Portland State Vanguard

VOLUME 68 | ISSUE 29

APRIL 8, 2014

NEWS

OPINION

ARTS & CULTURE

SPORTS

Portland State administration and faculty union reach tenative contract agreement. pg. 5

When neuroscience and pseudoscience collide: Mayim Bialik and her questionable rep as TV’s smart actress. pg. 8

The NWFC showcases the works of local artists in the Northwest Tracking film series. pg. 15

Saturday’s thrilling Timbers–Sounders match ends in a tie in the latest episode of the Cascadia rivalry. pg.23

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It has recently come to our attention that Sara Swetzoff has been reporting on issues concerning the potential faculty strike while also maintaining personal involvement with the Portland State University Student Union—an organization that has come out in full support of the PSU chapter of the American Association of University Professors.

The Vanguard recognizes this is a conflict of interest that contradicts our mission to serve as a fair and balanced news source for the PSU community. We apologize for failing to catch this problem before the stories made it to print and have since taken action to ensure it will not happen again.

Sabrina Parys Margo Pecha

Claude Akins, Mike Bivins, Karisa Cleary, Andrew Echeverria, Joel Gunderson, Hana King, Jeremy King, Alex Moore, Katharine Pedersen, Jay Pengelly, Matt Rauch, Jeoffry Ray, Sebastian Richardson, Derek Sun, Stephanie Tshappat

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Editor’s note:

José-David Jacobo, Jeoffry Ray

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Lisa Bauman, Robin Crowell, Muhsinah Jaddoo, Casey Jin

The Vanguard is published weekly as an independent student newspaper governed by the PSU Publications Board. Views and editorial content expressed herein are those of the staff, contributors and readers and do not necessarily represent those of the PSU student body, faculty, staff or administration. One copy of the Vanguard is provided free of charge to all community members; additional copies or subscription issues may incur a 25 cent charge.

The Vanguard is printed on 40 percent post-consumer recycled paper.

Cover: Photo by Corinna Scott, Designed by Rachael Bentz ©2013 PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY VANGUARD 1825 S.W. BROADWAY SMITH MEMORIAL STUDENT UNION, RM. S-26 PORTLAND, OR 97201

Vanguard | APRIL 8, 2014 | psuvanguard.com

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NEWS

SHAC plans 10-year anniversary celebration Katharine Pedersen

A decade ago, the Center for Student Health and Counseling at Portland State decided to merge its medical and counseling centers into one, a decision that was uncommon among universities at the time.

With the passing of its 10year anniversary in fall 2013, SHAC is taking a look back at its changes and accomplishments over the years and will be celebrating during the month of April.

“The anniversary is both showing our services, but also illustrating how SHAC has continuously expanded its services to better meet the needs and wants of the PSU student body throughout the past 10 years,” said Angela Abel, marketing and communication coordinator for SHAC.

One of the most recent changes the center has undergone is its remodeling. Now that renovations are complete, SHAC is wanting to celebrate with the PSU community.

“We have waited to officially do a celebration because we are also finishing up a remodel,” Abel said.

The new remodel focuses on creating separate spaces for all of the services SHAC offers.

The administrative offices will be moved to the third floor, which will make more rooms available on the second floor for clinical space, and the third floor will have a new Mind Spa, which can be reserved by students to use as a relaxation room. The dental and testing services will expand as well.

SHAC has also created a Health Promotion and Education Suite, which is where the new student peer educator team will be held.

Part of the reason for expanding these services is to better accommodate the growth of the PSU community.

“Our testing center fills up really fast during midterms and finals,” Abel said.

The larger testing center was created to make it easier for students to take tests during these busy times.

According to Dr. Dana Tasson, executive director for SHAC, the center has known they’ve wanted to expand for a while.

“Through creating efficiencies in our operating budget, we were able to set money

aside over the last five years,” Tasson said.

During the week of April 21–25, SHAC will be holding events to welcome the PSU community through its doors.

Each day SHAC will showcase a specific service by allowing students to consult with dietitians and acupuncturists, learn about the dental services, Mind Spa and more.

Unless otherwise noted, the events will be held under the front entrance of SHAC from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Monday, April 21 Health Services will be discussing hand washing and will have blacklight equipment so attendees can see how clean their hands are.

Tuesday, April 22 Students can learn about counseling services at SHAC, along with information about the new Mind Spa.

Wednesday, April 23 Staff from Dental Services will be telling students about the services they offer at the PSU dental clinic and giving out free items.

There will also be a speaking engagement where Marcy Hunt, the director of counseling and psychological services for SHAC, and Will Meek, the associate director of counseling and training at the University of Portland, will discuss student mental health wellness. The event

The History of the Center for Student Health & Counseling Medical services for PSU students started at the Vanport Extension Center.

The school nurse, Mrs. Marguerite Adams, provided “consultation service, administration of band aids, compresses, and the dispensation of aspirins.”

1965 Counseling and Testing Services was established and staffed by licensed psychologists that primarily provided pyschotherapy, vocational, and psychological testing services in the mezzanine floor of Smith.

2003

Student Health Services moved to the Neuberger Hall basement.

Student Health Services and Counseling & Psychological Services merged to become the Center for Student Health & Counseling (SHAC).

The integration supported a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to the care of PSU students. SHAC opened in Fall 2003 in the University Center Building (the space formerly housed by the bookstore).

1989 After years of operating as separate units, the Student Health Services Mental Health Team and Counseling/ Testing Services merged to become Counseling and Psychological Services.

2006

1970

1951 The Nurse’s Office moved to Lincoln Hall in a room off the library.

PSU became the first Oregon university to offer trans health services in the student insurance plan.

Testing and Counseling became separate departments.

Nutrition Services will also be holding an event, but the details are yet to be determined.

Health Services added acupuncture services.

1997

SHAC hired a Director of Health Promotion.

2014 SHAC remodeled to increase clinical space for Health, Counseling, and Dental Services. An entirely new Testing Center and Health Promotion Suite are built.

The Student Health Advisory Board was created so students could have more input on SHAC and health policies on campus.

2012 2001

2004 2007

Outreach positions for both Health and Counseling Services were created. Staff helped coordinate blood drives, smoking cessation efforts, etc.

The SHAC Dental Clinic opened and the entire fall term schedule filled in one day. Prior to its opening, PSU contracted with Willamette Dental.

1956 The Health Office officially opened with part-time employees, providing temporary and emergency care.

Friday, April 25

2013

1981

Mary Beth Collins became the first person hired to provide mental health services in Student Health Services. She later became the first Executive Director of SHAC. She retired in 2010.

SHAC’s acupuncturist, Joshua Green, will be giving students free acupuncture consultations.

SHAC will also be hosting an open house where students, faculty and staff can learn about the history of health services at PSU and take a tour of the building.

This event will be held in SHAC from 3–5 p.m.

SHAC accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Healthcare

2008

Dr. Eugene Hakanson created the Learning Disabilities Assessment program that is still in present day use.

Student Health Insurance cost $4.25 a term.

Thursday, April 24

Dental Services treats a yearly average of 6,800 students.

All Portland State University students taking 5 or more credits have access to the Center for Student Health & Counseling’s (SHAC) Medical, Counseling, and Dental Services.

All students have access to the Testing Center and Health Promotion Services. SHAC aims to keep students healthy so they can stay in the classroom and focus on learning.

1948

will be held from 1-2 p.m. in the Parson’s Gallery.

Testing Services administers 9,000 tests each year.

SHAC helped PSU implement a new major medical insurance plan for PSU students.

Present Day The Center for Student Health & Counseling currently has six major departments: Health, Counseling, Dental, Testing, Health Promotion, and Administration; and continues to add and increase services that PSU students want and need.

Dental Services was remodeled due to the high demand for services.

Additional operatories were added.

Student Health Services renamed to Health Services, and Counseling & Psychological Services renamed to Counseling Services.

Outreach became Health Promotion.

COURTESY OF ANGELA ABEL

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Vanguard | APRIL 8, 2014 | psuvanguard.com

NEWS

Tentative contract agreement reached by PSU-AAUP and administration Karisa Cleary and Hana King

After a year of contract negotiations between the Portland State chapter of the American Association of University Professors and the PSU administration, a tentative contract agreement was made early Sunday morning after 30 hours of mediation.

Faculty union members still have to vote to approve the contract before it’s official.

“The members of AAUP were able to achieve unprecedented advances on faculty stability, providing two and three-year contracts for a much larger number of fulltime non-tenure track faculty, while also maintaining historic rights essential for academic freedom,” stated a press release issued by PSUAAUP on Sunday. “This comes after nearly two decades of cutbacks and concessions on the part of the PSU faculty and academic professionals at the bargaining table.”

The administration agreed to increase all salaries to a minimum of $40,000; a 2.5 percent salary increase at the beginning of 2014 and 2015; a one-time salary raise of 1.5 percent for fixed-term, tenure and tenure-track faculty for the 2014-2015 fiscal year; a one-time salary raise for some faculty based on years working at PSU; increased job security for non-tenure track faculty; and maintaining contract language.

“We are pleased to announce that we have come to a fair agreement with the AAUP that offers salary increases for faculty for each of the next two years and settles the issues of the union’s role in tenure and promotion and post-tenure review guidelines,” said PSU President Wim Wiewel in a statement released by the

Mary King, president of PSU-AAUP, speaks about working and learning conditions at PSU at a Portland-area workers’ rights board hearing held at the Native American Student and Community Center.

Miles Sanguinetti/PSU Vanguard

university. “The agreement also is fiscally responsible for PSU, as our priority has been to balance our budget and protect academic and student programs.”

The agreement was made three days after a strike notice was issued by the faculty union, which would have seen a strike start April 16.

Amid fears that a strike would severely impede the student learning environment, 24 out of 25 department chairs in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences issued a statement warning the administration of the dire consequences of a strike, stating in their letter, “In our professional opinion

as educators and scholars, the student experience in a classroom staffed by anyone (regardless of his/her qualifications) besides the usual instructor is highly unlikely to match the quality of the planned instruction that we pride ourselves in offering through our departments.”

This statement was issued prior to the strike notice.

Rayleen McMillan, director of university affairs for the Associated Students of PSU, expressed uncertainties that would have come with a strike.

“A strike would pose significant challenges to the campus community,” McMillan said, “as it would be the first

public university faculty strike in Oregon history. We don’t really have a comparator model to follow.”

According to Cameron Frank, a PSU Student Union organizer, “Typically when a union goes on strike, almost everyone goes on strike, both to show solidarity with your friends and with your colleagues, and also to get the contracts you need.”

He also said that while adjunct faculty and graduate instructors would not have been allowed to sympathystrike alongside AAUP members, graduate instructors could have opted to hold their classes off campus in solidarity with the strikers.

Following the announcement of the tentative contract agreement, Mary King, professor of economics and president of PSU’s Chapter of AAUP said, “We are extremely happy to have resisted the administration attempt to eliminate valued protections for the promotion and tenure process that underpin academic freedom and constitute a critical element of the faculty role in university governance; made significant strides toward improving faculty stability by gaining longer-term contacts for a substantial proportion of full-time, non-tenure track faculty; set in motion a process for better incorpo-

rating academic quality into PSU’s strategic planning; and achieved a more equitable pay structure, especially by providing sizeable raises for those earning the least, and for academic professionals who have not been well rewarded for their dedication to PSU.” While this is significant for all impacted, King said that PSU-AAUP is not yet done with their efforts.

“There’s still plenty of work to be done,” King said. “This contract fight is just one step in a long campaign toward re-prioritizing students and academics on campus, and improving learning and working conditions at PSU.”

Vanguard | APRIL 8, 2014 | psuvanguard.com

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NEWS

Students vie for post-graduation opportunities Hana King

The approaching summer marks the exodus of another graduating class. While graduation is a feat in and of itself that deserves a fair amount of accolades, many students can’t avoid the dread that accompanies being thrust out into a seemingly inhospitable job market.

Despite the time, energy, frustration and debt that goes into finally achieving a degree in higher education, there is a sense among some graduating students that a degree doesn’t necessarily equal gainful postcollege employment. Instead, they are turning to internships to become more viable job candidates.

However, it’s not uncommon for internships to manifest into full or part-time employment. Jeanne Ellis, Portland State’s Advising and Career Services internship advisor, said that data from the National Association of Colleges and Employers shows that 56 percent of employers end up hiring their interns.

Although the experience of finding a suitable internship can seem daunting, Ellis said that there are opportunities if you know where to look.

“We have new opportunities for students every day [at the Career Center]. I just looked and we currently have 129 internships posted on the database.”

Ellis said that students who are interested in securing internships can search the Career Center database,

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scour Craigslist if they are up for the task or come in and chat with someone at Advising and Career Services.

“The advantages to using [PSU’s Advising and Career Services] include working with experts in career counseling on exploring careers and creating job search strategies,” said Ann Mestrovich, employer relations coordinator for Advising and Career Services. “We are comprised of career professionals who stay on top of industry trends and employer needs, and can provide a soup to nuts service to students—prepping students for every stage of their job search—resume and cover letter reviews, mock interviews, and networking tips, among others.

“We meet with students one on one to help them identify companies and organizations that may be beneficial to their professional development,” Ellis said. “While we don’t actually match students or place students in internships, we do help students navigate the process of finding internships.”

Ellis also said that students, especially those with less common majors, may wish to pursue “hidden opportunities.”

“Those are found through networking. Networking with friends, with neighbors, with faculty, through scanning websites, through doing informational interviews with people in career ar-

©Jessie Jacobson

eas that a student might be interested in.”

Ellis also said that some job or internship opportunities may not be posted or readily apparent. She said that some students might want to create their own internships.

“That is typically done through networking or individual research,” she said.

“Students can possibly find a company or an organization that is doing the kind of work that they’re interested in and maybe the student can come up with their own idea of a project. It could be an event or a research project that they could do for a company that may help benefit that company.”

Vanguard | APRIL 8, 2014 | psuvanguard.com

Chloe Roesch, a senior women’s studies major, is confronting her post-graduation anxiety by avidly searching for an internship that reflects her interests and career goals. She is currently applying to intern for Planned Parenthood.

“A lot of what I want to do includes the skills provided by the [Planned Parenthood] internship…I think to build on and accelerate those skills is really important to me,” Roesch said.

She also believes that given the competitive nature of the current job market, securing an internship is vital to her career trajectory.

“The world looks kind of grim out there for anyone with just a bachelor’s who doesn’t have work experience,” Roesch said. “So having specific experience in a field that you’re trying to focus on is really important.

I do definitely think that a well-rounded application and resume stands out more than every other graduate.”

Patrick Maloney, a senior geography major, said that he started applying to internships during the summer of his junior year.

“I applied [for] about 10…

For my summer internships, I searched everywhere. The biggest help, however, was the

PSU Career Center,” Maloney said. “The CareerConnect website is actually where I found the internship I ended up accepting.”

Maloney now works for REACH CDC, a community development group that advocates for affordable housing.

He began interning for REACH in July 2013 and was hired on as a part-time employee after his first three months.

For students eager to begin their career search, there is an all majors career fair at PSU on May 6. The fair is open to everyone from students to faculty, and will be held in the Smith Memorial Student Union ballroom from 11a.m. to 3 p.m.

NEWS

All dogs go to linen

Middle East Studies Center hosts lecture on animal mummification Jay Pengelly

How long has man’s best friend been man’s best friend?

Quite a long time, according to Dr. Salima Ikram, one of the world’s leading Egyptologists with focuses in ethnoarchaeology, archaeozoology and rock art.

On April 2, Ikram gave a lecture at Portland State titled “Burying Man’s Best Friend: Canine Catacombs in Ancient Egypt,” where she discussed the mummification and burials of our canine companions.

“Dogs, as we know, are one of the first animals to be domesticated 30,000 years ago. And they have been important in ancient Egypt, or Egyptian history, from 10,000 years ago, if not longer,” Ikram said.

Ikram was in town not only to lecture at PSU, but as part of The American Research Center in Egypt. ARCE held their 65th annual meeting last weekend at the Hilton Portland and Executive Towers hotels. “[The Middle East Studies Center has] a long standing relationship with ARCE, sponsoring their events,” said Elly Cohen, the outreach director for PSU’s Middle East Studies Center. “They bring in big name speakers and always pack out the house.”

In the last few years, Ikram often worked at a catacomb site in Saqqara, near Memphis, Egypt. She and a team of various disciplines worked on mapping the tunnels and cataloging the sizable amount of animal mummies. Ikram estimates there are 7.5 million

CRIME BLOTTER ARREST

Blumel Residence Hall At 11:11 p.m. Officer Brian Rominger, Officer Jon Buck and Officer Chris Fischer, responded to a report that a suspicious male subject, who a student and resident of Blumel had reported earlier in the day was yelling at her child, had returned to the area and was in the hallway of Blumel on the seventh floor. Officers located the subject, non-student Eric Christian Nunez, in one of the dorm rooms.

Nunez initially gave the false name of Eric Miles.

Nunez’s identity was confirmed and he was discovered to have an outstanding warrant for dangerous drugs. Nunez was arrested on the warrant, issued a PSU exclusion and lodged at Multnomah County Detention Center.

Officer Fischer and Sergeant Robert McLeary returned to the dorm room where Nunez had

the body is packed in natron, a salt and baking soda mixture which absorbs moisture. After a period of 40 days, the body and remaining organs are wrapped in linen and buried in a cool, dry place.

“The ancient Egyptians were great observers of nature,” Ikram said. “They lived in a kind of harmony with nature. But of course they did want to control it as all humans do. So the dog was a human intermediary to the rest of the animal world.”

In her archaeological work, Ikram has excavated many Egyptian burial sites and catacombs. The animal mummies she’s discovered are not limited to dogs. She has also dug up jackals, cats, monkeys, hawks and a few hogs.

She brought several pictures and charts to share

with the audience. Showing examples of each, Ikram detailed the different types of animal mummies.

Dogs were used as pets and as both hunting and social companions of the ancient Egyptians in their every day life.

Other mummified animals were intended as food for the afterlife.

Ikram noted that King Tut’s tomb had 65 food mummies. There were sacred animals and votive ones, but it can be difficult to distinguish between the two.

Ikram mentioned that all Egyptian gods had animals that were considered sacred.

“The spirit of a god can enter an animal which will be worshipped as a god,” Ikram said.

She compared this transfer of divine spirits to the Dalai Lama.

Anubis, generally thought of as a Jackal-god, is one of several canine divines who might possess a dog.

Ikram stated that, in her opinion, Anubis is more likely an amalgamation of several animals such as dog, fox and jackal. Other ancient Egyptian canine gods are Wepwawet, opener of ways, and Duamutef, the son of Horus who is in charge of the stomach.

Throughout her lecture, Ikram was fairly light-hearted when talking about the lives and deaths of Egyptian pets.

“Dogs were, and still are, the quintessential pet. Cats are delightful creatures, but never excited to see you when you come home,” Ikram said.

“Dogs are the only creature on this planet to love you from birth to death. Most children stop loving you around four.”

Week of March 31–April 7

Stephanie Tshappat

April 4

individual dog remains in the Saqqara catacombs.

“We work to facilitate archaeological excavation and preservation of monuments in Egypt.” said John Sarr, president of the Oregon chapter of ARCE. Sarr, who introduced Ikram at the beginning of the lecture, described Ikram as one of his favorite Egyptologists.

“This woman appears on every other program on ancient Egypt…One of her areas of expertise is mummification, but also a specialty in animal mummification,” Sarr said.

During the lecture, Ikram talked about the process of animal mummification, which she said was very similar to the mummification of humans.

According to Ikram, internal organs are removed before

been located and ProStaff administratively keyed into the apartment, which was found to be in very poor condition.

Syringe caps, blood soaked paper towels and napkins, metal cookers, cotton balls, and small clear plastic baggies that appeared to contain suspected contraband were located throughout the apartment. Due to the condition of the dorm and biohazard dangers, appropriate personnel were notified and the student residents of the dorm were removed from the apartment and put up in a room at a different location, being advised not to have visitors due to concerns about heroin use. Precautions were taken to prevent unauthorized entry at the dorm in Blumel. The report was forwarded to the Dean of Student Life and Housing.

April 5 ATTEMPTED BURGLARY

University Center Building Officer Denae Murphy received a report from the owner of We Be Weiners food

cart, Ronald Cunningham, who stated entry was attempted into his food cart, causing $400-$500 worth of damage to the door. No further information available.

ARREST

Smith Memorial Student Union At 7:44 p.m. Officer Murphy contacted and arrested previously excluded non-student Storm A. Farrina, who was found in the gender-neutral restroom. Farrina was suspected to be using drugs, as used needles were found in his backpack. Farrina was arrested for criminal trespass II, and his probation officer issued a probation violation detainer for him as well. Farrina was lodged at Multnomah County Detention Center.

Read the full crime blotter online at psuvanguard.com

Vanguard | APRIL 8, 2014 | psuvanguard.com

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OPINION

‘Big Bang’ STAR PROMOTES PSEUDOSCIENCE Global Thinking

by Derek Sun

In an age of endless distractions and ever-changing news, it’s imperative to possess good advertising that immediately attracts attention. Using celebrity endorsements can quickly boost popularity and make anything seem trendy and admirable.

Like any great power, the words and actions of celebrities can be used for good or evil. Mayim Bialik has chosen to invest her fame in the latter category.

Just as yet another epidemic of an infectious disease—this time measles—breaks out in New York City, the actress from The Big Bang Theory is slated to be a guest speaker at the annual convention for the National Science Teachers Association.

A cursory examination of Bialik’s life and career initially makes her seem like an ideal choice for the conference. She holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA and was accepted to Ivy League universities. She is a brand ambassador for Texas Instruments, she is best known for playing a scientist and girlfriend of the inhumanly cerebral Sheldon Cooper on the show, and she spoke last year at the conference for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

In most respects, Bialik deserves praise. She is a role model for encouraging more women to pursue science and has impressive intellectual achievements beyond the low standards we set for most celebrities. Her decisions regarding medicine and raising children, unfortunately, leave something to be desired.

Bialik stated in a People Magazine interview that she lives in a “non-vaccinating family…obviously there’s a lot of controversy about it,” and she is a practitioner of attachment parenting. This is a controversial method of maintaining close links to children whose efficacy continues to be widely debated. It is criticized by some psychologists as useless and lacks scientific evidence to back it up.

Bialik doesn’t just talk about avoiding vaccination. She is also a spokeswoman for the Holistic Moms Network, a pseudoscientific nonprofit whose mission statement mentions advocacy of “holistic parenting and green living”—common code words for new age fraud and miracle cures.

The organization encourages parents to “trust their instincts; parent from the heart.” Its advisory board is staffed by physicians and activists fighting for the “right to refuse vaccination,” promote quack treatments such as homeopathy and support natural births instead of hospital births. The group receives funding from homeopathic medicine manufacturers and frequently champions Andrew Wakefield, the leading instigator of the anti-vaccine studies and movement, while cloaking itself in the superiority and virtue of “natural” medicine and living.

See BIG BANG on page 10

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Vanguard | APRIL 8, 2014 | psuvanguard.com

‘The Big Bang Theory’ actress Mayim Bialik at the 36th annual Gracie Awards Gala.

Creative Commons Attributions to Tabercil

OPINION

The real risk of the Peace Corps Over 1,000 female volunteers raped in the past decade

The Illuminator

by Mike Bivins

I’m sure that for most people, joining the Peace Corps will be an enriching and fulfilling experience that enables them to advance themselves in life. At the same time, they will make a difference in impoverished communities the world over. However, some of the women who make this commitment may end up becoming victims of sexual assault. I cannot help but notice that recent years have been filled with semi-frequent horror stories of Peace Corps workers, primarily female, being raped.

I have had the pleasure of sitting through two Peace Corps recruit attempts. The first Peace Corps recruiters that came to my Spanish class seemed pretty low-key. They gave a short speech, distributed the literature and that was that. Naturally, I mentioned the rape statistics to the girl I share a desk with, and she was somewhat surprised at what she was hearing from me.

The second group of recruiters could learn a thing or two from the first recruiters. Make a short and sweet speech. You never know when I might be lurking, waiting to inject a little objectivity into the discussion.

These recruiters came in full of gusto, and the speaker was a fantastic orator who made it seem like the Peace Corps is the greatest thing since sliced bread. The fellow asked the class in earnest what we knew about the Peace Corps. No one answered, and I did not take the bait.

The recruiter asked again, he practically begged us to tell him what we had heard about the Peace Corps. “ANYTHING!” he pleaded. In truth, the only thing stopping me was that there had been some heated moments in the class as a result of unrelated matters. You could cut the tension in the room with a knife, and I did not want to compound the situation by challenging the Peace Corps representative then and there.

Out of respect for my professor and fellow students, I chose to write this piece rather than start a petty, direct confrontation with an agent of the federal government.

Honestly, I would have loved nothing more than to rain on this fellow’s parade just out of general principal. You might ask, “Gee Mike, what is the general principal of this matter?” The principal is that the Peace Corps is under the umbrella of the federal government, and I feel like it’s my duty to check all agents of the federal government whenever an opportunity arises.

As a result, when I see a federal program that is really screwing up, I feel it is my civic duty to give the masses the ability to make an informed choice before potentially discovering these horrible truths the hard way.

That aside, I feel like people should go into something knowing all of the facts so that they can ask the right questions.

Asking the right questions will also lead to better and more informed decisions. How can people go into this with an in-

formed opinion if the only opinion they’ve heard is painting a picture that is all peaches and cream? At least, that’s the way the recruitment representatives painted the picture.

I simply ask you to type the following terms into Google: women, rape and Peace Corps. That’s what I did. One hit that came up on the first page was from ABC News, alleging that in the decade before 2011, more than 1,000 American women had been raped or sexually assaulted while serving in the Peace Corps.

I encourage interested parties to do their own research so that they can come to their own conclusions without the help of Peace Corps representatives. The same Peace Corps that, according to the ABC News article, tried to cover up the gang rape of a woman stationed in Bangladesh in 2004.

It’s better to do the research now than to get excited about the whole endeavor and endure the buzzkill that could be associated with finding out these depressing things after the fact.

This is not to say that I am completely against the Peace Corps. I just feel like it is not worth it to put yourself at such great risk. I also realize that this is one of those choices that’s high risk as well as high reward. The skills and connections made will, as I said before, undoubtedly be a worthwhile reward if you’re able to make it through the program unscathed. Especially if you are able to become fluent in a second language because of prolonged immersion in a radically different culture.

If you want to take the risk, go for it. Just make sure that you are aware of the potential consequences that might arise from you rolling the dice.

CHRISTOPHER PERALTA/PSU VANGUARD

Vanguard | APRIL 8, 2014 | psuvanguard.com

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OPINION BIG BANG Continued from page 8 Bialik’s beliefs in pseudoscience unfortunately know no limits. She is a supporter of circumcision, a practice riddled with controversy over whether severing the foreskin of the penis really protects against sexually transmitted diseases or is morally justified. She also is fiercely devoted to every tenet of attachment parenting, which includes refusing to teach her kids to say “please” or “thank you.” She declares that giving birth must be painful, drug-free and natural, and she insists that controversy still exists about the benefits and dangers of vaccines.

With her degrees and accomplishments, it may be incomprehensible to most why Bialik indulges in so many falsehoods. But Bialik demonstrates that there are few, if any, ways of guaranteeing that someone does not accept pseudoscience.

Intelligence and perseverance are useful, but Bialik also possesses stubbornness and denial in spades, which are highly effective in preventing people from changing their beliefs, no matter how obviously erroneous those beliefs are.

It may appear that Bialik speaking at a science conference would not be such a disaster, since she is not explicitly advocating abstaining from vaccination. Unlike Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey, Bialik is capable of beguiling people with her Ph.D., and some may argue that as long as Bialik stays quiet about her health choices, she is not damaging anyone’s perception of science.

It is Bialik’s role on a science-oriented show, as well as her education, that generates conflicts and encourages more people to avoid vaccinations. By featuring Bialik as a guest speaker, the NSTA is tacitly acknowledging that they have no quarrel with her belief in homeopathy, the so-called downsides of vaccination and her depictions of scientists as antisocial and ignorant. The antivaccination cause makes more gains and represents science as something controlled by celebrities and fads.

The Big Bang Theory occasionally features tidbits of nerd trivia, jokes and guest stars to appeal to scientists. It is now viewed as a triumph of nerd culture. It offers a generally superficial and dim view of people who work in science. Main characters are incapable of speaking to women and are more cerebral and humorless than Spock. They are praised for promoting nerdiness and science just because they work at The California Institute of Technology and sometimes enjoy superheroes and science projects.

The show encourages audiences not to admire or respect

the characters, but to point and laugh at how inept they are.

We, the audience, are not inspired to be more like the characters, but to realize that a high IQ isn’t all that matters in life. We receive the message that scientists are caricatures deserving of pity and laughter. The massive popularity of this program around the world, and how enthusiastically it is favored by intellectuals such as Steve Wozniak and Buzz Aldrin, suggests that we still have too few examples of pop culture truly appreciating science on a less superficial level.

It is disheartening that we have to be satisfied with a dull and unoriginal sitcom.

Bialik is a sad reminder that intelligent people can fall for ludicrous ideas. Eminent and Nobel-winning scientists such as Linus Pauling, Kary Mullis and Barbara McClintock dove into subjects like questionable health fads, UFOs, AIDS denial and seances when they were not working on genuine scientific discoveries. It would be beneficial for us to examine people’s words and actions more carefully, as anyone generally considered sensible and intelligent can hold completely nonsensical beliefs.

Bialik may not inflict apparent damage as a guest speaker, but she will continue to be wrong in many areas of science, and thus is in no way an appropriate spokeswoman for those interested in a life of the mind.

RESPONSE TO “THE PERILS OF CHINESE MEDICINE” Letter to the editor Brenda Hood, Ph.D., LAc, associate professor and clinical supervisor School of Classical Chinese Medicine National College of Natural Medicine I occasionally like to read articles that hold opinions that differ from my own to reflect on my beliefs and to think about how to make my profession better. The opinion piece entitled “The Perils of Chinese Medicine” that appeared in the Portland State Vanguard, however, was not what I had expected. It did not present well-developed thoughts about the dangers of the modern day practice of this ancient art and science. It was weakened by factual inaccuracies, logical fallacies, moral indignation and emotionalism used as blunt weapons of persuasion.

Mr. Derek Sun’s comments about Chinese medicine are incorrect and misleading. A case in point is the unfortunate and uninformed contention that healthcare practitioners and healthcare planners are touting the idea of completely eliminating Western medicine therapeutics and surgery and replacing them with Chinese medicine.

The history of allopathic or disease-centered medicine is that this dominant system by definition waits until disease has become disease (measurable) and heroic measures must then be taken to address the problem. While there will always be a need for acute and chronic care intervention, people should not wait until they need heroic measures to rectify issues with their health and well-being. Small problems can be nipped in the bud before heroics are called for.

Alternative and complementary medicines like Chinese medicine focus on the prevention of disease and often help to avert the extremes of disease (and in some cases even disease itself ).

Chinese medicine also provides options for those who are not satisfied with mainstream medicine. In addition, the theories underlying many complementary medicines, including Chinese medicine, are variations of what Western science refers to as “systems theory.” In the medical field, this equates to the idea that the human being is an integrated structure existing on many levels, and that the person should be understood as a complete and integrated system and not just as a collection of parts. How is it not a

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good thing to learn from already long functioning systems theory and practice to benefit Western science and medicine in a direction it is already beginning to explore?

Mr. Sun seems to believe that scientific rationalism is the best and only way to view the world. Even so, he demonstrates repeatedly the same kind of logical errors that contemporary science was created to address. For example, Mr. Sun cites one bad experience with Chinese medicine, in which it is used cynically as a tool to bilk unsuspecting tourists and he concludes that this immoral behavior represents an entire profession.

My question here is: Does this really speak to the problems inherent in Chinese medicine as a practice, or is it merely an illustration of the problems inherent in viewing medicine as a commodity and then using people’s concerns about health as a hook to become personally enriched?

When Mr. Sun refers to the medicinals that he reports seeing in Tongrentang in Beijing, he tries to take the moral high ground by talking of the animal parts he observed: deer “tusks,” rhino “tusks” and elephant tusks, for example, and asking if Portlanders would still frequent Chinese medicine if they knew such things were being sold as medicine. In China, eliminating the use of endangered animals parts in medicine is a work in progress, though progress is being made—15 to 20 years ago all rhino horns in China’s pharmacies were confiscated and destroyed (so it is unclear how one appeared in Tongrentang). Their historical use in the field is a fact. However, the implication that the actions of our predecessors or those of individuals in other countries tar the present Western generation of Chinese medicine practitioners with the same brush completely overlooks the fact that endangered animal parts are not part of the pharmacopoeia here. Indeed, for modern, licensed practitioners, they never have been. In point of fact, Chinese medicine practitioners in the West are leaders in the fight to stop their use.

As a conclusion to his article, Mr. Sun states: “The only division in medicine is between medicine that works and medicine that doesn’t work. TCM squarely fits in the latter

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category, and the sooner we accept this truth, the less harm we will do to fellow humans and other animals on Earth.”

In this regard, Mr. Sun fails to provide evidence other than his opinion that this statement is supported by fact.

While he does not appear to understand, let alone accept Chinese medicine, a growing body of scientific studies and clinical practice outcomes do show that Chinese medicine is effective. Anecdotally speaking, many individuals come to me after years of treatment in the Western system with no real relief from their condition, or with a desire to get away from some of the serious side-effects of Western therapies.

I cannot claim to help everyone, but I have helped many resolve problems that Western medicine was unable to, and in some cases, even helped individuals avert surgery.

Objective observation of all phenomena and the engagement of the rational mind in providing understanding are paramount to rational scientific thinking. However, the stance of scientism, the belief in the universal applicability of the scientific method and approach, and the view that empirical science constitutes the most authoritative worldview (i.e., the most valuable part of human learning to the exclusion of other viewpoints) is as obstructionist to progress as the old wives tales that science was developed to overthrow. If one only sees what one wants to see, how is it different from superstition?

Those who passionately hold to ignorance and prejudice in discourse offer no possibility of real communication or learning. Perhaps, more importantly, though, of what use is a poorly researched and emotionally charged polemic in contributing ideas and information regarding the issues that Mr. Sun feels plague Chinese medicine?

Whatever his ultimate objective, Mr. Sun needs to provide more than just faulty logic, inaccurate and uncorroborated information to defend a highly subjective and naïve argument that can be summed up as: “I am right so you should all just believe me.”

One last question, though: What is a “lapidary objective?”

OPINION

Pope Francis: not an anarchist feminist Marxist Against the Current

by Sebastian Richardson

If everything you’ve heard about Pope Francis comes from a major news outlet or someone’s Facebook page, I’m going to ask that you rethink everything you think you know about him.

This new pontiff has been attracting a lot of attention, not only from the Catholic faithful but also from the secular world.

However, while Pope Francis is changing hearts and minds, there seems to be a desire to sensationalize his papacy and make him out to be something that he’s not.

Let me set the record straight: Pope Francis will not change any long-held Catholic church teachings. He’s not going to allow woman priests, he’s not going to pave the way for gay marriage within the church and he’s not going to reverse any teachings regarding abortion or contraceptives.

Most of these issues are so ingrained in church doctrine that even if Pope Francis was a raging anarchist and feminist Marxist, he could not change the church’s teachings.

Church teaching is not something that sways to popular opinion, but rather a close examination of scripture and church tradition.

I’ve noticed that there appears to be this desire to try and compare Pope Emeritus Benedict to Pope Francis, and such comparisons are not only unfair and inaccurate, but also reveal a lack of understanding of the papacy. Those who are not Catholic but hold strong, negative opinions of the church are tempted to compare these pontiffs in order to construe some sort of division within the church.

For some, Pope Francis has made “startling” comments.

These comments appear controversial to those who are not familiar with Catholic teachings. While Pope Francis says that he won’t judge gay people who seek God, it doesn’t conflict with the previous pontiff’s comments regarding homosexuals within the Church.

Pope Benedict himself, during his pontificate, repeated what is said within the catechism of the Catholic church. He said that homosexuals “must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity.” Such comments do not conflict with the sentiments echoed by his successor Pope Francis, nor do they contradict the church’s teachings. Both Popes were concerned with social matters such as economic inequality and rampant poverty, and neither of them are radical in any sense.

I read somewhere that Pope Francis is not changing the words but the music. He’s opening people up to the church and giving it a more human face. He is a symbol of unity, not of division. While Pope Francis and Benedict appear to represent two opposing sides within the church, they are two like-minded individuals who approached the papacy in two different but equally valid ways.

BRENDAN MULLIGAN/PSU VANGUARD

Pope Francis himself is concerned with the church’s apparent “obsession” with certain teachings that seem intimidating or difficult for those who were not raised in the church.

This is not his way of dismissing the importance of these teachings, which are central to the message of the church. It simply reflects a desire to try and bring people to Christ without these initial barriers.

Pope Francis merely does not want the first thing people hear about Jesus Christ to be some difficult social teaching about gay marriage or contraception. He does not want people to be put off by what the church says people shouldn’t do, but instead to be drawn in by the love the church tirelessly proclaims.

The biggest shame in this way of thinking is that while Pope Francis wishes his papacy to be focused more on social justice, helping the poor and spreading the Gospel, the media only chooses to focus on his statements that relate to gay marriage, abortion and the role of women in the church.

While some people feel the church is overly focused on these

issues, it seems that people who aren’t Catholic have the most opinions regarding these teachings.

Those who try to twist Pope Francis’ words to fit some sort of progressive agenda are clearly mistaken about the church and its mission. They wish to stir up controversy at the cost of promoting a misguided message that, in effect, causes more confusion and fails to convey an accurate portrayal of his beliefs and teachings.

The media turns a blind eye to the Pope’s loyalty to the church. You hardly ever see news articles about his comments denouncing abortion, his warnings against “adolescent progressivism” and his referral to same-sex marriage as an “anthropological regression.”

Pope Francis is doing wonderful things for the Catholic church. He’s making people see the church in a different light and is truly bringing the message of Christ to the masses. However, this portrayal of him as some sort of liberal that plans on tossing out dogma and doctrine in order to “get with the times” is an illusion propped up by the media and should not be given any significant amount of credibility.

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COVER

Corey Toney, veteran and political science senior, in Cramer Hall between classes.

Breana Harris

Something heavy has been weighing on me since I transferred to Portland State, and I’ve decided it’s time to finally put it out there.

My name is Breana, and I graduated high school in the 20th century.

Many of my friends from the class of 1999 are in the midst of amazing careers. I have younger siblings and cousins who earned their bachelor’s degrees years ago and are now pursuing master’s or doctorate’s. At 33, I am just now on the cusp of finishing an undergraduate program. And yet I know I’m not alone. According to the Women’s Resource Center, 66 percent of PSU students are over the age of 23. Whether you graduated in 1965 or 2005, you have probably experienced the conflicting emotions that come with being an older college student.

CORINNA SCOTT/PSU VANGUARD

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COVER

(left to right) Jessica Almroth, mentee of the Women’s Mentorship Program, Virginia Martin, assistant director of the WRC, Anna Vetter, coordinator of the Empowerment Program, and Erin Word, mentee of the Women’s Mentorship Program meeting in the Womens Resource Center for the Returning Women Students Peer Support Group.

CORINNA SCOTT/PSU VANGUARD

While feeling out of place has always been considered natural for non-traditional students, times are definitely changing.

PSU is well known for its average student age of 26, and seeing a range of age groups around campus is not unusual. But our campus reflects a national shift that has been happening since the Great Recession of 2008.

Left with a decreasing number of options, working adults have returned to college in droves. The American Council on Education published a report in 2013 entitled “Post-traditional Learners and the Transformation of Postsecondary Education: A Manifesto for College Leaders.” It stated that only 15 percent of college students in the U.S. begin school at age 18, and that student populations made up of diverse working adults from 25 to 64 are “the new normal.” The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education declares us “non-traditional no more.”

But as you might expect, having the statistics on your side doesn’t necessarily eliminate the personal and practical struggles that non-traditional or returning students go through.

Virginia Martin, assistant director of the WRC, and Anna Vetter, coordinator of the Empowerment Program, work with many female students who are older than the traditional college age, which constitutes 58 percent of the women at PSU. “We have found that one of the major issues that returning students come to see us about is navigation—getting around campus, finding resources and figuring out the best way to do things,” Martin and Vetter said in an email. “Financial aid and D2L are referenced quite a bit as points of frustration. Isolation can also be an issue for many returning women students.

They feel as if they don’t belong here because of their age. Part of the mission of the Empowerment Program is to help build community and connect these women with one another. We do this by offering a returning women’s college success class, a Women’s Mentorship Project and a [Returning Women Students Peer Support Group].”

The WRC offers the Women’s Mentorship Project and returning women college success class to help students feel welcomed and empowered at PSU no matter what their age. Through working with students from all walks of life, Martin and Vetter have discovered a commonality—the search for community.

“They [students] are looking to see themselves represented in groups, in classrooms, in administration and leadership, and in campus activities. They are looking for a place to feel at home and to be understood. That community and representation is vital to connection and completion.”

Martin and Vetter also view PSU as an important example of the shift toward a new definition of what it means to attend a four-year university. “Portland State, as an urban campus, is

in a unique position. Its accessibility is attractive to commuter students, including many adult and professional students. As these students become more visible in classrooms, in activities, and in leadership, it helps to change what the public perception of what a college student is.”

As it turns out, a college student can be anyone. We all have our own reasons for missing out on the traditional secondary education experience. Mine were mostly financial, though they also had a great deal to do with my inability to make such important life choices at the age of 18. It is hard for high school seniors to have a realistic understanding of how much higher education costs, the commitment involved in pursuing a degree and the importance of finding the right university and the right program for you. How many people truly know what they want to do with their lives as teenagers?

English major Karla Farr certainly didn’t. “I missed out on the whole college-after-high-school experience,” she said in an email. “In my thirties, I began taking a class here or there.”

In her fifties, Farr was inspired to finally “just do it and get a degree. It wasn’t until I took WR 121 that I realized I had an ability to put my thoughts on paper. I will graduate this June with a BA in English and a writing minor, three weeks before my 60th birthday.”

For Farr, the college experience has been overwhelmingly positive, and she insists that she makes a much better student now than she would have at age 18. “It has been so enriching, not only because of the studies but the other students, the teachers and the overall experiences.” Working as a tutor at the Mount Hood Community College Writing Center, she has found herself relating to the journey of students who are not native English speakers. She too experienced the feeling of being in an environment where she is not considered the norm.

“Their courage and motivation to succeed inspires me.”

Ryan Ritchie, 40, is another returning student who identifies with taking time to really understand your path in life, and in school. After high school, he spent a decade in the Navy.

“I got out, and I didn’t really know what to do with my life,” he said. “I just jumped around from job to job and place to place.”

Ritchie, like myself and countless others, was laid off during the recession and struggled to find another job with only a high school diploma and scattered work experience. Going back to school was the solution to advancement and exploration, and he studied Japanese, film and English at Columbia Gorge Community College, followed by PSU. He is definitely no stranger to feeling out of place or awkward in a room filled with younger students, especially when he experienced being mentored by a much younger student in

his sophomore inquiry classes. He describes the weird feeling of being the oldest person in a class, and the relief that comes when he isn’t—which I am sure most non-traditional students can understand.

And yet interacting with younger students isn’t necessarily a negative aspect of college—usually, quite the opposite. “I can let those things go pretty easily because that’s the way it is. They can bring things to me that I don’t have, and I can bring things to them that they don’t have,” Ritchie said. Still, he can laugh about advising a librarian that she should give lessons to the students on using microfilm, or how he once spoke up in class to tell the other students what it was like when the Berlin Wall fell.

Professors also welcome the idea of a varied student population in their classes. Associate professor Maude Hines of the English department said, “While it’s also true of some younger students, returning students, with their extra life experience, have a clear idea of what they want to get out of the class. They bring rich and varied perspectives to texts.”

While there is a perception that older students are more dedicated and serious about their work, it is hard to make a sweeping statement. I’m pretty much the same sort of student now as I was 15 years ago.

Despite a plethora of opportunities and warm welcomes, I don’t think the stigma attached to being a returning student has entirely dissipated. But research clearly shows that most major universities in the U.S. are learning to tailor their recruitment efforts more toward working adults. Online colleges and online classes, which are designed specifically for working adults and students with families, are more popular now than ever before. The costs of higher education and the staggering burden of student debt have reached unsustainable heights, but more accommodation for a diverse range of students to have access to degree programs may be something positive that comes out of it. We might feel like we’re different now, but the time where nobody thinks twice about a student’s age is fast approaching.

Still, this is all a conundrum. There will always be people like me, Farr and Ritchie who don’t know exactly where they belong after high school graduation. In my eight years out of school, I traveled to many U.S. cities, went to Europe twice, slogged around music festivals and worked some awful retail jobs that I don’t regret. I was also frighteningly poor most of the time and probably lucky to have emerged unscathed. College is changing, but it is also becoming more necessary. Maybe the real lesson is that every student needs room to find themselves, and higher education needs to respect that. It’s never too late to begin, but it’s also never too early to start.

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ARTS & CULTURE

Masters in making part 1

Artist Perry Doane (right) discusses installation decisions with fellow printmaker Emerson Christoff.

PSU MFAs to show, tell on thesis work Jeoffry Ray

Spring term is in full swing, and Portland State’s art galleries are buzzing with activity. The graduating Masters of Fine Arts students are making their presence known in a two-part series of exhibitions, each featuring solo shows by three artists.

The first series, scheduled to run from April 7–18, features solo exhibitions by graduate students Mark Martinez, Perry Doane and Isaac Weiss. The shows will occur in PSU’s AB Lobby, Autzen and MK galleries respectively, with opening receptions scheduled on April 10 from 4–6 p.m. In addition to showing, the artists will provide artist lectures about their work. Doane and Weiss will talk on April 9 at 6 p.m.

Martinez will lecture at 6 p.m. on April 15. All lectures will take place in the Shattuck Hall annex.

Martinez’s show, titled Cream, is an exploration of racial identity through color definitions. His installation will feature a repainted gallery, with references to the various cream and white flesh tones available in many paint stores.

“I’m situating the color cream as the sight of desire,” Martinez said. “I’m going to highlight the beige-rage color with light. It’s an installationbased project. Some of the key themes I’m tackling is identity, also ideas of desire.

Also, the racialization of the color beige.”

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Martinez, who has often worked in more direct forms, noted that he is approaching his thesis installation from a more abstract and conceptual level. He will employ color as a conceptual driver for ideas of racial identification, with an emphasis on the cultural impact of cream tones.

“I’m investigating the corporeal traits that are attributed to flat, untextured colors,” Martinez said. “The color cream is hierarchical.

It’s also very topical. I think the hierarchical nature ties to identity and hegemony.”

Doane, showing in the nearby Autzen Gallery, will also explore the personal in art. His own exhibition, titled Carbonaut, will touch on the institutional experience.

Through process-driven print mediums, Doane illustrates the interaction of artists and the spaces they inhabit.

“The work’s about working through feelings of isolation, and strange reactions to buildings that have been used for other purposes over time, and have been reallocated to things such as art,” Doane said. “And sort of noticing myself within these spaces, and how when time comes into play, there’s sort of a sense of identity that develops within the space.”

Doane’s works on panel include screen prints of various sizes, each the result of a self-derived process. His black and white works have a slate-gray tonality, while

Jeoffry Ray/PSU VANGUARD

color works feature overlays of multiple hues, resulting in a deliberately hazy mix of murky tones and punchy highlights. Most of the works are abstractions of imagery degraded through a laborious series of print processes, bringing the pieces to a finality that speaks to the entropy of layered techniques.

“I really enjoy primitive and chemical processes,” Doane said. “Going to screen printing for me was like going back to traditional dark room photography, which I really

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love. I also really get to think about what I’m doing. I get to meditate on a process for a long period of time.”

Weiss will also show this week in the Art Building’s MK Gallery. As a carpenter and a master at drawing, Weiss is bringing these previous skill sets together in a newer, more sculptural direction for his exhibition Musings in the Face of Certain Death.

“Part of the show is about situating myself in Portland, and also within the global

context,” Weiss said. “The thing about global context is that we’re dying. Unless we can pull our shit together at the very end, and I don’t see that. The big pull is the question of whether we’re going to treat the earth like the mother that we’re going to take care of, or like the placenta that we’re going to throw away as we move out into space.”

Weiss’ work will feature a collection of sculptural pieces, all constructed with found material. From planets and mountain-scapes, to

such man-made objects as a wood stove and pyramids, his pieces become analyses of the relationship between the natural and the humanengineered. Much of his current work is developed from throwaway objects, such as an intensely detailed elephant head constructed from corrugated cardboard.

“I’m kind of creating my own universe, basically,” Weiss said. “I also want to be sustainable. Everything here See MASTERS on page 17

ARTS & CULTURE

NWFC tracks Northwest filmmakers Andrew Echeverria

Would you believe that at least once a week throughout the year, one could easily get a generous sampling of the vibrant independent films being created by local artists? Northwest Tracking, a “tag” of sorts for local films playing at the Northwest Film Center, is your ticket to enjoying the captivating and contemplative stories that Northwest filmmakers have to offer.

While possible that the expanse of territory the NWFC considers to be the Northwest (Oregon to Montana to Alaska) might be larger than what some people consider it to be, this vast chunk of continent only adds to the depth of the works selected for screening.

Portlanders are familiar with the somber rain that stains the soul in our part of the territory, but what might artists have to say where the sun bakes the brain or never rises? As it turns out, it is equal parts human narrative and film experimentation. The films that are shown as part of Northwest Tracking showcase the imagination and technique that make the independent filmmaking scene in the Northwest unique and exciting.

But what really sets these independent filmmakers apart from those in other parts of the country?

“For one thing, they’re not as hooked into the Hollywood system,” said Nick Bruno, public relations associate for the NWFC. “In fact most of them are operating in micro-communities within communities, producing work with friends and colleagues for not a lot of money.”

Maybe this concept isn’t anything new to the craft of independent film: a few friends with fewer cameras, working around the clock, taking lunch breaks that center more around a dollar menu than a catered spread. But beyond the simple yet remarkably supportive system and community that helps independent film thrive in the Northwest, there is a sense of individuality and character that gives local filmmakers a unique slant that isn’t really found anywhere else.

“A lot of the work that tends to filter through [Northwest Tracking] is quieter, more contemplative work. The tone is really set apart from what you find coming out of the studios— possibly more European in tone,” Bruno said.

The most exemplary film that aligns with Bruno’s comments might be Ich Hunger (2013) by Isaac Olsen, a visiting director from Tacoma. Ich Hunger tells the story of a rural German village that suffers from the horrors of a “creature boy” that lurks in the woods. With his stark, mostly black-and-white aesthetic, and choice of German dialogue coupled with English subtitles, Olsen’s appreciation and homage to German expressionist film is hard to miss.

Bruno said what’s most representative of what Northwest filmmakers are doing, and what the Northwest Tracking series

‘Ich Hunger,’ from director Isaac Olsen, kicked off the latest Northwest Tracking series.

©Isaac Olsen

is about, is the Best of the 40th Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival.

Showing April 17 and 19, The Best of the 40th Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival is a touring showcase of prime selected short films from the titular filmmakers’ fest that occurred at the NWFC in February.

NWFMF programmer Thomas Phillipson has culled the most affecting works from the 40-plus shorts that screened and has put together a nine-film powerhouse, based on the reactions and response from festival goers and visiting judge Mike Plante, programmer for the Sundance Film Festival.

For those who missed the chance to see these works the first time around at the 40th NWFMF, this is an opportunity to tap into the freshest minds working in Northwest independent film.

Yet despite the umbrella of their locale, it is important to remember the diversity of Northwest filmmakers and the narratives they wish to convey. It would seem these artists are uni-

fied only by the land they inhabit and the struggles they face crafting films with limited financial and moral support.

“I think what unites the makers is that creative spark, the need to express something no matter what obstacles need to be overcome in order to do it,” said Bruno. “They all have different stories to tell, but they’re definitely dealing with less resources than someone who’s part of an industry-driven town like New York or Los Angeles.”

From the eerie and idiosyncratic short films of Dave Hanagan, to the emotional and personal documentary work of Irene Taylor Brodsky, Northwest Tracking provides a vast landscape of rich film and art.

These are the voices of Northwest independent filmmakers.

They are waiting to be heard.

Visit www.nwfilm.org forshowtimes and a schedule of upcoming films being screened in the Northwest Tracking series.

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ARTS & CULTURE

Not a war book The Wax Bullet War puts an artistic lens on harsh realities

Jeremy King

On April 1, Ooligan Press released its latest work The Wax Bullet War: Chronicles of a Soldier & Artist by Sean Davis on April 1. The book is a memoir of a soldier, an artist and most importantly a human being. It is a deeply personal account of his experiences at war and the difficulties he faced in coming home after surviving the horrors of war.

Davis, a graduate of Portland State, is an artist and writer who serves as an adjunct writing teacher for local Portland colleges. He seized the attention of the staff at Ooligan Press with his thoroughly compelling and personal account of war.

“Sean Davis is a real-deal writer,” said Per Henningsgaard, assistant professor at PSU and director of publishing at Ooligan Press. “He isn’t just some guy who did something incredible and then afterward figured he could write a story about it and make a few bucks. He’s a writer and artist who just so happens to have lived an awe inspiring, heartbreaking, thoroughly compelling life.”

The idea to write such a personal and deeply emotional memoir came from a desire to remind people that soldiers, at the end of the day, are people just like everyone else, Davis said.

Not a war book “I didn’t want this to be a war book,” Davis said. “I wanted it to be a book of a regular person living through a war because I wanted it to be relatable to everyone.”

It is this every-man quality that is at the heart of The

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Wax Bullet War. The memoir strives to convey the raw and visceral reality of war as it is, never weighing itself down with unnecessary politics or needless speculation.” “[Davis] gives us a relatable, personal look at a war that we so often see only through sensationalized headlines and statistics. His story forces us to consider things in a more nuanced way,” said Laurel Boruck, Ooligan Press project manager for the book.

The memoir examines war on a deeply personal level that serves as a staunch reminder of just how human our soldiers really are.

“I think a large part of what makes this book so powerful is that we are not accustomed to seeing war through the eyes of an artist,” Henningsgaard said. “It’s a different portrait of war and its aftermath, which is very much shaped by Sean’s identity as both soldier and artist.”

Looking with fresh eyes “We equate art with beauty, but I think a lot of the best art takes something dark and difficult and makes it beautiful.

And in the same way, we so often equate war with chaos and death and destruction, without considering the ways that life and beauty also exist alongside and within the same space,” Boruck said.

“Davis’ story asks us to abandon our preconceived notions and to look at things with fresh eyes.”

Davis’ desire for readers to look at the reality of war with fresh eyes extends to society’s treatment of the many men and women in service who come home only to find

it difficult to acclimate to the lives they once lived.

Davis makes it a point to voice his disdain for the inherently holistic mentality associated with posttraumatic stress disorder, and the careless manner in which the term is so often used to diagnose returning soldiers.

“I hate the term PTSD. I hate it. It’s impersonal and it’s been used so much that it’s lost any meaning,” Davis said.

“We were ordinary people who were asked to do extraordinary—and many times violent—acts. It has been documented from the beginning of time: Men and women who have fought in combat have always had issues when transitioning back into the society they fought for. When we lump those issues into one heartless acronym, we are doing our best and brightest a disservice.”

Davis also takes issue with the impersonal glorification of returning war vets and the constant “hero” treatment.

“Too often when any soldier comes back they somehow gain a sort of permanent hero status. There is a level of respect I have for everyone who’s raised their right hand and took the vow, and I love the fact that society supports the troops, but we’re not all heroes. The word is overused,” Davis said.

“Please don’t misunderstand. I believe reminding the public that we are only human shows that we can make mistakes, but we also do amazing things. In the book I write about some very embarrassing true scenes.

Self-destructive behavior is a common mistake. On the

Vanguard | APRIL 8, 2014 | psuvanguard.com

flip side, when people see a soldier as a regular person choosing to run while under direct fire to help a wounded brother in the middle of a violent ambush like my good friend Shane Ward did for me, well, that shows the amazing potential a human being has for courage.”

The staff at Ooligan Press wish for readers to allow The Wax Bullet War to speak to

them on a personal level and defy many of their preconceptions on the subject.

“More than anything, I hope that people will let this book challenge them, and I hope that it will start many good and necessary conversations,” Boruck said.

“When a person is labeled a hero you expect them to do heroic things and that somehow takes away some of the

awe we should have for the heroic act,” Davis said.

“When you read about a regular person doing something amazing it should move you, maybe even bring you to tears, the same when you see a person—and not some damaged soldier—suffering.”

The Wax Bullet War is available for purchase through Powell’s, Amazon and other retailers.

Sean Davis in front of his paintings at Six Days Art Gallery.

CORINNA SCOTT/PSU VANGUARD

ARTS & CULTURE MASTERS

weekly missive

Continued from page 14 Artist Isaac Weiss shows a secret tunnel, cut into a cardboard mountain-scape, installed in the Art Building’s MK Gallery.

We get it, you’re broke. So broke that when the bookstore only offered you $2 for a term’s worth of books, you took it. So broke that you really only want to hear about music you can listen to for free.

Thats why we here at KPSU have decided to prepare a playlist for you full of things you can stream at the computer lab while you pretend to not look over to see what the girl next to you is putting on her Instagram.

By Blake Hickman Assistant Promotions Director

Disintegrator

DJ Portia

“Piano and Deleted Takes in a Room” A haunting ambient tune.

Plus you want to prepare for his show at the Knockback on April 11 as part of #AMPKPSU. soundcloud.com/disintegratorsings

“Magic Fades-Obsession (Portia Remix)” A dope track made even iller by one of Portland’s best DJs. See both of them as part of our bill at Holocene on April 16. soundcloud.com/bbportia

Tycho “Awake” Tycho’s new album Awake has been described as “spot on” by none other than our own Music Director. soundcloud.com/tycho

TeenSpot “The Hero” This low-fi punk ditty will get you in the perfect wistful-yet-excited headspace that typifies spring term. teenspot.bandcamp.com/

JEOFFRY RAY/PSU VANGUARD

is stuff that I found from the trash. If I need a wood shop to make my art when I’m done with school, do I then just not make art? Also, it’s about creating something from nothing, that’s part of the concept.”

Despite keeping busy with their graduate work, all three artists have maintained focus on activities outside of the classroom. Martinez, who has spent the last several years working with Pioneer Place’s recently closed Place Gallery, is currently working on an upcoming art news project.

The project, titled Some Lady in New York, will focus on art activity in the Portland area through an artist’s lens.

“Some Lady is another opportunity to get press out about local arts in Portland,” Martinez said. “There’s just so few out there. It’s another opportunity to know what’s going on in town. It’s about everything from access to opportunity.”

Doane has spent the last year working for PSU’s Littman and White Galler-

ies. He is also preparing for a group show in Southwest Portland’s Fourteen30 Contemporary gallery, curated by Director Jeanine Jablonsky.

“It’s an amazing opportunity that Jeanine is putting out there for me,” Doane said. “It’s great to be around people that I feel are part of my canon. People that I look up to and respect. I really enjoy what she’s doing and has done with that space as well.”

Weiss, who also has a background in carpentry, has spent his free time doing set building for children’s theater at Trillium Charter School.

He described a particular appreciation for the engagement of children in acting, as well as the temporary nature of set building itself.

“I think about kids and the effect of dress rehearsal on their acting skills,” Weiss said. “If you get them into a costume, they become the lumberjack or whatever. The other thing with theater is that it’s designed to last as long as the play lasts.”

For all their effort in developing their thesis exhibitions, the artists each acknowledged the help of faculty and others within the PSU community.

Martinez pointed to PSU gallerist Patrick Rock, as well as video professor Julie Perini, as pivotal in helping develop his practice. Doane noted printmaking professor Eleanor Erskine, for her dedication to students in the print lab.

Each of the artists has separate plans for life outside of graduation, and not all of them will remain in the Portland area. But each expressed an appreciation for the art community in the area.

Doane noted the positive outlook of artists in Portland, and advised aspiring artists to keep up the activity.

“If you love art, continue to do it,” Doane said. “Artists, get together and buy land together.”

“Get some space to make work. Take care of each other, and help one another out.”

For part 2 of the story read the Vanguard next week.

Vanguard | APRIL 8, 2014 | psuvanguard.com

17

ETC

EVENT CALENDAR Tuesday, Apr. 8

Native American Student and Community Center Spring Potluck 3–5 p.m.

Native American Student and Community Center 710 S.W. Jackson St., Portland, OR 97201 Join the Native American Student and Community Center, as well as the student groups housed within, for a spring potluck where free food will be available to all those who attend and information about the center and the groups that make use of it will be readily available. FREE

Understanding Muslim Admirers of Japan’s Shinto Emperor 6 p.m.

Smith Memorial Student Union, room 329 1825 S.W. Broadway, Portland, OR 97201 The Portland State University Centers for Japanese and Middle East Studies present Cemil Aydin, associate professor in the Department of History at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, who will be offering a talk on the international and intellectual histories of the Ottoman and Japanese Empires. FREE

Climbing Center Open House

Intercultural Coffee Hour

6–8 p.m.

Academic and Student Rec Center 1800 S.W. 6th Ave., Portland, OR 97201

3:30–5:30 p.m.

Smith Memorial Student Union, Multicultural Center, room 228 1825 S.W. Broadway, Portland, OR 97201

The Rec Center will be hosting an open house where students are invited to come and see what the climbing center is like, as well as learn some of the basics of climbing so that they can try it out themselves.

FREE

Wednesday, Apr. 9 Insurance Education Workshop

Every Wednesday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., the Multicultural Center in SMSU offers students the chance to take part in an intercultural coffee hour, where people from different cultural backgrounds can come together to get to know each other and possibly learn something new. Coffee provided while supplies last. FREE

Thursday, Apr 10

1–2 p.m.

Student Heath and Counseling Center 1880 S.W. 6th Ave., Portland, OR 97201

Queers and Community Safe Sex and Consent

This Wednesday, SHAC will be offering an education session on health insurance for students. Those with questions about the student health insurance plan offered by the university are encouraged to attend. For more information about this event, email insurancehelp@pdx.edu. FREE

3:30–5 p.m.

Women’s Resource Center Lounge 1802 S.W. 10th Ave., Portland, OR 97201 The Queer Resource Center and the Women’s Resource Center will be joining forces to offer this workshop on safe sex and consent. The event will work as a collaborative and open discussion and all genders and sexualities are welcome to attend. FREE

Friday, Apr 11

Monday, Apr 14

Tuesday, Apr 15

Food Systems: Convening and Creating Community

Bike Maintenance 101

Beyond Self-Care: The Subversive Potential of Care

2–4 p.m.

Academic and Student Rec Center, room 660 1800 S.W. 6th Ave., Portland, OR 97201 A panel of organizational representatives as well as community members will lead this discussion on the ways in which food can celebrate cultural heritage, bring people together and create security for communities. Zenger Farm, the Oregon Food Bank, Village Gardens and the Living Cully Native Plant Garden will be among the groups represented.

Noon–1 p.m.

PSU Bike Hub 1818 S.W. 6th Ave., Portland, OR 97201 The PSU Bike Hub is offering any and all PSU bike riders the opportunity to bring their bikes and learn how to perform basic maintenance and upkeep on their specific ride. Discussion and demonstrations will include things such as proper methods of lubricating your drivetrain, adjusting your brakes, properly maintaining your tires and much more. FREE

FREE

This conversation will discuss self-care and how it can be connected to the politics of colonization and capitalism.

Discussion will cover how care can serve as a repressive or revolutionary tool, and highlight the importance of health and subverting systems of power. FREE

Raphael Dagold Reading: Bastard Heart 7:30 p.m.

The Waypost 3120 N. Williams Ave., Portland, OR 97227

H.P. Lovecraft Film Fest and Cthulu Con Times vary, runs through April 13 The Hollywood Theatre 4122 N.E. Sandy Blvd., Portland, OR 97212

Portland State’s Department of English and Urban Honors Program partner with poet Raphael Dagold for a reading from his book, Bastard Heart. Dagold will be joined by local author and founder of the Attic Institute, a haven for writers in Portland, David Biespiel. FREE

This festival offers some of the best in Lovecraft-inspired films of all lengths, as well as various panel discussions on Lovecraftian films and literature. Pick up some cool swag and hang out with other Lovecraft enthusiasts by purchasing a day pass, or a pass that will last all weekend. Pass prices vary based on amount of days.

Visit www.hplfilmfestival.com for more information.

FEATURED EVENT

5:30–8 p.m.

Smith Memorial Student Union, room 238 1825 S.W. Broadway, Portland, OR 97201

FREE

21+

WHAT THE...?!

PSU FREE OPEN TO PUBLIC 21 & OVER BRENDAN MULLIGAN/PSU VANGUARD

KPSU Free Play Fundraiser 5 p.m. Thursday, April 10 Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade 511 N.W. Couch St., Portland, OR 97209 For only a $5 cover charge you can help KPSU raise funds to put toward their efforts to acquire an FM signal. DJs from KPSU will be on hand, and all games will be unlimited—no change required! Food and drinks are available for purchase at this location, but attendees for this event must be 21 years of age or older.

21+

©KPSU

18

Vanguard | APRIL 8, 2014 | psuvanguard.com

“I’m going to sic the Poop Smearer on her.”

ETC

Aries Mar. 21–Apr. 19

Gemini May 21–Jun. 20

If there’s one thing you’ve learned over this past year it’s that you don’t just survive what gets thrown your way, you thrive. Keep this thought close to your heart, dear Aries; it’ll make the next set of challenges seem like child’s play.

Leo Jul. 23–Aug. 22

Pressing onward and upward are certainly worthwhile pursuits, but they can become counterproductive when you ignore other pursuits that bring you joy. It’s okay to play as hard as you work, dear Gemini, so have some welldeserved fun.

There’s nothing quite like kicking back and enjoying the fruits of your labor—right, Leo? If anyone knows that, it’s you. Your life has seen much progress in recent months, and for that you should be patting yourself on the back.

Taurus Apr. 20–May 20

To say your last few years have been a roller coaster would be a severe understatement, dear Virgo, but the fact you’ve pressed on is finally starting to pay off.

Revel in this moment and take time to reflect on what brought you here.

Remember when you thought you couldn’t stand up to the overwhelming challenges of yesteryear?

You’ve done a lot of growing up, dear Moonchild, and along the way have found strength from within. Don’t lose sight of this accomplishment.

In the words of the great Tom Petty, “the waiting is the hardest part.� Don’t allow yourself to get too hung up on distant deadlines and far-off goals. Focus on making the best of what you have in front of you, dear Taurus.

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Aquarius Jan. 20–Feb. 18

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Pisces Feb. 19–Mar. 20

Actions speak louder than words, but words are easier than actions. You’ve recently been inspired to make changes to your life.

Take a leap of faith and spring into action, dear Libra. Your ability to see things through will surely be rewarded.

Virgo Aug. 23–Sept. 22

Cancer Jun. 21–Jul. 22

Libra Sept. 23–Oct. 22

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Vanguard | APRIL 8, 2014 | psuvanguard.com

19

SPORTS SCORES

UPCOMING

PSU MEN’S TENNIS

PSU MEN’S TENNIS

EASTERN WASHINGTON PSU Top Performers: Alec Marx 6–4, 6–2

4 SEATTLE vs. PSU 3 FRI. 4/11 2:00 p.m.

CLUB GREEN MEADOWS | VANCOUVER, WA

PSU WOMEN’S TENNIS

PSU WOMEN’S TENNIS

PSU COLLEGE OF IDAHO

Top Performers: Dané Vorster 6–0, 6–0

7 0

Top Performers: Alicia Fine, 4–4, RBI

6 7

PSU @ NORTHERN COLORADO FRI.–SAT. 4/11–4/12 | 3-GAME SERIES

SACRAMENTO vs. PORTLAND WED. 4/9 7:05 p.m. | MODA CENTER

NEW ORLEANS PORTLAND

Top Performers: LaMarcus Aldridge, 25 points and 18 rebounds

94 100

MLS

CHIVAS USA vs. PORTLAND SAT. 4/12 7:30 p.m. | PROVIDENCE PARK WHL PLAYOFFS

MLS

SEATTLE PORTLAND

Top Performers: Diego Chara, 2 goals

4 PORTLAND @ VICTORIA 4 TUES. 4/8 7:00 p.m. | KPAM 860 AM AFL

PORTLAND @ SPOKANE

WHL PLAYOFFS

Top Performers: Oliver Bjorkstrand, 2 goals and 1 assist

3 6

SAT. 4/12 7:00 p.m. | KXTG 750 AM

THE NUMBER OF GAMES THE BLAZERS HAVE LEFT IN THE REGULAR SEASON TO CEMENT THEIR PLAYOFF POSITION. 20

The red hot hockey team continues to destroy postseason opponents

NBA

NBA

VICTORIA PORTLAND

SUN. 4/13 10:00 a.m.

CLUB GREEN MEADOWS | VANCOUVER, WA PSU SOFTBALL

PSU SOFTBALL

PSU SOUTHERN UTAH

WEBER STATE vs. PSU

Winterhawks Start Playoffs 6–0 Jay Pengelly

The Portland Winterhawks continue their quest to repeat as Western Hockey League champions in style. After a first-round sweep of the Vancouver Giants and a week off, they opened the second round with a pair of home wins against the Victoria Royals.

The team is on a 13-game win streak going back to the regular season.

During regular season play, the Royals won three of four matchups against the Winterhawks. Each game was decided by one goal and featured dramatic finishes—two of the losses came in overtime and a shootout.

Game one was Friday at the Memorial Coliseum. Portland thoroughly thumped Victoria in an 8–2 win. The Hawks were up 4–1 in the second, with several different players scoring goals. Defenseman Mathew Dumba, who joined the club midseason from the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, pounded the puck into the goal like Fulton Reed of the Mighty Ducks.

The Royals net protectors struggled in this game, Patrik Polivka was pulled when they were down 7–2, but replacement Coleman Vollrath gave up another goal on the first shot attempted by the Winterhawks. Portland goaltender Brenden Burke had some fancy deflections early on, finishing with 25 saves on 28 shots.

Vanguard | APRIL 8, 2014 | psuvanguard.com

The Winterhawks celebrate their sixth playoff victory in a row.

©Bryan Heim

The following night the series moved next door to the Rose Garden (known to some as the Moda Center). The sold-out building was wild with enthusiasm for their minor league hockey squad, and the Winterhawks brought their A-game. Though on this evening, the Royals would play with far more competitive fire than previously.

Victoria scored first on a power play, but Portland came back with a quick pair of goals by Nic Petan and Anton Cedarholm to take the lead 2–1. It was Cedarholm’s first playoff goal. Another Royal’s power-play goal, this time

by Austin Carol, evened the score at two-all heading into the second.

Victoria’s Steven Hodges scored his second goal of the game, to put his team ahead

early in the period. But Portland was in this game and looking inspired. They scored a pair of their own power-play goals, one from defenseman Derrick Pouliot and another from right winger Oliver Bjorkstrand.

Both men scored again in the third, leading to a final score of 6–3. Bjorkstrand, Pouliot and left winger Brendan Leipsic finished the game with three points apiece. Burke had another solid defensive effort, saving 22 of 25 shots.

The Winterhawks will travel to Victoria, British Columbia, for a pair of games early this week. The final three games, if necessary, will alternate between Portland and Victoria.

The WHL playoffs feature the top-16 teams from their Western and Eastern conferences; each round has a seven-game series. The win-

ner of the WHL championship hoists the Ed Chynoweth Cup and earns a spot in the Memorial Cup, the crowning championship of the Canadian Hockey League. The winner is determined in a four-team round robin tournament. The CHL consists of the WHL, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Junior Hockey League.

The Winterhawks, while winning the WHL championship last year, lost in the Memorial Cup finals to the Halifax Mooseheads. Portland won the Memorial Cup in the 1982–83 season, as well as 1997–98. In addition to their Memorial Cup wins, the Winterhawks have also won the President’s Cup three times. The team was known as the Montreal Oil Kings before moving to Portland and rebranding in 1976.

First Pitch!

SPORTS

MLB season underway with new Seattle slugger and updated rules Matt Rauch

With the 2014 Major League Baseball season now underway, there are a myriad of storylines and teams to follow. One of the biggest storylines for us in the Northwest is the Seattle Mariners and how their big offseason acquisition will pan out.

During the offseason, the Mariners signed second baseman Robinson Cano from the New York Yankees for a 10-year, $240 million deal.

The Mariners have struggled during the past decade, failing to make the playoffs since 2001. Pitcher and 2010 Cy Young Award winner, “King” Felix Hernandez has been one of the only bright spots since the Mariners traded international superstar Ichiro Suzuki to the Yankees partway through the 2012 season.

Though the pitching has shown promise, the lack of good hitters to provide run support has proven difficult for Seattle to overcome. By signing a bat like Cano, the Mariners are hoping to develop talent around him to help support the team and get back into playoff contention.

According to Fox Sports’ Shawn Ramsey’s power rankings, the Mariners are the 19th best team in the league, with all but one fellow AL West team ranked higher (Oakland A’s at No. 6, Texas Rangers at No. 13, Los Angeles Angels at No. 17, and Houston Astros at No. 30). If these preseason rankings are any indication of how the season will go, reaching the playoffs will definitely prove to be an uphill battle.

In other big news from around the league, the MLB has implemented some rule changes that are sure to have an impact on the game. While the list of reviewable plays is extensive, there are still plays that are not reviewable.

According to Tim Kurkjian of ESPN, these unreviewable

plays include “balks, tag-up plays on fly balls, fair/foul trapped balls in the infield, the infield fly rule, obstruction, interference, check swings and the neighborhood play at second base (fielder’s touching of second base on a double play).”

How will the replay rule be implemented? Each team’s manager gets two challenges per game and can only use the second one if the first one is successful. However, after the seventh inning the umpires can choose to review a play on their own accord, much like during the two-minute warning of an NFL game.

Unlike the NFL and NBA replay processes, the officials on the field will not be running to a replay screen and reviewing the play in question. Rather, similar to NCAA football, there will be a team of non-game officials in a replay command center who will be reviewing challenged calls.

According to Craig Calcaterra from NBC Sports, “There will be a headset near home plate in all 30 parks. From there, the crew chief will be connected to the replay command center at MLB Advanced Media headquarters in New York. There, major league umpires will be staffed as replay officials, viewing the video feeds. Replay officials will make the ultimate determination of whether to overturn the call on a ‘clear and convincing evidence’ standard. The hope is that the process will only take a minute or two.”

One important factor in Calcaterra’s explanation of the rule is “the hope is that the process will only take a minute or two.” This is important because one of the main concerns when deliberating the implementation of the new replay rules was

that it would slow down an already slow game. However, during the trial run over spring training, the replay process ran as smoothly and as quickly as expected.

Another major rule change taking place this season— which will definitely have a direct impact on the outcome of some games—refers to collisions at home plate. According to the MLB press release summing up the legalese of the new rule, “unless the catcher is in possession of the ball, the catcher cannot block the pathway of the runner as he is attempting to score.”

This new rule has been added to help promote player safety in one of the most dangerous situations of the game, and has been referred to as the “Buster Posey rule,” named after the San Francisco Giants catcher whose leg was broken in a home plate collision in 2011.

Though this rule does not completely ban collisions, it attempts to circumvent unnecessary collisions at home plate in order to protect players. Even though eliminating unnecessary injuries at the plate will greatly benefit the safety of players, experimenting with a rule that can cancel or grant a run in a game often decided by close margins will definitely result in controversy at some point during this season.

With the Northwest’s only Major League Baseball team making moves by signing a huge star like Robinson Cano, new replay rules being implemented to get as many calls right as possible, and a new experimental home plate rule that can directly affect the outcome of a game, this season should prove to be more exciting, better officiated and possibly more controversial than previous ones.

The Mariners are hoping that the addition of Robinson Cano will put them in contention for a playoff spot.

©Keith Allison

Vanguard | APRIL 8, 2014 | psuvanguard.com

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SPORTS ToToWhom ititMay Concern Whom May Concern To Whom it May Concern Dear Blazers Fans, With just three games remaining in this roller-coaster season, the Blazers playoff positioning is the only battle remaining—the waters calmed after a turbulent March. As the team and their fans saddle up for the postseason—the team’s first in three years—some perspective needs to be shed before the blood begins to spill over their playoff successes or failures.

This season, no matter when it ends, was a rousing success.

Flash back to October: Game one of the preseason had come and gone, and it looked as if nothing had changed. Robin Lopez looked a mess in the middle, abused and toyed with by Deandre Jordan of the Clippers. Los Angeles left the Moda Center with an easy victory, with Portland falling. Looking strikingly similar to last season, when a once promising season was flushed away with late-season injuries and a painful 13-game losing streak.

It looked as if year two of the Olshey rebranding would look a lot like the year before, just littered with more questions. Would Lamarcus Aldridge sit quietly as another year passed with limited success?

Would the bench be as woeful as the year before, despite offseason acquisitions? Would a serviceable center ever emerge?

Flash forward to now, and not one Blazers fan should feel anything less than jubilant with the answers.

Lopez has been the shining star, a behemoth of a man who has played within himself, been a team glue-guy, and outdone any sort of expectations that may have followed him to Portland. He is a candidate for Most Improved Player, an honor he more than likely will not win because of stats. But stats don’t tell the story, as Lopez has been as impactful a free agent pickup as any player in the league.

He’s helped elevate Aldridge from All-Star to Superstar. He’s masked defensive deficiencies of teammates, been a locker room leader, and most importantly, answered the question of whether Portland will ever have a center worth building around.

Augusta without tiger for The First Time in 20 Years TIGER WOODS IS the only athlete whose absence from an event is a bigger story than the actual competition.

THE BIG AND LITTLE TOWER The Twin Towers they are not, with one standing at just 6 feet 3 inches, but the two pillars of the franchise, Aldridge and Damian Lillard, have put the Blazers on the NBA map, solidifying the Blazers as a dangerous team for years to come. On a roster littered with players not yet in their prime, these two stand out, winning games night in and night out with breathtaking plays, clutch shots and game winners.

And, if they lock down Aldridge with a contract, there’s plenty more to come.

But that’s a story for another day. Today, Blazers fans, it’s time to sit back and be in awe of the season that has been, and thankful it wasn’t the season it could have been. Will success follow them to the playoffs? We won’t know that for a couple weeks yet. In reality, it doesn’t matter. This season, no matter how it ends, has been beyond fans’ wildest dreams, and that cannot be forgotten.

Whether it ends in a first round loss or a championship, the future is bright. Perhaps brighter than it’s ever been, and that should be the real takeaway.

The rebuild is over.

Rise With Us no more, Joel Gunderson Vanguard Sports Desk

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Vanguard | APRIL 8, 2014 | psuvanguard.com

©Keith Allison

Claude Akins

Tiger Woods will miss his first Masters Tournament since 1997, because of a pinched nerve in his back.

Woods has historically been dominant at Augusta. At the age of 21, Woods won the Masters by a record breaking 12 strokes. Since then he has won the major three times, the latest in 2005. But, perhaps more impressively, he has finished in the top 10 seven of the past eight years, including two runner-ups.

Woods, age 38, has won a combined 14 majors in his career, second only behind Jack Nicklaus’ 18. He has not won a major since 2007, when he beat Rocco Mediate in an 18-hole playoff round to win the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

The question on everyone’s mind: Does Tiger, after multiple surgeries, have what it takes to pass Nicklaus’ record?

“It’s tough right now,” Woods said, “but I’m absolutely optimistic about the future.”

Defending the green jacket this year is Adam Scott. He and Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy are the only players in the field to have odds in the single digits. Scott, the

world’s second ranked golfer, has 9–1 odds of winning.

McIlroy, who had a rough 2013 campaign, already has three top-10 finishes this year and is many people’s choice to win. McIlroy was the youngest golfer in history to lead the Masters after the first day in 2011. He held the lead at the start of the final day—and then shot 80. Another record, in fact, for the worst round shot by a leader on Sunday.

Phil Mickelson is another favorite to win. He has won the tournament three times, and finished in the top-five three other times. Currently he is ranked fifth in the world, but with a veteran like Mickelson who knows the course as well as any other golfer in the field, one has to believe that he’ll find himself in contention on Sunday.

There are a few other Masters perennials: Fred Couples, Angel Cabrera, Jim Furyk and Miguel Jimenez.

Cabrera has finished in the top-10 six times, including a win in 2009—the year Woods finished sixth.

The most interesting thing about this year’s Masters, though, is the obvious question: Who will fill Woods’ shoes when, inevitably, his

missing a Masters is the norm? Indeed, his absence this year is a bigger story than any other golfer’s presence. It may seem self-evident nowadays that golf is the popular, money-making, international sport that it is, but the truth is that the PGA’s growth has been linked at the hip with the celebrity (and success) of Mr. Woods. The collective purse of the PGA has risen by $284.6 million since 1994.

There are a few young players who seem to have the potential to climb into the upper echelon of golf and who will benefit from the absence of Woods. The young Australian Jason Day has been in contention the past few years. There’s McIlroy, who, after his stellar Masters opening in 2011 was drawing comparisons to Woods, and who has a golden opportunity to win his second major at Augusta.

The list could go on and on.

But what many viewers will be looking for, though, is not the leap from good to great.

People (myself included) will undoubtedly be searching for the leap into the stratosphere—the same leap that a 21-year-old Woods took back in 1997.

SPORTS

Timbers tie in thriller Latest renewal of Cascadia Cup sees offensive flurry

Alex Moore

Seattle invaded Portland on Saturday in an early season Major League Soccer matchup. These two Cascadian Cup rivals—and their fan bases—know each other far too well, however, for this to be considered simply a regular MLS game in April.

The game was an offensive showdown, finishing with both sides at four goals each.

It was a showcase game, featuring the hottest rivalry in United States soccer, and a shot count between the two teams totaling 41.

The added noise from both fan bases before the game was nothing compared to the noise level during the first 15

minutes of the game, which saw three goals scored.

The Sounders struck first, as former Timber Kenny Cooper tapped in a goal off a corner in the fourth minute.

The majority of the Providence crowd was stunned as Seattle took an early lead, but that quickly changed as Portland answered with a ninth-minute goal from the birthday boy Diego Chara.

That goal was followed by a goal from Diego Valeri, giving the Timbers a 2–1 lead in the 14th minute.

Goals were the main attraction on Saturday, much to the delight of the 20,814 fans at Providence Park. Seattle tied the game at two before the

half with a goal from U.S. soccer star Clint Dempsey. A 2–2 game going into the second half, the Timbers quickly broke the tie and then built their lead with goals from Chara and Maximiliano Urruti.

The attitude of the game changed after the Timbers’ fourth goal. Substitutes began to come on, and the life of the Sounders looked diminished. It stayed that way until the 85th minute when Dempsey put in a shot from inside the box, reducing the lead to just one.

But the face of U.S. soccer wasn’t done quite yet, despite having his playing time monitored after playing Mexico in an international friendly just

72 hours earlier. The Sounders drew a foul in the box, and Dempsey calmly put in a penalty to tie the game.

The game ended 4–4, and the Providence Park crowd exited with excitement from Sounders fans and unsatisfied Timbers fans. Portland has yet to win a game this season in five tries, losing two and now tying three.

A tie after leading by two goals is not the outcome Portland wanted, but there were some positive aspects of this game that head coach

Caleb Porter can take with him going into their next game on Saturday against Chivas USA. Biggest of those was Portland’s offense, which looked far from last season’s form.

Four goals are the most the Timbers have scored this season, and they had even more opportunities than that to put the ball in the back of the net. The offensive attack was led by two goals from Chara, who doubled his career output of goals in a single game.

Both his goals came from out-

side the 18-yard box, which made his final stat line even more impressive.

Scoring goals is great for Portland, but giving up four goals on your home field is defense that Porter can’t allow going forward, especially to a team that had a long goalless streak at the field formerly known as Jeld-Wen last season.

The Timbers play Chivas USA at home this weekend before going on the road for two games against Real Salt Lake and Houston.

Diego Chara (right) accounted for half of the Timbers offensive output against Seattle.

JOSÉ-DAVID JACOBO/PSU VANGUARD

Vanguard | APRIL 8, 2014 | psuvanguard.com

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