WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2009 • PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY • VOLUME 64, ISSUE 18
Event of the day Educate yourself about Portland’s efforts to manage its carbon footprint at today’s free screening of Portland: Quest for the Livable City. President Wiewel will give an introductory speech and a discussion panel will follow the film.
When: 7 p.m. Where: University Place, Columbia Falls Ballroom
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INSIDE NEWS The Daily Cut Your world in brief PAGE 3
ARTS
National Coming Out Day event QRC and Student Veterans Association sponsored event with Reichen Lehmkuhl Carrie Johnston Vanguard staff
Straylight fun Straylight Run returns to Portland, sans label, ready to lightly rock the Satyricon PAGE 4
Gypsy spectacular Gypsy Caravan performs this week at Kennedy School PAGE 4 Who needs braces? Canadian literary collective Loose Teeth Press hosts an evening of wordy greatness PAGE 5
OPINION
Graduating from the United States Air Force Academy after nine years of service, Reichen Lehmkuhl describes his experience as a gay man in the military in his new book called Here’s What We’ ll Say. An audience of about 70 gathered in the Native American Center Monday night to listen to Lehmkuhl’s stories about falling in love, getting beat up and learning how to fly. The event was in honor of National Coming Out Day, and was sponsored by the Queer Resource Center and the Student Veterans Association. Accomplished as a captain in the Air Force, entrepreneur, model and flight instructor, Lehmkuhl is touring the country gathering support for a new bill that will help assist those who are discharged from the military for being gay. After an intense moment with a fellow cadet, Lehmkuhl “came out” while serving, but kept quiet in light of the academy’s contradictory and oppressive “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Keeping his sexuality a secret yielded a strong ambition to
change things for future cadets. “If a cadet is suspected to be gay, he is pulled out of bed in the middle of the night and taken to a mental evaluation,” Lehmkuhl said. Following the evaluation, the cadet is put into holding until his trial begins. His “crimes” are then broadcast to family and friends and he is discharged from service—essentially being humiliated and forced to come out of the closet. With the help of United States Rep. Loretta Sanchez, Lehmkuhl is drafting a bill asking for monetary reparation for gays who are kicked out of the military. This bill is to help compensate victims of trauma and human rights abuses. “I want to bring this idea to everyone. I think it’s fair,” Lehmkuhl said. Here’s What We’ll Say is dedicated to Lehmkuhl’s grandmother, who was part of the Women Air Force Service Pilots during World War II. She taught Lehmkhul how to fly when he was 13 years old.
Student government hopes to register thousands of students to vote
ASPSU Voter Registration Drive
ASPSU is working to register 2,510 Portland State students to vote by Jan. 5, 2010, and is looking for more volunteers to help register potential voters. The vote drive is important because students need to vote in Oregon’s upcoming special election on Jan. 25, said ASPSU President Jonathan Sanford. “There are $733 million at stake in the special election that could dramatically affect students,” he said. There are several ballot measures
that, if passed during the special election, would repeal laws that established new taxes for businesses and individuals. Without that tax revenue, hundreds of millions of dollars will likely be taken from the state’s General Fund, which funds higher education, Sanford said. “The general fund is discretionary, meaning that it’s not mandatory to fund higher education,” Sanford said. “The current state budget was built based on revenue from these taxes and if they are repealed, the budget will be significantly altered.” It is important for students to register to vote because when students
Dorothy Zapf
Vote drive: ASPSU hopes to register 2,510 Portland State students to vote by Jan. 5, 2010.
Virginia Vickery Vanguard staff
Cyclists push their limit A cemetery incident causes people to question cyclists’ responsibility PAGE 6 The Rant and Rage Pure, all-natural, animal-free fury PAGE 6
Reichen Lehmkuhl
vote they gain legitimacy with lawmakers, according to Dorothy Zapf, a volunteer with the ASPSU Voter Registration Drive who just transferred to Portland State from Portland Community College. “The more students vote, the more power we have with lawmakers, and that can equal lower tuition,” she said. More volunteers are needed to help register voters, said Selina Paulsen, a sophomore who heads up the “class rap” portion of the voter drive. Some professors allow ASPSU volunteers to come into their classrooms to give a short presentation about the
Aaron Leopold/Portland State Vanguard
need for students to register to vote and then hand out registration cards. Last week ASPSU exceeded their goal of gathering 300 new voter registration cards during class raps by 30. Voter registration volunteers also canvass the South Park Blocks with registration cards and have so far been successful in collecting a total of 1,126 as of Tuesday. The registration drive is held in conjunction with the Oregon Student Association, a lobbying organization founded by students over 30 years ago to represent the interests of students in postsecondary education to Oregon lawmakers.
Photos by Zach Chastaine/Portland State Vanguard