-populated area such as New York or Beijing, and saying that the incident “makes the Chinese rocket designers look lazy.” “It was not, and is not, NASA’s job to track foreign space debris, except at a general policy level,” McDowell tweeted on May 9. “Other countries and companies are not blameless either. The Falcon 9 stage 2 that reentered over [Washington] on Mar. 26 was MUCH smaller... but SpaceX was not transparent about it.” U.S. military commanders pleaded to Congress on May 7 for greater space regulation to prevent space from becoming “the wild, wild west where every satellite, astronaut, cosmonaut, or taikonaut has to defend itself,” according to U.S. representative Jim Cooper. Much of the hearing’s discussion was tailored towards the potential dangers of international warfare bleeding into the planet’s orbit. In a press briefing on the same day, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked if the White House would condemn the “reckless behavior from China’s space program.” “The United States is committed to addressing the risks of growing congestion due to space debris and growing activity in space, and we want to work with the international community to promote leadership and responsible space behaviors,” Psaki said. “It’s in the shared interest of all nations to act responsibly in space to ensure the safety, stability, security, and longterm sustainability of outer space activities... and certainly, addressing this is something we’ll do through those channels.”
PSU Vanguard • MAY 11, 2021 • psuvanguard.com
INDIA’S SECOND WAVE SHOCKS THE COUNTRY DIANE ERICKSON An unprecedented surge of COVID-19 infections has led to skyrocketing rates of hospitalizations and deaths all throughout India, according to Reuters. For 17 days straight, the country reported 300,000 daily infections, bringing the country’s total infections to 21 million cases on May 6. India, with a population of 1.3 billion, is the world’s second most populated country, and many people live in close proximity to one another in densely inhabited cities, towns and neighborhoods. India’s healthcare system has been overwhelmed by the country’s second wave of infections. Entire families have tested positive for COVID-19, filling hospitals with people of all ages. The overflow of patients has led to a critical shortage of beds and space, forcing many hospitals to turn patients away. According to NBC, Praveen Durge, a 40-yearold teacher from the city of Chandrapur, went to a private hospital to receive treatment when he began showing COVID-19 symptoms. The hospital had no beds available, so he was turned away with nothing but cough medicine to soothe his sore throat. Only a day later, Durge’s symptoms worsened dramatically, and he could no longer breathe properly. Durge’s family put him in their car and drove for over three hours to 12 different hospitals in Chandrapur, but not one hospital could
admit him. When they made it to the last hospital on their list, he passed away in the backseat. “Not one single doctor even came out to take a look at my brother, even as we begged them to,” said Durge’s sister Ujwala, who was with him in the car when he died, as reported by NBC. “We were so distressed, we even begged the doctor to let him sleep on the hospital floor. Everyone said no.” Indian hospitals are not only low on beds, but many are also lacking basic and essential medical supplies. One serious issue has been the widespread scarcity of medical oxygen. The Times of India reported 20 COVID-19 patients died at Jaipur Golden Hospital on April 23 due to a delayed oxygen shipment. “When the oxygen supply didn’t arrive for five hours, we had to use 50 big cylinders kept in reserve to continue oxygen therapy to our patients. It couldn’t deliver oxygen with the required pressure, leading to the death of some of our critically ill patients,” said Dr. D. K. Baluja, medical director of the hospital. “It is a combined failure of all of us. It is a catastrophic man-made disaster.” Unable to get the help they need from their country’s infrastructure, thousands of Indians have been turning to social media for help. Some are looking for available hospital beds in their home states, while others are trying to get various medications so they can treat the disease at home. India has banned exports to keep the country
PSU Vanguard • MAY 11, 2021 • psuvanguard.com
A HEALTH WORKER TAKES A MOUTH SWAB SAMPLE OF A KASHMIRI BOY TO TEST FOR COVID-19 IN SRINAGAR, INDIA. DAR YASIN/AP PHOTO quarantined, and national pharma manufacturers are trying their hardest to meet the demand. The drug shortages have led to a growing black market in Delhi and other big cities. The second wave has also put a serious strain on cremation services throughout India. Some crematoriums have been running their furnaces continually due to the high number of incoming bodies, leading to maintenance issues. “Before the coronavirus outbreak last year, around 20 bodies were cremated everyday,” said Kamlesh Sailor, a manager at Kurukshetra Crematorium in Surat. “At present, we are handling about 100 bodies per day.” In late January, when daily cases fell to an alltime low, the government declared it had beaten the coronavirus and lifted restrictions on big gatherings and religious festivals. However, health experts believe that this surge has been caused by a newer, more dangerous strain of the coronavirus. “While complacency in adhering to masks and physical distancing might have played a role, it seems increasingly likely that this second wave has been fueled by a much more virulent strain,” wrote Vikram Patel, Professor of Global Health at Harvard Medical School, in The Indian Express. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been heavily blamed for the recent surge of infections due to his handling of the pandemic.
As the coronavirus spreads and the death rate increases, the Prime Minister has not responded with any lockdowns or social distancing laws. Instead, Modi has allowed huge festivals to take place, like the religious Kumbh Mela festival in Uttarakhand, which was attended by millions of Hindu devotees, according to BBC. Modi has also encouraged Indians to vote “in person” for his political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been running for the state assembly election in West Bengal. On April 17, tens of thousands attended Modi’s rally in the state, while thousands of Indians and their families suffered from the coronavirus in hospitals across the country. Only two days later on April 19, #ResignModi became the top trending hashtag on Twitter in India. Countries across the world along with international relief organizations are in the process of providing aid to the country. PBS has compiled a list of organizations that people outside of India can donate to. Even with outside assistance, however, some wonder whether help is coming too late due to Modi’s leadership. “How many deaths does it take ‘til he knows, that too many people have died?” Nirupama Menon Rao, a former foreign secretary, wrote on Twitter.
INTERNATIONAL
7
14 UNIVE ADJU FACU CON SIN ENRO NICK GATLIN On April 6, 14 adjunct faculty in the University Studies department at Portland State were sent emails from the Interim Executive Director of University Studies, Dr. Linda George, notifying them that their appointments with PSU would not be renewed when they expire on June 15. The email to each professor read in part, “Your efforts and contributions to the University are recognized and appreciated, and are not diminished by the issuance of this letter. In the event it is later decided your services are required, a new Notice of Appointment executed by the University will be offered to you.” Ariana Jacob, Chair of Bargaining for PSUFA, the University’s adjunct faculty union, said the adjuncts “were sent very brief, utterly impersonal letters saying that they had no work for next year.” “Some of those adjuncts have been teaching for over a decade,” Jacob said. To be told one is losing their job with no warning, she said, “it’s very scary. It’s very painful. And it’s so incredibly disrespectful of our community of people that makes PSU happen.” Jacob emphasized that as far as she knew, the adjuncts were not fired for poor performance. “They are projecting low en-
8
COVER
BUILDING DIRECTORY FOR THE UNIVERSITY STUDIES OFFICES IN CRAMER HALL. JUSTIN GRINNELL/PSU VANGUARD rollment and they’ve already been dealing with lower than expected enrollment,” she said. “So it means that they’re cutting a number of courses for next year in University Studies.” She believes this foreshadows other changes at the university. George confirmed that the layoffs were a result of a “sustained decline in enrollment at PSU,” stating University Studies is “particularly sensitive to enrollment...so when enrollment declines we have to cut sections.” The adjuncts were not given advance notice of the decision. Professor Erica Thomas, who teaches the SINQ course Design Thinking at PSU, said the letter was “shocking.” “I think the initial letter lacked so much context and had so little context and so little feeling and so little empathy that it was kind of shocking, actually, how cold it was,” Thomas said. Thomas feels she does not have a relationship with the administration. “The lower in the hierarchy that you go, the more helpful and communicative people are,” she said. “But then we get communications from on high...that do come out of context, or they are written in a way that is confusing or doesn’t feel very empathetic.” “I think there’s two kinds of administration going on,” she continued. “there’s the administration that has the ability to
control our workplace conditions, and our employment. And then there’s the administration who’s responsible for communicating about it.” “There was no direct indication [of the letter] of any kind,” another professor said. This professor, who requested to remain anonymous, will be referred to from here on as Professor Smith. They had heard talk about enrollment problems from other people in the university, they said. Some professors had expected to have multiple courses in the spring quarter, only to have these classes cancelled with no warning, in a manner one professor described as “strange.” Another professor, from here on referred to as Professor Johnson, said they were also given no advance warning before the email was sent by the administration: They had just completed their two-year contract and expected it to be renewed, they explained, because they teach one of the most in-demand undergraduate courses. Johnson questioned the rationale for the decision. “The assumption that what we’re seeing right now in terms of registration reflects what the registration is going to be seems premature,” they said. Considering the low amount adjuncts are paid for each credit hour, they said, as well as the number of
PSU Vanguard • MAY 11, 2021 • psuvanguard.com
ERSITY STUDIES UNCTS LAID OFF, ULTY SENATE TO NSIDER CUTTING NQ COURSES AS OLLMENT DROPS students in each class, they believed classes would still be profitable even with a reduction of tuition due to the pandemic. Shelly Chabon, vice provost for Academic Personnel and Dean of Interdisciplinary General Education at PSU, stated the adjunct faculty who were laid off are “excellent instructors who have taught many PSU students.” She said that “when enrollment declines, as it has at PSU in recent years, we simply do not have enough classes for all the faculty we employed when student enrollment was higher,” and explained that the letters of non-renewal were sent to the adjuncts in accordance with the PSUFA Collective Bargaining Agreement. The possible reduction in University Studies programs goes beyond the layoffs of these 14 adjunct professors; according to Professor Sarah Wolf Newlands, a proposal to reduce Sophomore Inquiry (SINQ) requirements will go before the Faculty Senate in June. Faculty members in the department said that the proposal would likely reduce SINQ requirements from three classes to two. George denied that the proposed reduction in University Studies course requirements was related to the layoffs in the department. “The proposed reduction comes from our analysis of assessment data that shows that the first and second
PSU Vanguard • MAY 11, 2021 • psuvanguard.com
SINQs are highly impactful on retention and student success,” George said. “Given the budget constraints,” she explained, the university is looking to “optimize” its curriculum and requirements. “It just looks like, from everything I’ve seen, that enrollment is trending towards a somewhat smaller university— which means we need fewer faculty. It is kind of as simple as that,” George said. Johnson called the proposal “senseless and counterproductive.” “I can tell you from my own experience, that doesn’t make any sense to me,” they said. Their students often have belowaverage writing skills, they explained, and University Studies is where they get much of their writing instruction. “I am surprised that they would want to reduce the requirement, because where else will students get this support?” they said. Johnson also argued the move to cut classes over low enrollment was unwise. The COVID-19 pandemic is a driving factor in falling enrollment, they said. “Many folks feel it’s very important to them to have a college experience in the way that is depicted in media, right?”
“The whole situation is very anxiety ridden. Folks are losing family members and friends, some students have [longterm COVID-19].” These factors all influence the lower rate of enrollment and lack of participation in classes by students, Johnson said. When courses return to in-person classes in the fall, Johnson said, students are going to say “‘what the heck, all the classes are full!’ and ‘why aren’t there more sections of this?’” The adjuncts in University Studies were given no notification of the proposal to reduce SINQ requirements. Professor Thomas said, “I actually found out...in the way that I find out about most things that the university probably isn’t interested in email-blasting out to us until after it’s too late, which is that the union [PSUFA] told me.” Thomas said she finds out most information about her employment from PSUFA: “all the things that I probably should find out from HR, or the higher level administration in UNST—I find all of that information out from the union,” she said. “I learned about [the proposal to reduce SINQ requirements] by word of mouth from one of the regular faculty members, not in University Studies,” Professor Smith said. “So there was no discussion that I know of that included adjuncts in University Studies about it.” They don’t know the reasoning behind the proposal or who introduced it, they said. Smith criticized the proposal, explaining, “I think it’s a very bad idea because students need much more general education today than perhaps in previous times. They also need to learn critical thinking, correct writing. It’s not a one-shot thing; you need a revolution of the calendar, a year, to get some of the things into you.” The proposed reduction of general education requirements, according to Smith, serves students poorly. “It enables them to move to their specialized work with less secure, less solid grounding in basic skills,” they said. Smith also said that they learned from speaking to other faculty that the proposal is likely to pass. Smith gave a defense of general education more broadly: “We need students—[we need] citizens who have a general education, who have these general skills. We do not need citizens who are only specialists.” They described the proposed reduction in SINQ requirements as “a very small piece” of a broader trend of “the dumbing down of national education.” Thomas said that despite the university expressing a desire to avoid “austerity” measures, “this is a really harsh austerity measure that’s being put in place as a response to the pandemic, which is a temporary and outlying experience that we’re having.” The long term effect of this reduction in faculty and academic programs will be a reduction in the quality of classes, she said. “I think that riding the pandemic enrollment lull out by firing teachers is not a good choice.” The professors also spoke to the issue of precarity and job insecurity among adjunct faculty. Jacob said that full-time faculty positions at the university had been “broken” into “many, many, many small adjunct positions which then are more affordable to [the university], but allow [the university] to treat workers with a disregard for their ability to survive as people.” PSU has a financial incentive to do so, she said, because the university does not have to pay benefits to adjunct faculty. Johnson said of their experience at PSU, “It just seems like the university is not really interested in supporting the [University Studies] program,” in part because University Studies faculty are not eligible to earn tenure as faculty in other departments can. They said that even though University Studies faculty are “expected to teach, to provide service to the University, and to meet publication and research goals,” they did not have the same job security as faculty in other departments. Johnson said they felt University Studies was thought of as “unimportant,” which did not make sense to them considering the importance of general education. “When students complete their bachelor’s degree, there’s an expectation that they will have writing skills…[and] be well-rounded individuals in terms of their education,” Johnson said. Smith echoed this sentiment. “We do okay because we have a strong union,” they said. “I have no complaints about University Studies; they really have given me everything that I need. But the general condition of being underpaid and being precarious has a number of effects. One is on the teaching, of course, and the quality of the teaching is always a victory against those circumstances.”
COVER
9
2
4
THIS WEEK
around the
WORLD
May 3–7
10
INTERNATIONAL
PSU Vanguard • MAY 11, 2021 • psuvanguard.com
1
3
1
May 3
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
An overpass collapsed on Line 12 of the Mexico City Metro, causing the deaths of 26 people and injuring 80 more, according to AP News. The Mexico City Metro is one of the world’s busiest metro systems, which is used by millions of people daily. On May 8, Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum announced that families of the victims will receive financial compensation from both the city and the metro train line. “We are not going to leave them alone,” Sheinbaum said during a news conference. “We are going to be with them and we are going to give them all the support they require.” In a telephone poll of over 400 residents, 22% of respondents said they blamed Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard—who was mayor during the construction of Line 12—and 4.5% blamed Sheinbaum due to other metro accidents happening since she took office. Ebrard and Sheinbaum are seen as the leading candidates to succeed Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. “If the problem was structural, it hits Marcelo...if the problem was maintenance, it hits Sheinbaum,” said Fernando Belaunzaran, an opposition politician. “The struggle over succession will be about trying to demarcate the responsibility.” 2
May 5
BRIGHTON AND HOVE, ENGLAND
The U.K.’s largest international LGBTQ+ Pride Festival announced its cancellation for the second year in a row due to
PSU Vanguard • MAY 11, 2021 • psuvanguard.com
COVID-19 uncertainties. This comes after the announcement in February that the event, which typically brings around 250,000 visitors to the city, would occur from August 7–8. The 2020 festival was originally set to celebrate the annual festival’s 30th anniversary and have Mariah Carey headline. “We are devastated at having to make this decision for a second year and recognise the huge impact on local businesses, charities and community groups who rely on the fundraising potential of the Pride weekend,” said Paul Kemp, director of Brighton Pride. “Pride attracts tens of thousands of people to our city for the LGBTQ+ community parade which is the heart of the Pride celebrations, where social distancing clearly can’t be facilitated safely.” With the announcement, the Brighton and Hove Pride team announced they are still planning smaller in-person community and cultural events that adhere to COVID-19 guidelines. 3
May 6
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
A police raid on a poor neighborhood targeting drug traffickers left 28 people dead, making it the deadliest operation carried out by security forces in the city, according to Reuters. Of the 28 deaths, one was a police officer and 27 were civilians who allegedly had associations with a drug trafficking operation. Residents in the area along with human rights groups have spoken out about a need for a thorough investigation into the
shootout. “It’s completely unacceptable that security forces keep committing grave human rights violations such as those that occurred in Jacarezinho today against residents of the favelas, who are mostly Black and live in poverty,” said Jurema Werneck, executive director of Amnesty International Brazil. “Even if the victims were suspected of criminal association, which has not been proven, summary executions of this kind are entirely unjustifiable.” 4
May 7
PORTO, PORTUGAL
European Union heads of state met to discuss the bloc’s social affairs at the EU Social Summit 2021. 24 leaders attended the summit in-person in addition to three attending virtually to discuss their goals of implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights. “As vaccination is well on track, as we return to our normal lives, it’s time to mend our social fabric, damaged by the crisis,” European Commision President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter. Ahead of the summit, 11 EU governments issued a joint statement warning against too strong labor and social policy interventions. In addition, leaders of Poland and Hungary lobbied on Friday to remove the phrase “gender equality” from a declaration on the goals of the European Union to rebuild from COVID-19, opting for looser language regarding fighting discrimination, according to Reuters.
INTERNATIONAL
11
ZOOM FATIGUE MAKES ME WANT TO BUY A HOUSE
SAM GARCIA
UNFORTUNATELY, FOR MILLENNIALS LIKE ME, THAT STILL DOESN’T SEEM POSSIBLE KARINA AGBISIT As someone who started working from home well before the pandemic, I believed I was in a better place with my worklife balance than most of America’s workforce in spring 2020. Zoom calls were already standard practice for me—I had never met any of my coworkers in-person anyway, and I was already enjoying the freedom of setting my own hours. I would just keep doing what I was doing, grateful to continue working from the safety of my home. If only it had been that simple. First, my partner was laid off, then our roommate as well. Thankfully, my partner was able to enter a master’s program to make a long awaited career change, but this resulted in one more person using the WiFi all day. Combine that with our roommate entertaining himself with Netflix and video games while waiting for news that he might someday get his job back, and the apartment became very busy, very fast. Like most newer apartments, my entire shared living area is open, meaning that the kitchen, dining area and living room constitute a single space. My previous workstation at the dining table was no longer a viable option and I began working from a desk in the bedroom. I had never been fond of this arrangement—too much blurring of the lines between business and pleasure. Experts generally recommend against working from one’s bedroom, as it makes both staying on task during working hours difficult and winding down and relaxing afterward near impossible.
12
ARTS & CULTURE
At first, the bedroom gave me peace from the whirring of blenders, the crackling of cooking, the stock laughter from the sitcoms serving as substitute therapy as we contemplated if this was the end of times. But soon, working from the bedroom revealed its downsides: my partner trying to get clean clothes after a workout, a charger left in the bedroom that needed to be retrieved immediately, piles of papers and notes on upcoming deadlines staring at me as I tried falling asleep, the cat screaming at the door during meetings to either be let in or go out. Too often during calls I have been asked, “Is that a baby screaming?” as the frustrated feline mewled in the background. After over a year of all this, I find myself asking, how much longer can I sustain this? Like many Americans during these times, we have examined our current space and determined it is not enough. The combination of working from home and low interest rates on mortgages has led us to once again reach out and try to grasp the American dream of owning a home. Our roommate did eventually get his job back and even started a second one, boosting his income. My partner found a part-time weekend job and is waiting to hear back about jobs in his new field of work. Business has been good for me, and I even somehow got a raise amid all this pandemic chaos. But if you thought reliance on avocado toast was the thing holding back millennials from buying homes, think again.
Apartment List’s 2019 survey of millennials across major cities in America showed affordability is the number one concern when it comes to the possibility of purchasing a home, with 70% of responders expressing that they are still waiting to buy because they can’t afford to right now. Even for those who expressed they plan on renting indefinitely, 69% indicated they hold this position because buying a home is not financially feasible. Fast-forward two years and the flaming hot housing market has made the dream of buying a home even further out of reach for many millennials. Low supply and high demand has led to the highest surge in home prices in America in the last 15 years. And as a ragtag group of three Portlanders scraping by paycheckto-paycheck while trying not to be swallowed by student debt, we have realized that the brief glimpse of hope we had as our incomes and our lives have returned to some sort of normalcy was all for naught. Even living on the northern outskirts of the city, it seems near impossible to get anything that will allow us to have that coveted home office for less than $400,000. So where to go from here? The best I can figure is to keep paying the monthly bills, keep saving and keep looking for opportunities to increase income. With our roommate working two jobs and my partner on his way to being employed full-time, the business in the house has died down. I know working a full week from inside my bedroom is not perfect, but it will have to do for now.
PSU Vanguard • MAY 11, 2021 • psuvanguard.com
70 YEARS OF CHEERFUL TORTOISE DYLAN JEFFERIES On average, tortoises live between 70 and 150 years. Cheerful Tortoise, the fabled family-owned dive bar located on Portland State’s campus known for its dollar-beers, karaoke, and quirky—also occasionally inflammatory—daily marquee messages, celebrated its 70th anniversary this year. But there was no celebration. On April 30, due to rapidly rising COVID-19 cases, Multnomah County moved back into the “extreme risk” category of Governor Kate Brown’s COVID-19 restrictions, limiting indoor dining capacity for restaurants and bars. According to Amy Nichols, owner of Cheerful Tortoise, the bar barely survived the last two COVID-19 shutdowns. “I didn’t actually think I would survive the second [shutdown],” Nichols said. “Luckily I had some friends provide some extra funds that helped me. If it wasn’t for them I probably would have shut down [Cheerful Tortoise]. We can’t make it.” Nichols started working at Cheerful Tortoise as a server in 1999 when she was 21. She purchased the bar, along with the sister bar Cheerful Bullpen—also located downtown—in 2008. According to Nichols, there have been five owners who have owned both bars in their history. Cheerful Bullpen has been in operation since 1948, Cheerful Tortoise since 1951. This year, Nichols converted Cheerful Bullpen into a convenience store to help offset the financial toll of operating a bar during the pandemic. It worked well, and she thought about doing the same thing with Cheerful Tortoise, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. “I grew up in that bar,” Nichols said. “It’s hard. I have a really hard time going there.” According to Nichols, state and federal relief has been marginally helpful. She was able to get on the Paycheck Protection Program at the beginning of the pandemic, which helped; but ultimately, she said, rapidly rising costs and Oregon’s COVID-19 restrictions continue to cause financial strain. Nichols has purchased food, kegs and other perishable items that went bad because of unexpected shutdowns. She mentioned that all of her fees for licensing doubled without warning, that she’s now paying $800 instead of $400 annually for a liquor license. Plus, she’s still paying full-price for rent on the building despite capacity limits, she said, and staffing the bar has become more and more difficult. “We’re in the middle of a shutdown and there was no relief or discounts,” Nichols said. “There were no breaks.” One thing that bothers Nichols about the “extreme risk” restrictions is that businesses are allowed to have up to six people inside to play video poker, but food and drink cannot be served inside. “It’s bullshit,” Nichols said. “It’s like they’re picking and choosing restrictions randomly.” Brown announced on May 4 that the latest restrictions will be lifted on May 7, allowing restaurants to serve patrons in-doors once again. But Nichols said that this latest shutdown might have pushed her over the edge: “I want out of the Tortoise,” she said. According to Nichols, it’s more than the financial strain; it’s also the environment of downtown Portland, where there are
PSU Vanguard • MAY 11, 2021 • psuvanguard.com
CHEERFUL TORTOISE MARQUEE ON MAY 5, 2021. DYLAN JEFFERIES/PSU VANGUARD many people experiencing houselessness and frequent protests. Nichols said that the old and expensive stain-glass windows at Cheerful Tortoise were broken in August by protesters, and that multiple houseless camps have cropped up near both Cheerful Tortoise and Cheerful Bullpen. “I don’t want to be in downtown Multnomah County once we get back to full whatever,” she said. “I don’t want to be downtown unless something drastically changes.” She said that no sale will happen for at least a couple of years, but at the moment, her plan is to get out. More than anything, it’s loss of community that makes Nichols sad when reflecting on Cheerful Tortoise and the pandemic. “It’s not just a college bar, it’s home for a lot of people,” Nichols said. She talked about how a lot of older patrons who frequented Cheerful Tortoise—some who don’t even drink—saw the bar as a social outlet and a place of community. “That’s been the hardest part for me during all of this, because those guys are alone,” Nichols said. “They don’t have any family. The Tortoise is their family.” “Luckily we got a lot of their numbers and stuff and we were able to reach out to them and make sure that they were ok,” Nichols continued. “But it was hard.” Cheerful Tortoise has been fiercely criticized for some of its daily marquee messages, especially during the pandemic. Nichols has also made posts and comments using Cheerful Tortoise’s social media accounts criticizing Governor Brown and COVID-19
restrictions, and some people have accused Nichols and Cheerful Tortoise as being anti-lockdown, inflammatory and racist. One marquee message in November read “Everybody Was Kung Flu Fighting.” Another the same month: “Impeach Gov Kate Brown.” “It’s sad because people are just quick to judge instead of taking the time to figure out the whole story,” Nichols said. “I have three little ones. I have my youngest and then I have a nine-yearold and a six-year-old, and so to have the pandemic happen, and then the kids can’t go to school and things like that—just don’t be so quick to judge. It’s easy to read a post and just assume something versus just taking the time to talk to somebody. There’s so much of that these days. It’s really sad.” Ultimately, Nichols is grateful for her friends that were able to support the bar through the financial challenges wrought by the pandemic. “Support the little guys,” Nichols said. Nichols wasn’t the only Oregon business owner unhappy with the latest shutdown, especially as vaccinations are being administered and hospitals have space. Oregon Unemployment Department data shows Oregon had 149 fewer restaurants at the end of 2020 versus the end of 2019, the first decline in overall establishments in a decade, according to The Oregonian. “A lot of prices for things have increased drastically, and we can’t even open our doors,” Nichols said. After the shutdown? “We’ll be open, but dollar-beer is gone.”
OWNER AMY NICHOLS DISCUSSES COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS’ EFFECT ON THE BAR, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL MEDIA
AMY NICHOLS AND HER YOUNGEST DAUGHTER CORAL OUTSIDE OF CHEERFUL BULLPEN (EST. 1948), WHICH WAS RECENTLY CONVERTED FROM A BAR INTO A CONVENIENCE STORE IN ORDER TO MAKE MORE MONEY DURING THE PANDEMIC. DYLAN JEFFERIES/PSU VANGUARD
ARTS & CULTURE
13
ROOT CAUSE OF MIGRATION CRISIS IN LATIN AMERICA IS U.S. FOREIGN POLICY, CIA INTERFERENCE VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS MEETS VIRTUALLY WITH GUATEMALA'S PRESIDENT ALEJANDRO GIAMMATTEI. JACQUELYN MARTIN/AP PHOTO
LUKE HARKINS CW: Death, rape and sexual assault, child abuse United States Vice President Kamala Harris hosted a virtual meeting with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei on April 26—a prelude to the vice president’s upcoming visit to the region in June. This meeting represented some of the first steps in the Biden administration’s plans to tackle immigration reform in a more holistic fashion than prior eras. But it is important to remember that the emigration crisis in Latin America is the consequence of the imperialist, anti-leftist foreign policy strategy the U.S. employed in the 20th century. Failing to acknowledge that would be a disservice to the historical record and to the Guatemalan people. Rather than simply building a wall and hoping things play out for the best amongst our neighbors to the south, the Biden administration has instead sought to address the “root causes” of emigration in the region, a refreshing proposal in light of the past four years of aimless Latin American foreign policy. However, it is imperative we remind ourselves that in order to effectively address these root causes, the U.S. will need to have some very uncomfortable conversations first. During the April 26 meeting, Harris listed a few of these key root causes: “a lack of good governance, violence against women, indigenous people, LGBTQ people, and Afro-descendants.” While there should be little disagreement that these factors have been influential to migration patterns in the region, presenting these issues as the root causes of Guatemala’s emigration problem only serves to obfuscate the true story. Along with Iran, Guatemala represents the quintessential case study in America’s historical failure to recognize the long-term ramifications of its anti-leftist regime-change rampage of the 1950s. While it’s difficult to guarantee that without U.S. interference in the region, Guatemala would be a shining example of utopia today, it is nonetheless important that America’s culpability in Guatemala’s 1954 coup be recognized. The consequences of that coup have certainly served to shape Guatemala’s current social, political and economic challenges being wrestled with today. Elected in 1951, Jacobo Árbenz was only Guatemala’s second democratically-elected president before he was ousted from power in 1954 by a CIA-backed paramilitary group led by Fort Leavenworth-trained Carlos Castillo Armas. Much
14
OPINION
like the successful 1953 overthrow of the democraticallyelected Mosaddegh government in Iran, the 1954 coup in Guatemala was the brainchild of then-CIA director Allen Dulles, infamously aided by his brother, U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. In Árbenz’s inaugural address, the Guatemalan president stated it was his intent to pull the nation from “a backward country with a predominantly feudal economy into a modern capitalist state.” Árbenz was certainly no communist, but his platform of aggressive agrarian reform was seen as a threat to U.S. commercial interests in the region. According to Richard H. Immerman in his book The CIA in Guatemala, the United Fruit Company, now rebranded under the Chiquita label, had effectively monopolized Guatemala’s banana industry, controlling more than 550,000 acres of land upon which only 15% was actively utilized for cultivation. Naturally, the United Fruit Company became one of the prime targets of Arbenz’s agrarian reform program, eventually leading to the government expropriation of over 400,000 acres of the company’s unutilized lands at the tax-assessed value of the properties. Over 23,000 landless Guatemalans, many of which were indigenous farmers, would become the recipients of the divvied-up lands per Decree 900, a strategy the Arbenz administration had employed to help foster greater equity for local farmers. Consequently, the U.S. had little patience for this kind of behavior and opted to forcibly install a brutal dictatorship hellbent on exterminating leftist sympathizers and pro-labor interest groups. This regime also reversed the expropriation of the lands granted to Guatemalan farmers under Decree 900. Needless to say, the Dulles brothers’ crusade to defend U.S. commercial interests came at the expense of the populations in most dire need of a helping hand: subsistence farmers and indigenous peoples. In the decades following Castillo Armas’ authoritarian takeover of the Guatemalan government, a 36-year civil war was waged. Through the tail end of the 20th century, the country would become battered by violent conflict, sporadic military rule, political executions and a genocide of the indigenous Maya people.
The level of cruelty and strife that afflicted Guatemala post1954 coup is succinctly put by the testimony of Human Rights Watch before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in 2003: “In 1982, in the village of Las Dos Erres, Guatemalan soldiers killed over 160 civilians, burying some alive in the village well, killing infants by slamming their heads against walls, keeping young women alive to be raped over the course of three days.” This incident merely reflects the tip of the iceberg, however— it’s just one of over 400 massacres detailed in a UN-sponsored truth commission. In context, a straight line can be drawn from the ramifications of the United States’ 1954 coup against the Árbenz government to the current state of the Guatemalan nation. As further stated in the 2003 Human Rights Watch testimony, “The armed conflict left a country awash in weapons and people accustomed to using them; it left widows, orphans, and whole communities traumatized, and the general population deeply distrustful of public authority; and it left a large number of human rights violators determined to escape justice for their crimes.” Today, the U.S. government is continually reckoning with the consequences of its prior actions. From the fear of Iranian nuclear armament, to asylees fleeing Central America to the southern border, much of our current political conflicts and headaches have been exacerbated by cruel and myopic foreign policy. The Biden administration needs to acknowledge this moving forward. Biden’s proposal to address the root causes of emigration in Latin America is absolutely a worthy endeavor that should be applauded, but the nation’s dark ties to much of the region’s current unstable paradigm has to be considered when we approach these multilateral conversations. To avoid doing so would be an affront to those innocents left destitute or dead due to the greed and cruelty of ruling-class Americans. As Harris embarks on her diplomatic trip to meet with Giammattei in June, it’s important to keep in mind that the work cut out for her, such as bolstering public health and education efforts, first begun decades ago under the administrations of Guatemalan presidents Juan José Arévalo and Jacobo Árbenz. Ultimately, it was the U.S. that halted the progress made to create a better Guatemala for all. We must not forget that.
PSU Vanguard • MAY 11, 2021 • psuvanguard.com
THE INHUMANITY OF FOR-PROFIT HEALTHCARE IN THE AGE OF COVID-19 WHY THE AMERICAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IS A BARBARIC, KAFKAESQUE MESS NICK GATLIN It’s long past time we confront the shocking barbarity of medical care in America, and fight to create a healthcare system that serves all of us. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the federal government is picking up the tab for everyone who wants and needs a COVID-19 vaccine; everybody in the United States, “regardless of their immigration or health insurance status,” can receive a vaccine free of charge. No healthcare provider may charge you for the vaccine, nor charge you any administrative fees or copays. They may not deny a vaccination to people without health insurance. They may not send a vaccine recipient a bill to make up the cost of their visit that insurance did not pay. This is all perfectly reasonable, and many would say the humane thing to do. So why do we not do the same for all healthcare? Now, imagine a different world: to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, you first have to ensure your vaccine provider is innetwork with your health insurance. If you can’t find an in-network provider, or if you don’t have health insurance at all, too bad—you can still get the vaccine, but you’ll be saddled with a bill that could be hundreds or thousands of dollars; you won’t even know the exact amount until after they send you the bill. Even if you can find an in-network
provider, you still have to pay a $20 copay when you get there, as well as an extra $30 for an optional nose swab COVID-19 test and whichever administrative fees your provider decides to invoice for that day. When you enter the office, you’ll be handed a multi-page form with bubbles and boxes and dotted lines to fill out in the five minutes before your appointment. And if, after all that, you can’t afford to get a vaccine, you’ll be shamed for your personal failure to stay healthy. This is a self-evidently ridiculous scenario, one whose twisting convolutions and bureaucratic pantomime would make Kafka blush. But this is the world we inhabit every time we interact with the American healthcare system. Two-thirds of Americans who file for bankruptcy cite medical debt as a key factor in their decision. A third of American workers have medical debt, and 28% of those with debt have a balance of over $10,000. Why do we accept this? How have we normalized the idea that someone must pay for medical care—and its logical corollary, that some people cannot afford medical care? A hospital in the U.S. cannot turn you away in the event of a medical emergency, true. But let’s consider what that really means: an “emergency” is defined as “any incident that is severe or life-threatening,” “any incident where bodily functions or organs are seriously impaired” or “any incident where delivery is imminent in a pregnant woman.” The hospital will still charge you for the full bill afterwards, and you will have to negotiate the full price with them and/or government agencies like Medicaid. And of course, if you’re uninsured and your visit isn’t an emergency, they have no obligation to treat you. Health insurance in the U.S. is a whole
other monstrosity to deal with. To start, according to the Commonwealth Fund, a healthcare research group, private insurance companies (overwhelmingly for-profit) are the primary insurance providers for 67% of Americans. The majority of private insurance coverage comes from employer-sponsored health insurance, which means if you lose your job you also lose the privilege of being treated at a hospital for non-emergencies. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 34% of people are covered by various forms of public insurance including Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), etc. These programs are only available to the elderly and the poor, respectively, though that description may be too generous. Specifically, according to the Commonwealth Fund, Medicare covers everyone over the age of 65 (with varying levels of care covered) and some younger people with long-term disabilities; Medicaid and CHIP cover certain low-income individuals and families, with income eligibility determined by which state you live in. As of 2019, approximately 8.5% of Americans are uninsured. Speaking from experience with a family member who is currently undergoing end-of-life preparations, these programs are a joke. Medicare is so complex and twisted, with its various parts A-D (some of which still require premiums, by the way) that only cover certain kinds of home health care, long-term hospital care and hospice care with strict requirements and limits on what kind of care you get and for how long. And don’t get me started on Medicaid, which is so narrowly targeted that the “Medicaid gap” is a household phrase in healthcare discussions. Compare this to the British National Health Service (NHS), which replaced private insurance in 1946 and provides free public health insurance to every British resident and provides most health services completely free at the point of use. The NHS is funded primarily through general taxation. This system is not perfect, and there are ways it could be improved, but it is a start. It’s obviously better than the American system, if only for the fact that every single British citizen automatically has access to healthcare, something that cannot be said for Americans. Healthcare precarity is only one part of the widespread precarity that working people face under capitalism, and a public healthcare system can only address that one part. But until the communist revolution comes, it’s worth it to fight to improve our lot in any way possible, especially for something as life-or-death as access to healthcare. Medicare for All is the only escape from the barbarity of refusing some people medical care because of their income. The COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the U.S. is probably the closest thing most Americans have ever had to an experience with a public health system. No matter who you are or what your income is, you can get the same vaccines as everyone else, and you won’t be charged a cent for it. We’ve mobilized this country in the largest public vaccination drive in our history, and in doing so, we may have just paved the way for a broader restructuring of our healthcare system: a public healthcare regime that works for all of us, not just the few.
SHANNON STEED
PSU Vanguard • MAY 11, 2021 • psuvanguard.com
OPINION
15
EVENTS CALENDAR
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` MAY 11–14
TUE MAY 11
JON MEACHAM: 2021 HATFIELD LECTURE Livestream via the Oregon Historical Society 7 p.m. $25–150
“Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham is one of America’s most prominent public intellectuals. A contributor to TIME and The New York Times Book Review, Meacham is a highly sought-after commentator, regularly appearing on CNN and MSNBC. Known as a skilled orator with a depth of knowledge about politics, religion, and current affairs, Meacham brings historical context to the issues and events affecting our daily lives.”
MON MAY 14
SUN MAY 13
THUR MAY 12
FAMILY FIELD TRIPS
16
Topaz Farm 10 a.m. $10–25 Ongoing through June 9
COVID RELIEF FOR INDIA FUNDRAISER RAFFLE Ongoing through May 15
“Chef Deepak Saxena of DesiPDX will match the first $5k in donations with a $5k donation to give India’s Oxygen and Healthcare Supplies Fundraiser. To enter the raffle, DM @waz. wu or email hello@wazwu.com with a screenshot of your donation.”
DINOSAURS REVEALED OMSI 10 a.m. $8–12 Ongoing through September 6
“Family field trips run from 10am-12pm at Sauvie Island Center’s site on Topaz Farm and “Journey back 250 million years to prehistoric North America! Get up close and perwill be held every Wednesday starting April 21st and ending June 9th. Field trip leaders sonal with more than 25 life-size dinosaurs, two authentic massive full body dinosaur will lead family units through an exploration of our typical spring field trip modules: Seed skeletons, dozens of real fossils, and more.” to Harvest, Plant Parts, and Pollination. This will involve tending to SIC’s very own Grow Lunch Garden, learning about pollinators, a dynamic farm tour and more.”
HUMP! GREATEST HITS VOLUME 3
NURSES FOR BLACK LIVES VIGIL
The legendary, amateur porn festival looks back at some of its greatest shorts from 2015–18.
Portland nurses will honor the life of George Floyd with a silent vigil every Friday morning.
ISAKA SHAMSUD-DIN: ROCK OF AGES
TY SEGALL & FREEDOM BAND
Livestream via Portland Mercury $25 Ongoing through May 29, Fridays and Saturdays
Portland Art Museum 10 a.m. $17–20 Ongoing through August 1
Pioneer Courthouse Square 10 a.m. Free
Pre-recorded livestream via Levitation Sessions 5 p.m. $4
The legendary, gold-haired garage rocker is making an exclusive stream available for the “Isaka Shamsud-Din: Rock of Ages is an intimate exhibition celebrating the Portland low price of $4. artist’s masterful paintings, rich in a narrative combining personal stories and folklore. Shamsud-Din’s paintings also celebrate and honor individuals by capturing portraits. Tightly composed and with a vibrancy of color, the works invite viewers to be among these individuals and warm settings. The exhibition is titled after Shamsud-Din’s painting of his father, Rock of Ages (1976), the museum’s most recent acquisition of the artist’s work.”
EVENTS
PSU Vanguard • MAY 11, 2021 • psuvanguard.com
