Big Bird and binders full of women Given his reelection campaign, does Obama deserve to win? opinion page 10
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What’s the CPSO proposes campus police force deal with voting? Everything students need to know about casting their ballots Erik Mutzke Vanguard staff
For those who will have the pleasure of voting for the first time in this year’s general election on Nov. 6, here is a primer on the procedure. And for all of those veteran voters, here is a refresher. Several options exist for learning about candidates and issues on the ballot. An essential guide for student voters can be found in the Associated Students of Portland State University’s nonpartisan guide to candidates and issues affecting students in the Portland metro area. Pick up a copy from the ASPSU office, located in room 117 of Smith Memorial Student Union. Multnomah County publishes a voter’s guide, accessible online at web.multco.us/elections/may2012-primary-election-online-votersguide-0. While you might be familiar with some of the presidential candidates, you may not know them all: • Barack Obama and Joe Biden—Democratic • Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan— Republican • Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala— Green • Rocky Anderson and Luis Rodriguez—Progressive • Will Christensen and Kenneth Gibbs—Constitution See VOTING on page 2
ASPSU Senate expresses concerns Isaac Hotchkiss Vanguard staff
On a dark, rainy Tuesday, the Associated Students of Portland State University senate convened. The hottest topic on the agenda: the Campus Public Safety Office. During the meeting, CPSO presented its case to the senate for creating a campus police force, a proposed conversion of some of its force to “sworn” police officers, who must undergo a 16-week police academy training. While PSU administration shows early support for the idea, the school’s student government has concerns about the program’s potential costs and about arming the officers with guns. The change would give CPSO officers the same enforcement powers as sworn police, beefing up the
current enforcement model, which CPSO says is inadequate. Currently, CPSO operates with 14 officers, the same number it has had since 1974. CPSO Chief Phillip Zerzan said the current demands on his staff can, at times, outweigh their abilities. There are large gaps in police services that CPSO needs the Portland Police Bureau to fill— including serving warrants, mental health holds and community caretaking. For the 29,000 students at PSU, PPB only has two officers assigned to cover the campus, Zerzan said. Zerzan argued that the function of campus safety is fundamentally different than a police response, but that his officers currently lack the authority to respond to all types of situations. With a campus police force, he argued, PSU would benefit from a more sensitive response. He described a situation in which
All Photos Riza LIU/VANGUARD STAFf
Top: Phillip Zerzan, CPSO chief, discusses the importance of having university policemen. BOTTOM: Michael Collins, an APSU senator, discusses concerns student grovernment has about proposed changes to campus security. one of his officers spent two hours with a student who had a history of mental health problems. The officer helped the student navigate the paperwork and structure of the Center for Student Health and Counseling to get the help that they needed. “The cops wouldn’t do that,” he said.
Monica Rimai, vice president of the Office of Finance and Administration, was on hand to make comments. She echoed Zerzan’s sentiment that officers’ functions could be expanded with more authority. See CPSO on page 4
My culture is not a costume Students discuss impact of culturally insensitive Halloween costumes Ravleen Kaur Vanguard staff
Courtesy of PSU MULTICULTURAL CENTER
Students gather in the Multicultural Center for Monday’s event.
A George Washington costume paired with a Native American headdress. Saudi Arabian garb labeled a “terrorist costume.” An alien mask and orange jumpsuit sold at Target as an “illegal alien” costume. At what point does a Halloween costume cross the line? That’s what students gathered in the Multicultural Center to discuss on Monday in an event called My Culture is Not a Costume, sponsored by PSU’s La Casa Latina and the center.
Through Socratic-method discussions and personal storytelling, the small group tackled the viewpoints regarding Halloween costumes that attempt to depict—in varying degrees of acceptability—another culture. Some said that a costume worn in the spirit of good fun may not intend to offend a cultural or ethnic group. “What we have to look at is both intent and effect,” said Cynthia Gomez, director of PSU’s Department of Cultural Centers. “We don’t live in caves—we are constantly interacting with others and have to be aware of that.” The My Culture is Not a Costume campaign was launched at Ohio University last year and has since gone viral across college campuses as
students of various ethnic backgrounds have shared their stories. An Nguyen, who is of Vietnamese heritage, often sees costumes playing on Asian stereotypes. “I see people dressed up as rice paddy workers, or right off a boat,” Nguyen said. “But my family came to the United States by boat and faced extreme hardships. I find that costume offensive.” Costumes that reduce an entire way of life to a caricature can hurt in profound ways, as many participants in the group expressed. “Growing up, I was taught to respect the Native American headdress. To see it mocked hurts,” one man said. See COSTUMES on page 3
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Vanguard • Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012 • news
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Post-survivor era presents new challenges Matthew Ellis Vanguard staff
Faced with the ever-encroaching march of time, how do historians and educators respond when the people they are studying begin to die? The Oregon Holocaust Resource Center hosted a seminar over the weekend in Smith Memorial Student Union to address this very question, bringing together survivors and scholars for a town-hall style discussion about the future of Holocaust education in Oregon. “We are clearly approaching a post-survivor world,” said Rob Hadley, Oregon liaison to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and a teacher at Clackamas High School. The OHRC calls Hadley one of the top Holocaust studies educators in the state. “Our goal should be to find ways to keep using their voices in ways that are both effective and appropriate,” he said. The OHRC, a nonprofit organization founded in 1983, aims to educate Oregonians about the ongoing lessons of the Holocaust despite the 70 years that have passed since it occurred. The Sunday event began with an introduction on key themes by OHRC Executive Director Sonia Leikam and Dr. Natan Meir, an assistant professor of Judaic Studies at Portland State. Meir addressed the changing nature of Holocaust studies throughout academia and the impact of the loss of the survivors’ generation. Many scholars are tracing the roots of Nazi ideology back in time to better understand the conditions that led to the Holocaust. In the wake of these challenges, scholars are attempting to reframe Holocaust studies
within a broader framework of comparative genocide studies. This allows scholars to see similarities between, for example, the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide—watershed events in two different parts of the world, separated by half a century. For some educators, this provides a way to deal with the loss of firsthand accounts from Holocaust survivors in the classroom. Board member Elaine Coughlin explained how the OHRC is exploring a move toward this comparative model as they begin to lose members of their speakers board—a group of Holocaust survivors who travel to public events and classrooms across Oregon to share their testimonies. But to Meir, this reframing could threaten to de-emphasize the singularity of the Holocaust in history. “We need to make sure we define exactly what makes the Holocaust unique, otherwise we risk delegitimizing genocide as a whole,” she explained. Ginny Hoke, a high school language arts teacher from Thurston, Ore. who has been praised by the OHRC as one of the top Holocaust teachers in the state, explained her success using survivor testimony videos from the USHMM website in the classroom. Hadley helped illustrate Hoke’s comments, explaining how he realized that Holocaust studies are racing against the clock after finding a box of videotapes with survivor testimony, a trend Hoke believes is growing as the survivors’ generation overlaps with the era of widespread technological documentation and recording. Hadley and Hoke teach programs designed around measured use of video testimony and, when available, survivor or second-generation classroom presentations. Their programs both culminate in field trips to the Oregon Holocaust Memorial in Washington Park, which is becoming a more impor-
tant tool as access to survivors diminishes. “Our goal is to find a way to connect testimony to the names on the wall at the memorial, and then to be able to connect that memorial back to the rest of the community as a whole,” Hadley said, explaining the impact the memorial has had on his students. The memorial was designed in part to emulate a first-person encounter of the Holocaust experience. In addition to names of the deceased, concentration camp soil brought by survivors is interred next to transcribed survivor testimony. But as budget cuts make field trips more difficult, and as access to survivors begins to diminish, many educators like Hoke realize the ever-increasing importance of testimony within the classrooms. While technology has afforded many students opportunities to hear stories that illustrate a side to the Holocaust not found in statistics and political studies, others pointed to the time still available with survivors, reenforcing the unique experience one can gain by learning from a survivor face-to-face. Deb Mrowka, who often speaks alongside her mother, survivor Eline Hoekstra Dresden, explained how the impact from a first generation survivor is often a much deeper moment for students than the distancing effect that comes with viewing a video. Questions still remain about the future of Holocaust education, but everyone at the event could agree on the importance of framing the discussion from a personal and transformative perspective. For Hadley, it’s just another step forward in living the “never forget” phrase so often linked with the Holocaust. “I often hear students tell me they feel disempowered by history,” Hadley said. “We must find ways to turn it around and give them tools to empower themselves, with the same lessons still intact.”
Gary Johnson and James Gray— Libertarian Candidates running for congress are divided into the 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts. The 1st Congressional District of Oregon is the northwest corner of the state and is currently represented by Democrat Suzanne Bonamici. The 3rd Congressional District covers most of Multnomah County, including Portland east of the Willamette, Gresham and Troutdale, and is represented by Democrat Earl Blumenauer. The candidates for the 1st Congressional District are: • Suzanne Bonamici— Democrat • Robert Ekstrom— Constitution • Delinda Morgan— Republican • Steven Reynolds—Progressive, Libertarian, Pacific Green The candidates for the 3rd Congressional District are: • Earl Blumenauer— Democrat • Woodrow Broadnax— Pacific Green • Michael Cline— Libertarian • Ronald Green— Republican Statewide candidates include those running for secretary of state, state treasurer, state attorney general and state commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries. Regional candidates consist of state representatives from the various house districts of Oregon (26 to 52), and state senators. Several ballot measures are being considered by voters this year. The measures address issues regarding estate tax, corporate tax and education funding, and the legalization of marijuana. Once you have done your research, weighed your options and established your decisions, there are many convenient ballot drop-off locations on campus. ASPSU will have unofficial drop boxes in their office in SMSU 117. There will also be collection tables in front of Millar Library and on the second floor of the Academic and Student Rec Center. On Monday and Tuesday, ASPSU representatives will be
collecting ballots between SMSU and Neuberger Hall throughout the day. There are also drop boxes at the Multnomah County Library on Southwest 10th Avenue, and at Pioneer Square. The deadline to mail in your ballot is Friday, Nov. 2. If a ballot is mailed after this deadline, the post office cannot guarantee the ballots will reach the county elections facility in time. The final deadline for Oregonians to turn their ballots in is 8 p.m. on Nov 6. If you are a registered voter and have not received your ballot, ASPSU’s campus organizer, Courtney Veronneau, has some helpful advice. “If students haven’t received a ballot but think they should have, chances are it is an issue with their address,” Veronneau said. “If you are registered in the county where you live, but have moved within the county, you can go to your county elections office with a valid form of ID and they can, in most cases, print you a new ballot and update the address.” But for a voter who used to live in a different count, now living in Multnomah County, who didn’t update his or her voter registration, it may be too late to receive a ballot. Students who have any ballot issues should call the county elections office. The director of elections for Multnomah County is Tim Scott, who can be reached at 503-988-3720. Presidential race results will be reported on an ongoing basis throughout the evening of Nov. 6 starting as early as 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Official state elections results will begin coming in after the deadline at 8 p.m. Stay tuned early as some preliminary results may be reported before then as well. On Nov. 6, ASPSU will be having an election results viewing party from 3 to 10 p.m. in the SMSU ballroom. The Vanguard will be hosting live election coverage on its website, psuvanguard.com, starting at 8 p.m., and posting results as they become available. Happy voting! Visit psuvanguard.com/news/ votercard for a printable pocket election save the date card.
Drop off your ballot before 8 p.m. on Nov. 6.
Riza LIU/VANGUARD STAFf
NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS •• TUESDAY, TUESDAY, • •Thursday, TUESDAY, JANUARY JANUARY Nov. MAY24, 17, 1, 2012 • VANGUARD
costumes from page 1
Emphasis placed on examining intent and effect of costumes The issue was placed in historical context—beyond the menagerie of Halloween costumes. “Othering” is not new, explained Emanuel Magaña, director of La Casa Latina. It dates back to minstrel shows in which entertainers would don the infamous blackface and act out stereotypes, he said. Is the popular football game practice of wearing black to intimidate the opposing team, as has been done at Oregon State University, an echo of a racist past? Although some felt such a claim went too far, others brought up a key point: Why is a face painted black considered intimidating? Gomez again stressed the importance of examining both intent and effect; although students may not have racist intentions, their actions can certainly be perceived that way, she explained. What can educational institutions do in such situations? Students had mixed responses, distinguishing between what they expected of high school students and younger children. Banning costumes in schools outright, an idea re-
Recruiting students New trends suggest a changing face for the university Matthew Ellis Vanguard staf
COURTESY OF PSU Multicultural center
cynthia gomez, director of the Multicultural Center, addresses the issue of culturally insensitive costumes. cently floated by an Oregon Live.com blogger, would only stifle children’s creativity, some said. “Let kids be kids. Banning costumes would be another form of oppression,” one woman said. Others disagreed. “Halloween costumes can, some say, create an exclusionary atmosphere for those who cannot or do not celebrate it,” Gomez said.
Gomez recognized the controversial issue as one that needs to, at the very least, be thoroughly engaged. The sensitivity of Halloween costumes is just one issue that must be addressed through dialogue, she said. “Stepping outside of our own opinions and into someone else’s shoes is a part of democratic dialogue,” Gomez said. “It’s good for our civic muscles.”
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You know why you chose to enroll at Portland State. Chances are you heard about a program or field of study that interested you, or you felt the need for a career change after the economy plummeted. Maybe you just wanted to live in Portland. But do you remember how you first heard about Portland State? It was probably thanks, in part, to the efforts of a recruiter. Even with two highly publicized state schools within a two-hour driving radius, PSU has managed to increase enrollment by 44 percent since fall 2011, making it the largest university in Oregon. To achieve this, recruiters at PSU find themselves doing everything from manning tables at local college fairs to meeting with government officials in Hong Kong. Agnes Hoffman, associate vice provost for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, recently returned from an overseas trip focused on extending Portland State’s international reach. It is, in part, a byproduct of what she calls the “increasing focus on the internationalization” of the campus. PSU expects more than 2,000 international students this year, coming from almost 100 countries, making up around 15 percent of the PSU student body. The focus on international students is not unique. Recruitment efforts to increase the internationalization of the student body are found at most large state universities. In addition to international students, PSU seeks candidates from Oregon resident freshmen, transfer students and students of color. According to a PowerPoint presentation on PSU’s website detailing 2008 recruitment
strategies, the resulting global and diverse student body has become a primary selling point for recruiters. Many Oregon residents first encounter PSU at local college fairs. One of these fairs was recently held in the grand ballroom of the Portland Art Museum for prospective students looking to go into arts programs for music, film or dance. It was a short trip across the Park Blocks last week for PSU recruiter Mario Mesquita, an employee in the Office of Admissions who was helping run Portland State’s booth. With Mesquita was Darrell Grant, a new assistant dean in the School of Fine and Performing Arts. For program-centric fairs, the university often sends a faculty representative to assist with outreach and recruiting for the area of study they represent. Grant, a faculty member in the music department, was able to connect with prospective music students to a greater degree than those recruiters at nearby tables with only general knowledge of their institutions. “It’s great—a little overwhelming, but great,” he explained. Monday’s fair was Grant’s first as a faculty representative. Mesquita and Grant were kept busy answering questions, both from eager-faced, college-bound teens and from their parents. Recruitment efforts at PSU are assisted by an organization called the National Association for College Admission Counseling. NACAC’s many roles include offering strategic assistance for colleges through their regionalized branches as well as helping to organize cataloged prospective student information through digitization. “I guess you could think about it as a think-tank for college recruiters,” explained Andrea Hendrickson, assistant
director of admissions at Lawrence University and NACAC’s Portland liaison. NACAC’s Pacific Northwest division, PNACAC, organized the college fair. In order to enter, prospective students were required to register a QR code, which they would present to recruiters to scan. Upon scanning, the information would be sent to NACAC, and then back to the university for inclusion in their student database. These databases can be enormous—PSU’s 2008 firsttime freshman list contained more than 20,000 names—but still remain an effective and popular form of outreach for the school. With the assistance of an organization like NACAC, schools can focus their efforts on broader recruitment practices, rather than organizing names in a filing cabinet. Their efforts are paying off. Where in-state applications have consistently increased for PSU, the years from 2000 to 2005 saw a 121 percent increase in out-of-state student applications. While PSU has traditionally been a commuter campus with an older student population, recent trends indicate the “traditional” first-time student population is growing, driving the median student age down to similar numbers as the University of Oregon and Oregon State University. And these increasing numbers of students are, on average, applying to PSU with higher grade point averages— a helpful measure of their “academic preparedness,” which is the admissions office’s primary criteria for admission. For Hoffman, it seems that part of the goal is to let the academic strength and diversity of the university become a tool of recruitment on its own. “We seek students who will contribute to our academic community by encouraging student engagement and presenting possibilities for prospective students to become involved on our campus,” she said.
Kayla Nguyen/VANGUARD STAFf
Portland state students traverse the Park Blocks. PSU recruiters are bringing more international students to the university.
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VANGUARD • Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012 • News
The mingled senses of Daniel Burnell Student’s experience with synesthesia informs his writing and creativity Cassandra Moore Vanguard staff
Under emotional duress, Daniel Burnell has described himself as a smooth round blue stone in the rain. A writer, his stories are replete with bizarre imagery— bird-plumed girls and talking sharks and raspberry women. As a child, the number five was always orange. Like one in 23 people, Burnell experiences synesthesia, a neurological condition that causes involuntary mingling of senses. “I was an awkward kid,” he said. “[S]ynesthesia was just another example of how I felt different.” Linked to creativity, synesthesia is eight times more likely to occur in the brain of an artist. It takes myriad forms, runs in families and varies in intensity. Vladimir Nabokov, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Duke Ellington were all synesthetes. Burnell, a 37-year-old Arts and Letters senior, struggled to describe the synesthetic perceptions that have been dwindling since childhood. As an adult his synesthesia is nearly gone, which he blames on drug use. Yet its lingering effects are unmistakable. Burnell mostly experienced color synesthesia, called grapheme, that causes numbers or letters to appear tinged; this is possibly because of cross-wiring between the
areas of the brain that send and receive messages about colors and the areas that control messages about numbers or letters. He remembers asking a kindergarten teacher in Seaside, Ore., if the number five was always orange—and he remembers the classroom laughing and the teacher not answering. Marked as “weird,” Burnell turned inward. Although he is certain being synesthetic never ruled his life, he easily shared how he was a solitary child, choosing the Seaside woods over friends and preferring inner fantasy to communicating the complexities of sentience. He doesn’t hesitate to say that his writing—which a peer describes as undoubtedly odd and unsettling, though imagistic—is informed by his early synesthetic experiences. “My attraction to symbols could be a byproduct of synesthesia,” Burnell said. “I was already used to things standing for other things, and I need that extra layer of complexity.” He writes, by and large, through metaphor. The importance of symbols is evident even on his skin. Tattoos run up both his arms, the most eye-catching one a kraken. A mythic sea creature of giant proportions, it floats, lackadaisical, on his inner forearm. Burnell has an actual phobia of sea creatures but, like his synesthesia, he has accepted the thing that would other-
wise mark him as strange. A fast talker and a selfdescribed mumbler, Burnell talks in sweeping allusions to films and music. The way in which he shares stories of his childhood gives richness to the summers he spent in tepees in the Aleutian Islands with his parents, who were clam-diggers and cannery workers. A storyteller and a laugher, Burnell talks forgivingly of his drug-using parents, his own reclusive childhood and his emotional sensitivity. “I don’t like the word ‘weird.’ I think creative freedom is a better expression,” he said. “The way that I perceived the world and ideas [as a synesthetic kid], and how different I felt, helped me embrace creativity and fantasy. It helped free me to be more experimental in the way I see the world, the way that my characters see the world and the way my writing describes the world.” Admittedly sensitive and highly empathetic, he is an easy crier. “I cry at pretty much every movie that exists. I also get embarrassed for people I don’t even know,” he said. “For example, I’ll get teary because someone is singing a song and they’re not very good and I’ll think, ‘Aw, they’re singing that so sweet.’ I think because I was raised by my mom I never felt weird about my outpouring emotion.” Burnell owns his emotional response to the world. “A lack of empathy is the biggest problem in the world,” he said. “So I’m glad that I feel.”
cpso from page 1
Conversation about proposed changes expected to move slowly “Campus safety is somewhere between a police officer and a social worker,” she said. Rimai’s office, which oversees CPSO, would like to be able to make a recommendation for action by the end of the year, though there are no official deadlines. “It’s the start of a conversation,” she said, “and that’s all it really is.” Rimai said most people would like a safer campus. “But what we don’t agree on is how we get there,” she said. Previously, there has been apprehension among members of ASPSU regarding the proposed changes, particularly centered around the issue of whether CPSO officers will be carrying guns. When posed the question of whether he supported arming his force, Zerzan replied: “I favor a police department. Police officers in Oregon are armed.”
ASPSU President Tiffany Dollar raised two concerns. She voiced the apprehension that working for a campus police department may not be the most desirable job for candidates fresh out of the police academy, and that PSU may have inferior officers compared with traditional police bureaus. Zerzan replied that when he began as head of the Oregon State University campus police force in 2002, turnover was high. By the time he left his position in 2007, however, there were no transfer requests because of adjustments he had made. He did acknowledge, though, that there will be some movement among the force. “It can be a good place for rookie cops to start,” he admitted. Dollar was also concerned that increasing the authority
and scope of the force would be expensive. “Students pay 80 percent of the operating cost of the university,” she said. She was concerned how the changes would affect tuition. Zerzan was unclear about the exact cost of the changes, estimating that it might raise the annual operating cost of his department by roughly $2 million, in addition to the current $1.9 million cost. According to Zerzan, the changes to CPSO already have the support of the Women’s Resource Center and PSU’s Counseling and Psychological Services. He stated that if it were up to him, the changes would happen tomorrow, but more realistically, “This will take years,” Zerzan said. “Universities move very slow.” Currently, the university affairs committee of ASPSU will begin investigating the issue, and ASPSU has previously stated that it has plans to poll the student body for opinions.
Employers attend job fair in record numbers, students enthusiastic about job prospects yen le, a senior marketing and avertising major, discusses internships with Campus Point Account Manager John Kuck.
Vanguard staff
kayla nguyen/VANGUARD STAFf
About 90 employers came to Portland State on Tuesday to recruit students at the Fall Career and Internship Fair, held in the Smith Memorial Student Union ballroom. The fair drew the biggest turnout of employers since the economic boom of the early 2000s, a sign that the job market is coming back, said Greg Flores, associate director of Career Services. “We’ve never filled up this far in advance before,” Flores said. “I think it shows employers are hiring earlier and are more confident in their job projections.” About 80 employers came to last year’s fall fair. While the exact number of students who attended isn’t known, organizers said the event was well-attended and students were enthusiastic about the job prospects. Several features were added to the fair this term, said Mary Ann Barham, director of Advising and Career Services. Students were able to have a free, professional-quality headshot photo taken for their application packets. “We had great response for that,” Barham said. Additionally, students were able to get training on how to get the most benefit from websites like LinkedIn—another hit, Barham said. Both activities will likely be added to the regular roster for future career fairs, she added. Career fairs for all majors are held every term, and more specialized fairs are often added to highlight specific disciplines. A nonprofit fair, for instance, will be held on Friday, Nov. 9. An engineering and technology fair is slated for winter term, back-to-back with another all-majors career fair. Recruiters this year include Skanska, Cambia Health Solutions, Intel and Boeing. About half of the job openings are in engineering and technology, but some private, public and nonprofit employers want to hire students with a variety of majors.
NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS •• TUESDAY, TUESDAY, • •Thursday, TUESDAY, JANUARY JANUARY Nov. MAY24, 17, 1, 2012 • VANGUARD
Oregon leads the nation in young voters Josh Kelety Vanguard staff
As Election Day nears for national, state and local races, candidates are frantically catering to their constituents for their votes and support. There is one voting bloc that hasn’t always been easy to reach: young people. Numbers show that in recent years, however, students and youth in Oregon have become more engaged in the political process. Since the 2008 election, some might say the tone of youth political discussion has become more cynical. But this hasn’t translated to fewer students showing up to vote on Election Day. “I would say that the enthusiasm that students are showing in Oregon is much higher than what people think,” said Dylan Jambrek, the Oregon Student Association communications director. A national study by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (a Massachusetts-based research institute) showed that more
people between the ages of 18 and 29 are voting than were 10 years ago. More specifically, the study showed that the state of Oregon leads the nation in youth voter turnout with 35.7 percent in 2010, followed by North Dakota, South Carolina and Minnesota. One of the reasons the Oregon youth turnout is so high may be the ease of registering to vote. The state implemented an online registration system in March 2010. Student government and student advocacy groups like the Associated Students of Portland State University and OSA have also run voter registration drives, contributing to the high turnout, said Tiffany Dollar, PSU’s student body president. ASPSU broke a record last year with 9.32 percent of the student population participating in that year’s student government elections. According to Dollar, one of every 50 registered Oregon voters was registered by university student governments or by the OSA.
Richard Clucas, a professor of political science who teaches several American politics classes at PSU, said it’s hard to get young people involved until they’ve reached a certain age. Clucas refers any youth cynicism toward government to young people feeling unaddressed by the politicians they elect. “They just see the arguments on television, the debates, the advertisements, and all of them don’t seem to be addressing the issues that matter to [young people],” he said. On the other hand, students are beginning to see the relationship between voting and university-related consequences such as higher tuition and fees, as well as the diversion of funding out of the public education system, Jambrek said. A 3.4 percent increase in tuition and fees at PSU was announced in June 2012. “I think students are seeing a big connection in the election and the state of their country and what happens to them on campus,” Jambrek said. “I think that we are going to see an overall increase in students voting.”
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Every week, the Vanguard interviews members of the Portland State community in the Park Blocks and asks them a timely question.*
This week’s question:
“Did you register to vote? Why or why not?” Austin Maggs Vanguard staff
Jeff Evans, 22, a senior music education teacher, didn’t register because he has been a registered Arizona voter since he was 18. “The way that I look at it is that the community where I’m from is a place I plan to return to, and I’d like to participate in that government because of the conservative nature of that community and my liberal beliefs,” he said. “I want to continue to influence that community because I see Portland doing a good job in comparison to where I’m from.” Senior English major Geoff Vincent, 21, registered immediately. “I think it’s a bit silly to live in a democracy and want to take advantage of everything this country has to offer, but not use my voice to get what I want to get out of it,” he said. “Or, if you treat it as important, but then say you don’t have enough time—because how long does it take to fill out a ballot and do precursory research on a few candidates and issues?”
Sasha Chedygov, 20, a junior economics major, registered especially to vote for the local measures. “I registered to vote to make the small difference that I can. I’m not too big on voting for the presidential candidates because I don’t feel like my vote makes that much of a difference, but I vote on the local measures here,” she said.
Graduate business student Joe Bazeghi, 28, was previously registered and participates in every election. “We’ve been handed something just by virtue of being Americans and it’s a participatory democracy, which will only function when we participate,” he said. “In reality, my one vote can have a substantial impact on how minority communities are treated and how the middle classes will grow or shrink.” All Photos Austin Maggs/VANGUARD STAFf
New faculty profile: Amy Borden Gwen Shaw Vanguard staff
With Portland State’s film major exploding in popularity, Amy Borden is happy to be the newest addition to the school. Specializing in silent films and American cinema, Borden spent the last two years working at Minnesota’s St. Olaf College, helping to design their film program. To her, the film program at PSU is in a great place with the people they’ve hired over the past few years. “It’s an amazing opportunity to be in on the ground floor of a really interesting and innovative program that we’re designing,” she said. This term, Borden is teaching “Understanding Movies,” the main introductory class for
film majors, and “Film History I,” a class that focuses on the pre-studio era in the U.S. “We’re looking at the way that [films] were this popular amusement that started in New York with nickelodeons, where you can pay a nickel and watch a movie,” Borden said. “And how it has become this huge institution that really grounds the California economy up until this day.” Next term, Borden will get closer to her specialty by teaching an elective on silent films. Borden has traveled around a lot and lived in a number of
different places, but really enjoys being here in Portland. “The West Coast’s got this vibe that I really dig,” Borden said. Her wife lives in California, so Borden jokes that if she ever gets tired of the rainy weather here she can just go down there for a couple days. Borden said that, for students, writing is undoubtedly the most important thing to learn to do in college. “Take care with your writing, and understand that it’s going to take multiple, multiple drafts to get what you want out of your writing,” she said. She enjoys leading her classroom as part lecture and part discussion. If students have questions, they are encouraged to speak up. “I like to run my class as a seminar as much as I can with 40, 50 or 100 students,” Borden said, adding that the discussions are always very interesting conversations.
*Block Talk correction In the Thursday, Oct. 25, Vanguard Block Talk column, a reporter attributed a quote to Lisa Pearson. The photo and comment belonged to Amelia Nordlund, another student interviewed at the time. We apologize for the error.
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VANGUARD •• Thursday, THURSDAY,OCTOBER TUESDAY, JANUARY Nov. FEBRUARY JANUARY 1, 2012 10, 25, 26, 2, 2012 2011 •2012 ARTS •• •OPINION OPINION &ARTS CULTURE & CULTURE
ARTS & CULTURE
EDITOR: Louie Opatz ARTS@PSUVANGUARD.COM 503-725-5694
Racial segregation in modern America Author Albert Camarillo speaks at PSU Whitney Garcia Jacobson Vanguard Staff
Dr. Albert Camarillo, president of the Organization of American Historians, is giving a lecture tonight at Portland State on racial segregation. His lecture, titled “Segregated Life in U.S. Cities—An Era of Racial Borderlands,” is especially relevant to the demographics of Portland. While racial segregation may not be the first topic of interest to many college students, this event is valuable because it illuminates the tensions that exist throughout the country and the Pacific Northwest. “I think racial segregation is a really present issue,” Melissa Iglesias, the recruitment coordinator for the student group Las Mujeres, said. “A lot of people have the common notion that racism doesn’t exist and that we’re over that and it’s not as prevalent as it used to be, but it’s present in school and colleges and all types of situations.” Camarillo studied segregation at Stanford University and collected numerous awards for his teaching and research. Camarillo is renowned for being able to clearly present largescale issues of trends that are helping to reshape communities. Camarillo has done many studies on urban environments, both in his native California and in Pacific Northwest communities such as Portland. Portland is certainly no stranger to discussions of racial segregation, as anybody who has
Historian and author Albert Camarillo examines how “racial borderlands” persist in the U.S.
COURTESY OF Stanford Department of History
had a deep discussion of gentrification in the Pearl District or Northeast Portland’s Alberta Street will tell you. Iglesias experienced segregation when she attended a high school in which most of the students were European-American. “A lot of times, people would make comments about race and Latinos…I felt really isolated,” Iglesias said. There was a “big lack of cultural training and it correlated to the academic achievement of minority students…that’s where segregation comes in.” PSU has recently made larger commitments to addressing the needs of this changing demographic by working toward more inclusion of Latinos and other minority populations on campus. This year the university plans to hire two more professors whose focus will be on Latino studies, as well as a new editor for the Pacific Historical Review, a lead-
ing scholarly journal in Latino studies since the 1970s. “Professor Camarillo’s lecture speaks directly to PSU’s commitment to inclusion, community engagement and advancing our understanding of social change, locally and nationally,” Dr. David Johnson, a PSU history professor who helped organized the event, said. “American cities—not least, Portland—are undergoing long term shifts in their demographic and in particular ethnic makeup, and these are often difficult to understand.” “[Portland] has been [segregated] since its inception; it will be interesting to see what [Camarillo] has to say about the movement of different groups in the city,” Diego Ponce, a senior and University Studies peer mentor working with Johnson, said. The importance of cities is vital to Ponce. “I live in the city,” Ponce said. “Cities are
where a lot of different cultures come together and have to find ways of interacting either by segregation or cross-cultural interaction.” Even for those who are not aware of Portland’s deep history of discrimination, this lecture is sure to generate discussions of Portland’s past, as well as where it may be headed in the future. “Lectures can be spaces to build conversations that will circulate in our classes, the rest of our PSU campus and beyond,” Dr. Patricia Schechter, PSU history professor, said. “[It’s] a chance to build a bit of community and to connect in fresh ways.” What can an attendee hope to gain from the lecture? “Students and others in the audience will gain a deeper appreciation of the dynamic rather than fixed makeup of the American people— where they live, their ancestry, race and ethnic identification, and, in general, their common and divergent traits, interests and aspirations,” Johnson said. Camarillo’s lecture tour coincides with the release of his upcoming book, Mexican Americans and the Changing Landscapes of Cities: The Urban Borderhoods of America, to be published by Oxford University Press in spring 2013.
Portland State’s Friends of History presents Segregated Life in U.S. Cities—An Era of Racial Borderlands Thursday, Nov. 1, 5:30 p.m. Lincoln Hall, room 75 Free and open to the public
Arts & Culture • Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012 • VANGUARD
Dream world Meek Mill releases major label debut Louie Opatz Vanguard Staff
After a three-year wave of success that featured number-one albums from Rick Ross (Deeper than Rap and Teflon Don), Wale’s successful reboot, Ambition, the eclectic but entertaining crew-rap compilation, Self Made Vol. 1, and Ross’ monster Rich Forever mixtape, Maybach Music Group has hit a rough patch. The second Self Made installment, released last June, scored a minor hit with “Bag of Money” but didn’t leave a lasting impression. The album relied on Omarion to handle crooning duties (it did not turn out well), lacked memorable hooks, and the Lex Luger-lite production and half-hearted barks from Rozay did not cohere into anything worth multiple listens. But Self Made Vol. 2 was merely the appetizer. The main course—the epic, gold-studded entree of the MMG empire—was Ross’ God Forgives, I Don’t, which he compared to, in no particular order, Doggystyle, Inglorious Basterds, Ready to Die, and Scorsese. God Forgives had its charms (the Andre 3000 jam “Sixteen,” “3 Kings” and “Amsterdam”) and its embarrassments (I get the willies from even typing “Diced Pineapples”), but overall it underwhelmed. Ross followed that up with his most recent mixtape, The Black Bar Mitzvah, the cover of which features Ross’ fur-clad torso emerging from a golden Star of David. The cover is the best part of the mixtape, by a mile. Let’s just say MMG, the so-called “untouchable empire,” looks mighty touchable, and the fate of the empire, at the moment, rests on the shoulders of Meek Mill.
COURTESY OF Warner Bros.
Meek Mill seeks to break MMG’s recent losing streak with Dreams and Nightmares. Mill rapped his way from Philadelphia’s rap underground to Ross’ record label on the strength of his Flamers mixtapes. Since signing to Maybach in 2011, Mill has been on one hell of a run: He scored two smash records, “Tupac Back” and “Ima Boss,” on Self Made Vol. 1, and his most recent mixtape, Dreamchasers 2, notched 1.5 million downloads in its first six hours and crashed DatPiff.com—the hallmark of hip hop success in 2012. “I did it without an album, I did shit with Mariah,” Mill declares over a soft piano twinkle in the intro to his debut album, Dreams and Nightmares, (out this week on MMG/Warner Bros. Records). And he’s right: Mill, more than anyone, exemplifies the oddity of today’s rap market, where well-produced, feature-heavy, free mixtapes push rappers into the Hot 100 years before they’ve released proper albums. The debut rap album, the album proper, carries absurd pressure. Young MCs are constantly striving for something canonical, their very own
Illmatic or Reasonable Doubt. The debut rap album must not be simply a collection of songs, it must tell a story and resonate for years to come. In prerelease interviews, Mill has mentioned the “concept” of the album, which is thoroughly spelled out in the record’s title: There is duality in life, a good and a bad side to everything. This is not an earth-shattering declaration and, worse for Mill, Kendrick Lamar released an instant classic just last week (good kid, m.A.A.d. city) that covers similar thematic ground. The already-high bar was just nudged a bit higher. The first track, the aforementioned titular intro, attempts to distill this dream/nightmare duality into a single track. The first minute-and-a-half features a pensive, major-key piano run while Mill waxes nostalgic about all the cars he’s bought and the positives that rap stardom has wrought. At the 1:36 mark, the unmistakable “Maybach Music” tag drops, and the song drastically switches gears. Tone the Best Bully’s beat grows ominous at once, and here we have it: the Mill we’re used to, all bluster and bravado barking over the beat. As a rapper, Mill’s vocal range stretches from intense to buck wild. There’s not much nuance in his delivery. After the forgettable “In God We Trust” comes “Young and Gettin’ It,” the first track from frequent Mill-collaborator Jahlil Beats (“Ima Boss” and “Burn”). The song, one of the album’s first two singles, features a half-awake Kirko Bangz and an Auto-Tuned Mill rapping over handclaps and sirens. Like so many recent MMG singles, the song never comes together and the hook grates. “Traumatized,” the album’s fourth song, shows more restraint. Boi-1da’s drums hit hard when he wants them to, but he knows better than to let them overwhelm Mill’s story. Mill squeezes references to both Shawn Marion and Darius Miles into the four-minute ballad—a feat topped only by Ross’ hook on the next song, “Believe It,” where
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the boss manages both a Miley Cyrus and a Justin Bieber mention. “Maybach Curtains,” which boasts features from Nas, Ross and John Legend, plays the part of mid-album epic adequately. It’s got some super-sexy saxophone, a Biggie callback from Mill (“birthdays was the worst days”) and a laid-back outro verse from Ross. The seventh track, “Amen,” is the album’s best, which is unfortunate—it’s the only song on Dreams and Nightmares that Mill has already released. KeyWayne’s unstoppable keyboard line brings buoyancy that the album sorely misses: It’s the first whiff of something “upbeat” on Dreams. Mill brings his characteristic intensity to even this laidback summer jam, opening the track with “Bottle after bottle, drink until I overdose,” which, though not exactly what you want to hear at your next house party, is one hell of an opening line. “Amen” features Jeremih and Drake, and the latter delivers one of his better verses of the past couple years. Freed up by the playful beat, Drake doesn’t need to pretend to be hard and can be his fun-loving Degrassi High self. The remainder of the album has its highlights— “Young Kings” is another standout, and Mary J. Blige shows up for “Who You’re Around,” which is at least notable—but it gets weighed down by the dependence on minor-key dirges and Mill’s repetitive lyrics. After “Amen,” Mill just doesn’t seem to be having any fun. You would be forgiven if, like this listener, you threw on “House Party” as soon as getting through Dreams and Nightmares. Mill can kill a single, but hearing him slog through nearly an hour of doom and gloom made me want to mix him a drink and tell him to just chill out for a minute. He’s supposed to be living the dream, too, right?
Meek Mill Dreams and Nightmares (Maybach Music Group/ Warner Bros.) Released 10/30/12
Lift up your (funny) voices! The Oregon Jewish Museum sets the stage for female comics Becca Cotton Vanguard staff
Among the multitude of reactions one can have to art, a tear of laughter can be as powerful as a tear of sorrow. From Oct. 17 to Feb. 17 the Oregon Jewish Museum will host the long-running exhibition, “Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women.” This event, having been displayed in museums from San Francisco to New York, showcases the diversity of an often-overlooked group of artists while giving a voice to their lives in a creative, funny manner. “Graphic Details” was conceived when Sarah Lightman, an English graphic artist, saw an article about autobiographical art by Jewish women. She contacted its writer, Michael Kaminer, and together they turned paper into project. “It kind of turned into a life of its own from there,” Kaminer said. “The message of the project is really about the artists. I think the women in the show deserve massive attention and acclaim.” Lightman says that once they began searching for artists to put into the exposition, the requests came pouring in; five artists became 18 in a very short time. “Its amazing how it fell into place,” Lightman said. “I’d been drawing for 10–15 years and never had the opportunity to meet people who did similar work, and seeing Michael’s article I thought, ‘Wow, that’s the stuff I’m interested in.’”
Corinna Scott/VANGUARD STAFF
Comics on display: The walls of the Oregon Jewish Museum are lined with artwork from its current exhibit, “Graphic Details.” The collection opened Oct. 17 and runs through Feb. 17. The art featured in “Graphic Details” is largely autobiographical. In a comic-centered culture mostly participated in and controlled by men, the women are able to use their unique experiences to create a new twist on graphic art. The 29 featured pieces focus on vulnerability, strength, love and life in general for the artists. “Divorce, miscarriages, domestic violence: These are experiences common to many women,” Lightman said. “It’s kind of a fringe art group, but maybe people feel like it’s a protected space where they can tell their stories.” In addition to gender identity, the artists’ religious and ethnic connection are other facets
of their work. Famous Jewish comics such as Woody Allen and Joan Rivers are known for their raw observational humor, and “Graphic Details” succeeds in giving a stronger voice to those who wish to follow similar paths. “Because the thread is their Jewishness, it’s also been fascinating to explore how this all fits into a larger cultural narrative,” Kaminer said. “It’s a privilege for me to help bring their work to an even wider audience and to showcase their amazing art and points of view.” “When I think of Joan Rivers with her generally dysfunctional humor, it’s rather like a tradition for Jewish women’s humor. Some of it is
very sad, but also funny, and you see the genius in it,” Lightman said. Another element that sets the exhibition apart is the simple act of putting comics and graphic novels, long considered separate from fine art, into a museum and showcasing it as such. Comics are generally given space on the back of newspapers, not elegantly displayed alongside a Van Gogh. Portland has gained a reputation for supporting unique artists, and for Kaminer and Lightman, the Rose City is a good place to set up shop. “The creative community in Portland is so vibrant, and there’s a comics scene that’s really energetic. The Oregon Jewish Museum did a beautiful job of mounting the show,” Kaminer said. “We also got an enormous amount of press here,” Lightman said. “Everyone was saying, ‘Why has no one made this expo before?’ It’s very exciting.” In addition to graphic art, visitors to the gallery will be able to see some original sketches and prints by the artists. Kaminer and Lightman wanted to lend an air of authenticity to the project by inviting dialogue over the definition of fine art. “One thing I really want people to know is that comics aren’t considered fine art, but you see the original drawings and they are just so beautiful,” Lightman said. “You say, ‘Wow, this really is art!’”
Portland Jewish Museum presents “Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women” Oct. 17, 2012–Feb. 17, 2013 1953 NW Kearney St. $6 adults; $4 students
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VANGUARD •• Thursday, THURSDAY,OCTOBER TUESDAY, JANUARY Nov. FEBRUARY JANUARY 1, 2012 10, 25, 26, 2, 2012 2011 •2012 ARTS •• •OPINION OPINION &ARTS CULTURE & CULTURE
Greek culture for all Students with families invited to explore Greek culture at Portland Art Museum RaChelle Schmidt Vanguard Staff
If you are a student who is also raising a child, you know how hard it is to find time to relax while juggling school, homework, a job and family time. It can make you crazy and leave you too exhausted to think about something as seemingly silly as actually enjoying yourself. However, if you are interested in taking a little break and taking in some amazing culture you will want to check out “An Evening of Greek Mystique,” hosted by the Resource Center for Students with Children and the Portland State Hellenic Studies Program. Parents and children are invited to take a group walk to the Portland Art Museum and take part in the museum’s Free Museum Family Day event, part of the museum’s exhibit “The Body Beautiful.” This exhibit promises to be a fun and dynamic celebration of the art and culture of ancient Greece. The museum’s Beth Heinrich said that parents and children will “learn the myths of ancient Greece, as well as the monsters, the athletes and the games.” There will also be art-making, storytelling, artist demonstrations, musical performances, “and as an added bonus, members of the Portland Timbers are scheduled to stop by to talk about training healthy bodies and what life is like as an athlete,” Heinrich said. Anne McClanan, director of Hellenic Studies and a professor of art history at PSU, came up with the idea for the event. The program began in December 2011 as a “home on campus for the study of Greek cul-
COURTESY OF Portland Art museum
Drop it, drop it low, girl! This 1957 Picasso lithograph, La Danse des Faunes, is on display at the Portland Art Museum as part of “The Body Beautiful” exhibit. ture, both ancient and modern,” McClanan said. Over the last year McClanan and other faculty members in the Hellenic program have been searching for ways to partner with other departments and centers on and off campus. McClanan came in contact with Stephanie Parrish of the museum, and the two decided to work together to find a way of providing PSU students greater access to “The Body Beautiful” exhibit currently being shown at the museum. The exhibit features more than 120 priceless objects from the British Museum’s renowned
collection of Greek and Roman Art. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get to see these amazing pieces,” McClanan said. Classic sculptures, vessels and jewelry are among the iconic pieces on display, some dating back to the second millennium B.C. After learning of PAM’s upcoming family event, McClanan realized it would be a great opportunity for students with children to attend, so she reached out to the RCSC. The resource center, which was formerly Student Parent Services, just moved into its new home in Smith Memorial Student Union last
July. The mission of the center is to promote a family-friendly campus through networking, activities and support within the PSU community, and this event is one of many they have scheduled this year. The resource center exists to provide support and services to students who are raising children. Nneka Hall, who is coordinating the event through the center, said that the response to this event has been outstanding, with nearly 60 adults and children signed up to participate. “But there is still room,” Hall said, “and we are continuing to receive interest in the walking ‘field trip’ to the museum.” In addition to “An Evening of Greek Mystique,” the resource center also has other events coming up for student who are parents and caregivers to children, notably “Kids Night Out,” which will take place during finals week. It’s an “opportunity to drop the kids off for a few hours, and for the parents to go do some Christmas shopping, relax or even have a date night,” Hall said. The center offers small luxuries that students who are raising families have difficulty making the time for. They also offers services and programs, including a family resource center, a lending library, various child care resources and assistance and individual consultations. It’s no secret that the life of a student presents its own set of challenges. When you add to those challenges the responsibility of taking care of children, it can become overwhelming. Luckily there are groups like the RCSC and the Hellenic Studies Program working together to ensure that a wide variety of events are being offered to campus families.
PSU’s Resource Center for Students with Children and the Hellenic Studies Program present “An Evening of Greek Mystique” Sunday, Nov. 4, 3 p.m. Please RVSP: 503-725-5655 or nneka@pdx.edu
The art of ‘living sculpture’ Mark Vossbrink brings penjing to PSU Tamara Alazri Vanguard Staff
Penjing is “a living antique and a living art, a painting and a living sculpture,” Mark Vossbrink, a bonsai expert and member of the Bonsai International Club, said. “This is what I hope to portray when speaking at the university.” On Nov. 3, Vossbrink will get the chance when he speaks at PSU’s Urban Studies Building. He will share his knowledge of penjing and provide detailed demonstrations on perfecting the art, including “Timeless Trees” and “Potted Landscapes.” (The more wellknown term bonsai is the Japanese translation; penjing, the Chinese. Penjing literally translates as “tray scenery.”) Volunteers from the Lan Su Chinese Garden have orchestrated this event in hopes of continuing education, community development and social networking. Many of the garden’s volunteers attend and participate in the monthly lectures. Also in attendance will be the Chinese Cultural Group and the Northwest China Council. Vossbrink will show photographs of his recent trip to China and explain how the art form remains relevant in modern times. “After the September 11th tragedy, there was this Chinese artist who used bonsai as a way to redo the twin towers and the New
COURTESY OF Bonsai Tonight
Middle earth got shrunk, yo! Bilbo Baggins was delighted to find that his “unexpected journey” just got a lot shorter. York skyline, using little stones that mirrored skyscrapers,” Vossbrink said. This is more or less how penjing has become modernized. When penjing first originated in China, it was strictly an activity that scholars participated in because it was accessible to them. The wealthy wrote poetry and music, collected rocks and practiced the art of penjing. As China began to change, people soon realized the value and growing opportunity
to make money within the art form. “The Chinese have been practicing this ancient tradition for 2,000 years, and it’s something that Westerners were not familiar with until World War II,” Vossbrink said. As a child, Vossbrink travelled with his family to Hawaii, where he became interested in ancient artistic traditions. Growing up with a Japanese grandmother, Vossbrink felt connected to the art form, understanding its
sentimental value and developing an appreciation for it. After residing in Portland for a number of years, Vossbrink explains why Oregon is the perfect place for attracting people to start nurseries. “Living in the Northwest, we have an advantage with our wet climate, the mountains and the ocean. These things draw much inspiration into the art of penjing,” Vossbrink said. Bonsai and penjing are attracting worldwide interest, drawing people from many different countries. During his trip to China, Vossbrink attended a convention for the art form where people from South Africa, India and Asia were in attendance. Vossbrink is also the owner of Rainyday Flowers in Portland, and teaches penjing to senior citizens in his spare time. “Working with nature creates much-needed therapeutic value, and if we can build miniature landscapes, we can relieve stress,” Vossbrink said.
The PSU Institute for Asian Studies and the Portland Lansu Chinese Garden present “Penjing Beautiful: Living 3-dimension poetry,” a demonstration by Mark Vossbrink Urban Studies Building, room 250 Saturday, Nov. 3, 9:30 a.m. Free and open to the public
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VANGUARD •• Thursday, THURSDAY, Nov. NOVEMBER 1, 2012 10, • OPINiON 2011 • SPORTS
OPINION
EDITOR: Meredith Meier OPINION@PSUVANGUARD.COM 503-725-5692
Nobel what prize? 2012 award is a joke Everywhere and Here Eva-Jeanette Rawlins
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elson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King Jr. have one thing in common: They’re all recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize. Among the accomplishments of just those four, the prize committee cites “the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime,” the “nonviolent struggle for democracy and human rights,” “a lifetime devoted to the destitute” and “the spearheading of the civil rights movement of a nation.” If it were possible to invite to a dinner party every recipient since the prize’s 1901 inception, the number of inspiring, selfless, selfsacrificing and world-changing stories they could tell would take hours, if not days. Which is why this year’s award announcement hit the floor with a heavy thunk, leaving many people asking, “huh?” The 2012 Nobel Peace Prize went to the European Union. Many hoped that the 2009 embarrassment of presenting President Barack Obama with the prize—for what he was hopefully going to do— was a one-off debacle, but then came this year’s announcement. With it, the question “Could it get any worse?” was answered with an emphatic “Yes!” In what universe is the EU—a group of countries using the same currency— placed in the company of Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel, who, in the words of the Nobel Committee, “is a messenger to mankind…one of the most important spiritual leaders and guides in an age when violence, repression and
racism continue to characterize the world”? If there were already fears that the prize was regressing into irrelevance, this latest news only heightens them. It’s not like other groups haven’t received it in the past, but when you look at which ones, you see Amnesty International, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War or the Red Cross. Those make sense. The promotion of peace is the very reason they exist. What exactly did the EU do that was so remarkable? The official statement was: “The union and its forerunners have for over six decades contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.” If that sounds a bit vague, it’s because it is. The committee’s press release describes how “the EU represents ‘fraternity between nations’ and amounts to a form of ‘peace congresses’…[which are] criteria for the Peace Prize.” Essentially, it’s arguing that because a nation’s membership in the EU is contingent upon a commitment to democratic government, the union’s mere existence has led to the spread of democracy and progress since World War II. Nations behaving and getting along is fantastic, but isn’t that what they’re supposed to do? Aren’t all countries expected to seek “fraternity”? The fact that we’re singling out the EU for this behavior is a bit odd. European countries that have chosen not to join the union, such as
Norway, the birthplace of the prize, are excluded from this honor. The prize seems to celebrate the idea of the EU more than any extraordinary contribution it’s made to the furtherance of peace. Political commentator Ian Dunt observes that “The prize reflects how profoundly cut off from reality European supporters have become. It’s quite something to watch news footage of riots in Athens this week and conclude this project is promoting peace. The idea the EU is all that stands between us replaying World War II is deeply foolish.” The fact that Europe has pursued peace since the era of Hitler and Nazi Germany is undoubtedly progress, but what was the alternative? The obliteration of the German economy in the wake of the war left the country little choice but to play nice. The motivation for this was not so much peace as it was its existence and ability to thrive within the capitalist system it was forced to join. Awarding the prize to the EU as it attempts to eke its way through an embattled and limping economy looks suspiciously like encouragement rather than recognition. As the capitalist world holds its breath and trains its collective eye on the EU’s navigation through the recession, the prize represents every other government’s hope for its success, not so much its pursuit of world peace. We all wish the EU luck. But giving it a trophy for promoting peace is like giving one to Donald Trump for contributing to the integrity of U.S. politics. And I’ll leave you with that.
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Big Bird and binders full of women Given his reelection campaign, does Obama deserve to win? That’s What’s the Matter Kevin Rackham
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his time next week— barring recounts— the madness will be over, and we’ll know who our president will be for the next four years. I voted for Barack Obama, which probably isn’t surprising. But based on the campaign he ran, I’m not sure he really deserves to win. I’m not going to talk about the first debate, because that’s already been run into the ground. There have been other times when it seemed like Obama’s heart wasn’t really in the campaign. Following the debate, he didn’t go after the way Mitt Romney for the way he went back on his tax plan, nor did he expose any of the less-thanfactual claims Romney made. Instead we were treated to the hilariously over-the-top “fear Sesame Street, not Wall Street” ad mocking Romney’s promise to cut funding to public broadcasting. It was a really stupid thing for Romney to focus on, especially considering how lacking Romney’s budget platform has been in specific cuts and plans of action. Shortly after the ad’s release we were treated to will.i.am’s remix of the Sesame Street theme song during Obama’s appearance at Ohio State University. And the Obama campaign spent an entire week going after Romney’s Big Bird comment. What was the point? Kids don’t vote, and I can’t think of anyone else who feels passionate enough about Big Bird to let
the issue sway his or her vote. They may have gotten some concerned parents, but there are much bigger fish to fry. This is a serious election, and I really want the right person to end up in office. The economy’s still awful, we’re supposed to be out of Afghanistan during the next president’s term, universal health care is at stake and the Republican Party has been going after women’s reproductive rights in a really disturbing way. It hasn’t been treated like a serious election by the Obama campaign, though, and Romney wouldn’t handle any of the issues I just mentioned in a way I’d agree with. Rather than focusing on sound bites and gaffes, Obama should have focused on whether Romney’s plans will work, or whether Romney even has plans. The tax and budget plan hasn’t been verified by actual numbers or real math, and Romney has continually changed his mind on abortion, the economy and health care since his campaign began. He should have been taken to task for these things, but he hasn’t been. Obama seems to be losing ground in the polls (not that the polls have been anything close to uniform this year) and not because Romney’s been running a great campaign. Romney’s campaign has been offensively pandering, and the “47 percent” comment should have swamped him a lot more than it did.
The Obama campaign hasn’t taken any of the bait. Not that it should have been a more negative campaign—there are just so many things Romney should have been called out on that slipped by. Obama finally started holding Romney accountable in the last debate, but I’m worried that it wasn’t soon enough. I’m voting for Obama because I am actually satisfied with the last four years. We haven’t made the ideal amount of progress, but we’re doing better than we would have with John McCain, and the economy is making a recovery. But neither Obama nor his campaign has done a good job convincing other people of that. Many Americans lost faith in the president, or didn’t have any to begin with, and they haven’t been given much reason to change their minds. It took Bill Clinton to point out that Obama has actually enacted useful student debt legislation, and that should have been one of the first things they focused on since students were one of his most supportive demographics in 2008. It took Joe Biden to start fact-checking and getting on specific policy points during the debates. It’s been a really long election, and I’m nervous to see how it ends. Samuel L. Jackson’s “Wake the Fuck Up” ad went viral the day it was released, but it wasn’t directed at the right people. Maybe Obama was too busy actually being president to bother running for the office this year, but I sure hope that doesn’t come back to haunt him.
OPINiON • Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012 • VANGUARD
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Point/Counterpoint Student health insurance
Ensuring financial distress
Reconciling the cost Student health insurance changes create peace of mind and healthy bodies
The problem with PSU’s new student health plan Linus Peaceable Inkpen Heather Jacobs
I
t’s two weeks into summer break, and you’re stoked. You’re caught up on your beauty sleep and your laundry. Tonight you’re going out, and you plan on rocking the house at your favorite venue. You’ve got money to spend and a sober cab to take you back home when the night is through. You’ve got this one mapped out. Unfortunately, what you didn’t plan on was the pile of vomit that you stepped in while making your way into the club, causing you to fall and break your ankle. The high heels that looked so good earlier in the evening are now your express ticket to pain city.
Rest assured that recent changes, while initially uncomfortable, aren’t get-rich schemes generated by the administration; rather, the changes are meant to offer students more bang for their buck.
Instead of going home in a cab, you’re taking a one-way ride to the nearest hospital in the back of an ambulance. Because it’s summer and you’re a student, you have no insurance. Welcome. You just joined the ranks of countless Americans who find themselves uninsured. But wait: It’s a new academic year and a new insurance policy. You needn’t go through ordeals like this. Now, thanks to recent changes in Portland State’s student insurance policies, you’re covered regardless whether you are enrolled in classes or taking the summer off. Changes such as this come with a cost.
Recently, students have noticed a hefty increase in the cost of their student insurance plan. Compared to the previous cost of $444 per year, the current price tag reads $1,680 per year, a huge increase that’s left students grumbling in the halls and secretly suspecting the school of some devious plan meant to line the coffers of the university. Rest assured that recent changes, while initially uncomfortable, aren’t get-rich schemes generated by the administration; rather, the changes are meant to offer students more bang for their buck. “Changes were long overdue,” said Angela Abel, marketing and communication coordinator at PSU’s Center for Student Health and Counseling. Each year, PSU receives a loss report. These reports showed that students were using their plans and receiving more benefits than their plans were intended to provide, creating what Abel coined “a death spiral,” a no-win situation for everyone. When this happens, insurance companies end up paying more—and so do students. To compensate for their losses, insurance providers raise rates. Unfortunately, these rate increases aren’t accompanied by coverage increases. In an attempt to remedy the situation, administrators began the process of finding a better policy for PSU students. After receiving quotes from various companies, it was determined that Aetna was the best provider, and for good reason. Benefits accompanying the new plan are innumerable. For instance, perscription coverage: Atena will still cover your prescription costs after a co-payment of $20 for generic drugs and up to $40 for name brands. Birth control is 100 percent covered. This change amounts to huge savings for students while also providing peace of mind. Now, if you get sick, you needn’t decide between a visit to the doctor or paying your rent. You can do both. Pay
your rent. Go to the doctor. In fact, your new policy wants you to be healthy, which is why preventative medicine is also covered. Proponents of the new plan contend students ought to have a choice in deciding if they want health coverage. In an ideal world, maybe, but by choosing to attend PSU you automatically agree to certain requirements. As a student you are required to carry insurance. Period.
Many parents are choosing to enroll their children in PSU’s health plan because it costs them less while providing better benefits. —Angela Abel Marketing and communication coordinator at PSU’s Center for Student Health and Counseling
However, unlike the previous plan that students couldn’t opt out of, now students have a choice. If you have a better plan, you can decide to forgo PSU’s coverage in favor of your previously existing policy. If mom and dad’s policy has you covered, you’re set. However, according to Abel, “Many parents are choosing to enroll their children in PSU’s health plan because it costs them less while providing better benefits.” Still, other critics suggest that students, for the most part, are young and healthy and don’t need this kind of coverage. I hate to break it to those naysayers, but the reason we have insurance is to protect us from the unforeseeable. No one knows the future, and unfortunately we’re all vulnerable to mishaps. Achilles had his heel, and you may have an evening out that lands you in the hospital. As a student at PSU, you are currently covered, so no worries. Now go out there and be healthy, have fun, rock the house and break a leg.
The Emphatic Observer Rabia Newton
S
ome Portland State students were surprised to find their tuition bill a bit higher than usual this quarter. Well, actually, a lot higher than usual. This sharp increase is mainly owing to the school’s new extensive student health insurance plan, which provides comprehensive coverage in place of the minimal benefits provided under the old policy. Any student taking five or more credits is automatically enrolled in the program, but does have the choice of annually “opting out” if he or she is covered under a comparable plan. I happen to be one of these lucky few and was able to waive the exorbitant insurance fee by filling out a relatively simple electronic form. Many others weren’t so fortunate. Before the start of the term, nearly 6,100 students had already petitioned to opt out of PSU’s new student insurance, and more than 800 of them were denied. For the majority of our roughly 30,000 students, waiving the fee wasn’t even an option. As someone who considers herself progressively liberal, I’m hesitant to criticize anything that smacks of health care reform. But, strictly in terms of numbers like these, our new plan is concerning to say the least. The reworked health program will set PSU students back $560 dollars per term, which is an almost 400 percent increase from the old policy. Not to mention the cost for a year—$1,680—is only slightly less expensive than 12 credits of tuition—a full load for most of us. And for the ill-fated part-timers, the plan will nearly double their quarterly bill. Are you angry yet? Because you probably should be. As the largest public university in the state, PSU should be striving to make education more accessible, not less. And for some, this added cost is doing just that: creating a potentially insurmountable barrier to higher learning. Demographic trends indi-
cate that uninsured Americans are most likely to be both young and poor, a description many current and prospective PSU students would promptly claim as their own. (After all, PSU is a reasonably priced public institution, so it shouldn’t exactly come as a shock that we’re not all rolling in cash.)
The reworked health program will set PSU students back $560 dollars per term, which is an almost 400 percent increase from the old policy. Not to mention the cost for a year— $1,680—is only slightly less expensive than 12 credits of tuition—a full load for most of us. And for the ill-fated parttimers, the plan will nearly double their quarterly bill.
And, sure enough, according to a 2010 survey conducted by the Oregon University System, 60 percent of PSU students don’t have health insurance from sources other than the university. By drastically increasing the cost of tuition to cover these enhanced mandatory health insurance fees, PSU may be targeting its most economically vulnerable students. Keep in mind, too, that financial stress is one of the most oft-cited reasons for students leaving school. Actually, in an unpleasantly ironic twist of fate, this new policy may wind up benefitting the most privileged sector of the student body—those
of us with insurance from an outside provider. Under the previous plan, we weren’t allowed to “opt out” of PSU’s mandatory coverage, meaning we often paid for benefits that never got used. All of us will save a pretty penny with the option to waive the reworked program. But can I relish in these savings when some of my fellow students just lost a good portion of their rent money to this unforeseen policy change? Nope, not really. According to PSU officials, an overhaul of the student health plan has been a long time coming. They cite a few driving forces behind the recent shift in coverage, concentrating on the relative lack of benefits guaranteed under the old plan and the potentially devastating academic consequences of a major illness or emergency. Interestingly, the fact that our previous health insurance didn’t meet new federal guidelines for minimum benefits has been consistently downplayed by the administration. Dana Tasson of PSU’s Center for Student Health and Counseling frames the issues as almost entirely studentcentered: “We believe students need access to care and adequate insurance so they can maintain good health and stay in school. We don’t want them to have to make the choice between buying medication and buying a book. We also know that students are one accident away from having their entire college career derailed if they incur medical expenses.” Tasson’s logic seems sound, but I have to wonder if collectively sticking students with this major additional financial burden is actually going to help relieve stress, especially for those who struggle every term to cover their baseline tuition costs. I appreciate that PSU wants to take care of its students. But, in the end, the school cannot protect any one of us from suffering some kind of lifealtering event—not just healthrelated—that could potentially derail our academic careers. As they say, life happens. But, unfortunately, by fundamentally tethering higher education to comprehensive health care, PSU is ensuring that some students access neither. And that is a shame.
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VANGUARD • Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012 • Opinion
Your lack of faith Should atheists be held to the same standards as religious folk? One Step Off Emily Lakehomer
Daniel johnston/VANGUARD STAFF
The trials of an organic farmer Being a small fish in a big pond What’s the Big Idea Ryan DeLaureal Picture an 85-acre organic farm somewhere in Southern California, nestled between hundreds of acres of corporate oranges and avocados. Rather than the assemblyline farming of a single crop, these farmers grow small patches of fruit, vegetables and herbs by the season, shipping them out to subscribers who, each week, receive an assortment of farmfresh produce delivered to their doorsteps. This farm and many like it can be found all across the country—like islands in a sea of gigantic corporate farms. They are small and defenseless, and they supply much of the organic produce that can be found in farmers markets and grocery stores all over America. By farm standards, 85 acres is very small. Some of the biggest farms in California operate over tens of thousands of acres, relying on technology, machinery and pesticides as the means of reaping large harvests. The biggest ones ship their food in trucks all over America and in boats to other parts of the world. It may seem unfair that the two should be made to compete, and it’s why many organic farms like the one I mentioned are forced to struggle for their very existence. I briefly worked at this particular little Southern California farm, and I spent my days in the field
picking weeds with Mexican laborers, watering greenhouses and listening to avocado pickers on the hillside singing mariachi songs. Throughout the day we could see helicopters dusting the avocado trees around us with pesticide. The gigantic Sunkist orange groves across the way were heated in winter by towering machines like windmills, big white fans that would keep the trees warm enough to grow in winter. Without these, oranges wouldn’t grow on the valley floor because of frost. Small organic farms like the one I worked on supply much of our organic produce, and many of them have little means of sustaining themselves beyond the local market. They don’t have the capital to build giant heating systems or pay for helicopters. They can’t ship their vegetables to New York, and they don’t have partnerships with China or Ecuador. Small organic farmers must pay somebody to pick weeds all day by hand, and they rely entirely on the surrounding urban areas for their survival. Giant heaters and cropdusting helicopters help cheapen the cost of labor, which is why nonorganic produce is so much cheaper in the store. Bolthouse Farms, which operates on 60,000 acres in California’s Central Valley,
employs a tractor that can pick hundreds of carrots at a time. Large-scale farmers like Bolthouse are increasingly going organic, but the scale of their operations will still keep them out of the little-farms league. In the end, size and scale don’t guarantee bettertasting food. Most large farms pick their produce early to account for travel time and shelf life. The more local the farm, the fresher the produce. Small organic farms can sell to local restaurants or farmers markets, or ship their produce off to members of community supported agriculture programs, where subscribers receive weekly or monthly boxes of vegetables and fruit. Apart from this, many operate largely hand to mouth, taking in little more than they expend in cost of labor. Some of these small farms, including the one I worked on, eventually die out, facing bankruptcy and stiff competition from their corporate peers. They must sell their produce at higher prices simply because they barely manage to scrape by while paying their workers living wages. Farmers markets, food cooperatives and grocery stores like Whole Foods are the only places where small farmers can sell their food in the city. Every time you go to a farmers market, you’re supporting local growers and helping keep them afloat despite their corporate competition—and you’re getting better food to boot. So buy local and save a farm.
Over the summer I had to do something I’d never done before: come out to my mother. When I say “come out,” I don’t mean the common definition; the two of us squared with that one a long time ago. No, this time around I was coming out as an atheist. “Oh, you don’t mean that,” was her response. “It’s just a phase.” As a 20-year-old, liberal-minded young woman, I find it hard to believe that the “pfft, there is no God” beliefs I’ve held since my formative years are “just a phase.” But like they say, ignorance is bliss, especially for parents. Right now, the annual conference of the Freedom From Religion Foundation is taking place in downtown Portland. Peter Boghossian, a philosophy professor here at Portland State, was one of the featured speakers earlier this month. Boghossian’s lecture, titled “Walking the Talk,” was mainly about how atheists should be role models for the behavior they want to see in other believers. Atheists should critically examine their beliefs, just like they expect Christians to do. In saying that both atheists and Christians should examine their values and beliefs, Boghossian wants atheists to be more explicit about what exactly they believe. Specifically: What evidence would they need to start believing in God or some other form of higher being? Atheists should remain openminded if evidence should surface of the existence of a god. According to Boghossian, individuals going around with “nothing can convince me otherwise” attitudes are just as close-minded as they believe their Christian counterparts to be. While Boghossian makes a good point, making rules for atheists seems counterproductive to what it really means to be an atheist. Atheism is derived from a rejection of the existence of any deity. There’s practical atheism, wherein individuals live without believing in a god and explain natural phenomena without divine reasoning. Then there’s theoretical atheism, which consistently makes arguments against the existence of a god. Atheists don’t believe in God. If you’re in-between beliefs, or more of a skeptic, agnosticism is where it’s at. Since atheists don’t believe in a godfigure, should they be subject to the same rules and stigmas as followers of other religions?
Most of us probably have the token “atheist” friend that consistently posts antireligious, pro-atheist/evolution statements on Facebook and constantly argues with others about their differing beliefs. Honestly, that kind of behavior is just as annoying as militant Christian or insert-randomreligion-here behavior. Making any kind of generalization about any one religion is counterproductive to openmindedness. Christians (or any religious practitioners) should respect the views of others and, inversely, atheists should respect the views of those folks who practice a religion. Despite all of this, when it truly comes down to it, religious (or lack-thereof ) beliefs are personal. It’s really not up to one individual to tell others what they should or shouldn’t do. If I want to believe that God doesn’t exist, that’s my prerogative. Yes, as a college-educated individual, I should definitely have some logic to back up my rejection of the existence of a
god, and I do. But those reasons are going to remain private. Proving your devotion to atheism won’t really do anything to spread the word of logic, but it might piss a lot of people off, just like Christians who constantly shove their beliefs down our throats. Any walk of life, any system of belief is generally centered on the experience of the individual. Since atheism rejects belief and appeals to logic, it only makes sense that it should be considered extremely personal. I say that because much of our society is built loosely upon fundamental Christian beliefs. To reject faith is, in a sense, rejecting society, or at least facets of society. The late Christopher Hitchens, one of the most famous proponents of contemporary atheism, once said, “That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.” Like the quote says, if something can’t be proved, we don’t need to believe in it. Faith is personal; lack of faith is also personal. Rather than focusing on governing the personal beliefs of others, we should all just worry about ourselves. Like Nicki Minaj says, “You do you, I’ll do me.”
ETC. • Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012 • VANGUARD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Erick Bengel EDITOR@PSUVANGUARD.COM 503-725-5691
Thursday, Nov. 1
Friday, Nov. 2
Open Sports Addition Forum
Pacific Islander Club Meeting
Noon–1 p.m. Smith Memorial Student Union, room 296 1825 SW Broadway
3 p.m. Native American Student and Community Center, room 170 710 SW Jackson St.
Come to this open forum to offer your opinions on the athletic opportunities which you believe Portland State is lacking. This is your chance to pitch the idea of a new sports team to the people who can make it FREE happen.
Archaeology First Thursdays 4 p.m. Cramer Hall, room 41 1721 SW Broadway
The Anthropology Department presents Eirik Thorsgard of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde in a discussion about traditional cultural properties (places which have significant meaning to indigenous people) and how they are identified. FREE
Segregated Life in U.S. Cities: An Era of Racial Borderlands 5:30 p.m. Lincoln Hall, room 75 1620 SW Park Ave.
Join Dr. Albert Camarillo, a professor from Stanford University, for a discussion on the history of racial residential segregation in American cities during the first half of the 20th FREE century.
Meet the Pacific Islander Club every Friday at the Native Center to share in food and fun, and get connected to FREE the community at PSU.
The Human Influence: Responsibility for Novel Ecosystems 4 p.m. Smith Memorial Student Union, room 296 1825 SW Broadway
Join the PSU Socratic Society for a free seminar by Dr. Allen Thompson from Oregon State University in which he presents a model for thinking more broadly about environmental responsibility into the 21st FREE century.
Indigenous Arts and Craft Group 4–5:30 p.m. Native American Student and Community Center 710 SW Jackson St.
Come to the Native Center every Friday to work on your own Indigenous inspired craft projects. Materials for most projects are provided and FREE everyone is welcome.
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ETC.
So and Soe’s Clown Troupe Presents Eh, Things! 5 p.m. Backspace 115 NW Fifth Ave.
Backspace hosts a comedy show about the devolution of language, created by technology and told through a musical clown show written by local Portland artists. Admission is $8 at the door. For more information visit human-beingcurious.com.
John Raymond and Catherine Wagner Reading 7 p.m. Smith Memorial Student Union, room 298 1825 SW Broadway
Zombie Apocalypse: Geek out every Sunday at East Burn with their Walking Dead screenings.
Portland State’s MFA in Creative Writing program presents two distinguished writers, John Raymond and Catherine Wagner. Raymond is a local author who has written for HBO and recently released his latest novel, Rain Dragon, set in the Pacific Northwest. Wagner is known for her experimental feminist poetry and just released her latest book, Nervous Device. FREE
If you are a fan of coffee, this event is the perfect way to spend your weekend. Come and enjoy the sight, smell and taste of various kinds of coffee and learn from local experts what the differences are between them and how they are best brewed. Admission is $6–9. For more information visit worldforestry.org.
Saturday, Nov. 3
Sunday, Nov. 4
2012 Portland Coffee Fair
The Walking Dead Screening
10 a.m.–3 p.m. World Forestry Center 4033 SW Canyon Rd.
9 p.m. East Burn 1800 E Burnside St.
Enjoy a screening of The Walking Dead at East Burn with fellow fans every Sunday night. FREE 21+
An Evening of Greek Mystique 3–7 p.m. Smith Memorial Student Union, room 462 1825 SW Broadway
The Resource Center for Students with Children invites you to take a walk with them to the Portland Art Museum on the museum’s Family Free Day and enjoy art-making, storytelling, demonstrations and musical performances. Space is limited, so please RSVP by Thursday, Nov. 1. You may call the center at 503-7255655 or email nneka@pdx.edu, and your name will be added to the event FREE list.
Monday, Nov. 5
Yoshua Okon invites you to explore a series of near-sociological experiments executed for the camera which blend a series of techniques to discuss habitual perceptions of reality and truth, selfhood and morality. FREE
Meet the League of Extraordinary Women: Opening Keynote with Ellen McGirt 5–6:30 p.m. Smith Memorial Student Union, room 355 1825 SW Broadway
Ellen McGirt, senior writer for Fast Company Magazine, will give the opening keynote for the sixth annual International Conference on Business and Sustainability, which kicks off Nov. 7 and runs through Nov. 9, hosted by the PSU School of Business Administration’s Center for Global Leadership in Sustainability. The keynote speech is one of three free events taking place on campus. FREE
Thursday, Nov. 8
The Department of Theatre and Film Presents Othello Low-Cost Preview 7:30 p.m. Lincoln Hall 1620 SW Park Ave.
William Shakespeare’s Othello is set to play a preview show at Lincoln Hall. Tickets for preview shows are $6 at the door.
The Strange and Curious History of the Label “Illegal Alien”
The Performance Attendance Recital Series
2–3:30 p.m. Smith Memorial Student Union, room 228 1825 SW Broadway
Noon–1 p.m. Lincoln Hall, room 75 1620 SW Park Ave.
Dr. Evelyn Hu-DeHart examines how Asians and Mexicans were racialized as “illegal immigrants,” with Asians the first to be tagged illegal after the passage of the Chinese FREE Exclusion Act in 1882.
Portland State students and faculty and Portland community members as well as professional musicians offer live musical performances of various types at noon in Lincoln Hall.
Wednesday, Nov. 7
Art and Social Practice Conversation Series: Yoshua Okon 1–2 p.m. Field Work 1101 SW Jefferson St.
= on PSU campus FREE = free of charge = open to the public 21+ = 21 and over
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VANGUARD •• Thursday, TUESDAY, JANUARY Nov. 1, 2012 10, 2012 • SPORTS • ETC.
SPORTS
EDITOR: MARCO ESPAñA SPORTS@PSUVANGUARD.COM 503-725-4538
Get back to nature with the Outdoor Program The schedule kicks off with a whitewater kayaking trip on Sunday, Nov. 4. The deadline to sign up was yesterday, so if you missed this session, it’s something to keep in mind for next time. The price is just $35 for students, an extremely reasonable investment for a day of excitement on the water.
Eagle Creek day hike Next up is the Eagle Creek day hike on Saturday, Nov. 10, which offers a solid physical challenge along with a breathtaking view. If you’ve ever wanted to experience the beauty of the Columbia Gorge, act fast—registration closes Wednesday, Nov. 7. The fee for students is $25.
Opal Creek service trip courtesy of PSU outdoor Program
into the wild: Portland State’s Outdoor Program provides a multitude of options for anyone seeking adventure out in the elements. Events are arranged each term and prices are discounted for PSU students.
Several excursions slated for November
Crystal Gardner Vanguard staff
This month will be a busy one for the Outdoor Program at Portland State. The agenda in the coming weeks includes
Grudging respect Manager Bruce Bochy deserves World Series MVP Gino Cerruti Vanguard staff
Seeing the San Francisco Giants win the World Series was tough for me. As an Oakland A’s fan, I’ve always maintained a healthy ire toward the Athletics’ crosstown rivals, though I’ve never publicly expressed it. It’s a reaction similar to Giants supporters constantly ripping on the Los Angeles Dodgers—you just get inundated with a biased view as soon as you choose sides. There’s always an element of schadenfreude motivating a fan’s response to other teams, and I didn’t want to have to hear my friends (99 percent of whom are Giants fans) gloat about sweeping the Detroit Tigers for the next five months. After I finished watching the final showdown of the 2012 World Series, in which the Giants absolutely crushed the Tigers in four games, I sat back and tried to come up with an excuse for their success. I shouted bitterly at the TV—“It was all luck! The Tigers just rolled over! Conspiracy!”—but there was no rationale for my accusations, and eventually I came to the conclusion that the Giants are just that good. I wasn’t sure at first exactly what made them so good. The separate pieces of
whitewater kayaking, a Columbia Gorge day hike, a service trip to Opal Creek, a three-day rock climbing seminar and a weekend camping trip at Silver Falls. It’s a tremendous opportunity
off in a big way. The two unsung heroes robbed their opponents of countless hits and runs, and, perhaps due to an their team aren’t as immeincrease in confidence, ended diately eye-catching as the up hitting better during players on the Los Angeles Angels or the Texas Rangers. the series than star catcher Unlike those teams, however, Buster Posey and veteran the Giants actually made it to outfielder Hunter Pence. Two of Bochy’s favorites, the postseason, and they did former Cy Young Award it by playing as a unit. Their winners Barry Zito and Tim collective talent was a force Lincecum, had started the that the Tigers just couldn’t year with dismal numbers counteract, and it was all and had been the recipients thanks to the managerial of intense vitriol from Giants skills of Bruce Bochy. fans as a result. So it was a It’s easy to attribute the success of the Giants’ playoff surprise to many when Bochy triumphs to Pablo Sandoval, decided to start Zito against Tigers pitching ace Justin the official World Series Verlander for game one. Not MVP. He hit a ridiculous only did Zito thoroughly .500 batting average during outpitch Verlander that night, the series and cracked three but Lincecum delivered a home runs in game one superb performance with alone. He certainly deserved five strikeouts in two-plus the award, but focusing on Sandoval’s capacity to get hits innings of relief. Bochy’s other miscelonly serves to limit the attenlaneous decisions (namely, tion on the Giants’ defense and pitching, which I believe promoting pinch hitter Ryan Theriot to DH for the first are the real reasons that the time ever) continued to pay team steamrolled their way off throughout the World to a sweep. Series in ways that no one To the average baseball fan, the names Gregor Blanco could have predicted. Given their impressive lineup, the and Brandon Crawford may Tigers were significant not ring any bells, but they favorites coming in, but the both were integral parts of Giants ultimately proved that the Giants’ dominance over even the best players can the hapless Tigers. Blanco and Crawford both hit under crumble without a solid .250 this season, so it came as foundation of support. Was it luck? Some of it, pera surprise when Bochy left haps, but there is no denying them in the lineup to battle against the might of Detroit’s that the cohesiveness of the power hitters. But Bochy had Giants’ roster was the driving force behind their victory, a clear game plan—shore and they have Bruce Bochy to up the defense to freeze the thank for that. Tigers’ hot bats—and it paid
for students and community members alike to enjoy the natural wonders of the Pacific Northwest at an affordable rate.
Intermediate whitewater kayaking
Each term the program organizes a service trip to encourage awareness and involvement in nature. Slated for Sunday, Nov. 11, the project will take participants to the Opal Creek Scenic Recreation Area. The trip is free for students, but you must sign up by Thursday, Nov. 8. Participants will have the chance to become actively en-
gaged in their community by learning how to preserve the surrounding environment for generations to come.
Smith Rock climb If scaling new heights is more your style, the program is organizing a rock-climbing trip the weekend of Nov. 16– 18. Beginners and more experienced climbers are both welcome. The student price is $80, and registration closes on Wednesday, Nov. 14.
Silver Falls Thanksgiving camping trip For those planning to stay in town for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the program offers a two-day camping getaway to beautiful Silver Falls, allowing one last chance to escape before the madness of finals week begins. The cost for the Nov. 24–25 trip is $90 for students, and the deadline to sign up is Wednesday, Nov. 21. For more information, stop by the Outdoor Program offices in the Academic and Student Rec Center, room 180, or contact them at 503-725-5668 or odp@ pdx.edu.
Rip City revival Blazers look for fresh start in 2012–13 Alex Moore Vanguard staff
New team, new dream. That cautiously optimistic tagline is the official slogan of the Portland Trail Blazers this season, and it’s a perfect way to describe the mood of both the organization and its fans at the start of a new campaign. The Blazers are look-
With all that has gone wrong for the Blazers in recent memory, even the most faithful followers are understandably on edge.
ing to find their footing after the past few years of consistent disaster, and the organization is holding out hope that fans will buy into the latest rebuilding effort. But will they? The team welcomes plenty of new additions to the roster in 2012–13, and the starters will be looking for help from a bench full of unproven players. Portland will be handing the keys to the offense over to a rookie point guard from the Big Sky (Weber State University product Damian Lillard), and Terry Stotts will also be entering his first year on
the job as head coach. Sure, there’s always the chance that the Blazers will make a run at just the right time and sneak into the playoffs with the eighth seed, but it’s just as likely that they’ll finish the season below .500. Despite all of that, however, this group offers something that the Blazers distinctly lacked last season: hope. Hope that Lillard will be able to learn on the job and take control as the team’s primary play-caller. Hope that LaMarcus Aldridge will become the franchise player he is now expected to be and carry the team on his shoulders to battle for a playoff spot in a loaded Western Conference. Hope that Stotts will find the right formula for a lineup not yet accustomed to playing together.
courtesy ofcleverland.com
Taking charge: LamMarcus Aldridge leads an inexperienced team on court.
Yes, this is a completely different team. But there’s no reason they can’t be a better one.
It’s a lot to ask. No one knows for sure how well this group will play as a unit, and the Northwest Division, which includes NBA Finals runner-up Oklahoma City Thunder and a hungry Denver Nuggets squad, will be tough to deal with over a long season. With all that has gone wrong for the Blazers in recent memory, even the most faithful followers are understandably on edge. You certainly couldn’t blame them for expecting the worst, and it will be tempting to lose confidence in the team at the first sign of struggle. The important thing to remember is that even though Portland doesn’t have the obvious talent that they’ve had in the past, they don’t have the baggage, either. Yes, this is a completely different team. But there’s no reason they can’t be a better one. They’ll just need a little time. My advice to Blazers fans this year: Buy into the hype. The season will be a lot more fun if you do.
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VANGUARD • Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012 • SPORTS
Upcoming games Thursday, Nov. 1
VOLLEYBALL vs. Vikings (17-8) vs. Southern Utah University (9-17) Centurn Arena 6 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 2
Soccer vs. Vikings (9–7–2) vs. University of Montana (11–6–2) Big Sky Championship Pocatello Idaho 10:30 a.m. Forecast: High of 52 degrees, mostly cloudy
MENS BASKETBALL vs. karl kuchs/VANGUARD STAFF
Taking the lead: Quarterback Kieran McDonagh breaks away from the pack. He finished the game with 250 yards passing. Three games remain in the Vikings’ season; they play at Jeld-Wen Field on Saturday.
Vikings dominate in Davis
Sluss stymies Aggie offense in road victory Zach Bigalke Vanguard staff
A strong defensive effort in the second half was exactly the spark that Portland State football needed to shake off a slow start and trounce the University of California, Davis 49-21 on Saturday. Senior linebacker Ian Sluss was the centerpiece of the effort, singlehandedly ending four Aggie drives in the fourth quarter and finishing the game with two interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Playing their second straight road game in California, the Vikings rebounded from a loss
the week before to improve to 3-5 on the year. Freshman Thomas Carter opened the scoring on PSU’s first offensive series, rushing from four yards out to cap a five-play, 85-yard drive. But the Aggies kept the game close in the first two quarters, disrupting the Vikings offense for long stretches and controlling the time of possession. UC Davis tied the game near the end of the first quarter, putting together a 12-play, 75-yard series that culminated in Randy Wright’s five-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Soto. Kieran McDonagh reclaimed the lead for Portland State with 9:48 left in the second quarter, bursting through the middle
for a 23-yard touchdown run. The Aggies then drove down the field to even the game as Wright and Soto connected for another score. It looked as though UC Davis might take the lead after McDonagh threw an interception in the final minute of the half. The Aggies failed to capitalize on the mistake, however, missing a 50-yard field goal with four seconds left on the clock, and the teams went to their locker rooms tied at 14-14. PSU seized control immediately in the third quarter, with McDonagh finding his range in the pocket and junior running back DJ Adams leading a rejuvenated rushing attack. McDonagh finished the game
12-for-21 with 250 yards passing, and Adams, the University of Maryland transfer, led the team on the ground with 139 yards on 19 carries. The Vikings scored on their first two possessions of the half, and took a 28-14 lead into the final period. As the fourth quarter got underway, Sluss took over and turned a relatively tight contest into a rout. His first interception came as UC Davis drove inside the PSU 30-yard line, threatening to pull within a touchdown. Reading the play perfectly, Sluss stepped right in front of Wright’s pass and returned it 13 yards. Three plays later, McDonagh hit junior Justin Lilley for a 68-yard touch-
down strike that widened the gap further. On their next series, the Aggies scored on a 20-yard burst by running back Marquis Nicolis. Still up 14 points, the Vikings stalled on their next series and were forced to punt after three plays. But just as UC Davis started to harbor dreams of a comeback, Sluss picked off another Wright pass and returned it 31 yards for his second touchdown of the season. The Aggies would go on to cough up the ball on their final two possessions, with Sluss recovering both fumbles to seal the victory. The Vikings return home to face the University of Northern Colorado on Saturday at JeldWen Field, before ending the season with matchups against Montana State University and top-ranked Eastern Washington University.
Volleyball takes its show on the road Vikings to face Southern Utah and Northern Arizona Rosemary Hanson Vanguard staff
The Portland State women’s volleyball team will look to continue their winning ways as they travel out of the comfort of the Stott Center to face the Southern Utah University Thunderbirds on Thursday and the Northern
Portland had more aces than both Southern Utah and Northern Arizona.
Arizona University Lumberjacks on Saturday. The topranked Vikings (17-8, 13-1) have already clinched their playoff spot and have just three more weekends of play before the completion of the regular season. Portland had more aces than both Southern Utah and Northern Arizona when they faced off at the Stott Center back in September, but they have struggled recently on serve. The Vikings will try to regain their momentum in this week’s matchups. At 9-17 overall and 5-9 in conference, Southern Utah
sits on the cusp of playoff eligibility. The Thunderbirds are currently in eighth place in the Big Sky Conference, with the top six teams moving on to postseason play. The squad is on a three-game skid after losses to California State University, Sacramento, non-conference competitor California State University, Bakersfield and Northern Arizona. From there, the Vikings will continue on to a showdown with the Lumberjacks. Northern Arizona is third in the standings at 19-4 overall and 11-3 in conference. They battled back from a tough five-set loss at Sacramento State on Saturday to shut out Southern Utah 3-0
upon their return home on Monday night. The Vikings are coming off of home wins against Montana State University and the University of Montana last week. The Montana schools gave them a run for their money, forcing both matches to four sets and bringing out a newfound scrappiness in the Portland State squad. For head coach Michael Seemann, this weekend is all about one word—resilience. “It’s going to be a long road trip,” he said. “They’re not going to lay down and give you the win.” The Vikings have proven all season that they are more than ready for the challenge.
Vikings VS. Concordia University (Exhibition) Stott Center 8:05 p.m.
WOMENS BASKETBALL vs. Vikings VS. Warner Pacific College (Exhibition) Stott Center 6 p.m.
NBA vs. Blazers @ Oklahoma City Chesapeake Energy Arena 5 p.m.
FOOTBALL vs. Vikings (13–5) vs. University of Northern Colorado (2–6) Jeld-Wen Field 1:05 p.m. Forecast: High of 58 degrees, few showers
Saturday, Nov. 3
VOLLEYBALL vs. Vikings (17–8) @ Northern Arizona University (19–4) J.C. Rolle Activity Center 6 p.m. Jinyi qi/VANGUARD STAFF
Vikings Volleyball is 17–8.