THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2009 • PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY • VOLUME 64, ISSUE 38
Event of the day Bring your favorite dish to pass around and celebrate community and gratitude at today's Thanksgiving Potluck hosted by Kaibigan, Portland State's Filipino-American Student Association. When: 5:30 p.m. Where: SMSU, room 228
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INSIDE NEWS Breakfast for Bikers eases the morning commute Portland State bicycling club gives bike commuters something to wake up to PAGE 2 Portland State community garden to host final harvest of season Organizers welcome new members PAGE 3
Arts
Growing up Drew Grow talks about what it's like to come into your own in the music industry PAGE 4
ASPSU silent on OUS report Oregon Student Association tells ASPSU president to not talk to media Virginia Vickery Vanguard staff
On the heels of a commissioned Oregon University System report suggesting the financial restructure of Portland State, the Oregon Student Association instructed its board members yesterday via e-mail to not talk to the media and the Portland State student government leadership followed suit. Less than three minutes after the e-mail was sent, Jonathan Sanford, ASPSU president and OSA board member, e-mailed all branches of ASPSU: the Judicial Board, Student Fee Committee, Executive Staff and Student Senate. In the e-mail, he instructed ASPSU members to “NOT TALK TO THE PRESS [sic] about the future of PSU and any merger until we have read this report and formed an official opinion.” Tamara Henderson, executive director of the OSA, a lobbying body that, according to its Web site, is “dedicated to the representation, service and protection of the collection of over 100,000 students,” sent the initial e-mail to student leaders asking them not to talk to the media “until OSA has taken an official stance and
Queer Resource Center event honors and celebrates the transgender community Storms a brewin' Adam Baz of Brainstorm talks about music, happy accidents and the moon PAGE 5
Sports
On the road Women's basketball team looks to corral the Broncos today in Boise PAGE 6
Kate Alexander Vanguard staff
Tomorrow, Nov. 20, Portland State’s Queer Resource Center will host a series of events to celebrate the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Celebrated internationally, the QRC’s Transgender Day of Remembrance function supports the transgender community of Portland by hosting events geared toward education and advocacy, according to Erin Glesne-Smith, health and wellness coordinator at QRC. The event began in 1999 to honor Rita Hestor’s death which, like most anti-transgender murder cases, is unsolved, according to the GayStraight Alliance Network. “The Transgender Day of Remembrance brings awareness to an issue that doesn’t get a lot of attention on a lot of levels,” said Smith.
Clothing swap: 3 p.m., QRC The occasion kicks off with a clothing swap organized by QRC student group Queers and Allies. The clothing swap is open to the public and is, according to Smith, a fun way to get cheap clothing—but don’t forget to bring some clothing to give. All clothing is welcome and can be brought in either to be swapped for another piece of clothing or it can be donated. Any clothing that has not been claimed by 5 p.m. will be donated to Outside In, which supports homeless youth. “We’re lucky to have such an organization in Portland,” Smith said
appropriate preparatory materials have been put together.” Portland State’s student government works closely with OSA, and over one-third of its budget is dedicated to OSA dues, staff and events. For the 2009–10 year, ASPSU requested over $100,000 in student fees for membership in the OSA and for an OSA campus organizer. Sanford said he did not receive the OSA e-mail before sending his message to ASPSU, but that he was in communication with Henderson yesterday. “I’ve yet to read my e-mails from today, so I’ve yet to see that,” Sanford said. “I did talk to Tammy [Henderson], we did have a meeting prior to that about a lot of things... but, no, that was not an OSAsponsored decision. That was our decision.” University President Wim Wiewel addressed student senators at their meeting Tuesday night. He informed them of the forthcoming report and asked them to consider forming a committee to address the possibility of financial restructure. Wiewel will also hold a public forum tomorrow from 11 a.m. to noon to discuss the report. Sanford, when asked about his request of ASPSU to not speak with the media, expressed that ASPSU did not want to talk about it because they didn’t have all the information yet.
of Outside In. According to its Web site, Outside In has operated for the past 40 years to help homeless youth and other marginalized people move toward improved health and selfsufficiency.
Trans Resource Fair: 5 p.m., Multicultural Center The QRC community and on-campus partnerships for the Transgender Day of Remembrance will be most visible in the second event of the day with the Trans Resource Fair. “This event involves groups like Portland State’s Sexual and Gender Equality Task Force, Student Health and Counseling and community resources,” Smith said. Students may swing by the event to pick up transgender resource booklets, compiled by the QRC to aid students who
“If you look at the context of the e-mail, I don’t think it says, necessarily, you can’t have an opinion personally. It says, just the opinions—especially about the [ former University of Oregon President David] Frohnmayer report—not to speak of it yet,” he said. “You can, on your own, if you know something about it, but I don’t think many of the students know of it. It hasn’t even been sent out on the listserv yet.” Concern has been raised about the appropriateness of a request from Sanford to all student government members, instructing them to not talk to the media on ASPSU’s behalf. “I don’t think that he can restrict people or punish them for speaking,” said Brad Vehafric, Judicial Board chair. “As far as I’m concerned—and I’m pretty sure the rest of the board would agree with me—that if it’s not a partisan issue, there is no reason why a student couldn’t or shouldn’t have an opinion on something like that.” Student Senator Wael Elasady said, “I think he certainly can’t tell people who they can and cannot talk to. No member of the [executive] staff can give our official stance on what is happening. Students can talk to the press whenever they want.” Four out of five senators the Vanguard spoke with refused to comment when asked to respond to Wiewel’s presentation about the OUS report.
Transgender Day of Remembrance Nov. 20
are seeking LGBT resources on and off campus.
Candlelight vigil: 6 p.m., Multicultural Center “To me, the most moving event of the day is the candlelight vigil and the reading of the names,” said Smith, who has attended the event the past two years. QRC Volunteer Coordinator Natalia Kay agrees. “The vigil raises visibility and awareness of transgendered men and women who have been killed in hate crimes with a reading of their names,” said Kay. The candlelight vigil involves speeches by Executive Director of TransActive Jenn Burleton and Tash Shatz, SHAC Advisory Board member. Following the vigil will be a reading of the names of the men and women who have been victims of transgender hate crimes within the past year.
Jonathan Sanford
Marni Cohen/Portland State Vanguard
“[Sanford] is a respectful person and [restriction] was not his intention,” said Senator Maria EscobarSinn. “That’s not how [the e-mail] was meant to play out.” Daniel Lyons, senate president pro tempore, also refused to comment on Wiewel’s senate address but said, “I can see where [Sanford] is coming from. But, we are a separate body and need to handle this how any legislative body would handle it.” Lyons said that the Senate Coordinating Committee is planning to meet before the next senate meeting, which will be held Dec. 1, to discuss the formation of Wiewel’s requested committee.
“The candlight vigil and the reading of the names is always incredibly impactful. I still have vivid memories of the first time that I went to the event and was just so touched,” Smith said. As an organizer of this year’s event, she hopes to share that emotional impact with as many people as possible in order to make the event as memorable as it can be.
Event performances The Transgender Day of Remembrance culminates in a celebration with two performance groups. The first is the Athens Boys Choir, a one-man, spoken-word performance that deals with issues of gender, politics, love and sex. The second performance will be from the critically acclaimed Katastrophe, a San Francisco-based rapper who lists “people who risk everything because they believe in themselves” among his inspirations on his MySpace page. This celebration is a newly developed part of the Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Other ways to get involved Apart from attending this event, Portland State students can pursue a number of avenues to become involved in transgender issues. Students interested in the transgender community or any LGBT activities are encouraged to visit the QRC, located on the fourth floor of Smith Memorial Student Union. This on-campus resource provides an inclusive safe space in advocating for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning students, staff, faculty and their allies.