Portland State Vanguard Volume 77 Issue 20

ARTS

MISSION STATEMENT

ABOUT 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 Wednesdays and online 24/7 at psuvanguard.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @psuvanguard for multimedia content and breaking news.

After a month-long hiatus from publishing, the Portland State Vanguard is back—with an update! We will be reviving our “Letters to the Editor,” a recurring Opinion feature that publishes and spotlights voices from around PSU, as well as the larger community of Portland, Oregon.

This is a section devoted to spotlighting the opinions and feelings of our readsers, rather than the writers and contributors in our newsroom, and we welcome submissions from anyone. We’re particularly interested in perspectives related to current Portland events and community issues, as well as circumstances that impact the Pacific Northwest overall. We’d also love to hear your thoughts on stories we’ve covered—if you have a strong opinion about something we’ve reported, write us! We’ll happily read your submissions.

To share your letters for publishing consideration, email your thoughts to opinion@psuvanguard. com with the heading LETTER TO THE EDITOR, followed by your subject line.

We look forward to hearing from you soon. Sincerely,

PSU STUDENT CLUB CELEBRATES OMANI HERITAGE

Portland State’s Omani Students Club celebrated the Sultanate of Oman’s National Day this last Saturday, marking the country’s 52nd holiday. The day honors both the country’s independence from Portugal and the birthday of Qaboos bin Said al Said, Oman’s sultan from 1970 to 2020.

As of 2022, PSU’s student body represents 63 different countries. The Omani Club constitutes one of over 40 international and multicultural student groups at PSU that provide spaces for the diverse host of cultures and international students at the university.

The Saturday celebration featured traditional dances, music and educational booths. This is one of many events that the club holds every year in celebration of Omani culture.

“We are trying our best to show the local people who we are, and we are here to share our culture with you,” said Hamam Al Dheeb Ba Omar, the president of the Omani Club.

Ba Omar expressed that the intent behind these events is to bring people together in solidarity around Omani culture. “Let’s gather with Omani people, international students, and also nonOmani students can attend these gatherings, and know more about Oman and Omani people,” he said.

The club’s goals reach beyond spreading cultural awareness to locals. Omani Club members contribute significant effort in welcoming Omani immigrants into the Portland Metropolitan area. Ba Omar explained that the Omani Club at PSU is connected with the Omani embassy in Washington D.C., which they work with to help lessen the stress of the relocation process.

“I have to make sure that they know the city, they are familiar with everything here, with the community, with the American people’s lifestyle,” Ba Omar said in regards to recent Omani immigrants. “Also one of my responsibilities is that I should help them to get through homesickness.”

Homesickness is common for any given international student, but Middle Eastern students here at PSU express another layer of difficulty integrating into the United States. Ba Omar explained that Omani students and other Middle Eastern students often find solidarity in this shared experience.

“Many of our students, at the beginning, noticed that some of PSU students don’t know that much about that area of the world,” he said. “They know maybe the negative parts of it, or what the media wants to show.”

This type of ignorance is not victimless—many Middle Eastern students at PSU have expressed frustration with the stereotyping and general misconceptions perpetuated by people in the U.S. In her article “Arab Student Experiences of Inclusivity and Exclusivity at Portland State University and OffCampus Locations,” Syrian-American PSU student Leila Piazza conducted interviews with Arab students to better understand their experience in Portland and at PSU. Students mentioned an array of specific discriminatory experiences, from racist jokes and offensive assumptions to receiving voiced hostility when speaking Arabic in public.

“A common attitude among the subject is that Americans are largely ignorant of other cultures, including Arab culture, and cannot be expected to know better,” Piazza wrote. “They often blame the media and the education system for this situation.”

Institutionally, PSU follows federal guidelines which offer no category for Middle Eastern self-identification on official academic forms. With no choice but to identify as white or ‘other,’ Arab students find themselves inaccurately represented.

“The administration’s practice of categorizing Arabs as white interfered with the students’ ability to provide that data,” Piazza wrote. “As a result, it took nine years for the students to secure approval and funding for the MENASA cultural center.”

MENASA stands for the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia Student Center. MENASA serves and connects together many student groups here at PSU, including the Omani Club. Ba Omar pointed out that although the Middle Eastern groups within MENASA often collaborate to host events and participate in community outreach, it would be nice to see a larger extension of international groups all coming together to share multicultural perspectives.

“Overall, I believe that all of us should be doing more than what has been done to promote the real picture of the other groups, because we need to increase that knowledge all over our campus,” Ba Omar said.

The Omani Students Club posts information and updates for the community on their Instagram osc.pdx, and encourages students to reach out by email as well at omanies@pdx.edu. To get involved with international student events, PSU students can find these organizations’ links and postings on PSU Connect

MACIE HARRELD

OMANI CLUB MEMBERS POSE FOR PHOTO DURING SPORTING EVENT. COURTESY OF THE OMANI STUDENT CLUB

OMANI STUDENTS CLUB CULTURAL BOOTH OUTSIDE SMITH STUDENT UNION. COURTESY OF THE OMANI STUDENT CLUB

OMANI STUDENTS CLUB LOGO. COURTESY OF THE OMANI STUDENT CLUB

THE VANGUARD INTRODUCES: GREENSPACES

PIPPA MASSEY

Readers, in a world where negative news about the drastic environmental effects of urbanization dominates the news and feeds into readers’ demand for doom and gloom, Portland State Vanguard would like to balance things out with some good news: stories about what the people of Portland are doing to develop a greener, more sustainable city. This is an introduction to our Greenspaces Series, where Vanguard will be exploring ongoing and upcoming green projects that have been running behind-the-scenes. From depaving asphalt and concrete to make room for trees, to working with plants to manage stormwater, the stories that will be covered in this series are just a few of the projects that highlight how the city of Portland is using nature to heal nature. Read on to see a few of the projects that will be covered in Vanguard’s Greenspaces Series

BIOSWALES

To combat stormwater runoff from roofs, sidewalks and any surfaces flowing into sewers and rivers without initial filtration, the Bureau of Environmental Services of the City of Portland runs a green street program that builds and maintains bioswales to do this. “Green street planters, also known as rain gardens or bioswales, are landscaped areas between the street and the sidewalk that use plants and soil to slow, filter, and clean stormwater running off streets and sidewalks,” their website states.

Vanguard spoke to Walker Cahall, an illustrator and designer who has worked on projects that communicate science data to the general public. “[Rainwater runoff] hits the pavement and then there’s oil… pesticides and garbage… typically that just runs into the sewer,” Cahall said. “So essentially the bioswales… act as a filter between the road and the sewer.”

HOLMAN POCKET PARK AND GREEN STREET BIKE BOULEVARD PROJECT

This is another project by the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services that manages stormwater runoff. This project included using green streets to turn NE 13th Avenue into a bike street that causes a hindrance for vehicles and promotes biking instead. “They’ve actually created a lot of bioswales as sort of impediments to cars,” Cahall said. “Eventually this infrastructure is a two-fold

infrastructure where it… diverts car traffic, but it also acts as a water management system.”

PBOT PILOT PROGRAM

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) plans on replacing car parking spaces with trees with their Trees in the Curb Zone Pilot Project.

“The goal of this project is to develop a framework for tree planting in the curb zone… with the end goal of constructing tree space in the curb/parking zone,” the PBOT website states. “The project aims to plant a few street trees per block along a corridor (exact location to be determined) by repurposing on-street parking along corridors that currently do not have street trees or any space for street trees.”

Creating shade space is one element of greenspaces. “That means that they’re bringing trees and… part of that is also slowing down our roads and creating more greenspace and then also potentially bringing in stuff like parklets,” Cahall said. “So the combination of the greenspace and the streeteries essentially makes it so that we are taking space back from a car-centric world and giving it back to people, so creating a more human-centric design to our cities.”

PDX GREEN LOOP

Portland’s Green Loop project is a long-term, far-future plan that aims to tackle the growth of the city by renewing existing spaces and creating newer, greener ones.

“The Green Loop will create a new place in Portland unlike anything that has come before it,” their website states. “Its unique combination of leafy green canopy, urban pedestrian plazas, comfortable mobility zones and engaged adjacent development will make it a destination or activity in and of itself— creating new reasons for people to visit the city, take a break from a busy day, or stay longer after work enjoy the sights and sounds of a vibrant American metropolis.”

“It’s like trying to create a pedestrian-only system of roads,” Cahall said. “It’s a huge endeavor for the city… it’s gonna become essentially a giant green river and public throughway through the entire city by 2035.”

These are only a few of the projects that Portland has been working on, and which Vanguard’s Greenspaces Series will highlight. Please join us as we show how, slowly but surely, the city famed for forests and parks is making strides towards the greener good.

HANNA OBERLANDER

WILD ARTS FESTIVAL RETURNS TO PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY

HIGHLIGHTING THE INTERSECTION OF ART AND THE ENVIRONMENT

In this modern age, it seems we are moving farther away from our natural roots. With countless corporations disre garding their adverse impacts on the environment and most people spending more time looking at a screen than enjoy ing the natural landscape around them, it is safe to say that nature has become less and less of a priority as the years go on. However, not all hope is lost—countless people still prioritize protecting nature and expressing their love of the natural world in truly unique ways.

From Dec. 10 to 11, Portland State’s Viking Pavilion will host the 42nd annual Wild Arts Festival, which celebrates the relationship between art and nature. In past years, the Wild Arts Festival was scheduled toward the end of November. However, this year patrons of the Wild Arts Festival will undoubtedly enjoy the event’s proximity to the holiday season. As gift buying ramps up, individuals are looking for gifts and ways to enjoy their holiday—this unique event will showcase the work of local artists, authors and musicians and serve as a fundraiser for Portland Audubon.

For over 100 years, Portland Audubon has remained committed to connecting people with wildlife through scientific and educational programs. With the help of an extensive network of dedicated nature enthusiasts and volunteers, the Portland Audubon continually works to protect endangered species, preserve wildlife habitats, prevent climate change and more.

Some of the active ways they do this is by stoking a passion for the environment through their environmental education programs, where they assist over 15 thousand adults and children in staying connected to the natural world.

The majority of proceeds from the Wild Arts Festival will be donated to Portland Audubon to ensure that these vital resources may continue to flourish. Moreover, the proceeds will also fund the talented artists whose passion for the intersection of nature, art and protecting the environment makes this event possible.

Liz Kay, who does media relations for the festival, said this year’s event would highlight fan-favorite artists from past years and introduce patrons to new, up-and-coming artists, including some PSU alumni.

“This year, they want to bring in younger artists as well because they want to keep this organization and this event very viable and sustainable,” Kay said. “At least 60 percent of the artists are brand new, which is really a new direction for this event.”

This year’s Wild Arts Festival will display the work of over 60 artists of various artistic mediums, including ceramic artists, fiber artists, painters, jewelry makers and more.

In order to qualify to be showcased at the festival, artists must create work that draws inspiration from nature or wildlife as a subject, uses natural materials as a medium or promotes environmental sustainability.

“The artists are hand-selected by a jury, so not everyone gets in,” Kay said. “Everything is completely original and handmade, so it is all one-of-a-kind.” This year’s festival will feature work from five phenomenal PSU alumni, some of whom currently work as full-time artists with flourishing studios.

These alumni include oil painter Molly Reeves, whose Oregonian roots inspire her vibrant depictions of the state’s flora and fauna; Rosemary Tobega, a sculpture artist who draws inspiration from her childhood love of birds, insects and combing the beaches of the Pacific Northwest; ceramic artist Natalie Warrens, who runs a full-time ceramics studio in Portland and whose work is inspired by the natural world, pop culture and her deep connection to animals; mixed media artist Jordan Kim, who creates intricate paper collages with everything from junk mail to magazines and owns the art business Found & Rewound; and fused glass artist Ann Cavanaugh, who draws inspiration from her childhood roaming renowned Oregon outdoors.

In addition to a showcase of some one-of-a-kind art, the Wild Arts Festival will conduct a silent auction that, in the interest of COVID-19 safety, will allow people to participate virtually

via an online catalog. This year, the festival is auctioning artwork, experiences and more to support Portland Audubon.

In addition to a selection of truly unique art, this year’s festival will feature books about wildlife, hiking, nature and life in the Pacific Northwest. This year’s featured authors include Colin Meloy, lead singer of the Portland-based band The Decemberists, and his wife, graphic designer and illustrator Carson Ellis. The pair will promote their new books, The Stars Did Wander Darkling, a suspenseful and atmospheric horror novel set in 1980s Oregon, and This Story Is Not About a Kitten, a heartwarming picture book about a neighborhood coming together to help a stray kitten.

Another featured author will be former Oregon Poet Laureate and founder of the Northwest Writing Institute Kim Stafford. His book Singer Come From Afar is a collection of poetry reflecting on the pandemic, war and peace and Earth imperatives. Also featured will be Oregon guidebook author Adam Sawyer, known for titles like Hiking Waterfalls in Oregon , 2 5 Hikes on Oregon’s Tillamook Coast and Best Outdoor Adventures Near Portland , with his latest book Urban Hikes Oregon

Festival attendees can meet artists and authors during the designated signing times on both days of the event from 12–4 p.m., where they can also get their purchased books autographed by their favorite featured authors.

With this year’s event taking place in the large, airy Viking Pavilion instead of the historic Montgomery Ward building that hosted the festival in the past, patrons concerned about the spread of COVID-19 should note that Portland Audubon is taking many precautions to ensure the safety of attendees this year.

“This is the Portland Audubon’s main fundraiser for the year,” Kay said. “It is definitely a Pacific Northwest favorite.” Every purchase made at the Wild Arts Festival will aid Portland Audubon’s mission to “inspire all people to love and protect birds, wildlife, and the natural environment upon which life depends.”

ALYSSA ANDERSON

ARIAL VIEW OF WILD ARTS FESTIVAL (2021). COURTESY OF WILD ARTS FESTIVAL

PEOPLE ENGAGING IN A WILD ARTS FESTIVAL BOOTH (2021). COURTESY OF WILD ARTS FESTIVAL

WORK BY PSU ALUMNI ARTIST NATALIE WARRENS (2022). COURTESY OF WILD ARTS FESTIVAL

TABLE DISPLAY AT THE WILD ARTS FESTIVAL (2021). COURTESY OF WILD ARTS FESTIVAL

PEOPLE ENGAGING IN A WILD ARTS FESTIVAL BOOTH (2021). COURTESY OF WILD ARTS FESTIVAL

WORK BY PSU ALUMNI ARTIST MOLLY REEVES (2022). COURTESY OF WILD ARTS FESTIVAL

WORK BY PSU ALUMNI ARTIST LAURA MILLER (2022). COURTESY OF WILD ARTS FESTIVAL

NEW HOUSELESS MEASURES DEHUMANIZE IN THE NAME OF COMPASSION

PORTLAND CITY COUNCIL’S ACTIONS AREN’T LIVING UP TO THEIR RHETORIC

ALEX ALDRIDGE

Not much is more politicized than the ris ing number of people who are experiencing houselessness—particularly those who are con sidered unsheltered and living in tents. In the latest tri-county Point in Time Count, conduct ed on Jan. 26, a total of 6,633 people experienc ing houselessness were counted in Clackamas, Washington and Multnomah Counties.

Multnomah County represents the largest number of people experiencing houselessness at 5,228 people—with 3,057 considered unsheltered, 1,485 in shelters and 686 in transitional housing situations. It is important to note how these numbers should be considered an undercount, as it doesn’t account for those who might have been doubling-up that night, those who were missed in the count or various other reasons which might affect these numbers. It is meant to be a snapshot estimate.

In response, the City of Portland claims to address the issue with a plan to help people, though it hardly seems like a viable solution and contains elements which are inhumane and far from compassionate.

On Oct. 26, City Council held a sevenhour meeting, which was open for the public to comment on the proposed plan, with hundreds of members of the public having signed up to testify. This meeting was rigged to push a narrative which supported the passing of the plan, as it was later revealed how Commissioner Dan Ryan pushed 16 real estate brokers and those in the business industry toward the front of the public testimony line. Although it’s common for commissioners to invite people to testify their opinions in the public comment portion of these hearings,

Commissioner Ryan remained silent when Mayor Ted Wheeler asked if any of the council members wished to invite anyone to speak.

The whole thing was a charade, as it was later revealed that Mayor Wheeler’s office facilitated Commissioner Ryan’s request of prioritizing those 16 speakers. Pushing people who signed up to speak days in advance down the list in favor of real estate brokers reveals Mayor Wheeler and Commissioner Ryan’s corrupt nature and manipulation to create an early narrative which supported the plan.

Despite being a public forum organized by Street Roots for people with lived experiences to speak against the proposed plan, the proposal was ultimately approved two days later. On Nov. 3, Portland City Council approved a plan consisting of five resolutions with the aim to address houselessness in Portland. The plan—created by Mayor Wheeler and Commissioner Ryan—made a speed run from its announcement to its passing in less than two weeks. All five of the resolutions passed unanimously except for one, with Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty casting the lone opposing vote to the resolution which included the inhumane camping ban.

Before going deeper into the resolution containing the proposed camping ban, it would help to get a basic understanding of what is in each of the resolutions.

Resolution 37593 is focused on increasing affordable housing construction. It aims to help increase access to paid non-standard work. The resolution consists of the camping ban as well as the proposal for the construction of six designated camping sites, which would serve a maximum of 250 people per site. It

goes over budget priorities for implementing affordable housing, as well as connecting people experiencing houselessness with mental health and substance abuse services. Finally, resolution 37597 aims to create diversion programs for those experiencing houselessness.

While parts of these proposals seem reasonable and positive on the surface, much of what’s in this plan is either questionable, insufficient, unnecessary or just plain cruel.

As solutions go, housing-first approaches have shown to be highly effective, as these bypass barriers or preconditions which so many shelters and other transitional services require, all while costing less than similar shelter programs. Knowing housing-first approaches—which connect those experiencing houselessness with permanent housing solutions—are highly effective, resolution 37593 may seem like a good idea at first glance.

The crux of the resolution is to create 20,000 affordable housing units within the City of Portland by building a landbank of 400 publicly-owned sites, working with state partners to acquire local and state funding for affordable housing programs and finding vacant and under-utilized privately-owned buildings—all by the year 2033.

While all of this seems nice and dandy, it doesn’t mention anything about how to keep affordable housing affordable. Just a month ago, 31 low-income residents of the Prescott Apartments in North Portland were notified their rent had sharply increased—up to 50% in some instances. Though Commissioner Ryan facilitated an agreement with the new owners of the Prescott Apartments to not

raise the rent for another 18 months after tenants protested the proposed rent hikes, the fact that the apartments were legally allowed to do so in the first place is a huge red flag.

These units are part of the Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption (MULTE) program, so these are only required to remain affordable for 10 years, upon which the landlord can then raise rents to the market rate. To make matters worse, more than 800 apartments in Portland are about to lose the same affordable housing protections for low-income tenants. Is Commissioner Ryan going to negotiate with all of those parasitic property owners as well?

On top of this ridiculous 10-year limit, buildings under the MULTE program don’t have to adhere to SB608, the state’s rent control legislation. Let’s also be clear— SB608 is hardly rent control in the first place, as Portlanders are poised to see possible rent increases of up to 14.6% in 2023, which is legally allowed under the supposed rent control bill. SB608 also doesn’t include buildings which are 15 years old or newer, prompting questions about any new construction of affordable housing units in the City’s plan and whether these will see the same fate as those 800 residents will be facing here shortly.

For a county with a minimum wage of $14.75—well short of the calculated living wage of $21.60 for a single adult with no children—this problem is like so many others. The solutions require addressing the larger structures at play, which are the root of all this suffering. Even with the calculated living wage of $21.60, the average rent in Portland is above $1,700 per month.

For a city politicizing the problem of those experiencing houselessness, it sure doesn’t do anything to tackle the rising cost of rent, which is the number one cause of increasing rates of houselessness in the first place.

While these other resolutions have more holes than swiss cheese, the resolution drawing the most attention is the ban on camping.

Originally, the plan was to establish three 500-person camps before being changed to six camps with an initial serving capacity of 150 people with the hopes of serving a maximum of 250 per camp. The timetable for the implementation of these camps is set for 18 months, and although the Portland City Council just approved a package of $27 million to begin this process, estimates for maintaining the camps run anywhere from $30 million to $67.5 million annually.

Even with these wide-ranging estimates, not only does the plan lack specifics about the sources of where these funds will come from, these estimates also don’t account for sleeping bags, tents or even the initial cost of setting up the camps in the first place. In fact, the estimates for the construction of the 20,000 affordable housing units is close to $10 billion, prompting the mayor to call that part of the plan a “moonshot.”

This admission should be a huge red flag as—despite all of the questions about how these affordable housing units will stay affordable—it seems the primary goal of this entire plan is to criminalize those experiencing houselessness by forcing them into camps, with the affordable housing resolution being the one which seems most out of reach, according to the mayor.

The proposed construction of camps holding upwards of 1,500 people makes a whole lot more sense when we look at the Ninth Circuit decision of Martin v. Boise, which states, “homeless persons cannot be punished for sleeping outside on public property in the absence of adequate alternatives.” In effect, this would allow the further criminalization of those experiencing houselessness if the plan by City Council is able to establish a maximum 1,500-person camps, as well as the opening up of more shelter beds in the already established shelters as part of the same plan.

Newly elected Commissioner Rene Gonzalez has supported this criminalization repeatedly with his belief that those who refuse shelter should face prison time or citations. In fact, resolution 37597 seems to only be a part of the plan to address the criminalization created under resolution 3795, revealing the cyclical nature of this ridiculous plan which creates a crime in one resolution while trying to address the newlycreated crime in another.

Many more details about these camps remain unknown—including who will be running them and where they will be located. With no indication of where these six camps are to be located, one can imagine how the locations will certainly face controversy and pushback from angry Portlanders and businesses in proximity to those locations, much like Commissioner Ryan’s proposed locations for his Safe Rest Villages.

As for who will manage the camps, the only name publicly mentioned as a candidate for running at least one of the camps is a California-based company called

Urban Alchemy, which makes one wonder why the City Council is contacting an outof-state organization rather than looking to local providers who live and work with the community.

Another issue is the approved $27 million packages mentioned above. $750,000 of the package is set aside for private security to patrol the perimeters of the camps, eliciting images of prison guards walking along the fence or looking downwards from guard towers.

So if this plan is insufficient and inhumane, then what solution will work? The narrative describing those experiencing houselessness as those who are falling through the cracks always seems to neglect how those cracks are an integral part of capitalism. The failure to address this source of suffering fails to improve the lives of those who are purposely left gasping for breath by the effects of capitalism. It also leads to narrow-minded solutions which never seem to address the structural causes that are the source of these issues in the first place, especially when housing-first approaches are proven to be effective and rather simple compared to the nonsensical ideas proposed time and time again.

Ask most Portlanders how they feel about their houseless neighbors in tents, and you will likely hear hateful rhetoric which sounds awfully similar to how the farright talks about the marginalized groups they routinely attack. If the rhetoric you hear doesn’t come out in words of open disgust and disdain towards their houseless neighbors, then you may hear insincere

arguments which use the word compassion. These arguments about compassion have been pushed by many in the public , local and state politicians and those at The Oregonian ’s editorial board . The common narrative argues that allowing people to live in tents isn’t compassionate. They say we are lacking compassion for businesses and those who have a roof over their heads by making these people feel uncomfortable or threatened by having to see people living in tents. They say everything we are doing now lacks compassion for everyone in the city, so much so that they fail to see the irony in the false narrative they are creating.

In a recent interview on OPB’s Think Out Loud , Mayor Wheeler stated , “A compassionate response is giving people a safe location with access to toilets, to water, making sure that we have litter collection and other basic services.”

I struggle to understand how forcing people into large camps under threat of criminal punishment is a compassionate response. Just because there exists a wide consensus that something needs to be done doesn’t mean we have to do something which dehumanizes our houseless neighbors under the guise of compassion. Real solutions can be found by upending the structures and institutions which place property over people, instead of supporting the City Council’s plan that is the very source of the problems they are trying to address. History has never looked back kindly on instances where people were forced to live in large camps under the threat of punishment, and I find it hard to see how this will be any different.

ZAHIRA ZUVUYA

CASEY LITCHFIELD

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