Portland State Vanguard vol. 71 issue 25

PORTLAND STATE VANGUARD

VOLUME 71 • ISSUE 25 • MARCH 7, 2017

‘PROUD’?

‘UNAPOLOGETIC’ ‘PROUD’?

WHITE NATIONALISTS ‘UNAPOLOGETIC’ PREFER PSEUDONYM

WHITE NATIONALISTS PREFER PSEUDONYM -\_(シ)_/-

Pacific Northwest group explains why college campuses are fertile ground for recruitment

THE VANGUARD IS HIRING EDITORS FOR SPRING TERM

ALWAYS DREAMED OF BEING AN EDITOR? NOW’S YOUR CHANCE! IF YOU’RE A WORDSMITH WITH A KEEN EYE FOR DETAIL AND THE DESIRE TO WORK ON A COLLABORATIVE TEAM, PSU’S STUDENT-RUN NEWSPAPER, THE VANGUARD, IS LOOKING FOR YOU. OPEN POSITIONS: INTERNATIONAL SECTION EDITOR OPINION SECTION EDITOR POSITIONS BEGIN APRIL 2017, PAY $1900 PER TERM IN THE FORM OF AN ELSA (SCHOLARSHIP AWARD) AND REQUIRE A TIME COMMITMENT OF 15-20 HOURS/ WEEK, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON SUNDAY, MONDAY AND FRIDAY OFFICE HOURS. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS MUST BE PSU STUDENTS ENROLLED IN 6 OR MORE CREDITS WITH A 2.5 GPA. WE WORK AROUND STUDENTS’ CLASS SCHEDULES. EXPERIENCE A PLUS, BUT NOT REQUIRED. FOR MORE INFO AND TO APPLY, VISIT PSUVANGUARD.COM/JOBS. APPLICATIONS CLOSE MARCH 9.

STAFF

CONTENTS

NEWS WHAT WHAT IN THE HUT?

P. 7

NEWS STUDENT GOVERNMENT GEARS UP FOR ELECTIONS P. 8 FEATURE WHITE NATIONALISTS RECRUIT AT PSU

P. 10

ARTS & CULTURE GREEK THEATER ON CAMPUS

P. 14

OPINION WE STAND WITH SWEDEN AFTER BOWLING GREEN

P. 16

INTERNATIONAL RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR DIES IN NYC

P. 19

ADVICE WHY IS YOUR BDAY BRUNCH SO DAMN LOUD?

ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR Alanna Madden

MARKETING DESIGNER Skylar Nguyen

ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Matthew Andrews

DISTRIBUTION & MARKETING MANAGER Chaitanya Deshpande Venkata Naga Sai Dilip Daneti

PORTLAND MUSIC VIDEO FEST STARTS TUES.

MANAGING EDITOR Tim Sullivan

OPINION EDITOR Jennee Martinez INTERNATIONAL EDITOR Alex-Jon Earl COPY CHIEF Thomas Spoelhof

P. 22

P. 24

ONLINE EDITOR Andrew D. Jankowski

COVER DESIGN BY NIMI EINSTEIN

BRAZIL

COMPANHIA URBANA DE DANÇA

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Colleen Leary

COPY EDITORS John Falchetta Harlie Hendrickson

EVENTS MARCH 7-13

PRESENTS

“HIP HOP so wonderful it seems MIRACULOUS.”

CONTRIBUTORS Astrud Benson Gray Bouchat Kevin Hadsell Dylan Gansen Hope Levy Ryan Morse John Pinney Justin Thurer Kristi Tihanyi Nick Tool Eric Steffen Anamika Vaughan Lee Ware

PHOTO & MULTIMEDIA PHOTO EDITOR Silvia Cardullo

-The New York Times

FOR ALL AGES

STUDENTS & SENIORS RECEIVE 20% OFF

Photo by André Valente

TICKETS: whitebird.org

MARCH 9-11 SPONSORED BY:

NEWS EDITOR Jon Raby

DESIGNERS Lauren Chapluk Terra DeHart Shannon Kidd Lydia Wojack-West Nimi Einstein Chloe Kendall Robby Day Max Wayt Aaron Ughoc

EDITORIAL

THU - SAT 8PM NEWMARK THEATRE

PHOTOGRAPHERS Stella Crabtree Dylan Gansen MULTIMEDIA MANAGER Andy Ngo

ART DIRECTION & DESIGN CREATIVE DIRECTOR Aaron Osborn

ADVERTISING ADVERTISING MANAGER Madelaine Eivers ADVERTISING DESIGNER Sam Hicks ADVERTISING SALES Michael Hardy Ilyse Espino Caitlyn Malik

ADVISING & ACCOUNTING ADVERTISING ADVISER Ann Roman STUDENT MEDIA ACCOUNTANT Sheri Pitcher COORDINATOR OF STUDENT MEDIA Reaz Mahmood To contact Vanguard staff members, visit psuvanguard.com/contact.

To get involved and see current job openings, visit psuvanguard.com/jobs Mission Statement The Vanguard’s mission is to serve the Portland State community with timely, accurate, comprehensive and critical content while upholding high journalistic standards. In the process, we aim to enrich our staff with a quality, hands-on journalism education and a number of skills that are highly valued in today’s job market.

About The Vanguard, established in 1946, is published weekly as an independent student newspaper governed by the PSU Student Media Board.

Views and editorial content expressed herein are those of the staff, contributors and readers and do not necessarily represent the PSU student body, faculty, staff or administration.

Find us in print every Tuesday and online 24/7 at psuvanguard.com.

Clarification: The Feb. 28 Vanguard story “Cronyism in question” does not specifically state the difference between appealing to retain one’s Education Leadership Service Award and appealing to keep one’s position. The three students mentioned in the article were allowed to appeal to keep their ELSA one time in an academic year, and after they could only appeal to keep their position without pay.

Correction: The Feb. 28 Vanguard story “Cronyism in question” lists ASPSU Presi-

dent Liela Forbes with incorrect gender pronouns. Forbes prefers the pronouns They/ Them. We apologize for misgendering them.

NEWS NEWS

BETSY DEVOS: PSU STAFF SPEAK OUT IN CONCERN

BY LEE WARE

ILLUSTRATIONS BY CHLOE KENDALL

4

PSU Vanguard • FEBRUARY 7, 2017 • psuvanguard.com

NEWS

The U.S. Senate confirmed billionaire Betsy DeVos as secretary of education on Feb. 7 with a tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President Mike Pence, marking the first time in history this has happened for a cabinet nominee.

DeVos has held neither an educational nor elected position prior to her nomination.

However, her resume does include family campaign contributions to 23 active senators, six of whom sat on her confirmation committee hearing, and all of whom voted in favor of her confirmation.

Back in 1997, Betsy DeVos decided to no longer be offended by the implication that her contributions are meant to buy influence and instead wrote in the Capitol Hill newspaper, Roll Call, that she now concedes the point.

“They are right,” DeVos wrote. “We do expect something in return. We expect to foster a conservative governing philosophy consisting of limited government and respect for traditional American virtues.”

DeVos’ work in education includes reform that supports “advancing God’s kingdom” and three decades of championing school vouchers, which can siphon off public education dollars to private and religious schools with little regulation.

Trump’s nomination of DeVos ignited concern back in Nov. 2016 from educators like Patrick Burke, Ph.D., a professor of educational leadership and policy at Portland State.

“Trump has a responsibility to maintain the federal role in public education,” Burke said.

“The fear is that this is more of an abdication of that role by appointing someone who has no experience, and in fact, has aggressively worked against public education, particularly with vouchers.”

PSU professor Anoop Mirpuri also expressed concern about what DeVos’ appointment means for public education.

“The problem with the recent nomination of DeVos is that we get the sense that Democrats are on the same side of public education, and that Republicans are on the side of privatization and school of choice vouchers,” Mirpuri said. “But Democrats

“They are right, we do expect something in return. We expect to foster a conservative governing philosophy consisting of limited government and respect for traditional American virtues.”

-BETSY DEVOS, US SECRETARY OF EDUCATION

have been pretty much in line with school segregation and with school of choice and all these things just as much as Republicans, and that’s pretty much encapsulated by the fact that the main opposition Democrats presented during the hearings for DeVos were that ‘DeVos isn’t qualified enough.’”

“As if that’s the reason we should vote her down,” Mirpuri continued. “So if she was extremely qualified in how to privatize public schools, then she would be a legitimate candidate, apparently.”

DeVos’ biggest critics have been teachers’ unions. “Vouchers can be detrimental in a variety of ways,” said Suzanne Cohen, president of the Portland Association of Teachers. “They can serve to segregate students. If a family cannot afford to make up the difference in cost, then they can only use the voucher at the lowest cost school.

And when these schools are not equal, then the populations most at need are the ones who are not benefiting from vouchers.” “[DeVos and Trump] are already raising questions about research funds,” Burke said, “as well as threats about funds to sanctuary status campuses.”

“I fear it will put a serious damper on intellectual curiosity,” Burke continued. “I

have very serious concerns over medical and biological research and withholding funds on things that have religious overtones to them.”

Professor Mirpuri added to his concerns regarding school of choice vouchers and how bypassing teacher unions can negatively affect educational standards. “[School of choice vouchers] allow schools to bypass teacher unions,” Mirpuri said. “And [they] allow schools to bypass the most current scholarship on teaching pedagogy so that they can do things like teach creationism, deny climate science, or not provide sexual education for students. They can do that legitimately because they no longer have to adhere to federal or scholarly standards on what education actually is. And the kicker is that it’s profitable to people.”

However, neither the secretary of education nor the president write the federal budget, nor do they control how federal funds are spent. That power belongs with Congress. “I think the bigger concern with her than her position is her financial influence,” said Heather Wild, Ph.D., a professor in the PSU Psychology Department.

“She has enough money to fund schools, and that’s a lot of money,” Wild said. “And

she has enough money to sway policy in different directions, and she’s given some amount of legitimacy with this position.”

Trump also appointed Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, to lead a task force overseeing higher education reform which will focus on deregulation. In an article published by the Chronicle of Education, Falwell is quoted stating, “The task force will be a big help to [DeVos].

It will do some of the work for her.”

Proponents of deregulation say it could mean reduced costs for universities. According to a study conducted at Vanderbilt University, such efforts have spent $29 million annually on non-research related federal regulation compliance. However, federal regulations don’t oversee the allocation of funds at the university level.

“Educational funding and the way funds are distributed has a lot more to do with the way the board of trustees makes decisions,” Wild said.

“In addition to relying on student debt [tuition], other money for the university comes from private donors, some of whom end up on the board,” said members of the PSU Faculty Association who wished to remain anonymous. “And the board in turn can influence the direction of running our university and can emphasize things like new buildings or flashy sports centers over paying instructors fairly.”

According to numbers supplied by the PSUFA, 47 percent of faculty at PSU are part-time adjunct instructors who do not receive benefits, may not teach more than 20 credits a year, and are paid less than 75 percent of the lowest-paid full-time instructors. One third of adjunct instructors live below the poverty line. “I couldn’t imagine any other industry working this way,” Wild said. “And it’s a real problem in the universities.”

“Essentially, what you have is highly skilled, highly educated cheap labor,” a member of PSUFA said. “And this affects students directly. Teacher conditions are student conditions. The fear is that someone like Betsy DeVos could only exacerbate an already abysmal situation.

It’s sort of like a doomsday scenario for higher education.”

PSU Vanguard • MARCH 7, 2017 • psuvanguard.com

5

NEWS NEWS

PSU ADOPTS NEW RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATIONS POLICY JUSTIN THURER

Portland State adopted a new policy for religious accommodations on Feb. 8, geared toward making students and staff feel more at home on campus in regard to their religious beliefs.

The policy details the ways that PSU students, faculty and staff are protected from religious discrimination. The policy defines religion broadly, stating, “It includes traditional, organized religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism and other wisdom traditions. It also includes religious/spiritual beliefs that are new, uncommon, or unaffiliated with a traditional sect or community, or only held by a small number of people.”

Under Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act, a practice is religious if the employee requesting the accommodation so indicates.

Associate Vice President of Global Diversity & Inclusion Julie Caron explained how implementation of the policy has been in progress for over a year and that it has now replaced PSU’s prior religious accommodations, which she described as minimal. Caron also noted the new policy is pertinent to the nation’s current political climate.

Caron recently sent an email to PSU students, faculty, and staff regarding the new policy. “The PSU community is enriched by individuals of many faiths and sincerely held beliefs that have various observances and practices,” Caron explained. “While PSU is not endorsing any specific religion, faculty, staff and students are expected to create and to maintain a culture that strives toward deepening respect for and understanding

of religious and spiritual differences within our community. In affirming this diversity, it is PSU’s policy and practice to provide reasonable religious accommodations for students and employees, faculty and staff.”

The email specifically notes that accommodations will always be upheld absent of one that would cause “undue hardship,” which is defined within the policy as a “significant or substantial burden taking into account in all relevant circumstances,” something that should be kept in mind.

While going into great detail about the accommodations that it provides, the policy makes it clear that responsibility falls on the student, faculty, or staff member to inform the appropriate individuals in order to facilitate the proper implementation

of their accommodations.

For students, this means going over the syllabi for their classes in the beginning of the term so their professors can be notified of any religious-related absence early.

Staff and faculty are also encouraged by the policy to inform their manager or supervisor of their own needs regarding religious practices.

Further strengthening the availability of accommodations, the policy makes it clear that any staff or faculty member having a problem in obtaining accommodations should speak to PSU Human Resources, and that a student experiencing a similar issue should contact the Office of the Dean of Student Life.

Students, staff, and faculty must still fulfill their obligations regardless of accommodations, and requires advanced notice for missed

classes based on religious reasons, and that missed work must be made up in a reasonable amount of time.

The policy makes it clear that accommodations are not exemptions.

In response to PSU’s new religious accommodations, PSU philosophy major Reece Betcher remains skeptical, stating, “This policy may look tolerant on the surface, but in practice I suspect outspoken students will use the policy [to] prioritize their faiths over others.”

Caron, however, believes that the long-term benefits of the policy will generate a more inclusive environment at PSU, where “people understand each other’s differences and provide an educational and employment culture that allows everyone to achieve

THE INTERFAITH QUIET PRAYER AND MEDITATION LOUNGE, FOUND IN THE BASEMENT OF SMSU, OPENED IN MAY 2011 AS A SPACE FOR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE. PHOTO BY SILVIA CARDULLO/PSU VANGUARD

6

PSU Vanguard • MARCH 7, 2017 • psuvanguard.com

their goals with the right resources.”

“By students having the ability to obtain the assistance of the Office of the Dean of Student Life and employees Human Resources,” Caron said, “the religious accommodation policy will provide new mechanisms to allow for a more consistent application of religious accommodations.”

PSU’s adaptation of this new religious accommodations policy is a move toward being more inclusive.

As more and more students and employees become aware of this policy, its efficacy or lack thereof will become apparent.

Students or staff who are interested in receiving information for their own accommodations can be helped at the Office of the Dean of Student Life.

NEWS

TECHNICOLOR ‘WHAT HUT’ TOURS CAMPUS STUDENTS PUSH FOR HEALTH ADVOCACY ACROSS DIVERSE POPULATIONS ASTRUD BENSON

THE WHAT HUT, WHERE STUDENTS SHARE HEALTH AND WELLNESS INFORMATION, SET UP IN THE ENGINEERING PLAZA ON MONDAY, MARCH 6. SILVIA CARDULLO/PSU VANGUARD Gray skies don’t mean a thing to six Portland State undergraduate peer health educators who are passionate about spreading the word on health and wellness. The Wellness and Health Action Team, a team from PSU’s Center for Student Health and Counseling, has created a venue for peer health education called the WHAT Hut, aiming to make learning about health fun and interactive for students. Although WHAT has been around for three years, the WHAT Hut is a new program which directly interacts with students from the Hut. A multicolored canopy tent is set up at varying locations around campus on

Mondays and Thursdays, through March 14 with specific locations available at the group’s website.

Members offer information about health-related topics and resources at PSU, which include healthy decision making, long-term health strategies, and advocating for changing campus policies to further student health and wellness.

“The WHAT Hut is designed for PSU students and powered by student health educators,” explained Siiri Visto, a WHAT member. “[It] will be an interactive and approachable way of learning relevant health issues that impact students’ academic and personal lives.”

PSU is a diverse campus with students from various walks of life; making those students universally well-informed about health and wellness topics and techniques is difficult.

That’s what the WHAT Hut aims to tackle: misinformed or uninformed students on campus.

“For me, it’s also about giving students not just information resources, but physical resources as well,” said Darius Ortega, a health studies major at PSU and peer health educator at WHAT, when asked why the WHAT Hut was integral to campus health. “[It] has a lot of other services that aren’t just limited to educating

people but also helping them navigate their own health and become more comfortable themselves.”

Ortega and Visto were at the WHAT Hut on Feb. 20 and provided free-for-all refreshments alongside condoms, hand-sanitizer, lube, health bars, and various contact information and pamphlets. They also had a Wheel of Fortune-like game beside the Hut, where WHAT’s members would engage with passerby students.

“It’s so important that it’s a student or peer-powered mission,” said Anna Greenhoe, an instructor for the Intensive English Language program at PSU. “The Kickoff event was to introduce PSU to the

WHAT Hut, and moving forward, we at WHAT want to emphasize to students that health information and education is openly accessible. I think it also says a lot when it’s coming from other students too, not just from teachers or doctors, or other people in positions of power.”

Through the WHAT Hut, Visto also hopes to garner more involvement in SHAC events and discussions led

by WHAT. SHAC and WHAT hope to help PSU navigate the maze of mental, sexual, and physical health through the promotion of positive body image, sleep, and stress management.

According to its website, the WHAT team’s goals are

to give students absolute accessibility with health information: “Providing accurate information about relevant health and wellness topics; acting as a student referral source for services provided by SHAC and other related departments at PSU; facilitating visibility of student health and wellness at multiple, hightrafficked areas on campus, including the monthly Student Health 101 online magazine; collaborating with and participating in a variety of campus events and departments.”

The WHAT Hut is student accessible and will be on campus on Mondays from 12:30– 2:30 p.m., and Tuesdays from 9:30–11:30 a.m.

PSU Vanguard • MARCH 7, 2017 • psuvanguard.com

7

NEWS NEWS

APPLICATIONS TO RUN FOR STUDENT GOVERNMENT DUE MARCH 24 COLLEEN LEARY

Associated Students of Portland State, PSU’s student government, is now accepting applications for its 2017 elections cycle. Candidates interested in running for ASPSU must submit applications by March 24.

Open positions are president, vice president, senators and Student Fee Committee members.

In a Feb. 15 email announcing the open elections, Coordinator of Student Government Relations Candace Avalos wrote, “It is critical that students run for office and vote in the elections. ASPSU allocates the student fee, represents students on committees and in deliberations with university administrators, as well as lobbies in Salem on student issues, among many other responsibilities.”

After applications have been reviewed and approved, eligible candidates will attend orientations April 3–6, followed by a Meet the Candidates event April 7 in the PSU Multicultural Resource Center.

Campaigning begins April 10 and polls open April 17. During campaigning, candidates will participate in a series of debates meant to inform voters of candidates’ platforms and goals.

ASPSU election turnout has been historically low—with 1401 total votes cast in 2016— despite the student government’s significant role in making decisions that affect all PSU students, staff and faculty. ASPSU members work directly with the PSU president and

other administrative officials to guide decisions that affect students.

The SFC allocates the budget for funds generated from the student incidental fee—a fee paid by every PSU student that contributes to a multi-million dollar budget.

The group’s mission statement includes: • Advocate for and represent the interests of students before internal and external bodies • Facilitate formal needs of communication and interaction between students • Student organizations, faculty and university administration • Identify and develop services not offered by other divisions of the university • Provide a process for students to fully participate in the allocation of student incidental fees The 2016–17 ASPSU administration passed resolutions that include a call for PSU to divest from companies associated with human rights violations against Palestinian civilians, an endorsement of the Shaun King National Injustice Boycott and a condemnation of the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

This is among many additional actions and initiatives related to PSU and its students.

For more information on ASPSU and its upcoming elections, visit pdx.edu/student-government.

2017 ELECTION SCHEDULE MARCH 24: APRIL 3: APRIL 4: APRIL 6: APRIL 7:

APRIL 10: APRIL 11:

APRIL 12: APRIL 13:

APRIL 17: APRIL 17: APRIL 18: APRIL 19: APRIL 20: APRIL 24: APRIL 25: APRIL 26: APRIL 27: MAY 1: MAY 2: MAY 3: MAY 3: MAY 5:

Election Packets Due Candidate Orientation #1, SMSU 333, 9–10 p.m.

Candidate Orientation #2, SMSU 333, 5–6 p.m.

Candidate Orientation #3, SMSU 333, noon–1 p.m.

Meet the Candidates 11 a.m.–1 p.m., Multicultural Resource Center Campaigning Starts Presidential and Vice Presidential Debate, Parkway North SMSU 101, noon–2 p.m.

SFC Debate, Parkway North SMSU 101, 1–3 p.m.

Senate Debate and Town Hall, Parkway North SMSU 101, 1–3 p.m.

Polls Open Polling Station, Between SMSU and NH, noon–1 p.m.

Polling Station, Between SMSU and NH, noon–1 p.m.

Polling Station, Between SMSU and NH, noon–1 p.m.

Live @ Lunch Elections Polling, Park Blocks, noon–1 p.m.

Polling Station, Between SMSU and NH, noon–1 p.m.

Floats for Votes, Park Blocks, noon–1 p.m.

Floats for Votes, Park Blocks, noon–1 p.m.

Floats for Votes, Park Blocks, noon–1 p.m.

Polling Station, Between SMSU and NH, noon–1 p.m.

Live @ Lunch Elections Polling, Park Blocks, noon–1 p.m.

Polling Station, Between SMSU and NH, noon–1 p.m.

Polls Close Announcement of Election Results, Simon Benson House, 1 p.m.–2 p.m.

PSU STUDENTS DEMAND $100 MILLION MORE FROM STATE BUDGET Portland State students and members of the Portland public met at noon on March 3 in East Multnomah County Town Hall to voice their concerns and demands to state legislators for the upcoming Oregon budget finalization.

PSU graduate student Taylor Steenblock spoke her demands to the panel saying, “Oregon public universities need at least an additional $100 million to keep tuition increases at or near 5 percent. Without this 100 million dollars, access to public universities will dwindle for those students who benefit most from a higher education.”

8

Students at PSU are likely to see a 9 percent or greater tuition increase, according to a temperature check by the PSU Board of Trustees after a briefing by PSU Finance and Administration.

State funds are distributed to the seven public universities in Oregon. PSU would only see a portion of any increase in state funding.

Several PSU students held up large signs marked with “100+” in solidarity with the range of student speakers.

“For several decades we’ve been in the midst of a slow-moving catastrophe: the gradual defunding of our public universities,” said

PSU Vanguard • MARCH 7, 2017 • psuvanguard.com

speaker John Beer, an assistant professor at PSU. “That defunding represents a disinvestment in democracy. These universities play a central role in Oregon and the nation, providing access to education, to jobs, and to the skills and knowledge fundamental to citizenship.”

State Reps. Hernandez, Paluso, Gorsek, Bynum, and Keney-Guyer, and Sens. Dembrow and Frederick heard out the crowd as they lobbied to keep funding for various programs such as Planned Parenthood, Oregon Health Plan, as well as maintaining appropriate funding for Portland public schools and universities.

ROBBY DAY

ANAMIKA VAUGHAN

NEWS

INFILTRATED: NEW MARKETING STRATEGIES MODEL EVERY AMERICAN

HOPE LEVY

The influence of social media and the general pervasiveness of the technology age have changed the way marketers attempt to entice and influence people. Cambridge Analytica is a privately held data mining and analysis company that targets individuals based on a personality type model it developed. The Vanguard spoke to PSU students and faculty about these marketing strategies and the political, financial and administrative ties the company holds.

In the past fifteen years, marketing has become sharply focused on individual consumers with the advent of the internet and companies like Cambridge Analytica, who specialize in targeting personalities, not demographics. Using data gathered from cookies on the internet, Cambridge Analytica claims to have between four and five thousand data points on every online individual in America.

“Sometimes I appreciate directed ads because it means I’m not seeing ads for Medicare or products that don’t apply to me at all,” said Jasmine Gower, an English major at Portland State. “But at the same time, they gather that information from targeting a person and mining their personal data. That’s pretty creepy.”

Cambridge Analytica focuses on gathering data about people, assessing the data, and then assigning people to different personality groups based on an OCEAN model.

This is defined by the chief executive officer of Cambridge Analytica, Alexander Nix, as an acronym for openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.

How you place on the scale for each letter determines what personality group you are sorted into.

Instead of targeting demographics based on physical characteristics, such as “middle-aged women,” Cambridge Analytica then creates ads catering to different personality models that could include a “closed-minded, conscientious, introverted person.” Cambridge Analytica then uses behavioral science to create ads tailored to certain personality groups.

Nix calls this “psychographics.”

“There have been tremendously robust systems created online that can watch and follow an individual’s navigational path through almost anything they go through, and marketers use that information,” said Dr. Charla Mathwick, associate professor of Marketing at PSU. Mathwick’s research involves consumer behavior and strategy.

Individualized marketing campaigns began in the early 1900s, with catalog companies recording what consumers bought and then sending out specific ads to customers based on their previous purchases. Today companies like Cambridge Analytica take online information and use it in their marketing for the projects their clients hire them to work on.

One such client was the Ted Cruz campaign, which helped the Senator rise to the runnerup in the GOP primaries, according to Nix. “The internet accelerated a trend away from mass communication toward niche communication that cable TV—or even magazines postWWII if you go way back—started,” said Dr. Lee Shaker, an assistant professor who studies mass and political communication. “In doing so, the internet allows each citizen to operate with a unique information basis that is driven by their own, pre-existing biases.

Meanwhile, campaigns compound this trend by mass-tailoring messages to small segments of voters on the basis of databases about voters that detail many, many individual attributes. Advertising, just like news, was once designed for the masses; on the internet, this isn’t the case.”

After Donald Trump won the presidential primaries, ten of Cambridge Analytica’s data scientists worked with the campaign to help develop the company’s digital operations and website, according to the National Review. In August 2016, The New York Times reported that Cambridge Analytica is primarily financially backed by the Mercer family, known for being conservative philanthropists, whose family has also financially supported the Trump campaign and reportedly donated $10 million to Breitbart News, according to Bloomberg Politics. Steve Bannon, former executive chairman for Breitbart News, is also on the executive board for Cambridge Analytica.

There is often a specificity in online ads, particularly on webpages such as Facebook and Amazon. For example, if you look at a Buzzfeed article about nerdy rings and you’re documented as in a relationship online, the ads might start focusing on weddings or jewelry. A 2016 study conducted by the Pew Research Center states that 91 percent of adults agree or strongly agree that consumers have lost control of how personal information is collected and used by companies, and 50 percent are highly concerned about their privacy online, an increase from the 39 percent displayed in 2009.

“There are a lot more sponsored ads on social media,” said Justin Orendorff, a liberal studies student. “But at the same time, I’m online and I don’t mind the privacy issues. I would much rather see an ad for a book than something I’m not interested in.”

If you enter Cambridge Analytica’s website, you are first informed that the site collects cookies and then invited to take a personality quiz where you can “Get to know the real you.” If you take that quiz, there are two pages’ worth of personality questions similar to many online quizzes, and afterwards, they ask for your name, gender, birth year, zip code, and email. Cambridge collects both the

ILLUSTRATION BY TERRA DEHART behavioral and physical information from individuals who choose to take this survey.

One potential result is “Stargazer,” with high scores in openness, agreeableness, and neuroticism, with low scores in conscientiousness and extroversion. Users are given profiles with positive and descriptive language based on their scores. The site is designed with an efficient interface, and a small disclaimer at the bottom stating the results are based on the OCEAN personality model, and “some personality traits may be exaggerated or understated in your profile above.”

Cambridge Analytica is not alone in gathering hosts of information on internet-using people in America. The Economist reports that the data operation company Catalist has files with hundreds of data points on registered voters in the U.S., including voter information, public records, and information from commercial data brokers.

“I find personalized ads useful when it suggests something I have been wanting,”

said Morgan Cope, a senior at PSU majoring in social sciences with a specialization in history and archaeology. “But the personalized ads I have found also cause some annoyance in regard to personal information snooping where sites retain your information without [your] knowledge due to the collection of cookies. They annoy me.”

Marketing has shifted focus from billboards to desktops in a truly individualized experience one could say is convenient and efficient, but also could be considered an invasion of privacy.

During a September 2016 speech at the Concordia Summit, Nix detailed Cambridge Analytica’s successes for the Cruz campaign followed by foreshadowing of what was to come next.

“Of the two candidates left in this election, one of them is using [psychographic] technologies,” Nix said. “And it’s going to be very interesting to see how they impact these next seven weeks.”

PSU Vanguard • MARCH 7, 2017 • psuvanguard.com

9

‘PROUD’?

WHITE NATIONALISTS PREFER PSEUDONYM Andy Ngo

Pacific Northwest group explains why college campuses are fertile ground for recruitment

10

PSU Vanguard • MARCH 7, 2017 • psuvanguard.com

COVER

* …

#¡!? << A NEW "ALT-RIGHT" GROUP IS RECRUITING ON CAMPUSES. ALEX-JON EARL/PSU VANGUARD Last weekend, a flyer posted on a bulletin board outside Smith Memorial Student Union stood out among the various ads for events and shows. In capital letters it read, “White. Proud. Unapologetic.” As a public institution, most bulletin boards at Portland State are open for general public use.

The flyer’s accompanying illustration had stylistic overtones of Naziera propaganda and featured a blonde male wearing a tank top with the words “white pride.”

The flyer is an advertisement for Cascadia, a relatively new and obscure self-described “alt-right” movement based in the Pacific Northwest.

It has no relationship to the Cascadia bioregional social movement.

THE "ALT-RIGHT"

The alternative right is a disparate movement of right-wing and far-right ideologues who reject traditional conservatism in favor of chauvinistic nationalism. The movement is particularly active on social media and uses memes to spread its message. Some in the movement are white supremacists and white nationalists although others reject this as an identifying trait of the alt-right.

On its website, Cascadia says its mission is to promote a “white ethnic consciousness.” The mission statement goes on to list grievances about perceived discriminatory policies toward whites, the decline of traditional family values and the loss of national sovereignty through foreign influence and mass migration.

PSU President Wim Wiewel said he was unaware of the flyer or group in question but mentioned that there was a similar incident in 2015 in which an anonymously-run and now defunct Facebook page called “PSU White Student Union” attracted controversy. At the time, PSU issued official denunciation of the page and had its General Counsel file a cease and desist claim with Facebook for the page’s unauthorized use of the PSU brand.

TRUE CASCADIA/TWITTER

Christopher Broderick, associate vice president of University Communications, informed the Vanguard that Cascadia is not a recognized student organization. “There are 200 campus clubs that are registered and that’s not one of them,” Broderick said.

“HERRENVOLK”

Cascadia refused to speak with the Vanguard except through email correspondence using a moniker. Herrenvolk is a coordinator for the Oregon chapter of Cascadia who identified himself as a 26-year-old male. He categorically denied any accusation that Cascadia is a white supremacist or neo-Nazi group. Instead, Herrenvolk identified the organization as white nationalist in nature.

“People are joining our movement because, like every other race, they want to advocate for themselves,” Herrenvolk said. “Modern academia is ripe for the picking given the current politically-correct and openly white-hating agenda that is pushed.”

The group’s potential sympathies with neo-Nazi ideology is also hinted at through the alias chosen by its representative. The term “Herrenvolk” was popularized in Nazi-era Germany and translates roughly as “master people” or “master race.”

Herrenvolk said that Cascadia has “a few dozen members” at each of the large universities in the Pacific Northwest and “a few hundred” members overall. He did not provide any evidence for the claims.

N AT I O N A L I S M VS. S U P R E M ACI S M

Dr. Eric Kaufmann, a professor of politics in Birkbeck College at the University of London, studies ethnicity-based identity politics, particularly of majority groups. Kaufmann explained that the difference between white supremacism and white nationalism is not merely a practice in semantics although the ideologies can intertwine.

“White supremacy is about a belief in innate white superiority over other races,” Kaufmann said. “The litmus test for racism is irrationality, not racial self-interest.”

Kaufmann explained that nationalists are concerned with territorial community and political aspiration. White nationalism frames these goals within a white racial context.

While opponents of all white-identity movements may disregard the semantic and ontological differences of these concepts, Kaufmann stressed that it may lead to a political and social misdiagnosis. “If an ethnic group feels discriminated against, powerless, or if it feels it is losing some aspect of its identity, these can fuel demand for ethnic politics,” Kauffmann said.

Herrenvolk exploited the nuances in these terms by speaking in a rational, intellectual and even egalitarian manner. “We would prefer if all races could rule themselves,” Herrenvolk said. “Forced diversity only leads to conflict and distrust, not only for whites, but for all other races as well.”

Dr. Winston Grady-Willis, director of the School of Gender, Race and Nations at PSU, contends that black nationalism is not akin to white nationalism. “Generally speaking, black nationalism here in the U.S. has concerned itself with establishing independent black cultural, political, social and economic institutions,” he said.

“It asserts the right of self-determination.”

Grady-Willis explained that while some black nationalists have called for racial separatism vis-a-vis a black nation-state, the movement is not monolithic and at its core is opposed to institutional racism.

Herrenvolk said Cascadia’s advocacy of self-determination is the same. “Why would any race want to be a minority?” he asked.

“What would be most advantageous is for all racial groups to have their own respective nations where they can rule themselves in whatever way they see fit.”

BIOLOGICAL RACE?

Despite expressing sentiment for equal self-rule, Herrenvolk later dove into darker pseudoscientific claims about racial hierarchies.

“Evolution did not stop when humans left Africa,” Herrenvolk said.

“To assume that different breeds of dogs can have different temperaments and intelligence, but different races of humans cannot is ignorant at best, and lying at worst.”

While companies such as Ancestry and 23andme advertise DNA testing that aids in determining one’s ethnic heritage, the genetic markers they look for merely indicate which populations share related DNA, rather than establishing objective criteria as to which populations should be counted as distinct races.

According to a 2004 Nature Genetics review of scientific literature on human genetics spanning decades of research, roughly 85–90 percent of genetic variation is found within individuals belonging to a particular continental group, while less than 15 percent of variation is found distinguishing these groups as separate populations. In other words, the genetic differences spanning our own so-called racial group are greater than the genetic differences that vary from one race to another.

To Herrenvolk, the biological evidence which deconstructs race seemed largely irrelevant. He pointed to select social science research which show disparities in IQ scores across a variety of racial categories in large-N studies. Most scholars attribute these variations to environmental factors such as development and education access while others contest the concept of measurable intelligence itself.

Herrenvolk claimed that East Asians and Jews have “evolved” to have higher IQs, but the white race is uniquely responsible for the fruits of Western civilization, such as enlightenment thinking.

A CULTURAL REVOLUTION

As the politics of division is used by leaders and activists across the political spectrum, Cascadia is strategically seizing the moment to recruit disaffected whites through social media and clandestine outreach campaigns.

“The left has overplayed their hand,” Herrenvolk said. “Promoting ‘diversity’ to the Nth degree, forcing down the throats of our youth that whites are evil and can do no good, and pushing degeneracy of every form.”

Herrenvolk issued an ominous warning toward the end of the email exchange: “There will be a cultural revolution, and it will not be the one that the left has dreamt of, a-la Bernie Sanders or Jill Stein, but a resurgence of rightist politics.”

In the end, Cascadia’s image of a strong, unapologetic and proud white man in the flyer is contrasted with the reality of the group’s anonymous online correspondence.

PSU Vanguard • MARCH 7, 2017 • psuvanguard.com

11

NEWS ARTS NEWS& CULTURE

EVERY MONTH IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH A LOOK BACK AT FEBRUARY EVENTS AND HOW TO CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY ALL YEAR LONG GRAY BOUCHAT Black History Month is a time dedicated to the observance of important people, events and history pertaining to the African diaspora. But what about the other eleven months of the year? Black history cannot be confined to one month, and it’s important to recognize and appreciate Black history and culture from March through January.

THE PAN-AFRICAN COMMONS

In 2015, participants in the Students of Color Speak Out event created a list of demands, one of which was the opening of a resource center for students of color.

The resulting Pan-African Commons, which opened last year, is a safe space for people who identify with the African diaspora. This safe space provides resources, events, opportunities and advocacy for these students.

Since the opening of the Pan-African Commons, the Black History Month committee has had a new and permanent home. The volunteer-based committee is com-

prised of diverse students and faculty, coordinating a master calendar for the month, and helping to plan and fund the events. The group started gathering late in fall term to share its knowledge and ideas about themes that would help inform the public about Black education systems. The committee chose “The Crisis in Black Education” for the theme of this year’s Black History Month.

Pan-African Commons Program Coordinator Shanice Clarke shared her favorite of last month’s events, Black Art Night. The event consisted of visual arts, spoken word, singing and self-care activities, allowing students to celebrate creativity in a safe place. “It was an event to break bread with the community and acknowledge some of the experiences that folks navigate on campus and in the Portland community,” Clarke said.

Clarke also spoke about the importance of Black culture throughout the year. “The very core of the Pan-African Commons is to

engage and celebrate and have pride in Black, African and Caribbean identity,” she said. “Engaging in this space is a great start [to celebrate Black culture throughout the year].”

BLACK BAG SPEAKER SERIES

The Black Studies Department celebrates Black history throughout the year with the quarterly Black Bag Speaker Series. The series features African-American people from the Portland community discussing Black issues locally, nationally and globally.

The mission of this series is to bring more diversity and experience to the PSU campus. This quarter’s topic was “Black Women and Leadership in Portland.”

The panel included NAACP Portland Chapter President Jo Ann Hardesty, Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Adrienne Nelson, PSU graduate student and Black Lives Matter activist

Ebony Oldham, and local poet Renee Mitchell.

Host Ethan Johnson, associate professor in the Black Studies Department, asked the panel five questions before opening the discussion to include the full-house audience.

The event topics ranged from the panelists’ own personal experiences and thoughts on leadership in Portland to Black discrimination and their favorite popular culture of today.

Hardesty thinks more people should be aware of the Black experience and the state of Oregon doesn’t allow this easily. “I see myself as a community organizer,” she said. “I see myself as someone who works with people to make sure their voice is heard.”

“I do not accept or assume I am the expert on the Black experience,” Hardesty continued. “I can only be the expert of my Black experience.

Oregon is very lazy about making sure only one or two of us are in the room to share the Black experience.”

Oldham discussed the hardest

part of her experience. “The hardest thing I’ve ever been through is yet to come,” she said. “One of the things that’s been hard for me is having access to all these different spaces that other folks don’t have access to. When I’m confronting systems that allow that to happen, how folks don’t really discuss those things—and I’m constantly questioning why that is.”

Mitchell, multimedia artist and self-described creative revolutionist, recently gave a TED Talk about how art saved her life and how leadership is about creating one’s own opportunities.

“The whole message of this TED Talk was giving myself permission to be who I am,” Mitchell said. “A lot of my life, for over 40 years, I was waiting for someone to give me permission to do things, to say I’m worthy, and I had to come to terms that I was never going to get permission.”

Nelson, a Multnom ah County judge, also spoke about self-empowerment and trusting oneself. “Don’t assume that your idea is

the only idea about a certain topic,” she said. “I think that people work too much in isolation and that there is strength in numbers, particularly living in Oregon.

And I think that you figure out who you can work with to effectuate whatever goal you’re seeking. That is a form of leadership.”

Monique Ybarra, a psychology major at PSU, thought the panel portrayed the theme beautifully and touched on courage and creativity.

“What I am taking away from the panel today is the courage to imagine and create something that doesn’t exist yet,” Ybarra said. “This was a theme several of the panelists touched on as they shared their experience of being the only African-American women in many of the leadership positions they occupy.”

Kami Smith, an arts and letters major, thought the panel was very important, especially from her perspective as a prospective teacher.

“There aren’t a lot of people of color teaching in the Portland area,” Smith said.

“It’s really nice to see these

SHANNON KIDD

12

PSU Vanguard • MARCH 7, 2017 • psuvanguard.com

ARTS & CULTURE women in higher power positions to kind of remind me that it’s okay to own my space and be an advocate for myself and my future students.”

BLACK STUDENT UNION

History major Renee Ingram is involved with the Pan-African Commons, Black History Month Committee, and Delta Sigma Theta—a sorority for educationallydriven women, which hosted the Black History Month events “Black Love and Sex in the Dark” and “Black Women’s Contribution to History.” She is also the coordinator for Empowering Sisterhood, a program for Black female students to come together for discussion and uplift one another, and is programming director for the Black Student Union.

As an active member of so many different clubs and groups, Ingram believes that community is key. “Folks can learn that it’s okay to not be alone,” she said. “It’s okay to depend on fellow students, it’s okay to find a community where you didn’t even think you could find it. My dad always said, ‘Our network is our net-worth.’”

The ability and the willingness to learn can spread the education of Black culture.

“Be willing to learn,” Ingram said. “You may not have stood in the shoes of a Black student, but be willing to learn, because I think a lot of growth can come to a university because of that.”

Jasmine Schneider is one of BSU’s program directors. “The BSU stands for the social, political and educational advancement and support of students of the African diaspora,” Schneider said. “Although we have been around for a couple years, we were officially SALP recognized just last year.”

Schneider also believes people can continually educate themselves about Black history and culture through educational means.

“Students can educate themselves about and work to further support Black issues through various events that BSU puts on throughout the year such as discussions, workshops and guest speaker panels.”

BSU’s events for Black History Month included the Defining Pan African Identities discussion and Black Art Night.

THE BLACK STUDIES DEPARTMENT

Black Studies Department Chair Shirley Jackson explained Black history is not about just one month, but is a constant journey. “I can’t say anything was special about this Black History Month, because I think every month is Black History Month,” Jackson said.

“Everything is significant.”

Jackson wished more people had attended the screening of Ava DuVernay’s documentary film 13th, a look at racial inequality in America through the lens of mass incarceration and the Thirteenth Amendment.

The Black Studies Department is going through an overhaul. The department is creating new classes and renaming a few existing ones, and is updating its majors, minors and certificates.

The changes will help reach out to more students and cater to those majoring and minoring in the department.

Faculty have discussed over thirty class proposals, including: Black Masculinities, Black Panther Party, Race and Prisons, and Blacks in Europe. Jackson is teaching a course next term on the civil rights movement.

Jackson thinks more people should take Black Studies courses, as they apply to many different majors. “Take courses that are not simply the courses you think you need to get your degree and move on,” she said.

“When we offer Black Studies courses, we offer courses that are rooted in a number of different disciplines.”

Jackson also co-chairs t h e A f r i c a n -A m e r i c a n , African, and Black Student Task Force (formed after the Students of Color Speak Out event in 2015). This task force looks at the efforts of faculty in terms of recruitment, enrollment and offerings to students from the African diaspora to ensure their success on campus.

“Some people think Black studies courses are beneath them, if you will,” Jackson said. “When [Black Studies professors] think about what students will leave the university with, it’s an understanding of diverse communities, diverse viewpoints and subject matter that is so varied that you can sit in a number of different courses and be told something new that you never really thought about every single day.”

PSU Vanguard • MARCH 7, 2017 • psuvanguard.com

13

NEWS ARTS NEWS& CULTURE

VOLUNTEERING SPOTLIGHT: PASSION IMPACT AND FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN The Complete Tool

by Nick Tool Volunteering is a great resume builder (as I explained in a previous column). It’s an opportunity to display interests to potential employers and showcase skills like teamwork and initiative, among others.

However, volunteering is not just a source of future rewards: It is also a chance to positively reshape character, improve the community and form lifelong connections.

To get an insider’s perspective on the value of volunteering, I interviewed Stefan Peierls, president of Passion Impact. This organization helps students from Franklin High School discover their passions through volunteering.

Passion Impact also hosts volunteer fairs to connect local nonprofits with students and adults within the community.

Peierls said one of the biggest influences on his volunteering career came from his dad’s connection to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. In college Peierls became a “big” and has maintained contact with his “little” to this day.

The role of a big has helped Peierls understand the importance of volunteering and led him to other passions like forming his own nonprofit here in Portland.

After coming to Portland, Peierls also began volunteering for Portland Ultimate as a coach. It was an opportunity to share a sport that was a big part of his life to the young and old.

After dedicating months of his personal time as a volunteer coach to Portland Ultimate, Peierls gained a paid position with the organization.

There are several important takeaways from this interview.

Volunteering can lead to the discovery of passions that turn into lifelong pursuits, opportunities, or even jobs. Imagine getting to spend every day contributing to a favorite activity or cause.

Forming a lifelong connection to a mentor or pupil is also possible through volunteering, as is evidenced by Peierls’ Big Brothers Big Sisters of America example. That is a relationship that will positively affect their lives for as long as the connection exists.

Volunteering also gives people the opportunity to form a deeper relationship with their community and the means to become a shaping force. A community is an expression of common culture, passions, interests and intentions. Keep in mind that communities are not just geographical areas like neighborhoods. A group of professionals in the same field is a community, and amateur athletes involved in the same sport can be a community.

A couple months ago, Peierls brought to my attention a local nonprofit I would like to highlight. The Friends of Children seeks to solve generational poverty by connecting at-risk youth with a positive adult role model through volunteering.

These young men and women come from families with the highest risk factors for a variety of debilitating problems.

The commitment lasts twelve-and-a-half years, and mentors are actually salaried professionals that the organization calls “friends.”

The youth in this program show impressive results from involvement. There are two statistics on program participants that stand out above the rest. Although 50 percent of youth in the program have parents who have been in jail, 93 percent avoid the juvenile justice system. Although 85 percent of these kids are the product of teen parents, 98 percent avoid becoming teen parents.

LYDIA WOJACK-WEST These statistics alone are enough of a reason to get involved with this organization or similar groups. Volunteer opportunities exist for anyone who cannot commit to a position as a friend, and donations have been shown to save seven dollars in government support for every dollar contributed.

To get involved with Passion Impact or The Friends of Children, visit passionimpact.org or friendspdx.org. To seek related volunteer opportunities, volunteermatch.org hosts an online meeting ground for volunteers and volunteer organizations.

Look up an organization and get started volunteering today.

THEATER DEPARTMENT STAGES GREEK TRAGEDY ‘THE BACCHAE’ COMMENTARY BY DYLAN GANSEN Portland State’s College of the Arts opened its winter term production of The Bacchae, a classical Greek tragedy by Athenian playwright Euripides, on Friday, March 3. In Ancient Greece, theatrical productions differed somewhat from the show being put on at PSU almost 2,400 years later. All of the cast would have worn masks instead of the intricate hair and makeup provided for this show, and the female characters would have been portrayed by an all-male cast.

Those who attend PSU’s production will see a talented cast made up by a majority of female actors, wonderfully designed makeup substituting for the traditional masks, and live music composed by The Vanguard’s very own Arts & Culture Editor Matthew Andrews. Stylistic differences aside, the play’s themes are the connective tissue that make it as relevant as ever in today’s political and social climate. This is precisely why director Richard Wattenberg and his team selected the tragedy.

“It really does speak in a way that’s uncanny,” Wattenberg said. “It’s frighteningly uncanny how close it is to the circumstances of today.”

The theater department selected The Bacchae for its winter production back in the spring of 2016, partly in response to the increased interest in politics surrounding the election; some may relate the play’s ideas around xenophobia to recent immigration policies, which Wattenberg acknowledged.

“You see here a play that challenges the attempt to put people into boxes,” Wattenberg said. “Whether it be male or female, foreigner or native, or somebody who embodies reason or embodies passion.”

The Bacchae will run through March 11 on Lincoln Hall’s main stage. Evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m., with a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. on March 5. General admission is $15, while seniors, students and faculty can get in for $8. Students may purchase advance tickets for $6.

Watch our interview with the production’s director, Richard Wattenberg.

Multimedia at psuvanguard.com

14

PSU Vanguard • MARCH 7, 2017 • psuvanguard.com

SKYE MCLAREN AS DIONYSUS IN PSU THEATER’S WINTER PRODUCTION OF “THE BACCHAE”. DYLAN GANSEN/PSU VANGUARD

MODERN COUNTRY MUSIC MEETS THE CITY

ARTS & CULTURE We Portlanders live in a particularly great city for starting up a band: Just grab a couple of long-time buddies, equip yourselves with some secondhand instruments from the local music shop and scour ads for open mic nights where you can showcase your talents and maybe enjoy a microbrew or a PBR afterward. Local modern country band Hang ’em High shares in this grassroots vision of creating and playing music and offers a kickass show for both local Portlanders and people who are just passing through the city.

The coolest thing about the originality and flair of Portland’s music scene is our ability to create art and music out of very little means and find comfort in music that we can relate to. Many Portlanders and PSU students come from rural areas and other places outside the urban center, and sometimes it is a pleasant surprise to be reminded of small-town values. PSU students should consider giving the local country music scene a shot, if only as a reprieve from the bustling urban campus lifestyle.

The band has been running for a long time and has a deep history, from initial formation through temporary breakup to reformation of an entirely new band re-using most of the original members. Hang ’em High started out in 1998 as a six-piece band called Double Trouble and performed under that name until 2006. After eight years running strong, the band temporarily ceased to play and lost two members.

The current members said there was no drama over breaking up the original lineup;

it felt like a natural break. Then, in 2012, the four current members—Brian (lead vocalist/backup acoustic guitar), Robby (bass player), Larry (lead electric guitar), and Nick (drummer)—got in touch with each other and decided to reform. They picked the eyegrabbing title Hang ’em High to connect the new lineup both with the Clint Eastwood movie and with the classic Van Halen song.

During an interview at the O’Malley’s pub on SE Foster, the band shared some laughs and brews with the Vanguard as they recounted their earliest memories of getting into music.

Robby said he paid for his first guitar lessons with change he stored up in a jar. Brian said, “I found my voice when I was singing Randy Travis at age twelve,” and he began performing by using a simple karaoke setup to cut out the vocals.

Larry pointed at Brian and said, “He’s the reason that I started performing again,” explaining that he wanted to play background music for Brian’s singing talent. Nick started playing drums when he was 16; he is self-taught and, like many PSU students, turned to YouTube for instructional videos to hone his talents. The band’s beginnings speak strongly to the simple, humble roots many Portlanders experience and attempt to build their dreams from.

Hang ‘em High plays regularly in North Portland at the Ponderosa Lounge in the Jubitz Travel Center and Truck Stop for a cheap cover charge of $5. Before most shows, a line dance instructor helps the audience bolster their line dance skills.

COMMENTARY BY KRISTI TIHANYI

HANG ‘EM HIGH COUNTRIFIES NORTH PORTLAND. COURTESY OF HEATHER BRAZILLE

PSU Vanguard • MARCH 7, 2017 • psuvanguard.com

15

NEWS OPINION NEWS

SWEDEN STOOD WITH US AFTER BOWLING GREEN Musings from the Subbasement

NOW WE MUST STAND WITH SWEDEN

by Kevin Hadsell Donald Trump recently made headlines again when, at a campaign-style rally in Florida, he justified the travel ban and a crackdown on immigration by citing a recent terror attack in Sweden: “We’ve got to keep our country safe. You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden.

Sweden, who would believe this? Sweden. They took in large numbers. They’re having problems like they never thought possible. You look at what’s happening in Brussels.

You look at what’s happening all over the world. Take a look at Nice. Take a look at Paris.”

The statement came as something of a shock to the rest of the world. In fact, very few people even knew about a terror attack in Sweden occurring at all—a fact echoed by media reports and major news outlets.

In an era of fake news stories and biased information, how did this escape our notice? Are we, as a people, so ill-informed that we remain oblivious to violent attacks on our own societies and those of our allies?

This raises troubling questions about the state of journalism when something this large goes completely unnoticed. Experts claim that, if the facts pan out, this may be the most significant terror attack since the infamous Bowling Green massacre, recently pointed out by Kellyanne Conway on the MSNBC news program Hardball With Chris Matthews.

16

It is important to note that, unlike other major terror attacks in recent memory, nobody seems to be saying much about the attacks in Sweden.

Why is this? I recall numerous other violent attacks that received much wider coverage in the media. Yet on Sweden, the facts and circumstances of the incident are largely absent.

Even on social media, the typical place where people gather to yell at each other about current events, nobody seems to be discussing the incident in Sweden. I have yet to see anyone with one of those transparent profile-picture filters of the Swedish flag as a gesture of solidarity and support.

Is this what our nation has come to? Are we so afraid to stand up with our allies in a mutual display of strength and support after a devastating act of violence?

Sweden has given the world so, so much: fine chocolates, secure banking institutions, world-class timepieces—wristwatches in particular—that have set the world standard and a burgeoning death metal scene esteemed all over the globe.

And the Swedes have had their fair share of social problems as well: Their country has been ravaged by free health care, high rates of literacy and one of the lowest rates of income inequality in the developed world.

This recent attack is only the latest in a series of misfortunes befalling the Swedish people, and now, more than

PSU Vanguard • MARCH 7, 2017 • psuvanguard.com

ever, they need our support.

It only seems fair that we, as Americans, stand with Sweden during these dark days when violence runs amok in society.

Sweden stood with the United States in the days following the Bowling Green massacre—and so, too, should we, as a community—stand with Sweden.

TERRA DEHART

OPINION

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

IN RESPONSE TO "PSU ADJUNCTS: THE PROBLEM WITH BEING A PART-TIME INSTRUCTOR"

Guest Submission

ROBBY DAY LETTER TO THE EDITOR IN RESPONSE TO FEB 14 NEWS ARTICLE, “PSU ADJUNCTS: THE PROBLEM WITH BEING A PART-TIME INSTRUCTOR.” We’re writing in regard to your recent article “PSU Adjuncts: The problem with being a part-time instructor” (Feb. 13, 2017). Thank you for bringing attention to this important issue. As of fall 2016, 47 percent of Portland State faculty were part-time, and we taught 35 percent of student credit hours. For comparison, tenure-track professors taught 36 percent with the remaining 29 percent being taught by full-time instructors who are not on the tenure-track. This usually means they work on one to three year contracts. Our contributions are essential to PSU’s students, other faculty, and the community. It would be nearly impossible to get a degree from PSU without taking classes from us. Yet, as Justin Thurer pointed out in his article, most students are unaware we work under substantially different labor conditions than our full-time counterparts.

In light of this, we would like to clarify a few points that the Vanguard reported: • As of fall 2017, the minimum pay for adjuncts is $892.00 per credit hour, not $858.00; • The article estimates that an adjunct teaching two classes per term—or six per year—would make $27,464.

However, that amount would actually put someone over .49 percent. Part-time faculty at PSU are only allowed to teach a maximum of five classes, or 22 cred-

•

•

•

its per year—plus summer classes, if they’re available.

So, the most we can make, if we teach F/W/S/Su, is $21,408 for the year. Keep in mind, this does not include any health or retirement benefits and most adjuncts are not assigned all 22 credits. Many of us teach at multiple schools or take on second and third jobs; No adjunct/part-time faculty are eligible for benefits (e.g. health care, retirement, and so on). If they were, they would be teaching more than .49 time, and thus would have to be given a full-time contract; PSUFA Union, Local 3571, our adjunct union does indeed provide a health insurance fund to offset the cost of insurance premiums for part-time researchers and instructors. All part-time faculty and researchers are eligible if they are working that term. They do not need to be a member of the PSUFA Union; As the article states, being an adjunct instructor or researcher comes with greater risks than being fulltime. Some call us part of the “precariat” (a reference to the national trend towards temporary, unstable employment). However, it isn’t quite accurate that we need to reapply for our jobs each term. Our most recent collective bargaining team fought very hard to

ensure us one and two-year contracts and additional pay for late-hires and class cancellations. More work needs to be done in this area, but it’s a very big change that will help us predict our income a bit further into the future, while enabling students to plan their courses more consistently.

Thanks again for addressing this topic. In less than a year, PSUFA will be reopening our collective bargaining relating to pay and benefits. This will be an opportunity for all of us to let the administration know that quality of instruction for students should be our school’s first priority.

Our working conditions are students’ learning conditions.

Sincerely, The PSUFA Executive Council

Staci Martin, President (president@psufa.org) Anna Gray, First Vice-President (vicepresident@psufa.org) Jea Alford, Secretary (psufa.veronica@gmail.com) Travis Neel, Treasurer & Interim VP of Communications & Community Partnerships (communication@psufa.org) Sara Bernstein, VP of Membership (organizing@psufa.org) Ariana Jacob, Co-VP of Grievances (psufa.ariana@gmail.com) William Cornett, Co-VP of Grievances (psufa.william@gmailcom)

PSU Vanguard • MARCH 7, 2017 • psuvanguard.com

17

NEWS OPINION NEWS

COMPARISON IS AN ARTIST’S

DRUG OF CHOICE 404: Column Not Found

by Ryan Morse It’s easy to joke about artists taking drugs, but there’s only one drug that all artists truly take: the act of comparison.

Obviously, comparison is an act and not actually a drug—as far as I can be sure—but it can sure feel like it. It can act as either a stimulant that helps spark creative flames or a depressant that diminishes our self-worth.

Comparing your work to others’ is extremely common, maybe sometimes more than we realize. Though that’s not a bad thing—comparison can be pretty important for us as we figure out who we are, what we like, what we want to do, etc.—it should be something that we are mindful of and try to balance.

When you’re an artist, comparison is extremely valuable because it provides perspectives and critical thought needed for better, more complete understandings.

Like many things, it just depends on how we approach it.

That was something I learned the hard way.

A few years ago I was preparing for the Sophomore Portfolio Review here at Portland State. Around the time I was getting ready, I was still fairly new to the design program and behind in classes that were required for Portfolio Review submission.

I would have to take three design studios during my spring Portfolio term—something that got me several looks from peers. Taking three studio classes was fairly intense on its own, and doing Portfolio on top of that was pushing it.

It was going to be a lot of work, and it was pretty intense going in. It only got more stressful for me when I started that term.

I found myself surrounded by so many talented students who I believed had a better grasp of design elements and tools than I did.

I constantly compared myself to them and felt out of place, like my work could never match theirs, and I was some kind of phony. That self-doubt would inspire more comparison, and the cycle continued.

Other times, that comparison was empowering. Seeing the astounding work made by people around you is energizing, almost like the rush of endorphins or a hundred cups of coffee.

There was so much great work that spring, and I couldn’t wait to add my voice to a sea of inspiring voices.

For the first few weeks I became too focused on comparing the work I was creating to others’—trying to match them, riding those highs—and as a result a lot of my work felt very unfinished and not very good.

I lost sight of my own aspirations and focuses and what I wanted my work to do. Not only was my work bad, but so was my enthusiasm for what I was making.

What was the point?

It took me a while to find a way to not let comparisons— be they good or bad—dictate my own work. It turned out I was reflecting outward too much and inward too little.

18

PSU Vanguard • MARCH 7, 2017 • psuvanguard.com

ROBBY DAY

Comparison is not a bad thing. In fact, it’s far from it.

As artists, we compare for inspiration, contrast, prompts and so on. Comparison can only damage us when we compare and beat ourselves up too much for the wrong reasons.

Alternatively, when done with the right mindset, comparison can make us stronger. It can provide valuable lessons and insights for us; but if we don’t take a few steps back, we fall too far into comparison and distorted self-perceptions.

We can make work intimidating for ourselves. Most of the time we’ll be comparing our work and ourselves to people we like, respect and admire. It can feel like those people and their works are untouchable. If they’re still alive, their awesome work doesn’t stop, and only keeps getting better.

How the hell can we keep up?

I don’t think that we do.

We learn from their paths and then pave our own.

Comparison can help us do that. Consume everything and question everything. Figure out what defines you, and be aware of what’s around you at the same time. That was a lesson I learned the hard way, and in many ways I’m still learning how to properly balance.

For most of us when we compare ourselves to others, our greatest enemy isn’t our observers, critics and competitors, but ourselves and self doubt. As we become more aware and discover ourselves more through art and actions, that’ll be less of a problem.

This article will also appear in the Annex Winter Term Issue, the Portland State Graphic Design zine. It will be available Week 9 in the Art Building.

INTERNATIONAL

QUESTIONS ABOUND AFTER RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR DIES IN NEW YORK ERIC STEFFEN

Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations since 2006, suddenly died of an apparent heart attack on Monday, Feb. 20. He was rushed to a Manhattan hospital from the Russian U.N. mission after cardiac complications. So far, according to Reuters, federal officials do not believe there to be any foul play.

Former United States Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power tweeted she was devastated by the news of his death: “Devastated by passing of Russian UN Amb Vitaly Churkin.

Diplomatic maestro & deeply caring man who did all he [could] to bridge US-RUS differences.” The British ambassador to the U.N. also commented on Twitter that Churkin was a “diplomatic giant & wonderful character.”

Earlier this month, Churkin claimed that the “United Nations continues to be an indispensable mechanism.”

While officials suggest there seems to be no foul play, some rumors have circulated that Churkin may have been poisoned.

The Manhattan hospital where Churkin was admitted referred the case to the New York City medical examiner. According to CBS News, the medical examiner investigates “deaths that occur by criminal violence, accident, suicide, suddenly or when the person seemed healthy, or if someone died in any unusual or suspicious manner” while also stating that most deaths investigated are not suspicious.

Portland State professor Gerald Sussman, an expert in the field of media and interna-

tional relations, questioned why the rumors would even begin to spread about Putin poisoning Ambassador Churkin. He said Churkin held immense respect with Putin and top officials in the Kremlin, and it’s dangerous for the media to portray the Russian regime in a way that continuously villifies them.

Sussman elaborated and suggested that one think of what the American reaction would be if Russia had stationed military personnel along the Canadian and Mexican borders, not unlike what NATO is doing along Russia’s border with Europe. It’s important to empathize with both sides of an argument and take off the blinders that block out what others may be thinking and feeling.

Ambassador Churkin began as a child actor in the Soviet Union, starring in three films, including the film, A Mother’s Heart, which won a Soviet state prize. Churkin eventually gave up his acting career to attend the world-renowned Moscow State Institute for Foreign Relations. He graduated in 1974 with a concentration in foreign relations and began working for the Soviet Union’s foreign ministry, having a command of the Russian, English, French and Mongolian languages. He quickly climbed the diplomatic ladder in the foreign ministry and went on to serve as second secretary to the Soviet embassy in Washington.

On May 2, 1986, the Washington Post reported that a Soviet official was going to testify before a House committee for the first time. Vitaly Churkin, the Soviet official, testified to the House regarding the Chernobyl

FEB. 25

crisis, frequently using varying forms of English slang to clarify Moscow’s response.

Churkin served under various Soviet and Russian administrations, from Brezhnev to Gorbachev, from Yeltsin to Putin. While the Russian administration under Putin has

often been criticized for violating human rights and defending authoritarian regimes, including shielding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from Security Council condemnation, Vitaly Churkin commanded immense respect at the U.N.

VITALY CHURKIN, THE RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS SINCE 2006, SUDDENLY DIED OF AN APPARENT HEART ATTACK ON MONDAY, FEB. 20. COURTESY OF USER LUCA MARFE THROUGH WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

PARIS, FRANCE

Centrist French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron announced his intent to meet with Angela Merkel in advance of this spring’s presidential elections. Macron is currently leading right-wing candidate Fillon but has been seeing his lead over far-right Marine Le Pen narrow.

FEB. 27 KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

North Korea was outed as the prime stakeholder in an arms operation working out of Kuala Lumpur and throughout Malaysia, circumventing a broad arms embargo dating back to 2009. This revelation comes just days after the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

FEB. 27 BAKAU, GAMBIA

Gambian President Adama Barrow moved quickly to undo the oppressive regime of recently removed ex-President Yahya Jammeh by terminating the heads of the army, intelligence, army operations and the nation’s jails, among others. If recent history is a guide it is possible that these recently fired individuals will be arrested and tried in coming days.

FEB.28

VILLOGNON, FRANCE

MAR.2

NORTHERN IRELAND

MAR.3

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

French President François Hollande was unshaken during a speech inaugurating a new high-speed rail line at which a police sharpshooter unloaded two rounds and injured two people. “Je ne pause pas,” the president remarked. “I will not pause,” before continuing remarks. The famously stony president finished his speech and proceeded with the rest of his day.

Feb. 25– Mar. 3 Alex-Jon Earl

Northern Ireland went to the polls to elect a new Assembly after scandal forced a snap election.

Malaysia condemned the use of the banned and incredibly fatal nerve agent VX against Kim Jong-nam. Malaysia has demanded probes by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and may escalate the issue to the United Nations Security Council..

PSU Vanguard • MARCH 7, 2017 • psuvanguard.com

19

SPRING BREAK IS COMING SPRING WILL BE HERE BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, WE SWEAR. PICK UP A COPY OF THE MARCH 14 GTFO GUIDE FOR IDEAS ON HOW AND WHERE TO GET THE F*CK OUTSIDE THIS SPRING BREAK. STELLA CRABTREE/PSU VANGUARD

ETC

COMIC BY AARON UGHOC

PSU Vanguard • MARCH 7, 2017 • psuvanguard.com

21

ETC

TOO NOISY AT THIS BIRTHDAY BRUNCH SUBPAR ADVICE FROM THE SUB-BASEMENT

Maid of Dishonor writes: I’m sure you get this question a lot, but I’m going to be maid of honor for my best friend and I really want to be excited. But the guy she’s marrying is not great. I want to be supportive, but there’s a lot of hesitation and things not being said when we get together to work on wedding stuff, or even just when we go out and he comes up. I’m also not alone in the bridal party in not liking the guy. Should I drop the world’s worst kept secret?

JOHN PINNEY Oh, the Noise writes:

Heya Dishonor,

So I’ve finally moved into my first apartment with a new friend from classes, and I’m having a kind of sensitive issue. My old roommates at University of Portland didn’t ever hook up with their significant others, but this one does. Regularly and loudly.

We never really broached ground rules before moving in, so is it too late to say something now?

Heya Oh, the Noise, It is a little past the expiration date if you didn’t hash it out in your roommate agreement, but if it’s making you uncomfortable then it’s time to say something. Be aware that your roommate might be a little touchy about it, but if you don’t say something this will fester inside of you like a spider laying eggs. And you don’t want to be the villain of a Stephen King novel, do you?

A more fun and slightly more passive aggressive option is to find out what kind of music your roommate can’t stand. And then when they start knocking boots, you turn that music up to whatever level they use when making love. Either it will break their concentration and force them to leave the room to ask you to turn it down, or they’ll realize that they’re super loud and maybe they’ll quiet down.

It’s hard to say because I don’t have enough info about the roommate, but sex is something of a private act for most people and it’s just going to be uncomfortable either way. You just have to decide how to set that uncomfortability on your terms.

Hearts and Stars, Your Advice Guru

LAUREN CHAPLUIK Less Amused Bouche writes: So my parents are in town for my mother’s birthday and it’s great, except that the restaurant they want to try, well, the head chef is kind of my ex. And it’s a pretty small restaurant, so I know they’ll recognize my name (even my last name, if we reserve a table under my parents). The relationship itself wasn’t very long, but was very dynamic (in a bad way). My parents think I’m being silly, but I’m concerned that the chef might pull a Fight Club or something.

Heya Less Amused, Ah. Well, I’m strongly inclined as an INFJ to believe that you should go with your gut. People who tend to not listen to their gut end up having bad things happen that were avoidable. If you know that the ex is “dynamic” and are worried about unsavory things in your cream of mushroom soup, be proactive about it. There’s a simple way to do so: Go to a different restaurant.

Unless this is a year-in-advance-reservation place, there’s no reason you absolutely have to go there. Portland offers an amazing amount of similar palette profile locations. In a onemile radius of my home there are at least four different Thai restaurants, two Lebanese places, two Chinese places, a takeout Indian place and a place that specializes in prime rib.

Add to that the brick and mortar locations that have bars and great menus here? I’d be amazed if I spent my entire life here and tried every restaurant. I don’t even get out to the mac-andcheese place I like as often as I want to.

Think of this as an opportunity to branch out. If you still have time, find a place or build up excitement about the mystery.

Open Table is a great resource for this. Birthdays are special.

Find out about a pop-up restaurant or something. You have the opportunity here to manifest your own destiny and give your parents a sense of childlike wonder. Why not use it?

Hearts and Stars, Your Advice Guru

22

PSU Vanguard • MARCH 7, 2017 • psuvanguard.com

It seems like I do get bridesmaids’ questions more than any other type of wedding question, but I don’t mind answering them. Weddings are one of my favorite ritualized ceremonies of American culture (along with a good Halloween party and Christmas with the in-laws, if you like them). It’s the most expensive and exhausting party you’ll ever have, and the odds of spilling food on your white outfit? Astronomical.

Okay, so let’s talk about the toupéed elephant in the room.

You’re not saying why, but people all seem to have a feeling about this guy. And it’s not a good feeling. Perhaps the bride is blind to it, or perhaps she doesn’t mind whatever the rest of you have a feeling about. The worst case scenario is that it’s abusive, but I’m hoping that’s not the case. Because that’s a whole different level of advice, and I don’t know that jumping to that conclusion is helpful.

Have you had a meeting with the bride? Just the bridesmaids?

If not, that’s a great chance to have a killer brunch (there’s a place in town that does a fried chicken benedict you might love) and to have a heart-to-heart with the bride. This heartto-heart doesn’t have to be accusatory or fearful. You’re her friend. It’s your job to be protective and critical, yet allow her to make her own decision.

Weddings are stressful. They don’t bring out the best in everyone. That’s why a whole TV show was developed around them— (Bridezillas, not Marriage Boot Camp). It may be that the groom is just super stressed. Post-wedding, you might grow to love him. But I don’t know. Start with the heart-to-heart, then go from there. If you need to intervene, you’ll know. Listen to your gut. Your gut is not wrong.

Hearts and Stars, Your Advice Guru

$10 off for first time riders who use the promo code VANGUARD

Andrew D. Jankowski

EVENT LISTINGS FOR MARCH 7–13 FEATURED EVENT PORTLAND MUSIC VIDEO FESTIAL 7:30 P.M. HOLLYWOOD THEATER $7–9 Founded by PSU professor Dustin Morrow and PSU alum Kat Audick, this showcase of local and national music videos features a networking event for film and music industry professionals.

Previous festivals have featured music videosfrom Cypress Hill, Gaslamp Killer, Passion Pit, Mean Jeans, Dita Von Teese, Bob Mould, Broken Bells, Sallie Ford, Lost Lander, Helio Sequence, Kimya Dawson and Aesop Rock.

TUESDAY, MARCH. 7 ART TALK 7 P.M. MFA STUDIO VISIT@LINCOLN PERFORING ARTIST LECTURE MANCE HALL, SERIES PRESENTS: ROOM 75 NICOLE PIETRANTONI FREE Nicole Pietrantoni’s artwork explores the complex relationship between human beings and nature through installations, artists’ books and works on paper. She regards both her professional practice and pedagogy as powerful sites for intellectual, artistic and ethical transformation.

DANCE MARDI GRAS SALSA PARTY

8 P.M. @SECRET SOCIETY $10

Salsa dance in all-white attire at Secret Society’s Mardi Gras party. The speakeasy-inspired lounge starts the evening off with a beginner’s salsa lesson, then explodes into a dance party featuring a burlesque performance from Portland’s Zora Von Pavonine.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8 FILM I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO

7 P.M., 9:15 P.M.

(MULTIPLE DATES & SHOWTIMES) @HOLLYWOOD THEATER $7–$9

Raoul Peck’s documentary about the powerful African-American writer envisions his unfinished book about the lives & assassinations of Baldwin’s close friends, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and Medgar Evers.

SPEAKING 6 P.M. PLAYING WITH LAURA @LINCOLN HALL 211 MULVEY: VIDEO GAME FREE GRAPHICS & GENDER REPRESENTATION Check out this lecture on the historical analysis of graphical realism, how it influences gender and sexual politics in video games, and a psychoanalysis of reinforced patterns and cinematic appreciation.

Featuring North Dakota State University assistant Professor Dr. Robert mejia..

THURSDAY, MARCH 8 FITNESS VINYASA ALL-LEVEL YOGA

9 A.M. @THE OLD CHURCH $5–10

Emphasizing breath and body movement, Vinyasa yoga is a great way to center and start your day. Veranda, the class instructor, has over a decade of teaching experience. Perfect for beginners or yogis.

MUSIC @PARKWAY NORTH FUNK-WAY NORTH: MY FREE BODY, CHANTI DARLING 7 P.M. The last Parkway North Project of winter term, featuring the dreamy synth-pop of MY BODY and Willamette Week‘s Best New Band of 2016, Chanti Darling.

FRIDAY, MARCH 10 ART OPENING THE INFORMATION & THE INSPIRATION | JEREMY OKAI DAVIS

6 P.M. @WHITE GALLERY FREE

The 2017 RACC grant recipient’s painting series focuses on addressing the lack of African-American representation in gallery spaces and renegotiating the way Black faces are viewed on a daily basis by fusing historical and contemporary cultural figures.

MUSIC @ROSELAND THEATER LETTUCE $20 8 P.M. Jazz-funk septet’s fusion of influences come together for an all-inclusive party atmosphere.

DRAG KIMORA BLAC 9 P.M.

@STAG PDX $12–35

The Las Vegas drag queen and contestant on the upcoming ninth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race makes her Portland debut, taking photos and hosting a Q&A with VIP guests

SATURDAY, MARCH 11 MUSIC 3 P. M. MARTHA DAVIS & THE @MUSIC MILLENNIUM MOTELS FREE The iconic California new-wave band is signing copies of their dual-CD If Not Now, Then When? which features new music, b-sides & rarities.

COMEDY JIMMY PARDO: NEVER NOT FUNNY

NATURE HIKE BARK ABOUT 8:45 A.M.

@HOLLYWOOD TRADER JOE’S PARKING LOT FREE

Gradey Proctor leads a day of ecological connection, wildcrafting and storytelling in connection to a timber sale. Bring water and lunch.

MUSIC 2 P.M. CASCADIA COMPOSERS’ @OREGON HISTORICAL CONCERT OF REMEMSOCIETY FOYER BRANCE FREE This classical concert commemorates the 75th anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, which began the internment of JapaneseAmerican citizens during the Second World War. THEATER

@ARTISTS REPERTORY

FEATHERS AND TEETH THEATRE

2 P.M. (ALTERNATE DATES & TIMES THROUGH APRIL 2)

$25–50 (LIMITED NUMBER OF $5 ARTS FOR ALL TIX MAY BE AVAILABLE)

A teenager in 1978 grapples with her mother’s death, her father’s new relationship with Mom’s former nurse, crushing on the boys next door and otherworldly little monsters.

MONDAY, MARCH 13 FRESH FOOD HARVEST SHARE 12 P.M.

@OUTSIDE SHATTUCK HALL, PSU PARK BLOCKS FREE This partnership between PSU and the Oregon Food Bank aims to alleviate food insecurity on campus and provide the PSU community with fresh fruits and vegetables. Line forms early, so bring a book.

6:30 P.M. @BARK OFFICE, NE 18TH & SANDY FREE

STORYTELLING ECOLOGY CLUB: STORIES OF PLACE Whether or not you attend Sunday’s Bark About hike, you’re invited to discuss stories about meaningful connections to Oregon’s natural forests

AARON UGHOC

@HELIUM COMEDY CLUB $17

4 P.M. The award-winning podcast tapes an episode in Portland.

FILM

SUNDAY, MARCH 12

(ALTERNATE DATES SKATE WEEKEND & TIMES SATURDAY/ 7 P.M., 9:15 P.M. SUNDAY) @5TH AVENUE CINEMA $4–5 (PSU Students: Free) A curated collection of short skating documentation films from the 1960s and ’70s featuring Wesley Banford, Dylan Burke, Andrew Lovgren, Chad Butler, Phil & Theo and more.

The PSU Library will be open 24 hours to help you study!

24/7 Library hours start Monday, March 13 at 7:30 a.m. and last through Thursday, March 23 at midnight.

When the Library is open 24 hours, a PSU ID card will be required to enter the Library after midnight. Beginning Spring Term on Sunday, April 2, a PSU ID card will be required to enter the Library after 9 p.m.

Visit the PSU Library website at library.pdx.edu for more information about services, research help, and hours.