VOLUME 75 • ISSUE 2 • JULY 7, 2020
Remembering Jason Washington
P. 4
INTERNATIONAL
Canada continues arms exports to Saudi Arabia
ARTS & CULTURE
The songwriter lost to COVID-19
OPINION
Backyard Astronomy
CONTENTS COVER BY SAM PERSON / COVER PHOTO BY ANNIE SHUTZ NEWS HILL TO HALL
P. 3
ARTS & CULTURE JOHN PRINE’S SOUVENIRS
P. 7
PSU COMMUNITY REMEMBERS JASON WASHINGTON
P. 4–5
INTERNATIONAL CANADA RESUMES ARMS EXPORTS TO SAUDI ARABIA
OPINION WITH BACKYARD ASTRONOMY, THE SKY’S THE LIMIT
P. 8
P. 6
STAFF
EDIT ORI A L EDITOR IN CHIEF Dylan Jefferies
COPY CHIEF Sophie Concannon
MANAGING EDITOR Justin Grinnell
CONTRIBUTORS Missi Jarrar Emma Sage
NEWS EDITORS Hanna Anderson Aidan Kennelley
PHO T O & MULTIMEDI A PHOTO EDITOR Annie Schutz
INTERNATIONAL EDITOR Isabel Rekow
PRODUC TION & DE SIGN CREATIVE DIRECTOR Sam Person
ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Nick Townsend OPINION EDITOR AJ Earl ONLINE EDITOR Lily Hennings
DESIGNERS Farah Alkayed Shannon Steed
DIS T RIBU TION 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 DV ISING & ACCOUN TING COORDINATOR OF STUDENT MEDIA Reaz Mahmood STUDENT MEDIA ACCOUNTANT Sheri Pitcher STUDENT MEDIA TECHNOLOGY ADVISOR Corrine Nightingale
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.
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NEWS
JUNE 30–JULY 6 MISSI JARRAR
JUNE 30: OREGON EXTENDS CORONAVIRUS EMERGENCY PROCLAMATION
Oregon Governor Kate Brown has extended the COVID-19 state of emergency for 60 days. The state of emergency declaration is the legal foundation for the executive orders Brown has issued throughout the pandemic, including mandated face coverings for people in indoor public spaces starting July 1, according to The Statesman Journal. According to Brown, as of Tuesday, there have been over 8,600 coronavirus cases in the state, with over a quarter of those cases identified in the past two weeks. The Oregon Health Authority said Tuesday that 207 people in Oregon have died from the disease. According to AP News, Brown said, “The choices made by individual Oregonians will decide whether Oregon flattens the curve of new infections or sees a spike that could overwhelm hospital capacity in the next month.”
JULY 1: OREGON HOUSE SPEAKER CONDEMNS PORTLAND POLICE USE OF TEAR GAS
Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek condemned the police response, and specifically their use of tear gas, on Wednesday, after more than two dozen arrests following a conflict between police and protesters early morning hours Wednesday, according to AP News. In a letter to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, Kotek called the officers’ actions “unacceptable.” According to The Portland Tribune, Kotek criticized the Portland Police Bureau for creating “unsafe” and “unacceptable” conditions in the city. Police had declared a riot late Wednesday, and later a crowd surrounded the police union headquarters on Lombard Street, where the crowd was ordered to disperse. Police then used CS gas—better known as tear gas—along with mortar flashbangs and crowd-control munitions. Kotek said neighbors told her there was “no risk to the public” until the dispersal orders were given. “It showed an utter inability to exercise restraint. Smart policing is when an officer can differentiate a minor provocation from a serious threat. Nothing about this was smart,” Kotek stated. “The declaration of a ‘riot’ was an abuse of the statute. Therefore, the ensuing actions of the PPB were unlawful.” While not directly addressing her complaints, Wheeler’s office said it appreciated Kotek’s input.
JULY 2: OREGON GOVERNOR CRITIZICES STATE TROOPERS FOR NOT WEARING MASKS
Governor Brown described the behavior of four state troopers as “inexcusable” after a recently surfaced video of them in a coffee shop without wearing masks, according to AP News. The state troopers entered the coffee shop in Corvallis on Wednesday, the same day Brown’s executive order mandating face masks in indoor public spaces went into effect. According to the store’s assistant manager Travis Boss, who spoke with The Oregonian, the first trooper to arrive insisted that Brown “has no authority to take our civil liberties,” and after continuing to place his order, allegedly said, “F*** Kate Brown.” Three troopers entered afterwards, also sans masks. After the incident was reported, Oregon State Police launched an internal investigation, and later wrote an apology to the coffee shop and community via Twitter.
PSU Vanguard • JULY 7, 2020 • psuvanguard.com
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NEWS
PSU COMMUNITY REMEMBERS
JASON WASHING STUDENTS, FACULTY AND STAFF SHOW SUPPORT FOR DISARM PSU
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PSU Vanguard • JULY 7, 2020 • psuvanguard.com
NEWS AIDAN KENNELLEY Jason Washington was shot and killed by two Portland State police officers on the university’s campus on June 29, 2018. Last Monday, on the two-year anniversary of his death, hundreds gathered on campus to celebrate Washington’s life and to protest PSU’s current public safety policy.
GTON
The crowd gathered around 7 p.m. at Southwest 6th and College and began marching around 7:10. As the protesters started moving, the crowd grew in size, as chants of “Say his name,” “Black lives matter” and “Jason’s life matters” rang through the air. After making a loop around the east side of campus, marchers came to a stop at the site where Washington was killed. Participants formed a circle around the tree that has served as a memorial to Washington since his death, on the corner of Southwest Broadway and College. A variety of speakers stepped up to address the crowd. A local pastor and close friend of the Washington family was the first to speak. “I’m angry that victims of a crime had to fight an institution that was only interested in protecting themselves,” she said. “And I’m angry because justice has not become even close to being the reality in this situation.” As the pastor spoke, candles were passed out to the crowd to be lit in Washington’s memory. “We’re going to keep shining a light for justice,” she said. Marlene Howell, a professor in the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies department, gave an address centered on the words spoken by George Floyd’s niece at his funeral: “My name is Brook Williams. I can breathe. And as long as I can breathe, justice will be served.” Howell led the crowd through a chant
ABOVE: PROTESTER HOLDS A LARGE SIGN READING ‘DISARM PSU” AT A JASON WASHINGTON RALLY ON JUNE 29, 2020. ANNIE SHUTZ/PSU VANGUARD OPPOSITE: PROTESTERS MARCHING HELD UP SIGNS IN SUPPORT OF THE DISARMAMENT OF PSU ON JUNE 29, 2020. ANNIE SHUTZ/PSU VANGUARD
EVENT ORGANIZER LEADS CROWD IN A SERIES OF BLM CHANTS. ANNIE SHUTZ/PSU VANGUARD of these words, urging protesters to stay in the fight to disarm Campus Public Safety officers. Throughout the evening, various members of Washington’s family addressed the crowd. At one point, in a stirring speech, Washington’s brother-in-law pleaded with citizens of Portland to “wake up.” “This is a movement that’s been going on for two years,” he said. “If we don’t wake up, they will keep doing this. You don’t put guns in the hands of inexperienced people on a campus that kids attend. We want things to change so we have to wake up. Because if we don’t, who will be next?” Kaitlyn Dey, a member of Care Not Cops, a grassroots campaign working to abolish policing, gave a speech focused on policymaking and the struggle to redistribute funding from both the Portland Police Bureau’s and CPSO’s budgets. Dey made her position clear: defunding the police also means defunding CPSO, and abolishing the police also means abolishing CPSO. “We have to be very careful about the rhetoric that PSU and the Board of Trustees are using on this issue,” Dey said. “When PSU says community policing, what they mean is they’re trying to figure out a sly attempt to justify the ongoing expansion of CPSO.” Just hours before the vigil, Stephen Percy issued a statement to the PSU community about remembering Jason Washington. In it, Percy stated the university was working with the Washington family to establish the Jason Washington Memorial Scholarship in Washington’s honor. Further, the university will be commissioning a memorial art piece on campus in his honor. Percy’s statement comes several weeks after he pledged to “outline to the Board of Trustees a collaborative approach for moving forward” in response to a Disarm PSU demonstration in front of the CPSO office. Christina Williams, a spokesperson for the university, clarified that Percy’s email on June 29 was not the follow up to the statement issued on June 12. “In his statement to the Board of Trustees on June 18, President Stephen Percy said he is committed to a thorough review of campus security as part of a larger commitment to being a more just, diverse and inclusive campus,” Williams stated. “He also announced a three-year, $1.5 million racial equity fund to support investments to advance the recruitment, retention, success of, and a supportive and empowering climate for, students and employees of color as well as the devel-
opment and deployment of an anti-racist lens for all employees.” While the university has made efforts recently to participate in the discourse surrounding Disarm PSU, students and faculty alike are growing restless with a lack of action. Faculty and staff from the School of Social Work, the English department and the Psychology department have all published letters in support of disarming campus public safety officers, as university community members continue to speak out. Jacob Richman, an adjunct professor in the Art department, said he sees this issue as a simple matter of protecting his students. “We don’t need an armed security force on our campus, and we’re working hard in our union, PSUFA, to push for disarming PSU,” Richman said. “I think the university needs to hurry up on this issue,” Richman said. “There’s no reason for Percy to be dragging his feet on this. There’s nothing legitimate keeping him from moving on this issue now.” Christine Jigau, an engineering student, expressed serious frustrations with the university’s lack of action. “They’re going to put a memorial up and a scholarship, but there’s nothing in there about actually disarming our campus,” Jigau said. Olga Burlay, a student in the Mathematics department, believes Percy’s most recent statement demonstrates the university isn’t actually addressing the issues most pressing to students. “It’s disappointing, and it’s disheartening, and it makes it difficult to want to continue to attend PSU,” Burlay said. Towards the end of the vigil, organizers announced they had started a new petition calling for “the immediate and permanent disarmament of PSU campus police.” Williams stated Percy has seen the petition and is currently reviewing the demands from Disarm PSU as well as input from all students, faculty and staff who have expressed their views on the matter. In spite of the somber circumstances that brought protesters together last Monday, many members of the PSU community seem cautiously optimistic about the prospects of real change from the university in light of the current political environment. “It’s so great to see so many people here,” Richman said. “I think there’s momentum, but we have to act fast, and we have to act now. Because the powers that be want this energy to dissipate, they want it to stall.”
PSU Vanguard • JULY 7, 2020 • psuvanguard.com
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INTERNATIONAL
CANADA RESUMES ARMS EXPORTS TO SAUDI ARABIA EMMA SAGE Canada is reopening arms exports to Saudi Arabia, moving forward in a controversial deal to sell 14 billion Canadian dollars of military technology—mostly armored vehicles—to the Saudi government. According to Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne, the renegotiated arms deal will contain “significant improvements,” including a clause that allows Canada to suspend the permits again if it finds out the military hardware is being misused. It remains uncertain whether the armored vehicles’ alleged use in Yemen will hinder the deal under this clause. The agreement, originally brokered in 2014 under the Conservative Party’s former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, was set to continue under Justin Trudeau’s administration until the 2018 diplomatic crisis between the two nations. The crisis was so severe Saudi Arabia ordered its diplomats, medical patients and potentially over 15,000 exchange students to leave Canada. The diplomatic crisis was sparked by Canadian government tweets, which its embassy translated and retweeted in Arabic. The tweets called for the release of jailed human rights activists and demanded a more progressive stance on human rights from Saudi Arabia. The Canadian government froze military sales permits to Saudi Arabia in the aftermath. Canada became even less likely to recommence arms sales in the wake of widespread outrage over the extrajudicial killing of a Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, in a Saudi embassy. The Saudi Arabian government’s involvement in the Yemeni civil war is only one of multiple allegations of major human rights violations it faces, but it is severe. According to the United Nations, Saudi Arabia has been responsible for 60% of the civilian deaths in that particularly bloody conflict. Champagne said the current arms deal brings significant economic benefits to Canada. In particular, he credited the manufacturing of light armored vehicles (LAVs) for bringing more jobs to the Ontario region in which the manufacturer, General Dynamics Corp., operates its production centers. Despite this, human rights activists and the New Democrats party strongly oppose the arms deal on humanitarian grounds. Canada is not generally a high-volume exporter of military technology, but Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest buyer, according to a 2019 report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The United States, according to the same report, exports 36% of the total internationally sold arms, making the U.S. the world’s largest arms exporter. The Canadian government’s official position is that it placed a “moratorium” on arms sales to the Saudis. Mark Kersten, deputy director of the Wayamo Foundation, rebutted this position, saying: “I struggle to know what ‘moratorium’ means to this government, because to me, when there’s a moratorium on something, you can’t increase the sales of that thing. And that is exactly what seems to have happened.”
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PSU Vanguard • JULY 7, 2020 • psuvanguard.com
CANADIAN FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE. COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
ARTS & CULTURE
JOHN PRINE’S SOUVENIRS REMEMBERING THE SONGWRITER LOST TO COVID-19 NICK TOWNSEND Although three months have passed since John Prine died of COVID-19 on April 7, the pandemic has only gotten worse. Prine’s work frequently grappled with loneliness and isolation, and his words, specifically on his 2000s album Souvenirs, can be a comfort in the chaos of the ongoing pandemic that took his life. At age 54, still recovering from radiation treatment to fight cancer in his neck, Prine recorded his album Souvenirs. A relatively modest reworking of 15 of Prine’s early songs, the album was designed to give Prine “master recordings” of his songs to release in several European countries, such as Germany, because he “always wanted to be popular there,” according to the liner notes. After finishing and mastering the record, Prine and his label decided to release it in the United States, as he “would like to be popular there as well.” The album was received well by Prine’s longtime fans, but earned little critical recognition. One reviewer wrote “the new versions rarely surpass the originals.” But that was before Prine passed away on April 7, at the early height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. Prine was one of the first and most notable artists to die of the coronavirus. His 50-year
songwriting career has drawn compliments from Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Roger Ebert, Roger Waters, Kacey Musgraves, Kurt Vile and many others. Equal parts cheeky and melancholy, Prine was the master of finding beauty in the macabre. Though his ashes have been spread across the Green River in Kentucky for three months now, his words remain ideal for guiding us through the experiences of the ongoing pandemic, and help to reckon with his own death. And Souvenirs provides a smooth entryway into Prine’s career and his charm. The album contains some of Prine’s most poignant lines, delivered in the raspy baritone that Prine earned as a result of his cancer treatment. The new voice, partnered with stripped-back acoustic guitar and minimal studio adjustments, changes the effect of Prine’s classic songs, as on the chorus of the titular “Souvenirs,” when Prine sings, “Well it took me years / To get those souvenirs / And I don’t know how they slipped away from me.” On the original recording. it plays as a sheepish admission, but in Prine’s rerecording the line reverberates, ending in a more somber place. The album features Prine’s most well-known and covered song, “Angel from Montgomery,” a southern ballad about a woman in a stifling relationship. On recent relistens, lines such as “There’s flies in the kitchen / I can hear ‘em, they’re buzzing / And I ain’t done nothing since I woke up today” resonate. The stupor of quarantine feels reminiscent of the muggy
Alabama hopelessness that the song captures in the refrain, “To believe in this living is just a hard way to go.” The re-recording features a sparse electric guitar solo, moving in step with the pain and joy of Prine’s lyricism. Many of the tracks on Souvenirs were originally recorded for Prine’s self-titled first album, released in 1972. The album was Prine’s breakout, receiving widespread critical and commercial acclaim. A reviewer for Rolling Stone at the time wrote “Good songwriters are on the rise, but John Prine is differently good.” In total, six tracks off of John Prine made their way onto Souvenirs, reflecting the massive impact Prine’s debut album had on his career. Unlike Bob Dylan or Van Morrison, whose early albums don’t reflect the forms their works would come to take, Prine’s first album may be his most iconic. On an overall stripped-back and reserved album, the ballad “Donald and Lydia” stands out as one of the most bare tracks on Souvenirs. Originally featured on Prine’s debut album with swaying slide guitar and band backing, the re-recorded tune features mostly just Prine’s fingerpicking guitar and stark voice. The song depicts a romance between two lonely individuals, a “fat girl daughter” and a reserved private first class. The two spend the ballad apart, dreaming of romantic scenes and happy endings. The song ends saying that they “made love from ten miles away,” suggesting the romance had been nothing more than a figment of their imaginations. The reason so many of Prine’s lyrics seem to tug at current feelings of isolation, loneliness and longing is simple. Good songwriting is universal. Whether Prine wrote from the perspective of a lonely housewife, a Biblical character, a heroin addict’s child or himself, his careful use of tone and folk-isms landed a gut feeling every time. As we struggle to understand a pandemic that’s seemingly endless, listening to the quiet struggles of the characters in John Prine’s songs is a reminder that human experience didn’t begin in March, and that the way we feel now isn’t something uncategorizable. It’s just human. THE ALADDIN THEATER IN PORTLAND, OREGON ON APRIL 7. IMAGE COURTESY OF ALADDIN THEATER FACEBOOK PAGE.
PSU Vanguard • JULY 7, 2020 • psuvanguard.com
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OPINION
WITH BACKYARD ASTRONOMY, THE SKY’S THE LIMIT AJ EARL It is understandable to want to go outside now and it is a realistic desire to want to do things with people—anything. COVID-19 has all but shut down venues of hobby, socializing and general activity that is not slowly creeping down a grocery aisle, face masked and shopping cart handles still wet from disinfectant.
Enjoying people’s company and engaging in a collective activity is not a far-off dream, however; backyard astronomy, the exploration of space from the comfort of your backyard, balcony or bedroom, offers a way to join in a community-based activity that does not require careful choreographing of one’s social distance. “Backyard astronomy can be a low-barrier hobby, especially when starting out,” stated Jim Todd of the Rose City Astronomers Club. “The simple act of standing outside at night and looking up at the sky is the very best way to get started.” The number of accessible activities within the realm of what constitutes backyard astronomy might seem hard to narrow down, and Todd added “the amount available to learn can often seem daunting.” In July alone, it’s possible to see a penumbral lunar eclipse (July 4), the brightest phase of recently discovered Comet NEOWISE (July 5–6), this year’s closest approach of Jupiter (July 14) and Saturn (July 20) and the Delta Aquariid meteor shower (July 28–29). Without a telescope, these events are still easily visible to the naked eye. 20 meteors are visible a minute during the Delta Aquariid meteor shower and the penumbral lunar eclipse, when the moon passes through Earth’s outer shadow is a multi-hour event. Meanwhile, a pair of binoculars can greatly enhance the view of the oppositions of Jupiter and Saturn. For truly accessible viewing, radio receivers like the online setup at livemeteors.com can capture the sounds of meteors entering the atmosphere, providing an audio or haptic experience for those with difficulty seeing. Meanwhile, those who desire an optical enhancement can consider the option of joining an astronomy club in their city. RCA’s Todd pointed out many clubs offer telescopes for members to check out for a time. These arrangements provide club members the opportunity to take home a telescope to use for a variety of purposes, from astrophotography to basic viewing. And although COVID-19 has put these lending functions on hold, club functions have for the most part moved online for clubs throughout the country, including interest groups focused on optical viewing.
atmospheric clouds), things in the night sky beyond the reach of our lower atmosphere do not actually change that quickly. In the case of the moon, for example, a quick glance at the moon two hours after a friend tells you to go check it out will only mean a roughly .2% change in phase. That might mean a lot if you are interested in checking out a crater on the edge of the earth’s shadow, but in the grand scheme of things, Luna’s orb appears unchanged. In the context of social distancing and public health, this kind of community activity is incredibly important. There is also the proliferation of astronomy and space science online that can provide this same kind of connection with your neighbors, so even if the sky is cloudy—a fair bet in Portland—the wonders of the sky in their current form are still largely accessible, barring some kind of worldwide outbreak of Oregon gloom. This is where the mental health benefits of backyard astronomy make themselves known. You can easily immerse yourself in a generations-long fascination with the stars and planets uncountable without leaving your personally defined safety bubble. That longing for any kind of association with people can be met in large part by turning your eyes, ears or haptic device toward the sky.
LEARNING YOUR LINES
Rose City Astronomers’ Todd was open about the possibilities for learning beyond just the grasping of the mere existence of phenomena in the sky. He also tamped
down any expectation of a difficult, perhaps stereotypically nerdy and difficult hobby. “All of these tips could sound intimidating on your own. However, they are simple if you go to a star party or club event. You can talk to other beginners as well as experts and start to find your way toward what interests you,” Todd stated. To that end, Todd provided resources for the beginning stargazer. Websites like Stellarium, In The Sky and The Sky Live offer means of getting your bearings around the starry depths. Heavens Above, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory and SpaceWeather. com give the beginner and expert alike a chance to step beyond just distant stars and nearby planets in their celestial viewing. Astronomy Picture of the Day, updated daily without fail, provides a carefully curated gallery of space that touches on all aspects, from method to Pulitzer-worthy digital tableau. A quick glance at Vanguard’s bookshelf also shows that oldfashioned paper and bindings provide guidepost and interpretation of the night sky. Books like the venerable Peterson First Guide to Astronomy and Peterson’s Field Guide to Stars and Planets, Chet Raymo’s 365 Starry Nights, Golden Guide’s Stars, Terence Dickinson’s NightWatch and Alan Dyer’s The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide provide a starter library of classic texts. Scientific exploration by curious and starry-eyed social distancers is thus worth all the stars in the sky.
WHY SPY THE SKY?
It is generally accepted that social distancing can slow the spread of COVID-19, especially true social distancing involving staying home. Science agrees with the concept of staying home to save lives, therefore activities done entirely at home on your own are extremely successful at both keeping you busy and keeping you healthy.
The idea of a quarantine cosmic jaunt is thus an important consideration when you are tired of sitting at home. Here’s the thing: that sky you’re looking at is almost certainly the same sky everyone else can see when they turn their eyes heavenward. Allowing for transient and localized events like bolides (fiery, extra bright meteors that explode) and short-lived phenomena like noctilucent clouds (electric-blue high
SHANNON STEED
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