Portland State Vanguard Volume 77 Issue 18

MISSION STATEMENT

ABOUT 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 Wednesdays and online 24/7 at psuvanguard.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @psuvanguard for multimedia content and breaking news.

TANNER TODD

After a month-long hiatus from publishing, the Portland State Vanguard is back—with an update! We will be reviving our “Letters to the Editor,” a recurring Opinion feature that publishes and spotlights voices from around PSU, as well as the larger community of Portland, Oregon.

This is a section devoted to spotlighting the opinions and feelings of our readsers, rather than the writers and contributors in our newsroom, and we welcome submissions from anyone. We’re particularly interested in perspectives related to current Portland events and community issues, as well as circumstances that impact the Pacific Northwest overall. We’d also love to hear your thoughts on stories we’ve covered—if you have a strong opinion about something we’ve reported, write us! We’ll happily read your submissions.

To share your letters for publishing consideration, email your thoughts to opinion@psuvanguard. com with the heading LETTER TO THE EDITOR, followed by your subject line.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

The Vanguard Editorial Staff

VETREST BRINGS SUPPORT AND COMMUNITY TO OREGON VETERANS

HARVESTS AND HOPE COME TO NEW VETREST VICTORY GARDENS

The birds flew over VetRest’s Bybee Lakes Victory Garden on Oct. 15, 2022, and the tomatoes hung heavy on the vines. It appeared to be the last harvest for the garden, which is built and maintained by VetRest, a non-profit organization that provides wellness and mentorship for veterans in safe supportive environ ments on land used by the Bybee Lake Hope Center for transi tional housing. Chainsaws rang out in the air that day, as a large pile of wood donated by Portland’s rotary club was intended to be used to build six fresh raised garden beds.

The wood was cut and laid to grow the garden’s capacity a little bit more for the upcoming year. The small expansion allows more room for the dual purposes of this particular Victory Garden: a therapeutic place for veterans and others to garden and a way to supplement the food needs for the recently homeless residents of Bybee Lakes Hope Center. However, this is not the only organization that VetRest works with, nor is this the only Victory Garden they are building in the Portland community.

VetRest was originally founded in Portland in 2016 by Major General Daniel York as a response to mental health crises in the military. Originally, VetRest was built with the focus of providing a safe environment to coach those veterans who struggle with PostTraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) by encouraging them to work with the soil in therapeutic gardens. Now, VetRest has expanded to the northeast, southeast, central and west regions.

The mission has also loosened from providing specific coaching to a subset of individuals with struggles, to being a welcoming place for both veterans and civilians who want to build community gardens. Those who need help with PTSD can still request mentorship, but it is more of a loose form, since it’s the working in the soil and with other people of similar struggles that makes VetRest so valuable for the volunteers and beneficiaries. York has shifted his base of operations to Colorado, but he handed the Portland chapter’s reins over to retired Lieutenant-Commander Ron White.

VetRest is expanding by building a new Victory Garden in St. John’s in North Portland. Because that area is just being prepped for future work in the spring, White invited Portland State Vanguard to the already-established Victory Garden in Bybee Lakes.

Bybee Lakes was originally built as a Wapato Correctional Facility, although it was never used. Now it has a train-themed playground tucked in the corner, a memorial garden for those who died houseless and an ever-expanding garden growing over the area that once was kept bare intentionally

“All of this area, we call it the residents’ garden, was looking like that,” White said, pointing at a scrubland. “Empty land when we first got here…that was one of the challenges of this whole thing because this was formerly designed as a prison. It was designed with lots of open space around it for a perimeter trail. These lights here are security lighting and you can see the poles here, this is where the fence was.” He indicated a concrete strip that separated the low growing plants like vegetables from a taller, more spread-out orchard.

Dotted among the obviously practical plants were several marigolds, rather vibrant even in October. The flowers served multiple purposes, both for pollinators and something the gardeners could enjoy.

“What the vision is really about is creating a place of peace,” White said. Although the obvious practical benefits of having a food source was evident, White said that the garden was designed primarily for therapeutic purposes. When Vanguard asked if that focus had shifted given the location, he said it evolved based on who VetRest was working with at the moment.

The Victory Gardens, smaller community gardens that grow supplemental food, are unique to the Portland chapter. Although VetRest has run a larger-scale farm in Florida that veterans can go work out and have more involved therapy integrated, the vast majority of their gardens across the country do not focus on food generation. It is only because of invitations from community partners willing to provide the land with food needs that this aspect developed. The original one was built in land belonging to the Bomber Restaurant on what had been a Victory Garden during World War II. When nonprofits or companies offer a location for VetRest to build a community garden, the idea that the gardens can be useful for food security appeals to both VetRest and the many partners they have worked with local to Portland: Helping Hands, Team Rubicon, OSU Master Gardeners, the rotary club and many more.

“What we’re gonna do is we’re gonna start planting for next year,” White said. “We got a little greenhouse and that’s gonna help us make it a little sturdier.” Like the six planters built with donated lumber, VetRest is preparing to assist the community by providing the tools and space to garden and the produce from the gardens.

VETREST HARVEST DAY AT BYBEE LAKES VICTORY GARDEN. CAMDEN BENESH/PSU VANGUARD

PORTLANDERS PROTEST FOR IRANIAN WOMEN’S RIGHTS

ACTIVISTS STAND IN SOLIDARITY: “I CAN’T BE COMPLACENT”

BECAUSE OF THE STUDENTS AND THEIR FUTURE. BECAUSE THIS RELIGION IS FORCED UPON US. BECAUSE OUR BRIGHTEST STARS ARE BEHIND BARS. BECAUSE OF THE AFGHAN REFUGEE CHILDREN. BECAUSE THESE ‘BECAUSES’ NEVER END. BECAUSE OF THE HOLLOW SLOGANS WE’RE MADE TO CHANT… BECAUSE OF THE GIRL WHO WISHED SHE’D BEEN BORN A BOY. BECAUSE OF WOMEN! LIFE! FREEDOM! BECAUSE OF FREEDOM. BECAUSE OF WOMEN! LIFE! FREEDOM! BECAUSE OF WOMEN! LIFE! FREEDOM! BECAUSE OF WOMEN! LIFE! FREEDOM!

Zari Santner, Iranian-born Commissioner of Design Review at the Bureau of Development Service in Portland, explained the Iranian people’s reaction to the injustice of the regime.

“For nearly fifty days men and women, young and old, all segments of society and from all regions of the country have poured out onto the streets to seek justice for Mahsa Amini,” she said. “Their initial demand was the removal of compulsory hijab, but that has led to an outright demand for the removal of the oppressive and repressive laws of the government, and the accountability and removal of corrupt people and leaders who have slaughtered their people.”

These protestors are certainly not free from persecution either. Not only have hundreds died from violent police retaliation, but the Iranian regime has also subjected protestors to severe legal punishments, from whipping to death. Babak Jabbari, a member of the group Free Iran PDX which organizes Portland’s Iranian rallies, depicted the regime’s backlash to the public’s resistance.

“Now we have 1,500 people in custody, and they’re gonna go to trial and they’re gonna be charged with treason,” Jabbari said.

Nevertheless, the resistance persists—men, women and teenagers cut their hair and burn their hijabs as public spectacle. They shout their dissent, “death to the dictator!” Thousands, from Paris to Istanbul, Los Angeles to Montreal, echo the cries of Iranian protesters. “Women, Life, Freedom” has become a mantra unhindered by linguistic or geographic constraints, an international song of unanimity. But why has the world suddenly ignited in fervorous support of an issue so seemingly distant from the democratic sphere? Why are Portlanders engaging in a foreign nation’s civil unrest?

While the political intricacies of relations between the United States and Iran are complicated, at the core of this movement is a desire for the equal treatment of women, an issue which expands beyond the confines of geopolitical borders. Deborah Kafoury, current Chair of Multnomah County Commission, brought the call home during Saturday’s rally.

“When I see the young women and men in Iran standing up for their rights, putting their lives on the line, I can’t be complacent and I can’t be quiet,” Kafoury said. “The status of women in Iran is the status of women everywhere and that is what I truly believe.”

Kafoury painted a picture of how Portlanders can help create change in this moment through voting and actively supporting positive political agendas. “Support the effort to remove Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women,” she said. “I’ve heard Vice President Kamala Harris talk about this and loudly proclaim that she is going to do this, and we all stand behind her and with her.”

said. “We’re definitely progressive, but in a lot of ways the needle hasn’t moved as far forward as we would like to think… and if you think about the Middle East or Iran, it’s even more backwards in a way. There’s such a long history of women fighting for their rights and there’s always this pushback whether it be from men, but mostly from the Islamic regime.”

Talepasand advocated for connection between women of democratic nations and women of the Middle East. “You have a lot of women being born into this regime never having that kind of memory or choice of being able to wear what they want,” Talepasand said about conditions in Iran. “So you can imagine that when technology started kicking up and these women in this younger generation are able to see how other people like themselves, are able to have a choice—to do their education, to have jobs, to be able to dress the way that they want to, they started really waking up and being like, ‘it’s time to fight back.’”

Women are not alone in this movement. In addition to Iranian women and girls, a multitude of men have joined the movement in support, and the realization that it’s a fight for LGBTQ+ rights in Iran as well has grown.

“There is this wonderful coming together now, for the same fight,” Talepasand said. “Even though the slogan and the chant is for women, it’s become more about the entire community as a whole to dismantle the regime, to basically say—we love Iran, we want to be in Iran, but we really want the government to remove the regime.”

PSU functions as a space for students to contribute to social progress. One instance of this is an upcoming event with PSU’s Task for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion group, on Nov. 30, from 12:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the second floor of FMH for a luncheon.

Talepasand said she encourages students to come and get involved. Food will be provided and the luncheon will work as a space for students to discuss what they think may be missing on campus regarding the college’s diversity, equity and inclusion resources and policies.

Students can also help with a new billboard project, created by Talepasand, for the city of Portland which is promoting awareness about matters of social justice by designing and implementing billboards throughout the city. The first billboard has already gone into effect, designed with the slogan, “Women, Life, Freedom.” Students interested in contributing to this project are welcome to attend the Task for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion luncheon.

On Saturday, Nov. 5, shouts from Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square rang out:

“Justice for Mahsa!”; “Portland be our voice!”; “Women! Life! Freedom!” The crowd brandished signs of the Iranian flag overlaid by the image of Mahsa Amini, a young woman whose brutal murder just two months ago catalyzed a worldwide feminist movement.

Mahsa Amini was detained by Iran’s morality police—who enforce a strict dress code, among other regulations on private life—for wearing her hijab too loosely. After being severely beaten while in custody, she was brought to a hospital where she was pronounced brain dead after suffering a stroke. In response to her death and the deaths of countless others like her, massive protests have erupted throughout Iran.

Jabbari built on Kafoury’s urge to vote and engage with one’s representatives. “Please, if you are voting for anyone, blue or red or whatever in the world—ask your representatives, ask the people that you choose to sit in office… not to have any dialogue, any relationship, any talks with this regime,” Jabbari said. “We need to get those people out of this country, and get some basic human rights in Iran. We deserve it. It’s been enough.”

The western world itself is far from total absolution of gendered oppression. Taravat Talepasand, Iranian-American interdisciplinary artist and professor of arts at Portland State, drew parallels between Iranians and Americans in their collective human desire for social justice and equality.

“Over the last five years we’ve seen this uprising and awareness for women in general, female reproductive rights for example, and there’s been a lot of that happening here in the U.S.,” Talepasand

Beyond PSU, there are ample opportunities to stand in solidarity with the Women, Life, Freedom movement. Free Iran PDX holds a local rally every Saturday at Pioneer Place. For those interested in participating, more information can be found on Free Iran PDX’s Instagram page.

Here the local community has come together in support of Iran and sung the anthem of the Women, Life, Freedom movement, “Baraye.” Shervin Hajipour, who wrote the song by compiling Iranian demonstrator’s Tweets, was arrested shortly after publishing it. The song’s closing lines read as follows:

“Because of the students and their future

Because this religion is forced upon us

Because our brightest stars are behind bars

Because of the Afghan refugee children

Because these ‘becauses’ never end

Because of the hollow slogans we’re made to chant…

Because of the girl who wished she’d been born a boy

Because of women! life! freedom!

Because of freedom”

MACIE HARRELD

KELSEY ZUBERBUEHLER

WYRD WAR GALLERY PRESENTS THE MARGINALIZED ART OF WILLIAM MORTENSON UNDERSTANDING THE OCCULT—AND OURSELVES

KAT LEON

Both consciously and subconsciously, humans tend to shy away from the unknown. To address our discomfort at its existence, we often arbitrarily assign meaning and ignore the things that continually remind us of our own mortality. However, there are also those in society that choose to move against this grain—to hold a mirror up to others and show them what we lose in the fight to control the unfamiliar. Those who do this are often faced with backlash and scrutiny. More often than not, their significant contributions to history are toned down and even removed from mainstream culture.

William Mortenson was one such person. There has been much criticism of his work, and he has often remained out of the mainstream spotlight. This is a situation the art gallery Wyrd War is hoping to rectify by displaying his work at its gallery in the Hollywood district until Nov. 26. In displaying his work, they hope to bring his monumental contributions to photography to the mainstream.

“His exhibition stands in part and in contrast to a current museum exhibition of William Mortensen’s works, whose curatorial efforts have attempted to mediocritize Mortensen’s legacy, and downplay the importance of his occult imagery,” said Stephen Romano, the curator for the Wyrd War exhibition and largest collector of Mortensen’s work. “To the contrary, it is my firm and unwavering belief that Mortensen was among the great visionaries of the past century,

and his influence continues to reverberate among yet another generation of artists.”

Mortenson’s work is incredibly unique, given the enormous growth of film and photography during his time. “He was experimenting with things like double exposure, which was still a relatively new artistic device,” said Dennis Dread, owner of Wyrd War. “Previously it had probably been a dark room mistake, but he was figuring out how to use that kind of thing as a sort of tool. He would take the negative, and he would manipulate it with erasers, really analog, hands-on, taking razors and pencils decades before Photoshop. And in a lot of ways, he preceded that and envisioned what Photoshop could be capable of.”

Moreover, he also leaned strongly into female empowerment through his work.

“[Mortenson] showed women in really fully empowered roles, which wasn’t totally unheard of back then, but he really centered that in his work,” Dread said. “They were fully realized, fully independently unapologetically sexual active agents in whatever the narrative is, whether they were witches or sorceresses or enchanters or spellbinders.”

This exhibition wanted to go beyond spotlighting Mortenson’s work and highlight other photographers who created work inspired by Mortenson’s. “[Romano] chose four contemporary photographers who are deeply influenced by Mortenson’s work from the 20th

century,” Dread said. “We tied it all together in this theme of using the camera lens for occult purposes. To show you or to reveal to the viewer things that might otherwise be hidden or perhaps not hidden, but looked away from.”

Occult can be a scary sounding word that causes people to steer away from the unknown.

“The occult at its simplest, most basic nonsequitur version is [that] there’s a part of life that is unseen, whether it’s our dream life that is so profoundly important to us, there’s our memory, our imaginations, our spiritual lives is all kind of part of this cauldron that we can label the occult,” Dread said. “Exploring the occult and exploring the darker facets of what Carl Jung would’ve called our shadow selves is profoundly important.”

However, more often than not, exploring this means exploring parts of ourselves that we deny daily. It means risking seeing that which we disavow and exploring the depths of who we are and the world around us. Ultimately, it is the antithesis of established society and norms, which is arguably why so much resistance to work like Mortenson’s exists in the mainstream.

“I think museums’ academic circles are still resistant to taking seriously anything that has an occult feel to it, anything that dabbles in darkness or the unknown, and anything that could be perceived as being evil or malignant in nature,” Dread said. “Academic circles still don’t tend to lean into that stuff… and it’s to their

detriment, and it’s to the public’s loss because they’re only getting certain depictions… A lot of museums have such incredible work that will never be seen by the public. They just keep it archived, and it’s great that they’re protecting it for the ages. But if it’s existing and the public isn’t able to engage with it, then is it really serving its purpose in the world?”

Mortensen’s work drew much criticism from colleagues and viewers of his time. The worldfamous photographer Ansel Adams famously called Mortensen the antichrist. While this might not be as much of an insult today as it was in Mortensen’s time, it stunted his career. Even years later, in the mainstream his work is still toned down and unknown to many, proving that often history sets the line for approved and unapproved art, leaving the audience none the wiser to the things their mind is missing.

“I think art probably should make you feel uncomfortable, and that’s something that I notice people struggle with—discomfort, especially Americans,” Dread said. “That [discomfort] means you’re alive, and you’re engaging, and maybe you’re gonna follow that feeling up with a critical thought, and you’ll begin to actually unravel something about yourself… With Mortenson’s work, I always feel a calling, like each of these pieces is calling— they’re calling our attention to something, they’re calling us to some kind of action. Whatever that is, it’s for the viewer to decide."

WITCH'S EYE: THE CAMERA LENS AS OCCULT DEVICE EXHIBITION (2022). KAT LEON/PSU VANGUARD

FIND IT AT 5TH: MYSTERIOUS OBJECT AT NOON

A UNIQUE EXPERIMENTAL FILM

This week at Portland State’s 5th Avenue Cinema—Portland’s only student-run theater— our film curators have chosen to screen an experimental documentary by Apichatpong Weerasethakul titled Mysterious Object at Noon

The 83-minute film was released in Thailand cinemas back in 2000. Due to the lack of experience Thai theaters had with experimental films like this, the film received very little attention from the public. When Weerasethakul started bringing the documentary elsewhere to international film festivals, film critics began giving it the positive attention it deserved.

Mysterious Object at Noon ’s film crew traveled across Thailand talking to the locals and filming in 16mm. The crew went into this documentary film without a script. They first asked someone to tell a story, then they would go to another unrelated person and ask them to continue where the last person left off, without telling them any of the story’s details except its ending. The final film shows these made-up stories interpreted on the screen.

This documentary was chosen for screening by 5th Avenue Cinema’s projectionist Cadie Godula. She pointed out that this is the third film they are showing in a row that is experimental. Both of the other experimental films— Decasia and In the Mirror of Maya Deren—were also chosen by Godula.

“[Mysterious Object at Noon] is a documentary in some regards, but it’s also this weird pseudonarrative as well,” Godula said. “This director, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, this is his first feature—he did some shorts before, but this is the first feature-length—and he does a lot of experimental stuff, to say the least.”

Godula mentioned that his most recent film, Memoria, another experimental film that came out less than a year ago, earned great reviews

and ratings. “It’s just a lot of slower films that kind of have a very strangely constructed narrative,” she said. “To an extent, I would call them all experimental—some more than others, but at the heart of it, a lot of them are pretty experimental in more construction, form and technique than visuals.”

“I would say this is the director’s most experimental film, from form alone—I mean, the content is innately experimental because the form is completely improvised,” Godula said. “They didn’t have a script going into this, so it’s very like ‘run and gun,’ and in that way, there’s no way it can’t be experimental.”

Godula explained that the making of Mysterious Object at Noon spanned three years in the late ‘90s, using the story-gathering game to create a story in an improvised and surrealist way. “It’s either a drawing game or a writing game, and somebody starts with one thing, and the next person doesn’t see that first thing, it’s covered, and they draw or write something else that’s kind of connected to it, continuing on without knowing what happened before,” Godula said.

“In the time of the surrealist, in the ‘20s or whatever, they did this as a game to build trust with another person and create something that everyone is a part of, but no one really knows what it is,” Godula said. “It’s kinda a strange esoteric situation—it’s fun!” The film follows that concept but has non-actors participating while being filmed.

She further explained how the film isn’t just a person standing there telling a story. “They have some people reenacting the story, so that’s what you see,” she said. “Instead of people talking, you see sort of what’s happening.”

Godula said she had not seen a movie like this despite being a frequent movie viewer. “It’s constructed in a unique way, and I think it’s a very

cool way to experiment with storytelling in a way that’s not coherent but still a narrative,” she said.

There are very few movies that can compare to this one, but Godula said it resembles slow cinema. “You can compare this one to a lot of other meandering films where there’s really no plot, but the story kinda stretches out a lot,” Godula said, going on to compare it to the films of Jim Jarmusch. “It’s like Stranger than Paradise, maybe, but if Stranger than Paradise was structured as a weird, surreal game. It’s hard to think of a similar movie because this is a very unique film.”

A film such as Mysterious Object at Noon caters to amateurs in film—those who appreciate the art of film. “Filmmakers would appreciate this film a whole lot because it really has that spirit of ‘we have one camera and like two other people, and we’re just not going to have a script and just film and figure it out when we edit later,’” Godula said. “Because really, this film came together later when it was edited.”

Godula sees many people who are into film but prefer films to stay in the classical narrative form. “People kind of get stuck if you’re a filmmaker—even as a film viewer— you get stuck in this narrative tunnel—where narrative starts like this, you have the rising action, the dip, the up, the happy ending, the sad ending, whatever—but then people, I think, get scared when it doesn’t follow that format and decide they don’t like it,” she said. “That’s fine because most films being made right now are very narrative-focused, and all follow a direct path from point A to point B—it’s the regular construction of a film.”

“With all that being said, it’s cool to see films that stray away from that completely but still make sense to some degree,” Godula said. “Even if it’s not a coherent narrative but still makes

sense as a piece of work, I think it’s important to watch films like this, or else you’re going to be stuck in that tunnel forever, but there are so many things outside of that tunnel!”

If you’ve been to 5th Avenue Cinema these last couple of weeks, you may have seen a new trailer showing all of the films featured during the term. Usually, you can expect a silent slide show of the term’s films before a screening, but thanks to Godula’s creation, you can see a more dynamic visual preview of the movies offered by the theater.

“When I started working at Hollywood Theatre—because I work there part-time—I was always very impressed with the trailers they have before their screenings,” Godula said. “They have like a monthly little trailer that’s just clips of whatever movies they’re showing, and I thought it was really cool, so I decided I wanted to do something similar.” The new trailer lets audiences see what else they can expect from 5th Avenue and gets them excited about future showings. “I’m proud of it,” Godula said. “In terms of the past, we just had a slide show going in silence, so it’s nice—we’re moving on up— we’ve got an actual trailer to play before movies.”

On Mysterious Object at Noon , Godula concluded by saying, “Films like this can really help you to think in a different way, not even just when you’re viewing media.” She said that you usually are guessing what will happen next in a movie and getting that satisfaction of seeing it unfold the way you expect, but movies like this one don’t want you to do that. “This is just a very genuine experimental film in my eyes,” she said. “I think it’s very important as a person to get your brain on a different path every once in a while.”

You can catch a showing of Mysterious Object at Noon this weekend only at 5th Avenue Cinema. Showings are Friday–Saturday at 7 p.m and 9:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.

MILO LOZA

STILL FROM MYSTERIOUS OBJECT AT NOON. COURTESY OF 5TH AVENUE CINEMA

A QUEST FOR LEADERSHIP

PSU STUDENTS SHOULD HAVE A SAY IN CHOOSING OUR NEXT PRESIDENT

It is obvious Portland State’s last president was not right for PSU. A change was necessary, and now we are on the search for the next official to lead our university. What are we students going to get from this search and what is needed?

We need an ethical president who isn’t going to misuse the university’s money and mistreat others, one who isn’t like the predecessor of current PSU President Stephen Percy.

“The Oregon Government Ethics Commission has determined that Rahmat Shoureshi, former president of Portland State University, violated state ethics laws three times in his short stint leading the school,” wrote Jeff Manning of The Oregonian. “In July 2018, Shoureshi traveled to the Bohemian Grove campground in Northern California. He did so as the guest of noted local

real estate investor Jordan Schnitzer. Shoureshi initially recorded his time as workdays. After The Oregonian/OregonLive filed a public records request seeking travel documents pertinent to the trip, Shoureshi asked his staff to revise his records to show personal vacation on those days.”

The article further reported how Shoureshi repeatedly put his own financial selfinterest ahead of our university, treated staff unprofessionally, didn’t give sufficient consideration to the views of his executive leaders and caused many more problems for PSU. This is not what we want or need from our president.

One change, which will give us strong leadership and ensure that there is no abuse

of power, would be giving more power to the students in the governance of our school. This has already been done and proven effective. At an Idaho high school, the student Shiva Rajbhandari, who was not of legal voting age, decided to run for a role on the Boise school board. As reported by The Guardian, the high school senior took on the 47-year-old incumbent and won.

In his time on the school board, Rajbhandari championed the issues of mental health and climate activism and provided a rare student voice to his school board. “I definitely did not expect I would be running for office at this age,” he said when questioned on this position. “But I just came to realize how important it was to try to establish a student voice on the school board. We don’t always get taken

seriously as students. So then it’s on us to take that responsibility on, to fight for our futures.”

We at PSU should follow this example, because with more student influence our school will prosper, and we as students will get the policies and leadership we need to make our school the best it can be. With student leadership in an active role, our university can at last get a president who matches our values, listens to our needs and meets the challenges facing our school in ways that value us as the primary stakeholders of this institution.

Direct engagement in how our school is run, from the top of leadership all the way down, will ensure a more democratic and equitable university and hopefully prevent abuses of power like those we have seen in the past.

IAN MCMEEKAN

NEO CLARK

WE NEED TO RETHINK OUR URBAN SHOPPING SPACES

CORY

Last summer, Portland State Vanguard’S Kat Leon wrote about the exciting transformation happening at the Lloyd Center shopping mall. The COVID-19 pandemic acceler ated the cultural shift to online retail, which was already well underway, and for many brick-and-mortar retailers it truly looked like the end times.

In Nov. 2021, Lindsay Nadrich from KOIN wrote, “the mall has been struggling for years with many storefronts sitting empty including Nordstrom and Sears which left years ago and Macy’s which closed in January.” That was, until the new owners took the reins.

A thriving renaissance has unfolded for creative makers and artists, with local stalwarts Floating World Comics and Dreem Street breathing new life into the space. The PSU School of Art & Design is even hosting a curated pop-up called Good Market, featuring items for sale made by design students in the program.

Then in March, Willamette Week reported on the death of another local mall—Mall 205. Several of the displaced businesses from Mall 205 expressed hope that they could reopen in the newly revitalized Lloyd Center.

We are undoubtedly in the midst of a seismic shift, both regarding retail and the interface of urban spaces and civic engagement. We’ve all seen the boarded-up windows and

empty storefronts downtown, and Portland is not unique in this regard. The New York Times published an intriguing photo essay about 10 downtown cities across the United States and how they are faring since the pandemic, retail apocalypse and inflation. The cities faring the best are pivoting their central downtown cores towards the arts.

We have a chance to reimagine how cities are designed and how they can best serve communities. The evolution of urban spaces has historically been largely dominated by industry and the mercantile classes, and as such, liveability has long been an afterthought.

There are already ideas swirling around Portland City Hall, like Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s idea of “a city ordinance that would incentivize owners and developers of vacant office space downtown to convert those buildings to modestly priced apartments.” The overall vibrancy of the largest city in the state obviously has wide-reaching implications for the broader region. Our neighbor to the north, Seattle, is facing similar challenges.

To give the mayor rare credit, these ideas are refreshing, and there should be many more. We should encourage more density in our cities. We could drastically reduce carbon emissions and traffic congestion this way. More residential density downtown would also create an exciting and entertainmentrich experience for people in these spaces.

Of course, affordability must be at the forefront of any such

proposals, as the housing crisis and the explosion in the number of unhoused people are directly caused by the inhumanity of price gouging and gentrification. Permanent housing for all unhoused communities is not only a fundamental human right, but is also a cheaper policy solution compared to temporary shelters.

Speaking of gentrification, we must also be mindful and vigilant of how any revitalization measures impact the current residents of these areas—housed or not. For far too long, business lobbies have held all of the power when shaping urban planning policy.

One great local example of resilient businesses are food carts, which have survived and seemed to even thrive in the pandemic. These draw people into the urban core, much like the pop-ups and creative shops at the Lloyd Center. We should incentivize and encourage more of that do-it-yourself creative spirit in our downtown. Restaurants were able to expand dining rooms onto sidewalks, and the city closed certain side streets to traffic for outdoor-seating courts and to create pedestrian-centered walkways. These are innovations that change the design of our city to be more centered on human use. Portland has made its penchant for weirdness a major cornerstone of its international image and brand. What if we actually leaned into that and lived up to it for once?

JUSTIN

HANNA OBERLANDER

CASEY LITCHFIELD