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STUDENT ELECTIONS START NEXT WEEK p 4 News CHECK YO’SELF BEFORE YOU WRECK YO’SELF p 12 Opinion EXPLORE EGYPT’S HIDDEN MYSTERIES p 11 As & Culture FATAL EASTER SUNDAY IN PAKISTAN p 7 International VOLUME 70 • ISSUE 30 • APRIL 5, 2016 PORTLAND STATE VANGUARD THE QUIET TAKEDOWN OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION TRUSTEES: YES ON TUITION & FEE HIKE p 5

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STUDENT ELECTIONS START NEXT WEEK p 4 News

CHECK YO’SELF BEFORE YOU WRECK YO’SELF p 12 Opinion

EXPLORE EGYPT’S HIDDEN MYSTERIES p 11 Arts & Culture

FATAL EASTER SUNDAY IN PAKISTAN p 7 International

VOLUME 70 • ISSUE 30 • APRIL 5, 2016PORTLAND STATE VANGUARD

THE QUIET TAKEDOWN

OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION

TRUSTEES: YES ON TUITION & FEE HIKE p 5

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COVER BY JEOFFRY RAY, MASTHEAD BY ELLENA ROSENTHAL

Cover: Amy Duncan (right) leads a morning yoga class at the Stott Center. Duncan’s classes and other Physical Education offerings face an uncertain future.

Right: Renovations of the Stott Center for the upcoming Viking Pavilion form a key factor in the displacement of PE classes at Portland State.

Visit psuvanguard.com for up-to-date coverage on displaced student parents at PSU and pick up next week’s print issue for extended coverage.

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. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Colleen Leary [email protected]

MANAGING EDITORClaude [email protected] NEWS EDITOR Jeoffry Ray [email protected] ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Daniel Finnegan [email protected] OPINION EDITOR Brie Barbee [email protected] INTERNATIONAL EDITOR Molly Ozier [email protected]

ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR Serina Hersey [email protected] PRODUCTION MANAGER Nimi Einstein [email protected] PHOTO EDITOR Silvia Cardullo [email protected] ONLINE EDITOR Andy Ngo [email protected]

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ADVISER Reaz Mahmood ADVERTISING ADVISER Ann Roman

The Vanguard 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 those of the PSU student body, faculty, staff or administration.

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STUDENTS’ THOUGHTS ON ELECTIONSThe Oregon Student Association and the Associated Students of Portland State University hosted their first voter registration tabling event on March 28.

Students gathered around the table located in the Park Blocks around noon to register for the first time or reregister to change their address, name, party affiliation and so on. OSA student volunteers and staff assisted students in the process.

Students who attended the event were asked three questions:

1. Do you know what the ASPSU is and what it does?2. Will you be voting in the student elections?3. What comments do you have about general elections?

Steven PonecMajor: Art Practices1. “A little bit. I know they represent the students at

PSU and just by interacting with them I know they do the voter registration. That’s kind of about it.”

2. “Maybe. It depends how much information I know and if it will make a difference.”

3. “There’s so many things I can say. I’m sure people have said this already, but Trump is a horrible, racist, xenophobic person. Go Bernie.”

Meghan FieldMajor: Geography1. “I know that they enter my classes once a year

and ask us to register to vote. I haven’t seen them in my classes this year so I’m glad they have a table out in the Park Blocks so I can register to vote.”

2. “No because I graduate in June.”3. “I think it’s really important to be educated

about who you vote for. Don’t just vote because popular media give this image about who’s right and who’s wrong. See what feels right with you. It really frustrates me how ignorant people can be toward this national election. As I get older, I noticed how influenced the younger generations are by others.”

Erin CorbinMajor: Psychology1. “They help out with differ-

ent problems and issues at Portland State.”

2. “I usually don’t because it’s not on my priority list.”

3. “I think it’s interesting who’s running.”

Cesar MaldonadoMajor: Liberal Studies1. “No.”2. “No.”3. “I don’t think it matters more who wins

the presidential elections, as long as we elect dependable congresswomen and

SERINA HERSEY

SERINA HERSEY

ASPSU ELECTIONS: HIGH HOPES FOR VOTER TURNOUTThe Associated Students of Portland State Univer-sity are partnering with the Oregon Student Association and other organizations to prepare for student govern-ment elections with a focus in student voter turnout.

The student government elections have had an average 5 percent voter turnout since 1994. Turnout fell as low as 2 percent in 2013—569 stu-dents voted out of the 29,000 enrolled that year.

“Student government elec-tion [turnout] has been typ-ically low, and a lot of that is because this is a commuter campus and there are a lot of folks that have families and jobs, that don’t have a lot of time to focus on what’s hap-pening here on campus,” said Jessie Spinney, OSA campus organizer at PSU.

Despite the low turnout, the years with referendums on the ballot have a spike, with almost 9 percent of the student body voting in 2004 for the refer-endum to pass the Student Rec Center fee. This year, stu-dent voters will weigh in on the Smith Memorial Student Union 2020 referendum, a proposal to fund reconstruc-tion of the existing SMSU.

“We want to have weight on that referendum,” said

Candace Avalos, coordinator of student government rela-tions and Greek life advisor. “If overwhelmingly students want it, it has some weight when we give to the president saying we want to impose this fee to build a new student union.”

ASPSU’s goal for this year’s election is to get a 10 per-cent turnout, which is around 3,000 students.

Working out of the ASPSU office, OSA is hosting the Vote OR Vote campaign. OSA vol-unteers will table on campus and visit classes to register would-be voters. They will also speak to students about voting in the student govern-ment elections.

“There’s so many things a student has to do in their daily life and it’s really hard to find time to vote,” said Zia Laboff, OSA volunteer and ASPSU senate candidate. “We’re just trying to make it easier for people.”

Liela Forbes, currently legis-lative affairs director for ASPSU and also running for ASPSU president, heads the Vote OR Vote campaign as part of the Civic Engagement Initiative.

“With the excitement around elections, we’re also saying, ‘Hey, it’s time to de-cide also who is going to rep-resent you on campus,’”

Forbes said. In addition to working with

the OSA, ASPSU is live elec-tion polling in the Park Blocks on April 14 and April 16. Portland State Professional Sound will be providing live music, and free food will be available at polling stations.

ASPSU will be hosting candidate debates on April 6 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Parkway North.

ASPSU works on both a statewide level at the capi-tol and locally with the Board of Trustees. They helped pass the initiative to put bal-lot boxes on campus and in-creased support for the Oregon Promise Community College Initiative.

Forbes pointed to student involvement in getting ballot boxes placed on campus.

“We can’t let that work slow down,” Forbes said. “We need students to recognize what’s at stake, and turn out to vote so that the people who are elected are the ones rep-resenting them.”

Polls for the student elec-tions will open on April 11, and close on April 27. They will be located in between SMSU and Neuberger Hall. Free donuts will be provided.

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

3,000

1,000

10,000

20,000

28,000

NUMBER OF VOTES

TOTAL STUDENT ENROLLMENT

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1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

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2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

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2015

1%

10%

PERCENTAGES OF STUDENTS VOTING IN ASPSU ELECTIONS BY YEAR

ASPSU ELECTIONS VOTING BY YEAR (1994–2015)

GRAPH BY RACHEL GOLDSTEIN, PHOTOS BY SERINA HERSEY/PSU VANGUARDVanguard • APRIL 5, 2016 • psuvanguard.com4

NEWS

DESPITE PROTEST AND INTERRUPTION, BOARD APPROVES TUITION AND FEE INCREASECOLLEEN LEARY

Amidst crowd protests, interruptions and heated public comment, the Port-land State Board of Trustees voted on Thursday to in-crease 2016–17 tuition and mandatory fees by 3.7 per-cent for resident undergrad-uate students.

This translates to a $101 per term increase for resident undergraduate students en-rolled in 15 credits per term. Nonresident undergraduate tuition and fee rates will in-crease by 3.6 percent.

“Without this increase, PSU would have to cut $6 million from the budget,” said Peter Nickerson, chair of the board.

“We understand any tu-ition increase is a hardship for our students,” Nickerson continued. “That’s why PSU needs more outside support. Oregon ranks near the bot-tom nationally in state sup-port of higher education, and we need to find alternatives that help make PSU more af-fordable for our students and future students.”

PSU President Wim Wiewel described this increase as mod-est when compared to other public Oregon universities.

Associated Students of PSU President Dana Ghazi ad-dressed the board at the be-ginning of the meeting, citing a need for better results for students on matters of edu-cational affordability and in-clusion of diverse student populations.

Ghazi shared her per-sonal experience as a student leader, graduate assistant and mother.

“I’m sharing this with you because it’s important to highlight over and over that we as students have a lot to juggle with when we are in this university,” Ghazi said. “The amount of dedica-tion that we put forward to speak with you—to be able to engage—is tremendous.”

She continued by saying she believes student involve-ment should be met with ap-preciation, not the threat of disciplinary action.

“The way I see it, they are exercising the only power they have,” Ghazi said. “We are told this is a model based on shared governance, yet we don’t see that happening. It’s obvious that the power lies in the hands of this board. They

are resisting nonviolently—holding no tasers, clubs or guns. In fact, it’s the adminis-tration and other bodies here that have the tasers and guns.”

ASPSU Vice President Davíd Martinez also ad-dressed the board, focusing on the trustees’ responsibility to find additional cost-saving resources to keep higher edu-cation affordable for students.

“Education is one of the basic instruments for a suc-cessful society,” Martinez said. “It should be available and affordable to everyone [who] wants education. It’s time to rethink how univer-sities function in society so we can [function] as an aca-demic institution and take it away from a business model.”

MEETING PROTEST & RELOCATIONTrustees approved the in-crease after moving to a sec-ond location about two hours into the meeting, as a result of disruption from audience protesters.

Board members said the protesters made it impossible to continue addressing agenda items in the original

meeting room, so they moved the meeting to an undisclosed location—later identified as a room in the basement of the Engineering Building—and livestreamed the remainder of the meeting through a link on the board’s website.

Crowd protests mainly focused on financial hard-ship for students and fac-ulty, armed campus officers and greater inclusion of marginalized populations. Many members of the crowd repeatedly shouted “Disarm PSU.” Others stood silently with tape over their mouths, which protester and PSU

Student Union member Olivia Pace explained as a representation of student voices being silenced by the PSU administration.

Protesters have demon-strated in similar ways at the previous three board meetings.

These protests were planned, as outlined in a statement issued by PSUSU at 9 p.m. the evening before the meeting:

“[PSUSU] will be arriv-ing in mass numbers to the… Board of Trustees meeting.

“This is in response to the looming vote on…the raise in tuition, the continuation of poverty wages being paid to those working on campus and the continued silencing of stu-dent voices with the growth of the campaign to disarm cam-pus security, ‘Disarm PSU.’”

After board members moved to the second location, PSUSU members released the following statement:

“In response to the admin-istrative targeting of student activists for a nonviolent in-terruption of the [Dec. 10, 2015 board meeting], mem-bers of the broader Portland community have interrupted the currently in session Board of Trustees meeting…in solidarity with [PSUSU].

“These community mem-bers will be creating space for concerned student, staff, fac-ulty and other community

members to voice their con-cerns about the corporate model being used to run the university, tuition hikes, un-fair wages for those working on campus, food insecurity, and the arming of campus se-curity without consent from the campus. We ask for media and community support at this time. Protesters will re-main in the room until 5 p.m. when the meeting is sched-uled to end.”

Upon learning the loca-tion where board members were continuing to address agenda items, the protesters followed and carried on the demonstration as planned.

In addition to the approved increase in tuition and fee rates, board members unani-mously voted in favor of a reso-lution to approve the Strategic Plan and revise the university vision and mission statements, as well as a separate resolu-tion directing pursuit of col-lege affordability and student success initiatives.

Additional agenda items and presentations were not completed, including an overview of the Office of Global Diversity and Inclusion and an orientation session for the PSU School of Business Administration, cited in the unofficial board meeting notes as “not pre-sented due to the interrup-tion of the meeting.”

PSUSU ORGANIZER OLIVIA PACE ADDRESSES THE PSU BOARD OF TRUSTEES ABOUT STUDENT GRIEVANCES OVER RECENT BOARD DECISIONS. BEVERLY FRISK/PSU VANGUARD

THE PSU BOARD OF TRUSTEES VOTED TO INCREASE UNDERGRADUATE RESIDENT TUITION AND MANDATORY FEES BY 3.7 PERCENT. BEVERLY FRISK/PSU VANGUARD

FOR MORE ON THE BOARD MEETING AND PROTESTS, JUMP TO PG. 14 Vanguard • APRIL 5, 2016 • psuvanguard.com 5

NEWS

BOKO HARAM SUICIDE BOMBERS WIPE OUT MOSQUE

KEISHA MUIA

Two female suicide bomb-ers associated with the Ni-gerian Islamist group Boko Haram bombed a mosque on March 16, killing over 20 people and injuring more than 15.

The bombing took place in the town of Maiduguri—the birthplace of Boko Haram—in two waves: One suicide bomber entered the mosque and detonated her explosives, while the second bomber waited outside the mosque to bomb those attempting to flee.

The mosque in question had recently reopened after a similar bombing occurred in October resulting in six deaths.

The militant group first drew worldwide attention after abducting over 200 schoolgirls in the Nigerian town of Chibok in 2014.

Boko Haram is proving to be resilient, although state-ments last September by the Director of Information at the Defence Headquarters, Colonel Rabe Abubakar, said otherwise.

“These terrorists have been subdued…As I am speaking to you, all the terrorists’ camps have completely been wiped out….We are making a lot of headway so people should know that Boko Haram is no longer strong enough to hold grounds.”

Similarly, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has stated that Boko Haram is “technically defeated.”

However, a report conducted by the Global Terrorism Index in 2015 suggests otherwise: “Boko Haram and ISIL were jointly responsible for 51 per-cent of all claimed global fatalities in 2014.

“Nigeria experienced the largest increase in terrorist activity with 7,512 deaths in

2014, an increase of over 300 percent since 2013.”

Additionally, 70 percent of the group’s victims have been private citizens, which has made Boko Haram the World’s Deadliest Terrorist Organization of 2014.

Boko Haram has been active in this part of Nigeria for years, and has been suspected of carrying out similar attacks in the region.

According to The New York Times, the Islamist group has increased the use of women and girls as suicide bombers.

Many rescued girls and wo-men returning home have found it hard to reintegrate into their respective communities after being abducted by Boko Haram.

Rachel Harvey of UNICEF explained their reactions, stat-ing, “There’s a fear about the re-

turning girls and women, that they somehow may have been radicalized because they’ve spent such long periods under the control of Boko Haram… we were finding that commu-nities and families were strug-gling to accept these children, women and girls back.”

Due to the Nigerian mil-itary’s efforts to eradicate the group, as well as support

from neighboring countries and the U.S., Boko Haram has been forced out of ma-jor towns and villages, and pushed into the forest.

This push has weakened Boko Haram’s ability to seize large territories, sub-sequently shifting their military focus to targeting public spaces, such as mar-kets and mosques.

Nevertheless, the strength and resilience of this group is still present, as seen by the at-tack in Maiduguri.

Consequently, the local bombings have struck fear in many Nigerians, resulting in thousands of people fleeing their homes and either living in camps running out of food and water, or with nearby friends, relatives or strangers.

MAIDUGURI, THE BIRTHPLACE OF ISLAMIST TERRORIST ORGANIZATION BOKO HARAM. COURTESY OF USER UNITED NATIONS CARTOGRAPHIC SECTION THROUGH WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Vanguard • APRIL 5, 2016 • psuvanguard.com6

INTERNATIONAL

On Easter Sunday, at least 70 people were killed and hundreds wounded af-ter a suicide bomb went off in a park in Lahore, Paki-stan, near multiple merry-go-rounds with families nearby on March 27. The attackers—Pakistani Tali-ban faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar—targeted Christian families celebrating Easter, although Muslims were among the victims.

“We claim responsibility for the attack on Christians as they were celebrating Easter,” stated spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan for the ex-tremist group.

Christians may have been targeted due to religious contention in Pakistan. In a country of 190 million, Pakistani Christians make up about 1 percent of the popu-lation. They are primarily lo-cated in Lahore. According to NPR, the community of Christians have complained that the government does little to protect them when there have been smaller, peri-odical attacks.

According to the medical staff who witnessed the af-termath of the attack, women and children were the ma-jority of fatal victims of the attack. Those wounded are

known to be in critical condi-tion. They estimated at least 300 people injured from the attack, and the death toll may continue to rise.

The Punjab government responded to the attack by announcing three days of na-tional mourning and closure of all public parks and most businesses in Pakistan.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held a four-hour meeting with his top ministers; Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif di-rected intelligence agencies to investigate the attack. The gov-ernment has made promises to identify the attackers and bring them to trial.

PAKISTAN BOMBING: 70 PLUS DEAD ON EASTER SUNDAY

YUNI CHOI

27 March 2016

Suicide bomb kills at least 75 people at Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, Lahore, Pakistan

Afghanistan

China

India

Iran

Lahore is the capital of Punjab Province and the hometown of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Sharif.

Ehsan warned of future at-tacks following the Easter bombing, “It’s our message to the government that we will carry out such attacks again until Sharia [Islamic law] is imposed in the country.” He said, “Our suicide bombers will continue these attacks.”

This is the third bombing in Pakistan this month, attesting to potential threat of Islamic extremist groups, despite the government’s militaristic ef-forts to crack down on ex-tremists in the past two years.

In 2014, Pakistani Taliban killed more than 130 school-boys in their educational en-vironment. Pakistan armed forces have increased offen-sives against Islamist militants, yet attacks have not decreased.

In another attack last year, popular Pakistani Regional Minister Salmaan Taseer and eight others were killed at his home in a bombing. Taseer campaigned for changes in the country’s blasphemy laws

to diminish persecution of religious minorities.

Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri was charged with kill-ing the regional governor and was hung. After the event, Qadri became a revered figure among Pakistani supporters.

Just days before the Easter attack, thousands of Qadri supporters came out in pub-lic protest.

Protesters marched through Islamabad—the country’s cap-ital—forcing their way into a high-security area where Parliament and the Supreme Court are located. A scene of violence erupted as pub-lic properties were damaged and police used tear gas to dis-perse the protesters.

Although public opinion is largely critical of the jihad-ists’ attacks on civilians, this protest showed the sympa-thetic attitude many have toward the extremist groups in Pakistan.

Due to the close prox-imity of events, the Easter bombing may have ties to a conflict between police and supporters of Qadri.

Other people expressed that the security at the park was too lax. There was no security at the gates and the guard at the main gate was not checking peo-ple, according to The New York Times.

In an interview with NPR’s Philip Reeves—who was in Lahore at the park on Monday—university lecturer Ammar Jan commented on the presence of terrorist threat in Pakistan, “There was a feeling that perhaps suicide bombings would be-come a thing of the past, but I think it’s hit us home last night that the war is very much an ongoing effort.”

Muhammad Usman, a for-mer Lahore police captain, said police had recovered body parts of the bomber from the scene and are trying to identify him.

Haider Ashraf, a senior po-lice official, confirmed there were ball bearings found on the ground after the bomb-ing. Investigators are trying to confirm that the attack was caused by a suicide bomb.

THIS WEEK AROUND THE WORLD

MARCH 29:

MARCH 31:

APRIL 3:

APRIL 4:

Cairo bound EgyptAir flight MS181 is hijacked by Egyptian man, Seif Eldin Mustafa. Mustafa strapped a fake suicide bomb around his stomach and forced the pilot to land the plane in Cyprus. Mustafa is currently in custody.

South African President Jacob Zuma is found liable for spending up to $20 million in public funds on so-called security upgrade on his pri-vate residence.

Associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin are found to have channeled as much as $2 billion to offshore accounts according to a leak of documents from Panamanian law firm. These documents, referred to as the Panama Papers, outlined classified information related to hundreds of offshore companies.

Greece closes its borders to nearly 200 migrants as they try to reach ref-uge. Instead, they are deported to Turkish land as the first of many boat-loads of people seeking asylum in Greece, but sent away to Turkey.

MARCH 28–APRIL 4

Molly Ozier

IN A COMMUNITY PARK IN LAHORE, PAKISTAN A SUICIDE BOMBING TOOK PLACE. COURTESY OF USERS CACAHUATE AND DGUILLAIME THROUGH WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Vanguard • APRIL 5, 2016 • psuvanguard.com 7

INTERNATIONAL

THE QUIET TAKEDOWN OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION

JEOFFRY RAY AND ELLENA ROSENTHAL

The Physical Education program is undergoing a qui-et shakeup after spring term. Multiple instructors will lose their jobs and students will no longer have the option to take certain physical education courses for credit.

The PE program, which has served thousands of stu-dents since the ’90s, will close its doors come summer term. Some classes will be absorbed into the College of The Arts and the new School of Public Health, which is a collaboration between the Oregon Health and Science University and Portland State.

More than 25 courses will be eliminated, including aquatic-based classes, and sports classes such as basket-ball and soccer.

With its green finish and a conception date of 1966, the Peter Stott Center will un-dergo a nearly $50 million overhaul to become the multi- purpose Viking Pavilion. The building looms over PSU’s athletic field and is the home of athletics programming, and the PE program in par-ticular which offers a variety of courses designed to pro-vide PE opportunities to stu-dents for credit.

The PE shakeup coincides with Stott’s closure for recon-struction. Director of Physical Education Randy Miller ex-plained that most of the re-tained classes would move to the Academic and Student Rec Center during renova-tion. A few courses, includ-ing dance, yoga and pilates, would be administered by the College of the Arts for the next year.

“The intent right now is to protect [instructors’] jobs and maintain continuity for students,” Miller said.

Miller also pointed out the challenge faced by the program through a drastic reduction in space. After va-cating the 120,000-square-foot Stott Center for a single room in the Rec Center, Miller estimates a 99.5 per-cent reduction in space going into the next academic year. He also projected uncer-tainty about the classes’ re-turn upon completion of the Viking Pavilion.

“Nothing is off the table in terms of staying in Stott,” Miller said.

FINANCIAL BREAKDOWNTo take a class through the PE program, students must pay a total of $320 plus a $50 fee. The $50 goes toward the program for everything from cleaning supplies for yoga mats to salaries for adjunct professors and instructors.

The PE program itself is self-sustained, meaning it gets no money from the College of Urban and Public

Affairs. For many years, the program had a surplus coming through its doors, according to Nikos Filis, a 1968 PSU gradu-ate and PE soccer instructor.

“We were so successful that for many years we had a sur-plus, and at the end of the fis-cal year that surplus went back to the school [CUPA],” Filis said. “The issue is now that because our enrollment is dropping we aren’t getting that fee and we aren’t mak-ing enough money to sup-port the department.”

Enrollment in PE classes dropped 20 percent from spring 2015 to spring 2016, according to CUPA Dean Stephen Percy. Percy, who came to PSU two years ago, said he and his staff considered different ways to restructure PE after being made aware of declining enrollment.

“What can we do with this [issue] if the program is shrinking away, and no longer breaking even?” Percy said.

University Communications confirmed a 37 percent de-crease in enrollment over the last four years, with stu-dents enrolled dropping from 6,937 in the 2012–13 year to 4,338 in the 2015–16 year. Media Relations Coordinator Suzanne Pardington Effros noted that the 2015–16 num-bers include preliminary data for spring term.

“Enrollment in PE courses has declined since the Rec Center opened, because stu-dents can do a lot of sports and fitness activities tuition-free in the new facility,” Pardington Effros said in an email.

Percy said he met with Miller, instructors and fac-ulty, and conducted a stu-dent survey regarding physical activity and educa-tion. The resulting decision to cancel PE courses was not an easy direction to move, Percy added.

“Rather than cut courses, I wanted to find them new life in the College of the Arts or in the new Applied Health and Fitness program, which would give these courses a closer connection to the ac-ademic programs of the uni-versity,” Percy said.

Miller pointed out that the survey, which polled 4,171 students on their awareness and interest in PE courses, seemed to be the limit of CUPA’s outreach effort to stu-dents. He also acknowledged the complexity of addressing the issues of enrollment and student awareness on a cam-pus of PSU’s size.

“There are so many balls in the air,” Miller said. “It’s hard to pinpoint where that en-gagement should have been.”

END-PROGRAMDean Percy’s name is at the end of an email sent out on Jan. 12, 2016, letting Physical Education instructors know that the PE program would be cancelled.

“When I announced that this was the direction we were moving, I invited anybody who wanted to meet me to meet me,” Percy said. “I met with four members of the ad-junct faculty, discussed all the reasons we were making the decision, and how it would be reorganized.”

Percy said he told dance instructors he was very will-ing to take their resumes to the dean of the College of the Arts, and he had good in-structors he wanted to pass onto them.

That option would prove unavailable for sports and aquatics-based instructors, whose programs will end after this term due in part to a lack of facilities with the renova-tion in process. Filis, the soc-cer instructor, is among those holding jobs to be terminated.

PE INSTRUCTORS DEVELOPED POSTERS AND MARKETING WITHOUT SUPPORT FROM CUPA IN THE FACE OF DECLINING ENROLLMENT. ELLENA ROSENTHAL/PSU VANGUARD

YOGA INSTRUCTOR AMY DUNCAN DEMONSTRATES A STANDING POSE FOR A MORNING CLASS AT THE STOTT CENTER. JEOFFRY RAY/PSU VANGUARD

Vanguard • APRIL 5, 2016 • psuvanguard.com8

COVERCOVER

“You have people here 20 years, 22 years, and all of a sudden you’re out of a job,” Filis said. “Right now I teach three classes, [down from seven classes winter 2016], and then that’s that.”

Miller shared similar mis-givings about the loss of per-sonnel to the PE shakeup. He praised the fit of the current roster of instructors to PE’s mission and expressed regret at a loss of both experience and person-to-person contact of-fered by outgoing professors.

“We’ve had 600 to 700 years of institutional experience; there is going to be a lot of that lost,” Miller said. “I’m looking at 20 to 30 colleagues that I worked with every day that I won’t see more than once or twice a year now.”

Amy Duncan is one of the adjunct instructors that met with Percy. Duncan, a yoga in-structor with 11 years of expe-rience with the PE program, spent winter term knocking on doors.

“I was trying to find a home for the department,” Duncan said.

Dean Percy remembered a candid conversation with Duncan.

“[It was] a very useful and reasonable conversation,” Percy said.

Duncan disagreed.“It had been 21 months be-

fore he met with any of us,” Duncan said. “I went to see Dean Percy with three other instructors, and it felt like we were just deflected, that Dean Percy was through with us and through with commu-nity health.”

Duncan and other PE in-structors worked to salvage the program in recent years to little effect. As enrollment numbers slipped in 2013, PE instructors postered and fundraised to update the a website in an effort to stoke student interest.

“We also had a campaign where we put up posters that said other promotional things but none of us [instructors] were skilled in marketing,” Duncan said. “We don’t have time or the expertise to figure out a marketing program to market our classes.”

PHYSICAL EDUCATION VS. REC CENTERThe move of recreational activities to the Rec Center on the other side of cam-pus left the Stott Center in the shadows. Duncan also claimed that admis-sion tours within the past

few years were not showed the Stott building until the plan for the new Viking Pavilion was devised.

“People didn’t know we were here,” Duncan said.

“We would see the tours go around, and some of us spoke up because [the tour guide] would come through with the group and only talk about athletics being in the building, nothing about PE classes.”

Duncan also met with Rec Center Director Alex Accetta to discuss options. Accetta pointed to the non-require-ment of physical education for graduation as a roadblock.

“Over the years we had of-fered some of our instruc-tional programs in our fitness and outdoor program for elective credits through the School of Community Health,” Accetta wrote in an email re-sponse. “Unfortunately, with-out an academic graduation requirement mandating phys-ical education classes the bud-get model to support activity classes did not pencil out and students choose other classes in which to engage.”

Not all students agreed with Accetta’s remarks.

Logan Evans, a junior at PSU, has taken Filis’ soc-cer classes for two years in a row and doesn’t know what his options will be next term.

“The [soccer] fields fill up quickly and it’s by teams that aren’t sharing, and this is one of the only dedicated hours you have to play soccer, you don’t just come here and mess around,” Evans said.

Pick-up games are offered at PSU, but Evans explained that it’s not the same as hav-ing a class with multiple weeks of instruction where skills can be developed, and instructors make sure ev-ery student has time with the ball.

Micha Eastman, also a PSU student, was a late-comer to soccer. He loves that his PE classes have students from every country.

“It’s a nice opportunity to meet people and to have a lot of friends,” Eastman said. “I started playing at PSU about six years ago.”

Duncan explained that the biggest difference between students taking physical ed-ucation classes at the Rec Center versus taking them through the PE department comes down to the idea that courses through the PE de-partment are progressive and sequential.

“People start out with a ba-sic information on how to move their body and then build on what they learned the last week,” Duncan said.

“Students recognize that they need physical activity, and

there’s no appointment to be [at the Rec Center]. It’s all self motivated. Here, if you have a class to show up to, that you’ve paid extra money for, you’re like, ‘I’m coming.’”

Duncan also pointed to relative level of expertise between instructors as a dif-ference between classes through PE and those at the Rec Center. Programs at the Rec Center are student-run, whereas PE instructors are focused in their field, of-ten with years of teaching experience.

“Our approach is a little different, I’m not in train-ing to do anything else,” Duncan said.

Accetta acknowledged via email that former PE instructors were unlikely to find employment in the Rec Center.

“Beyond some of our fitness classes we rely on all stu-dents to teach our classes as that is part of our mission in Campus Rec,” Accetta said in the email. “That means un-fortunately we do not often hire beyond students.”

Filis explained that the students in his soccer classes became really angry when they learned that PE courses were to be cut after this term. He also criticized the university for discount-ing student voice.

“I’d like the students to know that they don’t count when de-cisions are made, even though people say, ‘Oh we care about the students,’” Filis said.

Duncan also questioned the direction of the univer-sity PE curriculum, argu-ing that physical education plays an important role in student development.

“If as a university we are preparing students for a more successful life out-side of the university, should there not be physical well-be-ing considered which leads to mental, emotional and phys-ical health? Should that not be part of what we’re trying to do here?” Duncan said.

COURSES TO BE CANCELED AFTER SPRING TERM 2016

111 - Chen style 18 Form113 - Tai Chi 42 Forms114 - Tai Chi 40 Forms115 - Tai Chi Weapons Form116 - Wu Shu Longfist123 - Aerobics Boot Camp126 - BOSU Body Sculpt130 - Total Body Conditioning141 - Akido142 - Akido II143 - Hapkido149 - Aqua Fit150 - Beginning/Intermediate Swim151 - Lap Swim152 - Water Polo167 - Bowling168 - Advance Bowling170 - Tennis171 - Golf172 - Fencing173 - Basketball174 - Soccer175 - Volleyball275 - Stretch and Strengthen290 - Scuba290L - Scuba Lab

COURSES MOVING TO PUBLIC HEALTH EDUCATION

100 - Adapted Physical Activity102 - Gentle Tai Chi104 - Meditation112 - Tai Chi 24 Forms119 - Zumba120 - Barre Fitness121 - Cardio Kickboxing122 - Body Weight Boot Camp124 - Abs-Lower Body125 - Body Sculpt127 - Flex Fitness128 - Weight Training129 - Fitness Conditioning131 - Sports Conditioning132 - Weight Loss Boot Camp140 - Self Defense144 - Judo145 - Brazilian Jui Jitsu146 - Brazilian Jui Jitzu II176 - Day Hiking177 - Hiking the Columbia Gorge181 - Varsity Sports193 - Fitness Instruction Adapted PE194 - Fitness Instruction Personal Training277 - Flex Fitness280 - Viking Success281 - Viking Experience

COURSES POTENTIALLY MOVING TO COLLEGE OF THE ARTS

101 - Gentle Yoga103 - Relaxation Yoga105 - Yoga106 - Continuing Yoga107 - Yoga II108 - Yoga Sculpt135 - Pilates136 - Pilates Fusion155 - Salsa & Latin Dance156 - Latin & Ballroom Dance157 - Ballroom Dance160 - Argentine Tango161 - Swing Dance162 - Beginning Belly Dance163 - Hip Hop Dance

2016 PE COURSE TRANSFER PLAN

SOCCER INSTRUCTOR NIKOS FILIS IS AMONG THOSE PE ADJUNCTS EXPECTED TO LOSE THEIR JOBS AFTER SPRING TERM. COURTESY OF PSU

Vanguard • APRIL 5, 2016 • psuvanguard.com 9

COVERCOVER

THE END IS JUST THE BEGINNINGMAINTAIN MOMENTUM AFTER GRADUATION

GRAY BOUCHAT

College students live for the day they graduate but fear the day they have to find a job. Author Scott Eberwein hopes to ease the transition with his new book, Cash Your Investment: How to Leverage Your College Degree Into a Great First Job.

Eberwein had similar fears of finding work after college. In the book, he relays advice that helped him snag a job in New York. A search guide for college students, it offers more than just information on resumes and interviews.

“I really tried to put in a lot of my own personal experi-ences, my personal examples, which will hopefully make it more relevant,” Eberwein said.

He hopes that since he can relate to college students based on his own experi-ences, readers will enjoy the book and learn something

new. He particularly empha-sizes what a student should do before they graduate and begin the job search.

Besides just offering advice, Eberwein wants students to feel self-empowered. The book offers tips on how to not let the fear of the job world hinder your motivation.

“I feel like the mental aspect [of finding a job] was underap-preciated,” Eberwein said. “I want there to be self-empow-erment and motivation. I want to write a book that hasn’t been done before.”

He said he doesn’t want to reinvent the wheel by telling students what they can al-ready easily find on the inter-net. His aim for this book was to encompass all the infor-mation a college student may need within a single source.

“Awareness is pretty big…don’t limit yourself. ‘Hey, you

can do this!’ The goal was to make [the book] that one-stop shop,” Eberwein said.

His goal was to create a product unique to the job-searching world, including all the tools necessary. Eberwein notes, for example, the im-portance of finding a mentor during one’s college career in order to receive advice.

“What better way to learn about the job market or the corporate world than to talk to someone who is already out there and has already done it?” Eberwein said. “I really had to lean on a mentor to show me the ropes.”

Eberwein elaborates that speaking with someone in your career field can greatly benefit a job search later on.

The book is available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble online and most book retail stores for $19.95.

EGYPTIAN HISTORY COMES TO LIFE ON CAMPUSFRESH MYSTERIES ARISE THROUGH NEW DISCOVERIES

GRAY BOUCHAT

Egyptian history took center stage at Portland State on March 29. Dr. Pearce Creasman, director of the University of Arizona Egyp-tian Expedition, gave an hour-long seminar on tem-ples, king burials, and mys-terious connections about ancient Pharaohs.

The room was at capacity with an older demographic of an engaged audience ask-ing questions after every slide. Creasman is extremely knowledgeable about the field, and added humor throughout the presenta-tion. His interest in Egyptian culture stems far beyond just temples.

“[I’m] curious in the Maritime world…their soci-ety,” Creasman said. “No one looks at Egypt that way. We know a lot about death, but almost nothing about life.”

Creasman is experienced in archaeological research in Egypt, and has been as-sociated with UA for their Egyptian expeditions.

Two years ago, Creasman and his crew discovered a brand new temple made out of mud brick. They suspect it either belonged to the tenth

son of Rameses or his grand-father. Mysteries like this led to a flood of questions and theories about hidden and undiscovered temples.

Creasman had one main objective for the audience: “To be curious. If you’re not looking, none of this would have been found. Just be curious.”

More mystery arose in the presentation in discussion of Nefertiti and Tutankhamun. Recently, the mask that had been archived from Tutankhamun was damaged by people cleaning it. The beard had fallen off, and they glued it back on. In order to assemble the mask back to-gether, it needed to be reposi-tioned, revealing other parts of the mask.

Through this series of events, a discovery was made: There was another name on the mask—Nefertiti. This rose the question of whether or not this was originally Tutankhamun’s mask, and if perhaps the beard wasn’t originally intended. Creasman believes the myster-ies don’t stop there.

“I can’t even get my brain around how much more there is to know,” Creasman said.

“There are missing pyramids. If we can’t find pyramids, what else are we missing? There will be new discoveries all the time.”

Through his presenta-tion, Creasman shared more discoveries. Within King Tut’s temple, there is a right turn. However, king’s tem-ples traditionally turn left, so Creasman brought up the question: Why does King Tut’s turn right? Nefertiti didn’t receive a proper burial; was he buried with her? Creasman doesn’t think there is enough evidence to support the idea, but he be-lieves it creates an interest-ing controversy.

The presentation was riddled with attentive pa-trons who asked many ques-tions, and even stayed after the presentation to further talk with Creasman. He also mentioned another project that he and UA are partici-pating in: building a public library in Egypt with free in-ternet and books. Creasman believes this is the most im-portant thing going on right now, as it will help educate the people and preserve Egyptian culture.

ILLUSTRATION BY SHANNON KIDD

BROWN BOOKS PUBLISHING GROUP/2016

Vanguard • APRIL 5, 2016 • psuvanguard.com10

ARTS & CULTURE

WAKE UP AND SMELL THE BLOODSHED

Last November, as bodies lay in Parisian morgues fol-lowing the worst attack on French soil since WWII, Brus-sels, the capital of Belgium, was put on security lockdown amid imminent threats of cross-border attacks.

A Belgian national, Salah Abdeslam, was on the run from authorities, his image plas-tered on media outlets for his alleged involvement in the Paris murders.

The lockdown rent the heart of the European Union, its lively citizens replaced with armed military and po-lice. This sobering moment of isolation for Brussels’ res-idents revealed a crisis in a country that has contributed the most European fighters per capita to Iraq and Syria.

Belgians, meanwhile, share cat memes spoofing #BrusselsLockdown and de-flecting the uncomfortable severity of the situation with comic relief.

Two weeks ago, we learned that after nearly five months on the run, Abdeslam was found not in distant Syria but rather at an apartment only minutes from his moth-er’s house in the Muslim neighborhood of Molenbeek in Belgium. Some resi-dents were actually angry at Abdeslam’s arrest and a num-ber of youth reportedly threw projectiles at police.

“We got him,” Theo Francken, the Belgian secretary of state for asylum and migration, wrote in a tweet. Despite the intensity of the man-hunt that lasted months, po-lice from another Belgian city have subsequently admitted they had intelligence about Abdeslam’s address last year but failed to pass it on. Four days after the arrest, Belgium was ripped apart by bomb-ings that killed residents and guests of the city.

Politico released a damning report revealing authorities

only questioned Abdeslam for a mere hour in the days lead-ing up to the attacks. A com-munity’s collective shield can hide even the most notorious fugitive from the prying eyes of the world, and a society’s blinders can further keep us from confronting the most dif-ficult of problems.

The crisis in Brussels un-derscores our difficulty in honestly confronting the threat of political Islam, or Islamism, to pluralistic soci-eties and the people who live in them. Islamists are people who want a public political order centered on an inter-pretation of Islam. They seek to achieve this goal either through violent or nonvio-lent means.

Islamism is a 20th cen-tury theo-political movement that draws from interpre-tations of Islamic tradition and scripture, yet remains distinct from the religion of Islam. In some Muslim-majority societies today, as-pects of Islamism are merged in the institutionalized in-terpretation of Islam. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are prime examples of this, with their ultra-conservative and polit-icized version of Islam, called Wahhabism or Salafism.

The world’s first Islamic de-mocracy, Pakistan, adopted an Islamist legal framework under the military govern-ment of General Zia-ul Haq in the ’80s. Pakistan has some of the most draconian blas-phemy laws, used to prose-cute dissidents and religious minorities. Civil society groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and its various derivatives around the world also adhere to a similar, albeit milder, ideology.

Brussels is now reeling from multiple explosions that re-duced dozens of people, bru-tally, to chunks of flesh at an airport and metro station. About 300 other people re-

main in hospital care, their bodies maimed by shrapnel from IEDs detonated by sui-cide bombers who shouted in Arabic before blowing them-selves up.

With Belgium having a rather minimal record for foreign military involve-ment, some pundits and pol-iticians are discussing how Muslims have been disad-vantaged instead of discuss-ing the Islamist ideology that motivates jihadists.

The National Post’s Adam Taylor argues that “those from immigrant backgrounds find themselves at a competi-tive disadvantage on the job market.” The Abdeslam fam-ily reportedly owned several businesses and earned over €100,000 a year.

Missouri Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill opines that radicalization is a product of marginalization. Many of us deal with legitimate griev-ances stemming from feel-ings of marginalization. How does that explain the desire to kill innocents or take sex slaves in a foreign land?

It’s difficult to have hon-est discussions about the Islamist ideology when ac-cusations of “Islamophobia” and bigotry are rife. Well-intentioned people unaware of the nuances of non-Chris-tian religions and political movements are fooled by the Islamophobia meme, which often works to actively con-flate people and ideas.

As feminist liberal Muslim Asra Nomani said on Real Time with Bill Maher during the Paris attacks, “It’s almost like the world needs so much blood to be spilled to wake up.” At least 60 were killed last Sunday as Pakistani Christian families cele-brated Easter at a Lahore park. The Pakistan Taliban outshoot Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility.

Can we wake up? We must.

Moral ClarityAndy Ngo

OPINION

AFTER THE MARCH 22 ATTACKS IN BRUSSELS, THE EIFFEL TOWER CHANGED ITS COLORS TO MATCH THE FLAG OF BRUSSELS. COURTESY OF USER LECTRICEDUSOIR THROUGH WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Vanguard • APRIL 5, 2016 • psuvanguard.com 11

OPINION

OP-ED: TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR SEXUAL HEALTH

As college students, we have a lot on our minds and a lot of issues we care about, so it’s easy to forget we also need to look after ourselves. A great way to take care of yourself and contribute to a better, healthier campus and community is by taking care of your sexual health. The health of your commu-nity depends on the good sexual health practices of every stu-dent—such as getting tested for STDs and having protected sex.

There are still a lot of myths about STD testing, so through-out April—STD Awareness Month—everyone should know that getting tested is a basic part of staying healthy and taking care of their bodies.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced that cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis increased in 2014, and the truth is that STDs impact young people the hardest. Half of all STDs are contracted by people younger than 25, even though they’re only a quarter of the peo-ple having sex. Most STDs don’t have any symptoms and you can’t tell by looking at someone if they have one, so it’s impor-tant to know your risk and protect your health.

Getting yourself tested is one of the most important things you can do to protect your health and it’s easy, quick and pain-less. For example, with just a swab inside the mouth, rapid HIV tests can give you results in as little as 20 minutes.

If you haven’t already, you should also talk with your partner about STD testing. One survey found that most young people said they would be glad if STD testing was suggested by their partner and that it reflects their partner’s responsibility. And if

you have an STD, tell your partner. These conversations may seem hard to have, but open communication with your part-ner is essential to staying healthy.

Preventing the spread of STDs is crucial too. Using condoms consistently and correctly provides the best protection against STDs—and can take a lot of the worry out of sex, since you and your partner won’t be worrying about unintended pregnancy or STDs. People who use condoms rate their sexual experi-ences as just as pleasurable as those who don’t, and it’s a good way to feel more relaxed about sex and have more fun.

So this month, make a plan to get yourself tested and keep yourself and your campus healthy. Visit PPCW.org to find a health center near you for STD testing, treatment and infor-mation to help you take charge of your sexual health.

Anastasia Hale is a student at PSU and a Portland Teen Council Intern at Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette.

Smoke pot but don’t fit the stoner stereotype, e. g. for

medical, spiritual, or social anxiety reasons? We want to hear

from you! Email [email protected] and share your story

for the chance to be covered in our upcoming weed issue.

GUEST COLUMNISTSubmitted by Anastasia Hale

A PLANNED PARENTHOOD LOCATED ON SOUTHEAST 50TH AVENUE. ANDY NGO/PSU VANGUARD

Vanguard • APRIL 5, 2016 • psuvanguard.com12

OPINION

BEYOND THUNDERDOME: INSIDE THE RNC 2016

I recently came across a news story that I thought was par-ody, but now appears to be completely and totally real. That the two can no longer be safely distinguished at a glance may tell you something about the times we live in.

The story: Over 53,000 people (as of April 1, 2016) have signed a petition to allow firearms at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this July. Guns are currently not al-lowed inside the Quicken Loans Arena (its real name, I swear), where the event will take place. The petition, which is adorned with a lovingly detailed illustration of a military-grade assault rifle topped with a laser sight, states, “Without the right to pro-tect themselves, those at the Quicken Loans Arena will be sit-ting ducks, utterly helpless against evil-doers, criminals or others who wish to threaten the American way of life.”

This immediately raises questions, like: At what point have we wandered into a Batman movie? Who are these “criminals and evil-doers” and will they be wearing capes and/or identifi-able insignia? And, most importantly, if firearms are to be con-fiscated at the door, from, like, everyone, why would the good people standing guard at the entrances not also confiscate them from said criminals and evildoers? That sounds like a se-rious breach of security.

The wording of the statement also tends to conjure up images of Dr. Robotnik piloting some sort of gargantuan BattleMech, punching a hole through the ceiling of the arena to terrorize the hardworking, fiscally responsible citizens of our nation. In which case guns may be less effective than the petitioners think.

My reaction to the petition went through several stages. They were, in order: eye-rolling, followed by shock and alarm, followed by concern, and finally by a resolve to avoid the city of

Cleveland altogether this summer. It seems like the safest op-tion, and the one least likely to get me shot.

And yet, after careful consideration and consulting my col-leagues on the matter (okay, fine: “roommates with beer.” Happy now?), I think I may have a firmer grasp of the situa-tion. The Republican Party has long been dedicated to its goal of remaking the United States into something like the future envisioned by Mad Max. This is not a secret.

It accounts for most of the foreign and domestic policies of the GOP for the past 30-plus years: military interventionism, destructive environmental policies, dismantling social ser-vices, education and basically the entire public sector of our society, etc. All of this seems oriented to the sort of social and environmental conditions that made the Mad Max franchise so popular with audiences over the years.

The petitioners, it seems, have simply decided to act on Gandhi’s admonition to “be the change you wish to see in the world.” To this end the petitioners seek to recreate, within the confines of the arena itself, the exact conditions of 1985’s Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome.

To the uninitiated: In the film, Thunderdome is a gladiato-rial combat arena where disputes are settled by fighting to the death. This is, of course, to take nothing away from the usual Mad Max fare—the vast unbreachable post-apocalyptic waste-land, death, explosions, multiple battle scenes and so on. It is a Mad Max movie, after all.

And when it comes to deciding on a single nominee to rep-resent the Republican Party, it really is all about a fight to the finish. Donald Trump’s experience in professional wrestling alone makes him uniquely qualified for the event. It also prom-ises to be a refreshingly honest portrayal of the entire two-

party political system—a pro-wrestling style deathmatch by which our collective political fates are sealed. In other words, it promises to educate as well as entertain.

Creating a real-life Thunderdome in reality is, of course, no easy task. But arming all 20,562 people (the capacity for Quicken Loans Arena) would certainly make it more manage-able. And it is refreshing to see political action being taken at the grassroots level. Here we have a group of people willing to make their own convention into a microcosm of the world they wish to see, regardless of the sacrifice or loss of life due to untold numbers of shooting deaths, intentional or other-wise. Folks, this is the sort of bold political action this country needs. It is the sort of vision that has made this country great, and will perhaps, to borrow the phrase of one contender for the Republican nomination, “Make America great again.”

I suppose it does raise a final question: Why would Republicans want to recreate the world of Mad Max to begin with? What possible purpose can this serve? The petitioners have not provided us with an answer to this question. It is basi-cally anybody’s guess at this point. But then again, who am I to criticize someone else’s dream? If you dream of a world where all people have the freedom to ride around in the desert, un-hindered by things like trees and bodies of fresh water getting in the way, protected under the soothing reassurance of Uzis and assault rifles and flame-thrower guitars, then who am I to say you’re wrong?

It would be a world, after all, where anyone regardless of race, gender, creed, sexual orientation or place of national or-igin can one day fulfill his or her dream of entering the gates of Valhalla, “shiny and chrome,” to do whatever one does up there. And that, perhaps, is a future I can believe in.

Musings from the Sub-basementKevin Hadsell ILLUSTRATION BY SHANNON KIDD

Vanguard • APRIL 5, 2016 • psuvanguard.com 13

OPINION

PROTESTERS SHUT DOWN BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING

MIKE BIVINS

Editor’s Note: Article published with permission from student media publication Pacific Sentinel and Sentinel News Editor Mike Bivins.

“Mic check,” sang a woman sitting in the front row of the audience.

The 30 minutes the Portland State Board of Trustees allowed for pub-lic comment at its spring board meeting was not enough time for a substan-tial number of the 100 or so attendees crammed into the standing-room-only board room. A substantial section of the crowd, buoyed by PSU Student Union members and their allies, then rose from their seats and moved into formation in front of the board.

Going into public com-ment, board chair Peter Nickerson advised the crowd, some with duct tape over their mouths in protest, that

“there is no legal requirement for [the board] to hold public testimony at these meetings.” Nickerson also commended those who signed up to speak and noted that the process is

“not easy.”The board also notes on its

website that it chooses who is or is not allowed to speak via the posting of a list 24-hours before the meeting.

During the 30-minute comment period, PSUSU member Olivia Pace told the board the duct taped mouths symbolize “the way in which we have been silenced as students” by the Board of Trustees and administration.

As Donna Erbs—the parent of a PSU student—took the floor, Nickerson advised the group that it was out of or-der. Nickerson then called for a 10-minute break. The board would not be returning to this room and, like the winter Board of Trustees meeting before it, this meeting was go-

ing to be conducted remotely from an unknown location with a live audio stream avail-able on PSU’s website.

The community members then continued with their own public comment period, where a May 10 student walk-out was announced by Pace.

The rumor was that the Board of Trustees had relocated to an unmarked emergency communications room in the basement of the Engineering Building. Acting on a tweet by a reporter for the Oregonian, this reporter sought out the relo-cated meeting.

Campus Public Safety Office Chief Philip Zerzan could be seen positioned at the bottom of the staircase leading to the Engineering Building’s basement and so, accordingly, the board room must have been nearby. Zerzan would not tell me

where the meeting was relo-cated to and had no comment on the situation in general.

After several jiggled han-dles of random doors in the basement hallway, a door opened and an armed CPSO officer greeted me and as-serted, after inquiry, this was not where the board room was located. Carrying on, and having no success, I went back to the mysterious door and noticed the room number was obscured by a yellow sticky note. This time I knocked on the door, and it opened sud-denly. I again inquired about the nature of the room, and insisted on being let in to see what was going on. The guard, after ascertaining my identity, said to “hold on” and closed the door. It turns out CPSO had lied.

A short while later, the door opened and I was greeted

by PSU Communications Director Scott Gallagher, who invited me into what the Oregonian—the only or-ganization with a reporter inside at the time—was refer-ring to as “the bunker.” This was somewhat awkward be-cause the Pacific Sentinel was not told where the board had relocated to, with ear-lier inquiring phone calls to Gallagher either missed or ignored.

[The bunker moniker was appropriate as the various maps and security feeds did hint toward the potential usefulness of this room dur-ing a real emergency.]

The board was conduct-ing business as usual, and ap-proved a raise in tuition and fees for the 2016–17 school year from 3.3 percent to 3.7 percent depending on whether a student is a res-

ident, nonresident, under-graduate or graduate.

During another board break the students eventu-ally found their way to “the bunker” and could be heard chanting “Disarm PSU.”

At this point PSU Vice President of Finance and Administration Kevin Reynolds remarked that the univer-sity has “got enough officers to push [the protesters] to the side when the board walks out.”

This “planned brutality,” as PSUSU member Alyssa Pagan described it, would not be necessary, and after giv-ing over 1,000 signatures to raise campus wages to $15 per hour to a university rep-resentative who had emerged from the bunker, the protest-ers went on their way.

The board, after some tense discussion, also passed a motion to draft a proposal

for the board to have an open forum with PSU com-munity members.

PSU President Wim Wiewel said the board meeting had to be moved to the new location because, “it’s very important for the board to be able to con-duct its business and that was made impossible in the room where we originally were.”

The legality of this move has been called into ques-tion. The Oregonian reported that a local attorney special-izing in Oregon’s open meet-ings laws said he was unsure how the moving of the meet-ing from a public location to a private location could be considered legal.

The university has not responded to inquiries about the legality of the board meeting’s secretive venue change.

STUDENTS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS PROTESTING TUITION INCREESE AND ARMED OFFICERS INTERRUPT BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING. BEVERLY FRISK/PSU VANGUARD

Vanguard • APRIL 5, 2016 • psuvanguard.com14

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ACROSS1 See 76 A lot of fish (4)9 Used one’s brains and had

a party in Japan? (10)10 Henry needs internet ad-

dress for Chuck (4)12 Scout leader knocks back

beer and spirit (5)13 Statesmen are buried

here in northern town (not the capital) (9)

14 One suffering harm as-sociated with God? (6)

15 Scatter random plati-tudes, chiefly about Earl, to try to impress (4-4)

18 Getting rid of heroin from shiploads caused dif-ficulty (8)

20 A sweetheart catches cold in recess (6)

23 See 724 Nicaragua valley bears

fruit (5)25 You will be spotted with

this in London borough, as Cockney says (4)

26 Defeated in fight, as Blair was in two capitals (4-3-3)

27 River in centre of West Bank city (4)

28 Most excellent wine collection mentioned in popular book (4,6)

DOWN1 Recovered with medical

care, not half outstand-ing (9)

2 Without show of hesitation, pay out painter (7)

3 Advanced reading? (7,5)4 One goes to pot and is

then in hot water (3-3)5 Reveal third of plot twists

following on next page (8)

7,1ac Trounce in fight against coup? (7-10); 7,23ac Turning back (about face) (7-9); 7,11 Information obtained at the bar? (7-12)

8 Peeress exchanges parts with northern singer (5)

11 See 716 Extract from American

writer? He’s hardly Word-sworth! (9)

17 Singer in pub replacing intro to hit single (8)

19 One fishes out dude, ac-cording to him? (7)

21 Enjoying a winning streak when included in list

(2,1,4)22 Topless woman carried

by black horse (6)23 Make engraving of hunt

(5)

Vanguard • APRIL 5, 2016 • psuvanguard.com 15

ETCETERA

HOROSCOPES FOR THE WEEK OF JOHN PINNEYAPRIL 5–10

CALENDAR FOR THE WEEK OF JOHN PINNEYAPRIL 5–10

BRIDGE TO BREWS8:40 a.m.Waterfront ParkFee: $49If you’re a runner but never had the chance to run over the Fremont Bridge, this 8K and 10K event is your chance. Come run and dance to the music, groove on over to the food past the finish line, and get some free tasting tickets. Family friendly.

THE NEW ELECTRIC BALLROOM 7:30 pmImago Theatre, Main StageFee: $18–$50Did you ever see the musical movie Once? Well, Enda Walsh also wrote this Irish-themed tale about three sisters seduced by the lead singer of a mysterious touring band that turned their lives and village upside down.

NW HIP-HOP MIXTAPE4 p.m.PSU School of Social WorkThis free conversation lead by Donnell Alexander will exam-ine the intertwined hip-hop music of the Pacific Northwest with our local Portland culture and where all those influences can be seen.

ROCK CLIMBING 1014 p.m. to 5 p.m.Rec Center rock wallThe rock wall is one of the coolest things about the gym, and everyone should try it once! This is a great opportunity to meet the climbing staff, learn about safety and see just how tall that sucker really is.

YOUTH IDENTITY IN SCRIPTED REALITY4 p.m.PSU, TBDIt’s hard to remember a time before reality TV and the ques-tion of its reality or lack thereof. Professor Amanda Klein tackles the subject by looking at the scholarship behind the kinds of identities you find on MTV.

NOEL FIELDING8 p.m.Revolution HallFee: $43If you haven’t seen this British comedian’s work on the Nevermind the Buzzcocks game show, his boyish charm and energy will surely win you over.

DIVE-IN MOVIE6 p.m.Rec Center poolThe free start-of-term selection with inner tubes and food is Finding Nemo. Splash around, bring the friends you can remember and also remember to never tap on the glass. The fish hate it.

‘TAXI DRIVER’7 p.m. to 9 p.m.Hollywood TheatreFee: $9The 40th-anniversary edition of Robert De Niro’s masterful and chillingly suspenseful ode to overworked New York City taxi drivers. You’re quoting this one in your head right now.

PLANT & ART SALE10 a.m.Expo CenterFee: FreeThe homegrown Hardy Plant Society hosts this annual event in the hopes of making your world a little more beautiful without any barriers to those who love plants or art.

DINNER DETECTIVES6 p.m. to 9 p.m.Crowne Plaza HotelFee: $55–$60Haven’t you ever wanted to be part of a whodunit? This interactive murder-mystery dinner show runs right up until New Year’s and will leave you guessing, with a prize package for the winner.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6 FRIDAY, APRIL 8 SUNDAY, APRIL 10

SATURDAY, APRIL 9

•FEATURED EVENT•

THURSDAY, APRIL 7

Aries (March 21–April 19)You might find that quite a few things make you extra tense this week, but you will also have an opportunity to alleviate that tension with some welcome distractions.

Taurus (April 20–May 20)Don’t just sit on the couch and let time pass you by! Get out there and have some experiences before you look back on your life with shameful regret.

Gemini (May 21–June 21)Not just anyone could fill your shoes. There is something different enough about you that others would have trouble coming up with your ideas.

Cancer (June 22–July 22)Are you being your authentic self around your new group of friends? The flip side of pretending to be someone else is losing who you actually are in the disguise.

Leo (July 23–August 22)Somewhere in the back of your brain is a fiendish plan you’ve spent forever working on. But the ends don’t justify the means, and getting what you want will come back to bite you.

Virgo (August 23–September 22)You’ve worked all your life to be a conscientious citizen, and you’re finally seeing some fruits from those efforts. But being a good citizen may come at a cost this week.

Libra (September 23–October 23)Consider that each week can be like a mini new year. Resolve to meet certain smaller goals and watch how the mountains in your life begin to crumble into passable roads.

Scorpio (October 24–November 21)Those fantastical ideas running around inside your head would make excellent stories. Consider keeping some sort of journal to look over later.

Sagittarius (November 22–December 21)You have an opportunity this week to bring joy to someone’s world. It could be a very small thing like a cup of coffee or paying it forward, but that might make all the difference.

Capricorn (December 22–January 19)The changing of the weather will give you a great opportunity to go through some true spring cleaning. Consider donating clothes and goods to charities.

Aquarius (January 20–February 18)You’ll have to be a go-getter this week to get what you want. Sometimes instead of waiting for good luck to happen, you have to make it yourself.

Pisces (February 19–March 20)Though you might feel that this week is an avalanche, you have expert skiing experience and shouldn’t be afraid you’ll be pulled under—only afraid of what the test might reveal.

‘STAR TREK: THE ULTIMATE (MUSICAL) VOYAGE’Arlene Schnitzer Concert HallWednesday, April 68 p.m.Fee: $35–$65Sure, you’ve seen walls all over school plastered with invita-tions to purchase tickets, but you have to realize the scale of this musical venture to fully appreciate it. The Trek experience goes back more than five decades and crosses TV, film and even societal-norm lines. Mixed with iconic footage from the celebrated Star Trek brand, come see and hear some of your old and new favorites. Boldly go and purchase a ticket now!