VOLUME 76 • ISSUE 42 • APRIL 6, 2022
NEWS Unmasking sparks controversy and concern among students P. 3
OPINION Making education enjoyable instead of exhausting P. 10-11
SCIENCE & TECH Portland State Aerospace Society shoots for the stars P. 12
WE’RE HIRING Copy Editors & News Editor EMAIL RESUME AND COVER LETTER TO EDITOR@PSUVANGUARD.COM
CONTENTS
COVER PHOTO BY CAMDEN BENESH COVER DESIGN BY SHANNON STEED
NEWS PORTLAND STATE FACES CONTROVERSY P. 3 OVER THE END OF THE MASK MANDATE
ARTS & CULTURE CAN MEDIA CREATE A MORE NUANCED UNDERSTANDING OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?
P. 8
INTERNATIONAL MEDIGEN VACCINE: CONTROVERSIAL OR HELPFUL?
P. 4
OREGON’S ASTORIA COLUMN IS A MURAL WITH A VIEW
P. 9
THIS WEEK AROUND THE WORLD
P. 5
OPINION THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION
P. 10-11
SPORTS VIKS RACE IN EUGENE AT HAYWARD PREMIERE
P. 6-7
SCIENCE & TECH THE PORTLAND STATE AEROSPACE SOCIETY LAUNCHES TO SUCCESS
P. 12
STAFF EDITORIAL EDITOR IN CHIEF Béla Kurzenhauser
OPINION EDITOR Justin Cory
MANAGING EDITOR Karisa Yuasa
ONLINE EDITOR Christopher Ward
PHOTO EDITOR Sofie Brandt
COPY CHIEF Mackenzie Streissguth
SPORTS EDITOR Eric Shelby
DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Tanner Todd
NEWS EDITOR Zoe Edelman
MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Olivia Lee
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR Ryan McConnell
CONTRIBUTORS Camden Benesh Whitney Griffith Jeremiah Hayden Nova Johnson Kat Leon Aiden Tuan
ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Tanner Todd INTERNATIONAL EDITOR Alberto Alonso Pujazon Bogani
PRODUCTION & DESIGN CREATIVE DIRECTOR Shannon Steed
ADVISING & ACCOUNTING COORDINATOR OF STUDENT MEDIA Reaz Mahmood
DESIGNERS Leo Clark Whitney Griffith Fiona Hays Mia Levy A Pargett
STUDENT MEDIA ACCOUNTANT Maria Dominguez
TECHNOLOGY & WEBSITE TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANTS Kahela Fickle George Olson Kwanmanus Thardomrong
To contact Portland State Vanguard, email editor@psuvanguard.com
STUDENT MEDIA TECHNOLOGY ADVISOR Vacant
MISSION STATEMENT 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.
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.
A PARGETT
PORTLAND STATE FACES CONTROVERSY OVER THE END OF THE MASK MANDATE STUDENT CHOICE FOR MASKS ON CAMPUS PSU Vanguard • APRIL 6, 2022 • psuvanguard.com
ZOE EDELMAN Beginning March 19, Portland State University ended the mask requirement on campus, following advice from the Oregon Health Authority and Multnomah County Health Department. Although mask restrictions still apply at Student Health and Counseling (SHAC) as well as at the childcare centers on campus, it is now up to students to decide to mask up or not in the majority of buildings on campus. Following the announcement, disapproving comments from those concerned appeared on PSU’s Instagram page. Some comments include remarks, such as “This is a bad look” and “Very very disappointed.” “Will there be accommodations for students with in person programs who don’t feel safe in class?” another asked. PSU’s response to commenters was to email concerns to a COVID-19 response address. Despite the pushback on social media, the end of the mask mandate remains in place. “Personally, I’m nervous about the mask mandate being lifted at PSU, since it got lifted so close to spring break,” said freshman Annika Hendrickson. “With a large portion of the student body traveling out of state for spring break, I think it could lead to another spike and then we’ll have to regress.” Strolling through campus the week following spring break, a mixture of masked and unmasked faces could be seen roaming about PSU. A higher rate of students wore masks in classrooms as opposed to hallways and shared spaces, and many professors made the choice to remain masked. “My observation of people’s reactions regarding the mask mandate lift is that, for the most part, people are still wearing them indoors and in classrooms,” said sophomore Eric Luvaas. “I think many are going to keep wearing them until they feel comfortable unmasking.”
Reported COVID-19 cases in the United States have declined significantly since the beginning of 2022. However, the federal Transportation Security Administration still has a country-wide mask mandate in place on all “public transportation conveyances and in public transportation hubs,” and commuter students riding public transportation in Portland must still wear a mask on the way to campus. “I’ve seen most people I follow on social media, and my on-campus friends, be fairly critical of the mask mandate being lifted, but in my classes, where there are more people who commute, I see more people not wearing masks,” said freshman Ella LaHue Brown. While masks are shown to reduce transmission of COVID-19, Oregon State Epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidelinger explained that it can be safe to go without them. “In most counties, where case rates and hospitalizations are much lower now, taking your mask off and going into these settings is safe and not likely to increase your risk for getting COVID,” Sidelinger said, according to OPB. Multnomah County currently has a daily average of 82 new COVID-19 cases, a 32% increase from the average two weeks ago. According to The New York Times, since the beginning of the pandemic, “at least 1 in 8 residents [of Multnomah County] have been infected, a total of 113,186 reported cases.” PSU has a vaccination rate of 98% for employees and 96.7% for students, including the booster shot. The university still provides free surgical and KN-95 masks to students who want to wear a mask on campus. “Although everyone has some form of mask fatigue, it’s still important to not increase cases on campus and wear masks in classes,” Luvaas said.
NEWS
3
MEDIGEN VACCINE: CONTROVERSIAL OR HELPFUL? DEVELOPMENT AND USAGE OF THE TAIWANESE MEDIGEN VACCINE AIDEN TUAN Across the past two years, different communities, societies and groups across the world have taken radically different steps to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the virus ravaging many countries, not everyone has come to a unified conclusion on which policy to take. For instance, early on, Sweden allowed many sectors of its society to remain open, which earned the country controversy. Recent surges of COVID-19 in Hong Kong and Shanghai led China to question the efficacy of its “zero-COVID” policy, a collection of different elements which restrict travel, commerce, education, and transportation. One crucial factor in determining effectiveness of a country’s COVID-19 policy was the availability of vaccines. While the U.S., the European Union, Russia and China were quick to develop vaccines such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sputnik V and CoronaVac, respectively, many other countries didn’t. For many countries, simply getting hands on a vaccine was a difficult task—let alone developing one. One country that faced such hardships was Taiwan. Taiwan saw few COVID-19 cases at the outset of the pandemic. Being an island nation with societal cohesion willing to agree on governmental protective measures, the country formulated a concrete and effective plan. Indeed, many political figures and organizations lauded Taiwan for its COVID-19 response. But that changed in late April of 2021, when a cluster of airline workers tested positive for the virus and spread it before it could be contained. As Taiwan’s cases mounted, vaccine hesitancy was abandoned by many and, in turn, demand for vaccines began to grow at a terrific pace. Although shipments of vaccines were promised—and eventually delivered by many nations around the world, such as the U.S., Japan and Lithuania—the shipments could barely cover the needs of medical personnel. Additionally, vaccine shipments needed to be tested by the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control to determine their viability—a process that took up to three weeks. While cautiousness was warranted by healthcare officials, the delay in distribution further spurred on the need for homegrown vaccines. In July of 2021, the Medigen vaccine received Emergency Use Authorization from the Taiwanese government. Developed in collaboration with the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Medigen vaccine uses recombinant protein technology which uses part of the coronavirus protein to produce an immune response.
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As of Feb. 14, 2022, nearly 50 million vaccine doses were administered to the Taiwanese population—but only 5.3 million doses were Medigen. Back in July 2021, the Medigen vaccine was allowed for emergency use after only completing phase one clinical trials in Taiwan while having no efficacy data. Comparatively, emergency-use vaccines authorized in the U.S. utilized interim analysis from phase three studies. Phase one clinical trials use a small group of volunteers to try a new drug or treatment to learn if it is safe for people, while phase two is a longer trial that scrutinizes how well the treatment works, and may take multiple years to track progress against a standard-treatment group. While the vaccine later secured a smallersize phase three trial in non-laboratory conditions in Paraguay, it was different from regular phase three trials as it used immunobridging trial to compare the performance of the Medigen COVID-19 vaccine with the OxfordAstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Phase three trials are usually the last step before asking approval from a drug regulator, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Immuno-bridging uses controlled trials and placebos or other controls to determine whether a treatment is effective, but their acceptance has not been standardized. Much of the controversy stemmed from there. Taiwanese social media also contributed to the rise of skeptics of the Medigen vaccine and other vaccines. False, fear-provoking headlines claiming vaccines included a microchip or could cause miscarriages were common. Regardless, the Taiwanese government saw this as merely a hurdle in providing public health safety to its citizens. Despite controversies and misinformation, the Medigen vaccine eventually passed the phase three clinical trial in Paraguay. Similar results were noted between the previous phase two trial and the current one. With that achievement, as well as an Emergency Use Authorization from the South American country, the makers of the Medigen vaccine looked towards the results of the World Health Organization’s Solidarity Trial Vaccines clinical study—a test to evaluate the effectiveness of vaccines around the world. The results are scheduled to be published in early April. The Medigen company prepared to shift from domestic markets to international ones, after developing the capability to produce 100 million doses of the vaccine. Taiwan Immunization Vision and Strategy chairman Huang Yu-cheng said that he hopes “the experience gained and the growth in research and development will help the world respond quicker to future pandemics.”
WHITNEY GRIFFITH
PSU Vanguard • APRIL 6, 2022 • psuvanguard.com
THIS WEEK
WORLD
around the
March 27-April 3 3
2 1
1
March 29
SHANGHAI, CHINA
A two-stage lockdown was enforced on a financial hub in China’s most populated city, Shanghai, amid a COVID-19 surge in China, according to Reuters. Bridges and highways were closed, and traffic was restricted to contain the spread of the virus. The lockdown was announced by the local government late on Sunday and divided the residents of Shanghai along the Huangpu River for a total of nine days, to allow healthcare workers in hazmat suits to conduct testing on each portion of the city’s population. This lockdown drove down prices on commodities including oil and copper, some worrying further curbs will lower demand. Residents confined to their homes had tests conducted early Monday morning around 7 a.m. The Public Security Bureau indicated that cross-river bridges, tunnels and highway toll booths on the eastside of the city would remain closed until April 1, though the two airports in the city remained open. Firms were also ordered to shut down—with the exception of those offering public service or supplying food—though factories continued
to produce goods. Some hospitals across the city suspended services and began to release staff members to assist with testing and other COVID-19 safety measures. 2
March 31
PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, claimed that the country will continue to develop its “formidable striking” capabilities, according to a state media reporter who visited during North Korea’s latest missile test. Kim was meeting with officials, scientists and technicians involved in the launch of the country’s largest missile, an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) called Hwasong-17, according to state-owned Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). “Only when one is equipped with the formidable striking capabilities, overwhelming military power that cannot be stopped by anyone, can one prevent a war, guarantee the security of the country and contain and put under control all threats and blackmails by the imperialists,” said Kim, according to the state media report. While witnessing Thursday’s missile test, Kim stated that the purpose of the ICBM was to
PSU Vanguard • APRIL 6, 2022 • psuvanguard.com
avert any military operations initiated by the United States. The two countries technically remain at war, since the Korean War ended in armistice rather than a diplomatic, peaceful agreement. Japan and South Korea stated flight data showed the missile flew higher and for a longer period of time than any other missile North Korea has launched in the past. According to Reuters, some analysts claim the media coverage showed an older launch. South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency stated intelligence officials in Seoul believed that North Korea actually tested a smaller and older version of the Hwasong-15. 3
March 27
ANCHORAGE, UNITED STATES
Residents of a suburban neighborhood in Anchorage, Alaska were ordered to evacuate the mountainous area on Sunday after a large avalanche buried a road—and another massive slide was anticipated—as reported by Reuters. The mayor of Anchorage, Dave Bronson, issued the evacuation order citing “a grave and immediate threat to health, safety and welfare of the citizens” in an impacted area located in Eagle City, right on the outskirts
of Anchorage. Shortly before midnight on Thursday, an avalanche roared down a mountainside and buried a main road with 80 feet of snow. Half of the snow’s unstable slide zone was released and another avalanche was predicted to happen, according to local officials. “If we have an uncontrolled release at an unknown time, that could result in the loss of life,” said Anchorage Municipal Manager Amy Demboski at a Sunday news conference. “We want to do everything we can to prevent that.” The avalanche blocked off access to about 100 homes, which remain without power, according to Demboski. First line responders dug a snow trail to help retrieve stranded residents and operated snowmobile shuttles, according to Assistant Fire Chief Alex Boyd, the incident commander. No injuries were reported at the time, and local officials continue to evaluate the damage of houses and other structures. “The size of this avalanche is massive,” Demboski said at a news conference. “It has been described by avalanche experts as a once-in-a-hundredyear event.” Demboski claims that without mitigation, there is a possibility the snow could block the road until summer.
INTERNATIONAL
5
VIKS RACE IN EUGENE AT HAYWARD PREMIERE LUKE RAMIREZ IN THE 1,500M. ERIC SHELBY/PSU VANGUARD
SOFTBALL VIKS COMEBACK FROM 9-3 DEFICIT OVER SAC STATE
ERIC SHELBY SOFTBALL The Viks on the diamond continued conference play with a trip to Sacramento State for a double header on the first day. The Viks prevented the sweep, and won their second game of the double header—a comeback-fashion win of 13-9. Allicitie Frost got her fifth win of the season with a save by Olivia Grey. Sac State scored early with two runs in the bottom of the first. In the third inning, Logan Riggenbach got an RBI from a sacrifice bunt, while Paetynn Lopez advanced to second and Olivia Dean scored. Shea Garcia got an RBI and Lopez came home as well. A groundout by Natalia Martinez brought Riggenbach—who was on third—back home. The Viks tied up the game, but the Hornets answered with two more runs at the bottom of the same inning. Four more runs came from the Hornets in the fifth inning, which brought the lead up to 9-3 with two more innings left. A home run by Martinez set the tone for the final two innings for the Viks. With Neveah
Smith already on base, the lead went from six to four. A single by Lopez got her two RBIs, which brought Dean to second—and Grace Johnson and Kiara McCrea home. The lead was cut to four. Dean came home from a single by Riggenbach—and the lead was only three. The Viks were able to shut out the Hornets in the bottom of that inning. Mariah Rodriguez reached on a fielding error, which let Martinez advance to third and Ellie Babbitt score unearned. Another fielding error, by the pitcher this time, allowed Dean to come to first, while Maddie Thompson advanced to third and Martinez came home. The Viks took the lead for the first time in the game right when it mattered. Lopez wasn’t done yet, as she singled to right field—Dean came to third on a throwing error and Thompson came home. The lead then became 11-9. Loganbach finished the final runs in the game with two RBIs, and brought Lopez and Dean home. The Viks held the Hornets down in the bottom of their inning and won in 13-9.
VOLLEYBALL The Park Block Vikings released the schedule for this upcoming spring season, which starts on April 16, versus Corban University and Western Washington. On April 23, the Viks will host Central Washington and Eastern Oregon. On May 6, the Viks will play the Oregon Ducks to cap off the spring schedule. Admission is free for all spring games. WOMEN’S TENNIS The Viks took a conference win over Idaho 4-3. Emily Rees and Majo Hernandez won in doubles, 6-3. Idaho took the second match over Jacinta Milenkoski and Makoto Ohara. Capu Sanoner and Nika Beukers won 7(7)-6(2). In singles, Hernandez wasted no time and won, 6-2, 6-1. Milenkoski fell 6-3, 6-1. Maddie Egan fell 6-2, 6-3. Rees fell 7-5, 6-2. Ohara won her match, 6-3, 6-3. Nika Buekers won in three, 6-4, 6(3)-7(7), 6-3. The Pacific Tigers were next on the schedule, so the Viks traveled to Stockton for a quick
non-conference game. Rees and Hernandez fell to the Tigers in doubles, 6-4. Beukers and Ohara won 7(7)-6(4). Milenkoski and Egan fell 6-4 as well. Milenkoski fell in singles, 6-3, 6-1. Beukers fell 6-0, 6-2. Egan also fell 6-0, 6-2. Three matches went unfinished and the Tigers took the win 4-0. In the latest game, the Vikings traveled to Sacramento to play the Hornets. Rees and Hernandez won 6-3 in their doubles match. Milenkoski and Egan fell 6-1 to the Hornets. Beukers and Ohara fell 6-3. In doubles, Milenkoski fell 6-2, 6-2. Egan fell 6-3, 6-2. Hernandez fell 1-6, 7-5, 2-6. Beukers fell in a tough one, 6-4, 3-6, 1-6. Rees fell by retirement. Ohara fell in another tough one, 6-4, 5-7, 7-10. The Viks fell to the Hornets 7-0 and will head back home Sunday, April 10 to play their Pacific Northwest rivals, Eastern Washington. MEN’S TENNIS The Viks defended the Park Blocks against Eastern Washington in a suspenseful 4-3 win. Otto
ATHLETES RUNNING IN HAYWARD PREMIERE. ERIC SHELBY/PSU VANGUARD
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SPORTS
PSU Vanguard • APRIL 6, 2022 • psuvanguard.com
Holtari and Andrew Vu fell 6-3 in doubles. Oliver Richards and Nils Plutat fell 6-3 as well. The last doubles match was with Sam De Vries and Tommy Hsu, which resulted in an unfinished match. De Vries won in singles, 6-1, 6-3. Hsu also won 6-3, 6-2. Holtari fell 6-2, 6-4. Vu fell in a long match, 1-6, 7-5, 3-6. Richards won 6-2, 7-5 and secured the win for the Viks. Montana State came to visit and snuck a win over the Viks 5-2. Plutat and Richards fell 6-2 in doubles. Holtari and Vu fell 6-2. De Vries and Hsu fell 5-1. Plutat won 1-6, 6-4, 6-4. Richards fell 6-3, 6-5. Holtari fell 6-2, 6-0. Hsu fell 6-2, 6-4. Vu fell 6-2, 6-2. De Vries won 4-6, 6-4, 7(7)-6(5). The Vikings traveled to Eugene to play the Oregon Ducks at the same time the track team raced at Hayward. Richards fell in singles 6-1, 6-1. Holtari fell 6-0, 6-3. Plutat fell 6-0, 6-3. Hsu fell 6-3, 6-3. The Viks continue their Big Sky excursion and will travel to Pocatello to play Idaho State on Friday. TRACK The Viks headed to the Hayward Premiere on Friday and Saturday to start the outdoor track season hosted by University of Oregon. After their time in Duck country, the Viks headed out to Lane Community College to host their own meet in the Northwest Distance Jamboree.
1,500m: 6. Abi Swain, 4:51.40 8. Natalia Martino, 4:56.35 10. Olivia Brooks, 5:04.54 12. Phoebe Brown, 5:08.31 13. Sophia Hackett, 5:18.44 14. Abby Donde, 5:25.26 15. Dyllan Newville, 5:33.26 17. Madison Tafoya, 5:53.29 5,000m: 8. Emma Owen, 18:59.07 9. Campbell Faust, 19:37.12 3,000m Steeplechase: 1. Tatum Miller, 10:55.89
NW Distance Jamboree Men’s Results: 800m: 3. Rashid Muse, 1:59.87 5. Zach Salcido, 2:02.11 1,500m: 1. Luke Ramirez, 3:54.77 6. Drew Seidel, 4:10.89 11. Aiden Carlson, 4:19.54 5,000m: 19. Jake Schulte, 16:01.24 10,000m: 4. Andy Solano, 33:38.27 5. Erik Solano, 33:50.22 3,000m Steeplechase: 5. Brandon Hippe, 10:32.58
MAYA IRVING COMPETING IN THE 5K. ERIC SHELBY/PSU VANGUARD
Hayward Women’s Results, Day One: 5,000m (Open): 6. Maya Irving, 17:16.90
Hayward Men’s Results, Day One: 1,500m (Open): 6. Luke Ramirez, 3:51.38 5,000m (Open): 3. Sam Lingwall, 14:29.77 10. Evan Peters, 14:38.65 17. Zach Grams, 15:04.22 18. Abdi Ibrahim, 15:09.80 19. Cam McChesney, 15:12.85 20. Dom Morganti, 15:22.40 5,000m (Invitational): 11. Keynan Abdi, 14:25.53
Hayward Women’s Results, Day Two:
FROM LEFT: EVAN PETERS, SAM LINGWALL AND ZACH GRAHAMS IN THE 5K. ERIC SHELBY/PSU VANGUARD
5,000m (Open): 6. Maya Irving, 17:16.90
Hayward Men’s Results, Day Two: 800m (Open): 12. Chase Lovercheck, 1:54.65 17. James Bottrill, 1:55.67 1,500m (Open): 6. Luke Ramirez, 3:51.38 5,000m (Open): 3. Sam Lingwall, 14:29.77 10. Evan Peters, 14:38.64 17. Zach Grams, 15:04.22 18. Abdi Ibrahim, 15:09.80 19. Cam McChesney, 15:12.85 20. Dom Morganti, 15:22.40 110H: 11. Jordan Gloden, 14.99
NW Distance Jamboree Women’s Results: 800m: 7. Jalen Marcil, 2:30.84 8. Sophie Jones, 2:32.88
TATUM MILLER IN STEEPLECHASE. ERIC SHELBY/PSU VANGUARD
PSU Vanguard • APRIL 6, 2022 • psuvanguard.com
VIKS CHEERING IN THE STANDS. ERIC SHELBY/PSU VANGUARD
SPORTS
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CAN MEDIA CREATE A MORE NUANCED UNDERSTANDING OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE? WE NEED TO CHANGE HOW SURVIVORS’ STORIES ARE TOLD
ALEX (MARGARET QUALLEY) AND HER DAUGHTER MADDY (RYLEA NEVAEH WHITTET) FROM THE LIMITED SERIES MAID. COURTESY OF NETFLIX
KAT LEON Domestic violence is a severe problem in the United States. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, an average of nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner, equating to more than 10 million women and men. Unfortunately, despite the clear and present danger of domestic violence in our society, the media is one of the biggest perpetrators of false or incomplete narratives of domestic violence, failing to represent and understand those who experience domestic violence in almost every way. The culture of violence—perpetuated in nearly every facet of our society—is unfortunately exploited in the media’s discussion and portrayal of domestic violence rather than uplifting victims’ experiences. Staff at the domestic violence resource center Raphael House of Portland—Development Director Amanda Ives and Prevention Education Program Manager Julia Tycer— clarified this distorted point of view towards domestic violence survivors. “We don’t, as often, see things from the perspective of a survivor or presented with empathy for the trauma that’s occurring,” Ives and Tycer stated. “Nor do we see representations of holding the abusive person accountable.” Because domestic violence victims face apparent danger, people sometimes ask why they don’t just leave. Sadly, the media perpetuates this question without recognizing the difficulties involved. Raphael House staff attribute this to a lack of nuance in the media. “So often, the stories we see portrayed are very over-simplified, and create a false narrative for people on the outside,” they stated. “They can say ‘it’s so easy, just do this’—when in fact it’s incredibly challenging.” As long as this question is asked and repeated in the media, we fail to recognize the extreme danger of leaving, the uphill battle of rebuilding
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one’s life from scratch and the difficulties that some face, often without much help. “Whether documentaries, news, or otherwise—even good examples often leave out a critical component of someone’s leaving situation: whether they can do so safely, or if they have anywhere safe to go,” Ives and Tycer stated. Safety is a significant concern for individuals leaving violent domestic relationships, and is often a reason they can’t leave. Raphael House reported that many formal studies and surveys have established safety concerns as a primary reason for staying. “Leaving is the most dangerous time for a domestic violence survivor,” they concluded. More often than not, individuals recognize their relationship is not safe, but leaving is not a viable option—not only because of the extreme danger they face if they do leave but also the failure of our system to provide enough resources for individuals to safely leave and rebuild their lives. Raphael House staff cited lack of resources and help as another issue. “Across the board, most communities don’t have enough resources for every single person to have a safe place to go,” Ives and Tycer stated. Another major issue with domestic violence representation is the primary—or even exclusive focus—on physical abuse to the exclusion and minimization of emotional, social or financial abuse that solidify the abuser’s control. Emotional abuse manipulates the individual’s mind, social abuse keeps them isolated
from anyone that can help and financial abuse takes away individuals’ economic resources that might allow them to leave. Abuse is about control—and all forms of abuse should be treated equally. Yet many individuals don’t recognize other forms as valid or even as abuse at all—and the media continuously perpetuates this message. One good representation comes from the Netflix adaptation of domestic violence survivor Stephanie Land’s book Maid. Staff at Raphael House described it as an exception to the norm. “Many m e d i a portrayals also focus mainly on physical abuse,” they stated. “Maid spotlights the incredibly insidious impacts of emotional, social, and financial abuse.” The book and TV series are accurate partly because they do something that many forms of domestic violence media fail to do—portray the survivor as the one telling the story—which Raphael House staff stated as vital. A constructive representation, according to Raphael House, would be “centering the voices and experiences of survivors themselves—and vitally, a diverse community of survivors” in order to highlight the experiences of LGBTQ+ survivors and survivors of color. In addressing this problem, it is essential that we stop asking survivors the question “why didn’t you just leave?” Instead, we must hold the abusers accountable for their actions and start questioning what we teach our children about healthy re-
IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT WE STOP ASKING SURVIVORS THE QUESTION “WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST LEAVE?”
lationships and consent. According to CNN, as of 2018, “only eight states require mention of consent or sexual assault” in public school sex education—one of which is Oregon. However, the funds necessary to support these programs are lacking, preventing schools from providing comprehensive education on healthy relationships. Some schools in Oregon have partnered with Raphael House’s prevention education program. “We want to help young people, in particular, have a strong baseline of understanding around what is safe and not safe, and to be able to know and recognize equitable, healthy relationships,” Ives and Tycer stated. “We want them to feel empowered to say no when something isn’t okay and to feel and expect respect from their partner. We want to reinforce that they deserve this.” This program seems to have had massive success, as Raphael House reported that “95% of students surveyed [had a] better understanding [of ] relationship power dynamics” after participating in Raphael House’s prevention education. The media should highlight messages of consent and healthy relationships above all else. However, prevention education, while incredibly valuable, is not the end-all-be-all for responding to the issue of domestic violence. Advocacy for individuals who have experienced domestic violence is imperative, and Raphael House staff highlighted the media as one such potential advocate. “Individuals and media alike can help by advocating for more funding to provide supportive services and housing for survivors of domestic violence,” they stated. Ultimately, the media must elevate the stories of victims and survivors by supporting their journey, by acknowledging that abuse comes in many forms and by holding the abusers accountable for their actions—since this is where the responsibility should lie.
PSU Vanguard • APRIL 6, 2022 • psuvanguard.com
OREGON’S ASTORIA COLUMN IS A MURAL WITH A VIEW THE SCENIC MONUMENT HAS A HISTORY OF ITS OWN
THE ASTORIA COLUMN, LOCATED ATOP COXCOM HILL, IN ASTORIA, OR. CAMDEN BENESH/PSU VANGUARD
TANNER TODD Built on the highest point overlooking the mouth of the Columbia, and decorated with an enormous, hand-crafted mural, the Astoria Column isn’t your average scenic viewpoint. Visitors brave enough to scale the steps of the 125-foot structure in the port town of Astoria, Oregon will be rewarded with a 360° view of the mouth of the Columbia River and the surrounding landscape below. From the top of the monument, sightseers are not only allowed to fly pinewood airplanes off of the Column, but are actively encouraged to do so—in the gift shop at the base of the tower, the Astoria Column staff sell pinewood gliders for a dollar apiece. Each year, the Column draws in over 300,000 visitors from all over the world, who visit the monument for both the views and history it has to offer. “I think part of what brings people to Astoria… is all the history,” said Easton Barendse, a staff member at the Column’s visitor center. “I’ve had a lot of people who just wander up here, and they’re like, ‘wow, this is cool, I’m glad we followed the little signs all the way up here.’” In many ways the Column attempts to act as a physical icon for the history of Astoria, which played a key role in the fur trade that built much of Oregon’s economy in the 19th century. The mural that covers the Column’s walls is a largerthan-life illustration of the town’s past, as seen by people of the time. Although the Column’s mural illustrates the region’s history, the monument itself has a history of its own—one that is almost as complex as the story of the town that it commemorates. The Astoria Column began life in the roaring
‘20s as the brainchild of Ralph Budd, a railroad tycoon known for completing the Northern Pacific Railway, which stretched from St. Louis to Oregon. Not one to let his accomplishments go uncelebrated, Budd built a series of six monuments along the route of his railroad line, each one tied to the history of the area in which it was built. “When the railroads started coming out west, they built little monuments along the way,” Barendse said. “When they got here, they wanted something big to commemorate all their hard work, so they were like ‘this is the highest point in town, let’s build something up there.’” For the Astoria monument, which represented the end of the line for his railroad empire, Budd spared no expense, and commissioned Italian artist Attilio Pusterla to cover the entire 125-foot-tall exterior of the tower with murals illustrating the region’s history. Rather than just have the murals drawn in paint, Budd took the added step of commissioning them in sgraffito, a Mediterranean artform that layers multiple colors of plaster on top of each other before carving them away to reveal the colors beneath, creating elaborate designs of various colors. Even for Budd, the idea was ambitious—a mural done of the Column’s size in sgraffito had never been done outside of Italy, and when completed it would earn the distinction of being the largest sgraffito mural in the world. Local Astorians of the time seemed to be enthusiastically supportive of the idea, and in a summary of the proposed artwork written
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by the Astoria Evening Budget, the style was described as “an ancient one which has come down in Europe from classical times as one of the five methods of heroic sculpture.” Budd himself appeared to reflect the Astoria Evening Budget’s enthusiasm for telling a story of mythic proportions. In a Dec. 10, 1929 memo to the Portland Press Club, Budd stated that the Column was “one of a series of monuments located along the Great Northern Railway,” created to “commemorate outstanding events in the progress of pioneers in conquering the western wilderness.” Budd’s commitment to celebrating the pioneers who supposedly conquered the wilderness underscored the importance of understanding the tower’s artwork and conception for what it was—an attempt to generate a mythology of westward expansion. Budd, who appeared to see himself as a kind of latter-day pioneer in his own right, valorized the actions of the prospectors and explorers who came to the land in search of economic resources to exploit. In another section of his memo to the Portland Press Club, Budd stated that he and his colleagues hoped to tell the story of the region, “beginning with its discovery and ending with the arrival of the railway train.” Budd’s choice to begin the mural’s narrative with the region’s discovery by settlers quietly ignores the reality of the Indigenous groups that had already been living there—some of them for at least 10,000 years prior to Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s arrival in the area. The ethnocentric attitude of the Column’s creators is subtly reflected in the artwork, as the panel representing the area prior to European
discovery is totally absent of Indigenous people, featuring only plants and the occasional animal. In some ways, the ethnocentrism of the Column can be used as an important reminder that the region we live in still praises the actions of opportunistic pioneers and fur-trapping profiteers. Besides being a 125-foot-tall history lesson, the Column serves as many other things as well. For many tourists, the tower’s position as the highest vantage point in the region offers a chance for childish fun, as people compete to see who can fly gliders the furthest from the observation deck. Barendse, who sells the gliders at the Column’s gift shop, explained the history behind the tradition. “For a long time people used to throw whatever they wanted from the top,” Barendse said. “It became dangerous…so back in the late ‘80s or ‘90s, we started selling the gliders in here…it’s something safe and fun to throw off the top.” The idea caught on, and dozens of wooden planes scattered around the parking lot of the tower testify to the tradition’s popularity. Besides its role as a vantage point and wooden plane launchpoint, the Astoria Column has lent itself as a picnic spot, a wedding proposal destination and a place where local parents could take their kids to burn off energy running up the tower’s steep flights of stairs. Whatever the reason for visiting, the trip to the Astoria Column is worth a journey up to the far northwest corner of Oregon—provided that we remain mindful of the monument’s complicated history.
ARTS & CULTURE
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THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION TAKING THE FACTORY OUT OF SCHOOLS
CAMDEN BENESH With colleges mostly back to in-person classes and lifted mask mandates, a sense of normalcy is somewhat present again within the classroom environment. Attending class through a variety of options, rather than just in person, begs the question: where is the future of education headed? Oftentimes, I fantasize about groundbreaking technology usually seen in science fiction. Whether education is led by an artificial intelligence (AI)—like the self-learning pods seen on planet Vulcan in the 2009 Star Trek film—or maybe we’ll just be able to plug into an outlet and have information dumped into us like robots a la The Matrix. For some, attending class on Zoom feels very futuristic. The future of education is quite intriguing. While Zoom is a convenient tool for orchestrating online learning, it became the norm for quite some time. So, is remote learning here to stay? Or will it be known as something relegated to the early 2020s? Zoom allows flexibility for those who can’t be physically present, and the platform illustrates just how far technology has come. It’s very useful for connecting communities far and wide. Learning from home might alleviate the pressure students have felt going to in-person classes—learning is just a click away from the comfort of home. But this convenience, while beneficial, also comes at a price as more specific and hands-on classes feel lackluster. How is one supposed to learn how to weld if they can’t even come into class? How can they dissect a frog without proper direction, let alone getting a dead frog to their house? How can one play volleyball online? Schools didn’t really have the choice at the beginning of the pandemic to keep in-person classes going, but many of us have pondered why we’ve spent so much money on tuition just to learn online. The pros and cons vary person-to-person, but at some point, we’ve all experienced the drawbacks of online learning. Zoom fatigue is very real. “Seeing yourself in a video chat, excessive eye contact, and reduced mobility are a few of many causes of Zoom fatigue,” wrote Vignesh Ramachandran for Stanford News of a recent peer-reviewed study. Zoom brought new tools to the table—but not without new sets of problems. Teachers have had to navigate the world of blank screens and shoddy internet connections. And let’s face it, I know everyone loves breakout groups, but it really doesn’t get better than being in-person. Conversely, as we resume learning in-person, the classroom environment might not be the best thing to continue as we move forward. While a lecture format works for some, changing the classroom dynamic is something we might see in the coming years. With the almighty, powerful and scary internet, the scope of individualized learning might become increas-
WHITNEY GRIFFITH
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OPINION
PSU Vanguard • APRIL 6, 2022 • psuvanguard.com
ingly popular. Classes aren’t always set up in a way that best serves everyone’s learning needs. Everyone learns differently—and it’s quite tricky when you put yourself in a professor’s shoes. Some students may thrive in a lecture format—but others don’t. Author and proponent of progressive education Alfie Kohn once said that lecturing is the best way to get information from teacher’s notebook to student’s notebook without touching the students mind. It really comes down to whether or not your professor is a good teacher—because information-dumping without any activity doesn’t help anybody. There can be successful lectures. They just have to be more interactive and thought-provoking than anything—not just throwing information at students who absorb it like a sponge and leave without talking to anyone. Formatting the class session in a more interactive manner could prove beneficial to those who learn differently. Going down a more hands-on and interactive route can make lectures fun and inclusive for students who are otherwise just sitting and listening for long stretches of time. If you’re like me, you learn from doing and trying rather than just listening. However, most classes disincentivize failure and don’t have a place for it within the syllabus. In reality—whether it’s learning a new language, starting a business or coding an app— oftentimes, failure is what helps us grow and learn the most. Many classes focus on your ability to absorb information, memorize and retain it—then test you on it. We’ve all been there: cramming and stressing for a final in a class you’re only taking because it’s required. Then, a couple of weeks later, you might’ve forgotten all about it. Seems pointless doesn’t it? Being a student, you feel merely like a moving piece in a factory. Education needs to be more creative and involved, but it especially needs to be more comfortable. Maybe not so comfortable that we will all be bound to a hovering chair like the humans in WALL-E, but I’d like some of the chairs’ comfort as well as more flavor and personality in the classroom setting. For one, why are the chairs so uncomfortable and our classrooms so sterile? Nothing inspires me more than a barren and brutalist classroom at 10 a.m. Whatever happened to decoration and personality within classrooms? Do only art schools get to do that? Quite frankly, my local coffee shop seems to have more personality than my classroom. Coffee shops invite productivity in all forms—whether it’s chatting it up with friends or working on your thesis paper. Can’t we have that atmosphere in classes? I feel accomplished just walking through the door to see those succulent plants and trendy sitting arrangements, like I’m truly
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living in the future. So, why aren’t classrooms set up to look more like a creative agency than a DMV waiting room? If the place I’m trying to learn and be productive isn’t vibrant, neither am I. I believe that, in the future, there should be a mandate for college classes to take the first day to color and decorate the class together—like in elementary school. Stickers, glue, glitter and animals at the zoo—really anything to get those vibes up and creativity flowing. I don’t know about you, but having a place that makes me feel welcome helps me learn. We are all creative and unique in our own way, so let’s show it in our classroom. It might be my amazing tiger drawing on the wall that gives me confidence during a speech. If classrooms continue being stale, we won’t get that. That wave of comfort you feel when you walk through that door, whether it be a coffee shop or your house, why can’t the classroom feel like that? Sometimes doing something new and daring is what we really need for the future of education. Learning with AI could be a place to start. For example, some schools in China use AI as a way to track students’ level of concentration throughout the class. The data is then sent to the teacher in real time, and to the parents of the students. They use a plastic headband that displays a red light when they are distracted and green for when they are focused. Using a headband with electroencephalography (EEG) technology, it monitors students’ neural activity. The EEG technology is commonly used in hospitals and laboratories. While it is promising, it does have faults. The technology’s accuracy is hard to gauge, as it hasn’t been widely used in other schools across the world. Certainly it’s innovative—but it’s also invasive. Who really wants to wear headgear that tells others whether or not they’re paying attention? Isn’t that shown through a student’s engagement and how they interact with the class? Imagine the whole class being able to see if you are actually focused or not. Nothing makes a student feel more like a lab rat then having their concentration levels sent to their teacher in real time. A student’s concentration isn’t always linear, so this becomes prob-
lematic. The technology is also susceptible to failure—if the student is fidgeting, it can affect the signal. The information can even be disrupted because of a bug bite or allergy. We might not even be in the classroom in the future. With potential resources like the coveted metaverse, going to class will involve entering the digital world or augmented reality. By connecting students and teachers from all over the world and encouraging them to interact and share experiences, education would be more impactful and dynamic. Imagine walking through history itself with the metaverse. To be on the front lines of the Battle of Waterloo where Napoleon takes his last stand, or in the cockpit alongside Neil Armstrong as you experience Apollo 11 and walk on the moon. Just imagine the possibilities, to travel through time—who would’ve thought? The world of virtual reality could shake up the world of education as we know it. The metaverse has the potential for life through technology, such as the Oculus Rift. All you have to do is create an avatar and interact in a digital space like you would in real life. So what if we attend a virtual classroom with avatars instead of one in reality? Why live a real life when you can live a virtual one? This idea is very problematic in nature. You might as well plug me in to charge. I already feel like I’m in the metaverse when I’m on my phone for too long. Who really wants to live a fake life and have digital social interactions when you can walk outside and do the same thing—but better? Learning in virtual reality currently seems like a gimmick. Maybe in 100 years we’ll be there—but in the present, we are not. I mean, who can really take someone seriously in a learning environment when their avatar skin is Dwayne Johnson? The future of education is uncertain, but bound to change. We can’t keep just lecturing and treating schools like factories rather than places to learn. Education in the future could be more individualized. Education will follow technology, but where that goes is quite unclear. We might just be plugging ourselves in to download this week’s lecture. Regardless, the potential future of education is bright—it should be creative, interactive, accessible and fulfilling. We are all working hard toward our goals and carving out our own career path. So, after everything we’ve learned these past few years, why not make our learning space better?
OPINION
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THE PORTLAND STATE AEROSPACE SOCIETY LAUNCHES TO SUCCESS CLOCKWISE, FROM LEFT: LEAD ENGINEERS SHOWCASE ORESAT0. A CLOSE-UP OF A COMPONENT FOR OREGON’S FIRST SATELLITE. STUDENTS PREPARE FOR THE LAUNCH OF ORESAT0. COURTESY OF PORTLAND STATE AEROSPACE SOCIETY
ORESAT’S FIRST SUCCESSFUL SATELLITE LAUNCH AIDEN TUAN On the beautiful, calm morning of March 15, 2022, Kodiak Island saw a hint of overcast weather, and later witnessed the launch of Astra rocket LV0009. Inside, the rocket deployed to space was Oregon’s first satellite, known as OreSat0. The OreSat project commenced five years ago when the Portland State Aerospace Society (PSAS) was accepted into NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative, a program designed to give access to educational institutions and nonprofit organizations. As a fully open-source CubeSat satellite system, OreSat was built inhouse at Portland State University with collaboration between multiple schools, including University College London and University of Maryland, Baltimore County. As a 1U—the standard unit of measurement for these satellite projects—the OreSat0 satellite is 10 centimeters on each side. Similar in dimensions to a tissue box, the satellite is still equipped with many functional systems, such as an amateur radio system, cameras, solar panels and batteries. In addition to being the first step towards a series of bigger, more ambitious student-built satellites, OreSat0 will also be the pioneer for the modular, expandable, open-source and education-friendly CubeSat system.
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SCIENCE & TECH
Creating OreSat0 was not a smooth journey. “Any kind of deployable [satellite] is hard, because it’s in space and it’s difficult to test it in space or zero-g,” said David Lay, a senior electrical engineer at PSU. “There are also concerns about vibrations and thermal reactions. Specifically, the deployable antennas were the biggest hurdle for us since it’s a deployable mechanism and they had to spring out whenever we gave the command.” Originally designated to ride aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in early Jan. 2022, OreSat0 was taken off the intended rocket due to a fuel leak in the propulsion system several weeks prior to the launch. “We had a lot of delays,” explained Emma Levy, senior mechanical engineer at PSU. “First time we had it ready for launch we had to take it back owing to some issues. Second time we all thought we got everything done, we had to take it back again. The most challenging part was to remain optimistic and remain excited about the project. But thankfully a lot of folks were patient and continued to contribute.” The setback was only temporary, and soon OreSat0 was booked onto another flight into space, this time becoming part of the Astra-1 mission, named after the launch provider for OreSat and other independent satellites.
Currently, the satellite is in a sun-synchronous, low-earth orbit at 525 kilometers, meaning that it will never reach the dark side of the Earth. It is expected to remain there for 3–4 years until it re-enters the atmosphere. As OreSat0 is orbiting in space, PSAS is looking towards the next generation of satellites. “We’re kind of building up a few of our key different subsystems,” said Hayden Reinhold, another senior mechanical engineer involved in the project. “Our main mission is OreSat1, [the satellite] that contains our science payload.” However, Reinhold said that the team will be making technical improvements based on the first prototype, as they approach OreSat0.5, including the attitude control and determination system, reaction wheels and as well as a helical antenna that communicates with the OreSat live payload. “It’s a gradual process of working up to the most complex OreSat1,” Reinhold said. The main goal of the group is to launch a one-kilogram nanosatellite on their rocket made in-house. Although it may seem like a lofty goal, the idea has been the impetus of years of development undergone by different interdisciplinary teams of students throughout the club’s existence. However, PSAS isn’t all about satellites. Before
OreSat0 was conceptualized, PSAS focused on building amateur rockets from scratch. Beginning as an off-the-shelf rocket kit, the launch vehicle titled LV-0 was PSAS’ first attempt at spaceflight. Compared to the current rockets that PSAS tried and tested—which have reached more than 15,000 feet in altitude—LV-0 paved the way for the current iteration of PSAS’ rocket prototypes, inspiring decades of hardworking, creative students behind the program. “We started out with ideas and revisions but now we’ve gotten [our goals achieved],” said faculty advisor Andrew Greenberg. “We have something in space and it’s cool. And we’ve got the history of doing spirals and learning…we’ve now got [over 30] people in the aerospace industry.” According to Greenberg, contributors don’t have a problem getting jobs due to the amount of interdisciplinary experience they receive working on PSAS projects. Looking back at the creation of OreSat0, Greenberg expressed his pride for the process and the team. “Consider getting involved, too,” Greenberg said. “Even if you don’t feel like you can, as long as you are enthusiastic, there are roles to play, whether you are technical-minded or not. PSAS is available to everyone and we could use the help. We’re going to keep building more rockets and satellites.”
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