Portland State Newspaper February 28, 2013

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Portland State University Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 | vol. 67 no. 42

Student Smoke-free challenge introduced at PSU reports offensive touching CPSO issues reminder to stay alert on campus Stephanie Tshappat Vanguard staff

The Campus Public Safety Office received a report Monday afternoon from a female student who said she was subjected to sexually suggestive and offensive touching.

The woman said the incident occurred at 12:50 p.m. on the north side of the Engineering Building located at 1930 SW Fourth Ave. The woman said the suspect restrained her while making sexually suggestive comments and rubbing against her.

The man was described as white male in his late 20s who was approximately 6 feet tall with a stocky build and a scruffy beard. He was wearing a gray stocking cap with tassels, a blue rain jacket and a green bandana at the time of the incident, the woman said.

A “timely warning” issued by CPSO requested that anyone with information about the incident contact CPSO. CPSO’s timely warning also reminded students to be “vigilant and observant of their surroundings on See Offensive touching on page 4

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Secondhand smoke on campus remains an issue outside of the Clean Air Corridor. The new Fresh Air Campus Challenge seeks to make PSU completely smoke-and-tobacco free by 2016.

Regional Fresh Air Campus Challenge seeks to eliminate smoke and tobacco on campuses by 2016 Ashley Rask Vanguard Staff

For nonsmoking students on campus, secondhand smoke can be a serious annoyance, if not a major health issue.

Even with the implementation of the Clean Air Corridor, there are plenty of other places on campus where students could be inhaling others’ smoke.

Today, federal, state and local officials will launch a Fresh Air Campus

Challenge at Portland State. They will encourage a policy to make all college campuses in Alaska, Idaho, Washington and Oregon completely smoke- and tobacco-free by 2016.

“If successful, this challenge has the potential to protect students, staff and faculty from involuntary exposure to secondhand smoke, while encouraging a social norm change that will reduce tobacco use,” PSU Vice President Jackie Balzer and Dr. Howard Koh, assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wrote in an article submitted to the Vanguard.

The announcement will be made officially at 10 a.m. in the Native

American Student and Community Center at 710 SW Jackson St. Koh and Dr. Mel Kohn, state health officer and director of the Oregon Health Authority’s Public Health Division, will speak at the event, along with Balzer, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Regional Administrator Dr. Patrick O’Carroll and a board of students.

Portland State has already taken steps toward becoming a tobacco-free campus.

“Through the adoption of the Clean Air Corridor and the recent ban on smoking in the Urban Plaza, Portland State University is building the momentum necessary to become a Fresh Air Campus,” Balzer and Koh

wrote. “The PSU process will continue to unfold and will include campus discussions.”

The CAC covers the buildings along Southwest Broadway, including Smith Memorial Student Union.

Portland State will be the first campus to sign on to the challenge, according to the article.

One reason that state and national health officials want to focus on college campuses to promote public health is because while students are in college they are more likely to begin smoking or shift to regular smoke and tobacco use from experimentation.

See fresh air on page 4

Lincoln Hall’s glass tower to exhibit performance art College of the Arts will gain attention with new 3-story structure Jaime Dunkle Vanguard staff

Passersby will get a VIP view of performing arts within the new glass tower at Lincoln Hall, which is to be fully constructed by the end of September.

Barbara Sestak, dean of the College of the Arts, is directing the construction of the beacon that will visually showcase the newly founded college at Portland State.

She said the idea for the extravagant three-story glass tower stemmed from earlier renovations to Lincoln Hall.

“As part of that process, there were new ideas for the glass tower, and we decided we wanted to fundraise for it,” Sestak said. “Lincoln Hall turned its back to the main street, and now, 100 years later, the main visual piece is on Broadway.”

PSU will save millions of dollars by using preexisting building permits. Boora Architects came up with the glass tower idea as a way to make Lincoln Hall stand out on Southwest Broadway.

Acting and dance classes will be visible from outside the transparent tower, as will a student art

gallery. Construction will start in mid-June.

Sestak said money from previous fundraising paid for construction documents and permits, and a gift from local philanthropist Arlene Schnitzer allowed the start of construction.

Lincoln Hall is growing in popularity as a performance venue, and hosted more than 17 events last year, including Chamber Music Northwest and a mayoral debate.

Dance will likely become a major at PSU again because of the dance studio on the second story of the glass tower. An acting studio will be on the top floor, and a green room will be on the first floor. A black box See GLASS TOWER on page 2

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A rendering of the glass tower to be constructed by the end of September at Lincoln Hall.

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ASPSU food pantry shelves sit bare Hungry students’ need outstrips supply

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Empty shelves in the ASPSU food pantry spurred the food drive, happening now until March 15.

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Portland State’s studentgovernment-run food pantry is looking rather bare, with no more than a dozen or so food items now occupying its shelves.

To combat low inventory, the Food Systems Task Force of the Sustainability Leadership Center is putting on a canned food drive to help supply and promote the Associated Students of Portland State University’s food pantry.

“It’s not just a food drive,” said Danielle Grondin, food systems coordinator at SLC and facilitator of the task force.

“It’s also an awareness campaign to let students know that there’s a pantry for them on campus, no questions asked.”

ASPSU’s pantry, which provides food to students in need, is supported entirely by donations.

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“It’s not just a food drive, it’s also an awareness campaign to let students know that there’s a pantry for them on campus, no questions asked.”

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Danielle Grondin, SLC food systems coordinator

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The apsu food pantry is often bare because the demand for food items exceeds the available supply.

Awareness of the pantry’s existence has continued to spread since it opened. The problem is that heightened awareness has increased the demand, said ASPSU communications director and task force member Anthony Stine.

The need is constant but the donations are not.

“We’re always accepting donations,” Stine said.

The food drive, which began yesterday, will run through March 15. Collection bins have been placed all over campus.

“The drive has a goal set at 500 food items,” Stine said, adding that he hopes to surpass the goal.

To illustrate just how constant the need for food items is, Stine referred to a food drive put on a couple of weeks ago by statistics professors.

For every canned food item donated, students received extra credit. By the end of the week, some 200 canned food items had been collected, but by the following Monday, all the donations had been used.

Liz Nichols, ASPSU’s food pantry coordinator, said the pantry has plenty of volunteers to keep its doors open, but keeping the shelves stocked has proven to be the biggest challenge.

“It’s really hard to get consistent food drives,” she said.

Organizers of the food drive said the event is not intended as a one-time solution; rather, the aim is to encourage students to continuously sustain the food pantry by spreading awareness of the need for donations.

A major theme of the food drive is social sustainability, according to Grondin. The task force seeks to bring awareness to this component of sustainability, which is often overshadowed by economic or environmental concerns.

ASPSU University Affairs Director Tom Worth said they are working toward creating a food drive process that would have a more lasting impact.

One idea now being discussed is a monthly food drive.

“In the spirit of sustainability, the ideal goal would be that people know there’s a food pantry and continue to support its cause,” Grondin said.

Glass Tower from page 1

Tower will feature acting studio, dance studio and black box theater

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theater will host performances and be used for shoots by film students.

Schnitzer donated $2.3 million for the construction of Lincoln Hall’s glass edifice.

Her son Jordan Schnitzer spoke in her absence at an event last week at PSU announcing her contribution to the project.

“This was a final financial piece, which was a little harder to raise,” Schnitzer said. “The success of Portland State is the success of our community. You can’t have a thriving, successful, healthy metropolitan area without a major humanities-based university present. We have been supportive of many programs at Portland State.”

Schnitzer said the arts are important to him because of

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what he called the “building blocks of life.” Everyone needs a job, he said, but there are other ways to be productive.

“There’s also the need to nourish one’s heart and soul, and that comes from having passion, and whether you fly fish, crochet—we happen to especially like the visual arts,” Schnitzer said.

Student Ambassador Val Holdahl is a junior at PSU. She attended the recent event at Shattuck Hall Annex announcing the $2.3 million Schnitzer donation and the induction of PSU’s new COTA. “[I don’t think] the arts program receives enough attention. This is their chance to shine,” Holdahl said. “I’m just happy I get to be a part of it.”

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Jordan Schnitzer, son of Arlene Schnitzer, speaks on behalf of his mother last week. Arlene Schnitzer donated $2.3 million for the construction of the glass tower.

Oregon campuses strive Project Start to Finish for safety in different ways gives publishing a voice Turner Lobey Vanguard staff

© eric becker

University of Oregon was the first university in the state to form its own campus police department.

Different models cater to individual university needs Stephanie Tshappat Vanguard Staff

Every college campus in Oregon has a different model for its campus security.

Is one of them right for Portland State?

Comparing the structures of public safety on other campuses may help shed some light on which model of campus public safety and law enforcement is best suited for the PSU community.

Each school has a slightly different model because of their individual requirements, said Di Saunders, director of communications for the Oregon University System.

“Each campus has adapted to their environment to meet their needs,” she said.

For example, Oregon State University has contracted with the Oregon State Police to partner with their own public safety department since 1989; the University of Oregon implemented its own firearmfree campus police department on Jan. 1, 2012; and the La Grande Police Department is located across the street from Eastern Oregon University to assist with the university’s own campus security when and if they are needed.

EOU’s situation is convenient but obviously wouldn’t work for the PSU community or the Portland Police Bureau since both organizations are already established in their own areas of Portland.

UO made the decision to form its own campus police department after the Oregon Legislature passed a bill allowing colleges and universities to create their own police departments in the fall of 2011.

UO was the first university in Oregon to take advantage of this opportunity.

UO had previously contracted with the Eugene Police Department, and was supposed to have a patrol sergeant and two police officers

on campus, but this proved to be a challenge because EPD was understaffed, said Phil Weiler, assistant vice president of strategic communications at UO. “We [started researching] and found that of Pacific-12 Conference universities, [more] than 95 percent had their own university police departments.

We were in the minority,” he said.

Once the decision was made to create a university police department, UO had to figure out what kind of service it wanted to provide.

“Policing a college campus is different than policing in the broader community,” Weiler said.

“Policing a college campus is different than policing in the broader community.”

Phil Weiler, UO assistant vice president of strategic communicating

The issue of arming UO’s police officers is still under discussion.

“When we requested permission to form our own police department, we specifically did not want to arm officers at that moment, and we let the Oregon Board of Higher Education know our intent was to come back at a later date to present the issue of arming officers,” Weiler said.

UO is in the process of holding a series of forums on campus for students, faculty and staff to continue the dialogue about arming police officers.

Currently, the authority of the University of Oregon Police Department is limited to UOowned property.

OSU has contracted with OSP to partner with their department of public safety for 24 years. This started as a temporary solution to an issue that surfaced in 1989, said Lieutenant Chuck Yutzie of

OSU’s department of public safety.

“The officers had been specially deputized by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office in order to be able to perform law enforcement services, but they weren’t part of the sheriff’s office,” Yutzie said. “There was a change of command [in the sheriff’s office], and since there was no control over those commissions that had been given, they were pulled.”

Intended as a short-term fix to the problem, Oregon’s governer at the time, Neil Goldschmidt, put OSP in charge of campus security at OSU, and they’ve been there ever since.

Some of the benefits of having OSP on campus include having access to the OSP crime lab and the OSP bomb squad, and if additional officers are needed, they’re just a phone call away, Yutzie said.

“It worked out so well, [the university] never thought of changing it. We have no complaints,” he said.

As far as contracting with Portland Police Bureau or OSP, Campus Public Safety Office Chief Phil Zerzan said he is open to alternatives [of transitioning to a sworn law enforcement agency] but points out this particular issue is more complex than requesting one of these agencies to contract with PSU. “PPB might not have the manpower [to dedicate to PSU], and that can cause problems with response times,” he said. “OSP would have to want to contract with PSU and their model with OSU is [simpler] because of the definitive boundaries of OSU’s campus.”

This leaves PSU with two options: having CPSO continue functioning the way it is now or forming a campus police department, Zerzan said.

“There are clearly understandable service gaps in what we’re doing now,” he said. “If we make that decision [to create a campus police department] we would train officers and equip them to do their job safely.”

Ooligan Press, Portland State’s student-run publishing company, has recently unveiled a new project that gives students and readers a behind-the-scenes look at how books are made.

The project, called Start to Finish, connects the creative product of the author with the collaborative work of the student publishing team, creating a real-world narrative about the publishing process.

By visiting the Ooligan Press website, readers can track a book’s evolution from acquisition to publication through student blog posts as each step of the process is completed.

“Each book we publish has an epic story of success behind it that exists totally separately from how well it reads or how well it sells,” said Jonathan Stark, the PSU publishing student who conceptualized Start to Finish.

“It’s the story of book publishing and all of the unexpected trials students pass [through] while learning how to make that happen. So the point of Start to Finish is to tell that story, for each book, from the perspective of the project managers who get to be with a book for each step of the way,” he added.

Aside from bringing readers behind the scenes, students at Ooligan Press who are tracking the progress of their work are given an opportunity to learn more about their own strengths and weaknesses in project management.

“For students, the benefit of Start to Finish is that it forces

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Per Henningsgaard, director of publishing, says Start to Finish benefits readers and publishing students. them to reflect on their own processes as budding publishers,” said Director of Publishing Per Henningsgaard.

“It forces them to think of their own actions as part of a story, and from there they can better evaluate whether or not their actions are positively contributing to that story, or if perhaps their actions are simply a distraction, a waste of time,” he added.

Many readers give little thought to the amount of energy and dedication that goes into making a book, so an inside look into the world of publishing could help the transforming industry, according to Henningsgaard.

“At a time when people are debating the value of the publishing industry, Start to Finish performs an increasingly valuable function,” he said. “It reminds us that each book has a story that goes beyond the words o[n] the page.

The act of publishing is itself

a story, one that is different for every book, and one that deserves to be told.”

Katie Allen, a student in the Ooligan Press program, detailed her experiences completing the production schedule of Close Is Fine, by Eliot Treichel, on the Start to Finish blog. “[C]reating relationships with so many wonderful people and watching our efforts be turned into something truly beautiful has been such a rewarding process, and everything I’ve learned and experienced through being a project manager has reaffirmed for me exactly why I’m in this industry,” Allen wrote in her final entry.

“There’s no greater feeling than holding that mattefinished book in your hands and thinking, ‘We did it.’”

Ooligan Press has several projects whose progress can be tracked in real time on the Start to Finish blog at ooligan. pdx.edu/start-to-finish.

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Fresh air from page 1

College students at high risk of beginning smoking “Most people who smoke start before the age of 26,” O’Carroll said. “Preventing the initiation of smoking in this age group is proven to work.”

According to Balzer and Koh, more than 20 percent of the 500,000 people who smoke in Oregon are between the ages of 18 and 24.

“The Surgeon General’s 2012 Report on Tobacco… notes that 90 percent of all smokers start before age 18, and 99 percent start before age 26,” Balzer and Koh wrote.

College students are at a much higher risk to begin smoking, which is why health officials deem the Regional Fresh Air Campus Challenge so important.

According to O’Carroll, smoking also remains the top most preventable cause of death in the nation.

It contributes to numerous other health risks as well.

“Research shows that regardless of age, those who stop smoking and using tobacco can substantially

reduce their risk for disease,” Balzer and Koh wrote.

“We encourage anyone who is interested in quitting to seek help with a smokingcessation program, such as the Oregon Tobacco Quit Line, or through their health insurance plans.”

Health officials hope to educate students, faculty and staff about the risks of smoking in order to get them on board with the challenge.

“There will be a lot of education about the issues,” said Molly Reece, master of public health and a Communities Putting Prevention to Work Grant project officer at Public Health of Seattle and King County. “We want them to know why tobacco is an issue.”

One of the steps health officials are taking in order to eventually get to a tobaccofree campus is publicity.

“We want to get the word out,” O’Carroll said. “With a website where you can sign up for the challenge, you can access tools and policies…it will help create a network.”

O’Carroll also wanted to emphasize the teamwork involved in the challenge.

“Although we are leading at the federal level…this is a collaborative effort with the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, American Heart Association, Americans for Nonsmokers Rights and the American College Health Association,” O’Carroll said.

According to health officials, more than 1,100 higher education systems and 60 college campuses in the Pacific Northwest have already taken the initiative to become smoke- and tobacco-free.

HHS put this policy in place to promote public health as well as protect their own employees across the nation.

“The movement has already begun,” O’Carroll said.

The end goal for health officials and PSU is to endorse the health of those in the PSU community.

“The most important thing we have in this life is our health,” Balzer and Koh wrote. “With the Fresh Air Challenge we can begin here…to improve the public health through tobacco-free and smoke-free environments.”

offensive touching from page 1

Many support services available for students and off campus,” and to call 911 or CPSO at 503-725-4404 with any concerns about their personal safety.

The warning also pointed to support resources available for students at Student Health and Counseling Services, the Women’s Resource Center and the Office of Human Resources.

CPSO Sgt. Joe Schilling stressed the importance of this advice, and said students should be mindful of observing what’s going on around

“Any time of the day or night, on campus or in the greater community, students should be aware of their surroundings.”

Sgt. Joe Schilling, Campus publc saftey officer

them and ask for help if they are in a situation in which they don’t feel safe.

“Any time of the day or night, on campus or in the greater community, students should be aware of their surroundings, and need to know they can call 911 or CPSO if they are concerned for their safety or uncomfortable in a situation,” Schilling said.

“Students need to feel comfortable asking for help in those situations. They can always reach out to people [in the area] around them by asking them for help.”

CPSO’s timely warning is available on their website, and updates and additional information about this incident will be made available there as well. CPSO’s website is pdx.edu/cpso.

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:

“How big of a problem do you think student debt is in the U.S.?”

Gwen Shaw Vanguard Staff

Aleah Stephens, 22, an anthropology senior, thinks that there is a really big problem. “I just don’t think it’s fair that you have to go into such debt just to get an education.

I kind of feel like that’s one of our basic human rights that we should be given,” Stephens said. “A lot of people are too frightened to go into debt, or don’t have the ability to go into debt, and can’t even get an education. So not only does it stop people from getting it, [but] even if you choose to get it, it still sucks.”

Sophomore civil engineering student Emily Smith, 20, said there are a lot of problems with it. “I guess it’s just because it’s a lot different than how other countries tend to do it,” Smith said. “It would be awesome to just have all my schooling paid off, instead of worrying about it. But I’m not an expert.”

Grant Kaufman, 22, a senior film student, thinks the student debt situation is really bad. “The money that we put in towards higher education for students is almost nothing. And there are students that can’t even afford to go to graduate school once they graduate from undergraduate,” Kaufman said. “It’s definitely a rough time. Our priorities aren’t going into the resources that they need to be to grow as a society.”

Junior art student Zach Lafferty, 21, believes student debt is a pretty big problem. “We spend too much money on other things,” Kaufman said. “Our tax money goes towards other things.”

Marcus Gibson, 26, a senior liberal arts student, disagreed with the others. “I don’t think it’s as big of a problem as everyone else thinks it is. I do think it’s a problem, I just think we think about it the wrong way. Everyone who goes to this school would be fine if we were taxed 50 percent of our income, as long as we got free education,” Gibson said. “But when we pay $400 a month in student loan debt, that’s basically a tax for people who went to school. It’s a debt that you can expect to take to your grave, but if you think about it like it’s a tax that you pay for only when you went to school, then it’s not really a big deal, at least to me, because I want to live in a socialized country where I pay taxes and I get to go to school for free.”

Wallack steps down as dean Duncan Ros Vanguard staff

Dean of the College of Urban and Public Affairs Lawrence Wallack will be resigning from his position at the end of the summer after nine years at PSU. Wallack has co-authored four books, penned numerous articles and won various honors and awards. As an advocate for community engagement, Wallack founded the Berkeley Media Studies Group in 1993, among others.

Wallack has been noted for such achievements as consistent student enrollment growth, increasing graduation rates and the addition of new faculty members.

He will start a sabbatical as a senior public health fellow at the Moore Institute at Oregon Health and Science University, as well as participate as a senior scholar at the BMSG in California this September.

Following his resignation as dean, he plans to dedicate the rest of his career to what he terms “developmental

origins” of health and disease by synthesizing and applying his findings within the community at OHSU, and then framing these findings in California.

Much of Wallack’s career has been devoted to alcohol and substance abuse prevention, as well as communicating these findings to the media and general public with the hope of building a supportive community. His books include News for a Change: An Advocate’s Guide to Working with the Media and Reporting on Violence: A Handbook for Journalists.

The college of Urban and Public Affairs has begun a search to replace Wallack this spring.

“As you can appreciate, I have given this decision long and careful thought, and I know that this is the right path at the right time for me,” Wallack said in a letter to faculty. “I am very excited about the future and look forward to doing everything I can to make a difference in this world.”

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PSU’s digital upgrades improve study of film Austin Maggs Vanguard staff

Next term, Portland State film students taking classes in room 331 of Lincoln Hall will see an upgrade in the way they interact with the study of film.

These upgrades include a Blu-Ray player, whiteboards, an iMac mini and 10 iPads for classroom use. Installations will take place over spring break.

“I can’t wait,” senior film major Max McPike said. “To be able to watch movies in high-definition at school is just awesome.”

For assistant professor of theater and film Amy Borden, the upgrades mean a more holistic approach to learning.

“We’re trying to create the most dynamic viewing experience for students as possible,” she said.

Borden plans to incorporate the iPads into her teaching and lectures. One of her future

in-class assignments will require students to break down a scene in a film, shot by shot, and then reconstruct it using iMovie.

“Normally, we would just look at the screen and we would say, ‘What did you see?’

But this is a much more dynamic and attractive experience,” she said.

Borden also wants to use the technological upgrades to get students more involved in the learning process and encourage students be more interactive.

“I think it’s really important that students feel a part of the process in generating knowledge and ideas,” she said. “Classroom space is a great space to have alternative modes of engaging ideas, but I think we also need to incorporate the current technology we all use on a daily basis so we bring the familiar into the nonfamiliar.”

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The new whiteboards will be used in Borden’s classes as writing stations for students to brainstorm and discuss topics more thoroughly.

“To write them forces us to confront them,” she said. “It’s important to keep in mind [that] it’s not about bringing in all of these computerized tools, but it’s bringing in a multiplicity of tools to make learning as visible as possible in the classroom.”

This is Borden’s first year teaching at PSU, and since she started, she’s been brainstorming ways to incorporate her teaching style into her classes. After she talked with other faculty members, a decision was made to move forward with technology upgrades.

Karin Magaldi, director of the School of Theatre and Film, helped budget the installations being made to room 331.

“We have to be judicious with how we spend our money,” Magaldi said. “We don’t know what we need until we know how many students we have.”

Aside from upgrades, the next goal for the room is a change to the seating arrangement. Now, the room’s seating arrangement is directed toward the front of the classroom.

“We would like the seats to be more mobile because [then] it’s easier to do group work and to reconfigure that space for a conference space or seminar space,” Borden said. “We’re still trying to figure out how that’s going to happen.”

Associate professor of film Mark Berrettini said making changes to the seating arrangement will be a long-term project because they’re still figuring out budgets and the ideal setup.

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Arts Arts & Culture & Culture • Thursday, •Tuesday, Feb. Jan. 28, 31, 2013 • VANGUARD

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EDITOR: Louie Opatz ARTS@PSUVANGUARD.COM 503-725-5694

When words collide... Right to write (to publish) The Holocaust and Genocide Studies Project presents The Secret Life of Words

Reflections on a nonfiction writing conference by a nonfiction writing student

Breana Harris Vanguard Staff

There’s a point in Isabel Coixet’s 2005 film The Secret Life of Words when a character asserts that everything is essentially an accident. It’s a fascinating statement from a story that features suicide, genocide and the act of voluntarily detaching from the world.

The statement makes you appreciate the idea that everything we do in life, from the very best to the most horrible, is not what we intended or imagined we would do because it’s not the situation we intended or imagined ourselves being in.

And for victims of unspeakable trauma, the fact that they survived is an accident as well. It’s perhaps the most difficult accident to process.

Coixet is a Spanish director, but the film takes place in Ireland and stars American actor Tim Robbins and Canadian actress Sarah Polley, who plays a Yugoslavian woman.

The Secret Life of Words screens next week as part of the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Project, a series sponsored by the Portland Center for Public Humanities.

Words is not a typical film about genocide, if there can even be such a thing. It’s primarily the story of two characters, and it paints a compelling portrait of what it means to be a survivor.

Polley plays Hanna, a partially deaf factory worker who is asked to take a vacation because her co-workers complain about her lack of social skills. On her holiday, she meets Robbins’ character, Josef, an oil rig worker who was badly burned and is temporarily blind.

“The Secret Life of Words deals with the isolation and shame of a survivor and the ways in which words can both torment and heal.”

Gregory Geokjian, PSU professor

She offers to become his nurse, probably because she can’t stand to be alone with nothing to do. Although Hanna reveals next to nothing about herself, it’s immediately clear she has been through something profound.

The scenes between Hanna and Josef are at first very stunted and uncomfortable: She refuses to tell him anything about herself, not even her real name, and even though she is helping with his bedpan and cleaning his entire body, he’s OK with making awkward sexual advances.

The subtle sexual undercurrent in the film feels much different than in many films—it’s realistic and unpleasant, even though Josef becomes more likable. There’s a decidedly unromantic feel to the relationship between them, and this movie is normally considered a love story, which I mean as a compliment.

The Secret Life of Words is slow, and in some ways it’s very odd. There’s an otherworldly child’s voice narrating portions of Hanna’s story that kind of reminded me of the cat’s voice in Miranda July’s The Future, and the identity of this voice isn’t explained.

Hanna begins to slowly come out of her shell while caring for Josef on the oil rig, and the big reveal of her horrific past during the Balkan Wars is delivered with stunning eloquence by the always amazing Polley.

Louie Opatz Vanguard Staff

© El Deseo S.A.

Bedside Manner: Sarah Polley’s Hanna takes care of Tim Robbins’ Josef in Isabel Coixet’s 2005 film, The Secret Life of Words, playing next week as part of The Portland Center for Public Humanitites Holocaust and Genocide Studies Project.

But the idea of constructing a viable romance between the two characters sometimes seems bizarre. It takes so long to fully understand Hanna’s story that there’s not enough time left to understand her transformation— which is too bad, because both actors are great in their complex roles.

Following next week’s screening at the Oregon Holocaust Resource Center, Portland State professor Gregory Goekjian will lead a discussion on the film.

“The Secret Life of Words deals with the isolation and shame of a survivor and the ways in which words can both torment and heal, even in their inadequacy to represent certain experiences,” Goekjian said in an email.

“This is not unlike the word ‘genocide’ itself, with its ‘clean’ scientific etymology that both exposes and masks the slaughter, massacre, rape, violation and inhumanity it signifies.

“The film brings together two victims of very different catastrophes: one personal, individual and explicable, and the other genocidal,” Goekjian said. “Their confrontation and interaction lead to the possibility of at least a partial understanding and even healing.”

The series of films presented by the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Project committee were chosen because they present these subjects in an unusual light, and The Secret Life of Words certainly qualifies. Julie Christie, in a cameo role as Hanna’s counselor, remarks at the end how many Hannas there are.

But the film tells an incredibly small and intimate tale of one woman instead of many.

Isn’t that the best way to understand immense atrocities? Aren’t we drawn to the personal stories of people whose lives we could easily have lived ourselves?

By comparing and contrasting Hanna’s history to that of Josef, who suffered an individual tragedy, The Secret Life of Words manages to show that all tragedies are individual, and you’d be hard-pressed to find an accident without lifelong consequences.

The Portland Center for Public Humanities presents The Secret Life of Words Part of the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Project Wednesday, March 6, 7 p.m.

Oregon Holocaust Research Center 1953 NW Kearney St.

I woke up on an apartment floor in Chinatown at 8:30 a.m. and did not feel well.

I had intended to take it easy the night before, to down some Sleepy Time tea (with extra honey), read some self-serious essay on an ecological disaster or the education gap and hit the hay. The moment of truth came after the Trail Blazers’ ignominious loss to the Lakers (kuck Fobe), when I knew that I should leave the bar and head home for my date with my magazine and teapot.

Smash cut to: int. Sassy’s­—one hour later So, no, I didn’t go to bed.

As I peeled myself off my friend’s apartment floor, I asked him to use his smartphone to find out what time Write to Publish started. He said, “9 a.m.” It was 8:45.

I headed to the MAX and waited, armed with a borrowed yellow legal pad, a borrowed pen and recently finger-scrubbed teeth. I was ready to go.

As the MAX rolled south toward campus, I did some mental arithmetic and hoped that, if nothing else, I wouldn’t be mean-mugged too hard for my conspicuously late arrival. I had received the ticket to Ooligan Press’ Write to Publish conference gratis, after all, and I did not want to appear ungrateful.

I shuffled into the Native American Student and Community Center at 9:19 a.m. To my surprise, there were still loads of people wandering about. Miraculously, I wasn’t late. (Incidentally, the NASCC is the best-looking building on campus, for my money.)

9:19 a.m., I wrote on my legal pad. Shit starts late when you’re a writer. I thanked the gods of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Thompson and all the lesser deities in the pantheon of booze-soaked scribblers.

The powers that be at Ooligan Press had, in fact, included a glorious 30-minute grace period for the beginning of the day: The doors opened at 9 but the panel discussions did not begin until 9:30. Booyah.

This year’s Write to Publish was labeled the “Non-Fiction Edition,” which is what had initially piqued my interest: Over the last four years, I’ve studied nonfiction writing in Portland State’s creative writing MFA program.

I’m slated to graduate in a few short months, after completing a 120-plus page thesis. If anyone could use some pointers about getting published, nonfiction-style, it was me. I was hoping to glean some nuggets of wisdom from writers I’d studied in class: Floyd Skloot, Lidia Yuknavitch and Kevin Sampsell.

I found a spot in the back corner of one of the two 9:30 panels. I had elected to attend “Creative Non-Fiction and Memoir: The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Other Considerations,” which featured the three names above along with authors Sean Davis, Kristy Athens, Chloe Caldwell and a lone editorial representative, Vinnie Kinsella.

About 25 conference attendees were there for the panel, which was moderated by Ooligan’s Bradi Grebien-Samkow. The discussion was convivial and wide-ranging. Many of the panelists knew each other well, and they traded war stories of the nonfiction trade spurred by Grebien-Samkow’s initial question, which asked why these writers felt like they “had to” write their stories.

Floyd Skloot, the self-proclaimed “designated old man” of the panel, spoke about the process

Daniel Johnston/VANGUARD STAFf

memoirist, fiction writer and poet Floyd Skloot delivers his keynote address at last week’s Write to Publish conference. of writing his first memoir, In the Shadow of Memory.

“I needed to recapture what I could recapture,” Skloot said, referencing the memory loss at the center of his memoir. “There was a sense of urgency that went beyond a question of choice.”

Yuknavitch, whose unflinching debut memoir The Chronology of Water was published by Portland’s Hawthorne Books in 2011, agreed with Skloot that it wasn’t a question of choice when it came to her memoir.

“My past came forward and began to haunt me, literally,” Yuknavitch said. While working on other projects, “this other kind of writing came out so I didn’t lose my mind. This chose me.”

Skloot and Yuknavitch were Write to Publish’s keynote speakers, and they were magnetic in the small setting.

Skloot, who has now written three memoirs, joked that “there’s, like, a Thursday in 1967 I haven’t written about,” and Yuknavitch discussed how once you’ve written a memoir it goes “from a ‘me’ story to a ‘we’ story.”

Sampsell, whose 2010 memoir A Common Pornography dealt with numerous childhood traumas, explained his approach to memoir writing.

“You have to make yourself the worst person in your memoir—well, you don’t have to,” Sampsell said. “A memoir can be a way to hold yourself accountable for your life.”

Skloot gave his keynote talk at 11:00 a.m. and addressed the focus of the conference, which, its title indicates, is about the publication side of the writing process.

When Skloot, who originally wrote poetry, was younger, he made it a goal to get one poem accepted per month—and did, for 56 straight weeks.

“Publication became validation,” Skloot said.

The author discussed how misguided this notion was: If he could track down all the tiny journals at all the tiny colleges that contain these embarrassing poems, he would personally tear them out, he said.

Skloot had written one particular sonnet that he didn’t want to change, despite 19 rejections.

He kept plugging away, submitting it and submitting it, until his 20th attempt proved fruitful.

After its circuitous route to publication, the sonnet has been anthologized numerous times, putting it “right up there with Shakespeare…alphabetically,” Skloot joked.

Skloot’s travails through small-press publishing offer one industry narrative. His daughter Rebecca Skloot’s efforts to sell what would become her enormous, Oprah-approved bestseller The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks provide another.

Floyd Skloot recounted how his daughter sold Henrietta to a commercial, New York Citybased publishing house, which was then sold

to another commercial NYC publishing house, which was then sold to another commer—you get the idea. Each time Rebecca’s book was sold, she was assigned a new editor, who had different expectations of or ideas for her book.

After trying to make it work, Rebecca Skloot ultimately walked away from her contract; she wanted her book published on her terms. A few years later, after publishing in The New York Times and Popular Science, Rebecca shopped Henrietta again, this time with a few more credits but a basically unchanged book proposal.

She sold the book for an advance 25 times the original and Oprah bought the film rights.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks has now appeared on The New York Times’ bestseller list for 148 weeks and counting.

Floyd Skloot’s message was clear: Some authors need the big, commercial houses and some, like himself, require the gentler touch of a university press.

“I require a looooooooot of nurturing,” was how Skloot put it during the panel. The University of Nebraska Press, which has published all three of Skloot’s memoirs, has kept them in print and kept them in its listings, despite sales that no commercial house would countenance.

“Everything that kept [Memory] from being a commercially published book are the things that are keeping it alive now,” he said.

Skloot finished his keynote address to a solid round of applause. There were a few minutes until the next panel, so I surveyed the room a bit.

Two (very unsurprising) observations: Moleskine notebooks abounded—like, seriously everyone had an especially classy one and it made me feel somehow wildly inadequate and generally un-writerly—and I was apparently the only person there without an optometrist. Note to would-be writers: Get glasses and a Moleskine notebook.

My second panel of the day, “Media and Journalism: the Devil in the Details,” was moderated by Ooligan’s director, Per Henningsgaard, and featured my adviser, MFA Director Michael McGregor, along with former Oregonian reporter R. Gregory Nokes, newspaper dinosaur Joe Bianco (sorry if that sounds harsh, but meet the guy: It’s the only conceivable way to describe him), progressive advocacy writer Kristian Williams and freelance automotive reporter Kristen Hall-Geisler.

As I sat down to begin the panel, I had a moment so meta- that Dan Harmon would have been proud: Here was I, reporter and arts and culture editor of a newspaper, taking notes for a newspaper article on a panel titled “Media and Journalism: the Devil in the Details.”

And, after writing this silly note down on my yellow legal pad, I also realized that I had misspelled someone’s name in an article that I would need to change before the next issue came out. Holy meta-, Abed!

A few minutes into the panel, I became privy

to one of the true pleasures of these types of events: hearing one panel member mangle another’s name. (It’s understandable, of course, considering that most of them have all just met each other.)

Bianco, who I will hereafter refer to as New Joysey Joe because of his delicious East Coast accent, called McGregor “Gregory” the one time he attempted his name and reverted to calling him “Professah” each subsequent time.

New Joysey Joe was a crime reporter both back East and in Portland and seems to have developed his self-conception from film noir about tough-as-nails crime reporters from out East.

A few of my favorite New Joysey Joe quotes: “I was sued twice: I always felt that if you weren’t sued, you weren’t doing your job.”

“I’m going to throw a grenade on the table: there’s no such thing as objectivity.” “I’m one of the few remaining two-finger typists.” And “Stick to the facts, none of that flowery stuff,” which prompted Nokes to reply, “But I love the flowery stuff.”

As with most discussions on journalism, this one rather quickly worked its way to the subject of The Future and The Internet and The Death of Print. McGregor noted that, though some of our venerable newspapers may be contracting or folding, industry shifts have empowered a generation of Internet writers.

“Institutions are declining while individuals are gaining more prominence,” McGregor said.

Then, in the oddest moment of the panel, New Joysey Joe jumped in, referencing “the demise that’s being quickened by our illustrious journalism professor,” with a generous heaping of disdain for God knows what—education, brick buildings, tenure. Something that a New Joysey crime reporter would hate.

New Joysey Joe’s jab elicited a “whoa,” from McGregor, who, like most of us, was taken aback by Joe’s barb.

“Newspapers aren’t going to die,” Joe said, which felt like a brontosaurus saying that meteors don’t exist or the Titanic’s captain saying he didn’t believe in icebergs.

New Joysey Joe busted out a few copies of The Oregonian and pointed out a few stories that weren’t covered by the Internet or TV, including one story on TriMet drivers operating buses while sleep-deprived. Everyone acknowledged his point, then a few people politely mentioned that, yes, these stories exist, but they are less frequent and less in-depth.

As we got close to wrapping up, Henningsgaard asked if the panel worries about the future of newspapers.

“I worry about everything,” McGregor said, which felt like as good a place as any to end the panel, so it did.

The panelists shook hands cordially and we dispersed back to the main hall of the NASCC for some free pizza, salad and pasta. I scarfed a couple pieces of pepperoni as the sun lit up the room. It was getting sunny, improbably, in the normally dark days of a Portland February.

I checked the itinerary: After lunch, one more panel, and then Lidia Yuknavitch’s keynote address which, judging from her contributions to the morning discussion, would be compelling and invigorating.

I paged through my notes a bit more, pausing at an unattributed quote (Skloot?) in the margins of my yellow legal pad.

“Publishing is for people,” the note said.

“Writing is for yourself.”

I thought on that for awhile. I got up from my chair and started mentally outlining the next section of my thesis. I think I’ve found a new way forward, I thought.

I snuck out the back door, a bit ashamed to be ditching out early on what had been an enlightening and truly successful event.

But as I stepped out into the sunny afternoon, leaving behind a building full of writers and editors, I figured that they’d understand.

I’ve got a lot of writing to do.

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VANGUARD ••TThursday, uesday, THURSDAY, TUESDAY, Jan. JANUARY OCTOBER Nov. Feb. FEBRUARY JANUARY 31, 28, 8, 2013 2012 2013 10, 25, 26, •2, 2012 2011 ARTS •2012 • ARTS ARTS ••&•OPINION OPINION CULTURE &ARTS &CULTURE CULTURE & CULTURE

Mission: Im-pop-able PSU Chamber Choir and a capella group perform pop songs Melinda Guillén Vanguard Staff

“This is the 52nd year of one of the oldest and most prestigious things a choir can be accepted to sing at, and we had never applied before this year,” said Ethan Sperry, music department professor and director of choral activities, about the annual Seghizzi International Choral Competition.

This summer, Portland State’s Chamber Choir will make its first appearance at the illustrious international competition.

After submitting an audition tape, the choir was selected to compete in the Italian competition. According to Sperry, they are one of the first American choirs to have been invited to compete in several years.

Next Wednesday, the choir will team up with PSU’s Green Note a cappella group and special guests Naomi LaViolette, Ara Gehl and Celeste Amadee to raise funds for the trip.

In their show “Storm the Mission,” these music groups and soloists will “present a mix of strange and eclectic music,” according to a press release.

Celeste Goguen, a senior majoring in vocal performance, has been involved with the choir since the start of her undergraduate career and is one of the featured solo performers.

Goguen explained her emotions once she learned of the choir’s acceptance into the competition.

“It’s really exciting, especially for it being my senior year—it will be a great way to leave the group and school because this been a really fantastic part of my life,” she said. “We’ve been

Corinna Scott/VANGUARD STAFf

choir director ethan sperry leads the PSU Chamber Choir during a recent rehearsal. The choir will perform at the prestigious Seghizzi International Choral Competition this summer. trying to go to international competitions, and now funding came through and we are able to go to this competition in Italy. It’ll be a really great experience. I’ve never performed in an international competition before, and I’m excited.”

The choir will compete in each category the competition offers, including folk, spiritual and pop music. Sperry explained the benefits the choir will enjoy by competing in Seghizzi.

“Music is not generally a competitive art form, but my students are going into a very competitive workplace as musicians,” he said. “With this competition, I think people gain both the chance to realize what we’re doing at an international standard, but also

we will gain the chance to hear 20 different choirs from all over the world.

“When you get a chance to get exposed to all of the different ways of what you want to do, it helps you grow in your own way.”

Ian Adams-Dirks, a senior majoring in music education, is the music director of Green Note, PSU’s a cappella group. He began working with them in 2010 and originally joined as a beatboxer.

Later, Adams-Birks became the director and helped create a coed group in 2011. After being asked by the Chamber Choir to perform at the “Storm the Mission” concert, Adams-Birks shared his excitement about performing.

“Green Note has always been an underdog group—nobody took us very seriously, nobody thought we had members of extreme quality,” Adams-Birks said. “But I think this is our chance to show that we are a really good group and we’ve got talent.”

The emphasis of the Portland concert is three-fold: The first goal is to raise funds for the choir’s upcoming competition; the second is to raise awareness of the music programs at PSU; the third is to emphasize the pop genre performances of the groups and soloists.

Goguen explained that the selected music is the unique aspect of the event.

“It’s going to be a very different concert than our usual choir concerts because it’s a pop concert showcasing a lot of the non-classical talent that we have at the school,” she said. “Our goal is a fundraising for the Chamber Choir, and besides fundraising we just want to showcase the other talents that we have other than the opera and classical aspects of choir.”

Sperry said this type of pop genre concert is also unique in the number of performers being showcased.

“Pop singing is normally a solo art, and there’s just a difference in sound when you hear 36 people singing together in harmonies. It’s just a richer way of approaching the same music, and not one you get to hear very much,” he said. “That’s the joy of choral music—the people are able to work together and make things happen that they couldn’t otherwise do themselves.

It’s beautiful and equally compelling.”

PSU’s Chamber Choir presents Storm the Mission Wednesday, March 6, 7:30–10 p.m.

McMenamins Mission Theatre 1624 NW Glisan St. Tickets available at mcmenamins.com or at the door

Skootch gets tech-savvy Improv comedy group adds web content to rambunctious repertoire Robin Crowell Vanguard Staff

Trolls, YouTube and Twitter bring Internet humor for your entertainment.

Skootch, an improv group featuring members of the Brody Theater, will perform a show this evening focusing on Internet culture and its nuances.

“The majority of us rose through the same series of classes together, and as we all bonded and grew together, forming a group was pretty inevitable,” said David Wester, one of the performers in the Skootch ensemble. “We’re a ragtag team of very differing sensibilities, strengths and passions, which means we cover a lot of ground in our shows.”

While the show on Thursday relies heavily on Internet content, it is also geared toward heavy audience involvement—as many of Skootch’s events are.

“We take an audience suggestion and spin an entire long-form improv show out of it.

This suggestion can be as simple as a single word or be more thorough, like a small interview with some audience members,” Wester said. “The suggestion inspires a group of

Corinna Scott/VANGUARD STAFf

skootch over: Skootch ensemble members Wynee Hu and Fox Kimmons practice for their upcoming improv performance at the Brody Theatre. scenes made up entirely on the spot.

“The different scenes are connected either by a continuing story, following some characters through their journey, or often in more subtle ways, like thematic connections,” Wester said.

“By the end, the sum of the whole is greater than the parts. It’s often funny, and since it’s all made

up on the spot it can feel a bit like a high-wire act.”

The show on Thursday will not stray from the standard format of crowd involvement.

However, the introduction of Internet media to the set will provide a new element that encourages the crowd to speak up and get in on the action even more.

“For our February show, we are going to feature an Internet- and search-engine-themed format,” Wester said. “We will take suggestions for an item to search for and will run through some of the potential results one might find on the Internet.

“A series of improvised scenes will follow, all of them inspired by these search results,” Wester said. “You may also see things like commenters, Internet trolls, YouTube videos, Twitter conversations and more pop up.”

With a low cost and close proximity to Portland State, students will find this event not just cost-effective, but also engaging, unique and a release from the monotony that is the tail end of the trimester.

“The show will be a wild ride. Our shows are fun, funny, and sometimes even touching or inspiring,” Wester said. “We’re all storytellers at heart, each and every one of us, and we have a passion for collaborating with one another before a live audience.

“It’s a lot of fun, it’s unique, and no matter what we do, it can never be repeated since it’s all created on the spot,” Wester said. “It’s theatrical chaos theory.”

The Brody Theater presents Skootch Improv Group Thursday, Feb. 28, 7:30 p.m.

16 NW Broadway Tickets $6

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OPINiON • Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 • VANGUARD

VANGUARD •• Thursday, THURSDAY, Feb. NOVEMBER 28, 201310,• 2011 OPINiON • SPORTS

OPINION

EDITOR: Meredith Meier OPINION@PSUVANGUARD.COM 503-725-5692

Would you like to buy cookies for equality?

The 9-to-5 campus: PSU needs more than just housing

Religious groups condemn Girl Scouts, claiming the organization supports pro-abortion efforts Conversation Nation Megan Hall

I Janieve Schnabel/VANGUARD STAFf

In praise of nerd-dom Portland’s Comic Con shows why nerds are awesome Concepts and Commentary Janieve Schnabel

I

have a confession to make: I am a nerd.

This is not a bad thing.

Despite the bad reputation that nerds get, we’re actually a pretty cool bunch. And there are more of us than you’d think. In fact, I had the opportunity to spend the day with more than 10,000 of my people this last Saturday at Wizard World Comic Con. Yes, Portland’s new Comic Con. The nerd mecca. It was a day of Walking Dead, Marvel comics, DC superheroes, Trekkies, cosplay and thousands of people united in unabashed enthusiasm for worlds of fantasy, science fiction and justice for all.

As a nerd, I am probably an unreliable narrator. But the short version is this: Nerds are awesome. They’re a force to be reckoned with; they’re shamelessly passionate; they’re almost always there for one another.

There is a downside, though this is usually outweighed by the good. Sometimes nerds can be jerks, and they’re occasionally a little sexist, too.

First off, nerds can drive the economy and popular culture.

Think back to last summer: The Avengers broke all sorts of box office records, Hulksmashing through one after another. Nerds—and not-yetnerds—went to the theaters in droves, some dressed as their heroes. They paved the way for a half-dozen more superhero movies to come out in the ensuing 18 months, proving once and for all that comic

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book adaptations are where the money is.

As anybody who went to Comic Con can tell you, the second great part about nerds is that we’re a loud, enthusiastic, emotionally invested bunch. Even the shyest of nerds will open up in a setting like Comic Con, where so many of us share the same feelings.

I personally got to watch this transformation in a girl at the convention. When she arrived, she seemed to be making herself as small as possible. Her voice was barely louder than a whisper.

She’d probably been embarrassed by her nerd status. By the end of the day she was loudly squealing and bouncing with her new friends, shouting about Norman Reedus and excitedly comparing pictures of cosplayers with those around her. I couldn’t help but grin at the metamorphosis.

The third awesome part about nerds is the support.

Most nerds are just good people in general. An older gentleman fell outside the exhibit hall and no fewer than six people rushed to his aid.

I saw complete strangers coming to the defense of a cosplayer whose body type was different than the character she’d elected to dress as. And at one point, I found Boba Fett teaching a pair of skinny young boys—both of whom seemed quite insecure—how to stand up straight and proud

and show the world what they’re made of.

Of course, as with any demographic, nerds are not universally awesome. As previously mentioned, some can be judgmental pricks.

Some make fun of cosplayers whose outfits aren’t as polished as the veteran congoers. Others are just needlessly cruel. I saw a father and his sons shouting rude remarks at a wheelchairbound fan simply because he took up more space in the aisle (although, thankfully, they were immediately told to shut up or leave).

Nerds also have a reputation for being somewhat sexist. I got to experience this firsthand. I wasn’t cosplaying this time around (I went to the con on very little notice), but I still had a few men approach me in less-thanflattering ways. I had a guy ask why I wasn’t wearing a bikini (um, it’s February).

Another accused me of being a “fake geek girl” for liking the X-Men “because of the movie” (patently untrue: I’ve been a fan since 1999, dude).

But you have to take the good with the bad. As Michael L. Printz Awardwinning author John Green said, “Nerd life is just so much better than regular life.” I completely agree. Despite the few cruel or sexist individuals there, the con was largely a supportive, fun, open, exciting place to be.

Another Comic Con will be held in Portland this September. You’d better believe I’ll be making the pilgrimage yet again.

After all, my people will be waiting for me.

t’s that time of year again, when adorable children and their parents stand outside of grocery store entrances and sweetly ask us to spend $4 a box on Girl Scout cookies. If you’re like me— lacking in self-control—you’ll often give in and buy some.

I was never a Girl Scout, but I understand their general cause: to teach usable skills to girls that will enable them to become independent and empowered women. I’d never really considered that the funds from boxes of delicious Girl Scout cookies went anywhere beyond funding the organization’s activities.

So when an Internet meme circulated last week that blasted where the money from Girl Scout cookies was going, I became intrigued.

The message is clearly written by someone who doesn’t support the organization’s use of its funds. One bullet point reads: “Former Girl Scouts USA CEO Kathy Cloninger publicly admitted on NBC’s Today Show in 2004 that Girl Scout troops and councils partner with Planned Parenthood across the country to provide ‘good’ and ‘information-based’ explicit sex education. She has not retracted that statement.”

It goes on to criticize GSUSA for “welcoming and

hiding ‘transgenders’ in Girl Scout troops,” and requiring the reading of books that promote “abortion advocates, ‘progressive’ socialists, Marxists, lesbians and extreme-left liberals.”

While basic research reveals that GSUSA doesn’t provide funds to Planned Parenthood, the organization has made public its relationship with Planned Parenthood, in addition to many other organizations, in order to bring information-based sex education to young women.

Girls can earn badges for reading “journey” books (that supposedly have leftist role models), which are stories about everything from science to healthy eating to public speaking and are meant to empower Girl Scouts.

The claim about “welcoming and hiding ‘transgenders’” can be found easily; one child born with male genitalia had always identified as a female and was indeed allowed by the GSUSA to join a troop.

These types of stories aren’t revolutionary, yet they demonstrate an organization that is adapting and progressing.

Most interestingly, the meme has been co-opted by the same “liberals” it lambasts as a reason to buy Girl Scout cookies this year. Looking beyond the discriminatory

language of the claims, it shows an organization that invests in actions that promote a better future for women in the U.S., including access to health care, tolerance and education about our differences. Not only are they teaching young women to be active members of the community at a young age, they are also funding projects that will allow for these young women to thrive when they get older.

The Boy Scouts have been under fire many times in the last few years for their intolerant policies toward members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trangender community and those of different religious affiliations.

The organization’s bad press has been widespread and has certainly tainted its name and cause; they have been blasted for funding activities that go against the lessons they teach to children.

While technically “unaffiliated,” the nature of the organization implies that it has specific religious and subsequent moral ties, and yet how it is evolving tells a very different story than what it claims to be doing.

After finding out about this ongoing attack against the Girl Scouts, I feel perfectly comfortable buying a few extra boxes of cookies this week, knowing full well that my money is going toward funding an organization that prepares its young members for a future strong in women’s rights and equality.

© Girl scouts greater los angeles

Lack of 24-hour amenities makes on-campus housing less attractive That’s What’s the Matter Kevin Rackham karl kuchs/VANGUARD STAFf

A pintful of risks New research shows alcohol-related cancer is on the rise One Step Off

I

Emily Lakehomer

f life were like the movies, we’d all find and follow a certain trajectory during our college years. Meet the friends you’ll keep for the rest of your life, have a great dorm/ roommate experience, fall in love, fall out of love, fall in love again (and again), marry your college sweetheart and, of course, party the entire time while still getting awesome grades.

That last one might be the only feasible one on the list.

For many of us, college comes with the belief that we’re indestructible, and as long as we’re able we should party as much as possible. While there is some truth to that— and by some I mean a very, very small fraction of truth— constant partying has a lot of negatives: horrible, horrible hangovers; bombing a huge exam because you didn’t get enough sleep the night before; regrets; not eating well because you’re spending all your money on boozing; did I mention regrets?

We’re warned about this from day one. If we’re not being educated at home, we’re hearing it in school, on TV, in the movies, et cetera. However, new research is surfacing that shows even minimal alcohol consumption can have huge consequences.

The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported that alcohol “has been known to be related to causing cancer for a long period of time,” and that alcohol use “accounts for about 3.5 percent of all U.S. cancer deaths annually.” The same

article stated that a majority of those deaths occurred among people who consumed more than three alcoholic drinks per day.

In 2009 alone, somewhere between 18,000–21,000 people died from alcohol-related cancer in the U.S. That’s a pretty scary statistic. The worst part is that the scientists and analysts working on these studies don’t know what it is about alcohol that causes cancer.

In the past, we were told that sugar can lead to cancer and that too much sleep can affect your health to a point where you might develop something less-than-desirable; pretty much everything has been reported to cause cancer at some point. It makes sense, then, that alcohol—the depressant of every generation—has its own share of cancer-causing ingredients hidden somewhere within its brews.

The study cited in the Chronicle is the first of its kind in almost 30 years. The Chronicle reported that previous research had shown that alcohol could affect estrogen levels in women, acting as a solvent to help tobacco carcinogens get into the digestive tract. However, the fact that this study, as depressing as the results were, was the first one in almost three decades says something about our society.

Scientific studies need funding, and if no one’s around to back a study we won’t get these statistics. Since no one really supported studies of this kind in the last 30 years, we can assume that, at least

for a while, no one wanted to hear what these scientists might say.

Whether that’s the case, we have new statistics. We can choose to pay attention to them or not. As college students, drinking is something in which many of us like to partake. It’s fun and social, and it can be rewarding after a week of lectures, essays and labs.

Alcohol is a part of our lives, and while it’s strange to say it so nonchalantly, it’s the truth.

How much more restrictive can we possibly get? Documentaries like Forks Over Knives and Food, Inc. have shown that the food we eat can have serious health repercussions. So if everything else already poses a threat, why not eliminate alcohol consumption as well?

When it comes down to it, the decision rests in each person’s hands. Dr. Arthur Klatsky, of the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research, said that advice regarding alcohol consumption and cancer risks “needs to be individualized,” and that the advice that applies to a “60-year-old man who has no problem with alcohol but is at high risk of heart disease due to family history is quite different than the advice we give to a 25-year-old woman whose mother died of breast cancer.”

For me, personally, these new statistics won’t hinder my weekend plans in the least, but we need to take to heart what they’re telling us. There are risks all around us; but rather than abstaining from every potential threat, be careful with yourself. If you want to drink, then drink and be merry, but be responsible.

P

ortland State has been marketing itself as being “different” for a long time, but as the new construction around campus proves, the administration has realized that becoming a more traditional campus has its benefits.

Blumel Hall’s about to reopen, and new apartments are popping up around campus. But in order to fill up all those beds, PSU has some big changes to make. One of the biggest is the fact that this campus is pretty much closed down by 7 p.m. (though the lights are never, ever turned off ). The library stays open until midnight—and it’s open 24 hours a day during finals week—and we finally have a 24-hour computer lab in Broadway, but that’s it. Universities are 24-hour by nature, and at PSU that seems to go unrecognized.

Don’t get me wrong—the Broadway lab was a huge step in addressing that. I can’t even count how many times I had printer or computer problems last year and wished that a lab were open. Having a 24-hour lab would have made my life so much easier last year.

There’s also a big lack of activities or entertainment in the area.

So what do we have? Well, there’s Subway, the only latenight eatery on campus. All of the 24-hour food carts have irregular hours or have closed

down recently. There are bars and pubs, but that just contributes even more to the fact that a “traditional” college student, coming from high school, has nothing in the area to do. PSU’s campus doesn’t have much to offer minors.

Obviously this isn’t solely an issue of 24-hour things. I know one of the university’s biggest draws is the fact that our campus is really integrated with the city, and there’s plenty to do in Portland proper. But the thing PSU is going to come up against is that there are very few incentives to live on campus compared to other areas.

Portland is a great city, but the “city is our campus” approach is going to come back to bite the administration when it comes to filling up beds on campus. University Pointe still hasn’t reached full occupancy, even though vacancy rates in Portland have been terrible for a couple of years.

More housing projects in the area are in the works (thanks Urban Renewal District), but low-vacancy rates are still the case for a lot of Portland.

University housing isn’t particularly cheap. It’s not as expensive as most places in downtown, but unless new dorms and apartments are really nice or really cheap, they’ll have a hard time competing with Goose Hollow or the already existing apartment buildings.

More 24-hour restaurants and facilities would open up the campus and make it a more attractive place to live.

A 24-hour gym and 24-hour library are the most obvious ones, and they’re common at most other state universities.

The library is crammed full of people at all hours during finals week, and keeping it open all the time would lead to similar results. Late-night homework is never limited to finals, and a quiet, distraction-free place to study is much needed.

Gyms that stay open 24 hours are incredibly popular and offered by more and more apartments; it would just be a good service for the university to offer the same.

Both the library and the Academic and Student Rec Center are primarily staffed by students, which would also allow students who are willing to work late at night to get a lot more hours.

This is my second year in campus housing, and I like it well enough. The convenience factor and having utilities paid for are mainly what keep me here. But there are a lot of better options, and PSU needs to be able to compete with them if it’s going to keep expanding into the traditional student market.

This means becoming a little more like Oregon State University and the University of Oregon and keeping the campus running all day long.

Housing and higher education are both expanding industries; PSU has a lot of work to do to if it’s going to be competitive in both.

Jinyo Qi/VANGUARD STAFf

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ETC. ETC.•• Thursday, Thursday,Feb. Nov.28, 8, 2012 2013 • VANGUARD

VANGUARD • Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 • Opinion

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Erick Bengel EDITOR@PSUVANGUARD.COM 503-725-5691

Monday, March 4

What’s your $ 0.02?

Empty Quarter: A Screening and Presentation 7–9 p.m.

5th Avenue Cinema 510 SW Hall St.

Filmmakers Pam Minty and Alain LeTourneau present a screening of their film Empty Quarter, set in an area that encompasses nearly onethird of Oregon’s landmass but is home to only 2 percent of the state’s population. The film not only looks into the often forgotten region of Oregon and highlights the lives of local farmers, it also manages to produce an image of diversity in a place where it is least expected. FREE Karl Kuchs/VANGUARD STAFf

An ‘F’ in common sense Lehigh University graduate’s lawsuit a cautionary tale for current students Concepts and Commentary Janieve Schnabel

E

veryone says grades are important, but they’re hardly a good measure of your intelligence and common sense. In fact, a better measure of your common sense might be whether you know when to let things go.

And that was one area where a Lehigh University student failed to measure up.

Megan Thode graduated from Lehigh with a master’s degree in human development. She’d performed well in all her classes but one: a simple fieldwork course.

She received a C+ grade in this class, which prevented her from advancing in a certificate program in her field of study.

For many students, a C+ is a bummer, but not a gamechanger. Thode, however, took it as a personal affront and an attempt to ruin her career. So when the school refused to change the grade after making an inquiry at her request, she saw fit to seek legal representation.

You read that right: She was so upset over her C+ that she sued her school.

She didn’t sue for a grade change, though. She sued for potential loss of earnings as a result of not being able to complete the certificate that she’d planned to obtain along with her degree. Thode sought damages to the tune of $1.3 million, claiming a personal vendetta and discrimination against her views on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights led her professor to conspire to ruin her career.

Unsurprisingly, she lost the lawsuit.

But that’s hardly all she lost. In suing her school over

a triviality, Thode could easily have jeopardized her future earning potential far more than not obtaining a certificate ever could. She created a lasting record that shows she’s unable to leave well enough alone.

She was so upset over her C+ that she sued her school.

Hasty and poorly considered litigation is the sign of an immature and irresponsible person—especially in Thode’s case. Her defense?

Her performance in the class merited a higher grade than she received, and because her school failed to remedy it, she wound up with lesser earnings potential than she’d planned.

Court documents give the reason she received low marks: participation. The professor defended the C+ by providing examples of poor class behavior, including instigating fights and using profanity without good reason.

A simple transcript wouldn’t have given employers this information. By bringing it into a courtroom, she ensured that all prospective employers would be privy to her mistakes in graduate school.

Lawsuits in academia tend to end badly. Not only do they become public record for future employers, but

current employers can see lawsuits as a potential hazard of keeping a person on staff.

Although it isn’t entirely warranted, it can cause companies to worry about people suing them over trivial things.

If your history makes a company worry you could sue them, they might not be as keen to keep you. Unofficially, of course.

Additionally, if Thode elects to continue her education and pursue a doctoral degree, she may face difficulties getting into a program. After all, any school she applies to could see her court history, including statements made by professors she’d worked with for months—if not years— that discussed her behavior, potential and maturity level.

And all that after they see the fact that she sued over a C+.

Finally, there’s the fact that she had to pay a lawyer to represent her in court.

That’s not a small fee. And it might not be all she pays if the school or one of the professors chooses to file against her for harassment (one of the professors may have a case) or for slander, though the likelihood of this is low.

Did I mention she attended her graduate program completely free of charge? She was actually paid to go to school, and she still thought they ruined her financially.

(Honestly, I can’t hear her argument over all my student loans’ caterwauling.)

Lawsuits are difficult and shouldn’t be entered into lightly. Thode showed poor judgment in suing her school, and it’s likely she’ll suffer deleterious effects on her career as a result. For current students, however, it could at least be a cautionary tale.

Grades are important, but don’t risk your career over them.

© El Deseo S.A.

Got something to say? Share your thoughts at psuvanguard.com

The Secret Life of Words attempts to explore the ways in which the aftermath of trauma can affect human interaction. See the film at the Oregon Holocaust Resource Center on Wednesday, March 6, at 7 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 28

Online comments

Student Ambassador Hiring Info Session

The story doesn’t stop when the print hits the page. Don’t like something you read in the Vanguard ?

Want us to cover a story? Do you feel there’s more to be said? You have the opportunity to praise us or rip us apart. Post a comment online or write us a letter. Tell us what you think. Here are some online highlights from psuvanguard.com.

12:30–1:30 p.m.

Academic and Student Rec Center, room 101 1800 SW Sixth Ave.

“Writer for hire” Vol. 67 No. 40 Issac Feb. 25, 2013 Awesome article.

Phil Feb. 22, 2013 Academic dishonesty at its finest. Sooner or later his action will lead to a student (deservedly) getting booted out of school.

“Tuition equity update’” Online at psuvanguard.com Kimberly Feb. 21, 2013 “Critics say the state shouldn’t subsidize college tuition for people who can’t legally work in the United States.”

Then it seems to me we should grant amnesty to these same people so they can find gainful employment. It is time to stop punishing the children of people who came here illegally. By all measures they are American.

Dave Feb. 24, 2013 In the future please use the term undocumented, the term illegal is very dehumanizing.

“Papal conclave should elect a gay black Muslim woman” Vol. 67 No. 39 Aiden Fields Feb. 21, 2013 So brave.

The Portland State Student Ambassadors will be holding an information session about the program and the hiring process for the 2013–14 FREE academic year.

Surviving Collaboration in the Aftermath of War 6 p.m.

Smith Memorial Student Union, room 238 1825 SW Broadway

Guest speaker Dr. Naoko Shibusawa, from Brown University, invites you to a talk about how and why the United States willingly accepted Japan as a Cold War ally while still dealing with the aftermath of World FREE War II.

The Servant of Two Masters

by Carlo Goldoni 7:30 p.m.

Lincoln Hall 1620 SW Park Ave.

Saturday, March 2

Chinese Garden Plant Scheme 9:30–11:30 a.m.

Urban Center, room 250 506 SW Mill St.

Ben Ngan will be at the Urban Center to give a talk on the planning that goes into coordinating Chinese gardens between the U.S. and overseas and how this type of planning determined the layout of the Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland.

FREE

Feral Kitten Socialization Workshop 10 a.m.–1 p.m.

Multnomah Building Boardroom 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd.

The goal of this workshop is not only to get homeless kittens off the street and into loving homes but also to teach their new adoptive owners how to rehabilitate animals that may be suffering from trauma due to living feral. All ages are welcome.

FREE

Sunday, March 3

Enjoy a discounted preview of The Servant of Two Masters, a modernist take on an ancient style of theatrical performance that mixes comedy with romance and occasional singing. Tickets are $6 and can be purchased the door before the performance.

Friday, March 1

Friday Flat Fix Clinic

Duathlon Event 10:30 a.m.–1 p.m.

Academic and Student Rec Center 1800 SW Sixth Ave.

The first-ever Portland State Duathlon involves 20 minutes of biking followed by 20 minutes of running and is a great way to train for the upcoming 20/20/20 event. Registration must be completed by noon on Feb. 28 and costs $5 per person. For more information, email im@pdx.edu.

Portland Timbers first kick and Widmer tapping party

Noon–12:30 p.m.

PSU Bike Hub 1818 SW Sixth Ave.

Bring your bike to this free workshop, where you can learn how to fix a flat FREE tire on your specific ride.

nanajudy.com

Noon Thirsty Lion 71 SW Second Ave.

If you are a Timbers fan, you will not want to miss the unveiling of Widmer’s new “Green and Gold” kolsch-style ale, brewed by Timbers fans for Timbers fans. The party will also feature live music and the chance to win various prizes from Widmer and the Timbers, including an all-expenses paid trip to Seattle to see the Timbers take on the Sounders. FREE 21+

Tuesday, March 5

Snapshot Lunch Noon School of Business Administration 631 SW Harrison St.

Portland State’s School of Business invites you to enjoy lunch and listen to speakers from the faculty, student body and related organizations to talk about the innovative processes and global engagement initiatives taking place through the school. To register contact Kari Davies-Mason FREE at davies3@pdx.edu.

Take Back the Night/Bike Back the Night committee meeting 5–6 p.m.

Women’s Resource Center Lounge 1802 SW 10th Ave.

Join the community in helping to end sexual violence, promote awareness

and support survivors at the Take Back the Night/Bike Back the Night committee meetings set to plan an event for Sexual Assault Awareness Month held at the Women’s Resource Center. No registration is FREE required.

Florestan Trio performs Beethoven, Shostakovich and Mendelssohn 7:30 p.m.

Lincoln Performance Hall 1620 SW Park Ave.

Help Portland State celebrate a long history of the Florestan Trio in association with the school by attending a concert featuring the work of three master composers. Tickets are $25 for the general public, $20 for seniors and $15 for students with valid ID. Tickets may be purchased on Ticketmaster or at the door at the time of the event.

Wednesday, March 6

Disability and Oppression: Understanding the Historical and Social Stigmas of People with Disabilities 4 p.m.

Academic and Student Rec Center, room 620 1800 SW Sixth Ave.

The Portland State School of Social Work presents a workshop dedicated to coming to a better understanding of the struggles that people with disabilities have faced over the last 50 years and working to explore language and etiquette that can help.

For more information, visit pdx.edu/ FREE ssw/sswce.

13

ETC.

Film screening: The Secret Life of Words 7 p.m.

Oregon Holocaust Resource Center 1953 NW Kearney St

The Secret Life of Words is the first film to be screened during a series sponsored by the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Project. The subject of the film deals with the attempt to build intimacy between people after suffering great trauma. FREE

Thursday, March 7

Graduate School of Education Open House Noon–2 p.m.

Smith Memorial Student Union, room 238 1825 SW Broadway

If you are interested in looking into a career in education this open house will help you discover what your options are at Portland State.

FREE

Matthew Hernandez: How Custom Influences Religious Belief and Why It Matters 5–7 p.m.

Smith Memorial Student Union, room 294 1825 SW Broadway

Guest speaker Matthew Hernandez will be at the Smith Memorial Student Union to facilitate a discussion about how specific cultural customs can influence religious beliefs and FREE why this is important. = on PSU campus FREE = free of charge = open to the public 21+ = 21 and over

14

SPORTS ETC. • Thursday, • TUESDAY,Feb. Nov.28, 6, 2012 2013 • VANGUARD

VANGUARD •• Thursday, TUESDAY, JANUARY Feb. 28, 2013 10, 2012 • SPORTS • ETC.

SPORTS

EDITOR: MARCO ESPAñA SPORTS@PSUVANGUARD.COM 503-725-4538

Drips, grit and tension Common bicycling banes and some simple solutions Frank Brislawn Vanguard staff

As the erratic sunshine begins to creep slowly back into our lives and mornings offer promises of mild days with light gray cast skies to come, it’s about time to bust out the bicycle.

However, upon sensing your jubilance at the prospect of a long-awaited ride, dark gray clouds roll in like P-40 Warhawks and give you a heavy strafing in a matter of seconds. Being soaked because of insufficient rain gear is the least of your worries, though—there are plenty of other hazards to keep in mind when out on the newly slicked pavement and fresh mud.

First up: braking. Being able to stop is important for obvious reasons—it allows for laws to be followed and can prevent accidents from happening. If your bike has brake pads, clean them regularly to stave off grit buildup and remove small metal shavings to

13 15

prevent rim scratches. During rainy weather, get a feel for the change, if any, in braking time.

When the brake pads are wet, it can take longer to come to a stop, so be prepared to start pumping the brakes sooner, and avoid locking them.

When wet, surfaces quickly lose their traction, especially metal—manhole covers, streetcar tracks, etc.

I’ve found biking on the aforementioned areas to be fairly dangerous, as wheels tend to slip and slide regardless of how careful you are. If the obstacle is unavoidable, pause in your pedaling to simply roll over it. Streetcar tracks are best approached between a 45- and 90-degree angle, 90 being optimal.

The near-daily drips and dribbles in the Northwest create a nice medium for the roads’ dirt and grit to get kicked up onto you and your bike. By regularly clearing off the grit from your bike, brakes and (especially) chain, you can experience a smoother ride and increase the longevity of your bike and its parts.

Don’t have the tools? The Bike Hub is a fantastic place to

learn how to do it yourself for cheap ($15 per term).

As odd as this may sound, even with all of the city lights on during the night, it can still be hard to see other cyclists and pedestrians. There have been too many times when I’ve been behind another cyclist who didn’t have lights and seen them nearly hit a pedestrian or be clipped by a car.

Even if the level of afternoon daylight seems just about adequate, always remember to turn on your lights (a white light in the front and a red in the back, minimum). Safety glasses can also be a tremendous help during a day or night ride, affording the rider complete visibility and blocking rain and wind from hitting the eyes. If you can’t afford safety glasses, you can always dust off those old swimming goggles you have lying around.

Just a few simple precautions can make your journey back into the elements a rewarding one, and will ensure that your fellow cycling enthusiasts have the same opportunity as we move on toward spring. So be safe out there, and enjoy.

Basement Notes: Hard lessons at Daytona The risks inherent in a day at the racetrack Zach Bigalke Vanguard staff

©eric france

bike lanes become more congested as spring draws near. Remembering some basic safety tips can make the ride that much more enjoyable.

Timbers take the pitch Portland soccer starts up again with matchup against New York Alex Moore Vanguard staff

The Portland Timbers left Jeld-Wen Field with a 1-1 draw against the Swedish club AIK on Saturday in the last game of their preseason schedule. The team finished with a record of 3-2-2 and now look to the season opener, which is scheduled for this coming Sunday at home versus the New York Red Bulls.

Portland came out a little sluggish in the first half of the game against AIK, giving up

©Getty Images

Caleb porter takes the helm for his first season as head coach of the Portland Timbers. With several new additions to the club this year, Portland hopes to improve on a disappointing campaign last season.

a goal in the 28th minute. The Timbers held steady from there and kept the pressure on their opponents, eventually tying the game in the 75th minute on a goal from left back Michael Harrington that provided the final score. The game lacked the quality of regular-season play, but Portland got some valuable preparation for their weekend showdown with the Red Bulls.

Though Portland has struggled at times during the past few weeks, the preseason was less about winning games and more about learning the revamped style of play that new head coach Caleb Porter plans to establish on both offense and defense. After a handful of uneven performances, it is clear

that there is still more work to be done. New York, who made it to the playoffs last season after a third-place finish in MLS’s Eastern Conference, will provide a difficult matchup for Portland right out of the gate.

The Timbers will be looking to rebound from a disappointing season last year in which they finished near the bottom of the Western Conference.

With a few new faces on the roster, including Harrington, professional soccer returns to Portland with high hopes for a rabid fan base. The season opener is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m. and will be shown on ESPN2 as a part of the network’s opening week coverage of the MLS season.

Leading up to the weekend of the Daytona 500, the discussion was almost exclusively centered on Danica Patrick. The former open-wheel racer made headlines when she qualified in the pole position for the Great American Race. Out in front of the field for five of the day’s 200 laps, she would become the first woman to hold the lead in any top-level NASCAR event under green-flag conditions. Patrick would finish eighth overall, also the best-ever final result achieved by a female in the 54-year history of the race.

But the most important story to emerge from Daytona had nothing to do with the social significance of Patrick qualifying through the checkered flag. The focus of the main event had abruptly shifted the day before, when NASCAR ran its second-tier Nationwide Series event at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday afternoon. In the final turn of the final lap, Regan Smith and Brad Keselowski made contact at the front, setting off a chain reaction and sending Kyle Larson’s car airborne. Slamming into the catch fence, the front end of Larson’s car was shredded by the barrier and hot, twisted metal and rubber shot through the audience on the other side.

By the time the last of the flying tires and debris had settled in the stands, two fans were in critical condition among the more than 30 people injured in the wreck.

Accidents are nothing new in NASCAR. For some fans of the sport, like those fight enthusiasts among hockey fans, the wreckage is one of the primary reasons for attendance, and deep in the recesses of every driver’s mind, they know that they are involved in an inherently dangerous occupation. Twelve years ago, Dale Earnhardt was killed in a collision in the same turn where Larson went flying; Patrick’s last trip in an IndyCar cockpit ended with the death of twotime Indianapolis 500 champion Dan Wheldon at the 2011 season finale in Las Vegas. Every athlete who races automobiles for a living knows that safety on the track is never a given. All the success in the world does nothing to

© HHP/Tom Copeland

the daytona 500 was overshadowed by the previous day’s events, when a crash at the Nationwide Series event left more than two dozen fans injured. guarantee there will be another chance the following weekend.

Fans revel in this fact, knowing that the drivers are pushing the limits largely because their chances for a breakthrough are finite—when every race could be your last, the incentive is even greater to go out in a blaze of glory. But the fans probably gave little heed to their own safety when they arrived at Daytona on Saturday. They came despite the warning printed directly on their tickets releasing Daytona International Speedway from any claims of negligence, and despite the long line of tragic examples of exactly what can go wrong when cars whip across asphalt at nearly 200 miles per hour.

So I guess we learned a couple of things from the Daytona 500 this weekend. Sure, we learned that a woman can compete with the men at the venerable track (if we still needed to be convinced, that is), as Danica proved she is more than simply an endorsement gimmick. More importantly, though, we got a frightening reminder that the safety risks accepted by each driver extend to every person that comes out to the track, regardless of any presumed level of protection at a public venue.

In the end, there is no such thing as complete security—whether you’re behind the wheel or watching from the other side of the fence.

Viking tennis rounds the corner Portland State moves into second half of schedule Matt Deems Vanguard staff

The University of Idaho came ready to play against Portland State last Saturday, starting strong and eventually overrunning the Vikings 7-0 in a nonconference matchup. The Vikings are on a three-match losing streak and have fallen to last place in the Big Sky Conference.

The meeting with the Vandals did not start out well for PSU, as the Vikings failed to come up with an answer for Idaho’s attack and were shut out in doubles play. After a circling of the wagons, the Vikings sought to put the doubles matches behind them and win big in singles. At No. 1 singles for Portland State, Antoine Bechmann started fast in his match, taking the first three games with ease before the Vandals’ Dmitry Perevoshchikov took a nasty fall and was given a moment to collect himself.

The break also seemed to allow Perevoshchikov to catch his breath, and he rallied back to win the next three games and go up 30-love on

© larry Lawson/Goviks.com

abhinav Mishra fought through to the end in his doubles match on Saturday, ultimately losing 10-8 in the match tiebreaker as the Vikings lost 7-0 to Idaho State.

Bechmann’s serve.

Bechmann bellowed his frustration to the crowd gathered at Club Green Meadows, and the outburst seemed to help as he came back to hold his serve and stay level with his opponent. The match was still on serve at 5-5 when Bechmann was broken to give Perevoshchikov

a 6-5 advantage and a chance to serve for the set. On the strength of a couple aces, Perevoshchikov closed the door on the first set 7-5, then went on to win the second set 6-3 after Bechmann double-faulted twice and then sent a ball into the net at match point.

The trend continued from

there, as Viking sophomore Stratton Gilmore was overwhelmed by the Vandals’ No. 2 singles player, Abid Akbar, losing in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3.

Idaho’s only real test came at No. 4 singles against Abhinav Mishra. Mishra lost the first set 3-6 against Jose Bendeck but bounced back to win the second set 6-3. The match then

came down to a photo finish in the match tiebreaker, which Bendeck ultimately won 10-8.

The Vikings are now 0-3 in the Big Sky after losing an important conference match to Weber State University on Feb. 17.

The Vikings started off strong in doubles in that match, but the Wildcats quickly regained control and never looked back,

routing Portland State 7-0.

The women’s team has been experiencing more success than their male counterparts of late, starting off the season 6-6 overall and 1-2 in conference play, currently only one game out of playoff contention. For Medford native Marina Todd, the team’s success so far is no accident.

“Our hearts are really into this,” Todd said. “We give our best in weights, conditioning [and] practice, and the hard work we’ve put in has really shown through in our matches.”

The women’s team has taken some close conference losses already this year, losing by 4-3 scores to Montana State University and Weber State.

Instead of getting discouraged, however, junior Daria Burobina is more than ready for the challenge.

“One of the goals is to make the conference championships this year,” she said. “There is a very solid lineup of teams in our conference that won’t give up their spots easily, and we are looking forward to a series of tough matches and battles.”

The Viking men now move on to a showdown with their crosstown rivals at the University of Portland on March 1, while the women get the week off before facing the University of Montana on March 9.

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VANGUARD •TThursday, uesday, Jan. Feb. 31, 28, 2013 2013 • SPORTS • SPORTS

Upcoming Thursday, Feb. 28

Baseball is back

Men’s Basketball

Spring training marks the yearly renewal of our national pastime

Vikings vs. North Dakota Peter Stott Center 7:35 p.m.

Gino Cerruti Vanguard staff

In less than a month, I will be flying to Phoenix for five days of sun and baseball. From mid-February to late March, southern Arizona is a hotbed of baseball activity with teams such as the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers and Texas Rangers. And although more than 1.5 million people attended games during last year’s Cactus League spring training, the ballparks usually aren’t filled, allowing onlookers to choose their own seats and, if desired, get up close and personal with their favorite players. It’s a much different environment than a regular season exhibition game and one that, so far, has produced quite a bit of interesting news.

With the Angels’ muchtouted offseason acquisition of Josh Hamilton and the Rangers’ critically acclaimed prospect Jurickson Profar set to begin his major league career, it’s surprising that both teams

have struggled. But spring training standings should always be taken with a grain of salt. For one, the lineup is subject to constant substitutions that filter in minor league talent, so a big-name star may only play two or three innings.

Additionally, pitchers tend to only get one inning of play, maybe two if they’re on a hot streak. Since a win in a spring training game has no bearing on the regular season, managers are free to try out every strategy in the book, and so the results are not truly indicative of each team’s overall talent.

Another reason managers are wary about leaving marquee players in too long is that there is a possibility that one of them could sustain an injury. Case in point: Curtis Granderson of the New York Yankees. In Sunday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, pitcher J. A. Happ drilled Granderson in the forearm, forcing him to leave the game. Later, X-rays revealed a fracture, meaning that Granderson will be out for the first two months of regular season play. While the pitch was a bit of a freak accident, the chance of injury is always greater if managers rely too heavily on their star players.

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Friday, March 1

Men’s Tennis

@ Vikings @ University of Portland Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center 2 p.m.

Softball Wildcat Invitational Tucson, Ariz.

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Vikings vs. UC Riverside Amy S. Harrison Field 11 a.m. © jon soohoo/los angeles dodgers, llc

matt kemp and the rest of Major League Baseball get ready for their return in 2013.

Of course, fans flock to Arizona to see Joey Votto hit a home run in a 10,000-seat ballpark, or to put their faces up to a chain-link fence and watch Matt Kemp take batting practice. I recently read one report that Oakland Athletics Cuban-born sensation Yoenis Cespedes hit a home run at batting practice with a weight

donut still attached to the bat.

To swing a weighted bat at such a speed to launch a baseball beyond the stands is mindblowing, but the possibility to witness it at a close distance is a memory that will be passed on through your children and your children’s children.

Imagine seeing Ken Griffey Jr. score a double as a young

prospect in 1989, or witnessing five-time Cy Young Award-winner Randy Johnson beaning a dove that flew in front of the batter. OK, maybe the latter event would be a bit traumatizing, but there’s no denying that spring training is the destination for anyone who wants to be a part of baseball history.

PSU softball falls in Arizona Softball team swept

by Sun Devils Rosemary Hanson Vanguard staff

karl kuchs/VANGUARD STAFf

Carly mceachran takes a cut for the PSU softball squad.

The Portland State women’s softball team dropped all four games last weekend to third-ranked Arizona State University. The Vikings put up a solid fight, but were unable to break through against the undefeated Sun Devil squad. Much like the previous weekend, however, the Vikings offered glimpses of the team’s potential, including impressive power hitting and improved defense.

“This weekend really showed our resilience, that we’re not a team that will give up easily,” head coach Tobin Echo-Hawk said. “I’m really proud of their performance.”

The Vikings, 4-11 so far this season, twice held the lead in the first game, ultimately pushing Arizona State to 12 innings before falling 6-5.

Despite taking the loss, senior Anna Bertrand stayed in the game for an astounding 222 pitches and stranded 13 runners along the way. On offense, the Viking sluggers were at it again, as Portland State got home runs from Carly McEachran, Alexa Morales

and Brittany Hendrickson.

After the two teams traded runs in the ninth, Arizona State managed to load the bases with no outs in the 12th, and a single was all the Sun Devils needed to come away with the victory and keep their perfect record intact. Arizona State is now 16-0 overall.

The next two games were not as kind to the Vikings.

They were routed 19-2 the following afternoon when the Sun Devils took an early lead with a six-run first inning and the Vikings were unable to recover. In the second game of the day’s doubleheader, Arizona State continued their hot streak at the plate, winning 9-0 as freshman pitcher Karyn Wright struggled to keep the Sun Devils off the bases. The Viking offense couldn’t muster any support against a stingy Arizona State defense, and Portland State was shut out for the third time this year.

“It was an up-and-down weekend,” Echo-Hawk said.

“One day, we would show our talents and our ability to perform and really shine, and then the next, we’d have struggles.”

The Vikings did not let the losses faze them, though. In the final game of the series,

it appeared that they might close out the weekend on a high note. Neither team got on the board for the first four innings until Arizona State drew first blood with a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth to take a 1-0 lead. Portland State responded by scoring three runs in the sixth off back-to-back home runs from Becca Bliss and Alicia Fine, followed by a bases-loaded walk from Lauran Bliss. The Vikings were just one more inning away from the upset, but the Sun Devils came through with three runs in the bottom of the seventh to fend off a determined Portland State squad.

Although the trip may not have been a success for Portland State, the team left Tucson with plenty of motivation.

“Despite our Saturday outing this past weekend, our team showed that we really can compete with any team out there,” McEachran said.

The Vikings are back in action this weekend for a fivegame stretch at the Wildcat Invitational, hosted by the University of Arizona. They’ll get started on Friday against the University of California, Riverside at 11 a.m. Live scores and stats can be found at goviks.com.

Forecast: high of 73 degrees, sunny

Saturday, March 2

Women’s Basketball

@ Vikings @ Northern Colorado Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion 1 p.m.

Men’s Basketball

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Vikings vs. Northern Colorado Peter Stott Center 7:35 p.m.

NBA

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Trail Blazers vs. Minnesota Rose Garden Arena 7 p.m.

WHL

@ Winterhawks @ Everett Comcast Arena 7:05 p.m.

Sunday, March 3

Men’s Tennis

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Vikings vs. Pacific Club Green Meadows 2 p.m

MLS

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Timbers vs. New York Jeld-Wen Field 4:30 p.m.

Forecast: high of 51 degrees, few showers