Portland State Vanguard, Vol. 74, Issue 4

PORTLAND STATE VANGUARD

VOLUME 74 • ISSUE 4 • SEPTEMBER 10, 2019

CONSPIRACY THEORY GUIDE ALIEN 51

PIGEONS ARE NARCS

RIES CONSPIRACY THEO THAT CAME TRUE

NEWS OREGON UNIVERSITIES MIGHT SEE FIRST WORKER STRIKE IN 24 YEARS • OPINION QUENTIN TARANTINO HAS GOTTEN AWAY WITH TOO MUCH

CRIME BLOTTER

Sept. 2–8

DYLAN JEFFERIES SEPT. 2

Fire Alarm

Fire Alarm Campus Public Security officers and the Portland Fire Bureau responded to a fire alarm in the University Center Building at 2:50 p.m. There was no smoke or flames, and the alarm was attributed to dirty smoke detectors, which have since been cleaned.

Missing Person A non-student reported a Portland State member as missing to CPSO at around 11:55 p.m. The person was found on Sept. 3.

SEPT. 3 Shoplift CPSO responded to a shoplifting event that occured in the Urban Center Starbucks at 7:46 a.m.

A malfunctioning fan set off a fire alarm in the Ondine Residence Hall at around 11:39 a.m. There was no smoke or flames.

SEPT. 5 Vandalism A glass panel door was damaged at the SMSU between 6:50 and 7:00 p.m.

SEPT. 8 Burglary A chair was thrown through a window of the PSU bookstore at around 1:47 a.m. Several items were stolen from the store.

Burglary A PSU staff member reported to CPSO that between Aug. 30 and Sept.

3, individuals attempted to force open several doors at both Cramer Hall and the Smith Memorial Student Union. At least one room was entered and burglarized.

CONTENTS FRONT COVER BY JOHN ROJAS GUIDE COVER BY DANA TOWNSEND

NEWS HILL TO HALL

P. 3

PORTLAND MOURNS DEATH OF PSU STUDENT LOGAN NETTLETON

UNIVERSITY WORKERS IN OREGON MAY STRIKE IN COMING WEEKS

P. 3 P. 4–5

OPINION SCAM SCIENCE

P. 25

IT’S NOT MY FAULT THE PLANET IS DYING

P. 26

ARTS & CULTURE PIECES OF BLACKNESS

P. 27

INTERNATIONAL THIS WEEK AROUND THE WORLD

P. 6

HONG KONG WITHDRAWS EXTRADITION BILL

P. 7

PHOTOGRAPHER BRIANA CEREZO’S NEW EXHIBIT SHOWCASES POWER OF BELONGING

P. 28

1.9 MILLION PEOPLE IN INDIA EXCLUDED FROM CITIZENSHIP LIST

P. 7

GARBAGE DAY: THE SEARCH FOR A GOOD BIGFOOT MOVIE

P. 29

OPINION TARANTI-NO

P. 8

COMICS

P. 30–31

CONSPIRACY FILES A SKEPTIC’S GUIDE

P. 9–24

EVENTS CALENDAR

P. 32

STAFF

OPINION EDITOR Taylar Rivers

EDIT ORI A L EDITOR IN CHIEF Nada Sewidan

ONLINE EDITOR Sangi Lama

MANAGING EDITOR Marta Yousif

COPY CHIEF Hannah Welbourn

NEWS EDITORS Dylan Jefferies Anamika Vaughan

CONTRIBUTORS Dylan Burdette Andrew Gaines Teri Walters Morgan Watkins

INTERNATIONAL EDITOR Madison Cecil ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Cervanté Pope

PRODUC TION & DE SIGN CREATIVE DIRECTOR John Rojas

A DV ISING & ACCOUN TING COORDINATOR OF STUDENT MEDIA Reaz Mahmood

LEAD DESIGNER Dana Townsend

STUDENT MEDIA ACCOUNTANT Sheri Pitcher

DESIGNERS Brandon Pahnish

To contact Portland State Vanguard, email info@psuvanguard.com

DIS T RIBU TION & M A R K E TING DISTRIBUTION & MARKETING MANAGER Dylan Jefferies T ECHNOL OGY & W EB SIT E STUDENT MEDIA TECHNOLOGY ADVISOR Corrine Nightingale

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 and Twitter @psuvanguard for multimedia content and breaking news.

NEWS

SEPT 2–6

PORTLAND COMMUNITY MOURNS DEATH OF PSU STUDENT LOGAN NETTLETON DYLAN JEFFERIES

DYLAN JEFFERIES

SEPT. 2: NESTLÉ TO LAY OFF 53 EMPLOYEES IN NORTHEAST PORTLAND

Nestlé, the multinational food and beverage cooperation, stated in a letter on Sept. 2—Labor Day—the company would begin laying off up to 53 employees starting Nov. 1 from a facility in Northeast Portland, according to OregonLive. In May, Nestlé stated it would be laying off up to 4,000 employees nationwide as the company begins shifting its business model. According to AP News, the entire facility in Northeast Portland—which serves a variety of products, including Dreyer’s ice cream—will be closing indefinitely, and all of its employees will be impacted.

SEPT. 3: COMPENSATION FOR INJURED IN AMTRAK TRAIN CRASH TO BE DECIDED BY JURY

Attorneys involved in a case concerning an Amtrak train crash that occurred in 2017 told jurors on Sept. 3 to decide how fair and reasonable compensation should be distributed to those who were injured in the incident, according to The News Tribune. On Dec. 18, 2017, an Amtrak passenger train headed from Tacoma, Wash. to Portland derailed and fell into Interstate 5; three people died and dozens were injured.

SEPT. 3: HEALTH OFFICIALS INVESTIGATING FIRST OREGON DEATH LINKED TO VAPING

Oregon health officials have begun an investigation into vape products after an e-cigarette-involved death, according to AP News. Investigators from the Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division stated on Sept. 3 that reports concerning a death that occured in late July found the deceased had recently begun using cannabis through a vaping device. According to officials, the symptoms the person experienced before dying were similar to over 200 cases in at least 25 states, according to AP News. Investigators are unsure whether the illness is caused by vape liquid, contaminants or the vape devices themselves and recommend that people avoid all vape products while the investigation is underway.

SEPT. 6: JUDGE RULES LAWSUIT BETWEEN VINEYARD AND MARIJUANA FARM CAN PROCEED

A lawsuit between a marijuana farm and a vineyard was given the goahead by a federal judge on Sept. 6, according to AP News. A former ruling on Aug. 27 said that the plaintiff—Momtazi Vineyard—didn’t have enough evidence that it suffered financially due to the odor and aesthetic of a neighboring marijuana farm. The new ruling could signify that future vineyards will begin to move forward with lawsuits against neighboring cannabis farms. Tensions heightened between multiple vineyards and cannabis farms in Oregon’s wine country over aesthetics, odor and land; at least two previous lawsuits concerning the smell from marijuana farms have been dismissed.

The Portland community mourns the death of 19-year-old Portland State student Logan Nettleton, who was fatally shot inside her home at 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 30 near Powell Butte. Nettleton is the third PSU student to lose their life to gun violence this summer.

Police officers responded to gunshot reports at around 3:30 a.m. on Friday Aug. 30 around 174th Ave. and Powell Blvd. Nettleton was then found dead inside of her home along with her boyfriend—identified by Nettleton’s family members—who was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries where he remains in critical condition.

The Multnomah County Medical Examiner ruled Nettleton’s death a homicide from gunshot wounds. The suspect or suspects remain at large, and an investigation is ongoing. The motive for the shooting is unknown at this time.

A young child, who was identified as Nettleton’s boyfriend’s son, was also present at the scene but was not harmed.

Nettleton is survived by her 4-year-old son, King, who is now in the care of family members. According to Nettleton’s mother Mya Chamberlin, who spoke with OregonLive, Nettleton was a compassionate and deeply caring mother of her young special-needs son.

“She’s been surging through the trauma, trauma that grown adults twice her age fight like hell to work through,” Chamberlin told OregonLive. “And she was doing it as a child herself. The reality is, we were just getting to know Logan as an adult.”

Nettleton, a Portland native, was studying Criminal, Race and Social Justice at PSU and was a passionate social justice advocate, a family member told OregonLive. She attended Madison Highschool, where she “was a straight ‘A’ student, an elite athlete and an extraordinary mom,” Chamberlin told KGW. Brian C. Renauer, a criminology professor at PSU who taught Nettleton in the fall of 2018, said, “She came up and introduced herself and said it was her first quarter; she said she was a little nervous, but she was a super engaged student, always participated in class, and she really crushed it. She was an amazing student.”

“Her death is really, really tragic,” he said.

Executive Director of the Mother and Child Education Center in Portland Maria White, who knew Nettleton since she was 15 years old, told KGW, “Logan was smart, energetic; she did really well in school; she did really well at PSU; she was on a pathway to be the best possible mom; she was going to have a wonderful career; she was just there for everybody.”

PORTLAND STATE STUDENT LOGAN NETTLETON FATALLY SHOT INSIDE HER HOME ON AUG. 30. COURTESY OF GOFUNDME “I just ask the community to understand that this was a loving, wonderful mother; a smart young woman, no one deserves this,” White said.

Nettleton’s close friend Emily Sullivan told KATU News that Nettleton aspired to one day be an attorney and that “[Nettleton] wanted to make things right, and she wanted to fight for people who didn’t have a voice.” “[Her son] is always going to remember his mom being an amazing person,” Sullivan told KATU. Anyone who may have any information involving the shooting is asked to contact Detective Rico Beniga: 503-823-0457, rico. beniga@portlandoregon.gov; or Detective Anthony Merrill: 503-823-4033, anthony.merrill@portlandoregon.gov.

PSU Vanguard • SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

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NEWS

UNIVERSITY WORKERS IN OREGON MAY STRIKE IN COMING WEEKS ANAMIKA VAUGHAN Represented university workers may potentially call for a strike in the coming weeks or months if they cannot reach a contract agreement with university management.

There are around 750 of these workers currently at Portland State and 5,000 total for all seven public universities. These workers are represented by the SEIU Local 503 labor union and are made up of non-teaching staff such as information technology workers, office staff, groundskeeping and dining services and facilities.

It has been 24 years since this class of represented workers last had a strike. Their old contract first expired on June 30, but

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they had two one-month extensions to continue with the negotiations. The contract officially expired on Aug. 31, and represented workers have since been working without one.

The union workers have been negotiating the new contract, which would last two years, since February of this year.

“This has been a very challenging negotiation,” said Rob Fullmer, IT specialist and bargaining chair for PSU. “We came within 23 hours of striking in 2013, and I thought we were much closer together than we are this time. This time we’re just really far apart and it’s not just economics, but it’s also this mentality that [management] feels like they can kind of

PSU Vanguard • SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

tell us what they want, and we’re going to have to just do it.

That’s not how bargaining works, and ultimately that’s not what’s going to happen.”

Both sides gave their final and best offers on Aug. 23. Neither side could accept the other, triggering an impasse. The impasse is a 30day cooling off period after which workers can call for a strike.

“Our contract fight is about respect,” Fullmer said. “It’s about making sure our represented workers are treated with the dignity they deserve for the work they do. I mean, they have to make us a contract offer that’s going to allow us to keep pace with our costs, and if they can’t do that then we’re going to walk.”

NEWS

REPRESENTED UNIVERSITY WORKERS MAY POTENTIALLY CALL FOR A STRIKE IN THE COMING WEEKS OR MONTHS IF THEY CANNOT REACH A CONTRACT AGREEMENT WITH UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT. COURTESY OF AP PHOTOS

NEGOTIATIONS SO FAR After six months of negotiating, Fullmer said there are still several open articles in their contract still to be agreed upon. The contract has 69 articles total, covering everything from compensation, discipline and discharge, work schedules to mutual respect. “[Management] opened an extraordinarily large number of articles where they proposed language that we feel would have negative consequences for our members, i.e. takeaway things that we currently have under our current contract,” Fullmer said.

Ten of those articles are non-economic, which Fullmer said need to be resolved before moving on to the open economic articles, which require the universities to commit to spending money.

The open economic articles include Cost Of Living Adjustments and step adjustments— these steps are a fixed number of 4.75% pay increases built into a worker’s contract so that over the course of about nine years, these workers can reach market wages.

The union’s best and final offer asked for a 3.75% COLA increase in the first year, a 3.5% COLA increase in 2020, a new top step for workers than have been “topped out” and to eliminate the lowest step increase.

“We’re trying very hard to negotiate a contract where our members don’t fall farther behind,” Fullmer said. “20% of our represented workers are food stamp eligible for a family of three working full time.”

University management’s best and final offer proposed no COLA increase in 2019, a 1% COLA increase in March 2020, a 0.75% increase in November 2020 and a .75% COLA increase in March 2021. Management also proposed a sixmonth delay for step increases in the second year of the contract, which Fullmer said could mean any worker hired after Jan. 1 would not see a step increase in the second year of their contract.

“Our overriding approach is to balance needs of our important classified staff with needs of all of our stakeholders at the university, with students before our primary concern,” stated Diane Saunders, associate vice president of communications and public affairs at Oregon Institute of Technology and spokesperson for university management.

“All of our negotiations revolve around what is best for all stakeholders.”

“We believe strongly the 12% increase we are offering over a two-year period—which is a combination of COLAs and step increases—is

very fair and also balances student costs and needs,” Saunders continued. “SEIU is asking for 18% over two years. There are very few service employees anywhere in any sector receiving that level of increase.”

However, of the 5,000 represented workers in the state, Fullmer said 27% have already reached their final step and only get pay increases associated with COLA. Fullmer also added there are people who have reached their top step who make less than $25,000 a year.

“I’ve been working at PSU for 15 years in January; I’ve been stepped out for a while,” said Fulllmer. “I live in Portland, 1% is what my COLA was [last fiscal year], and my real costs went up by considerably more than that, because they did for everyone who lives in Portland. So my real buying power went down over the last year.”

SEIU’s website also states: “Presidents of Oregon’s largest public universities are paid more than $600,000 a year, more than six times as much as Oregon’s governor. Four university coaches have a base salary of $1 million or more. There are 70 people who make $400,000 or more and 411 who make more than $200,000.”

Oregon universities also received an additional $100 million in the budget this biennium from the state—a 13.7% increase over the last biennium’s budget.

“If you were to ask students, ‘would you rather have 20 food service workers have a 3% COLA or one $250,000 paid administrator get a 3% COLA, which would you choose?’” Fullmer said.

“I think every student would choose the 20 food service workers. So I just don’t think the university’s priorities align with those of the community that it serves, and that’s what needs to be fixed.”

Further negotiations have been set for Sept.

11, 12 and 13, and again on Sept. 23 and 24.

“The universities are hopeful we can avoid a strike, as both parties share a desire to welcome our students back later this month without the disruption that a strike would bring,” Saunders stated.

“We believe in the mission,” Fullmer said.

“We care about higher education; we care about the success of the institutions for which we work. We want our students to succeed and to go on to live happy, productive lives from [getting] their degree here, so we want to be just treated the same. We don’t want better treatment than anyone.”

PSU Vanguard • SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

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INTERNATIONAL

THIS WEEK 5

around the

WORLD Sept. 1–8

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2

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Sept. 1

BAMAKO, MALI

A residential building under construction collapsed, leaving 15 dead and buried in the rubble. Rescue teams managed to rescue 26 people, most of whom sustained injuries. Authorities believe it collapsed because construction protocols and standards were not followed, according to Al Jazeera. “There are many mistakes…at the root of this tragedy,” Security Minister General Salif Traore told Reuters. “One cannot construct buildings haphazardly.”

Separately, 14 people were killed in an explosion involving a passenger bus on Sept. 4 in Mali’s Mopti region. The bus, which was carrying 60 passengers from Gao to Mopti, hit an explosive device in the road. Of the 24 people who were wounded in the accident, seven are in “critical state,” Traore reported, according to Al Jazeera. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, however AP News reported the attack is similar to previous al-Qaida attacks in the region.

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2

Sept 2.

GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA

Three-time presidential candidate and former First Lady Sandra Torres was arrested at her home in Guatemala City on charges of unregistered campaign financing and unlawful association during the 2015 campaign race against President Jimmy Morales. Authorities believe Torres’ 2015 campaign withheld $3.6 million when reporting the campaign’s finances, according to Al Jazeera. This is not the first time the former first lady has been accused of corruption, and in the past she has faced accusations of associating with criminal organizations, according to DemocracyNow. A Guatemalan judge ordered Torres to be kept in pretrial detention until her trial, according to Al Jazeera.

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Sept. 5

YOKOHAMA, JAPAN

A train crashed into a truck in a rare train accident in Japan, which holds the safest rail record in the world. The truck driver was severely injured and later died at the hospital. While the

PSU Vanguard • SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

driver was the only death from the accident, The New York Times reported 34 people were injured. The Keikyu Corp train company told Sky News the conductor had attempted to stop the train by slamming on the brakes when he saw the truck but was unable to stop in time. The train was derailed and the front carriage caught on fire. “I flew two meters from my seat,” an unnamed witness told The New York Times. “Black smoke from the truck was approaching just nearby, and I thought I was going to die here.

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Sept. 6

TANGLIN, SINGAPORE

Former President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe—who ruled from 1980 when the country gained independence until a military takeover in Nov. 2017—died at the age of 95. vMugabe, who is praised as both a “liberation icon” and a “dictator,” according to The Independent, had been receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness at Gleneagles Hospital in Singapore since April 2019. Details have yet to be released regarding what he was treated for.

While the former president was praised for his

fight against the ruling white minority at the beginning of his rule, the final years of Mugabe’s presidency were characterized by economic collapse and the violent intimidation of those who spoke out against him.

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Sept. 8

SARAJEVO, BOSNIA

Thousands of people gathered in Bosnia’s capital city for the country’s first ever Pride March despite multiple anti-LGBTQ+ groups staging counter-protests and threatening violence in surrounding areas. The Pride March was protected by over 1,000 police officers when several anti-LGBTQ+ groups voiced their opposition online. The protest ended without any violent outbreaks, according to Reuters. One of the key figures at the march, who identifies as gay, was United States ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovnia Eric Gordon. “The U.S. embassy expresses support for the first Pride March in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Gordon told The Independent before the march began. “The goal of the Pride parade is equal human rights for all.”

INTERNATIONAL

1.9 MILLION PEOPLE IN INDIA EXCLUDED FROM CITIZENSHIP LIST

HONG KONG WITHDRAWS EXTRADITION BILL PROTESTERS SAY THEY WILL CONTINUE

MADISON CECIL

The state of Assam in Northeastern India released an updated National Register of Citizens on Aug. 31, excluding approximately 1.9 million people from the list of legal Indian citizens.

The NRC is a document unique to Assam and was originally created to keep track of and limit the number of illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh in 1951, according to Al Jazeera. The list now includes the names of 31.1 million people who could prove their relation to those who were on the original 1951 list or to those who were on the electoral roll lists from before March 24, 1971. This is the first ever update to the NRC. “All of the names of my family members are [on the NRC] except my daughter-in-law,” an Assam resident referred to as Motiurrahman told The Times of India. “Though, we submitted all the documents to the authorities. We do not have any idea how this has happened.

[We] will go through the process again.”

Al Jazeera reported the 1.9 million Assam residents who are excluded from the list will have 120 days to appeal to “quasi-judicial courts” known as Foreign Tribunals (FTs).

Despite officials announcing the creation of several new FTs, some believe it is nearly impossible for the courts to adequately filter through all the citizenship appeals in 120 days.

FTs have also been accused of bias and inconsistency in decision making regarding citizenship status. Many claim the NRC specifically targets the minority-Muslim community and that FTs will only continue the

“witch hunts” against the community, according to BBC. It remains to be known what will happen to those who remain off the NRC after the 120day appeal period ends. “Does that mean deportation? Indefinite incarceration?” Shreya Munuth, a New-Delhi based lawyer who works on human and women’s rights cases told CNN. “What does it entail? That has never been discussed because it would attract too much international scrutiny, which the state does not want.”

The government of Assam announced the creation of 10 new detention centers several months ago in preparation for the updated NRC. Director of the New Delhi-based Rights and Risks Analysis Group Suhas Chakma equated these detention centers to “concentration camps” in an interview with Al Jazeera.

“I’d rather die than go to a detention center,” Asia Khatun, an Assam resident, told BBC. None of Khatun’s family of nine were on the NRC. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banjeree called the list a “botched-up exercise,” according to The Hindu. Banjeree believes the NRC was formed based on “ulterior motive rather than good of society and larger interest of nation.”

One of the biggest criticisms of the NRC is that it is difficult for many people to provide the required documents to authorities due to either illiteracy, poor record keeping or the inability to afford the fees from filing the legal paperwork to obtain official records.

PROTESTERS IN ASSAM RALLYING AGAINST THE MOST RECENT DRAFT OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF CITIZENS, WHICH EXCLUDES 1.9 MILLION PEOPLE FROM THE LIST OF LEGAL INDIAN CITIZENS. COURTESY OF AP PHOTOS

PROTESTERS IN HONG KONG RIOT AGAINST THE EXTRADITION BILL INTRODUCED BY CHIEF EXECUTIVE CARRIE LAM. COURTESY OF AP PHOTOS TERI WALTERS The Hong Kong extradition bill that sparked months of increasingly violent protests has officially been withdrawn by Chief Executive Carrie Lam. Although the bill was suspended in June, protesters’ main demand was that it be withdrawn completely. Suspended, the bill may be resumed at any point, but being withdrawn means the legislative process must completely restart, according to The New York Times.

“We must find ways to address the discontent in society and look for solutions,” Lam said in a video statement on Sept. 4, according to CNN. “After more than two months of social unrest, it is obvious to many that this discontentment extends far beyond the bill.”

Instead of responding with peace talks, CNN reported protesters responded to the bill’s withdrawal with frustration, as Lam announced she would not concede to any of the other four demands.

“The movement has evolved into a movement that fights for autonomy, democracy and also preserving our way of life and restricting the excessive power of the police,” pro-democracy activist Nathan Law told BBC. “So I think the protest will continue based on that.”

The five central demands made by the protesters are the withdrawal of the extradition bill, Lam’s resignation as chief executive, the opening of a formal investigation into police brutality that which emerged during the protests, the release of any protesters who were arrested and an increase in overall democratic freedoms, including the direct election of all lawmakers, as well as the Chief Executive.

In a recording that was leaked to Reuters on Sept. 2, Lam said she would resign from her position as Hong Kong’s Chief Executive if she was given the choice due to the “unforgivable havoc” created by the protests during her term in office. “If I have a choice, the first thing is to quit, having made a deep apology,” said Lam to a group of businesspeople in the recording. “We were not sensitive enough to feel and grasp [the] huge degree of fear and anxiety amongst people of Hong Kong vis-à-vis the mainland of China.”

Despite the leaked recording, Lam is still publicly refusing to step down and is receiving heavy criticisms from both sides for failing to end the violence earlier. “That it took [Lam] three months to formally use the word ‘withdraw’ is truly too little, too late,” pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo told The New York Times.

“A big mistake has been made.”

Hong Kong and mainland China’s political representatives are at odds over how to best deal with the protests. “On matters of principle, not an inch will be yielded, but on matters of tactics there can be flexibility,” China’s leader, Xi Jinping said in a public statement, according to The New York Times. Pro-Beijing officials in Hong Kong support Jinping’s stance that the government should hold firm and not give in to any of the protesters’ demands. Others, however, believe the government should compromise.

It remains to be seen if the protests will continue on their increasingly violent path or if they will be settled by the withdrawal of the extradition bill, but many say they will continue to protest until all five demands are met.

PSU Vanguard • SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

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ARTS NEWS OPINION NEWS& CULTURE

TARANTI-NO TAYLAR RIVERS Quentin Tarantino has gotten away with too much.

The director glorifies violence against women and people of color, makes an industry out of movies centered on violence toward minority groups and gets called a “genius” for it. Throughout his career, Tarantino has consistently been backed by known sexual predator Harvey Weinstein. Tarantino has no consideration for those behind the camera, and frankly, no one has held him responsible.

‘KILL BILL’

The Kill Bill script called for Uma Thurman to be spit on by co-star Michael Madsen, but Tarantino was the one who did it. He didn’t trust anyone else to spit right.

“I’m the director, I can kind of art direct this spit,” Tarantino told Deadline. “I know where I want it to land.

I’m right next to the camera. So, boom! I do it.”

The director has come under fire since Thurman told The New York Times that he mistreated her on set.

Tarantino responded to those allegations in the Deadline interview—much of which deals with Thurman’s near-fatal car crash on the set of Kill Bill—but he also admitted to The Washington Post that he choked Diane Kruger years later while filming Inglourious Basterds.

Thurman also recalled how Tarantino forced her to drive a car she knew to be unsafe while shooting a scene for Kill Bill.

“Quentin came in my trailer and didn’t like to hear no, like any director,” Thurman said.

“He was furious because I’d cost them a lot of time. But I was scared…the seat wasn’t screwed down properly. It was a sand road and it was not a straight road.”

Thurman came back from the hospital “in a neck brace with [her] knees damaged and a large massive egg on [her] head and a concussion.” She added that she and Tarantino then had a fight, during which she accused him of trying to kill her.

‘ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD’

JOHN ROJAS

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PSU Vanguard • SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

Tarantino’s most recent film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is set in 1969 Los Angeles during the summer of the Manson murders. Roman Polanski is a central character.

The director, charged with raping a minor in the ‘70s, was married to Sharon Tate at the time of her murder.

In 2003, Jezebel pointed out Tarantino defended Polanski’s assault while speaking on Howard Stern’s radio show. Stern asked the director why Hollywood continued to support “this mad man, this director who raped a 13-year-old,” to which Tarantino replied: “It was statutory rape...he had sex with a minor. That’s not rape. To me, when you use the word rape, you’re talking about violent, throwing them down—it’s like one of the most violent crimes in the world.”

After being reminded that the drugged child could not consent, he added, “Look, she was down with this.”

In 2018, 15 years after his original statement, Tarantino publicly apologized to Polanski’s victim, Samantha Geimer, in a statement shared with IndieWire.

“Ms. Geimer WAS raped by Roman Polanski,” Tarantino said in the statement. “When Howard brought up Polanski, I incorrectly played devil’s advocate in the debate for the sake of being provocative. I didn’t take Ms. Geimer’s feelings into consideration and for that I am truly sorry.”

“Devil’s advocate” seems to be his constant state of being.

The director lives to be controversial through his films and in interviews.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recently wrote a column in The Hollywood Reporter regarding Tarantino’s depiction of Bruce Lee in his most recent film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

“Of course, Tarantino has the artistic right to portray Bruce any way he wants,” Abdul-Jabbar wrote. “But to do so in such a sloppy and somewhat racist way is a failure both as an artist and as a human being…That’s what makes the Bruce Lee scenes so disappointing, not so much on a factual basis, but as a lapse of cultural awareness.”

‘GRINDHOUSE’

In an interview promoting 2007’s Grindhouse, Fergie recalled being bitten by the director during one rehearsal.

She said, “He came to the set [to] run lines with me. In one scene, Quentin got really into the character and bit me. My manager has it on his camera. I’m not going to sue him or anything, but I wanted documentation.”

Rose McGowan, who also starred in Grindhouse, wrote in her new memoir Brave, “The first time I met Tarantino, and for years after, every time he’d see me, he said, ‘Rose! I have your movie Jawbreaker on laserdisc! I can’t tell you how many times I used the shot where you’re painting your toes!’”

She continued, “That means Tarantino paid extra money to jerk off to my young feet and told me about it loudly, over and over, for years, in front of numerous people.”

Additionally, according to The Telegraph, “McGowan writes that for all the praise Tarantino receives for depicting strong female characters in his films, he also ‘beats the s--- out of them for his enjoyment.’”

Tarantino’s previous films have also garnered significant criticism for their issues other than his violent treatment toward women. These criticisms include usage of racial slurs such as the “n” word.

Whether as a director using actresses like a puppet, intentionally choosing to be culturally insensitive or abusing the implicit trust of the creative relationship to harass women, these actions inevitably come down to desires to possess and control. It’s a conversation about power and one that needs to encompass how we’ve helped build up the image of the unimpeachable, godlike male director.

In light of everything, what is most apparent is that Tarantino is obsessed with only what he thinks and what he sees. He is so driven by his ideas that he is willing to compromise any and all moral boundaries. Some people are fond of his films, some despise him and others are fine with separating his problematic and harmful behavior from his films.

Unfortunately, this isn’t a case of separating the art from the artist. His behavior and words are the makers of his art. There should be no designated space for male directors who create supposedly strong women on camera and demean them from behind it.

GU ID E

CONSPIRACY

Files

PSU Vanguard • SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

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GU ID E

THE MANDELA EFFECT WHAT YOU’RE REMEMBERING IS WRONG, THOUGH IT SEEMS SO RIGHT.

CERVANTÉ POPE

When did Nelson Mandela die? Is it Berenstein Bears or Berenstain Bears? And how the hell is FROOT Loops spelled?

These are the types of questions that have people getting cutty in comment sections and questioning what they know to be reality—for good reason too. When the mind is either playing a trick on you or someone else, it’s easy to lose faith in your memory and the truth you’ve had in your consciousness forever. This phenomenon is called The Mandela Effect, and honestly, it will fuck you up.

The Mandela Effect isn’t just some Creepypasta spread around the internet to mess with people and cause some type of Slenderman-esque hysteria, no, but it is something that has affected damn near everyone in the world, and it all started with South African philanthropist and political leader Nelson Mandela.

According to Fiona Broome and one of the original researched Mandela Effect websites—dating back to 2009 mind you, meaning this is in no way new—the Mandela Effect started with the belief that Nelson Mandela died in the infamous South African jail cell he was imprisoned in during the 1980s and NOT during his actual death date in early December 2013.

Since then, there have been numerous other flubs and “glitches in the system,” like whether or not Curious George has a tail, if Sinbad starred in an early ‘90s genie movie called Shazaam, and if the Ghostbusters of odor Febreze is spelled with one ‘e’ or

two—apparently, it’s with one. There are two beliefs as to what causes the Mandela Effect, and both of them are considerable doozies.

The first one is one that is highly believed in, and may or may not have any validity—the Simulation Theory. Essentially, the Simulation Theory posits that existence is one big friggin’ simulation a la The Matrix, where instances of remembering things as one way when they are presently believed to be another way are simply glitches in it. Who controls this computerized simulation varies, with some saying it’s aliens—cue Giorgio Tsoukalos—or the powerful beings who seem to run the world, as well as other potential controllers.

Another belief regarding the Mandela Effect is backed by mind scientists who say these occurrences are simply cases of remembering things incorrectly.

It was first researched by neurologist Sigmund Freud and psychologist Pierre Janet back in the ‘70s, but what doesn’t seem to fall into this explanation is how so many people are collectively remembering the wrong thing.

Is it possible for thousands of people to recall the wrong information without coordinating their wrongness? Or, was The Matrix a tell-all about how the universe works, subversed in Keanu Reeves’ terrible acting and Lawrence Fishburne’s bald head? We may never really know, but what you think is right is most likely wrong, or at least that’s what you’ll be told.

BRANDON PAHNISH

NARRATIVE OF CONSPIRACIES WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE REPORTED IS T A H W R E V O S IE C A IR BELIE VE CONSP

ANAMIKA VAUGHAN There are some conspiracy theories that are so seductive they have captured the hearts of a significant population of people in the United States. These are the people who are selectively doubtful and skeptical of the official narrative.

The National Survey of Fears–Wave 3, released in 2016, surveyed 1,511 Americans over the age of 18 on what they believed about popular conspiracy theories. About 54.3% of respondents believe the government was concealing information relating to 9/11, and 49.6% believe the same of the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy.

Over 40% believe the government is hiding information about alien encounters and global warming, and over 30% are about plans of a one-world government, former President Barack Obama’s birth certificate and the origin of the AIDS virus.

In 2013, Public Policy Polling national poll found correlations between beliefs in conspiracies over the official narrative and political affiliations.

The poll found, for example, that more conservativeminded people are more likely to believe global warming

10

is a hoax, the New World Order is real and that a larger conspiracy was involved in the death of John F. Kennedy.

People who believe in one conspiracy are also more likely to believe in another—or several.

But why?

It could be related to a human need for balance: Monumental effects should have monumental causes.

Published in a TIME magazine article, Patrick Leman, a lecturer in psychology at Royal Holloway University of London said: “We tend to associate major events—a president or princess dying—with major causes. If we think big events like a president being assassinated can happen at the hands of a minor individual, that points to the unpredictability and randomness of life and unsettles us.”

More recent research has uncovered three different reasons people might believe in conspiracy theories: a desire for certainty, a desire for control and security and a desire to maintain a positive self image.

Uncertainty is an uncomfortable state of being, and perhaps that can be enough to push someone down the rabbit hole of intricately thought-out explanations for the seemingly unexplainable.

PSU Vanguard • SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

BRANDON PAHNISH

50 YEARS LATER, THE MOON LANDING STILL SEEMS WEIRD MOON LANDING SKEPTIC

Rumors and conspiracies that the moon landing was faked by NASA still run rampant 50 years later.

MOON ROCK MIX-UPS

Years following the moon landing, NASA gifted moon rocks to over 100 different countries.

During their global tour after the trip to the moon, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin gifted one such moon rock to Dutch Prime Minister Willem Drees. This stone was coveted by Drees and then donated to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam after his death.

However, in 2009, it was uncovered that the supposed moon rock was actually petrified wood, possibly originating from Arizona. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that the rocks Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin brought back were fake—it could point to possible theft by opportunists trying to make a quick buck.

Moon rocks can fetch up to six figures on the black market.

NASA FAKED GEMINI 10 SPACE WALK PHOTOS?

Before Americans actually landed on the moon, NASA headed several missions to prepare and practice several procedures crucial for a successful mission to the moon. This series of missions were known as Project Gemini and lasted from 1961–1966. During this time, a photograph was released of one of the space walks done by Astronaut Michael Collins.

Although not officially confirmed to be faked

by NASA, the photo of the moon walk is suspiciously similar to the photo taken during a training exercise. Many believe the training image was doctored: the background blacked out to resemble space and the figure reversed. If NASA has faked one photo, who is to say they haven’t faked more?

SPACE RADIATION AND FILM FOOTAGE

One frequently asked question among moonlanding skeptics is how the astronauts from the moon-landing missions were able to bring back footage of the landing in such pristine condition? Some believe the high amounts of

cosmic radiation in space would have fried the film or at least have left behind some evidence of radiation exposure, with some even comparing the effects of airport x-rays on early film reels. However, many say this would not necessarily have occurred. Astronauts reportedly used specially-designed cameras for the mission, and there wasn’t necessarily enough radiation to fog the film.

A more perplexing, perhaps damning question would be: why did NASA erase and film over footage of the original moon landing? Yes, that’s correct. In 2009, NASA admitted that the original recordings of the landing were among 200,000 other tapes slated to be erased and reused as a cost saving measure. Could NASA have been trying to hide something ?

GOOFY ASTRONAUTS

If you haven’t seen the footage of the astronauts walking around on the moon, you should go look it up. It’s comical to watch them stumble about on the surface of the moon, and it makes you wonder how the physics of the moon walk worked.

Some believe the astronauts are actually in a warehouse with blacked out walls— which could explain why there are no stars in any of the photos—and that they are being held up by ropes or strings. The way they stumble forward makes it look like they’re balancing on a line around their waist, and the way they rise from their tumbles looks like they’re being pulled up from behind. The gravity on the moon is one-sixth the gravity on Earth, so it’s possible our brains don’t know how humans in that environment would behave.

Perhaps Americans did go to the moon, or perhaps NASA filmed it in a studio just to make sure the film survived. Whatever the truth is, there are certainly many strange things associated with the moon landing, which makes one wonder if the moon landing happened or if it really happened the way NASA says it happened.

GU ID E

ALIEN 51

MADIS ON CECIL

The public has been aware that Area 51 is no longer a conspiracy but in fact a real place located in southern Nevada since the United States government officially acknowledged its existence in 2013.

According to a leaked CIA document, Area 51 has only ever been used to research and develop air crafts, and the most suspicious thing is its headquarters for the secret Cold War operation known as Oxcart.

Oxcart led to the development of the A-15 aircraft, which was then commonly used in Cold War conflicts throughout the 20th century. Area 51 has also been where the U-2 and the F-117 Nighthawk were created—at least according to government reports.

Despite the government’s acknowledgement of Area 51 in 2013, it continues to be central to many conspiracy theories.

One theory claims the 1969 moon landing was staged at Area 51 and never actually happened.

Among the most popular, however, is the theory that Area 51 is actually the site where an alien spaceship crashlanded in 1947.

Allegedly,

the government has been researching this spacecraft and the aliens themselves ever since.

The Alien-Area 51 theory, while existing since the ‘40s, grew in popularity when a man claimed to have been a researcher at Area 51 and saw the alleged alien spacecraft in the ‘80s.

There were a significant number of alleged unidentified flying object, UFO, sightings in the ‘60s and ‘70s, which only encouraged the popularity of the Alien spacecraft theory. According to the leaked CIA report and more recent government statements, however, the UFOs were nothing more than testflights of the Project Oxcart’s new aircrafts, at least according to the U.S. government.

Today, Area 51 continues to be central to the extraterrestrial conspiracy world, and 2 million Facebook users signed up to raid the military base in search of alien life in September 2019. Government authorities have called the proposed raid “dangerous,” which has done nothing but encourage the alien conspiracy theorists of the U.S. The event is called “Storm Area 51—They Can’t Stop All Of Us.” It is unknown how many people will truly show up or what they will find at this alleged alien military base.

DANA TOWNSEND DANA TOWNSEND

PSU Vanguard •SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

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GU I D E

INTERNATIONAL CONSPIRACY THEORIES

MADISON CECIL

Conspiracy theories are common in cultures throughout the world. Some, such as the Loch Ness Monster, are commonly heard urban legends, while others, like Korean Air Lines Flight 007 or Israeli animal spies, are more niche theories.

KOREAN AIR LINES FLIGHT 007

In August 1983, a Boeing 747 airplane on its way to South Korea from New York City with 269 passengers was shot down after it accidently flew in Soviet Russian airspace. No bodies were ever recovered from the crash, at least according to the official story.

Conspiracy theorists have questioned this incident since it first happened, and the theories have not gone away with time, but instead suspicion around the incident has grown.

One of the biggest questions regarding KAL007 is around what happened to the bodies. One theory, according to CNN, claims Soviets rescued the passengers and that they remain in prison in Russia. “A lot of people wanted to believe that, for their loved ones, but I don’t think there’s any veracity to it,” Juanita Moadole, the attorney who represented 100 of the victims’ families, told CNN. Other theories claim the Boeing 747 was a spy plane that flew into Soviet airspace on purpose and simply disguised itself as a passenger plane. Some say the plane was shot down during an aerial shooting between the Soviets and the United States. Whether any of these theories are accurate or not may never be known, as no solid reason for how KAL007 wound up nearly 200 miles off course has ever been determined.

THE DENVER AIRPORT

The Denver Airport (DEN) is one of the biggest in the world and is central to dozens of different conspiracy theories ranging from lizard people to the Illuminati headquarters to a Swastika-shaped runway.

Many people fail to comprehend why the airport was ever constructed since there was already a separate, fully-functioning airport closer to downtown Denver. DEN takes up a space that is nearly twice the size of Manhattan. Stemming from the sheer size of the airport, the conspiracy arose that

ISRAELI ANIMAL SPIES

Israel has been accused of using several different animals as international spies to gather intel on other countries.

In 2016, a griffin vulture flew from Israel into Lebanon and was discovered with a tracker on its foot. UN peacekeepers later intervened and returned the vulture to Israel, but nonetheless, villagers in Lebanon believed the vulture was spying on them.

Turkish farmers have also accused Israel of

12

it was hiding an underground network of tunnels and bunkers to shelter world leaders in the case of an emergency.

Separately, some claim the runways—which were reconfigured when they were originally constructed parallel to each other and too close to safely land planes—now resemble a swastika when viewed from above via satellite images. Despite this theory, most of the DEN airport officials say the runways look like a pinwheel instead.

training birds to be spies in order to gather intel on the economy and agricultural sectors of Turkey.

Palestinian organization Hamas claimed to have captured an Israeli spy dolphin in 2015.

Hamas reported the dolphin was captured while wearing surveillance equipment they believed was used to gather intel on Palestine.

One of the more recent accusations of Israel using animal spies was by Iran, which claimed they discovered lizards and chameleons in

PSU Vanguard • SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

BRANDON PAHNISH

Instead of denying or ignoring the conspiracies, DEN embraces their reputation among the conspiracy theory community. When the airport underwent construction in 2018, airport officials allegedly put up signs that read “Remodelling the lizard people’s lair” and “Construction? Or cover up?”

uranium mines. The lizards and chameleons were allegedly placed there by Israel to gather information on Iran’s uranium production and collection processes.

LOCH NESS MONSTER

A classic conspiracy theory and urban legend, rumors of the Loch Ness Monster, nicknamed “Nessie,” date back almost 1,500 years. The monster even has its own website dedicated to evidence, the latest sighting and Nessie’s fans.

Nessie allegedly lives in Loch Ness, which is the largest body of freshwater in the United Kingdom, with water up to 800 feet deep at some points. Some theorists believe Nessie is the sole surviving aquatic dinosaur of the mass extinction that occurred thousands of years ago.

There was a record number of official Nessie sightings in 2017, with a final count of eight, according to BBC.

GU I D E

HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD DYLAN BURDETTE When a beloved celebrity passes on, people react in their own ways. Some will push forward, some will cry for a long while and some will create a new fan blog about how their fave is still alive on an island. There are infinite theories concerning celebrities who didn’t really die, but these are a few of the most well known.

First off, everybody knows Tupac died too young, but is he actually gone? His cremation was ordered the very next day after he died, which many people considered more than suspicious.

Some say he was killed in an FBI coverup regarding East Coast vs West Coast gang wars. Within the past year, Suge Knight Jr. has claimed via Instagram that Tupac is still alive in Malaysia and that he’s going to be back in the studio again soon. However, the fan-favorite theory still remains the same—he’s chillin’ on a beach somewhere in Cuba with Biggie.

People were also doubtful of Michael Jackson’s death in 2009, because he was rumored to be running from bankruptcy and hoping for an even greater comeback than what he planned in 2012. Although it has been a decade now since he died, new talk has begun to circulate as recently as this February. A tweet came out claiming that, of all people, “Akon said he believes Michael is in hiding and will be coming back one day.” Several people previously connected to Michael Jackson, such as his hairstylist and former producer, supposedly have tweeted new information about where he is and when he’s coming back.

Regardless of how real and certain death can be, social media speculation has a great power of revival. Unreliable news

sources collect tweets and Facebook posts, connecting little red lines between them, weaving a shaky story. One such shaky story involves the death of Amy Winehouse. She died of alcohol poisoning, but a few weeks later, her father began to get strange calls about Amy being on a secret island somewhere, saying she missed him. Without the lens of conspiracy, this would clearly be a cruel hoax to torture Amy Winehouse’s father. But according to messages gathered by The Mirror, and a video from The Sun, it’s so obvious that she’s still alive, hanging with Biggie and Tupac, doing fine.

Probably the most famous “fake death” story of them all is also the most convoluted one—Elvis Presley. So many potential hypotheses have been considered, the most popular being him trying to escape the limelight. However, one theory stood out from all the rest. According to Elvis is Alive, Elvis was a part of the DEA, FBI and Mafia. Apparently, he was hired directly by Nixon to be a DEA special agent, because he was known to be such a “fighter against communism and drug use.” On an undercover job in the late ‘70s, he got tied up with the Mafia and found himself in a situation that he couldn’t get out of alive, at least publicly. Some say he went into witness protection and has been living out the rest of his life peacefully, but the above website claims he is still alive today fighting crime for the United States Government. Born in 1935, he would be 84 this year, which makes the crime-fighting seem a bit improbable. Unless, you know, he was never capable of dying to begin with...

JOHN ROJAS

Sure, we feel these infamous celebs “didn’t really die,” but what about those that are rumored to be eternal and undying?

Many celebrities have been deemed immortal by various social media platforms, but justifications as to why tend to really differ. For instance, Keanu Reeves is supposedly immortal because he appears to be aging slowly, both in this century and in the centuries before. There are multiple portraits and drawings from hundreds of years ago that you look at and say “Oh, that’s Keanu Reeves.” The site Keanu is Immortal goes on to claim that, back in 750 CE, Keanu was Charlemagne.

Anne Hathaway, of Oceans 8 and Princess Diaries, also hasn’t seemed to age a day in the past 20 years. But has it been 20 years or actually been much, much longer? Anne Hathaway’s husband Adam Schulman bears a striking resemblance to the famed English playwright Shakespeare. And what was Shakespeare’s wife’s name back in the 16th century? Anne Hathaway, spelled the exact same way.

Some immortal celebs are considered “older” or “younger” than others based on personality alone. Take for instance, John Mulaney and Hozier, who have been known to play along with the conspiracies surrounding them. Theories all over Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr argue that Mulaney is a young immortal born in the early 1900s. Because this conspiracy is so popular, it has made its way back to Mulaney. Since finding out about his supposed immortal status, he has posted a black and white picture on his Instagram, captioned: “Running for Governor of Louisiana in 1932” as ‘proof’ of his immortality.

Hozier, on the other hand, has been here for millennia. His mystical music along with his gentle giant personality can only hail from an immortal god of the forest. In an interview, he was asked if he was “otherworldly” or a “creature of the fae,” and he responded “I would avert you to my legal team on that one, and I will not comment. I refuse to comment.” Then, when asked about his age over Twitter, he jokingly said “3000+ years.”

Not every immortal celebrity is willing to play along and acknowledge their extensive past for our entertainment.

For example, Nicolas Cage seemed to have his photo taken in Tennessee around 1870, but when he was asked about the image on Letterman, his explanation was that he wasn’t a vampire, citing his reflection in a mirror and his lack of blood drinking as proof. He didn’t say that he wasn’t in the picture or that he wasn’t immortal, just that he wasn’t a vampire.

Was Cage making fun of this impossible theory or working around the truth?

Diving further into the depths of the internet, you can find offhand theories and photo comparisons with no attempt at proving themselves to be true. Various one-line posts argue that Jeff Goldblum goes all the way back to biblical times. Tumblr user wombatking even states that he “may or may not be King Solomon.” However, Goldblum has never discussed his immortality, even to refute it. And regarding photo comparisons, a particularly good one is that of Shia LaBeouf to a young Albert Einstein.There is no shocking conclusion posted alongside or proof that they have lived the same life, but they look remarkably similar side by side. What does it all mean?

It means people like to have fun. Sometimes that “fun” was cruel to the families of the deceased and in poor taste. Sometimes, that “fun” requires hours of research, just to keep some people laughing and engaged. We know Elvis is dead, and we know Anne Hathaway has not been the same Anne Hathaway since the 16th century, but suspending your disbelief in magic, aliens and the occasional conspiracy theory tends to keep life just a little bit more interesting.

PSU Vanguard • SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

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GU ID E

RESTAURANT IN HOT WATER AFTER IMAGES OF PECULIAR-LOOKING PIZZAS GO VIRAL

CHUCK E. CONS PIRAC Y MORGAN WATKINS

While Chuck E. Cheese has been known as the destination for kid-friendly parties and entertainment, recent viral videos and images have tainted the business’ reputation.

Pictures began circulating online years ago, but it wasn’t until Shane Dawson and other YouTube personalities put the rumors to the test. While reflecting on his personal experiences visiting Chuck E. Cheese as a kid, Dawson did some digging and discovered countless photos of misshapen pizzas that were served at the chain restaurants. Each image displayed pizzas with crusts that didn’t line up.

It appeared as if various slices from other pizzas had all been put together to form some sort of Frankenstein pizza.

After the popular YouTuber’s video went viral—racking up over 8 million views in 24 hours—the company’s spokespeople made it clear that theories which challenged the ethics

CHUCK E. CHEESE PIZZA WITH MIS-MATCHED CRUSTS. COURTESY OF PENN STATE UNIVERSITY

Although some employees have taken to another, as a pepperoni here and there of their pizza-making process were entirely sometimes fails to line up with the piece social media to defend the family-friendly false. “No conspiracies here—our pizzas are conglomerate, the Chuck E. Cheese worker beside it. made to order and we prepare our dough fresh Former and current Chuck E. Cheese that Dawson spoke to remained tight-lipped in restaurant, which means that they’re not employees have spoken out, claiming about what goes on in the kitchen. When asked always perfectly uniform in shape, but always delicious,” a representative for Chuck E. that the pies are sometimes cut irregu- about what was going on with the pizzas, the larly due to the chain’s rule that each pizza employee laughed nervously and refused to Cheese stated.

Although Chuck E. Cheese swears their irreg- must have 12 slices. “The chain wants its confirm or deny allegations that slices were ularly shaped pies were due to the fact they are pizzas to have the same number of slices recycled to create new pies.

Regardless of the chatter online, which either made to order with fresh dough prepared daily, each time, which can present a challenge people continue to question whether or not for rushed kitchen workers. Sometimes, dismisses or eggs on claims against Chuck E. Cheese and its questionable pizza principles, after pulling a pizza out of the oven, he that is entirely accurate. the images speak for themselves. It would The problem is that it isn’t merely the shape would start cutting it up only to realize that not be unheard of for a company like Chuck of the pizza that looks off—it’s the way the pizza he had 10 slices instead of the 12 that he E. Cheese—which has recently found itself in is sliced that raises eyebrows. Normally, pizza is needed,” explained former Chuck E. Cheese financial trouble—to cut corners for the sake of cut methodically so that each slice is relatively employee and YouTuber Payden. saving a dime. It’s only a matter of time before Others have gone on record claiming that equal in size. However, the pizzas at Chuck E. the arcade chain bites the dust like other Cheese appear to be sliced haphazardly, as a lot the pizza crusts did not align when served to nostalgic ‘90s businesses like Toys ‘R’ Us or of the cuts don’t align with one another. This customers was simply a result of slices slidBlockbuster. So with that in mind, grab a slice becomes even more evident when looking ing around before making it to the table. while you still can—if you dare. at how the toppings are cut from one slice to

‘THE SIMPSONS’ PREDICTED TH E FUTURE, AND IT ’S TRIPPY 1. TIGER ATTACK (SEASON 5, EPISODE 10)

4. GOVERNMENT SPYING (‘THE SIMPSONS’ MOVIE)

•Predicted: 2007 • Came True: 2013 In The Simpsons Movie, the Simpsons family escapes the •Predicted: 1993 • Came True: 2003 A short clip in this episode shows two magicians by the dome engulfing the city of Springfield and are forced to go names of Gunter and Ernst attacked by their tiger as they into hiding. While in hiding, the NSA is shown to be spying perform for an audience. In 2003, Siegfreid and Roy—a in on the conversations Marge and the kids are having. This famous duo of magicians carrying a strong resemblance prediction came true when Edward Snowden, an American to The Simpson’s magic duo—encounter the same tragedy Whistleblower, leaked information about the U.S. governas their tiger Mantecore attacks Roy, leaving him in critical ment’s mass surveillance of phone and internet records. condition. His tragic injuries caused him partial paralysis and the end of Siegfried and Roy’s performances as a whole. 5. DONALD TRUMP’S PRESIDENCY

2. U.S. TEAM WINS AT OLYMPIC CURLING (SEASON 21, EPISODE 12)

‘THE SIMPSONS’ PREDICTED PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S PRESIDENCY. COURTESY OF DEVIANT ART MARTA YOUSIF The Simpsons is the longest running animated TV show in history, first airing in 1989, now carrying 30 seasons and counting.

The infamous conspiracy about The Simpsons writers ability to predict the future is uncanny, as The Simpsons have predicted the future on multiple occasions. Here are five of the trippiest times The Simpsons predicted the future, and they came true.

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PSU Vanguard • SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

(SEASON 11, EPISODE 17)

•Predicted: 2000 • Came True: 2016 In a humorous peak into the future, Lisa becomes president and is left to discuss the effects former President •Predicted: 2010 • Came True: 2018 When Homer and Marge find a passion for curling, they take Donald Trump’s budget crisis has on her tenor. This their mixed doubles team to the Winter Games and end up de- small but notable prediction came true only six years feating Sweden. This prediction came to life during the 2018 later during the surprising run for office and election of Winter Olympics when the Men’s USA team made a surprise Donald Trump in 2016. gold win against Sweden in curling.

3. LADY GAGA SUPER BOWL HALFTIME SHOW (SEASON 23, EPISODE 22)

6. THREE-EYED FISH (SEASON 2, EPISODE 4)

•Predicted: 1990 • Came True: 2011 While fishing, Bart finds a three-eyed fish implied to have been mutated by a major pollution issue caused •Predicted: 2012 • Came True: 2017 When Lisa goes Gaga, the town of Springfield is enamored by Lady by the Springfield nuclear power plant. A little over Gaga as she is harnessed above the crowd and performs. This pre- 20 years later, this prediction came true as a haunting diction came true when Lady Gaga jumped off the stadium roof and three-eyed fish was found in a reservoir in Argentina, was harnessed down during the Super Bowl LI halftime show wear- which ironically was also fed water from a nearby nuclear power plant. ing a similar outfit to the one animated in the Simpsons episode.

GU ID E

PULL THIS PAGE OUT & PLAY!

B

A

NTESTANT ON CO A AS W N U G N JO KIM THE PRICE IS RIGHT

IRAN ONCE ARRESTED 14 SQUIRRELS FOR BEING SPIES

OR

B

A

Vultures are used to spy on neighboring countries

ICALS IN WATER EM CH IN TA R CE AT PROVEN TH IT’S BEEN RECENTLY TURN FROGS GAY

OR

B

TOM FROM MYSPACE WAS ACTUAL A BOT AND NEVER TRULY EXISTEDLY

OR

A

The U.S. government designed a weapon in the ‘70s that made people hear voices inside their heads

A

The CIA experimented with mind control

EMUS WON A WA R AGAINST THE AU ST RA LIA N ARMY

OF FACEBOOK, MARK ZUCKERBERG, FOUNDER ACCOUNT EB DOES NOT HAVE HIS OWN FAC OOK

OR

OR

B FINLAND ISN’T A REAL COUNTRY B

A THERE WAS ONCE A PLAN FOR THE U.S. GOVERNMENT TO COMMIT DOMESTIC TERRORISM AND BLAME CUB A

B

OR

Tourism companies have tried to bribe the government to control weather

answers: B,A,A,B,B,A,B,A,B,A,A,A

A

PSU Vanguard • SEPYEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

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GU I D E

pull out this page & play!

1

YOUR BIRTH MONTH Jan

ELVIS

Feb

TUPAC

Mar

THE DENVER AIRPORT

Apr

THE MOON

May

AVRIL LAVIGNE

Jun

16

CREATE

CHUCK E. CHEESE

PSU Vanguard • SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

Jul Au g

your OWN

2

THE ILLUMINATI THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY

Sept

THE CREATOR OF THE SIMPS ON

Oct

RUSSIA

Nov

THE U.S. GOVERNMENT

Dec

NASA

S

2

GU I D E

CONSPIRACY the color of the shirt you’re wearing BLACK

...FAKED THE MOON LANDING

WHITE

...IS A HOLOGRAM

NUDE

...IS HIDING ALIENS

RED BLUE

...IS LAUNDERING MONEY ...HIJACKED THE 2016 ELECTION

YELLOW

...IS A LIZARD PERSON

GREEN

PURPLE PINK

...SUNK THE TITANIC ...IS THE ZODIAC KILLER ...IS SPYING ON YOU

ORANGE BROWN

...IS IN THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE ...IS A SIMULATION

GREY ...IS ACTUALLY BIGFOOT

SEND

N DANA TOW

PSU Vanguard • SEPTEMBER 10 2019 • psuvanguard.com

17

GU I D E

N IO T IC F R O FACT

DO YOU KNOW WHAT’S REALLY HAPPENING? CHOOSE WHICH OF THE TWO STATEMENTS IN EACH PAIR IS TRUE.

A A

THE CIA INVESTED MILLIONS IN TRYING TO MAKE CAT SPIES

A

Digging a hole to China is possible in Argentina

A

A

B

OR

OR

FEMALE KOALAS HAVE FAKE POUCHES, SIMILAR TO HOW WOMEN’S JEANS HAVE FAKE POCKETS

A

18

if you start

IN POLICE LINE-UPS, THEY PUT THE MAJOR SUSPECT IN THE MIDDLE

B

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OR

TE QUEEN ELIZABETH’S FAVORI OR MOVIE IS SPACE BALLS

NASA WAS SUED FOR TRESPASSING ON MARS

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B

OR

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RS TO DOSE THE GOVERNMENT HIRED SEX WORKE ES MEN WITH LSD FOR RESEARCH PURPOS

B

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s that Antarctica due to concern All dogs are banned in to seals they might spread diseases

ELEPHANTS CAN HEAR WITH THEIR FEET

OR

B

Goldfish are classified as endangered species

GU I D E

PIGEONS ARE NARCS TAYLAR RIVERS

The birds aren’t real, or maybe they are. A long-founded conspiracy theory says somewhere between the 1970s and 1980s, all pigeons were eradicated by the government and replaced with robot surveillance birds.

Birds Aren’t Real, a nearly two-year-old movement that claims the CIA took out 12 billion feathered fugitives because directors within the organization were “annoyed that birds had been dropping fecal matter on their car windows.” They were then replaced with bird-like robots that could be used to surveil Americans. Of the many conspiracy theories, this particular one has taken on a comedic yet realistically invasive face.

The attention Birds Aren’t Real has drawn on social media is continually increasing, thanks to an Instagram account with more than 50,000 followers, a YouTube page with more than 45,000 views and a Twitter profile with nearly 8,500 followers.

The movement is consistently increasing and has taken on different names. “All of the birds died in 1986 due to Reagan killing them and replacing them with spies that are now watching us,” said comedian Kendrick Smith. “The birds work for the bourgeoisie.” Smith discussed the theory in a recent podcast of his and has since started a new trending wave for the government-fueled idea.

Since there are numerous outlets and organizations that believe in the theory, it is difficult to track down one origin story. There are common ideas and motives in the explanation of this theory, but everyone believes something slightly different.

One main explanation is birds were eradicated following the creation of the Central Intelligence Agency.

The CIA was founded in 1947, and its sole responsibility was to watch and survey tens of thousands of Americans suspected of communism. This orchestrated stalking epidemic went on for almost five years, but few were found guilty of any real crimes. However, it became clear in the early 1950s that the threat of communism was only going to rise, and a broader system was needed to track any individual who was suspected of such activity.

They sought to kill two birds with one stone and remove all birds from the United States (thus eliminating their fecal problem) but also replacing these birds with billions of sophisticated robot look-a-likes

capable of mimicking real birds in every way. Dulles and his team wanted to create the greatest surveillance system ever imagined—with the capability of tracking someone on foot, in a vehicle or even in their personal home. The targets were then eradicated between 1959 and 1971 with specially altered B-52 bombers stocked with poison.

The opposing theory is that birds were the result of the Reagan administration. The idea here is that Reagan wanted to keep tabs on his opposition, which as Watergate revealed, is true. In an effort to maximize the coverage and still maintain the covertness, Reagan funded the CIA to create birdlike surveillance robots that would obtain information from his opposing party. The birds would then have been killed and replaced somewhere between the late 1970s and mid-1980s, about a decade or so from the opposing theory.

Though the timeline is significantly different, and the era of technology the country was in varies, both have substantial similarities. Above all, both are ploys to spy on American citizens unknowingly. As far-fetched as they may seem, the theories merely echo our current paranoia of government spying.

In addition to this, where are all the dead pigeons? With over 10–20 billion pigeons in the U.S. alone, how are the streets not littered with dead pigeons? These birds are known to scatter and hoard the streets of all our major cities, yet most people can’t recall seeing any of them dead. Of course pigeons have natural predators such as cats and other larger birds, but they can’t all be eaten.

From targeted ads to artificial intelligence, birds having cameras doesn’t sound that far off.

NSEND

W DANA TO

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GUIDE

AVRIL LAVIGNE REPLACED? DYLAN BURDETTE Since the early 2000s, detailed conspiracies have swirled around Avril Lavigne. The general gist is that she was replaced with a doppelgänger sometime between the debut of her first album and the release of her second. However, because this theory has been circulating for almost 20 years, several details clash and conflict with one another, leaving readers with numerous storylines to track down in this Avril Clone Conspiracy.

First, here are some chronological facts to get the bare bones of the story—Avril Lavigne released her first album in 2002, Let Go, then went on to release her 2004 album, Under My Skin. Over the next decade, her sound changed from pop-punk to preppy pop. In 2011, a Brazilian BlogSpot page titled “Avril Lavigne died and was replaced by a double?” began gaining traction in conspiracy circles.

The hoax seemed to climax in 2014 and die down in 2015. However, in 2017, a Brazilian Twitter user, @givenchyass—whose account has since been suspended—revitalized this conspiracy theory with a complex thread, further detailing the situation with new “evidence” regarding who her replacement was and why she took over for Avril.

In late 2018, Avril went on an Australian talk show on the radio station KIIS 1065 in which she was confronted with this information. When asked about her clone, she said: “Yeah, some people think that I’m not the real me, which is so weird...like, why would they even think that?”

Which sounds exactly like what a clone would say. Various timelines for this conspiracy are muddled and inconsistent across the internet, but according to the original 2011 BlogSpot page—which translates to “avrilisdead. blogspot.com”—she vanished in 2003 and was replaced with a double. The page only references “old Avril” versus “new Avril,” when later contributions via Twitter named “Melissa Vandella” as the replacement.

Many different types of “evidence” are cited in this BlogSpot, including Avril’s height changing in Google searches, the addition of tattoos and freckles over time, her handwriting seeming to change and even reading into song lyrics from Under My Skin gleaning her potential cause of death. The BlogSpot page is persuasively written, and as ridiculous as the story is, it’s surprisingly easy to see why readers want to believe it.

Various explanations have been filled in over time as to where the “old Avril” is now. The most common theory is that she deeply struggled with the fame she so quickly received and committed suicide. Other popular theories regarding her death state that she died in a snowboarding accident or she hung herself at the news of her grandfather’s death. Some argue that she never died at all and is now peacefully living out the rest of her life, far from the limelight.

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O AND MAKE G O T E V A H E W ID D Y H W E D? THINGS SO COMPLICAT

There is also controversy as to when—and if—Melissa Vandella was added to the picture. The name Melissa first appeared in a photoshoot around Avril’s 2004 release, where the singer is pictured with the word “Melissa” scrawled on her hand with a Sharpie.

There are many conflicting stories as to exactly how and when Melissa got wrapped up with Avril, but according to that 2017 Twitter thread, the prevailing claim is that Melissa Vandella was an actress hired by Avril Lavigne’s management team to be her body double for press releases, photoshoots and red-carpet events when Avril wasn’t feeling up to it. Some say Melissa was hired on while Avril was still alive and they quickly became best friends. In this timeline, Avril reportedly taught Melissa how to sing exactly like her. In other timelines, Melissa was hired after Avril was already gone to keep the franchise alive. This argument fragments further, with fans unable to decide whether Avril had recorded her second album before she disappeared or if Melissa studied her first album and did her best to copy it.

The most out-there theory of all is that Melissa is a straight-up, flat-out clone of Avril Lavigne. The concept of being cloned is remarkably common in these conspiracy theories, but only some sites go into exactly how. Gizmodo stated Avril was replaced by the mysterious forces of the music industry, a conspiracy fan blog decided she was “a clone made by the government to distract the public when major conflicts happen,” and Canoe.com argues the actual Melissa is a super detailed android which has been built specifically to replace Avril.

There is no record of a Melissa Vandella being an actress around this time: no IMDB pages, no headshots. There was a Twitter account by the name of Melissa Vandela (with only one L) who claimed to be Avril’s replacement in December 2015, publishing tweets like “WHERE IS AVRIL LAVIGNE–she’s deeeeeeead. I’m the new one.”

Though in May 2017, the user behind the account came forward to say it was all a joke and to apologize for spreading rumors. They then changed their name from “Melissa Vandela” to “The Game Is Over” (Twitter user @avrilisdead).

No other Melissas or Melissa Vandellas have made themselves known in relation to Avril Lavigne since.

Dissecting all of the information logically, it’s pretty clear that Avril changed her sound and her look because she just grew up. Fans who latched onto her identity were upset she wasn’t an angsty teen anymore, and they would rather accept her death—and even subsequent cloning—than her change of heart. But disregarding any possible malintent on the fans’ part, it’s also clear that the internet just really loves conspiracy theories, because it’s fun to see what people can come up with, and of that, what people will believe.

BRANDON PAHNISH

GUIDE

IS MATTRESS FIRM A FRONT Y E N O M E L A C -S E G R A L A R O F LAUNDERING SCHEME? DYLAN JEFFERIES Mattress Firm stores are everywhere.

It’s not uncommon to see two or three in the same shopping center, sometimes even across the street from one another. And not just two different mattress stores to promote competition, but the same exact store: Mattress Firm.

On top of how many Mattress Firm stores there seems to be, there are also all the other brickand-mortar mattress companies out there, such as Mattress World and BedMart.

In fact, there are currently more mattress stores than McDonald’s—or Starbucks—in the United States, most of which are Mattress Firms, according to USA Today.

Illustrating this point, 42.6% of Mattress Firm stores are within a one-mile radius of one another, according to Business Insider.

The average American only buys a new mattress every seven to 10 years. Plus, most millennials are having their mattresses delivered straight to their doors with bed-in-a-box services, according to USA Today.

So why are there so many Mattress Firms?

A conspiracy theory recently went viral on Reddit after a user suggested that Mattress Firm was a front for a large scale money laundering scheme. How could a company with such a slowmoving product manage to keep so many stores open, many Reddit users wondered.

“Mattress Firm is some sort of giant money laundering scheme,” one user wrote. “I remember seeing four Mattress Firms all on each corner of an intersection once, and there is no way there is such a demand for mattresses.”

“Multiple stores = more places to shuffle money between and more sources for fake money to appear to come from,” another user wrote.

Viral YouTube star Shane Dawson also popularized the idea in a video examining various conspiracy theories that racked up nearly 20 million views.

But what’s really going on?

Shorty after the conspiracy theory went viral, Mattress Firm CEO Steve Stagner announced Mattress Firm would be filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and would be closing nearly 700 stores, especially in areas where it has too many stores “in close proximity to each other,” according to Business Insider.

The abundance of Mattress Firm stores and rapidly declining sales to the rise of bed-in-a-box companies contributed to the company's continuing downfall.

But the heart of their financial struggles, according to USA Today, lies in the overexpansion of the company, along with the overexpansion of mattress stores in general.

Mattress Firm ballooned considerably after the company bought out other mattress companies like Mattress Giant, Sleep Train and Sleepy’s. After the buyouts, Mattress Giant’s and Sleep Trains were simply rebranded as new Mattress Firm stores, hence why two competing mattress stores across the street from one another became the same store.

Thus the thousands of Mattress Firm stores all within at least a one-mile radius of other Mattress Firm stores.

Sounds pretty straightforward—but here’s where things get interesting: Steinhoff, the second largest furnitureretailer in the world right after IKEA, and Mattress Firm’s parent company, recently acknowledged in a public filing that the company is being accused of accounting irregularities, including overstating how much money the company made, as well as improperly accounting intercompany loans.

In other words, fraud.

The irregularities have been going on for years, but only recently came under public scrutiny in 2017 after Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste resigned seemingly out of the blue.

Steinhoff is located in South Africa, and has been one of the largest companies on the Johannasburg stock exchange since 1996.

The revelations of fraud and Jooste’s resignation marked one of the largest collapses in South

Africa’s corporate history, according to Household Name, a Business Insider podcast.

Steinhoff has hired its own auditors to look into the allegations, and investigations and probes from around the world have begun looking into Steinhoff’s financial activities over the years. The full extent of the fraud and tax evasion remains unknown.

Following these revelations, two top executives and the chairman of Steinhoff resigned, according to Business Insider.

In what was criticized for being a terrible idea, Steinhoff bought Mattress Firm in 2016 for $2.4 billion, twice what it was really worth. Shortly thereafter, Jooste got into some kind of argument with one of Mattress Firm’s top suppliers, Tempur Sealy, who then went on to sue Mattress Firm for selling mattresses similar to Tempur Sealy’s iconic Tempur-Pedic Mattress.

On top of all of that, Mattress Firm filed a lawsuit in October 2017 accusing two of its former real-estate executives, an external broker and a group of developers of signing leases above market rates and expanding Mattress Firm into expensive areas in an effort to financially enrich themselves at the company’s expense.

A spokesperson for Mattress Firm described the incident to Business Insider as “nationwide bribery” and a “fraud scheme.”

At the moment, there’s no way to know whether or not Mattress Firm was bought by Steinhoff in order to shuffle money for other, more lucrative purposes; one thing is certain—the Mattress Firm debacle is starting to look less and less like just a conspiracy theory.

JOHN ROJAS

PSU Vanguard • SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

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GU I D E

CONSPIRACY THEORIES THAT CAME TRUE DYLAN JEFFERIES

PROJECT MKULTRA—THE CIA’S TOP SECRET LSD EXPERIMENTS Does the government distribute LSD as a form of mind control?

Project MKUltra, also known as the Central Intelligence Agency’s Mind Control Program, was a set of experiments undertaken by the CIA where psychedelic compounds such as LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline, cocaine and DMT were tested on human subjects.

Starting in 1953, the project—which also involved experiments in shock therapy, hypnosis and interrogation—was intended to create a psychological weapon that could be used as a form of mind control against enemies of the Cold War. The experiments were initially done on volunteers; author Ken Kesey famously volunteered as an LSD guinea pig in the early ‘60s while he was attending Stanford University. His experiences inspired him to write the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

But the CIA also administered LSD to hundreds of prisoners, mental patients and unwitting American citizens. In 1953, according to TIME magazine, the CIA set up multiple brothels in San Francisco and New York where prostitutes were instructed to dose their clients with LSD while CIA agents monitored the client’s behavior through two-way mirrors in a brazen eight-year program called “Operation Midnight Climax.”

By the late ‘60s, MKUltra was terminated, as the use of psychedelics as weapons was considered too unpredictable after many test subjects experienced psychological breakdowns following the experiments.

In 1973, amid government-wide panic induced by the Watergate scandal, the CIA destroyed most of MKUltra’s records—but a cache of over 20,000 documents relating to the experiments were discovered in 1977 and revealed to the public by the agency itself after a Freedom of Information Act request, according to The New York Times.

The full extent of the experiments remains unclear to this day.

GOVERNMENT-INDUCED ALCOHOL POISONING law?

Will the government kill you for breaking the after having one dying d starte e peopl many , During prohibition was poisoning bootleg drink, and the theory that the government papers and a senator news booze began to spread. After a number of the government, the on s death ning blamed the uptick of alcohol poiso it. to government admitted enforce prohibition, However, the poisoning wasn’t intended to by the U.S. Treasury shed according to a short book written and publi to safeguard induswas it ad, Inste .

Department concerning the issue re things like paint, factu manu to ol alcoh of use tries that required the tries supplied with solvents and fuels. In order to keep those indus human consumpfor t “unfi alcohol, the government required it to be n. tion” by denaturing it with poiso was then stolen and Unfortunately, much of that industrial alcohol eg beverages, and at sold on the black market in order to make bootl ding to Slate. accor least 10,000 people died by some estimates,

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PSU Vanguard • SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

THE GOVERNMENT CONTROLLING THE WEATHER Does the government control the weather? iracy Weather modification was a popular consp nal essio congr were There ‘60s. and 1950s theory in the the U.S. that o Castr Fidel from ation accus an ngs, heari alarming created Hurricane Flora in 1963, as well as an ther “Wea ed entitl ce Scien lar article published in Popu that wrote tists scien ican Amer e wher as a Weapon,” ol.” contr er weath in us of ahead be may ans Russi “the oped, devel fully While weather control was never onized the U.S. admitted to the attempted use of “weap covert ple multi in War am Vietn the g weather” durin to ding missions entitled “Operation Popeye,” accor The New York Times.

U.S. After repeatedly denying allegations that the y enem over ll rainfa heavy e induc to army attempted the s, agent forces in Vietnam through chemical attempts government stated publicly in 1974 that such pted attem been fully, ccess had indeed, though unsu the to d leake were tion opera the of ls after the detai

by The ned obtai ents docum gh throu c publi ican Amer Washington Post. ns After the operation was leaked, the United Natio le hosti other any or tary “Mili e wher ntion held a conve was ” iques use of environmental modification techn of State. prohibited, according to the U.S. Department

THE GAY BOMB Could the government make you fall in love?

The Gay Bomb—also known as the Halitosis Bomb—was a nonlethal psychochemical weapon that was envisioned by the United States Air Force in 1994. The theory for the bomb was to make love, not war, by dousing a battlefield with “female sex pheremones,” according to documents obbtained by a millitary spending watchdog group through a Freedom of Information Act request, according to The Guardian.

According to the documents, the idea was to make enemy soldiers irresistible and sexually attracted to one another and thus lose their appetite for combat. According to the proposal for the weapon, the aim was to “cause homosexual behavior” through “strong aphrodisiacs.”

The documents show that the U.S. military requested $7.5 million to develop the weapon. The Pentagon never attempted to cover up the project and released a statement which read, “The department of defense is committed to identifying, researching and developing nonlethal weapons that will support our men and women in uniform.”

GU ID E

S E I R O E H T Y C A CONSPIR L U F M R A H E B N CA TAYLAR RIVERS Conspiracy theories can hold some truth, but there is a line between skepticism and disrespect.

There are real people behind conspiracy theories. What starts out as a joke or mere speculation can turn into something that erodes trust, disrupts livelihoods and, in some cases, disrespect those who have lost their lives in those tragedies.

One of the primary problems with conspiracy theories is that they fail to promote critical thinking; in fact, in many cases, they do just the opposite. Many conspiracy theories could be easily dismissed with some simple logic.

In addition to this, another rising issue is many people believe in far-fetched fringe theories without any shred of supporting evidence. Studies show a lack of trust as one of the main predictors of belief in conspiracies. This makes sense, as those who have little faith in others will naturally be more likely to buy into the idea that they are up to no good.

Other studies found conspiracy theorists tend to be more cynical about the world than most. When it comes to politics, for example, they are likely to distrust the political establishment. These results are quite ironic in the current political climate, seeing as President Donald Trump has been described as being America’s “Conspiracy Theorist in Chief.”

Psychologist Dr. Daniel Jolley spoke to UNILAD about the reasoning behind and the effects of conspiracy theories.

“The world is complex, and complex things happen, and conspiracy theories make us feel better,” Jolley said. “For example, when a plane goes missing or a princess dies in a car

crash we don’t feel great. A conspiracy theory makes us feel in control, laying blame in situations that sometimes can’t be controlled.”

The skepticism an average individual holds is completely normal, but conspiracy theories can breed dangerous beliefs.

For example, following the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, journalist Alex Jones continuously published and vocally stated that he believed the whole event was an inside job that never actually happened. He made claims that children never died, and it was all made up.

Following his boisterous claims, parents of the victims sued him for defamation of character. Two lawsuits were filed by Leonard Pozner, Veronique De La Rosa and Neil Heslin. Their 6-year-old sons, Noah Pozner and Jesse Lewis, were fatally shot at Sandy Hook.

Each lawsuit seeks at least $1 million in damages for “a severe degree of mental stress and anguish” and “high degree of psychological pain” the parents suffered from Jones’ coverage in addition to past and future damage their reputations might suffer.

Jones appealed the suit and eventually lost. He was forced to pay a hefty fine and admitted the shooting did occur.

Through the legal process and before, the parents of the victims had to battle emotional turmoil all while someone who knew nothing wanted to spread a half-wit conspiracy theory.

In March 2016, the personal email account of John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, was hacked and his

emails were published by WikiLeaks in November 2016.

Following the leak, some people falsely claimed the emails contained coded messages that connected several United States restaurants and high-ranking officials of the Democratic Party with an alleged human trafficking and child sex ring. One of the establishments allegedly involved was the Comet Ping Pong restaurant and pizzeria in Washington, D.C. The suspected involvement of the pizzeria led the scandal to be referred to as Pizzagate conspiracy theory Members of the alt-right and other opponents of Clinton’s presidential campaign spread the conspiracy theory on social media outlets. In response, a man from North Carolina traveled to Comet Ping Pong to investigate the conspiracy and fired a rifle inside the restaurant. The restaurant owner and staff also received death threats from those who believed in the theory.

Through all the speculation, numerous law enforcement agencies, journalistic outlets and government officials investigated the claims and found no evidence to support the theory.

From not believing in climate change to ignoring the purpose of vaccinations, some conspiracy theories aren’t meant to be questions. Tagging along with some far-fetched theories allows people to not do their own research and form their own opinion.

It’s one thing to believe that Mattress Firm is actually a money laundering front, but it’s another to dismiss tragedies. Be skeptic and inquisitive, but consider who is being affected by your beliefs.

JOHN ROJAS

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GU ID E

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OPINION

SCAM SCIENCE TAYLAR RIVERS Not all pseudoscience is harmless, but a portion of it lacks sound logic and preys on the most vulnerable.

Traditional herbal remedies aren’t hurting anyone. In fact, many modern-day medicines are rooted in ancient treatments. The problem is anti-scientific claims of healing that sell to vulnerable populations.

As defined by Merriam-Webster, pseudoscience is a collection of beliefs or practices mistakenly regarded as being based on scientific method. Pseudoscience such as faith healing, naturopathy and homeopathy can have dangerous effects or can sometimes be a downright scam.

There are several pseudoscience remedies which claim to cure conditions such as AIDS, autism, cancer and diabetes. The anti-vaxxer movement, which includes the belief that vaccinations cause autism, is rooted in pseudoscience. It tends to be one of the prevalent conditions that breed bogus cures brought on by anti-science followers.

The “cure” gaining the most traction is the Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS), a “supplement” sold online to parents as a “cure” for their autistic children. MMS is essentially bleach. It is 28% sodium chlorite, and when used as instructed, generates chlorine dioxide—a potent bleach that’s used to strip textiles and for industrial water treatment. It is highly dangerous to ingest. Taken directly, MMS can cause severe nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, damage to the gut and red blood cells, respiratory problems, and it can be fatal, according to the United States Food and Drug Administration.

Some families end up feeling so isolated and disillusioned that they’re desperate for anything that might help, which can leave them vulnerable to the dangerous claims of quacks and charlatans, said Carol Povey, director of the National Autistic Society Centre for Autism to The Guardian.

Faith healing can be connected to pseudoscience and mean a multitude of things. The idea is that many churches advocate the use of modern medicine and teach members to turn to God when all else fails. Others teach members to turn to God first, before or without the use of medicine. In some cases, believers are encouraged to prove their faith in God’s healing power by specifically avoiding medicine.

Individual religious expression is not a matter of debate, and how one chooses to follow their beliefs is up to their discretion. But the matter is there are deadly diseases that plague the human body, in which science is required in order to cure.

More than half of the 20 most shared cancer articles on Facebook consisted of medically discredited claims. This goes far beyond Facebook—The Wall Street Journal recently revealed YouTube was hosting accounts with thousands of subscribers that promoted bogus cancer treatments.

The FDA non-exhaustive list of debunked claims includes more than 187 bogus cures that run from “energy-based” to “spiritual healing.” Other claims involve hyperbaric oxygen therapy, cannabis oil, shark cartilage, ketogenic diets and baking soda: the point of that matter being all of them have been proven to either have no impact on the deadly disease or in some cases cause further harm.

Indulging in a bit of pseudoscience in some instances is appropriate, but the problem is that doing so lowers your defenses against more dangerous delusions based on similar fallacies. For instance, you may expose yourself and your loved ones to harm because your pseudoscientific core leads you to accept notions that have long been scientifically disproved.

Alternative remedies aren’t wrong. Pseudoscience isn’t always wrong.

But the most prevalent of the two often catch the attention of the most vulnerable and become dangerous and sometimes deadly.

Simply maintaining a defensive guard for illogical concepts and putting trust in what you know to be the undeniable scientifically backed truth is the best way to not fall victim to “cures.”

JOHN ROJAS

PSU Vanguard • SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

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OPINION

IT’S NOT MY FAULT THE PLANET IS DYING TAYLAR RIVERS Earth isn’t dying because of the actions of the individual. Blame corporations, not people.

Our ecosystem has been greatly disrupted by pollution, over-hunting and abuse of resources.

Climate change, gas emission and pollution are planetary-scale threats and, as such, require planetary-scale reforms that can only be implemented by the world’s governments. Individuals can, at most, be responsible for their own behavior, but governments have the ruling power to implement legislation that compels industries and individuals to act sustainably.

According to a new report published by The Carbon Majors Report, 100 companies have been the source of more than 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988.

In addition to the role of big corporations, according to a 2015 report by the charity Oxfam, someone in the wealthiest top 1% globally emits, on average, 175 times more carbon than someone in the poorest 10%. The poorest half of the world’s population—almost 4 billion people—is responsible for only 10% of emissions.

Although the power of consumers is strong, it pales in comparison to that of international corporations, and only governments have the power to keep these interests in check.

Plastic pollution, found in every corner of the globe including in the deepest trenches of the ocean, is the most visible disruption—and one of the grossest examples—of how corporations have externalized the costs of their profitmaking activities. Products are packaged for maximum profitability. And once they’re sold and profits are collected, corporations disappear claiming no accountability, leaving ordinary citizens to take on the burden of proper disposal and to endure the consequences of toxic plastic pollution.

According to Life 123, in the United States, 70% of people between the ages of 18 and 30 participate in recycling. It is believed that 81% of adults older than 30 participate in some type of recycling. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people are picking up plastic litter in an effort to stem the tide of pollution, but with thousands of factories around the world

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BRANDON PAHNISH

continuing to churn out goods by the millions— wrapped in plastic sachets and bottles that last forever but are meant to be used only once and then thrown away. The task is never ending.

The problem isn’t because of consumer choice, but because people have very limited choices.

Greta Thunberg, 16-year-old Swedish climate activist who inspired the global “school strike for climate” movement, was invited to speak at the annual World Economic Forum, a meeting of business leaders and celebrities held in Davos, Switzerland.

“Some people say that the climate crisis is something that we [all] have created,” Thunberg said. “But that is not true, because if everyone is guilty, then no one is to blame. And someone is to blame.”

“Some people, some companies, some decision makers in particular have known exactly what priceless values they have been sacrificing to continue making unimaginable amounts of money. And I think many of you here today belong to that group of people.”

This narrative that blames the average individual is harmful and misguided. It diverts attention away from the actions of big business and the rich and onto those who both pollute the least and have the least power to do anything about it.

The individual shouldn’t neglect their responsibility in keeping our planet healthy. Tasks such as recycling, using reusable materials, decreasing your meat intake and being more mindful of your carbon footprint are all actions that should remain in the forefront of one’s mind. But it’s unfair to blame the majority of citizens who abide by the standards set by not only corporations but the government.

It didn’t take the actions of one but the actions of many. The call to action that alerts us of our planet having anywhere between 12 to 100 years or as little as 17 months left ends in a call to inaction. Warning millions and ignoring those in power is merely a planetary crisis marketed in true capitalist fashion.

Blaming the individual only works in favor of those who cause the greatest disruption.

ARTS & CULTURE NEWS

PIECES OF BLACKNESS ‘BROWN SUGAR: WHERE WE AT’ ART SHOW DEPICTS BLACK CULTURE CERVANTÉ POPE In a warehouse space in North Portland, pieces of Blackness accented large white walls. Upon closer inspection, each artifact depicted Black culture from a different perspective. Many emphasized the beauty and strength of the culture, while others highlighted the perpetual hatred that oppresses it. Christine Miller, the curator of the art show, “Brown Sugar: Where We At,” hopes that viewers who experience the collection leave with a clearer understanding of the ways in which black women and femmes are seen.

“Brown sugar is widely known within the Black community— it’s so nostalgic for Black womanhood,” said Miller, who moved here a little over a year ago from New York. “It’s a way of paying homage.” Not just to black women in general, but also to “Where We At” Black Women Artists, Inc (WWA), an art collective aligned with the Black Arts Movement of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Miller was heavily inspired by what WWA did decades ago, wanting to bring that type of vibe to the city’s lack of representation when it comes to Black femme and female artists.

“Portland is a challenge, but I think where there are challenges, there’s opportunity,” Miller said. “It’s a matter of ‘How can I be a part of this space?’ It’s almost like being a sacrificial lamb. I know I’m here for a reason, but why can’t it be a little easier?

Sometimes you need resilience to create change.”

“Brown Sugar: Where We At” features 10 visual artists, each using unique mediums in some way or another associated with Black culture. Intisar Abioto’s “Sugar Lee” includes portraits of her sisters alongside mixed heaps of brown sugar and soil. Asha Harper’s pieces use basketball jerseys to restructure chairs, while Sabrina Powell uses weave hair to make macrame-style plant hangers.

Miller’s own work was also a part of the show and was the most confrontational in its subject matter. Self-described as a mix between Betye Saar and Kara Walker, she debuted two different projects—”Alligator Bait” and “Blackphoria”—that use found Black Americana pieces as reminders of where our country used to be with its darker citizens. For instance, her piece “Alligator Bait Black Babies Free Lunch in the Jungle” makes use of a postcard she found depicting a Black child getting eaten by an alligator, while “Salt for Watermelon” is a display of Sambo salt and pepper shakers.

“It talks about mental terrorism and internalized oppression placed on Black Americans,” Miller said. “I’m really interested in the little, everyday ordinary things that were just in people’s households without a thought. Racism was so tangible and so neutralized that people were just whatever about it.”

Another one of her pieces, “Pearls for Aunt Jem,” shows an aluminum sign circa the early 1900s of Aunt Jemima pancake flour. Miller framed the sign in an acrylic display case surrounded by pancake batter and pearls. She found the sign at a shop in Beaverton as part of an Oregon Humane Society estate sale, and the process of acquiring it was one that continues to stick with her. “It was powerful to buy because I know people who probably lived through this day and age; it wasn’t something they could buy,” Miller said. “I wasn’t going to let people who aren’t responsible with this pick it up and laugh. It felt like I was doing something for the ancestors.”

In a way, the Aunt Jemima sign summed up the empowering message of the entire “Brown Sugar” exhibit—by communicating how Black women and femmes shouldn’t be seen in society or even within the Black community itself.

CHRISTINE MILLER, CURATOR OF ‘BROWN SUGAR: WHERE WE AT’ ART EXHIBIT. PSU VANGUARD/CERVANTÉ POPE “Growing up in New York around a lot of Black people, I didn’t deal with a lot of racism—I dealt with colorism,” Miller said. “I always wondered why and where Black people get this idea of themselves. It’s pumped from imagery like this, telling you ‘this is who you are.’”

“I’ve learned who I am, and I’ve also learned who I’m not,” Miller said. “Aunt Jemima is a fictional character created to promote slavery. It’s not based on anyone real. They tried to use her

to tell me the kind of Black person I am, but I know I’m not that.”

“Brown Sugar: Where We At” will be returning to the Tips on Failing space in North Portland next year. Miller isn’t sure if she’ll use all of the same artists—presenting different pieces, of course—next time around, but next year’s exhibit will be up for much longer.

“A week wasn’t enough,” Miller said. “These artists deserve a whole month. We deserve all this.”

PSU Vanguard • SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

27

ARTS & CULTURE

PHOTOGRAPHER BRIANA CEREZO’S NEW EXHIBIT SHOWCASES POWER OF BELONGING CERVANTÉ POPE There are still pockets of compassion out there, with Rahab’s Sisters being an organization that’s been trying to spread the importance of community building for the last 15 years. Photographer Briana Cerezo recently unveiled a new exhibition showcasing some of the Rahab’s Sisters’ guests and volunteers, and the message behind it is quite powerful.

“My hope is that this project will, in some small way, illuminate and remind people of the healing power of community and belonging,” Cerezo said. “We are living in a time where there are loud and amplified voices advocating for separateness and division, and I think we all long to feel a sense of belonging.”

Located inside Saint Peter and Paul Episcopal Church on 82nd, Rahab’s Sisters provides care to marginalized women and gender nonconforming persons through the form of “radical hospitality,” which includes providing hot, home-cooked meals every Friday, access to personal hygiene and feminine care products and a safe space for those subjected by sex work, houselessness, substance abuse, poverty and all forms of violence.

“I had never heard of the organization before, but looking at the incredible mission and the important services they provide, I really wanted to be involved,” said Cerezo, who first got involved with the organization earlier this year. “I love working with good people who are making positive change.”

Cerezo’s exhibit, titled “The Portrait Circle Project,” was funded by SE Uplift and seeks to illuminate the individual outside of their adversity, as well as celebrate those who have devoted themselves to helping out in some way or another. The original idea came from Rahab’s Sisters’ Executive Director Anneliese Davis, who felt Cerezo was the only fit to execute the project properly.

“I like the way the people portrayed in the images are largely removed from any contextual background, which I think allows us as viewers to see each person first and foremost as human, and in that, worthy of dignity and respect,” Cerezo said. “For some participants, these are the only photographs they have of themselves,

28

and they were excited to share it with their children or other family members.”

For the most part, the subjects in the portraits are not identified by name or the circumstances that brought them to the organization, though some participants do include Oregon State Representative Alissa Keny-Guyer, Multnomah County Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson and Multnomah County Commissioner Shusheela Jayapal. Keeping the subjects anonymous, combined with the ways in which they were shot, was meant to speak more to emphasize the similarities between people in general.

The subjects were allowed to dress and style themselves for the shoot, and Rahab’s Sisters made sure that those with limited resources were still able to participate by arranging for Ginger Salon to help with some of the beauty services. Each portrait incorporates flowers—a nod to the beautiful bouquets that have become a staple at the Rahab’s Sisters’ Friday night dinners. Other artistic choices, such as the lighting used, were deliberate as well.

“I like the look of what is called ‘Rembrandt Lighting,’ but what is more valuable to me is its simplicity,” Cerezo said. “This lighting technique only uses one studio light, which allows me to be more present and available with the person in front of me, and I will always make logistical choices that prioritize my ability to connect with people.”

The Portrait Circle Project will tour to different spaces around town but for now remains at the 1122 Gallery on SE 88th. Just like the entire mission of Rahab’s Sisters as an organization, The Portrait Circle Project is working toward dismantling the stigmas centered around many of the issues the organization’s guests face on a daily basis. The main way of doing that, as the organization shows, is through community building and support.

“Whatever our stories are, and despite where we come from or what we are currently facing, I believe we all want to find our place in the family of things—where we can be seen for who we are, as we want to be seen.”

PSU Vanguard • SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

PHOTOGRAPHER BRIANA CEREZO SHOWCASING SOME OF RAHAB’S SISTERS’ GUESTS AND VOLUNTEERS. COURTESY OF RAHAB’S SISTERS

ARTS & CULTURE NEWS

GARBAGE DAY

THE SEARCH FOR A GOOD BIGFOOT MOVIE

ANDREW GAINES

There are two types of people out there: people who believe in Bigfoot, and people who are wrong.

The big hairy dude is absolutely, assuredly out there. Is Bigfoot a single entity? Is he a part of a larger species? Is he related at all to the Yeti or do they resent the comparison? I’m no expert, so I can’t say for certain.

I am, however, an expert in the field of shitty movies, with a PhD in “Shitty Movies That Are Fantastic,” actually. I figured for this special issue I’d dive into the wide world of movies featuring Bigfoot murdering people, but there’s one little problem—a whole lot of them suck REALLY bad and not in the ways you want.

Something about Bigfoot just magnetically attracts D-list productions. Maybe it’s because gorilla costumes are fairly cheap.

The perfect Bigfoot movie, which exists only in my head, contains ridiculous gore, acting performances on par with slasher industry standard Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter, all at a relentless pace.

Unfortunately, nobody has quite achieved that utopian vision just yet, especially since nobody seems willing to let Crispin Glover dance in their slasher films anymore.

That doesn’t mean that we should dismiss Bigfoot films outright. I’ve watched a TON of them for this article and these are the ones I deem most worth watching, although I will admit it’s slim pickings out there. I will be ranking these based on how close they are to my ideal Bigfoot film.

‘ABOMINABLE’ (2006)

Ridiculous Gore: Yes! Performances: Lame, but not as lame as you want them to be Pace: Frustratingly slow, for the most part I try to avoid describing movies as “it’s X meets Y!” because I feel like it tends to be reductive of all the movies in the equation. Movies are interesting and nuanced enough that we should be able to give them their own rich descriptions! That said, it’s way easier to tell you up front that Abominable is Rear Window but with a Sasquatch.

Now, with that out of the way, here’s the details. Our hero, Preston Rogers, is wheelchairbound in a mountain cabin after a climbing accident. He’s up there with his shitty caretaker for company and passes the time by surveying the woods with his binoculars. When a member of a group of college girls goes missing, Preston begins to believe a monstrous presence is behind the disappearance. This 94-minute movie starts out disappointingly slow and might leave you wondering where the movie’s admittedly meager budget went.

Once Bigfoot shows up, though, things pop off. The Bigfoot suit in this movie rules, especially if you don’t mind a little deviation to the “huge ape man” formula. This one’s got a cartoonishly huge mouth and a squatter build,

but it absolutely works in motion. It helps that there’s a handful of A+ kills in the movie, ending on a particularly satisfying bit of gore.

Despite the movie’s snail-like pace at the start and the made-for-TV acting, it’s definitely a fun watch, even if Preston looks distractingly like Derek Zoolander.

‘BIG LEGEND’ (2018)

Ridiculous Gore: Mostly absent Performances: Mediocre Pace: Slow (this is gonna be a theme, folks) If Abominable was a slasher film where individuals get picked off one by one, Big Legend is a survival film. The setup is simple and has loads of potential: A year after his wife mysteriously disappears on a camping trip, an ex-soldier returns to the forests around Mount St. Helens to discover what took her.

He quickly bumps into a quirky local hunter who’s, coincidentally, into Bigfoot stuff. Together, they try to hunt down and survive being hunted by Bigfoot. Sounds cool, right?

Eeeeh. Kinda. Like so many genre films relegated to the waste bin of history, a huge chunk of this movie is comprised of characters walking from one place to the next.

Sometimes they’re tensely walking through the forest with their guns raised, sometimes they’re running from Bigfoot, but they’re always just kinda moving around in the forest, accomplishing nothing. At one point, a guy gets his leg broken real bad, but that’s the only point of gore in a film desperately needing some flavor. To top it all off, the big final confrontation with Bigfoot—who really just looks like a guy in a particularly filthy ghillie suit—is poorly shot and confusing. After the climax, the movie has the gall to end on a bizarre sequel hook that makes no sense, especially since the future movie it’s teasing would never happen on the budget this film took. At one point, though, our hero pulls the Dark Souls dodge roll on Bigfoot and that made me cackle a bit. I’m an idiot manchild.

The plot: A husband and wife are reunited after the husband gets out of prison, only for them to almost immediately get waylaid by the Sasquatch and stranded in the middle of the woods. A Native American sheriff eventually catches wind that there might be evil goings-on in the woods and tries to help. At one point, there’s a monstrous crone who practices healing magic, and I’m not sure what that part is about. Possibly offensive, I’m not entirely certain. It’s definitely weirder around the edges than your average Bigfoot film, but Primal Rage is far and away your best bet for a slasher-style Bigfoot movie. *Not related to the claymation dinosaur fighting game or the Italian-American horror film about an anger virus cultivated in baboon brains that I only found out about today.

‘WILLOW CREEK’ (2013)

Ridiculous Gore: Nope Performances: Very good Pace: Slow but deliberate Willow Creek, directed by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, is a weird one. It might be my favorite Bigfoot movie, but it’s also far and away the furthest from the platonic ideal I listed above. This is a found footage horror movie, very deliberately aping The Blair Witch Project in its no-budget chills and pacing. We, the viewers of tapes lost in the woods, watch a man named Jim drag his girlfriend Kelly on an excursion to the titular California town where the infamous “first footage” of Bigfoot was taken. Jim really thinks he’s going to be the one to blow the lid off of this whole Bigfoot thing and continues to press further into the woods, not heeding the advice of locals who may know more than they let on.

The banter between

the increasingly frustrated couple is smartly written and believably off-the-cuff, in a way that really sells the “lost footage” aesthetic.

When the scares start coming, though, they come in hard, with a harrowing 20-minute scene trapped in a tent as something in the woods comes closer and closer. If you’re a fan of found footage horror at all, you should definitely watch it. Just don’t expect any gory death scenes.

SPECIAL EFFECTS DORK SIDE COLUMN: ‘HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS’

Gore: Nonexistent Performances: Fun Pace: Quick This movie isn’t exactly packed with the gore, action and chills I demand out of my movies, but it’s an important achievement for the broader Bigfoot film subgenre. The titular Harry, a combination of costume and makeup work, is absolutely fantastic. Rick Baker, the makeup and effects genius who gave us the all-time classic transformation scene in An American Werewolf in London (and also, uh, Jim Carrey as the Grinch) won one of his seven Oscars for his work on the film, making it the only Bigfoot movie to ever win an Academy Award, thus ushering it into the halls of cryptid fame for all time.

That said, it’s too bad that nobody gets decapitated by Bigfoot or anything in it. John Lithgow’s real good in it, though.

DANA TOWNSEND

‘PRIMAL RAGE’* (2018)

Ridiculous Gore: Hell. Yes. Performances: Lame, but the extras do good work pretending to die horribly Pace: Decent Okay, technically the creature tormenting the couple at the center of this movie isn’t Bigfoot, but the Oh-Mah, a creature from Native American folklore that the Bigfoot legend is supposedly based on. So this isn’t just Bigfoot; this is a super smart, angryas-hell Bigfoot who fashions armor out of bark, hatchets out of stone and wants to turbo-murder the absolute shit out of you.

If you’ve been wanting for gore up to this point, it’s not gonna get any better than Primal Rage. Jaws get torn off, faces get smashed in, torsos are impaled and the human body is generally treated poorly.

PSU Vanguard • SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

29

COMICS “THEY USE YOUR DATA”

DANA TOWNSEND

“SMOKING IS PROHIBITED”

BRANDON PAHNISH

30

PSU Vanguard • SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

COMICS “AVRIL GETS A DOPPELGÄNGER”

BRANDON PAHNISH

“FRANKENSTEIN: IRON CHEF”

BRANDON PAHNISH

PSU Vanguard SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 psuvanguard.com

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Cervanté Pope & Hannah Cervanté Welbourn Pope

May 14–20 SEPT 10–16

FILM & THEATRE

COMMUNITY

KAPOW! FINDING HEROES IN THE “HOUSEHOLD” PORTLAND AGE OF TRUMP STATE ART BUILDING 9 A.M.–5GALLERY EUTECTIC P.M. FREE 10 A.M.–6 P.M. FREE This family exhibition features works Shoji Satake collaborated withHughes Master

by Jack Featherly and Laura Huang Fei and master craftsalong with theirother children, Leven and men to make satirical Trump comics Iris Featherly. on beautifully made porcelain.

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AN EVENING BIKE & BREWWITH MADELINE ALBRIGHT TOM MCCALL ARLENE SCHNITZER WATERFRONT CONCERT PARK HALL 76 P.M. FREE $40–85 The Hosted nation’s

by Portland first female Bikesecretary Gear, of state this ride gives begins a talkatonthe fascism waterfront and her latest and ends book atFascism: Breakside A Warning.

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WED WED SEPT MAY 15 11

A POTTER’S “PLANE OF SCATTERED EYE: THE GEORGE PASTS”CUMMINGS UPFOR GALLERYCERAMICS COLLECTION JAPANESE WED–SAT: PORTLAND JAPANESE 11 A.M.–6 GARDEN P.M. FREE 10 A.M.–7 P.M. THROUGH SEPT. 22 FREE Heidi Schwegler and Quayola’s joint Portland’s George on Cummings has exhibition focuses the fragmentaan collection of ceramics, tionextensive of objects as they age. blending ancient Japanese pieces with some of his own works.

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“LAYERS”: LIGHTS: NORTHERN JANET WILLIAMSON’S CERAMIC ART EXIT OF HOKKAIDO EXHIBIT OPENING REVISITED PORTLAND ASH STREETJAPANESE PROJECT GARDEN STUDIOS AND GALLERY TUE–SUN: 6–8 P.M. 10 A.M.–7 P.M.; MON: NOON–7 P.M. INCLUDED WITH GARDEN ADMISSION FREE This showcase Williamson worked of ceramics on “Layers” is celthroughout mentorship with ebrating theher 50th anniversary of the Ash StreetPottery Project,Society. sharing it publicly Hokkaido for the first time.

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FRI FRI SEPT MAY 17 13

“FEEDBACKPATTERNS” “PROCESS LOOP” EUTECTIC NORTH VIEW GALLERY GALLERY FRI–SAT: 8 A.M.– 410 P.M. A.M.–6 P.M.; SUN: NOON–5 P.M. FREE These mixed Using ceramicmediums pieces by like KatperforHutter and Roger are inspired byGinsthe mance andLee fabrication, Emily colorscreates and patterns living in burg a visualseen conversation Southern California. about communications and transmissions.

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SEA OF TREACHERY, MOANING, MINI BLINDS DECAYER, AETHERE POLARIS POST 134HALL 75:30 P.M.P.M. $10–12 $12–15 Post-punk Sea of Treachery isn’t usually had one abrasive, of the but Moaning best blasthas beats a different of 2008,take no lie. on it.

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SUN SUN SEPT MAY 19 15

“A CHANGE “SELF PORTRAIT OF LIGHT PARTY” AND OTHER WOLFF GALLERY OBSERVATIONS” WED–SUN: FULLER ROSEN11 GALLERY A.M.–6 P.M. FREE 10 A.M.–5 P.M. & BY APPOINTMENT FREE Artist Rachel Mulder used mediums Artist SammietoCetta everyfrom etching evenexplored human hair to thing literature to mathematicreatefrom this exhibition. cians to cloud formations in creating these new works.

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MON MON SEPT MAY 20 16

THUNDERSTRUCK “UNDER PRESSURE” LITTMAN GALLERY, CARNATION CONTEMPORARY SMSU 250 MON–WED: NOON–5 P.M.NOON–5 P.M.; FRI–SAT: NOON– 6 P.M. FREE FREE A personal story, told by one writer The five 7th annual and artists. juried exhibition is a showcase of art by PSU students and will be on display until May 22.

GHOST WORSHIP: THE SCENE CHURCH MODA CENTER 8 P.M.P.M. 7:30 FREE • 21+ $26.50–322 Everyrecommendation This Monday, we getcomes to worship not at ourfrom all scene the gods merit in of a different Ghost’s music kind of church. and entirely from the fact that costumes are encouraged.

‘FROM MUSIC BAUHAUS SPIRIT: INTO100 SILENCE’ YEARS OF BAUHAUS CINEMA 21 7WHITSELL P.M. AUDITORIUM 7 P.M. $12 $8–10 Director Farshid Akhlaghi will be in It’s not a filmfor about the beloved attendance this one night only band butof about theabout German showing his film Peter Weimar-era school design that Roberts, who playsof the harp for inspiredwho them. people are about to die.

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SAT SAT SEPT MAY 18 14

MUSIC

TUE TUE SEPT MAY 14 10

ART