Portland State Vanguard

State of the media

VOLuME 69 | ISSuE 21 | january 27, 2015

Alternative voice newspaper enters uncertain times

nEWS

OPInIOn

arTS & CuLTurE

SPOrTS

Social offi cers. justice pg. 6activist honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as keynote speaker during weeklong celebration. pg. 6

Considering campus. pg.the 9 disproportionate pay for teachers and coaches, it seems universities have disproportionate priorities. pg. 11

For the sake pients. pg. 16of all that's good don't brew on it: check out this talk on Japanese beer. pg. 17

Lo! This week Marathon. pg.the 23 valkyries smile upon those with a fascination for basketed balls and the warriors who wield them. pg. 21

CONTENT NEWS OPINION COVER ARTS & CULTURE CALENDAR SPORTS

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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EDITOR@PSUVANGUARD.COM Turner Lobey

JGEKELER@PDX.EDU Jordan Gekeler

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MANAGINGEDITOR@PSUVANGUARD.COM Tim Sullivan

Tessa Millhollin

NEWS EDITOR

Reaz Mahmood

NEWS@PSUVANGUARD.COM Colleen Leary

ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR ARTS@PSUVANGUARD.COM Brandon Staley

OPINION EDITOR OPINION@PSUVANGUARD.COM Chelsea Lobey

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ADVISER

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ADVERTISING ADVISER Ann Roman

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Conrad Crespin Nimi Einstein Elise Furlan Rico Macias-Zepeda

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Andy Anady, Nathan Anderson, Evan Birkeland, Jacqueline C. Bryan, Victoria Castellanos, Elizabeth Hendrickson, Ruby King, Alex Moore, Jordan Paige, John Pinney, Jon Raby, Jordan Rasmussen, Sebastian Richardson, Lauren Schlangen, Anna Snook, Anna Suarez, Joseph Thiebes, Kayla Townsley, David Wooldridge

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author dr shermer

talk and book signing The Moral Arc: How Science and Reason Lead Humanity Toward Truth, Justice, and Freedom

thursday jan 29 @ 7pm The Vanguard is published weekly as an independent student newspaper funded by the Student Fee Committee and governed by the PSU Student Media Board. Views and editorial content expressed herein are those of the staff, contributors and readers and do not necessarily represent 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 design by Nimi Einstein Š2014 PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY VANGUARD 1825 S.W. BROADWAY SMITH MEMORIAL STUDENT UNION, RM. S-26 PORTLAND, OR 97201

smith memorial student union ballroom 1825 sw broadway Book signing will follow and copies of the book will be for sale at a special rate.

www.michaelshermer.com Vanguard | january 27, 2015 | psuvanguard.com

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nEWS

Science oF gReen StReetS HONORS COLLEGE JUNIOR RECIVES EPA GRANT eliZaBeth hendricKSon

funding. Following his two years of research, Stone said he will attend a conference and present his research.

Green streets and bioswales are curbside rain gardens that run parallel to sidewalks. The plants can tolerate heavy rain and long periods of dry weather.

They are specifically designed to collect stormwater from the street.

“Portland has a fast growing number of green streets designed to capture stormwater and prevent it from entering our sewer systems, which occasionally flood, causing sewage to spill into the Willamette,” Stone said in an email. Stone is dual majoring in engineering and environmental science.

“Along with this storm water, pollutants from the streets, such as oil, metals

from brake pads and trash, flow into these green streets,” Stone said. “I was curious about whether these contaminants accumulate.”

“My initial research into the topic is that they do not accumulate, and my question is why? Are the plants breaking down the pollution? Are the bacteria and fungi doing it? Is the soil absorbing it, making it undetectable?” Stone said.

Bill Fish, a professor of environmental engineering at PSU, said bioswales are a major component of Portland’s current stormwater management program.

“It’s widely recognized that we still don’t fully understand many aspects of how well they work in a given situation,” Fish said.

Fish, along with Olyssa Starry, a professor of urban ecology in PSU’s Honors College, are Stone’s advisers.

“PSU students and faculty have become significant partners with the city in improving stormwater management, and [Stone’s] project will be a very important contribution,” Fish said.

“Green streets...protect water quality in rivers and streams, they replenish groundwater supplies and they provide green spaces in urban areas,” said Portland Bureau of Environmental Services spokesperson Linc Mann.

Ann Marie Fallon, the director of the Honors College, said Stone's research will foster collaboration between faculty members from different departments who are interested in similar areas of research.

“This cross-campus collaboration allows for better research networks and more opportunities eventually for

undergraduates and graduates interested in similar areas,” Fallon said.

It will also, Fallon said, bring recognition to the undergraduate research in sustainability that PSU’s Honors College excels in.

“I have a lot of work to do in the next two years,” Stone said. “The next six months or so are most likely going to

JANUARY 12

CRIMINAL MISCHIEf

CAR THEfT

PARKING STRUCTURE THREE

a missing person from New Mexico was on his way to Portland. Fischer determined that the missing person was a student living in Blumel Hall. The officer performed a wellness check to ensure the student was okay and the student was removed from the missing persons list.

active student. McCleary confiscated a large bag containing seven individual bags with approximately an eighth ounce of marijuana in each. All bags had been marked with the strain of marijuana and two of the bags were also marked with dollar amounts. The nonresident stated that he had a medical marijuana card, but he didn’t have the card in his possession.

excessive noise. The resident said he would quiet down.

The officers and RA were permitted to enter the apartment where McCleary found a set of small throwing knives.

The resident was advised that he could not have throwing knives on PSU property and the student promised he would “make the knives disappear” once he was sober.

Jacob Stone, a junior in the Honors College at Portland State, has recently been awarded the national Greater Research Opportunities Fellowship for Undergraduate Environmental Studies from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The grant includes two years of funding for his project and an internship during the summer of 2015. Stone’s research focuses on why stormwater contaminants from runoff in Portland’s green streets are not accumulating as they are in other cities.

Thirty-three applicants throughout the U.S. received the EPA GRO Fellowship.

Chosen applicants presented research proposals related to pollution and human health.

Stone explained the grant was unique in that it only considered students from schools with limited government

be an in-depth review of the current literature available. I will then work with my advisers to develop an experiment possibly including greenhouse replications of green streets with various design features. My goal would be to find a design that does accumulate toxins, as well as some that remain uncontaminated, then analyze the difference between them.”

HOnOrS STuDEnT jaCOB STOnE, recent recipient of an EPA research opportunities fellowship, studies the effect of different roots on compacted soil.

SILVIA CARDULLO/PSU VANGUARD

CrIME BLOTTEr Jordan paiGe

Parking Structure Three Around 5:16 p.m. Officer David Baker was dispatched to a report of vehicular theft in the northeast corner on the third level of the structure. The perpetrator broke the rear window and stole a green backpack, a head lamp, and a camouflage jacket. Baker noted that an adjacent vehicle also had a window broken out. The student stated that he had been away from the vehicle between 8:45 a.m. and 5:15 p.m.

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Officer Denae Murphy took a report from a student whose car had also been parked in the northeast corner on the third level of the structure. He had parked the car around 7:20 a.m., though he was unaware of the break-in until CPSO informed him of damage to the front passenger side window. Upon inspection, it was determined that nothing had been stolen.

JANUARY 15 MISSING PERSON

Blumel Hall Officer Chris Fischer fielded a phone call from a detective in New Mexico who informed Fischer that

MARIJUANA VIOLATION

Ondine At approximately 11:37 p.m. Sergeant Robert McCleary responded to a report of marijuana odor.

The resident of the room allowed entry to McCleary and a resident assistant.

The resident was with a friend who stated he was a non-student, but it was later discovered that the friend was listed as a current, non-

Vanguard | january 27, 2015 | psuvanguard.com

JANUARY 16 STUDENT CONDUCT

Blumel Hall At approximately 2:55 a.m. Officer Brian Rominger and Sergeant McCleary responded to a noise complaint filed by an RA. The student in question was heavily intoxicated but apologized for the

DETOx PARKING STRUCTURE ONE

Officer Fischer and Officer Brenton Chose observed a student urinating in the southeast stairwell of the structure around 6:17 p.m. When approached, the officers determined he was drunk and unable to care for himself. The student was transported to the Hooper Detox Center.

JANUARY 17 POSSESSION Of fIREARM

University Place Hotel Officer Gary Smeltzer and Officer Shawn McKenzie were called to the University Place Hotel at approximately 1:24 p.m. in regard to a found firearm.

During routine cleaning services, a staff member found a handgun in the drawer of a desk in a guest room. The guest, a nonstudent, and owner of the handgun, was contacted.

He reported that he had forgotten to take the hand gun with him. Later in the evening, Officer Fischer provided the guest with a copy of the property receipt. The gun had been placed into Portland Police Bureau property.

nEWS COURTESY Of RALPH HAUGERUD/U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

a LIDar BaSE MaP depicting landslide regions in Washington state.

Scientists map landslide risk with laser tech JoSeph thieBeS

laser detection technology is making it easier to identify landslide hazard areas in Portland, according to Dr. Scott Burns, Professor Emeritus of Geology at Portland State.

The laser detection system, called LiDAR, has helped overcome difficulty detecting where landslides might occur, Scott Burns said.

LiDAR is similar to radar but it employs lasers instead of microwaves. The lasers illuminate their targets and map images based on the reflected light.

According to Ali Ryan, Earth Science information officer at the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI), LiDAR has increased the number of

known landslides in the Portland metropolitan area tenfold, from about 700 to 7,000.

If a landslide has happened previously in a given location, it’s likely to happen there again, Scott Burns said. Existing landslide areas can be identified by the shape of the land where they have occurred, but in forested areas like Portland’s West

Hills it can be difficult to see the ground from above.

“The LiDAR allows us to see the ground in Oregon like never before, which allows us to find where landslides have happened in the past and thus helps us predict where they might occur in the future,” said Bill Burns, Engineering Geologist at DOGAMI and former student of Scott Burns.

“We know more than ever before about what the surface of the earth looks like and where natural hazards have left their mark,” Ryan said.

The last 10 years of landslide science have seen rapid advancement of the field, according to Bill Burns.

As new data comes in from the LiDAR system, it’s added to the online Statewide Landslide Information Database for Oregon. Maps are available online.

DOGAMI has partnered with the city of Portland to make new landslide susceptibility maps, perform landslide risk analysis and work with the city to make progress on landslide risk reduction with the new information. Funding for this effort was provided by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimated in 1985 that the total cost of landslides each year in the U.S. was about $1–2 billion per year which, adjusted for inflation, is roughly $2.2–4.4 billion in 2014 dollars. Scott Burns said much of that cost comes as a result of urban landslides, which destroy homes and infrastructure.

The difficulty of finding landslide insurance, Scott Burns said, is one of the reasons he became interested in urban landslides.

“Normal homeowner insurance doesn’t cover landslides. If your house is hit by a landslide or goes sliding down the hill, you lose everything,” he said.

Providing hazard maps and other landslide data makes it easier for insurance companies to start offering landslide protection, Scott Burns said.

The two main environmental factors contributing to landslides are water and earthquakes.

“Here in the Pacific Northwest we have plenty of rain and occasional earthquakes, making our region a hot spot for landslide activity,” Scott Burns said.

In 1996 heavy rain triggered over 700 landslides in the Portland area, a major event which Scott Burns and his students studied extensively.

They found that 9 percent of the landslides might have been prevented if water had been controlled on the properties where they occurred.

The most important thing someone can do to prevent a landslide in a high risk area is to ensure proper water drainage, Scott Burns said. He added that clearing gutters of debris and removing leaves from storm drains can make a big difference.

Scott Burns has devoted much of his 35-year career to studying landslides, and he was named Outstanding Oregon Scientist for 2014 by the Oregon Academy of Science.

He spoke on the subject of urban landslides in a keynote lecture at the International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment Congress in Turin, Italy, in September. The proceedings of the Congress were published earlier this month.

Watch the video story online at psuvanguard.com

Week of jan. 12–25

JANUARY 18 TRESPASS ARREST

SW Mill and SW 10th Ave At approximately 1:00 a.m.

Officer Nichola Higbee was dispatched to a report that a young woman had been followed by a Hispanic male with tattoos on both his neck and face. The woman had gone into Plaid Pantry to hide and was safe with the employee. It was also reported that the man had been harassing women for money and loitering outside of the Plaid Pantry.

JANUARY 20 MEDICAL ASSIST

Cramer Hall Officer Greg Marks was dispatched to a report of a female student sleeping on the first floor of

the building. The student refused to be transported to detox and Marks had an employee from Student Health and Counseling assist him in transporting the student to SHAC to be seen by a nurse.

JANUARY 21 STUDENT CONDUCT

Millar Library Officer Chose was dispatched at approximately 1:00 p.m. to respond to a report from a student who said that her former classmate had followed her into the library and sat across the table from her without asking permission. The student said she felt uncomfortable when, without any verbal exchange, he began playing with his

phone. She thought he was taking pictures of her. She left the library because she felt unsafe. The supposed photographer denied taking any pictures. Chose advised the reporting student to contact CPSO if the classmate bothered her in the future and informed the student about support at the Women’s Resource Center.

JANUARY 24 STUDENT CONDUCT

Broadway Housing At approximately 1:39 a.m.

Officers Rominger and Higbee and Sergeant McCleary responded to a report of an intoxicated student on the second floor of the building.

The student was reported as confrontational. He used gross profanity, had red eyes,

slurred speech and showed difficulty maintaining his balance. He was told to leave for the night. McCleary and Higbee escorted the student outside of the building where he became even more belligerent. The student began to scream at the officers and made several disturbing comments. Officers left the scene, but upon returning to the Shattuck parking lot, the officers found the student posted by the south entrance to the Campus Public Safety Office with his middle finger extended at officers. The student again began to scream.

He had become even more intoxicated while awaiting the officers and had an empty pint of whiskey with him. Eventually, the student agreed to be transported by McCleary and Higbee to detox.

JANUARY 25 STUDENT CONDUCT

Millar Library At approximately 12:15 p.m. a student employee working as a computer lab attendant asked another student to remove his beverage from the lab by placing it into one of the red bins. The attendant reported that the other student said that he “did not like her tone” and called her a “bitch.” When officers responded, he refused to make an apology to the attendant.

STUDENT CONDUCT BLACKSTONE HOUSING

Officer David Troppe, Officer Jon Buck and Sergeant Michael Anderson responded to reports of three intoxicated males attempting to gain entry into various rooms in the building. Only one of the males was a student and Blackstone resident. He reported that the other two were his guests. Officers noted that the males were intoxicated and showed behaviors indicating likely consumption of a club drug, such as ecstasy or MDMA. The student denied trying to gain entry into other rooms and explained that he had attempted to gain access to his room with a credit card “just to see if it would work.”

Vanguard | january 27, 2015 | psuvanguard.com

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nEWS

angela davis speaks on racism and social justice Jordan paGe

On Jan. 21, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Portland State hosted an event featuring Angela Davis, a civil rights activist, author and educator. Davis spoke to the audience in the Peter W. Stott Center about police brutality in America, among other things.

Organized and hosted by PSU’s Office of Global Diversity and Inclusion, the sold-out event encouraged attendees to “live out” Dr. King's legacy.

PSU student Michael Adams, accompanied by his brother Lionel Adams on guitar, sang the Black American National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Master of ceremonies, writer and PSU instructor Walidah Imarisha, read a poem with fellow PSU instructor Turiya Autry as the spoken word duo Good Sista/Bad Sista.

Davis asked the audience to reflect on why the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown and the subsequent non-indictment of the officers involved are considered shocking in the first place.

“We are shocked every time, even though it isn’t shocking. We must ask ourselves, then, how our shock implicates us,” Davis said.

“If you are familiar with Dr. King’s work, you are aware of the emphasis he placed on racism, militarism and poverty, which he sometimes rendered as materialism and which has also been translated as capitalism. I think this triumvirate expresses the interconnected nature of justice struggles, which continue almost five decades after the assassination of Dr. King,” Davis said.

Davis asked what it really means to live out Dr. King’s legacy. She proposed that we investigate the meaning of our freedom to determine that answer.

“We don’t know how to talk about racism. We don’t know how to talk about slavery. We don’t know how to talk about the way the war on terror has created prejudice against Muslims. We don’t know how to talk about

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the genocide of indigenous peoples,” she said.

She suggested that our inability to discuss these issues demonstrated a larger issue with the idea of freedom. Davis encouraged the audience to look inward as well as outward and investigate the grassroots civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Davis, born and raised in Alabama under the Jim Crow laws, felt that such reflection would assist in determining what exactly has changed to cause a stalemate in society’s progress. She mentioned the militarization of police as a possible cause and denounced the adoption of armed police on college campuses, to which the audience responded by cheering.

“I think we should disarm all police,” Davis said. “We have a serious problem with gun violence in this country.”

Davis explained that historical reflection on the legacy of Dr. King and the civil rights activists of the ’60s would lead us to recognize the structural racism of institutions. She concluded by saying that real change could happen only when we “act with urgency and...have patience.” She elaborated that we may not see the change take hold for many years but that should not deter us.

After Davis’ speech, she participated in a 30-minute question-and-answer session.

Members of the community were able to submit questions in the weeks before the event, as well as the day of.

One community member’s question asked Davis, “When you think of activists, you usually assume loud, defiant and aggressive—but for someone who doesn’t identify with these traits, do you think it’s possible for that person to become an effective activist without those traits? And in your opinion, what does it take to become an effective, powerful activist?”

Davis responded by saying that activists take many forms. She said she had never expected to become a public speaker, but her life’s circumstances led her to become a spokesperson for her cause.

“I would have been just as happy, or perhaps even happier, working in the background, teaching and organizing,” Davis said. “I think people underestimate the value of organizers…The really important work is producing connections and creating communities of resistance and communities of struggle. But I think that each person has to follow his or her own path…or their own passion and become an activist in the way [they] see fit.”

Another submission asked Davis, “[H]ow might you suggest PSU as an institution move forward toward safety for all, especially for people of color, people labeled with mental illness, people experiencing houselessness and surviviors of sexual assault and rape? How might you suggest the PSU community continue their struggle against violence and racist models of justice and move toward healing?”

“I think that you here in this community have to make those decisions,” Davis said.

“But I can say that many of us who have been working around these issues for a very long time have learned that repression is not the answer. Imprisonment is not the answer.”

Davis continued by saying that incarceration perpetuates a cycle of violence for perpetrators of sexual assault and intimate violence.

“We have to think about a very different process of understanding and healing—a justice that is not based on retribution and revenge,” Davis said.

When asked for advice on working toward social justice, Davis suggested that communities question institutions and seek knowledge in diverse environments.

“I think it is so important for students and faculty and others in institutions such as this to recognize not only the strengths in these institutions, but the limitations as well,” Davis said.

“Knowledge comes from a whole variety of places.

Knowledge is produced in all kinds of venues.”

Vanguard | january 27, 2015 | psuvanguard.com

aCTIVIST anGELa DaVIS speaks about social justice on college campuses.

SILVIA CARDULLO/PSU VANGUARD

nEWS

MigRAtion BRewing unVeilS new cARBon-FRienDly BeeR eVan BirKeland

Last Thursday, Migration Brewing Company celebrated the limited release of its new environmentallyfriendly beer, produced in partnership with Portland State and the Emerging Leaders Board of the Oregon Environmental Council.

The beer, dubbed Little Foot Red Ale, reduces transportation-related carbon

emissions by using only local ingredients.

The draft beer, described as a medium-bodied red ale

by Migration co-owner Colin Rath in an interview with The Oregonian, will only be served on-site at the brewery’s pub, reducing waste that would come if the ale was bottled. Steel kegs are more recyclable than other

methods of distribution, with a nearly 100 percent rate of recyclability compared to 45 percent with aluminum cans and 35 percent with beer bottles.

Additionally, Migration will be producing renewable energy credits provided by Portland General Electric.

Marketing for the beer was produced by students

Great teachers begin at Portland State University <RX FRXOG EH RQH RI WKHP $WWHQG RQH RI RXU ZHHNO\ LQIRUPDWLRQ VHVVLRQV IRU SURJUDPV VWDUWLQJ LQ VXPPHU > General Education (K-12) Wednesdays, Noon–1pm > Special Education Tuesdays, 4:30–5:30pm Room 220 | 615 SW Harrison PSU Graduate School of Education pdx.edu/education 503-725-4619 | gseinfo@pdx.edu

Application deadline for 2015 programs, February 1, or until filled

of Chris North, a professor at PSU’s School of Art + Design. Students designed the beer’s label and produced its motto, “Drink Co2nsciously.”

They also designed handmade t-shirts, posters, buttons and growler-coozies for the event.

“For my [Art 471] class, I try to have students focus on issues that are related to environmental conservation.

Beer is the perfect jumping-off point to get people talking about these issues,” North said.

North said the concept is aimed at younger members of the beer-drinking community who have grown exasperated with traditional environmental messages that they have heard for most of their lives.

“We’re trying to reach a young audience that has been jaded by growing up with environmentalist messages.

Beer is the perfect muse for that—we can use it to talk about everything from consumerism and how that affects the environment to the carbon cost of beer production,” North said.

Activities at the event included a raffle and a photobooth where customers could get their pictures taken and uploaded on Instagram.

Fletcher Beaudoin, assistant director of PSU’s Institute for Sustainable Solutions and member of the Emerging Leaders Board, has been at the forefront of PSU’s collaboration with Migration.

“When we were in the process of making the concept, we took it to Hatfield Sustainability Resources and asked them to do a life cycle analysis to figure

MIGraTIOn BrEWInG COMPany Bar STaFF serve patrons during the unveiling of their new carbon-friendly Little Red foot ale.

CHRISTIAN PROfETA/VANGUARD STAff

out the carbon emissions produced in making a brand of beer, and then [tried] to reduce those emissions,” Beaudoin said.

The event was used both as a platform to raise awareness of environmental issues and an OEC fundraiser for carbon policy change. Proceeds from the release party as well as all sales of the beer will help fund the OEC as it attempts to change environmental policy in Oregon.

“We have been partnering with local businesses for years,” said OEC’s Membership and Engagement manager Michelle McGrath.

“This project fits right in with what we’re trying to do: create awareness by getting people to talk about products they see in their everyday lives.”

“The funds that the OEC raises will go towards trying to put environmental policy in place

to ensure that Oregon is a leader in sustainability,” McGrath added.

“Instead of trying to create sweeping reform, this event tries to show people how making small changes can affect consumers’ carbon footprint,” said OEC Marketing Director Simon Tam. While Little Foot Ale is brewed in a way that is more environmentallyconscious than other beers, contributors to the project agree that the real benefit of the campaign is to raise public awareness of environmental issues.

“Ultimately, it’s about raising awareness about how our everyday consumerism affects the world around us and the way we live,” Beaudoin said. “And what better way to start that conversation than over a beer?”

Vanguard | january 27, 2015 | psuvanguard.com

7

OPINION

My DARS scars

Campus Oracle

by David Wooldridge While Portland State may have many reputable assets and qualities (eco-friendly, diverse education and everything else you’ll see plastered all over the walls or in your student email), the PSU class registration system is not among them.

Simple efforts to check one’s DARS report or add/drop classes can easily become an all-day event. You might think your ungodly tuition would pay for a seamless, user-friendly website on which you could blissfully manage your classes and check the status of your degree, but you would be sorely mistaken.

Let’s start with the DARS: Degree Audit Reporting System. This tool is essentially your only option for keeping up with the progress you’ve made on your chosen degree,

Courtesy of PSU

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Vanguard | january 27, 2015 | psuvanguard.com

aside from meeting with an adviser (who will simply print out your DARS and read it for you). To receive a DARS report on Banweb you must submit an audit, which involves an annoying series of drop-down menus. Hidden ­somewhere in their depths are your major(s) and minor(s), so once you spend the 20 minutes trying to find your major, you submit that and only then begin searching for your minors.

It could take approximately four, five, maybe six audits before you really figure out what you’re doing. Once you hit “Run Analysis” it could take up to five minutes—each—to become available. That’s right, you can forget about a quick DARS check before trying to add that high-demand oceanography class you’ve wanted for three terms. The DARS is the tortoise, and oceanography is the hare.

Once you do receive your DARS you’ll notice that it looks a bit like the unfinished midterm of a computer science major. Seriously. It gets an F in user-compatibility. I don’t know how I can simultaneously fulfill credit requirements in one area while apparently failing to meet those same requirements in a different area.

In fact, the DARS has proven itself so difficult to interpret that PSU has devoted time and money to creating video and PDF tutorials at a 30 minute premium for both watching and reading one of these reports. Forget Netflix, this is prime entertainment if you’ve got the time to spare.

When you’ve received your DARS and watched the video tutorial on how to decipher it, then it’s time to use your Math 60 skills to add up how many credit hours you still need until you get your degree. You might think the DARS would be courteous enough to provide you with this information, but again you would be mistaken.

To add insult to injury, the DARS isn’t even necessarily a guarantee of progress because it is somehow susceptible to error. Furthermore, it doesn’t indicate when your required courses will be offered or even if they will be offered in the near future. To get around this, PSU offers the four-year degree guarantee: the biggest steaming pile of choice manure that I’ve ever heard of.

Hidden away at the southernmost pole of your Banweb account is a link to the page on the four-year degree guarantee (lovingly abbreviated as 4YDG). If you click through to the FAQs you’ll find that you probably don’t fit the requirements because you’re already here. You see, it’s only available to incoming freshmen enrolling in fall term who have never been to college before; sorry if you’re old.

Clicking further into the labyrinthine 4YDG degreemap page will reveal that you must take at least 16 credits for the majority of your school terms. On the off chance that you do qualify for the 4YDG, I hope you don’t have any love interests, need for a job, pressing addictions, illusions of free time, or hobbies of any sort, because you won’t have time for those thanks to the 4YDG! At the end of the day, I don’t really mind taking two or three days to figure out what I’m supposed to take next term. Nevertheless, it would be nice to register for classes without wanting to rip out your own eyes. You shouldn’t have to spend more time scheduling and researching classes than you do on your actual coursework. How, with as many computer science majors as we have here, has no one been assigned to update this Viking-era interface? We do have an engineering department, right? Sort it out, PSU.

OPInIOn when in doubt, get yourself to a tutor

THE unIVErSITy SuCCESS OFFICE offers a variety of academic support services for students, including advising, workshops and tutoring.

Campus Oracle

by Nathan Anderson Last week I wrote about the benefits of tutoring, and this week I’m going to pontificate a bit more on that subject due to the fact that it’s near and dear to my heart. With midterms coming up it’s all the more important that those needing help seek it.

I was asked recently if my gung-ho support for college tutoring programs stems from the fact that I myself am a tutor and simply support my profession. With this hanging over my head, I decided to do some research to determine if I’m at all correct.

Initial research led me to our humble colleagues over at Reed College, where they have published a study showing that tutoring does, in fact, help those who seek it. As I’ve seen this with my own eyes, I’m not surprised. Tutoring benefits both the tutor and the tutee.

As a tutor I not only get to build and strengthen my own knowledge base, but I get to learn from those who seek my help. They often have stores of knowledge that I don’t have.

As a tutee I’m comfortable knowing that the person who is helping me has the knowledge, experience and training to confidently give me the instruction I need. The tutor and the tutee grow and learn together.

This relationship is beneficial to those who utilize it for a couple reasons. Tutors are not teachers, and thus seeing a tutor is an experience that lacks a certain level of intimidation that might exist in a traditional professor-student relationship. Tutors have also been through the rigors of the class that they are tutoring, so they often have first-hand experience of how a class operates and what a specific department expects of its students.

Tutees can visit a tutor at their leisure and use the interaction to supplement their own studies in a way and at a time that suits them.

At my previous school the tutoring center was renamed “The Success Center” because of the strong belief we had in the abilities of our fellow students to take ownership of their own success.

By inviting them to sit with us and work on whatever troubling bit of academic minutiae that was currently vexing them, we knew that the students would be able to work on building any confidence they might have lacked. And this gets to the heart of why I hope that every student who might need a bit of extra help visit a tutor: confidence.

College is all about learning. Part of that learning experience is building within us the ability to be self-assured in whatever task we might partake in. No matter our major, we will all face challenges and struggles that will test our abilities to hunker down and persevere in a given task that we might not find particularly enjoyable. However, our conviction that we can and must persevere and be successful can mean the difference between successfully graduating or becoming a college dropout.

Tutoring can give us that sense of power, the belief that we do, indeed, have the skills and abilities to take us to our destination. Professors, naturally, provide the main substance of a college education. However, for those of us who struggle from time to time, tutors can be the answer to those struggles.

SILVIA CARDULLO/PSU VANGUARD

Kayla townSley

Vanguard | january 27, 2015 | psuvanguard.com

9

OPInIOn

disproportionate pay, disproportionate priorities Universities need to invest in academics, not athletics

InTErIM HEaD COaCH BruCE BarnuM will earn $187,000 to serve out his one-year contract with PSU. COURTESY Of PSU

against the Current

by Sebastian Richardson

You don’t have to spend much time in Oregon to realize that college sports are important to a large amount of Oregonians.

With the Beaver and Duck rivalry, the University of Oregon making it to the national championship, and the lack of an NFL team, people here take college football seriously.

I remember when I was first considering universities during my senior year of high school I was attracted to institutions with large amounts of school spirit, where athletics had some sort of cult-like status on the campus. I wanted to be on a campus that was proud of its achievements and allowed me to feel a sense of camaraderie with my fellow peers. We could be united by some common purpose. However, in my third year here at Portland State I

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have found a lot to be proud of, and it has nothing to do with our sports teams.

Call me old fashioned, but I am one of those people who believes the university is a place that should foster academic excellence, conduct research and develop new and exciting ideas. Many people might even agree with this sentiment, at least in a passive way. But when you see where money is spent at universities, it’s clear that the priorities are quite different.

According to the American Association of University Professors, the pay of head coaches nearly doubled between the academic years 2005–06 and 2011–12, while professors at doctoral institutions saw a pay raise of only 4 percent.

Even coaches of sports that don’t attract large audiences, such as golf and tennis, saw a pay raise between 53–79 percent at Division 1 AA schools.

The same study also compared how money is used at universities. At four-year institutions, spending only rose 0.9 percent per full-time enrolled student between the 2003–04 and 2010–11 academic years. This is partnered with only a 1.5 percent increase in academic spending.

These measly increases are trumped by the 24.8 percent increase in spending per student athletes.

Some people might point to state cutbacks for the lack of funding in higher education, but it does not account for the disparaging gap between where money is being spent and where it is being withheld in a university. Over an eight-year

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period, academic spending only grew by 5.1 percent while athletic spending grew 28.9 percent.

Don’t get me wrong, I do not look at these numbers with any sense of shock or awe. I know why this is becoming a more popular trend. Quite frankly, sports are a large moneymaker for universities. They attract students and they get the name of the university out there.

It’s a no-brainer that schools try to find the best coaches and pay top dollar for results.

This is revealing for a number of reasons. It essentially tells academic faculty that, while the work they do is somewhat important, they are not essential to the university’s survival or reputation.

Universities can get away with slashing the paychecks of our professors, but you don’t see plans halted for new stadiums, new athletics centers and full-ride scholarships for those who might help win a race or two during their academic career.

I can’t wait for the day I get to tell my future kid that it doesn’t matter if he reads books, watches science documentaries and gets an A on his paper. If he doesn’t run fast or throw a ball well, he’s out of luck.

I would even argue that these priorities are made worse by the fact we live in a culture that values athletics, violence and cute Super Bowl commercials over academics, productive dialogue and reading a good novel.

This isn’t me claiming there’s no value in playing sports. It would be foolish to insinuate that. Obviously sports can foster teamwork, inspire and challenge people, and have the power to foster a sense of fellowship among strangers. That, and they can help participants stay in shape and exercise in a fun way.

However, I feel their presence at universities has no real important role in the missions of research institutions.

While some people might claim that university sports give student athletes the discipline and motivation needed to succeed in college, I would argue that if they need the excuse of participating in some sort of structured physical activity to succeed at an academic institution, then maybe they shouldn’t attend a university. After all, I think the world has enough sports science majors.

I simply find it disconcerting that the university puts a larger emphasis on athletes than it does its other students, at least at the financial level.

I’m afraid there’s not much that can be done to prevent this trend and that we’re already trapped in a downward spiral.

Head coaches are already some of the highest paid state employees in many states and are clearly not ready to give that up.

I would love to see the day when universities will begin to pay top dollar for their academic faculty instead of their coaches.

I hope that, at the very least, universities and state governments can stop pretending they can’t give pay raises to professors or give more money to student aid when they are clearly willing to throw millions of dollars at athletics programs.

Maybe I’ll feel differently when you introduce me to a quarterback who calculates the ballistic trajectory of the football while also accounting for air resistance, and then relays that information to his teammates during that huddle.

Until then, I’ll sit here buried in my textbooks in between my two part-time jobs, knowing that the university doesn’t particularly consider me an investment.

OPINION

Drop your weapons, America Our sexualization and obsession with guns has gone far enough

Cherry Bomb

by Anna Suarez

America was birthed in blood, and over 200 years later the streets are still covered in blood. However, Americans have become so used to watching blood spill on our streets, that we don’t even notice what we’re seeing. The reality is, America is obsessed with violence.

Violence has permeated itself through American culture, spreading its wings across television screens and deeply embroidering itself into our language. Violence laughs at how easy it is to inspire young children into thinking that fighting is cool. These children wear black eyes like trophies. As I consider our language, I think of how commonly used expressions such as “Take a stab at it,” “Take a shot at it” and “Shoot from the hip” are. America has the capacity to turn violence into something sexy, linking violence with desire.

A clothing brand called Girls with Guns appeals to women gun owners. They market clothing which advocates increased gun use for women. However, the problem with Girls with Guns is not promoting women owning guns, but how sexualized their advertisements are. They perpetuate the link between violence and sexuality.

Guns are not necessary and the drive to own a gun is often not for self-defense or protection. It is because guns are seen as dangerous and sexy. I recall boys in middle school discussing guns, bragging about how daddy taught them how to shoot a gun, and what kind of gun they will receive when they finally turn 18. The fact is, these boys are from upper-middle-class suburbia, a place where you can safely walk around at 1 a.m. They do not need guns. I have witnessed firsthand America’s ability to fetishize guns, the ability to convince children that owning an instrument of death will make them cool.

Children being attracted to guns is not the only issue.

At Portland State, Campus Public Safety Officers will soon be able to carry guns, which also brings the potential for violence onto our campus. The installment of guns at PSU leaves me feeling terrified for my peers. We are here to learn and not to have to worry about gun violence.

There needs to be a massive reform of America’s police force, because power and violence tend to go hand in hand. I believe future police officers must undergo a series of strenuous testing and training. They must be taught that their gun is strictly for emergencies. If every officer was taught martial arts then they might restrain a person without hurting them.

Where grabbing for a gun—and potentially ending someone’s

life­—might have been their first reaction, martial arts training might redirect their efforts in a safer way. Restraint should be the goal of every officer, not death. Grabbing for their gun in a stressful situation must not be a police officer’s first instinct.

Fed up with America’s proclivity to spill blood, Tom H. Hastings, conflict resolution professor at PSU, demands the repeal of the Second Amendment in his editorial piece for the Wisconsin Gazette. In his article, he writes that the “pandemic of sick violence, punctuated by mass killings of children, has gone on far, far too long.”

Hastings also criticizes the conservative notion that states cannot reform gun laws individually. This is problematic because states are unable to make choices which protect their citizens. One of the roles of government is to ensure the protection of its citizens, but with legal guns perpetuating constant violence on our streets and on our campuses, protection becomes almost impossible.

Along with repealing the Second Amendment, a vast change of consciousness needs to shake our nation to the core. Abandoning guns is an imperative start. According to gunpolicy.org, 30,000 people are killed by guns every year, while between 500 and 1,000 are killed by accidental gun deaths.

I support the repeal of the Second Amendment and every state’s right to guarantee the protection of their citizens. I support the end of an obsession with violence and encourage Americans to shift their consciousness. We need to truly ask ourselves why we think violence is so sexy and appealing and why we think owning a gun is necessary. I want Americans to spend time questioning what they will truly use their guns for and how safe they actually feel in a nation engrossed in violence.

Drop your weapons, America.

CHRISTIAN PROFETA/PSU VANGUARD

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11

COVER

State of the media MILES SANGUINETTI/PSU VANGUARD

Alternative voice newspaper enters uncertain times Brandon Staley

The Portland State Student Media Board held a public meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 20 to determine the fate of two student-run publications, Portland Spectrum and the Rearguard.

Both publications were under scrutiny primarily for lack of consistent publication.

The Spectrum is PSU’s only student-run magazine. Recently the magazine transitioned in name and focus from the politically conservative Portland Spectator to its current incarnation that now focuses mainly on science writing.

The Rearguard is the university’s alternative voice newspaper with the mission of amplifying oppressed and underrepresented voices on campus.

Both publications are scheduled to print monthly. Since the beginning of fall term the Spectrum has printed one issue. The Rearguard has printed none. In the meantime, numerous newsworthy events that have had an effect on minority students have elapsed.

“There were a number of events throughout this past year where the Rearguard really could have asserted itself as a voice for the marginalized or the underrepresented,” said Student Media Coordinator Reaz Mahmood. “It didn’t cover news in a prominent way—that I’m aware of—at that time. I was looking for it.”

Mahmood referenced the threatened faculty strike and the arming of campus officers as journalistic opportunities the Rearguard did not take advantage of.

When it became apparent that the publications were unable to successfully produce their print issues on time,

a deadline was imposed by Mahmood per a recommendation by the board. Both publications were given until the second week of January to produce a print issue.

Of the two, only the Spectrum was able to meet that deadline.

As a result, the Jan. 20 meeting dealt almost exclusively with the Rearguard.

Future of the 'Rearguard' Aside from failing to meet print deadlines, lack of engagement was cited as an issue for the Rearguard. During the meeting it came to light that the Rearguard editorial staff had conducted a single staff meeting, which occurred prior to fall term of this year.

During a routine fire and safety inspection, members of Student Activities and Leadership Programs discovered that computers, which had been purchased for use by the Rearguard, remained largely untouched.

Only one computer had been opened, set up and used by Rearguard Arts & Culture editor Brie Barbee.

Originally the board had proposed four possible outcomes for the Rearguard and the Spectrum. Those outcomes included maintaining both publications as they were, merging the two publications with one absorbing the other, merging the two publications to create a new publication or the revocation of the respective publications’ official statuses.

“It seems like there’s an interest in having a voice on campus for an alternative viewpoint,” said Abbey Gaterud, assistant pro-

fessor, publisher at Ooligan Press and member of the board. “At the same time there is the other side of that, the interest of the student fees and that we’re essentially earmarking money each year for publications that aren’t doing anything. That’s a student consideration just as much as having the voice on campus.”

The idea of temporarily revoking the Rearguard’s official status within the university was presented by Mahmood.

The proposal would have forced the publication to reapply for recognition, but would have potentially allowed for it to return in a new format and with a refined mission statement.

Lee Shaker, assistant professor of communications and board member, cited the difficulty of finding money for new publications, let alone returning ones.

“I think killing the publications, just ending the publications, I think that’s not our choice. It’s really up to the students. I also think that once you close something down, getting it going again is unlikely given the budget considerations.It’s squeezing blood from a turnip around here,”Shaker said.

After a lengthy discussion the board determined that an official recommendation regarding the the Rearguard would be tabled pending further review. At that point the board will either issue recommendations regarding the structure and scope of the publication or make recommendations to student government regarding the viability of the newspaper.

In the meantime, the board voted unanimously to seek a new editor-in-chief for the Rearguard, a position which is presently vacant.

“At the same time there is the other side of that, the interest of the student fees and that we’re essentially earmarking money each year for publications that aren’t doing anything. That’s a student consideration just as much as having the voice on campus.”-Abbey Gaterud 12

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COVEr The Student Media Board is currently accepting applications for the position of editor-in-chief of the Rearguard. The selected applicant will go through a period of training and will officially assume the position starting spring term.

The delay caused by the application and training process has stirred up concern among the remaining editorial staff for the Rearguard. By the time the process is complete, roughly twothirds of the academic year will have elapsed before the Rearguard can feasibly produce an issue.

“I see the benefits of reaching out to the student body and looking for more people to join the publication, as well as advertising for the newspaper,but I am worried that this will only further delay our publishing schedule. There isn’t much we can do until a new [editor-in-chief ] is in place,” Barbee said.

The deadline for the application is Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 5 p.m. Interested students can submit an application at bit.ly/rearguardapp.

Paul Collins, associate professor and chair of both the Student Media Board and English department, said editor-inchief is not an entry level position and that prior experience in a newsroom environment is highly preferred.

“The editor-in-chief, along with coordinating things, has to know how to appoint a staff,” Collins said. “They have to know what the staff ’s jobs are. Any time you have a job like that you need to know your own job, and you kind of need to know at least a little bit about everybody else’s job, too.”

A generational shift

The recent troubles with both the Spectrum and the Rearguard have brought to light deeper issues in Student Media, such as retention of staff and the generational transition of knowledge in a college environment.

Both publications faced a complete turnover in staff between the end of the previous academic school year and fall term.

“With the Rearguard in particular, but also the Spectrum, both of the staffs experienced complete turnover from the previous year,” Mahmood said. “So there was not that training in that same sense as there might be in others years, if they got lucky with recruiting and retention of staff.”

Collins cited the recent decline in Student Media funding and the lack of recalibrated expectations as a problem that needs to be addressed going forward.

“Maybe at some point it becomes unrealistic to expect the same number of issues out of significantly less money,” Collins said.

The board also noted lack of student interest as a hurdle for Student Media. According to the Student Media Board charter, the board itself is supposed to consist of five faculty members, five students, a member of the classified staff and a representative of the community. Presently there are no students on the board.

The charter also requires student media publications and stations, such as the Vanguard and KPSU, to advertise open student

board positions for the first two weeks of the fall term. A review of the Vanguard archives revealed that no such advertisement went to print. Additionally, no KPSU advertisement was aired.

The charter also stipulates that university departments advertise open positions, which was accomplished in an email distributed by the Associated Students of PSU and forwarded through various department listserv emails.

Further complicating the issue is the lack of available university curriculum dealing directly with journalistic writing and publication management. The university has had no formal journalism program since 1981, when President Joseph Blumel axed the program due to widespread budgetary cuts.

Both Collins and Shaker agreed that there is more their respective departments can be doing to make up for the lack of journalistic educational opportunities.

“I do wonder if there might at least be better coordination between what departments can do…so that the students in these departments can actually be working on preparation, or working with these publications a bit more, and have that coordinated with departments at least to some degree that isn’t contrary to the basic idea of a very free student press,” Collins said.

Watch the video story online at psuvanguard.com PrOFESSOr PauL COLLInS is one of five faculty Media Board members.

NIMI EINSTEIN/PSU VANGUARD

MILES SANGUINETTI/PSU VANGUARD

Vanguard | january 27, 2015 | psuvanguard.com

13

arTS & CuLTurE

kpSu to hoSt kARAoke night Jon raBy

Portland State’s studentrun radio station, KPSU, will take over karaoke at Suki’s Bar & Grill on Jan. 30 for KPSU Does Karaoke. The off-key singing will begin at 9 p.m. and will run until it stops.

KPSU staff and friends plan to attend the night and sing, or at least be prodded into it after a few beers. Karaoke is, after all, best not performed sober.

“In addition to there being a ton of KPSU DJs and listeners in attendance, there will also be a portion of the proceeds going to benefit KPSU,” said Blake Hickman, promo-

tions director at KPSU. “Having fun doing karaoke that also benefits KPSU is a winwin type situation.”

Jessica Boyd, developmental director at KSPU, said the karaoke night is an opportunity for listeners to meet some of their favorite KPSU personalities.

“And it’s within walking distance,” Boyd said.

Chris Green, the current karaoke jockey for Suki’s Wednesday–Saturday night, will temporarily relinquish his role for the betterment of the station.

“It is important to support college radio because main-

stream radio sucks balls,” Green said.

Green has been a professional KJ for 10 years and has been running the karaoke at Suki’s for a year and a half.

“I make sure the people who come to sing at Suki’s have an experience,” Green said. “I lead them through the night with jokes, camaraderie and a sassy back-and-forth.”

Green said that good karaoke needs a KJ, and that it’s more than just serving up songs. He said that most people who go out to karaoke are looking for an event.

KPSU is a commercial-free student radio station that

emmy-nominated screenwriter to give exclusive talk jOn rayMOnD at festival America in 2010.

COURTESY Of CAMILLE GÉVAUDAN THROUGH CREATIVE COMMONS

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broadcasts 24/7 to the PSU campus and on the web at KPSU.org. All of their shows are also available as podcasts.

KPSU has been successfully running for over 20 years since its start in 1994.

KPSU Does Karaoke is a 21-and-over event.

“Unfortunately, the OLCC won’t let us have it any other way. I am planning an all-ages karaoke event in April that will also be a station benefit,” Hickman said.

Suki’s Bar & Grill is just off campus at 2401 SW 4th Avenue. It’s about a 10-minute walk. Faster if you aren’t stumbling.

Victoria caStellanoS

The Portland State film program will host a talk with Oregon screenwriter Jon Raymond on Feb. 4 to discuss his career and creative process. The lecture will take place in Lincoln Hall room 331 at 4 p.m.

The talk will be moderated by film professor Dustin Morrow and will be followed by a question-and-answer session with students. Because of limited seating, this event is only open to film students and faculty.

Morrow said he is honored to welcome Raymond to campus and expects as large a crowd as the room can accommodate.

“He is certainly famous within the Portland film community, and in this instance we just didn’t have the space or time to do a promotion to the general public,” Morrow said.

In 2011 Raymond was nominated for a Humanitas Prize at Sundance Film Festival for his screenplay Meek’s Cutoff.

That year he and co-writer Todd Haynes worked on the HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce, which earned them a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special.

Raymond is the author of the novels The Half-Life and

SuKI'S Kj CHrIS GrEEn will hand the karaoke reins to KPSU starting Jan. 30.

CHRISTIAN PROfETA/PSU VANGUARD

Rain Dragon, as well as the short stories “Old Joy” and “Train Choir,” the latter of which became the film Wendy and Lucy.

Despite not being open to the public, Morrow said he is still glad for the opportunity to share this experience with Portland and show future students what could be in store for them.

“We want Portland to know what the film program is up to and that we’re committed to bringing in important writers for our students.”

Raymond’s impending visit is inciting buzz among film students, as well.

“I haven’t seen his most recent film, Night Moves, but Meek’s Cutoff was one of the best films of the aughts,” said film studies junior Basil Swartzfager.

The smaller, more intimate classroom that will house the talk will offer students an opportunity to rub elbows with one of Portland’s creative elite. Having worked on a variety of productions, Raymond has a plethora of wisdom to share with film students.

“He’s a very compelling speaker, so I’m happy that he’s coming in,” Morrow said.

His films have proved important in Oregon, where they are primarily filmed. They showcase

the beautiful natural landscapes found here and embody the low-key vibe that is a big difference between shooting in Portland versus Hollywood.

Wendy and Lucy shot a scene at a Walgreens near Raymond’s home in North Portland, and despite the activity one would expect filming a star like Michelle Williams, the store remained open and few customers even realized what was happening.

“It’s crazy, because they didn’t even close the store when we were filming,” Raymond said in a 2009 interview with The Oregonian. “The way these movies are filmed is so different than any kind of Hollywood production.”

In addition to his screenwriting resume, Raymond also co-edits quarterly literary magazine Tin House and edits Plazm, an art, design and culture magazine.

Though he’s successful in literary circles as well as film, Morrow expects that the talk will primarily stick to film.

“The talk will be more oriented to his film and television work,” Morrow said. “I’m going to talk to him about his whole career, but I want to ask him how his process for screenwriting compares to how he approaches a novel, and whether there are any parallels there.”

ARTS & CULTURE

Bandcamp backlog Highlights from the best recent Bandcamp releases Jordan Rasmussen

Bandcamp can sometimes be an intimidating place, full to the brim with promising new music just begging to be discovered. So where do you start? Here are some of the more recent Bandcamp releases to get you going in 2015.

Nora Dates—‘Worth/Fountains’ First on the list is Nora Dates, an indie-emo band from Salt Lake City with punctuated and savory doses of blaring punk throughout. Their most recent release, Worth/ Fountains, is a nameyour-own-price album as of now, and it is very worth a listen.

Dates sings, screams and shouts about stuff like being stoned in the kitchen, inflicting self-harm on the pavement and loss of teenage naivete. They even include a sound byte from Twin Peaks.

On the standout track “Scream like a Nazgul,” they devote the whole song to one line: “I want to talk about flowers but I lack the confidence in myself.”

What makes Worth/ Fountains so impressive is how deftly they transition from soft and intricate guitar arrangements into full-fledged poppunk headbangers.

When I spoke with vocalist Samuel Durrant earlier this year after a show at Diabolique Records in Salt Lake City, he told me that Nora Dates currently has no plans on playing any shows in Portland until the summer of 2015 at least.

Hopefully they can bring their intense and very fun live show up to the Pacific

Northwest sooner rather than later.

Mom—‘3’ Mom is a midi-rock solo artist from Toronto, Ontario who released her album 3 last October. The album is also a name-your-own-price on Bandcamp.

Musically, Mom can be a little hard to define at times, sounding like synthy newwave or a midi-drenched echo of dance-punk from last decade. At other times Mom sounds far more experimental, scuzzy and discordant.

Mom never sounds broken or harsh, though, and there’s something incredibly endearing about the amalgamation of quirky sounds she uses. My favorite thing about Mom, however, is her lyrics.

She’s already pretty fun musically, but lyrically she blurs the line between ironic self-detachment and true earnestness in a way that is both incredibly poignant and sad, but is also laugh-out-loud funny at times. Equally brooding and hilarious, 3 is full of these little contradictions and that’s what makes the music so affecting and fun.

There’s a lot to like in 3, and it makes the anticipation for what Mom does next all the more exciting.

Snow Roller—‘Another Step In Your Career Ladder’ Snow Roller is a local fourpiece; a moody, indie-rock group from right here in Portland.

Their four-song, name-yourown-price EP, Another Step In Your Career Ladder, is a great overview of where indie-rock has been in the past few decades.

The album incorporates just a little bit of shoegaze and some delightfully fuzzy psychedelic

guitar arrangements to make some solid rock and roll tunes.

Snow Roller might be familiar to some around Portland State, as they opened for The World Is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die last November on campus at Parkway North in the Smith Memorial Student Union.

At that show, vocalist Collin Kritz and guitarist Tyler Bussey told me about their recent transfer from Connecticut to Portland. In fact, Bussey has a pedigree, as he was one of the early members of The World Is A Beautiful Place when they formed in Connecticut in 2009.

Snow Roller certainly has their own sound, but it’s easy to hear the influence at times, especially in the sulky delivery of Kritz. Hopefully Snow Roller continues to jam out around Portland in the future.

'Another step in your career ladder' - Snow Roller/2014

Murder Mystery Party—‘What’s The Deal With The Devil?’

Lastly, Murder Mystery Party is another pop-punk band from Salt Lake City whose fast-paced and chaotic songs are bookended with a healthy dose of yucks and shucks, as the two-piece calls them.

Self-described as “stand-up comedy punx,” Murder Mystery Party make some deliciously sloppy, exciting and amusing punk music on their release What’s The Deal With The Devil?, which is also a name-your-own-price album on Bandcamp.

I also spoke with guitarist and vocalist Davey at a gig at Diabolique Records in Salt Lake City about any plans they might have to bring their hilariously rowdy show to Portland, but, unfortunately, that might not happen until the summer of 2015 at the least.

There’s a demonic Jerry Seinfeld on the cover of their album. What else do you need?

'What's the Deal with the Devil?' - Murder Mystery Party/2014

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15

ARTS & CULTURE

Deconstructing the Strong

Female Protagonist Andy Anady

Good representation in media is a limited resource.

There aren’t many examples, and the ones that exist are often very lonely. Strong Female Protagonist is one of the few fantastic examples we might cling to.

Writer Brennan Lee Mulligan and artist Molly Ostertag met in a live action role-playing summer camp in upstate New York. Years later, while Ostertag was working on her degree in cartooning at the Manhattan-based School of Visual Arts, Mulligan had just graduated.

Strong Female Protagonist began with a discussion of what that term means and how it’s thrown around to put a bandage on the gushing wound that is misogyny. A strong female character can mean anything, as long as we consumers and creators don’t have to look too closely or too critically at the flat, one-dimensional female characters we encounter.

The comic book centers on Alison Green, a 20-year-old woman and college student who is not only physically invincible, but has incredible, inhuman strength. The comic opens with Alison, who has recently quit being the superhero Mega-Girl, trying to get her bachelor’s degree.

She knows she wants to help people and thinks college is the way to do that, but it’s more difficult than she

16

thought. She dropped out of middle school to be a superhero full time and doesn’t know which classes will help her in her mission. The comic opens with Alison listening to Mumford & Sons when she runs into an Occupy rally.

Regardless of how unsure Alison is, she’s still a strong protagonist who’s intelligent, conflicted and continues on despite all of the obstacles and messy relationship stuff she’s faced with every single day.

Her roommate Violet deftly takes advantage of being roomies with a disgraced superhero, but when Alison stops a strange man from taking a woman he doesn’t know, a woman so inebriated she can’t walk or open her eyes, all of Violet’s activism and feminism flies out the window.

She tells Alison to chill.

Superheroes are fine and social justice is fine as long as they don’t ruin the mood of the party. Violet has a goal, more or less, but can’t act, and Alison has been acting all her life, so she knows where half-idealized goals will lead you.

Her friends and family, even her enemies, are destroyed by monsters she can’t just punch out: terminal illness, perpetual and horrifying self-sacrifice and abuse; powers far worse than hers. It’s why she quit being a superhero. Alison realized she was only a reactionary measure and that maybe treating symptoms wasn’t the answer.

It’s an epiphany essentially spoon-fed by her nemesis. He introduced the idea of systematic oppression via capitalism to her, and she realized that even if she saved some lives she might be on the wrong side and that maybe the right didn’t exist.

Alison tries so hard to be good and to make a difference, but Mega-Girl has no finesse whatsoever. Alison knows that knocking over buildings causes more harm than it helps, but that’s the only thing she’s good at.

That, and writing essays on Greek mythology at four in the morning.

Besides honestly exploring problems like sexual assault, capitalism, hate groups and police brutality, the cast itself is diverse.

So many characters, main and secondary, are queer.

Paladin, gadgeteer genius, is too interested in creating robots that might or might not be our demise to really date, but she’s a robotics whiz, government certified and a black woman with a prosthetic leg she designed and built herself.

An impressive feat of really hitting a lot of key issues and emotions that define a number of generations struggling right now, Strong Female Protagonist might just be the comic we can place our trust in. And no media is trustworthy, so that’s saying something.

Vanguard | january 27, 2015 | psuvanguard.com

©JOHN DOE/GETTY IMAGES

arTS & CuLTurE

eDo know Much ABout JApAneSe BeeR, But thiS tAlk helpeD VISITING DOCTOR LECTURES ON THE HISTORY Of BEER-MAKING IN JAPAN Dr. jEFFrEy aLEXanDEr of the University of Wisconsin explains the history of beer in Japan at a recent PSU lecture.

MILES SANGUINETTI/PSU VANGUARD

ruBy KinG

Doctor Jeffrey Alexander of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside held a lecture on Jan. 15 entitled “Brewed in Japan,” about the beer industry in Japan. The talk was arranged by the Center for Japanese Studies.

From the crowd that attended, many were familiar with the topic and alluded to obscure Japanese beers like some can allude to alternative bands. The Consulate-General of Japan was also in attendance, and the lecture was sponsored by the Japan-America Society of Oregon, Sapporo USA and Rogue Ales.

Alexander began with a brief history of breweries in Japan, starting with Norwegian-American brewer William Copeland who founded his first brewery in Yokohama in 1869. It wasn’t until 1907 that Copeland started the Kirin Brewery Company, one of Japan’s largest brewing companies.

Alexander pointed out that few realize the expansive history behind the Kirin empire. Kirin received the first issued license plate in Japan for one of its delivery trucks, with the single number one, and continues to pay for the rights for holding the number even though the truck has long since been destroyed.

All of the brewing and factory machinery was supplied by the United States and Europe, especially Germany. The Japanese were very particular about creating and selling their beer as a foreign product, so they relied heavily on traditional beer-making customs.

“Everything about it is done to code, done according to the Reinheitsgebot, the German purity law of 1516 that requires the beer to be made with a certain recipe, in a certain fashion and nothing could be violated,” Alexander said.

All of the yeast, hops and malts needed to be imported from Germany.

The Japanese today are now starting to question if they

can consider their beer a domestic product instead of a Western tradition.

“Can it be, after many generations of brewing, a Japanese product? We don’t have an existential crisis when we’re eating toast and wondering if it’s an American product,” Alexander said.

Into the early 20th century, breweries started popping up in places like Sapporo, where experimentation with bottle-making was heavy. Unfortunately, most breweries were left in utter ruin after the Kanto earthquake in 1923.

The damage at the Kirin finishing plant was extensive. “So extensive that in this case the storage tanks and kegs inside the plant…were all smashed open and flooded into the surrounding breweries and very nearly drowned people,” Alexander said.

While the devastation was costly, it was also an opportunity to rebuild larger factories with new American technology. After the earthquake, sterilization and pasteurizatiovn became popular methods of keeping beer fresh for longer periods of time.

Advertising was an important part of the beer industry during the pre-war period, with posters depicting women as traditional beauties, cute images of springtime and Western dancers or flappers.

Of course, women did not drink beer and the posters were purely there to sell to men. During this time beer had a much more dramatic and bitter taste, so women in Japan more often drank various cocktails and liquors.

During World War II the brewing industry changed dramatically, and not just in Japan. Specialty brands disappeared and a generic tasting, more neutral-flavored beer was introduced to the market.

“There were many threads of significance to [Dr.] Alexander’s presentation, but one that I would stress, in this day of globalization, is the theme of hybridity,” said Ken Ruoff,

director for the Center for Japanese Studies. “Beer enters Japan in the mid 19th century and remains something of a foreign curiosity for most Japanese until after World War II.” Families still had access to alcoholic beverages through 1945 because barley was considered a grade-B foodstuff.

Rice, on the other hand, was considered grade-A, and the sake market suffered tremendously due to high demand in a time of reduced resources. At this time, people also argued the health benefits of beer.

“It would provide calories, it would provide nutrients and it would provide basic nutrition. That’s what I tell my wife,” Alexander said.

In today’s market, what we consider to be true beer is actually not selling as well as others in Japan. The Ministry of Finance controls the beer cartels, and taxes heavily. They originally taxed everything as beer that contained at least 67 percent malts, but after companies started selling products with 65 percent they lowered it to taxed beer containing 50–65 percent malts.

Still, companies sunk lower and introduced cheaper, sub 25 percent malts that are very popular within Japanese society. Some brewers have even replaced malts with fermented soy beans or peas.

The true 100 percent malt beers are now seen as a luxury and status item. Craft beer is something that has been introduced to the Japanese market, but so far makes up a very small percentage of beer revenue because the main brewers like Kirin and Asahi own the shelf space.

Watch the video story online at psuvanguard.com

Vanguard | january 27, 2015 | psuvanguard.com

17

ETC

EVENT CALENDAR john pinney

Tuesday Jan. 27

Calling In: Interrupting Oppression with Compassion Where: Women’s Resource Center When: 3:30–5 p.m.

on the six core behaviors of a confident woman to help each attendee increase their own skills in and out of the workplace. A PSU Women in Business event not to be missed!

FREE

Social justice activists know about the idea of calling out or interrupting oppressive or hurtful dialogue or action, but this workshop contends there is a less alienating way to change minds, hearts and habits. Dignity, worth and compassion are the keywords for this workshop based on Calling In: A Less Disposable Way of Holding Each Other Accountable

by Ngoc Loan Tran.

FREE

Boly: Welch Workshop: Decoding Confidence Where: SMSU 294 When: 4:30–6 p.m.

Wednesday Jan. 28

Self Management Workshop: No More Procrastination!

Where: Women’s Resource Center When: 9–11 a.m.

Finding yourself racing through life with your pants on fire and missing half the stuff you need in your backpack is no way to live! This is a perfect workshop to help improve your life and fill it with successful techniques and tips to combat procrastination and dreaded deadlines.

Hosted by Liane O’ Banian.

FREE

PSU Women in Business event! Joni Roylance, whose credits include HR Business Partner and Advisory Board Member to Mercy Corps NW Women’s Business center, will facilitate a group discussion

CLAS Faculty Brown Bag Series

Where: Cramer Hall 335, CLAS Dean’s Conference Room When: 12–1 p.m.

Hosted by Dr. Tucker Childs, participants will be

taken on a journey through the dying languages of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

These languages, harmed by globalization, greatly affect the culture of indigenous peoples and there is speculation on how epidemics of various natures may hasten such cultural demise. Brought to you by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Please feel free to eat while you learn!

FREE

Out @ Work: Queer ­Professionals Panel Where: SMSU 236 When: 4–5 p.m.

Do you identify as queer and are you on the road to graduation? Well, these panelists that vary on the queer spectrum and in all levels of business will help provide perspective and personal story as they help you blaze your own trail to success!

Stay for the networking afterward. Participating organizations include Cambia, Stoel Rives LLP and Adidas.

A Dr. Ruth Sex Toy Class

Where: The Sanctuary at Sandy Plaza 1785 NE Sandy Blvd When: 7 p.m.

Brought to you by She Bop and Triangle Productions, this free master class promotions education and ownership of adult toys, including operation and enjoyment.

FREE

Thursday Jan. 29

Susannah Heschel Speaks

Where: Univ. of Oregon, Portland, White Stag Block, Auditorium, 70 NW Couch St. When: 7:30 p.m.

From the Jewish Studies department at Dartmouth, Susanna Heschel will speak on the the life work of her father, esteemed Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. The talk will revolve around Jewish-Christian relations in Germany during the 19th and 20th centuries, including a focus on the history of anti-semitism.

FREE

A hilarious night of fun for all! Come see Robbie Pankow, Elica Sanches, JoAnn Schinderle and Whitney Street! Hosting duties fall to Kirsten Kuppenbender.

Friday Jan. 30

Dept of Chem Seminar Series: ­Thomas S. Scanlan Where: Science Building 1, Room 107 When: 3:15 p.m.

Who doesn’t love the endocrine system?

Thomas S. Scanlan will present on his current work in the area of hormone action, with an emphasis on exquisite selectivity in the steroid/thyroid family. This discussion is a multidisciplinary approach featuring synthetic chemistry, biochemistry, cell biology and physiology.

OPEN TO PUBLIC

Trio of Theatrical Work: Box of Clowns, The Defenestrators, White Collar Crimes Where: Friendly House Community Center, 1737 NW 26th Ave When: 9:30 p.m.

Cost: $14–18

Part of the Fertile Ground Festival, actors from the Dell’Arte School of Physical Theater enlighten us with original works. Mom? is by a Box of Clowns and revolves around siblings and their mother’s ashes. Perpetual Wednesday presents White Collar Crimes about an immortal magician. The Defenestrators act on the secrets of a pair of chaste lovers. Can’t make this performance? Come on Saturday the 31 at 7 p.m. or Sunday the 1 at 8 p.m. as well.

PSU

21+ 21 & OVER

FREE FREE

If you have an event to submit for consideration for the calendar please contact the managing editor at:

Evil Dead: The Musical

Where: Funhouse Lounge 2432 SE 11th Ave. Portland, OR 97214 When: 7 p.m.

Cost: $9 for students, $13 for adults Repeat these words with me, “Kanda es-trada montos eagrets gat nos-feratos kanda amantos kanda!” Now spend this Saturday night revisiting the tale of five friends spending a weekend out at an eerie cabin and unleashing an unfathomable evil onto the world. Keeping ’80s horror campiness alive (and undead), this live stage rendition of Sam Raimi’s classic cult film will disembowel you with laughter while reminding you to stay away from ancient texts with unpronounceable words.

MANAGINGEDITOR@PSUVANGAURD.COM Copyright Evil Dead the Musical/2014

Vanguard | january 27, 2015 | psuvanguard.com

Where: Curious Comedy Theater; 5225 NE MLK Blvd When: 7:30 p.m.

Cost: $10

FREE

FEATURED EVENT

18

Lez Stand-Up

*Inclusion is left up to the discretion of the managing editor.

ETC

hoRoScopeS John pinney

aquarius Jan 20-feb. 18

Otters often hold hands so they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t float away from each other while sleeping.

You could use that comfort this week too. Reach out and touch somebody today.

Pisces feb. 20-Mar. 19

This week is going to happen one of two ways for you. One: armadillo roadkill, and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not driving the car. Two: a skunk noticed by a curious child. Pick one.

aries March 21-April 19

Just remember to always â&#x20AC;&#x153;beeâ&#x20AC;? yourself and life will be as sweet as honey, even if other people think youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re odd.

Especially if people think youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re odd.

Taurus April 20-May 20

In the zoo of life, you probably often feel like a parrot.

No respect and people stare at you all day long, waiting for you to do what they expect. You can still rise above it all, though.

Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not giving me the lion vibe this week, Leo. You remind me more of a captive koala, taking those 18-hour naps. Maybe youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re overworking yourself a little.

Virgo Aug. 23-Sep. 22

Gemini May 21-June 20

Your spirit animal for this week is the penguin. Nurturing, playful and downright cute, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re definitely having a nice week at, or making yourself, a nice little home.

Cancer June 21-July 22

Leo July 23-Aug. 22

Did you know hippos are one of the most feared animals, Cancer? They are protective, muscular and generally very territorial. Sound like anyone we know?

Scorpio Oct. 23-Nov. 21

My faithful little scorpion, this week youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to feel trapped like a mosquito in amber. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just cabin fever, though. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll go away soon enough.

Sagittarius Nov. 22â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Dec. 21

Dear Virgo, this week youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re definitely more of a viper than anything else. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re ready to strike and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not looking to make new acquaintances. Just remember, there are always anti-venoms out there, even when you strike your hardest.

They could make a show about your life this week, Sagi! Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re having a dramatic and yet adorable week Ă la Meerkat Manor. What?

Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not watching Meerkat Manor? Well, you should be.

Libra Sep. 23â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Oct. 22

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shark week, dearest Capricorn. Too bad youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re actually a surfer that was just spotted waiting for a wave. I hope you didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need that arm for anything!

This week, just think flamingo. Travel in a pack with people just like yourself for protection and because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fun to be with people like yourself.

And wear more pink.

Capricorn Dec. 22-Jan. 19

ELISE fURLAN/PSU VANGUARD

SuDoku

cRoSSwoRD

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Š Puzzles provided by sudokusolver.com

acroSS 1 Division of zillah obtained by a private in the artillery, say (9) 6 A.C. cries: This is rich soy sauce that's been fermented (5) 9 Extract energy from element (not boron) and it becomes another (7) 10 Provide food for topless nymphs in American state (7) 11 Harsh Athenian lawgiver displayed zero wit, on reflection (5) 12 After time, to study English philosopher is drudgery (9) 13 Charles leaves Chablis, eating hot pancake (5) 14 In conversation, you see, gin needs to be imbibed to get conversational wit (9) 17 Spontaneous combustion started after car backed on to motorway (9) 18 Musically above Joan Sutherland, for example?

No, no (5) 19 Combining power of 2, wrongly applied to cobalt, has conceivable result (9) 22 Can be eaten by fish swimming back across river (5) 24 Call in question a statement by girl declaring herself attractive? (7) 25 Swivel musket found

COURTESY Of ALBERICHCROSSWORDS.COM

wanting in Gallipoli, to some extent (7) 26 Fellow uses euphemistic oath to heartless judge (5) 27 Van Dyck's first to follow Raphael's revolutionary style, ultimately replacing Latin (9) down 1 Edmund's poised to settle with shillings and pence (5) 2 One concerned with matters of the soul â&#x20AC;&#x201C; not square or sanctimonious â&#x20AC;&#x201C; becomes member of High Church party (9) 3 A unicorn, one fabulously belonging to Roman station (9) 4 More than one chap stood up woman â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a first 'int she needs treatment for worms! (15) 5 Former Conservative leader holds answer to each problem: "Depose king and form alliance of cities" (9,6) 6 S-substance produced by marine animal (5) 7 Palebuck that's reared in island pen (5) 8 Midwinter festival mostly observed by a lay gathering (2-5-2) 13 High flier has roast lamb

take-out? (9) 15 One gets in a best bitter, at last, being drunk?

Not him (9) 16 In conflict, enemy agent lasts out, hiding quietly in tail unit of aircraft (9) 20 Flat in Virginia given to sanctimonious Democrat (5) 21 Glean a way of separating warp threads (5) 23 In America, lured to source of light (5)

Vanguard | january 27, 2015 | psuvanguard.com

19

SPOrTS

the legenD oF

LaMarCuS aLDrIDGE during a 2008 game.

AlDRiDge aleX moore

Many will argue about Portland’s chance to contend this season, but what cannot be argued is that this team is the best chance the Blazers have had for a championship in a long time. LaMarcus Aldridge’s decision to play Saturday night showed that, and may wind up being a defining moment in his career.

Aldridge put on a performance that was as unselfish as you will see in the NBA. After a report that the power forward would miss six to eight weeks, he decided to forgo surgery until after this season to help his team maintain their spot in the Western Conference.

The Wizards dominated the first quarter on both sides of the ball, but the Blazers were able to keep the score somewhat close thanks to a few Aldridge post ups and mid-range jumpers. Excitement turned to anxiety every time he got the ball, as his injured thumb was put to the test.

The anxiety was relieved every time, as Aldridge was able to really show his impact on the court.

He offered no looks of pain or discomfort, just the occasional tug at his thumb, or the tape that wrapped around his hand. The decision to play looked less risky and more like a no-brainer as the game went on. Aldridge put up numbers typical of his play over the last few seasons; 26 points and 9 rebounds.

Portland beat the Wizards 103-96.

This season won’t be defined by one win, but it has a chance to be defined by Aldridge’s decision to play.

If the Blazers make a run in the post season, due to their

20

spot in the playoff race out west, Aldridge will be the biggest reason. Without him Portland would have had to just stay afloat out West with a brutal upcoming schedule.

The question has become whether or not the risk is worth the reward. Whether or not Aldridge playing with a torn ligament in his thumb is worth the Blazers’ continued success with him on the court this season.

That question was answered on Saturday. The crowd was loud when Aldridge was introduced, and there was something different in the atmosphere in Moda Center that night.

Having a leader on the court does more than just x’s and o’s. Emotionally, it puts Portland in a spot where they know they can beat any team in the NBA, no matter how many points they go down.

The x’s an o’s can’t be ignored though, as Damian Lillard and Wesley Matthews both got better looks in this game than the two they played without Aldridge. The court was spaced better and Portland’s offense looked more comfortable.

Aldridge has said he wants to be the best Blazer of all time. And among a contract year for the power forward, he made another statement about that sentiment this weekend. Playing with an injury like that is not something a player in a contract year would do if he’s not certain he’s going to stay.

Portland’s success hinges on their All-Star power forward, and Aldridge looks to be well on his way to securing his legendary Blazer status. If he can help Portland to be successful in the playoffs this year, of course.

Vanguard | january 27, 2015 | psuvanguard.com

COURTESY Of KEITH ALLISON THROUGH CREATIVE COMMONS

SPOrTS

we MAke the gAMe

EMILy EaSOM guards against an offensive push by Weber State.

togetheR lauren SchlanGen

When talking about zone defense, my high school basketball coach would always use the metaphor that each player was connected to the next by an invisible rope.

When one moves, the others move, together.

Games should be this way, too. There should be a connection between what’s happening in bounds, what’s happening on the sidelines, what’s happening on the baselines and what’s happening up in the stands. When one moves, the others should, too. They should all be connected, they should all be together.

Did anyone see the game?

Connection was lacking last week at the Peter W. Stott center when the PSU women’s basketball team fell to Weber State. The girls played an incredible game, and I’m not insinuating that they were off-kilter. Rather, we were. Few stayed put to watch the game, they trickled in through the gymnasium doors as consistently as they trickled out. Interest and enthusiasm at games is hard to foster when the audience is disconnected from what they’re watching.

That night we all attended a basketball game, to be sure, but there wasn't just one sports team out on the court. Basketball, cheer and dance all come together on game nights.

I asked Portland State Dance Team member Julianne Phillips what, in her opinion, the difference was between cheerleading and dance, since many people mistake the two as the same sport.

“Cheerleading is when you pump up the crowd and try

to cause pep by chanting, whereas pom dancing is what I do on the sidelines, which is simply dancing with poms.

More for looks than pumping up the crowd,” Phillips said.

If it is their job to pump up the crowd, why is it that they seem more concerned with their hair, makeup and last night’s gossip than the game in front of them or the crowd they are supposed to be engaging?

We say Portland you say… something? Anything?

You see the basketball players on the court filled with vigor, fighting for loose balls, sprinting back and getting on defense, fire in their eyes and passion in their hearts.

That same heat is missing in the cheerleaders and dance team members on the baselines. Six cheerleaders stand on one baseline cheering while eight dancers stand on the opposite dancing, and all of them look disinterested in being there. And although they execute their routines flawlessly, they aren’t doing much with regards to actually building up hype in the audience. There isn’t any engagement between dance, cheer, the crowd, or the game. And these four parts should be acting as one, together.

As a cheerleader or dancer, I’m sure it’s hard to engage in something that you aren’t passionate about. They’re passionate about cheer and dance, not necessarily the game that they are supposed to be supporting. But there isn’t just a lack of support toward the basketball team.

There was little to no so support toward any of the athletic teams at Stott that

night. The dance team did a number during a timeout in the second half, and once finished there was not a single sound of applause. It’s sad, because each of the sports teams out there on the floor put in a lot of work and seem to get no acknowledgment or support whatsoever.

Basketball games, dancing, cheering—these things are supposed to be fun, but the pathetic show of support across the board was just disheartening.

Come for the game, stay for everything else.

The university has made attempts at getting students and fans more involved and excited about attending games. For example, there are free hot dogs, popcorn and soda in the lobby at every game. The food’s good if you get there early, too. Hot dogs are hot, popcorn is fresh and, well, sodas will be the same no matter what time you get there. While the gesture is appreciated, it’s disheartening that free food is one of the main draws that gets students to attend the games. But to be sure, it is a quirky and refreshing attraction that makes PSU stand out a little.

Breaks in the main game are filled with mini activities put on by Robbie Parmess, Director of Human Entertainment here at PSU. I remember at the first PSU basketball game that I attended back in November, Robbie was scrounging the stands for people with November birthdays. Having a November birthday myself, I timidly raised my

CHRISTIAN PROfETA/PSU VANGUARD

hand and he directed me to come on down and wait in a little group of people on the sidelines. At halftime, he led us all out to the center of the court and on the loud speaker asked the entire gymnasium to sing us all happy birthday. It was a really great experience for me, especially with it being my very first game.

Perhaps Robbie does his job too well, for attendees were more excited over local high school student Madison making a halfcourt shot at halftime than they were for the game itself.

According to Robbie, the last men’s basketball game almost reached the gym’s maximum capacity at 1,000 persons. Now I know that pretty much wherever you go men’s basketball is going to draw a bigger crowd than a women’s basketball game, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Games should be fun!

Imagine walking into the Stott center and being immediately overwhelmed by the noise echoing from the gymnasium. Imagine walking in and spotting that cute girl from the fifth floor and your best bud from chem class in a sea of green, Vikings showing support for the game at hand regardless of records or standings, men’s or women’s, winning or losing.

I know that school spirit isn’t the number-one selling point here at PSU, but why can’t it be? We are the largest school in Oregon based on population, exceeding Oregon State University by 1,500 and University of Oregon by 5,000. Why is it then that we can’t seem to be able to get our fellow Vikings to attend and support our teams?

With our mass in numbers we could fill the gymnasium 30 times over, but we can barely fill it once. We don’t even have

a student section because there aren’t enough students attending to need an entire section. We’re missing our opportunity, Vikings. While we may not always have the opportunity to compete athletically with some of the more prominent schools in Oregon like OSU and UO, we should be able to compete in terms of spirit and support.

We all chose PSU for a reason, whether it be for a love of the city itself, the outstanding degree of diversity, or quality of academics. No matter the reason, we’re all here now and we should work on ways to come together as a community. Showing support at games is a pretty good place to start.

Next home basketball game is on Thursday, Jan. 29. Come support our men’s basketball team as they take on the Montana Grizzlies, and help yourself to some popcorn.

Hope to see you all there, cheering, together.

Vanguard | january 27, 2015 | psuvanguard.com

21

SPOrTS

Best stress with sweat, serenity and simplicity

MaSTErS STuDEnT juSTIn GODOy walks his bicycle to the PSU library after a ride.

JacQueline c. Bryan

Midterms are looming closer and closer, like a dark cloud of rain, while actual dark clouds loom on Portland’s own horizon. Before you start freaking out, take a deep breath because it will all be OK. I promise.

I know you are used to stressing through your term, anticipating midterms and finals even before they are a reality in your life. As nice as it would be to lounge on a tropical beach or go on a yoga retreat somewhere when stress hits, we also have to be real-

DEVIN COURTRIGHT/PSU VANGUARD

istic. After all, we are college students who work hard and we often don’t have the time and money to make these fantasies come true, but I’m here to tell you there are ways you can deal with stress that are readily within your reach and budget.

Sweat it out First of all, you have to get your body moving. This doesn’t mean you have to run 12 miles if that isn’t your thing.

You can do some yoga, take a

bike ride, play your favorite sport, go on a hike or do something as simple as take a walk around your neighborhood.

Another good physical activity? Sex. Yep, sex is scientifically proven to release stress from your body as well as elevate the endorphins in your system, making you much more relaxed—and much, much happier.

Good exercise gets your body active and sweating, has you breathing deeply and evenly, and gets you outside of the dark confines of your

study space. Focus on what you are doing in that moment, leaving behind stressful distractions. Leave your phone in the locker and turn off the TV on the treadmill.

Working out with partners is a good way to forget about the outside world and focus on the task at hand. Whether with your partner or teammates, exercising with others adds external incentive to get moving. Finally, don’t forget to take many deep breaths and acknowledge the benefits of what you are indulging in.

Get your om on Having a relaxing place to call your sanctuary is imperative to your sanity. Therefore, you should take some time to make your bedroom, living room or any other favored space in your home into a place that makes you feel calm and peaceful. This will make it easier for you to indulge in things like meditation and deep relaxation. Find your niche, light some candles, turn off all artificial lighting, get comfortable and quiet your mind.

Don’t be surprised when, nestled in your fresh sanctuary, eyes closed and ready for quiet, your brain springs into overdrive. Sometimes when you try to quiet your mind that is when it seems to retaliate and try to drown you out with mindless chatter. You sit there tensing up, worrying about the past and anticipating the future.

This is totally normal. The worst thing you can do is get angry and abandon your meditation efforts. Having something to distract your mind and keep you focused is imperative for most people, so listen to some Zen music or browse YouTube for free guided meditation tracks. In no time at all you’ll be lulled by soothing sounds, guided

22

Vanguard | january 27, 2015 | psuvanguard.com

by serene voices on a journey to another dimension or, at least, to your happy place.

Let your creative juices flow Getting creative is an amazing way to relieve stress.

It is one of the few moments in life when you are focused solely on one thing and all other thoughts are momentarily pushed to the side. This centering of thought is what many meditation and relaxation experts talk about— focusing on the moment, quieting your mind and finding your center.

The trick to this is to find something you truly love to get creative with. What are you drawn to? What have you always wanted to try? Maybe you can grab some paint and go crazy on a blank canvas; try writing a song, poem or story; play some music on your favorite instrument; or sing yourself hoarse. Try knitting, sewing, or building something brand new from some old wood you have stored in your garage.

There are thousands of ideas on the internet for DIY projects—sites like Pinterest and YouTube are great places to start. Not only will they give you some ideas on what to do, but they will often come with instructions on how to do so. We’re lucky enough to live in a time when information is so readily available to us, so put it to use.

If all of this sounds like too much effort to you, try simply writing in a journal.

It can be just a dribble of consciousness, writing anything that comes to mind, but get those thoughts onto the paper. Writing things down helps release the tension that you’re holding inside—it’s almost as effective as seeing a therapist, and way cheaper!

Keep it basic Hit that snooze button! Do it, I dare you. Ok, don’t take that too literally and sleep through your morning class. What I’m getting at is you should get lots of sleep, at least eight hours of it every night. I know it’s hard not to pull all-nighters when you’re cramming for midterms, but you’re doing yourself and your body a disservice by switching to zombie mode.

Being tired makes you cranky, and being cranky stresses you out. You’ll do your best work when you wake up feeling wide-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Two other very basic things you can do to keep yourself healthy are to drink lots of water and eat nutritious foods. This might sound obvious, but it’s quite surprising how many people don’t drink enough water. Experts say you should drink at least eight cups a day, though it varies depending on your body type. Try taking at least a few swigs of water every 15 minutes and this will get you used to reaching for your bottle of water more and more.

Try to avoid fast food and junk food as much as humanly possible. Yes, it’s cheap and convenient, but cramming your body with bad food wears it down and it will affect your mood. Drink enough water and eat healthy for a few days in a row, and you’ll definitely see an improvement in your mood that will bring your stress levels down and make you feel a lot happier.

It’s amazing how simple, affordable and accessible methods can change your life.

Tweaking your routines just a bit will benefit you and set you on the path to some long-term self improvements. And in the short term, if all else fails in moments of crunch time, take some deep breaths and find your calm. You’ll find it easy once you’ve had practice.

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We're looking for journalists, not just reporters.

We need writers dedicated to alternative sports, health and fitness.

We need writers who will cover our 30+ competitive recreational sports teams, such as breakdance, dragon boating, ultimate frisbee and tango.

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We need writers who can report on the state of personal wellness.

PSU Men's Basketball

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PSU vs. Montana

PSU vs. IDAHO

Thur. Jan. 29, 7:05 p.m.

Fri. Jan. 30, 2:00 p.m.

PSU vs. Montana State

PSU vs. HAWAII-HILO

Sat. Jan.31, 7:05 p.m.

Mon. Feb. 2, 3:00 p.m.

PSU Women's Basketball

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PSU @ Montana

PSU @ WASHINGTON STATE

Thurs. Jan. 29, 7:00 p.m.

Fri. Jan. 30, 6:00 p.m.

PSU @ MONTANA STATE

PSU @ LEWIS -CLARK STATE

Sat. Jan. 31, 2:05 p.m.

Sat. Jan. 31. 4:00 p.m.

We want to let our readers know how to stay healthy with proper nutrition, exercise, yoga, meditation and other aspects of personal physical and mental health.

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My first time A new ongoing column wherein we send a staff writer to cover a sport they've never seen played live before, giving fresh eyes to old customs

Matthew J. Ocasio

The Sixth Man is benched Warmups Gotta say, glad I had that second happy hour beer before my buddies and I got to the arena. Good beer here is double what it costs in real life (depending on where you regularly imbibe), while cheap beer is quadruple. Lawyers and accountants somewhere did a lot of work to determine how much they can charge for a beer—high enough to keep the riffraff from getting violently drunk on light swill and causing lawsuits, cheap enough to allow everyone at least an opportunity to get buzzed and enjoy themselves.

Though in true Portland fashion, I had to travel far and wide to find somewhere that only served cheap beer. Most every stand had at least one micro or premium brew.

The only food worth getting is from one of the Portlandcentric food stands scattered around the sections. At just about any of them, a decent meal is the same price as the fried frozen garbage served in meager portions at the regular concession stands.

We can’t stop here, this is zeppelin country!

Apparently the sight of a Ford SUV flying around the stands is commonplace if you’ve been to the Moda Cen-

ter enough, but it completely blew my mind. I say let more auto companies promote their wares in the empty space above our heads. Get enough of them in on it and we could have an aerial demolition derby, which would then become its own sport, and the Blazers would have to play at halftime to keep the crowd enthusiasm up while the aircars reinflate and emergency medical teams carry out the burn victims from the shower of little promotional Hindenburgs.

I know that it probably can’t, but for the rest of the night I was thinking how glorious it would be if I could jump on and pilot the Ford Zeppelin around the stands just a few times. Then

MATTHEW J. OCASIO/PSU VANGUARD

maybe back home. Then, everywhere, forever…perhaps even to a whole new world.

announcers is like being forced to watch the English language get ruthlessly tortured for knowledge it doesn’t have.

Peace and quiet

Just sayin’

Okay, to be sure, the Rose Quarter is anything but hushed. Yet coming from watching games at home, it’s practically serene. Despite the cacophony of the crowd and music and buzzers, the announcers are blessedly quiet at the stadium.

To someone with only a passing interest in their “analysis,” having to listen to the relentless inanity of broadcast sports

Every good-looking three is called out by the guy behind me as money. “That’s money,” he’d say about every minute or so.

Essentially, he was talking about moneyshots all night. Gross.

It doesn’t seem a just use of the Trail Blazers stunt team to toss around promotional popcorn when they should be practicing their dirtbike jumps over pools of bloodhungry sharks.

Not all chants get off the ground, but you can tell within a couple rounds whether it’ll take off and engulf the stadium.

The whole place is designed to soak money up from the crowd as the razzle dazzle keeps our eyes off our wallet. Apparently the sixth man is buying the first round for the rest of the team.

Finally, the MVP goes to Moda themselves, for being surprisingly modest with their advertisements. I suppose when your name is on the stadium itself, you can afford to be be reserved.

Vanguard | january 27, 2015 | psuvanguard.com

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HEALTH AND SEX GUIDE Coming Feb. 3