Portland State Vanguard Volume 76 Issue 24

VOLUME 76 • ISSUE 24 • OCTOBER 19, 2021

A season of

APPLES AND HARMONY AT THE PORTLAND NURSERY NEWS

SPORTS

PSU’s Food Pantry: Vikings dominate open for fall, open over Idaho for all P. 7 State P. 8-9

SCIENCE & TECH China’s energy crisis is proving to be a problem P. 10

CONTENTS

COVER BY SHANNON STEED, COVER PHOTO BY JUSTIN CORY

ARTS & CULTURE BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE PORTLAND NURSERY’S APPLE MARKET

P. 4

THE AUTUMN GUIDE TO LOCAL CINEMA-GOING

P. 5

NEWS CPSO BEGINS “UNARMED” PATROLS, KEEPS GUNS

P. 6

ACCESSING PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY’S FOOD PANTRY

STAFF EDIT ORI A L EDITOR IN CHIEF Vacant

ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Béla Kurzenhauser

MANAGING EDITOR Karisa Yuasa

ONLINE EDITOR Lily Hennings

PHOTO EDITOR Sofie Brandt

COPY CHIEF Mackenzie Streissguth

NEWS EDITOR Victoria Calderon

MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Olivia Lee

SPORTS EDITOR Eric Shelby

CONTRIBUTORS Sean Bascom Justin Cory Nova Johnson Allison Kirkpatrick Analisa Landeros

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR Ryan McConnell

SPORTS VIKINGS DOMINATE THE SPORTS SEASON

P. 8-9

SCIENCE & TECH CHINA’S ENERGY PROBLEM AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMY

P. 10

P.7

PRODUC TION & DE SIGN CREATIVE DIRECTOR Shannon Steed

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

DESIGNERS Astrid Luong Anastasia Pargett

STUDENT MEDIA ACCOUNTANT Maria Dominguez

T ECHNOL OGY & W EB SIT E TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANTS Kahela Fickle George Olson Kwanmanus Thardomrong

STUDENT MEDIA TECHNOLOGY ADVISOR Vacant To contact Portland State Vanguard, email editor@psuvanguard.com

MIS SION S TAT EMEN T Vanguard ’s mission is to serve the Portland State community with timely, accurate, comprehensive and critical content while upholding high journalistic standards. In the process, we aim to enrich our staff with quality, hands-on journalism education and a number of skills highly valued in today’s job market.

A BOU T Vanguard, established in 1946, is published weekly as an independent student newspaper governed by the PSU Student Media Board. Views and editorial content expressed herein are those of the staff, contributors and readers and do not necessarily represent the PSU student body, faculty, staff or administration. Find us in print Tuesdays and online 24/7 at psuvanguard.com.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @psuvanguard for multimedia content and breaking news.

WE’RE HIRING Opinion Editor International Editor News Editor EMAIL RESUME AND COVER LETTER TO EDITOR@PSUVANGUARD.COM

PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 19, 2021 • psuvanguard.com

BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE PORTLAND NURSERY’S APPLE MARKET THE SOCIALLY-DISTANCED APPLES OF OUR EYE JUSTIN CORY For over 30 years, the local gardener’s paradise, the Portland Nursery, has hosted the Apple Tasting Festival at each of its Southeast Portland locations located on 5050 SE Stark and 9000 SE Division. In pre-pandemic times, the event boasted throngs of eager apple enthusiasts savoring tastings of over 60 varieties of apples and pears cultivated by growers in the Pacific Northwest.

The event was one of the few places a connoisseur could find rare heirloom varieties such as the King David, Orondo Rose, Ambrosia or Thomas Jefferson’s reputed favorite, the Spitzenberg.

Beyond the tastings, it was also a chance for some exuberant autumnal jubilee, with live music, a fresh-pressed cider demonstration, a scarecrow contest, specialty food vendors, wine and cider tasting and homemade apple strudel. That was all before a global pandemic ripped across the ever-connected world and laid waste to these kinds of open-hearted community harvest celebrations. Last year, despite not hosting a public tasting event, Portland Nursery was at least able to continue selling apples for the growers.

“People have gotten used to using this event as a way to get some cool unusual apples at a really good price,” said Ken Whitten, the fruit buyer at the nursery and a major force in making the Apple Tasting Festival happen over the years. “We couldn’t leave folks we’ve been working with in the lurch like that.”

The nursery had to come up with creative ways to face the uncertainty and insecurity surrounding the pandemic— keeping the market open by selling apples at a great discount of $1.29 per pound and donating unsold apples and pears to the local food bank, connecting food-insecure communities with delicious fresh fruit. This was a great help during a rough time for the farmers whom the nursery had been in relationship with for decades.

According to Whitten, the orchards the nursery deals with benefit from the distribution buffer the nursery creates, and thus they did not wish to be contacted directly by the public or press. Outside of affecting farmers, the pandemic has also impacted the supply chain and business at the nursery itself.

Traditionally, their peak week is the second week of October, but this year they have had just under half of the customers and business of a pre-pandemic year. Normally, they would also have 12 pear varieties and upwards of 50 different apple varieties, but this year’s selection has been a little pared back. “[People were eager for] little bits of normalcy...it was a stressful time,” said Whitten, remarking on the past year and

4

ARTS & CULTURE

a half. “So much of what they were used to doing was taken from them. So few ways to recreate were still available. Many people retreated to their yards. Any little touch of normalcy... you held onto those things.”

During the pandemic, the founders of the nursery sold it to their kids so they could retire. In the beginning, the new owners and the staff weren’t sure how to conduct business and closed down completely for several weeks. With the warming summer months in 2020 and many Americans turning to gardening as a rediscovered past-time, the nursery was able to reopen and offer a completely outdoors and socially-distanced experience for plant lovers.

After navigating elaborate protocols and long lines, they found their flow and although business was way slower during their usual peak season of spring, the renewed interest in gardening and houseplants spurred better than usual business for them in the summer, fall and winter months.

“With people not taking their summer vacations, business never slowed down,” Whitten said.

“Most people have this in our background, we grew up with our parents planting vegetables but then we drifted away from it. There’s so much you can do with your time. But I think it was rekindled for a lot of people, and so far it seems to be sticking.”

Whitten was not entirely sure how they will bring the festival back once the pandemic has truly receded, admitting that “it’s kind of hard to imagine going back to that kind of a tasting line.” This year, they have been able to bring back the scarecrow contest, but Whitten noted that he thinks it will take a while for it to feel safe enough to embrace the kind of festival held in the past. He is, however, hopeful that those days will come back. In the meantime, the apple sale continues into November while supplies last.

“Apples are all over the place flavor-wise, and there are days I am just looking for a sugar rush, but in general I put myself in the sweet-tart camp,” said Whitten regarding his apple recommendations. “I kinda like strongly flavored apples that have a good backbone of acids...so the King Davids, the Melrose, the Northern Spies. Sometimes I want an Ambrosia, a Honeycrisp or the Jona Golds, but they really are different beasts.”

TOP: A BANNER WELCOMES CUSTOMERS TO THE MARKET. BOTTOM: AN ENTRY FOR THE MARKET'S ANNUAL SCARECROW CONTEST. JUSTIN CORY/PSU VANGUARD

PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 19, 2021 • psuvanguard.com

BÉLA KURZENHAUSER As the crisp weather of the autumn front rolls in over the Pacific Northwest, we all find ourselves settling into the habits and comforts of the fall season. For some, that means pulling out their favorite gourds and harvest vegetables for carving and cooking; for others, it’s finding comfort in their home or in a theater enveloping themselves in a tidal wave of horror classics and the onslaught of new autumn releases.

As October passes into November, the theater marquees and streaming services burst with a smattering of new films, hopeful for awards contention come the following year. While this fall is full of tent-pole blockbusters like Dune and Eternals, new entries from renowned modern directors like Last Night in Soho or Nightmare Alley, and a fresh batch of foreign-language contenders making their way overseas, such as Titane and Benedetta, the autumn months are also home to a cornucopia of local film festivals and thriving late-night horror showings fit for an October evening. Some of these offerings are online and some are at the cinema, allowing anyone to find an option suitable for them.

SLAY FILM FEST

For admirers of short films, the Slay Film Fest is one of many local festivals devoted not just to showcasing short films but also to placing a highlight on local short film makers. This year’s edition is the second year the Portland Mercury-organized festival has been put on, following the success of last year’s inaugural festival.

The lineup of films consists entirely of eight-minute-or-less short horror films from independent directors making up a myriad of different horror genres, from the gothic horror of Edgar Allen Poe to grotesque, visceral body horror. Although the 2020 edition was entirely online, this year’s festival is offering a hybrid option.

In-person screenings are being held at 8 p.m. on Oct. 29 and 30 at Seattle’s Egyptian Theater and Portland’s Clinton St. Theater, with online livestreams being held on those same dates, as well as on Oct. 22, 23, and 31 at varying times. Passes to the fest are $25 including ticket fees. For those interested in viewing the list of films or learning more about the festival, you can check out their website.

PORTLAND DANCE FILM FESTIVAL

Another festival making a return to in-person screenings this year is the Portland Dance Film Festival, which is now in its fifth year of operation. The title of the festival is relatively self-explanatory, hosting a selection of over 30 handpicked shorts. Every short surrounds dance as a medium in some way or another, with choreography and kineticism playing an important role in each of them.

Alongside the shorts are two feature-length documentaries: Khadifa Wong’s Uprooted - The Journey of Jazz Dance, which is a celebration and examination of the history of jazz dance and its culture, and AJ Wone’s DiaTribe: From the Village to the Streets, which follows Wone’s relationship with renowned Ghanaian drummer and Oregon artist Obo Addy. The festival is separated into three sets of short films and a documentary pass. Tickets for each section of the festival operate at a suggested pricing tier in order to support those with a lower income who still want to watch the festival. Although the inperson screenings at Clinton St. Theater ran only through the weekend of Oct. 15–17, you can still get tickets and watch any of the festival’s films on their website up through Oct. 24.

PORTLAND FILM FESTIVAL

The lesser-known and oft-mistaken counterpart to March’s Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is the yearly Portland Film Festival (PFF), which takes place each fall.

PFF focuses a lot more on national and local films than PIFF does, with this year’s selection containing almost two dozen films just from local filmmakers. Though this year’s edition of PFF is entirely online, it runs through Nov. 8, allowing ample time for anyone interested in this year’s offerings. You can buy individual tickets for most films at $10, but a $100 pass will enable you access to every film, panel and workshop throughout the entirety of the festival. This year’s festival has also been supported by Comcast, so users with an Xfinity X1 or Flex streaming box can access a selection of free festival films as detailed on the fest’s website.

AKIRA KUROSAWA FILM FESTIVAL

For devotees of the classics, the cinema of esteemed master Akira Kurosawa is making a return to theaters with Clinton St. Theater’s Akira Kurosawa Film Festival running throughout next month. The festival takes place in-person only between Nov. 6 and Nov. 20, presenting seven of the maestro’s films with a ticket price of $12 for each showing. Clinton St.’s website is unclear if these films will be recent restorations or older masters, but, regardless, any opportunity to witness one of Kurosawa’s films on the big screen is not to be missed. Opening the festival is Stray Dog, one of Kurosawa’s earliest successes, followed up by the Ryūnosuke Akutagawa adaptation Rashomon and Kurosawa’s humanist masterpiece Ikiru. Making up the second week of the festival are four of Kurosawa’s most acclaimed samurai films— Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, The Hidden Fortress, and one of his final films, the Shakespearean epic Ran. The Akira Kurosawa Film Festival is not to be missed for connoisseurs of his work.

OTHER SHOWINGS

Outside of the selection of different film festivals, some of Portland’s historic theaters are conducting various other showings fit for the Halloween season. For those on the West side, Cinema 21 is showing Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein on Oct. 30, as well as bringing back their frequently popular late-night showing of Tommy Wiseau’s The Room on Oct. 29. Leading up to Halloween, the Clinton Street Theater is screening several horror flicks like Mandy, The Return of the Living Dead, Eraserhead, The Hunger and Videodrome, as well as their famous weekly showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The historic Hollywood Theatre also has a packed slate of horror classics this year, including Dario Argento’s Deep Red on 35mm, The Night of the Living Dead, Halloween and the original Lon Chaney Phantom of the Opera with a live score from the Hollywood’s famous Wurlitzer pipe organ. And, of course, for PSU students, 5th Ave Cinema will be screening Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue for free on the weekend of Halloween. After a year and a half of isolation, a season of spooks, scares and cinema is finally upon us.

HOW TO ENJOY A SEASON OF FILM OUT-AND-ABOUT OR ON YOUR COUCH

THE AUTUMN GUIDE TO LOCAL CINEMA-GOING PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 19, 2021 • psuvanguard.com

SING TO ME SYLVIE/PORTLAND FILM FEST

ARTS & CULTURE SECTION

5

ABOVE: THE PSU POLICE ARM PATCH ON AN OFFICER’S UNIFORM. BELOW: THE PSU CAMPUS PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICE’S BOARDED-UP ENTRANCE. SEAN BASCOM/PSU VANGUARD

SEAN BASCOM

CPSO BEGINS

“UNARMED” KEEPS GUNS PATROLS,

6

NEWS

Portland State made a stand last spring when it declared that Campus Public Safety Office (CPSO) officers would begin “fully unarmed campus patrols” before the 2021 fall term began. CPSO Chief Willie Halliburton said this makes PSU’s CPSO the first university safety department in the United States to shift back to unarmed patrols. Part of that plan was keeping all firearms locked in the CPSO, but it appears that isn’t what’s happening.

“I don’t have [my pistol] right here [on my belt], but I have it in the back, secured; if I needed to gather it I could,” explained Campus Police Officer Charles Evans.

“If there’s a known weapon, the call will be routed over to Portland [Police Bureau, PPB]. We’ll generally arm ourselves, but we won’t engage unless we absolutely have to.”

PSU President Stephen Percy and Halliburton previously assured in interviews that all CPSO firearms would be securely stored inside the CPSO offices, only to be checked out with approval from Halliburton or the supervisor on duty.

“There hasn’t been a situation where we needed our weapons since I’ve been Chief here,” Haliburton said in an interview on Oct. 6, after detailing two incidents in the last month when he authorized officers to retrieve firearms before approaching a scene.

“One [incident] was due to the fact that a person was slumped in a car and we had no idea what was wrong with them,” Halliburton said, explaining that Portland Police were called. But, due to PPB being busy, Halliburton authorized campus police officers to equip themselves with firearms before returning to the scene. Upon returning to the scene, according to Halliburton, the person and the car were both gone. The other incident involved someone laying on a bench with a “long sword-like knife,” according to Halliburton, prompting him to arm sworn officers before approaching the person to talk.

Since the conversation about armed campus police first started with the passage of a 2011 bill, members of the PSU community have been resistant to the idea of campus cops with guns. Last month, the CPSO appeared to have made good on their promise to shift all sworn officers to patrolling without firearms by Sept. 1, 2021.

Critics, including campus advocacy group DisarmPSU, call this a small step—but not nearly enough.

“Implementing ‘unarmed patrols’ continues to be conflated with ‘disarming ’ CPSO, and faculty, staff, students, administrators and even local media are

confused,” said Corinne Gould of the PSU School of Business and DisarmPSU. Amber and Cassidy, two PSU students living on campus, were glad to hear the plans for unarmed patrols but somewhat unclear on what this meant.

“I got an email about how they want to get them unarmed and I think that’s great,” Cassidy said. “A taser is enough, pepper spray is enough, but a gun is kind of a life sentence,” Amber added.

Another concern being raised is the fact that CPSO only has officers available from 6 a.m.–8 p.m., with PPB poised to respond to calls overnight. When asked about their thoughts on the matter, Amber and Cassidy seemed surprised.

“That kind of defeats the purpose because I feel like any issues would happen at night,” said Amber, who regularly walks back to her dorm at night when her class gets out at 9:00 p.m. “I’d much rather deal with security than police,” she remarked before the pair scooped up their grocery bags and headed on their way.

Halliburton, who moved here over 30 years ago to join Portland’s community policing program, said he can’t see a future without police on campus. “I think Portland State University deserves to have sworn police officers and a police presence here,” Halliburton said. “Portland Police cannot do it. They’re down 160 officers over the last year,” referring to the large numbers of Portland officers who left recently, citing frustrations with oversight, city council, use-of-force reporting requirements and getting flipped off as they drive around.

For Gould, however, police are not the only option.

“I want as many people as possible to know about the many alternatives to policing that exist,” Gould said. “If you are on campus and perceive a threat, that is valid, and you deserve a response that will meet your needs and actually keep the community safe.”

Hannah Alzgal, a junior at PSU studying International Relations, feels like the university has co-opted DisarmPSU’s ideas and watered them down for the sake of optics, “only to have doubled down to include PPB in the partnership and merely store weapons away in a locker that we lack public knowledge on their access to them.”

To Gould, disarming PSU means preventative measures are taken “so that state violence does not occur on its campus nor by its employed force again. As far as I see as a student, no such measures have ever been taken to prevent another life being robbed like Jason Washington’s was.”

PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 19, 2021 • psuvanguard.com

ACCESSING PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY’S FOOD PANTRY VICTORIA CALDERON When it comes to current rates of food insecurity, a report by Oregon State University found that one in four Oregonians is affected, while those under the Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) umbrella face a 30% chance of experiencing food instability. In 2020, many people accessed food pantries for the first time—unfortunately, food pantries around the country were not prepared for the level of demand.

When schools shut down in Portland due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the lack of free school meals widened the equity gap for families. According to Forbes Advisor, a 2019 study found that 39% of students at two- or four-year institutions of higher education experienced food instability within the last 30 days. This begs the question: how is food insecurity affecting Portland State students?

The prices of PSU’s First Year Experience meal plans range from $1,165–1,561, and the types of food can vary across campus cafeterias. But what happens when you can’t afford the food, or it’s not enough?

That’s where the PSU Food Pantry comes in.

In 2012, one PSU student decided something needed to be done about food insecurity among the university’s students, and originally tried to carry out the mission on their own. It wasn’t long before it became obvious that a dedicated team would be needed to really make this a reality. Now, almost 10 years later, PSU’s Food Pantry is run by a combination of staff and volunteers. Because of the pandemic, it is open by appointment only Monday–Friday to provide students with free food, fresh baked goods and also informational resources.

The PSU Food Pantry employs roughly five to six employees as well as volunteers.

It’s known as a flat organization, meaning there is no direct manager; employees work on a collaborative level to create a supportive and engaging environment.

According to Lilli Root, a staff member at the Food Pantry, employees want to make sure the Food Pantry is sensitive to issues of intersectionality, as food is such an important topic in BIPOC communities. Staff concerns include the need to offer cultural and religious food items, such as halal and kosher foods. Currently, the Food Pantry is

run by a diverse staff—many of whom identify as BIPOC themselves—that is aware of the organization’s blind spot in providing support that meets the needs of PSU’s Indigenous and the Middle Eastern communities. According to Root, the organization wants to work with PSU’s Cultural Resource Centers to coordinate mini-pantries to provide food items that are culturally significant to a wider range of students.

For those wishing to access the food pantry, it is currently located in the basement of Smith Memorial Student Union (SMSU), room 47A, by appointment in 10-minute increments. Masks are mandatory. The Food Pantry’s hours are 1–6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m.–2 p.m. on Friday. Appointments can be made on the Food Pantry’s website.

To get into the appointment, students have to provide proof of being a student, either with a PSU ID card or PSU email address. However, accessing SMSU without an ID card is difficult, as the entrances may require student IDs to be unlocked. This is common across PSU’s campus and should be remembered if you’re looking to take advantage of any of the resources PSU has to offer.

After accessing the building and getting into the food pantry, there was a large supply of canned organic goods, fresh bread, baked gluten free and vegan items and dry foods. Fruits and vegetables were slim, but this may be due to the 5 p.m. appointment time as the pantry is first come, first served.

The staff was extremely friendly, helpful and gave lots of space, as the area is small.

According to Root, the Food Pantry has big dreams for the space, but COVID-19 has affected operations. For example, since the cafe upstairs is closed, the staff currently don’t have access to a kitchen.

While access to food items is part of the problem, access to whole meals and storing space is another issue. For Root and others, having a full kitchen and being able to offer free meals would be ideal.

Despite this, the PSU Food Pantry is a growing resource for students that aims to make students feel safe and dignified while utilizing it, and the staff are a large part of making that a reality.

PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 19, 2021 • psuvanguard.com

It’s open for all and located in the Smith Memorial Student Union

THE PSU FOOD PANTRY'S OFFICIAL LOGO. COURTESY OF PSU FOOD PANTRY

NEWS

7

VIKINGS DEFENSE STOPS IDAHO STATE

IN 31-10 WIN

VIKINGS SCORE EARLY TO DOMINATE OVER THE BENGALS

8

SPORTS

PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 19, 2021 • psuvanguard.com

(OPPOSITE) TOP: FANS CHEERING FOR PSU AT HILLSBORO STADIUM. (OPPOSITE) BOTTOM: VIKINGS DEFENSE TACKLING IDAHO STATE. WIDE RECEIVER NATE BENNETT RUNNING TO THE ENDZONE. ERIC SHELBY/PSU VANGUARD

ERIC SHELBY

FOOTBALL

The Vikings had a successful homecoming game as they beat the Idaho State Bengals 31-10.

Fans showed up and showed out this homecoming game with a green out and attendance of 2,209 fans. The Viks needed to score early, instead of attempting to comeback, after giving up points. Scoring early was exactly what they did.

Only one minute and 37 seconds into the game, quarterback Alexander Davis threw 44 yards to Nate Bennett for the first of many touchdowns this game. Malik Walker ran for a touchdown to give the team a 14-0 lead and a field goal later in the quarter to give the Vikings a 17-point lead over the Bengals in just the first.

Two touchdowns from wide receiver Beau Kelly in the second and third quarter closed the game to make sure the Bengals wouldn’t come back.

Davis Alexander went 17/29 that game and 179 yards with three touchdowns under his belt. Senior running back Malik Walker led the team in rushing with 16 carries and 95 yards with a touchdown to put on his highlight reel. Senior linebacker Nicholas Ah Sam led the team with eight tackles, and teammate Harrell Broderick had eight tackles as well.

Mercy points were given to the Bengals when the Vikings held them to only 10 points—a surprise when Idaho State managed to upset #7 UC Davis 27-24. Defense was booming this game as the Viks forced five turnovers, including a strip sack from VJ Malo. The team looked dominant all four quarters, ready to take on the Cal Poly Mustangs at home after their bye week this Saturday.

Cal Poly is coming in this season with a record of 1-5 and 0-3 in conference play. Offense for the Mustangs isn’t that hot, as they have only scored 21 points in their last three games

this season. If the Vikings offense can capitalize on scoring early and scoring a lot, and the defense capitalizes on sacks and interceptions like they did against the Bengals, there should be no problem. Portland State is currently sitting at sixth in the Big Sky with a 3-4 record and 2-2 in conference play. With only four games left, their next game is at Hillsboro Stadium Oct. 30 against Cal Poly, kick off at 2:05 p.m.

VOLLEYBALL

The Viks stayed hot and steady in their second place spot in the Big Sky standings over a hard fought, 3-2 win over Montana in a Missoula road trip. The Viks lost the first set 25-23, but had nothing to worry about, for they are known to come back after dropping the first set, just as they did with Northern Arizona.

The Viks were down 2-1 after their third set, having made Montana score 26 to win that set.

Montana wasn’t playing around, but the Vikings switched gears in time to win the next set 25-18, forcing a fifth set which only went to 15 instead of 25. A simple 15-4 win was the result of the last set. Zoe McBride and Ashleigh Barto both had a day with 14 kills this match and three aces. Barto led the team with 7 blocks.

Ellie Snook had 26 digs which helped keep the momentum going and helped the win.

The Vikings then travelled 202 miles from Missoula to Bozeman to play the Bobcats of Montana State on Saturday. The Viks won that match 3-1—and are now on a seven-game win streak. The Bobcats only took the second set after winning the first set in a 34-32 brawl. The Cats were up 22-18 in the first, looking for only three more to win that set.

After kills by Parker Webb and Makalya Lewis, alongside attack errors by Montana State, the

PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 19, 2021 • psuvanguard.com

Viks came back to make it 24-22, with hopes of winning. Both teams made it to 25, and the match was back and forth until Webb got a kill, making the score 33-32. After all that build up, Montana State had an attack error which cost them the set, giving the Vikings a 34-32 win.

Montana State is now 5-3 in conference play which gives the Viks more separation between them in the standings. Makayla Lewis led the team that match with 18 kills and three blocks.

Gabby Hollins also had 18 kills to help win the game. Webb had 16 kills, two aces and five blocks.

The Viks showed out this Montana road trip, and head to Sacramento State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+, looking to make it eight wins in a row.

Portland State is now 13-6 this season and 7-1 in conference play, still tied with Northern Colorado and behind Weber State, who is in first and has yet to experience a conference play loss, sitting at 8-0.

SOCCER

PSU dropped both games on their road trip against Idaho State and Weber State. Their first match was a 2-0 shutout against the Bengals.

The Viks outsaved their opponent 11-7, but could not manage to hold a win. The Bengals had 13 shots on goal while the Viks only had eight.

Raniyah Burton had five shots that match with three shots on goal. Chloe Huling had four shots with two on goal. On their trip to Utah, the Viks made it close, but fell 3-2 to Weber State. The match started with an early goal by Weber State in just the third minute.

Ani Jensen responded with a goal in minute 15, assisted by Sofi Papastamos. It didn’t take long for the Wildcats to regain the lead after a penalty kick goal two minutes later.

After leading the team with the most shots in the last match, Burton scored in the minute

49 to give the team a 2-2 game with 40 minutes left. In the last five minutes of the match, Weber State gained a goal to secure the win.

The Viks play again on Friday, Oct. 22 at home against the Thunderbirds of Southern Utah. The Viks are now 2-4-1 in conference play and 4-9-1 overall. Weber State continues to stay on top of the standings, advancing to 6-1 and 9-6 overall.

CROSS COUNTRY

The men’s team won the 8k by 37 points on Saturday at the Santa Clara Bronco Invite, rising above schools like Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara.

Josh Snyder came in second in the 8k with a time of 23:40.9 and Jordan MacIntosh right behind with a time of 23:43.9. Kenyan Abdi ran for a time of 23:47.1 coming in fifth. Katie Camarena came in third in the 6k at the Bronco Invite with an almost even time of 20:00.4. Maya Irving came in seventh out of the top ten, with 20:37.8.

The men’s team ended in first place with 67 points and the women’s team finished second with 59 points. The Viks split in Estacada, Oregon for the Lewis and Clark Invite. With a time of 21:58.9, senior Phoebe Brown came in 11th in the 6k. The next Viking was senior Monica Salazar coming in 28th with a time of 22:41.7. The 6k Vikings made it to third place in the invite with 99 points, making it close to Seattle University, who made 98 points.

The 8k Vikings made it to eighth with 256 points. PSU’s rival, the Portland Pilots, won the 8k with only 15 points and five finishers in the top 10. Junior Brandon Hippe made 40th with a 25:05.2 time. Kelly Shedd had a 25:27.1 time, finishing at 56th. Next up is the Big Sky Championship on Oct. 29 with the women’s 5k and the men’s 8k. After the Big Sky, the NCAA West Regional takes place on Nov. 12.

SPORTS

9

China’s energy problem and its effects on the

GLOBAL ECONOMY RYAN MCCONNELL Many businesses and countries have been struggling to meet the demands brought forth by the pandemic. Increased demand, less resources and less labour have all contributed to the extensive strain put on the global supply chain.

China in particular has been seeing the effects of the global supply chain crisis, which is hitting hardest amongst its manufacturing industries.

Recently, China has been forced to ration its own power and electricity despite its vast array of power plants. The reason has to do with coal—China’s main fuel source for electricity.

Coal consumption skyrocketed during the first half of 2021 due to energyintensive, industry-driven demands that came from the effects of COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. Now, thermal coal has tripled in price, with many of the domestic coal mines seeing as high of a drop in volume as 17.7%.

High coal prices aren’t the only issue. Normally, higher coal and energy prices get placed on the consumer, especially in the U.S. In China, however, electricity utility rates are capped. This means that power plants lose profits with higher prices and have no means to balance the numbers, putting them on the brink of financial collapse—and creating blackouts all across the country.

China generated around 53% of the world’s coal-fired power alone in 2020, with 57% of all energy power plants in China relying on fossil fuel to generate power for its citizens and businesses. Additionally, roughly 80% of heating in China is coal-fired, as opposed to electric heating like in the U.S. With winter approaching, many Chinese citizens are concerned over how they might be able to heat their homes.

Industries like textiles and plastics have been hit the hardest, as they require the most energy and need the strictest power rationing. Ge Caofei, a textile-dyeing factory manager, says their local government is rationing power by cutting off electricity 3 out of every 10 days.

These issues compound with China’s dedicated 14th five-year plan to reduce its energy consumption. By 2035, China plans to reduce CO2 intensity by 18%, and reduce its dependence on intensive energy, such as coal, by 13.5%. These goals are implemented through strict government regulation and tight rationing over how much companies and plants are allowed to consume.

Strict power rationing, low coal supply and intermittent blackouts have created severe delays in the industries that rely on these manufacturers.

These restrictions have a domino effect that’s disrupting the global supply chain. Demand hasn’t shrunk since the pandemic began, and if anything, has steadily increased. China, unable to keep up with the demand, produced less resources, increased the prices of goods and prevented goods from reaching overseas to fit the high demand.

Currently, China is working hard to get the resources it needs to stay afloat. Companies such as Sinopec Corp and China National Offshore Oil Company are working with U.S. contractors to get liquefied natural gas, in hopes to gather the energy resources it needs.

It’s become clear that as countries and cities around the world begin to reopen and loosen their COVID-19 restrictions, many of the logistics around these surges in demand have fallen to already strained economies that are unable to keep up. While some executives, including JP Morgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon, may state that the supply chain issues will ease soon, there’s serious doubt when the evidence shows major players in the global supply chain don’t have the answers to fix the ongoing issue as it stands.

As winter approaches with the holiday season trailing close behind, there’s many questions left unanswered as to how heavy of an impact these delays will have on an already fragile supply chain. If there’s something on the holiday gift list, it’s a good idea to purchase those items as soon as possible to beat any potential shortages looming on the horizon.

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SCIENCE & TECH

CHINA’S HONGYA CAVE AT NIGHT. COURTESY OF PXFUEL

PSU Vanguard • OCTOBER 19, 2021 • psuvanguard.com