Portland State Vanguard. Vol. 72 Issue 28

PORTLAND STATE VANGUARD

VOLUME 72 • ISSUE 28 • MAY 8, 2018

NEWS

NEUBERGER MUSEUM OPERATING COSTS REQUIRE COLLEGE OF THE ARTS BUDGET INCREASE P. 3

ARTS

LOCAL DOCUMENTARY FEATURES ART OF STRIPPER VIVA LAS VEGAS P. 14

INTERNATIONAL

NEW ARAB STUDENT ASSOCIATION HOSTS ARABIAN NIGHTS EVENT P. 11

OPINION

BISEXUALITY IGNORED IN QUEER AND HETERONORMATIVE NARRATIVES P. 12

HAPPY MIDTERMS!

CONTENTS COVER DESIGN BY SYDNEY BARDOLE

NEWS NEUBERGER ART MUSEUM DRAWS BUDGET CONCERNS

P. 3

OPINION SEPARATING ART FROM ARTIST

P. 12

RAHMAT SHOURESHI’S INAUGURATION AS PSU PRESIDENT

MAY DAY CELEBRATION HIGHLIGHTS IMMIGRANT, WORKERS’ RIGHTS

P. 4

‘YOU’RE JUST EXPERIMENTING’

P. 12

P. 5

OHSU STUDY SHOWS SOME RELIEF FOR OPIOID EPIDEMIC

P. 5

VIKING VOICES WHY PSU-AAUP MUST BARGAIN OVER POLICY

P. 13

COVER REVERSING THE PIPELINE: PSU PROGRAM TO ENROLL OREGON INMATES

P. 8–9

ARTS & CULTURE WEEKLY PLAYLIST

P. 14

INTERNATIONAL THIS WEEK AROUND THE WORLD

THE VIVA PROJECT

P. 14

P. 6–7

INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE DAY

P. 15

HIKIKOMORI: JAPAN’S MISSING MILLION

P. 10

BRAZIL’S UNCERTAIN FUTURE

P. 11

SPORTS VIKING SNAPSHOT

P. 15

EVENTS CALENDAR

P. 16

PSU ARAB STUDENT ASSOCIATION KICKS OFF FIRST ARABIAN NIGHT EVENT P. 11

STAFF EDIT ORI A L EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Evan Smiley MANAGING EDITOR Danielle Horn NEWS EDITORS Anna Williams Fiona Spring INTERNATIONAL EDITOR Marena Riggan ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Alanna Madden OPINION EDITOR Nada Sewidan ONLINE EDITOR A.M. LaVey

COPY CHIEF Missy Hannen COPY EDITORS Molly MacGilbert Jesika Westbrook CONTRIBUTORS Reem Alkattan Lukas Amsden Adam Bruns Rebecca Capurso Cory Elia Jake Johnson Molly MacGilbert Brad Nichols Nathan O’kin Eva Park Katherine Piwonka Taylor Such Skyler Weissenfluh

PHO T O & MULTIMEDI A PHOTO EDITOR Brian McGloin MULTIMEDIA MANAGER Emma Josephson

DESIGNERS Lisa Kohn Leah Maldonado Kailyn Neidetcher Jenny Vu

PHOTOGRAPHERS & VIDEOGRAPHERS Li Chun Wu

M A R K E TING & DIS T RIBU TION DISTRIBUTION & MARKETING MANAGER Danielle Horn

CR E ATI V E DIR EC TION & DE SIGN CREATIVE DIRECTOR Sydney Bardole

T ECHNOL OGY & W EB SIT E STUDENT MEDIA TECHNOLOGY ADVISOR Corrine Nightingale

LEAD DESIGNER Robby Day Chloe Kendall

T ECHNOL OGY A S SIS TA N T S Damaris Dusciuc Long V. Nguyen Annie Ton

A DV ISING & ACCOUN TING COORDINATOR OF STUDENT MEDIA Reaz Mahmood STUDENT MEDIA ACCOUNTANT Sheri Pitcher To contact Portland State Vanguard, email info@psuvanguard.com MIS SION S TAT EMEN T 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 quality, hands-on journalism education and a number of skills highly valued in today’s job market.

A BOU T 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 Tuesdays and online 24/7 at psuvanguard.com Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @psuvanguard for multimedia content and breaking news.

NEWS

NEUBERGER ART MUSEUM DRAWS BUDGET CONCERNS

STAFFING MUSEUM WILL REQUIRE COTA BUDGET INCREASE OR PRIVATE DONATIONS REEM ALKATTAN By the time construction finishes on Portland State’s Neuberger Hall in 2019, the university will have its first art museum. The 7,500 square foot museum is a condition of real estate magnate Jordan Schnitzer’s $5 million donation to the Neuberger renovation and will feature art from PSU students, Schnitzer’s private print collection and regional and international artists chosen by a curator.

The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art will occupy parts of the basement and first floor of Neuberger and feature climate control technology to accommodate for multisensory and multimedia collections.

This will be the Schnitzer Family Foundation’s third university museum, with two already in place at Washington State University and University of Oregon.

Schnitzer told the PSU Foundation in June he believes every student should make visiting an art museum part of their campus life. “By helping create the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU, my goal of every PSU student—all 27,229 of them—visiting the museum often will become

a reality,” Schnitzer said. “Hopefully, they will become wonderful art and cultural leaders in our community and across this state and nation.”

The Oregon Legislature approved $60 million in public bonds to complete the Neuberger renovation, and the total expected cost is $70 million. The remaining $5 million not covered by Schnitzer will come from other philanthropists.

The cost of running the museum might carry a hefty price tag as well, but it’s not yet completely clear how or who will pay those costs.

“A consultant was recently hired by the dean of the College of the Arts to help us determine how the museum will operate,” said Associate Vice President for Planning, Construction and Real Estate Dan Zalkow. “The study they are doing will help the university determine what resources will be needed to operate the museum.”

At a press conference on March 16, PSU President Rahmat Shoureshi said he heard from a COTA representative it could cost $750,000 a year to staff the museum. Shoureshi said he

was skeptical the cost had to be that high and the main hiring concern, a curator, could start out as a part-time position. “[The museum] is not going to be a burden on COTA,” Shoureshi said during the March press conference. He added the university is hunting behind-the-scenes for private donors for the curator position, so funds don’t have to come from within the university.

Otherwise, he added at a press conference on April 27, the university will look at ways to increase COTA’s future budget.

“After all, it is the museum within COTA,” Shoureshi said, adding, “It could be that during the first year we have to invest either from the academic affairs side [or from potential donors].”

Shoureshi stressed that the museum will bring more community members to campus, which could mean more investments in the university’s future.

“The more ways we can bring the community into PSU and see what PSU does,” Shoureshi said, “it makes it a lot easier for us to then go and ask for support [for] PSU and PSU students.”

ASPSU ANNOUNCES ELECTION RESULTS FIONA SPRING

Associated Students of Portland State University announced the results of the 2018 student government elections at noon on Friday, May 4 in the Simon Benson House. Voter turnout was down from last year: a total of 981 votes were cast— approximately 3.5 percent of the student body—compared to 1369 votes, or 4.7 percent last year.

Students elected Luis Balderas Villagrana and Lelani Lealiiee ASPSU president and vice president, respectively. Both candidates ran unopposed. Student Fee Committee seats went to Violet Gibson, Isatou Jallow, Tristin Crum, Jose Rojas-Fallas, Jake Schlack, Willis Homann and former ASPSU Vice President Donald Thompson III. Candidates Julieta Castro, Emily Korte, Hakan Kutgun, Antonio Levia, Fatima Preciado Mendoza, Gregory Retz, Gavin Schneider, Roosevelt Sowka, Camilo Abreu Assad, Nathaniel Torry-Schrag, Patrick Meadors, Isaac Harper,

Gabriel Loyd, Jaleesa Gonzales, Kaden Burdick and Mason Mimi Yadira were elected to ASPSU senate.

Students also voted in favor of a referendum to amend ASPSU’s constitution by a margin of 894-76. According to ASPSU’s voter pamphlet, proposed constitutional changes include removal of the president, vice president and executive directors from the voting rolls of the student senate; addition of a presidential veto power; installation of the vice president as the permanent senate chair and clarification of language surrounding academic ineligibility and impeachment for ASPSU representatives.

Students interested in more information on election results, candidates or constitutional amendments should consult ASPSU’s website, Facebook page, Twitter or official 2018 voter pamphlet.

KAILYN NEIDETCHER

PSU Vanguard • MAY 8, 2018 • psuvanguard.com

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NEWS

PSU CELEBRATES SHOURESHI’S INAUGURATION

NATHAN O’KIN

COURTESY OF PSU UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Portland State community members gathered on May 4 in the South Park Blocks for the inauguration of Dr. Rahmat Shoureshi, PSU’s ninth president. The event began at 9 a.m. with a procession from the South Park Blocks to the newly built Viking Pavilion, where guests gathered to share stories about Shoureshi’s past accomplishments, as well as PSU’s importance to the local community.

Many speakers who presented spoke not only of Soureshi’s experiences, but of their own educational paths and experiences with PSU. Campus Public Safety Officer Marcianne Jackson spoke about her own son attending PSU and discussed her experiences working on a college campus where she said community and engagement play such a large part in the education process. “Our roles are intertwined as we bring our individual talents and skills,” Jackson said.

WAN

Following PSU tradition, Shoureshi was inaugurated eight months after he took on the role of president Aug. 14.

During this interim period, Shoureshi was able to establish himself, get accustomed to the PSU campus and formulate his goals for the duration of his presidency.

Shoureshi’s goals include increasing the quality and diversity of incoming students, expanding partnerships with outside organizations and improving the university both financially and academically.

As attendees gathered in the Viking Pavilion, the event continued with a performance by PSU’s chamber choir, performing the song “Indodana” by Michael Barrett. The piece was written to reflect peace and equality—particularly in reference to the South African apartheid—and the need for understanding, movement and justice.

Shoureshi concluded the ceremony by addressing his

goals for the years ahead and reflecting on his past as an immigrant from Iran.

“It was very heartwarming for Dr. Shoureshi to share his immigration story,” said University Studies Instructor Dr. Óscar Fernández. “It resonates a lot with me. I’m an immigrant from Costa Rica, and I teach a year-long course on immigration. So it’s very reassuring to have a president who speaks our language and is aware of his own immigration story. I think that’s very telling for our students.”

Shoureshi also spoke of the entirety of the cohort he called Generation Z—referring to those born after 1995—and the inspiration that they bring to the PSU campus. “This is a generation unlike any we have ever seen,” he said. “Luckily, the vast majority of Generation Z still believes in college education. They seek out opportunities to collaborate, to lead and to solve complex problems.”

T? N E V E SE AN

I T R E V D T TO A

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NEWS

MAY DAY CELEBRATES IMMIGRANT, WORKERS’ RIGHTS NO POLICE PRESENCE OR RIOTS AT THIS YEAR’S GATHERING ADAM BRUNS, REBECCA CAPURSO AND CORY ELIA Over 300 individuals and representatives from local cultural and activist organizations, faith groups and unions gathered at Lents Park in southeast Portland on May 1 for an International Workers’ Day celebration that Portland May Day Coalition described in its flyer as “a familyfriendly celebration of community” focused on immigrant and workers’ rights.

Organizers set up information booths, led chants and entertained to stand in solidarity with allies from Seattle to Syria.

International Workers’ Day, often referred to as May Day, celebrates workers and the working class. The holiday commemorates the 1886 Haymarket affair–a strike for better working conditions with over 40,000 people in Chicago that turned fatal when police opened fire on the crowd–and is symbolic of the struggle for workers’ rights around the world. “[May Day] means people uniting together to stand against oppression, namely class oppression,” said an attendee who identified themself as Brenna. “[It’s] workers coming together, minority groups coming together, people who all believe in a common cause struggling against various types of oppression.”

Compared to last year’s protests in downtown Portland, where the Portland Police Bureau declared a riot, this year’s event felt more like a block party. Black-clad representa-

REBECCA CAPURSO/PSU VANGUARD tives from Portland anti-fascist groups patrolled the area, but there was no police presence or organized attendance by counter-protesters.

“Last year it seemed dangerous, but this year it seemed like a safer place to bring my kids so they could learn about [May Day],” said parent Niki Hernandez. “[I was] a little bit nervous [to attend]...but when I saw on Facebook that there weren’t police here, I said ‘Let’s go.’”

“I think May Day is really versatile and people celebrate it in a bunch of different ways, so I could tell that this was a call for just a gathering,” said another parent in attendance who wished to remain anonymous. “The only reason it would get violent is if the police decide to make it violent.”

Sabina, an attendee who only gave their first name, wanted to avoid comparing the event to last year. “I think you shouldn’t even talk about [May Day violence] because it feeds into this narrative that there’s a negative nature to this event, and there really isn’t,” Sabina said. “But the media [have] focused on that extensively, and I think that’s really unfortunate.”

They added, “You see all the various immigrants and the languages and the cultures and ethnicities represented here, and that’s been drowned completely because they’re choosing to focus on the riots and all that. That was something very different that happened last year.”

While the event lacked the tension of previous May Day protests, participants nonetheless expressed seriousness about their political convictions and the necessity of their work.

Several organizations attended to advocate for Filipino rights. “We know that over 6,000 Filipinos leave the country every day to find work, and the number one place that they come to is America,” said Lani Felicitas, a media liaison for Portland May Day Coalition and member of Anakbayan Portland, a group that works with Filipino youth and students. “Filipino youth often have to drop out and work, or they join the military, so we want to provide them alternatives to that.”

Other organizations in attendance included Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition, Portland’s branch of the Democratic Socialists of America, Voz Workers’ Rights Education Project and Black Rose Anarchist Federation.

Earlier in the day, activists protested the Portland Business Alliance for its endorsement of natural gas fracking projects and students from Franklin High School held a strike. Rightwing agitators showed up for Seattle’s celebration, but police only made one arrest.

“All around the country, people are realizing the importance of coming together in order to do the job of making a revolution,” said Lynn Neeley, a representative from Portland’s chapter of the Workers World Party.

OHSU STUDY SHOWS SOME RELIEF FOR OPIOID EPIDEMIC

ROBBY DAY

NATHAN O’KIN

The battle against opioid addiction in Oregon continues with newfound ambition, according to a study published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine Wednesday, April 25. Leading healthcare professionals at Oregon Health and Science University discussed the effects of addiction on patients and care providers in an intensive study focused on an addiction medicine service called Improving Addiction Care Team, also known as Project IMPACT. “I know what it’s like to see the trauma and the wreckage in your life from using drugs, but you can’t stop using; you want to stop using,” said O’Nesha Cochran, a certified peer recovery mentor and partner of Project IMPACT at OHSU. “Every day you wake up. You say ‘[I’m going to] stop. Last night was hectic; I don’t want to relive that experience,’ but then you use again and again.”

Project IMPACT aims to aid in decriminalizing addiction and work toward treating it as a disease, not a choice. These goals are echoed in the study’s title “We’ve Learned It’s a Medical Illness, Not a Moral Choice.”

The epidemic of opioid use and addiction in the United States has been an ongoing crisis for the past two decades.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the situation began in the late 1990s when pharmaceutical companies communicated to the medical research community that the risk of addiction to opioid-based pain medications was minimal.

In that 2015 alone, an estimated 2 million U.S. residents suffered from opioid-related substance use disorders, and more than 33,000 deaths were reported at the hands of opioid overdose, according to a study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Oregon has not been exempt from the opioid crisis.

According to the Oregon Health Authority, three Oregonians die every week from prescription opioid overdose on average.

Traditional opioid addiction treatment has, so far, not been enough. Before Project IMPACT, said Dr. Honora Englander, associate professor of medicine at OHSU and the study’s leading author, medical professionals reported feeling the care they provided felt careless and risky.

According to an article posted on OHSU’s website in 2016, when medical professionals addressed only the symptoms of substance use rather than the root causes, patients often

returned to the hospital multiple times for substance userelated injuries such as infections or overdoses.

Project IMPACT focuses on a new outlook, one that prioritizes connection with and empathy for people with addictions, employing people from the community who have experienced the reality of opioid addiction and using medicinal-based treatment that focuses on mitigating the effects of opioid withdrawal symptoms.

Discussing the project’s peer-based approach to treatment, Englander said, “By having peers who have lived with addiction and [are] in recovery, not only do they provide a tremendous amount of empathy and compassion and support for people, but they can really have a conversation on a different level and help people see hope.”

The study’s authors, as well as a number of medical professionals and patients working with Project IMPACT have declared the program a success. According to one participant quoted in the study, the addiction care team “[legitimizes] the fact that [addiction] is an actual disease that we need to treat—and a failure to treat it is a failure to be a good doctor.”

PSU Vanguard • MAY 8, 2018 • psuvanguard.com

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INTERNATIONAL

THIS WEEK

around the

WORLD

MARENA RIGGAN May 3 May 5

Deir al-Balah, Gaza Hamas blamed Israel for a blast in central Gaza that killed six of their members and injured three. The Israeli military denied all involvement in the blast. A Palestinian source reported to Haaretz a mishandling of explosives, and another source reported the blast occurred after attempting to defuse a dud which failed to explode in the 2014 Gaza War.

May 1

Iraq

Next week, Iraq will hold its first parliamentary elections since the government officially announced its defeat of the Islamic State group.

Among those running is journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi, who is most notable for throwing his shoes at thenPresident George W. Bush in 2008 during a press conference. Though he is regarded as a hero in Iraq, he spent nine months in prison after the incident, during which time he claims to have been tortured. Al-Zaidi is running on an anti-corruption campaign, though he has hopes to further his political career.

Paris, France May Day protests in Paris turned violent after the anarchist group Black Blocs hijacked the event.

Approximately 1,200 rioters descended on what was intended to be a peaceful rally centering on labor reforms, smashing windows, torching cars and throwing Molotov cocktails. More than 100 rioters were arrested as a result.

An attack on an elections office in the capital city of Libya left 11 people dead and two injured. Two suicide bombers alongside armed men targeted the electoral commision headquarters while officials were registering voters for elections taking place later this year.

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Two suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State group hit Kabul, killing at least 29 people and injuring 49. The first attack took place during rush hour outside Afghanistan’s main intelligence agency. The second explosion took place about half an hour later by a suicide bomber posing as a reporter, targeting medical personnel and journalists responding to the first explosion. Nine journalists died and several others were wounded as a result of the second blast.

Israel

Egypt

Tripoli, Libya

Kabul, Afghanistan

April 30–May 4

May 4

May 2

April 30

As of May 4, Al Jazeera’s journalist Mahmoud Hussein has spent his 500th day in prison after being detained and questioned December 20, 2016. Hussein is an Egyptian national jailed on accusations of defamation and fraud; however, he was never formally charged with a crime.

May 1

Mubi, Nigeria Twin suicide attacks rocked the northeastern town of Mubi, killing at least 24, though gravediggers reported burying 86 from the attack. The suicide attackers targeted a market and a mosque, making this the second mosque attack in six months. Boko Haram has not claimed responsibility, but according to Al Jazeera, they are believed to be behind the attacks.

PSU Vanguard •MAY 8, 2018 • psuvanguard.com

Israel’s national legislature The Knesset voted April 30 in favor of a bill giving the prime minister authority to declare war in extreme situations with the approval of the defense minister.

On May 1, the Knesset also passed the first of three votes for Israel’s Jewish Nation-State bill, a section of which allows establishment of Jewishonly communities. On May 4, Israel formally withdrew its bid for a seat on the UN Security Council, allegedly due to its low chances of winning against Germany and Belgium.

May 3

Saudi Arabia and Yemen U.S. special forces were deployed to the border between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, allegedly in response to a Houthi missile which came close to Riyadh. The team will help locate and destroy caches of ballistic missiles, as well as Houthi missile sites. Meanwhile on the Yemeni island of Socotra located off the coast of Somalia, the UAE has occupied the territory with troops and military crafts.

April 29

Bangladesh A UN Security Council delegation spoke with Rohingya refugees as they visited camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district. During their visit, female refugees talked about their experiences, including rape and loss of family members, while hundreds of Rohingya staged a protest. Representatives from the camp gave the visiting delegation a list of demands, including repatriation and international security presence in Rakhine.

INTERNATIONAL

April 29–May 6 April 30

New York, U.S. United States Judge George B. Daniels of the Southern District Court of New York has ordered Iran to pay $6 billion to victims and their families of the 9/11 attacks. Daniels issued a default judgement, despite the obvious complications that would ensue from Iranian representation in a U.S. courtroom. The 9/11 Commission has found no evidence of direct Iranian involvement in the attacks.

May 5

Hawaii Around 1,700 residents have been ordered to evacuate after an eruption from the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island. Though the volcano has been erupting consistently since 1983, the Hawaii Fire Department reported extremely high levels of sulfur dioxide in the surrounding area. Lava has been spewing from fissure vents forming in neighborhoods and on streets, and hundreds of earthquake tremors have accompanied the eruption, the largest registering Friday at 6.9 magnitude.

May 4

Washington, D.C. The Trump administration rescinded the temporary protected status for Honduran migrants, ordering their departure by January 5, 2020, exactly 20 months from the date of the decision. Some 57,000 Hondurans reside in the U.S. with the protected status. The administration also withdrew funding for the Syrian White Helmets, stating U.S. financial support isn’t necessary at this point since the conflict is winding down. The White Helmets receive a third of their funding from the U.S. alone.

May 1

Puerto Rico

May 3

The Philippines

Thousands came out to the streets for International Workers Day to protest the continued humanitarian crisis of the U.S. territory. Puerto Ricans protested the debt crisis, as well as the Trump administration’s failed response to the destruction caused by Hurricane Maria. About 1,000 police responded to the demonstrations, firing tear gas and rubber bullets while chasing participants away and arresting people in their homes without warrants.

The Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has beckoned all Filipino workers in the Arab-Persian Gulf back to the country after the Philippine ambassador was expelled from Kuwait. Tensions have been rising between the two countries after a Filipina domestic worker was discovered in a freezer, having been murdered by her employers.

Approximately 260,000 Filipinos reside in Kuwait. According to a 2015 UN report, almost 2 million reside in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar.

PSU Vanguard • MAY 8, 2018 • psuvanguard.com

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CENTER

FROM PRISON TO PSU RE-ENTRY PROGRAM OFFERS FORMERLY AND CURRENTLY INCARCERATED PEOPLE A FUTURE AT PSU ANNA WILLIAMS Jacqueline “Jackie” Whitt took a class at Portland State last summer that changed her life.

“Just when I thought I couldn’t be more amazed,” Whitt said of the night class she took in July 2017, “just when I thought my mind couldn’t be more blown, I go into that class, and it’s just [an] explosion [in] my brain and in my spirit. I’m just mesmerized and in love with this.”

“Wow,” Whitt exhaled into the phone, “this is college.”

Currently in her early 40s, the mother of three adult children is an electrician’s apprentice and certified Peer Support and Peer Wellness Specialist with the State of Oregon.

The class Whitt took, however, wasn’t a typical college course. In this civic leadership capstone, PSU students and individuals who have experienced incarceration worked together as peers to study the criminal justice system and systematic oppression of marginalized groups in the United States, all informed by the life experiences the non-traditional students shared.

Whitt has been in prison twice: the first instance with drug-related conspiracy charges and the second with burglary and theft charges. She most recently served 26 months and was released in 2015.

Before taking the class, Whitt didn’t know higher education was in her future. She said years of undiagnosed trauma and mental health issues, toxic relationships and poor life skills, along with a system she believes is designed to put her back in prison, meant she had no idea how she could use her experiences for good.

Whitt said the class taught her “ways to insert myself and ways to be effective in reaching an agenda,” she said. “I really understood that I am a powerful force,​and I can get things done because now I’m being shown how to do it. That showed me how I can take action with my words and ideas. I never understood that or knew that.”

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Farkac and Arthur began working together winter 2017 after Arthur led a panel discussion in which Farkac was one of five currently or formerly incarcerated people who gave testimony about how education changed their lives. “It was a very well attended and there was tremendous feedback,” Arthur said. “That kind of kicked off the program development for the RTP.” Since then, the influx of currently and formerly incarcerated people either seeking guidance from Arthur and Farkac or offering their help hasn’t slowed. During the 12 drop-in hours Farkac has held, she said she’s spoken to 11 students on campus and three incarcerated students on the phone.

“I have meetings scheduled on the phone with students who are currently incarcerated but will be released within the next six months,” Farkac said. Arthur added that she has gotten letters from people still in prison telling her they want to come to PSU. “We knew there was a need, but it proves to be even greater than we anticipated,” Arthur said. “So we’re really excited about building a foundation for this program and providing a real clear pathway for these folks to succeed in their education.”

COURTESY OF JACKIE WHITT

REVERSING THE SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE

This kind of reaction doesn’t come as a surprise to Assistant Professor in University Studies Deborah Smith Arthur and master’s in social work candidate Ailene Farkac, both of whom founded PSU’s Reversing the School to Prison Pipeline program together just this year.

Reversing the Pipeline offers mentorship and guidance for people currently experiencing incarceration who want to come to PSU and formerly incarcerated students already at the university.

The program has relationships with Portland Community College; Open School East, which supports high school students at risk of not pursuing higher education; The Multnomah County Parole and Probation Department; the Oregon Department of Corrections; and the Oregon Youth Authority to recruit PSU students and help them establish relationships on campus before they begin taking classes.

PSU Vanguard • MAY 8, 2018 • psuvanguard.com

Arthur has taught at PSU for about 15 years after working as a criminal and juvenile offense attorney. She received a half-time course release from University Studies this winter to work on developing the Reversing the Pipeline program, but she has already been teaching classes to those living in the prison system since 2014 when she taught PSU’s first Inside Out class at McClaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn, Ore. Farkac, who works as the program’s college navigator, experienced incarceration at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, Ore. for 22 months between 2008– 2009. After being released, Farkac completed her degree at PSU and graduated summa cum laude in 2014 as a Ronald E. McNair Scholar, in which she studied re-entry following prison.

In 2014, she completed a six-month internship at the Mercy Corps re-entry transition center. She was then hired as a re-entry navigator and soon promoted to program coordinator. Farkac will graduate in a few weeks with her master’s in social work.

WHY IS EDUCATION IMPORTANT FOR FORMERLY AND CURRENTLY INCARCERATED PEOPLE?

PSU is not the first university to offer support for currently and formerly incarcerated people. In California, a cluster of state universities participate in Project Rebound, a program similar to RTP which also offers a special admissions process for those wanting to attend college full-time after prison.

Gateways for Incarcerated Youth in Olympia, Wash. offers classes from The Evergreen State College for high school or college credit and academic mentoring for those living inside Washington’s Rehabilitation Administration facilities. Universities have offered about 300 Inside Out classes, like the ones Arthur has taught since 2014, since 1997.

Arthur said offering these opportunities to people within the prison system or reintegrating into society is important because education drastically reduces prison recidivism. According to a 2013 Rand Corporation study, those who participate in correctional education programs are 43 percent less likely to return to prison than those who do not.

Additionally, Arthur said higher education offers people dignity and a sense of self.

COVER Whitt said college offers a path for many people like her who might not see any other way out of old lifestyles, including severe poverty, domestic violence and drugs. “[Prison] really steals hope,” Whitt said. “It retraumatised the people [who] are already traumatized. It victimizes people [who] are already victims way before they think about getting out.”

She added, “When people can access better resources and better ideas, they achieve greater things that contribute to the community versus stealing and taking from it. These are desperate people who do crimes and don’t see any other way out of what they’ve done.”

Ezequiel V., a 22-year-old student currently experiencing incarceration, wrote in a testimonial that he faced suspension and expulsion repeatedly from sixth grade until he was arrested. “Like most youth in the correctional system, education wasn’t a path I thought was for me, and going to college seemed to be far out of my reality,” Ezequiel wrote.

“Graduation wouldn’t come from high school but going to prison,” he added.

Ezequiel got his high school diploma at the Oregon Youth Authority in 2014 and his Associate Degree at Chemeketa Community College. He took a community-based learning course from PSU and is now an undergraduate student majoring in sociology at Oregon State University.

Arthur said offering higher education to currently and formerly incarcerated people is not just for their benefit. People who have experienced prison make for enthusiastic students. “[This] is a large population of very talented, very bright, eager students who are eager to learn,” Arthur said.

She added that a lot of people end up transferring to University of Oregon or OSU while still in prison or after being released, which Arthur said means PSU is missing out.

“When people can access better resources and better ideas, they achieve greater things that contribute to the community versus stealing and taking from it.”

—Jackie Whitt “I feel like as Oregon’s largest public institution of higher ed, in the largest urban area

in the state,” Arthur said, “it’s our benefit and our obligation to provide a welcoming transition into higher ed for those students.”

She added, “We need to do a better job of reaching out to them and supporting them and inviting them into our campus community.”

MOVING FORWARD

Despite RTP’s recent creation, Arthur and Farkac said it has a strong support system.

Director of PSU’s School of Gender, Race and Nations Winston Grady-Willis, Director of Diversity Education and Learning in the Office of Global Diversity and Inclusion Lisa Grady-Willis, a representative from PCC’s reentry program the Opening Doors Project, and PSU Associate Professor of child and family studies Ben Anderson-Nathe have recently joined the program’s advisory board.

To make the college navigator position stable and salaried after Farkac graduates, RTP has applied for grants and attempted to secure donors for the position. Arthur and Farkac said keeping the position in place is important because students who have faced incarceration don’t always have a support system on campus or an understanding of how the enrollment or financial aid processes work when they begin higher education.

Farkac added that enthusiasm can sometimes turn into despair if a student starts taking a full-time load before they are ready.

“That’s one of the very first things we talk about,” Farkac said. “Are you stable enough in your life to take on full-time school, or what are the areas that we need to address first before you register for classes?”

Whitt said she is well aware of the need to get other aspects of life squared away before jumping into university life. She completed six years of dialectical behavior therapy and trauma therapy and has had to secure housing and build life skills to feel stable enough to start thinking about school.

She’s almost there. Now that she is in her 40’s and is beginning to experience physical limitations in her electrician work, Whitt is considering going back to college. In the future, she hopes to write trainings and policy for organizations based on tools she learned in therapy, to break down what she called the subtleties that divide in the workplace.

“If just one class energized me and inspired me the way [the PSU] class did could you imagine eight or 10 or 12?” Whitt said. “I’d just be doing cartwheels to class.”

REVERSING THE SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE COLLEGE NAVIGATOR AILENE FARKAC AND FOUNDER DEBORAH SMITH ARTHUR. ETHAN BEHEE/PSU VANGUARD

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INTERNATIONAL

引き籠もり: LUKAS AMSDEN Hikikomori—or social withdrawal—disorder first emerged as a mass behavior in Japan in the 1990s. The condition is not officially recognized by medical professionals, and there is not currently any recommended treatment, but in a 2016 survey reported by The Japan Times, “541,000 15 to 39year olds were living in isolation.” It is estimated the actual figure is above one million, and the Japanese government has been criticized for downplaying the scale of the issue.

Tamaki Saito, recognized as a leading authority on hikikomori, first established the concept in 1998 in his book Hikikomori: Adolescence Without End, interpreting hikikomori as “those who withdraw entirely from society and stay in their own homes for more than six months, with onset by the latter half of their twenties, and for whom other psychiatric disorders do not better explain the primary causes of this condition.”

Saito claimed hikikomori was not a label for a disease but for a condition or state of people with mental instability. It is debated whether hikikomori disorder is a new psychological disorder or a new social phenomenon. The Japanese Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry define the hikikomori phenomenon in similar terms as Saito.

But is hikikomori uniquely Japanese? Saito’s book estimates nearly 124 mental health professionals from eight countries—including Australia, South Korea, the UK, Spain and Italy—know of individuals in their own countries who match the description of hikikomori. In 2013, BBC published an article documenting personal experiences of socially withdrawn people across the world. While the term hikikomori is Japanese, the phenomenon is global.

A 2010 study in the International Journal of Social

WHO ARE JAPAN’S MISSING MILLION?

Psychiatry outlined the six criteria of hikikomori: most of the day, nearly every day, is spent at home; persistent avoidance of social situations; persistent avoidance of social relationships; experienced distress or impairment in an individual’s normal routine; duration at least six months; not better explained by another psychiatric disorder such as social phobia, major depressive disorder, schizophrenia or avoidant personality disorder.

However, there are no clear borders between social phobia, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, pervasive developmental disorder and hikikomori. Until hikikomori can explain the condition of acute social withdrawal and accompanying symptoms over and above existing psychiatric disorders, it is possible the term will not be used for diagnostic purposes.

SKYLER WEISSENFLUH

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INTERNATIONAL

BRAZIL’S UNCERTAIN FUTURE MARENA RIGGAN

Last month, Brazil’s former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was jailed on corruption charges in connection to Operation Car Wash or Operação Lava Jato.

Da Silva became president in 2003 on campaign promises focusing on improving the economic situation, stating, “If at the end of my term every Brazilian person has three meals per day, I will have fulfilled my life’s mission.” He left office in 2011 but was up for re-election this year with widespread public support.

Professor Shawn Smallman of International and Latin American Studies at Portland State weighed in on the Brazilian public’s perceptions of da Silva. “[Da Silva] was someone who was from a working-class background,” he said. “He was from the northeast, which was relatively poor. He worked as a shoe shine, and then he got a job as a union organizer after working in a factory, and he’s just someone who ties to the people.”

Operation Car Wash began as a money laundering probe by the Federal Police of Brazil four years ago, but has since evolved into one of the biggest scandals in South American history with elites from 11 different countries in the region alleged to be involved.

As reported by The Intercept, the charges against da Silva involve a $1.1 million beachfront penthouse apartment gifted to him during his presidency from a construction company by the name of OAS. Furthermore, da Silva allegedly negotiated backdoor deals with an executive from OAS for the oil company Petrobras. During the investigation, the executive

became a cooperating witness for the case.

However, some conjecture over the allegations remains. The apartment title was never transferred to da Silva, quid pro quo was never established in relation to Petrobras, and a majority of the case rested entirely on the executive’s testimony.

Even at the time of his arrest, da Silva continued to have support from his base, who see his indictment as an attempt by Brazilian oligarchs to re-establish control over the democratic process and reverse the economic changes the country has seen over the past 25 years.

Smallman contributed his view on Brazil’s changing economics, describing the situation when he was there in 1992. “Inflation was 1,700 percent a year, which meant if I change my money on a Monday, I had to spend it by a Friday, or it was worth half of what it was.”

A report by Oxfam announced 28 million people had been lifted out of poverty since da Silva’s first term, reducing the poverty rate to less than 10 percent. Based on data from the World Bank, Brazil’s GDP experienced an unprecedented surge during the da Silva administration, rising from about $558 billion in 2003 to $2.6 trillion in 2011.

Smallman also discussed the ways in which economic changes affected da Silva’s legitimacy in the public eye. “[Da Silva was] in power at a time when not only inflation [was] under control thanks to the previous president, but also Brazil [had experienced] really great economic growth,” he said.

“You saw a large percentage of the poor population move out

of poverty into kind of a lower middle class.”

In addition to the current unrest on the left, Brazilian President Michel Temer—da Silva’s main opponent—is also under investigation for money laundering, though he has not been arrested. With an approval rating of only three percent, Temer is the least popular president in the country’s history. After entering office, he enacted austerity measures in response to the 2015 recession.

According to Vox, all of this contributes to a loss of faith in democracy and a fear that Brazil may be returning to military rule. Da Silva’s arrest comes in the wake of the assassination of the prominent human rights activist Marielle Franco. Franco was a Black, queer woman with a large focus on police brutality, and it’s suspected her death was the result of someone with police training, if not active police involvement.

Brazil has one of the highest rates of police brutality in the world; Human Rights Watch reported in 2015 that 20 percent of homicides in Rio de Janeiro were committed by police, and 75 percent of those killed were Black men.

All of this creates uncertainty, and with neighboring Venezuela in the midst of economic and political crises, Brazil will also have to find a solution on how to accommodate incoming refugees.

PSU ARAB STUDENT ASSOCIATION KICKS OFF FIRST ARABIAN NIGHT EVENT EVA PARK The newly founded Arab Student Association hosted its first Arabian Night event at 5 p.m. April 29 in Portland State Smith Memorial Student Union Ballroom. Around 400 people attended, 100 more than the association said it anticipated.

“PSU records show that last Arabian Night was held back in 2009, but it is the first one for the new Arab Student Association that we founded last winter term,” said Mustafa Almuzel, one of six students who founded the association. The other founding students include Auf Al-Aufi, Safa Al-Dulaimi, Ali AlGafly, Yasmeen Khellah and Noura Shams. So far the group has organized smaller events like Arab Movie Night.

Although Almuzel organized large cultural nights such as Saudi Night in 2013, organizing events as a new student group presents its own challenges. “The main difficulty for us was funding because we are a newly founded group, so we didn’t have a budget,” Almuzel shared.

The event provided Iraqi cuisine, and many attendees wore formal Arab clothing such as thobes, a traditional male garment. In addition to the food, the event showcased performances by students and volunteers. The performances represented multiple traditional and contemporary Arab cultures, such as students performing traditional Saudi and Omani dances as well as a rendition of the the 2017 Egyptian hit song “3 Daqat.”

“Every person participated in this event through organizing or

ASA FOUNDERS AND LEADERS, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: AUF AL-AUFI, MUSTAFA AL-MUZEL, ALI AL-GAFLY, SAFA AL-DULAIMI, YASMEEN KHELLAH, NOURA SHAMS. COURTESY OF HASHIM AL-GAFLY performing did it voluntarily and out of love for the community,” Almuzel said. “I felt very proud to be part of this group [that] brought this celebration back at PSU to represent the Arab culture and spread happiness among people.”

Almuzel expressed hope for Arabian Night to become an annual event with more success to come. “Students were excited for it,” he said, “and we are hoping at ASA to have many students who take on future leadership roles and continue what was started and take it to another level.”

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OPINION

SEPARATING ART FROM ARTIST WE CAN STILL ENJOY ART CREATED

BY PROBLEMATIC ARTISTS LISA KOHN

MOLLY MACGILBERT With actors, entertainers, musicians and other artists under scrutiny for misconduct, addressing the age-old question—should we separate the art from the artist—has become increasingly relevant. From sexual assault to inappropriate and hateful behavior, do the problematic actions of these artists mean we can no longer appreciate their art?

Kanye West tweeted his support for President Donald Trump on April 25, prompting disappointment and backlash from many non-Trump supporters. “The mob can’t make me not love him,” West stated in his tweet. “We are both dragon energy.”

This is not the first time West has stirred up controversy, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. Controversial celebrity behavior feels all too familiar these days with the blitz of sexual abuse allegations against artists such as Woody Allen and Louis C.K. Allen’s neurotic New York love letter Manhattan is one of my favorite films of all time. I’ve seen every episode of C.K.’s FX dramedy series Louie. It wouldn’t be uncommon to find me attempting—and failing—to rap along to West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album in its entirety in the shower, exhausting my vocal chords and the hot water supply. Just as these artists’ works do not excuse their troubling behaviors, their behaviors do not diminish the quality of their works.

In his essay “My Woody Allen Problem,” The New York Times film critic A.O. Scott says that although Allen’s behaviors may be odious, his works cannot be scrubbed from the artistic canon or collective societal consciousness because they are “a part of the common artistic record, which is another way of saying that they inform the memories and experiences of a great many people.”

Some people argue that appreciating the work of individuals who demonstrate problematic behavior enables and encourages those behaviors, but if we were to boycott the creative output of every artist who has ever been a predatory creep in their private life, we would be doing the art world a disservice.

Many artistic masters have behaved in socially unacceptable— and often downright immoral—ways. Pablo Picasso notoriously mistreated women. Influential Baroque painter Caravaggio had a reputation as a violent brawler and once killed a man. Edgar Allan Poe married his 13-year-old cousin. But should controversial artists’ works be ripped from library shelves, gallery walls and the modern vernacular? Should their works be burned in dumpster fires along with their cultural importance? I think not.

Some agree with French philosopher Roland Barthes’ argument that consideration of an author’s morality is an essential element of critiquing their works. Moral questions are un-

avoidable in artistic critique, but audiences should consider the moral questions raised by the piece itself when evaluating a work, rather than by the outside behavior—moral or immoral—of its creator.

“Do I judge the film based off the filmmaker’s personal actions? No,” film critic Candice Frederick told IndieWire. “Do I judge the filmmaker outside the film? Absolutely.”

Works of art, from novels to movies to paintings, can depict shocking events and unsettling themes because they are reflections of society but not necessarily real. While those in the public eye should be held fully accountable for their actions, lines should not be blurred between celebrities’ real lives and their bodies of work. Killing works of art is neither appropriate nor adequate punishment for artists’ crimes; punishments should be dealt with in the realm of reality, not of art. Once an artwork is created and unleashed into the world, it becomes its own separate entity.

“The artist as a person should certainly be subject to rebuke, censure or penalty for unacceptable decisions in the social realm,” feminist scholar Camille Paglia told The New York Times. “But art, even when it addresses political issues, occupies an abstract realm beyond society.”

‘YOU’RE JUST EXPERIMENTING’ BISEXUAL INDIVIDUALS ARE ERASED FROM QUEER AND HETERONORMATIVE NARRATIVES

LEAH MALDONADO

KATHARINE PIWONKA No one is talking about bisexuality; at the very least, people are not taking it seriously.

Western society has come a long way in respect to embracing individuality and the free expression of gender and sexual identity.

LGBTQ+ representation in the media is on the rise, but bisexuality is often disregarded.

Bisexuality can be defined as the capacity to have romantic or sexual attractions to more than one sex or gender identity. One common concern with the term bisexual is that it only encompasses the binary male and female sexes and leaves out those who are gender nonconforming, agender, non-binary or anyone else who exists somewhere else in the gender spectrum. However, many bisexual people recognize that bisexuality can expand outside of the binaries.

In a widely cited 2015, study by Gallup, it was estimated that 3.8 percent of the United States population reported they identify as LGBTQ+. Bisexual individuals made up the largest group, totalling about 1.8 percent of the U.S. adult population, while those who identify as gay or lesbian made up 1.7 percent. Why is it then that

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bisexual people are constantly misunderstood and forgotten, not only in society as a whole but also within the LGBTQ+ community?

Bisexual people are often left out of the conversation when it comes to queer liberation and peoples’ right to freely express their own identity. They are stereotyped as being promiscuous, flighty, dishonest, flirty, confused and are constantly sexualized in media.

These negative attributes that have been attached to bisexual identities are harmful and inaccurate.

Both the queer community as well as the heteronormative, straight narrative push back against bisexual identities. They are not straight enough for heterosexual people and not queer enough for queer people.

Why is there a disconnect between bisexuality and the rest of the world? The relationship media have with bisexuality and the portrayal thereof may hold some of the answers. Bisexuality has not received the same attention that other queer identities in the media have recently. Instead, the media erase bisexuality, refusing to recognize or name it in entertainment programming media and pushing bisexual people to just choose a side already.

The two male leads in Call Me By Your Name—an LGBTQ+ focused film that performed well at the Academy Awards—have been interpreted by mainstream media as gay men rather than bisexual. Orange is the New Black has also been criticized for bi-erasure due to the lead, Piper, being called a lesbian by her husband and a straight girl by her ex-girlfriend Alex, instead of correctly identifying her as bisexual. Brokeback Mountain is another critically acclaimed queer film that depicts the relationship between two male characters who are bisexual, yet has been labeled as one of the best gay movies of all time.

These examples can be tied back to the biggest problem of all: society’s refusal and inability to recognize bisexuality as it stares us in the face alongside media’s inaccurate representations of it.

Bisexuality is not taken seriously in heteronormative, Western society, and it’s avoided in queer society. While we celebrate certain sexual, romantic and other unique identities, we at the same time witness the erasure and rejection of others. It is not the job of bisexual people to prove the stereotypes wrong. Rather, it is society’s job to alter its point of view to be inclusive and welcoming to all.

OPINION

WHY PSU-AAUP MUST BARGAIN OVER POLICY Dear Editor, The Portland State University-American Association of University Professors Executive Council is aware of recent articles and commentary published in Vanguard regarding its submission of a demand to bargain over the All Gender Restroom Policy.

PSU-AAUP stands with our trans colleagues and students, and we recognize that this is an urgent issue. We are dedicated to having this resolved as quickly as possible.

We believe that good working conditions equal good learning conditions. When PSUAAUP demands to bargain over policy change, it is to ensure that changes in members’ working conditions have the input from our union.

We believe that the best policies are those that

are co-created by administration, PSU-AAUP and Faculty Senate with input from all members of the PSU community. When this occurs we have policies that best serve the students and workers at PSU. Unfortunately, PSU-AAUP and other unions at PSU are forced to be compliance officers when university administration implements policies without notifying us, which happens often. PSU’s administration has a long history of implementing policy without notifying the community and without state law mandated input periods pertaining to policy changes.

When this occurs, administration creates an adversarial environment by violating their own policies, as well as state statute.

We often do not learn of new policies until long after they have been implemented—

usually when a member brings it to our attention. PSU-AAUP has over 1,100 members and a staff of three. Regardless of the subject matter, PSU-AAUP must police administration and demand to bargain over new policies. Without taking this action, we weaken our ability to impact policies and policy-making at PSU. Some recent demand to bargains from PSU-AAUP include: • Department Workload Policies • Portland Streetcar access • Copyright Ownership Policy • Class sizes in the School of Business Administration • Personal Mail Policy • Implementation of the new Sick Leave Law

All members of the PSU-AAUP Executive Council firmly believe in holding university administration accountable for collaborative policy-making, regardless of to what that policy pertains. When university administration does not work with us, we must work to ensure that they do. This allows us to better protect the interests of all of our members, and by extension, those of the entire PSU community.

We believe in equity. We stand in solidarity with our trans colleagues and students.

Respectfully submitted, PSU-AAUP Executive Council

Viking Voices is an open platform, rolling submission op-ed column open to all students, faculty, staff and alumni of Portland State.

Please provide your name and major or affiliation with PSU. No submissions over 600 words.

Submissions are voluntary, unpaid and not guaranteed to be published.

All submissions will be reviewed and selected by the Vanguard Opinion Editor.

Submit your thoughts, stories and opinions to: opinion@psuvanguard.com

PSU Vanguard • MAY 8, 2018 • psuvanguard.com

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ARTS & CULTURE

THE VIVA PROJECT

LOCAL DOCUMENTARY FEATURES THE ART OF STRIPPER VIVA LAS VEGAS MOLLY MACGILBERT “Thank you for supporting the arts” is Portland-based stripper Viva Las Vegas’ signature phrase when collecting patrons’ cash after her performances at Mary’s Club. It’s also the title of a new documentary about Viva, directed by Blacktop Films’ Carolann Stoney and W. Alexander Jones, which premiered Thursday, May 3 in a sold-out showing at NW Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium.

The auditorium’s location in the Portland Art Museum felt fitting, considering the artistic dialogue the film opened up and its scene of Viva contemplating nude sculptures in the museum. “Stripping is art,” she says in the documentary.

“Strippers are artists.”

The Blacktop Films team originally planned to make a documentary about a local nude-dancing contest, but that idea was quickly scrapped because, according to Viva, none of the strippers actually cared about winning. Stoney decided Viva deserved a film all to herself. Thank You For Supporting the Arts was born, and the film crew followed Viva for the next four years.

The resulting documentary strips back the many layers of Viva Las Vegas—also known by her given name Liv Osthus, her punk rock persona Coco Cobra and previously, while lobbying in court for sex workers’ protections, Lila Hamilton.

Viva is a writer; she published the memoir Magic Gardens and wrote articles for publications including The Portland Mercury, The Village Voice and The New York Times. She is a musician; she sings in punk rock band Coco Cobra and the Killers and medieval French trio Bergerette. She’s an actress; she starred in Gus Van Sant’s 2007 Cannes short film First Kiss after meeting him at Mary’s.

Viva is an advocate for sex workers; she has lobbied for their rights in courtrooms, newsrooms and classrooms. She’s a mother, which the film highlights in scenes that Jones says

make him misty-eyed. It’s also worth noting that the documentary premiere was punctuated with uproarious laughter from its audience.

Thank You For Supporting the Arts allows Viva’s identities to coexist peacefully. If viewers want to take a tour through some seedy underbelly of Portland’s erotic scene, they might be disappointed. The documentary is free of mascara-dripping breakdowns, cocaine nosebleeds and flying fists; its battles are those between Viva and breast cancer, depression and her parents’ distaste for her profession. The film does not offer any decisive moral or emotional revelation. It reveals Viva herself in her many facets. Viva challenges people to discard the singular, stereotypical stripper caricatures perpetuated by pop culture and to look at stripping in new ways—as art, as humanity, as a choice to be proud of and empowered by.

“The fact that we don’t get to hear from any other sex workers is a glaring omission,” wrote a reviewer from Willamette Week.

This statement seems to miss the point—the documentary is not so much a stripper documentary as it is a vivid portrait of a woman and her relationship with her art form.

According to a Portland Mercury article, the film’s subjects “lend emotional resonance to what otherwise might have been superficially packaged as a merely salacious ‘True Life: I’m a Stripper.’” And there was not enough room to squeeze every stripper’s story into the film because, as Jones said, “Making a movie is fucking expensive!”

“I won’t say that all stripping is art, and all strippers are artists because I don’t want to speak for them,” Viva said. “But I see artistic subtext in any performance.”

While no additional showings are scheduled for the film yet, members of the Blacktop team mentioned the possibility of sending it out to festivals. For now, Viva can be found dancing at Mary’s Bar, her memoir can be found on the shelves of

CHLOE KENDALL

ALANNA MADDEN Cardi B’s newest album Invasion of Privacy is…incredible.

That’s not just my humble opinion either; Invasion was released on April 6 at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It’s an album you can actually listen through start to finish, the lyrics are great, and it’s fun to work out to.

So, in honor of Cardi’s recent success in both music and motherhood—ahem, Coachella—this week’s playlist highlights Invasion, in addition to other songs I use for my workout playlist.

7. I Do feat. SZA – Cardi B, Invasion of Privacy (2018)

1. Rump Shaker – Wreckx-N-Effect,

10. Birthday Cake – Rihanna,Talk That Talk (2011)

Hard or Smooth (1992)

2. I Like It feat. Bad Bunny & J Balvin – Cardi B, Invasion of Privacy (2018)

CARDIO-B

“Yeah they call me Cardi B I run this shit like cardio.” —Cardi B, “I Like It.”

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8. Shabba Remix feat. Shabba Ranks, Migos, & Busta Rhymes – A$AP Ferg, Shabba Remix EP (2013)

9. Bartier Cardi feat. 21 Savage – Cardi B, Invasion of Privacy (2018)

11. Get Up 10 – Cardi B, Invasion of Privacy (2018) 12. Gravel Pit – Wu Tang Clan, The W (2000)

3. Drip feat. Migos – Cardi B,

13. Finesse (Remix) feat. Cardi B – Bruno Mars, Finesse

4. Caroline – Aminé, Good for You (2017)

14. Shimmy Shimmy Ya – Ol’ Dirty Bastard,

Invasion of Privacy (2018)

5. She Bad – Cardi B, Invasion of Privacy (2018) 6. Paramedic! – SOB X RBE, Black Panther The Album Music Inspired By (2018)

EP (2018)

Return to the 36 Chambers (1995)

Listen to DJ Salinger online at psuvanguard.com or on Spotify.

ARTS & CULTURE

VIKING SNAPSHOT

MEME OFTHE WEEK

MAY 1-6 TAYLOR SUCH

SOFTBALL

Saturday, May 5 PSU at Southern Utah Score: 3-4 (L) Jessica Flanagan extended her hitting streak.

Saturday, May 5 PSU at Southern Utah Score: 4-13 (L) Ashley Doyle scored two runs at the top of the fourth inning.

NEXT WEEK SOFTBALL

1 p.m. Sunday, May 6 PSU at Southern Utah TBD Thursday, May 10–12 PSU at Big Sky Softball Tournament

TRACK

All day Tuesday, May 8–11 PSU at Big Sky Outdoor Championships

WOMEN’S SOCCER 4 p.m. Friday, May 11 PSU at University of Oregon

INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE DAY WHY I CELEBRATE IN SEATTLE, NOT PORTLAND JAKE JOHNSON Independent Bookstore Day is an annual bookish holiday similar to the music lovers’ Record Store Day. Unlike the music industry, where you can socialize at concerts while doing something you love, the power of Independent Bookstore Day lies in the celebration of bookworms: a day where hundreds of possiblytoo-enthusiastic book lovers frantically travel the city, collect stamps and think about all the books they want while surrounded by` others who are also super stoked about books.

My partner and I started an annual tradition of attending the events in Seattle, Wash. last year, which has 19 participating indie bookstores. Why not Portland? Well, there’s only four participating bookstores, and Powell’s isn’t one of them.

For Seattle’s Independent Bookstore Day, participants are given a passport and their first stamp while visiting the first bookstore. After collecting all 19 stamps, you’re officially deemed a champion and invited to a party where you’re awarded a champion card, which gives you 25 percent off at each of the participating bookstores for the next year.

“But Jake,” you might say, “you will never make your money back with that measly discount having to drive to Seattle.” No, no I will not, but my partner really loves books, and the adventure is priceless.

We woke up at 3:30 a.m. and drove to Liberty Bay Books in Poulsbo. At 7:30 a.m., people were already in the bookstore. The staff was excited, gave us a Viking pancake, a cup of coffee, our pick from an assortment of books in a bin and “a wordsearch to fill your time on the ferry.” As we were leaving, a line of over 60 people had formed, streaming out the door with people who just crossed the ferry from Seattle.

That excitement continued all day. There were Instagram picture frames, scavenger hunts and so many stamps. The bookstore staff offered snacks and was more than happy to chat about their favorite books.

Seattle is great because it is big enough to support 19 thriving independent bookstores, such as the poetry bookstore Open Books: A Poem Emporium. On Capitol Hill, Ada’s Technical Books has dedicated itself to science, math, programming and other technical related items, such as 2600: The Hacker Quarterly and mind puzzles.

Sure, sometimes you end up at an average bookstore or in some weird strip malls, but the bookstores want you to be engaged and have a good time. Island Books is in the most unassuming exterior, but inside, they’ve got sweet old typewriters and a decent selection of books. Book Larder is a cookbook shop with

a kitchen that hosts demos by various author chefs. Even the University of Washington’s bookstore is on the list, and it’s got quite a collection beyond academics.

Portland needs to step up its game. Four bookstores don’t compare to Seattle’s 19-stop marathon. Done right, it will take you pretty much all day to complete. I ran into old friends and people we met from last year, and by the end of it, we were exhausted.

We could say a lot about Seattle’s lousy trajectory and development—R.I.P. Seattle Mystery Bookshop—but at least most of their bookstores are able to stay open. Portland is growing and leaving a lot of cool things in the dust. However, Portland also has the opportunity to leave a lot of terrible things behind. We’re still only at the beginning of a long, painful growth period. As a city, we can choose to be better and embrace different and independent cultures, or we can watch the city continue to cater to CEOs’ of Nike, Adidas and Columbia Sportswear.

We can have more great bookstores; Portland State could have an amazing bookstore. We have to demand it. Until then, I’ll just keep driving to Seattle. Sorry Annie Bloom’s. I respect your commitment, though!

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COMMUNITY

FILM & THEATER

ART

MUSIC

YIXING CLAY (ZISHA) TEAPOT AND CHINESE TEA CULTURE KARL MILLER 605 6:30 P.M. • FREE • ALL AGES Chen Yan is a Chinese Arts and Crafts Master and will probably discuss his technique and approach to this traditional artform. Come learn how a modern master is making his mark within a time-honored tradition.

VOICE MASTER CLASS WITH STEPHEN POWELL LINCOLN HALL 326 NOON • FREE • ALL AGES Powell has done a ton of work as a baritone in both opera and choral performance, and he’s coming to Portland State to let you learn from him. Come boost your vocal chops.

WED MAY 9

COLORING QUEER HEROES QUEER RESOURCE CENTER 3 P.M. • FREE • ALL AGES The QRC is having fun for pride month by taking a journey through queer history with some good ol’ fashioned crayons. Get some knowledge and color in or outside the lines; it’s your masterpiece!

INDIGENOUS FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND LAND JUSTICE PSU NATIVE AMERICAN STUDENT AND COMMUNITY CENTER 5:30 P.M • FREE • ALL AGES Dr. Michelle Daigle will discuss many things including gendered forms of dispossession, violence in Indigenous communities and indigenous water governance.

CHURCH OF FILM CLINTON STREET THEATER 8 P.M.–10 P.M. • $5–8 Consumerism, colonization and conformity in United States will be explored in a series of experimental short films.

LIVE @ LUNCH PRESENTS GABRIEL WOLFCHILD & THE NORTHERN LIGHT PSU PARK BLOCKS–PARKWAY NORTH IF TRAINING NOON • FREE • ALL AGES Wolfchild was on The Voice, and this Seattle-based songwriter has since continued to making his own brand of powerful folk-rock.

6AJE—LITTMAN GALLERY 6TH ANNUAL JURIED EXHIBITION OPENING RECEPTION LITTMAN GALLERY, SMSU 250 6 P.M. • FREE • ALL AGES Littman Gallery brings in local writer and culture maker Coco Madrid to join critical arts writer and multimedia artist Eden Redmond to curate an exhibition of art created by PSU students.

LOOTING AND ITS AFTERMATH: EXCAVATING EL HIBEH, MIDDLE EGYPT SMSU 238 7:30 P.M. • FREE • ALL AGES Dr. Carol Redmount will discuss Egyptian digs, ya dig? El Hibeh was one of the best sites from the Third Intermediate Period in Egypt, but looting and destruction to the site has displaced artifacts.

“MARVELS.” OPENING EVENT PORTLAND ART MUSEUM 5 P.M. • FREE–$19.99 • ALL AGES Stephanie Syjuco worked with Portland High School students to recreate works of art from the Museum of Modern Art in New York in an incredible show that questions authorship, value and originality.

MFA IN CRAFT THESIS EXHIBITION OPENING RECEPTION OCAC 5 P.M. • FREE • ALL AGES Go see what our artsy Master’s of Fine Arts neighbors on the hill have been up to with their thesis work within the fine tradition of Craft.

OREGON’S SLOW ROTATIONS CAUSES EARTHQUAKES CRAMER HALL

PSU PACIFIC ISLANDERS CLUB 16TH ANNUAL LU’AU: PRIDE OF THE PACIFIC VIKING PAVILION 4 P.M. • FREE FOR STUDENTS • ALL AGES Noho’s Hawaiian Cafe is providing some tasty eats, and there will be vendors, photo booths, activities and performances! There probably won’t be piña coladas or mai tais, but there may be fire?

A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD NEWMARK THEATRE 2 P.M. Beloved children’s books turned theatrical production. Produced with the Oregon Children’s Theatre.

JAPAN NIGHT 2018: FACES OF JAPAN SMSU BALLROOM 5 P.M. • FREE FOR STUDENTS AND FACULTY, $10 GENERAL • ALL AGES Cosmopolitan Japan writer Samantha Mariko is headlining the event that seeks to celebrate the spread of Japanese culture.

Marukin Ramen will be providing some tasty eats.

MOTHER’S DAY ALL DAY. ALL OVER. Some people say life wouldn’t be possible without moms’ contributions to planet Earth, and I’m here to firmly place my stance in agreement.

Appreciate the moms in your life. If you’re a mom, thanks for all you do!

GAMERS FOR GOOD VOLUNTEERS AT POTLUCK IN THE PARK SIREN THEATER NOON • FREE • ALL AGES Maybe your mom wants to connect with other gamers in the community, or maybe you want to show your mom gamers who do good in the community. Either way, come help feed some of our hungry neighbors.

SABROSO FESTIVAL PORTLAND MEADOWS NOON • $49.50 • ALL AGES Drink craft beer and eat tacos listening to the likes of Pennywise, Against Me!, Lit, The Offspring and Unwritten Law. Ironically, this flashback festival is legitimately catering to mothers.

HARVEST SHARE PARK BLOCKS OUTSIDE SHATTUCK HALL Bring your reusable shopping bags and pick up one of each fruit and vegetable! This free food opportunity happens every second Monday of every month.

RENTERS’ RIGHTS WORKSHOP PARSON’S GALLERY, CUPA 212 1 P.M • FREE • ALL AGES Part of our student fees go to Student Legal Services we all can use.

SLS has put together a presentation to make sure the PSU community knows the rights renters have and that SLS gives free consultations about our interesting living situations.

BLUES BROTHERS (1980)

THU MAY 10

TUES MAY 8

CATASTROPHE IN CONTEXT: HOUSEHOLD RECOVERIES FROM THE 2015 NEPAL EARTHQUAKES SMSU 294 4 P.M. • FREE • ALL AGES PSU Associate Professor of Anthropology Jeremy Spoon discusses the process of recovery for those living in hard hit areas at various phases over 2 1/2 years.

FRI MAY 11

7:30 P.M. • FREE • ALL AGES Dr. Ray Wells talks about how the Pacific Northwest is rotating at the blazing pace of one degree per million years.

SAT MAY 12 SUN MAY 13 MON MAY 14

CLINTON STREET THEATERE 7 P.M. • MAKE A DONATION • ALL AGES Go see this smooth and classic duo cruise around, and while you’re at it, make a donation to help out NICU Families Northwest.