Daily Vanguard November 25, 2009

Special Section

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009 • PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY • VOLUME 64, ISSUE 41

2009

DINING GUIDE

Look inside to find the Vanguard’s 2009 Dining Guide. Our staff has traveled far and wide to bring you the sweetest, spiciest and best of Portland’s offerings.

WWW.DAILYVANGUARD.COM • FREE NEWS Possible new board would raise students’ awareness of campus issues ASPSU proposes a Standards and Ethics Advisory Board PAGE 2 Crime Blotter Graffiti, littering, underage drinking... oh, freshman PAGE 2

ARTS

To the Max! Go Max Go introduces vegan candy bars to tempt even the pickiest connoisseur PAGE 4

White cloak, red death Assassin’s Creed II finally takes the series’ mantle in a good direction PAGE 5

OPINION

ASPSU 1, campus hunger 0 Student government’s food bins offer relief to hungry students Ryan Pemberton Vanguard staff

Cans of food are stacked on shelves outside of room 117 in Smith Memorial Student Union for students to take freely on an as-needed basis.

Tentatively titled the Student Pantry, the program is based on the honor system and is geared toward students who have a difficult time paying the bills during the cold winter months and have a legitimate need for assistance.

“It is vastly becoming winter and our bodies require more energy in the colder months,” ASPSU President Jonathan Sanford wrote in an e-mail sent to all Portland State students on Nov. 12.

This is the first year for the Student Pantry, and ASPSU hasn’t had any similar program before.

On Oct. 9, the American Sign Language Club put on the ASL Comedy Night with the price of admission being two cans of food. The event was a

success and the food was donated to the Student Pantry, allowing ASPSU the resources to offer this program.

“News [of the program] is catching on,” said Selina Poulson, student senator and a coordinator for the Student Pantry. “We haven’t even advertised it very much but people are coming.”

The program started a couple of weeks ago and ASPSU is still just trying to spread the word around campus that the resource is available.

ASPSU is also planning to expand the pantry locations all over campus so that students will have access to it whenever they need it.

“I think it’s a great thing,” said student Claire Dufala. “I just hope students don’t abuse the program for its free food.”

Canned food can be picked up on the shelves outside the ASPSU office, SMSU room 117. There are no forms to fill out and no questions asked.

Students who need assistance can drop by anytime and pick up food.

ASPSU is continually taking canned food donations at their office and also at the ASPSU table in Parkway North. Donations are always welcomed.

Women can bare it all in the Rose City Did you know Portland allows women to go topless in public?

PAGE 6

Where to donate food:

Where to pick up food:

ASPSU office SMSU, room 117

ASPSU office SMSU, room 117

Parkway North ASPSU table

Blowing disturbances Gertson pleads not guilty across campus Arrested student faces Students and employees question environmental impact of leaf blowers

Pay attention and drive!

New law attempts to rid the roads of the most dangerous distraction PAGE 6

All photos by Liana Shewey/Portland State Vanguard

Student Pantry: Shelves outside of SMSU, room 117 hold canned goods for students in need.

Holly K. Millar Vanguard staff

People at Portland State have begun to question the necessity of leaf blowers. This is evidenced by a Facebook group called the AntiLeaf Blower Association, a growing number of people who find leaf blowers to be noisy and an unwarranted source of pollution. “[Cleaning up leaves this way is] ridiculous because they’re just going to get blown back by the wind,” said sophomore Paula Linte.

According to Stephen Shackman, a resource conservation specialist in the College of Urban and Public Affairs, leaf blowers do not have catalytic converters, meaning that they put out a greater amount of pollutants per gallon than any given motorized vehicle.

Electric leaf

LEAF continued on All photos by Rodrigo Melgarejo/Portland State Vanguard

page two

Code of Conduct hearing Virginia Vickery Vanguard staff

Arrested Portland State football player Abraham David Gertson entered a not guilty plea this morning to charges of thirddegree sex abuse, harassment and resisting arrest on Nov. 22.

Gertson, 20, is expected to undergo a Portland State Student Code of Conduct hearing at some point, according to the Dean of Students office.

After the Code of Conduct hearing process, his future status as a student and a football player will be determined.

The redshirted freshman remained in Multnomah County Jail as of yesterday morning, and his bail was set at $6,500. Three of the charges are misdemeanors and the assault charge is a felony, according to county jail Gertson representatives.

Photo courtesy of facebook.com

INSIDE

Vanguard 2 | News November 25, 2009

NEWS

Sarah J. Christensen Editor-in-Chief Danielle Kulczyk News Editor Theodora Karatzas Arts & Culture Editor Richard D. Oxley Opinion Editor Robert Britt Sports Editor Shannon Vincent Production Manager Marni Cohen Photo Editor Zach Chastaine Online Editor Jennifer Wolff Chief Copy Editor Jennifer Wolff Calendar Editor Matthew Kirtley Advertising Manager Judson Randall Adviser Ann Roman Advertising Adviser Illustrator Kira Meyrick Marketing Manager Kelsey Chinen

Marni Cohen/Portland State Vanguard

Possible new board would raise students’ awareness of campus issues

Jonathan Sanford

ASPSU proposes a Standards and Ethics Advisory Board Tamara K. Kennedy Vanguard staff

ASPSU is looking to implement a Standards and Ethics Advisory Board to help get to the root of crimes committed on campus at Portland State.

The board would look at the environmental side of the issue, rather than the individual side, and make recommendations to the university if necessary. Possible environmental solutions might include additional campus lighting and increased phone accessibility.

“The idea originated with me, and [ASPSU Administrative Direc-

Portland State Vanguard Archives

Ed Hallman

tor] Ed [Hallman] added to it and filled it out,” said ASPSU President Jonathan Sanford. “It is already a Senate resolution.”

The proposed board would stem off of the current process, where criminal issues are sent to Campus Public Safety and possibly the Dean of Students Office, as well as the Student Code of Conduct Committee (SCCC) that may administer sanctions, Hallman said.

“We are trying to be proactive,” Hallman said.

The plan would place a confidentiality filter between the SCCC and a future ethics board as a mode of protection for an individual, he said.

Its function would not include administering sanctions to individuals, according to Hallman. Rather, he said a list of recommended solutions would be compiled and made available to the

public, increasing awareness as well as providing a feedback channel to the administration.

Proposed board plans also include liaisons from all university committees that already deal with related issues—such as campus safety, the Student Code of Conduct and Residence Life—along with the ASPSU president and representatives of the Student Senate, Judicial Board and various administrative offices, Hallman said.

The Campus Public Safety Office Web site reports a combined total of 71 crimes on campus and in residence halls in 2008, excluding drug, liquor and weapon violations. According to the Web site, the crimes include burglary, aggravated assault, motor vehicle theft, arson, bias crimes, forcible sex offenses and forcible rape.

Hallman said that ASPSU wants to be able to guarantee that its

members set the highest standards, and if they are having trouble, other campus groups may be as well. He said there was a shift when ASPSU saw a systemic lack of a means to address issues on campus.

“ASPSU’s mission statement reads, ‘fostering a…safe campus,’” Hallman said. “Jon [Sanford] and I saw a lack of a holistic approach to addressing problems on campus. I really think it [the Standards and Ethics Advisory Board] is possible.”

Although Hallman hopes to bring a Standards and Ethics Advisory Board meeting to order by spring term 2010, he said he still needs to speak in more detail about the board with Michele Toppe, interim dean of students and Natalee Webb, interim assistant dean of students.

Associate News Editor Virginia Vickery Production Assistants Bryan Morgan, Charles Cooper Williams

Writers Kate Alexander, Will Blackford, Bianca Blankenship, Klara CachauHansgardh, Maeve Connor, Meaghan Daniels, Erica DeCouteau, Natalia Grozina, Patrick Guild, Rosemary Hanson, Steve Haske, Ed Johnson, Carrie Johnston, Mark Johnston, Zoe Kellett, Tamara K. Kennedy, Anita Kinney, Gogul Krishnan, J. Logue, James MacKenzie, Holly K. Millar, Stephanie Fine Sasse, Wendy Shortman, Catrice Stanley, Nilesh Tendolkar, Robin Tinker, Vinh Tran, Allison Whited Photographers Aaron Leopold, Rodrigo Melgarejo, Liana Shewey, Adam Wickham Copy Editor Robert Seitzinger Advertising Sales Matthew Kirtley, Ana SanRoman, Jae Specht, Wesley Van Der Veen Advertising Designer Shannon Vincent Contact Editor-in-Chief 503-725-5691 editor@dailyvanguard.com Advertising Manager 503-725-5686 ads@dailyvanguard.com The Vanguard is chartered to publish four days a week as an independent student newspaper by the PSU Publications 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. One copy of the Vanguard is provided free of charge to all community members, additional copies or subcription issues may incur a 25 cent charge. The Vanguard is printed on 40 percent post-consumer recycled paper.

Copyright © 2009 Portland State University Vanguard 1825 SW Broadway, Smith Memorial Student Union, Rm. S-26, Portland, Ore., 97201

LEAF |

from page one

Environmental and noise impact of leaf blowers questioned blowers—which are quieter and run on cleaner power—are available, but they may not work as quickly or as effectively as heavier-duty, gaspowered blowers.

During summer months, leaf blowers double as a sidewalk and street-cleaning aid. This means they kick up dust and grime, which can be directed at a bike lane, putting pedestrians and cyclists in the path of eye irritants and pollutants.

“You see lots of leaf blowers on campus and around the city, but it’s not apparent they are cleaning up leaves—it just looks like they are blowing them into the streets, and now the bike lanes are full of leaves and that’s dangerous,” said Tara Horn, a Regional Research Institute for Human Services employee.

Not only are the leaf piles in the bike lane dangerous, but they can also clump in gutters which can lead to flooding, creating a threat to drivers. Leaves in large quantities become a slipping hazard on sidewalks and in bicycle lanes.

However, sidewalks don’t need to be completely leaf-free to be safe.

Shackman suggested that grounds crews use rakes and brooms most of the time, and leaf blowers only when necessary to help make Portland State a more sustainable environment.

“Sustainability is about mimicking natural systems,” said Shackman. “If you’re mimicking natural systems, you can’t have the same requirements for order. We have to question our standards for what is beautiful and orderly.”

Portland’s Bureau of Development Services released a list of approved leaf blowers on Aug. 28, which also noted that using a leaf blower is prohibited in the city before 7 a.m. and after 9 p.m. In residential areas, leaf blowers may only be used until 7 p.m.

All photos by Marni Cohen/Portland State Vanguard

Hazard: Leaves blown into bike lanes create slippery paths.

This means that city or Portland State maintenance workers are permitted to use leaf blowers during classes or meetings, which is a distraction.

According to the official Web site for the City of Portland,

www.portlandonline.com, more powerful (and louder) leaf blowers are allowed during winter months because of wet leaves, and the assumption that most people and businesses keep their windows closed during this time period.

(Times and dates are when incidents were reported.)

Graffiti, littering, underage drinking…oh, freshmen 11/12/09 Cramer Hall – 1:21 p.m.

Graffiti painted on several internal walls and stairwells

11/13/09 Urban Center Building – 12:29 p.m.

Suspect brought two concealed knives into the building Suspect was in Possession of Mari-

juana Within 1,000 Feet of School (St. Mary’s Academy) Science Building 1 – 2:44 p.m.

Suspect turned on water valve, flooding science lab

11/15/09 West Hall – 12:52 p.m.

Suspects arrested for Furnishing Alcohol to a Minor

11/21/09 Southwest Broadway and Mill Street – 7:29 p.m.

Suspect sleeping on Portland State

SMSU – 9:47 p.m.

Suspect arrested on three misdemeanor warrants and Criminal Trespass II

11/22/09 Southwest 6th Ave and Jackson Street – 1:01 a.m.

Suspect cited for Offensive Littering and Minor in Possession Southwest Broadway and Hall Street – 1:54 a.m.

Suspect cited for Unlawful Possession of Marijuana Within 1,000 Feet of School

West Hall – 2:10 a.m.

Male grabbed female’s buttocks without permission Male fought with officers causing a severe laceration to an officer’s hand Male fought with officers hitting an officer in the chest and causing discomfort Editor’s note: for more on this story, see Page 1.

11/23/09 Montgomery Building – 2:08 a.m.

Wall damaged, door damaged and wall drawn on

—Information from Campus Public Safety Office campus crime log

The Daily Cut Your world in brief

Follow us on Twitter! @psuvanguard

crimeBlotter

property after having previously trespassed

Local: Oregon lawmaker wants repeal of teacher-garb ban PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)—An Oregon legislative leader says he will introduce a bill to repeal a state law from 1923 that bans teachers from wearing religious garb.

House Speaker Dave Hunt, D-Gladstone, said he will push to “allow teachers to have the same religious free exercise rights as every other Oregonian” when legislators meet in February.

Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian and state schools Superintendent Susan Castillo, who recently sent letters to every lawmaker asking them to drop the ban, also support such a proposal.

The Legislature passed a law this year allowing all workers except teachers to wear religious dress at work in most instances.

Its passage led to questions about why the law remains on the books, given that Oregon is one of only three states with such a ban.

The law on teacher dress was passed when an open supporter of the Ku Klux Klan presided as speaker of the Oregon House.

The law, which was aimed at keeping Catholics out of public schools, has not been tested in court since the Eugene School District won a 1986 Oregon Supreme Court case that upheld its firing of a Sikh teacher for wearing a turban.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, which has long supported the ban, said the Legislature should not end it without enacting additional protections for Oregon students.

“We are urging the Legislature not to rush,” said David Fidanque, executive director of the state ACLU. “Just repealing the statute could cause real problems in maintaining the religious neutrality of schools in Oregon.”

The Oregon Education Association has not taken a position on the issue, communications director Becca Uherbelau told The Oregonian newspaper for a story published Tuesday. “Generally speaking, we support the religious freedom of our members.”

Vanguard News | 3 November 25, 2009

News Editor: Danielle Kulczyk 503-725-5690 news@dailyvanguard.com

Correction In a Nov. 24 news article, the Vanguard used a term inappropriately in a headline deck.

There is no evidence that a supervisor in the Facilities and Planning department illegally obtained a personnel letter.

The Vanguard regrets the error.

Thanksgiving history The first American Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621, to commemorate the harvest reaped by the Plymouth Colony after a harsh winter.

That year, Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford Plymouth proclaimed a day of giving thanks.

The Colonists celebrated it as a traditional English harvest feast, to which they invited the local Wampanoag Indians.

Days of giving thanks were celebrated throughout the Colonies after fall harvests.

All 13 Colonies did not, however, celebrate Thanksgiving at the same time until October 1777.

George Washington was the first president to declare the holiday, in 1789.

By the mid–1800s, many states observed a Thanksgiving holiday.

Meanwhile, poet and editor Sarah J. Hale had begun lobbying for a national Thanksgiving holiday.

During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, looking for ways to unite the nation, discussed the subject with Hale.

In 1863 he gave his Thanksgiving Proclamation, declaring the last Thursday in November a day of thanksgiving.

In 1939, 1940 and 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt, seeking to lengthen the Christmas shopping season, proclaimed Thanksgiving the third Thursday in November.

Controversy followed, and Congress passed a joint resolution in 1941 decreeing that Thanksgiving should fall on the fourth Thursday of November, where it remains.

—www.infoplease.com

Vanguard 4 | Arts & Culture November 25, 2009

Arts Editor: Theodora Karatzas 503-725-5694 arts@dailyvanguard.com

ARTS & CULTURE Go Max Go introduces vegan candy bars to tempt even the pickiest connoisseur Mark Johnston

Humpday: live music to get you through the week 1997, Tiger House, Patterns 1997 is a little too poppunk for my tastes, but the rest of the bands in this lineup are looking pretty rad.

Tiger House plays poppy music infused with interesting little tidbits like a nice horn part and the odd banjo or two to keep listeners on their toes.

Patterns is by far the most interesting of the line up, however. More rock ’n’ roll than the others, their music has a slightly psychedelic feel to it but manages to stay on a clear and coherent path.

Berbati’s Pan, 9 p.m. $5, 21+ Friendly Fires, The XX, Holly Miranda It’s a British invasion at the Doug Fir. British bands Friendly Fires and The XX are taking Portland and the rest of the country by storm with their infectious, danceinfused indie-pop.

Friendly Fires is a little more erratic and electronics based than The XX, but the two still compliment each other well. The XX is made up of a group young, incredibly talented people making really catchy and interesting indie rock. If you really need a specific reason to go, they are it.

Doug Fir Lounge 9 p.m., $12 advance, $14 door, 21+ No Go Know, Starving Daughters Is there a little bit of darkness and foreboding missing in your life these days?

Well, give a listen to No Go Know and take in their lush and ever-so-slightly dark instrumentation.

Their lyrics are a little muddled, as is their percussion, but the overall sound is something grungy and really raw, strippeddown music that’s a welcome breath of air into our Auto-Tuned, synthy little universe.

The Know, 8 p.m., free 21+

Vanguard staff

The folks at Go Max Go have been very busy since the idea of vegan candy bars came to Scott Ostrander and Susan Francovig. In late 2007, the duo was frantically trying to put together a company and get their product out.

Following the overtly successful launch of the product in May 2009, the company’s wares are now sold in literally hundreds of stores around the country, with new businesses jumping on weekly.

“We had talked about [starting a company] over the years,” Francovig said. “Being vegan, there are certain products we felt could be done better. I missed candy bars, and Scott has experience in the natural foods industry so we decided to start a company.”

The company started on the premise that, as more and more vegan companies were emerging, there weren’t any vegan companies devoted to the production of vegan candy bars. The company set out to produce a candy bar that not only appeals to the vegan subculture, but could also lure in nonvegan customers through intelligent packaging.

“People have the wrong idea of vegan food, those who haven’t explored it,” Francovig said. “We wanted to show people that we are multilayered just like everyone else. We wanted the bars to have a retro and fun look to attract the nonvegan consumer.”

Vegan and nonvegans alike have been eating up Go Max Go candy bars by the tons in the company’s few short months of production.

Retail giant Food Lion picked up the bar in 400 of its stores.

Locally, it’s available at Food Fight, Food Front Co-op, Whole Foods locations, New Seasons and a slew

To the Max! Marni Cohen/Portland State Vanguard

Rodrigo Melgarejo/Portland State Vanguard

Go Max Go!: These delicious vegan treats are sold on campus at the student store in Smith.

Rodrigo Melgarejo/Portland State Vanguard

of other retail outlets (including our own Portland State University Market).

“We’ve had a positive response from both vegans and nonvegans,” Francovig said. “Regardless of what

you’re doing, vegans really seem to appreciate the effort.”

Go Max Go has also begun to show their appreciation by getting involved in several local and national charitable organizations,

most notably Farm Sanctuary.

“We’re donating about 300 bars to Farm Sanctuary for a fundraiser they’re doing at the end of December,” Francovig said. “One focus of the company is to be really supportive of the animal rights community.

It’s a nice thing to be able to donate bars. I’m really fond of…grassroots movements. We have been contacted by some companies and it’s great to be able to help them.”

From here Go Max Go looks to the future, tackling new flavors, agave infusion and gluten-free products, “In the near future we want to do gluten-free. That will have a lot to do with the decision of what we do next.

There’s a whole world of candy bars that need to be vegan-ized.”

However, the deciding factor for Go Max Go candy bars really seems to be customer feedback.

“Most of the people that write us are either lactose intolerant or stumble upon [our bars] and try them,” Francovig said. “A good amount of the people that purchase our bars are vegan or thinking of becoming vegan, but the nicest compliments that we get come from nonvegans trying our bars and liking them more than their nonvegan predecessors.”

Knowing that their company’s vegan candy bar beat out the nonvegan competition must give a bit of justification to the work and helps increase and maintain morale for this dynamic duo.

Wining and dining post-Turkey Day Wine tastings take over this weekend throughout the Willamette Valley Bianca Blankenship Vanguard staff

This weekend, over 160 wineries and tasting rooms in the Willamette Valley will be open and hosting special tastings. Put on by the Willamette Valley Wineries Association, this year’s Wine Country Thanksgiving will provide an opportunity to get the relatives out of the house and tempt mom into stocking the family’s cellar with lots of delicious local wines.

Some of the proceeds from this event will go to the Yamhill Community Action Partnership, which aids low-income and specialneeds families with emergency food assistance, youth outreach and other valuable social services.

Wineries from Portland to Eugene will be participating in this three-day celebration of the valley’s renowned grapes. Most of the wineries are small, familyowned operations that run all their business locally. Winemakers are likely to be found at the vineyards and tasting rooms showing off their

best bottles and holiday specials over the weekend.

Argyle Winery, established in 1987 and named Oregon’s premier winery by Wine Spectator in 2000, will provide wine, cheese, local art and live music at their Dundee tasting room on Friday and Saturday. Rio Con Brio, a Portlandbased duo featuring a mandolin and a guitar, will supply their charming acoustic music drawn from Latin and bossa nova influences.

Many other wineries are using this opportunity to showcase their 2008 releases. Emerson Vineyards in Monmouth and Le Cadeau Vineyard in Dundee are just two of many that will open up last year’s bottles for the first time.

It is common on this holiday weekend for carloads of distant relatives to roll into town and set their bags down for three days or more of forced family fun. For this reason, the wineries may be a good bet for an escape and a break. After all, if a few bottles of good wine can’t bring family together, what can?

The Willamette Valley is also one of the best places in the world for pinot noir. One of the most difficult grapes to grow, the finicky pinot noir loves the valley’s cool climate and benefits from a longer growing

Photo courtesy of Jason Tomczak

Argyle Winery: Some of the grapes that go into the award-winning wines at this winery.

season in the region. While pinot noir is one of the more challenging and interesting grapes to grow, the valley also hosts plenty of grapes, such as pinot gris, chardonnay and pinot blanc.

It’s no surprise that the region boasts over 200 wineries and over 12,000 acres of grapes. It’s hard to drive more than a few miles in the valley without spotting another vineyard.

The Willamette Valley Wineries Association Web site provides a map and suggested routes for wine tasting so that it’s easy to discover

the nearby vineyards and avoid the valley’s overly windy roads. The Web site also includes a complete list of wineries involved in the weekend celebration and some of the specials vineyards will offer.

Wine Country Thanksgiving Nov. 27–29 www.willamettewines.com See Web site for locations and times

White cloak, red death Assassin’s Creed II finally takes the series’ mantle in a good direction Steve Haske Vanguard staff

A lot of people were wowed by the concept of the original Assassin’s Creed. The game sounded like a dream come true—play as Altair, a badass, white-cloaked assassin caught in a war with the Knights Templar in 12th century Jerusalem.

Then the game came out.

It was great for about a half-hour, but only in the limited way Grand Theft Auto III was the first time you passed the controller around with a group of friends, taking turns killing cops and beating hookers.

After that, climbing to the highest point in the city, effortlessly blending in with crowds and taking down guards with a hidden arm blade almost entirely lost its appeal, thanks to a bland, variety-lacking mission structure and braindead enemy AI mixed with clunky combat.

Ubisoft also pulled a fast one on us within the first five minutes of the game—it wasn’t actually set during the Crusades, but in the future, where the Templars and the Order of Assassins had been fighting for centuries.

You were actually just some chump bartender whose lineage happens to hail from a line of these assassins. And Jerusalem?

Nothing more than a Matrix­-style

recreation facilitated by DNAembedded memory.

This back story is necessary as it’s the lifeblood of the series, for one. It also serves to drastically contrast Assassin’s Creed II from the original. There weren’t too many huge changes made to the series’ core mechanics, but it was refined and added to in a generally satisfying way.

The setup for AC II is the same: Without getting bogged down in plot details, your futureprotagonist joins the cause of the assassins and starts exploring genetic memories that drop the game proper in 15th century Italy, smack dab in the middle of the Renaissance. This time around, you play Ezio, the son of a wealthy Italian banker, who soon becomes an assassin to avenge his family.

First, the bad stuff: The game’s introduction is lengthier, and the fetch-quest nature of the first hour or so makes the game appear to be just a bigger, prettier version of the original AC, with few actual tweaks. And while the controls may still feel somewhat depressingly rigid when compared to, say, the fluid movement in Uncharted 2, free climbing around the beautiful architecture of Italian Renaissance cities still handles very well.

Combat still isn’t spectacular, but it’s OK. Ezio has a far larger arsenal of moves, disarms and cinematic assassination techniques than Altair ever did, but the enemy AI is still pretty worthless and

too many actions are mapped contextually to one button.

Blending in with a crowd of people while in a very noticeable white cloak also seems more ridiculous in practice than concept.

However, improvements to overall game flow are much appreciated.

This is a game where initial impressions can be very wrong.

While in the first game all you had was bad combat and sluggish platforming, its sequel offers something far more realized.

For instance, you can hire courtesans or mercenaries to either distract or fight off guards for you. You can throw money in the street to create a diversion and slip through an area unnoticed. There are far more varied mission types.

There are devices you can use made by an up-and-coming Leonardo da Vinci. There’s even a hilarious Mario 64 reference to watch for.

AC II also introduces a monetary system. Your home base, a villa outside of Florence, takes in cash from the surrounding area, which you can renovate in order to get discounts in shops, bring in more cash and open up other opportunities for Ezio. Best of all, you can now upgrade your armor and weapons, giving AC II some role-playing game elements that really breaths life into the game.

Another great surprise are the beautifully done exploration levels, as Ezio probes old catacombs and churches to find hidden, treasurefilled tombs of long-dead assassins of his order.

Though the inclusion of sci-fi to the series is still questionable, there’s a lot more to like about AC II than the original. The script is, for the most part, well-written, if a bit silly at times, and the RPG elements and monetary systems (among other things) really make for a far more engaging experience, and one even people who hated the original will enjoy.

Vanguard Arts & Culture | 5 November 25, 2009

Negative words of wisdom Here are some depressing words of wisdom for anyone else who feels the same way: In a real dark night of the soul, it is always 3 o’clock in the morning, day after day.

—F. Scott Fitzgerald Tears are often the telescope by which men see far into heaven.

—Henry Ward Beecher If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction.

—Dietrich Bonhoeffer Good humor is the health of the soul, sadness is its poison.

—Lord Chesterfield Let your tears come. Let them water your soul.

—Eileen Mayhew

All photos courtesy of gamepress.com

Assassin’s Creed II: A step up from the original with more nuanced play.

Assassin’s Creed II Ubisoft PS3, Xbox 360 $59.99

The secret source of humor itself is not joy, but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven.

—Mark Twain To perceive is to suffer.

—Aristotle The walls we build around us to keep sadness out also keeps out the joy.

—Jim Rohn Death row is a state of mind.

—Doris Ann Foster —poemofquotes.com

Vanguard 6 | Opinion November 25, 2009

Opinion Editor: Richard D. Oxley 503-725-5692 opinion@dailyvanguard.com

Correction In a Nov. 24 opinion article, the Vanguard reported that the Department of Corrections’ annual budget was $1.4 billion, that 4,169 inmates will be released and that sentence reductions of 20 percent will be increased to 30 percent.

The DOC’s $1.4 billion covers a biennium. The number of prisoners available for sentence reduction, not release, will be 4,169. Also, not all prisoners currently eligible for a 20 percent decrease in their sentence will be eligible for a sentence reduction of 30 percent.

The Vanguard regrets these errors.

Accidents will happen There is a plethora of causes for on-the-road mistakes in Oregon.

But according to the Oregon Department of Transportation, some habits result in more accidents than others, such as:

OPINION Pay attention and drive!

New law attempts to rid the roads of the most dangerous distraction Robin Tinker Vanguard staff

Ask almost anyone if they are a better-than-average driver, and they will say yes. Now ask them if other drivers being distracted by mobile phones are dangerous— again, they will say yes. They may then follow with some kind of excuse about their own phone use and how their own driving skills are, magically, unaffected.

Funny how universal that is.

Oregon lawmakers feel that cell phone use does impair driving ability. On July 28, Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed HB 2377, which prohibits any person operating a motor vehicle from using a mobile communication device, except under certain circumstances pertaining to professional drivers (such as delivery drivers).

This law goes into effect Jan. 1, 2010, and includes all use of handheld mobile phones and texting, but does not include hands-free devices.

There is already an Oregon law prohibiting teens from using phones at all while driving.

Supporters of the bill say it will make Oregon roads safer. According to the Oregon Department of Transportation Web site, the most common driver errors resulting in crashes in 2008

ranged from following too close to not paying enough attention to the road. The potential for drivers to commit these errors is amplified if a driver’s hands are distracted.

The most common and intense distraction is undoubtedly the mobile device.

The popularity of text messaging is alarming, since a significant number of drivers are probably texting at any given moment.

Common sense dictates that texting is even more distracting than chatting while driving and thus is ridiculously dangerous.

Like any law affecting almost everyone, there is controversy.

Some claim infringement of citizens’ rights, calling it a “nanny law,” meaning it is overly protective. The same argument was used when seat

belt laws were first enacted.

Opponents argue that talking with passengers is just as distracting as a phone conversation.

However, a passenger in the same physical environment as the driver has the ability—and motivation— to warn the driver of a possible accident. This argument holds no clout when it comes to texting.

According to The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Web site, California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, New York, Utah and Washington states all have similar laws.

Twenty states ban all drivers from texting and nine states have age restrictions for texting and driving. Eighteen states ban school bus drivers from using hand-held phones. California is the only state

listed that bans transit bus drivers, except Texas, which bans them only if a passenger on board is under 18.

This technology is new and laws are slow to catch up. Bravo to Oregon and other states for recognizing the need.

TriMet has recently come under fire for this issue. According to The Oregonian, there have been over 530 complaints about transit drivers and cell phone use in the past two years, and until now the disciplinary action they faced was minimal.

At first, TriMet insisted its disciplinary policies wouldn’t change when HB 2377 goes into effect. This led to such backlash that Fred Hansen, general manager of TriMet, said any operator caught using their phone while operating a TriMet vehicle will face immediate termination after Jan. 1, 2010.

As they should. Plus, this law will apply to future operators too!

If we set aside for a moment our addiction to mobile technology, it’s impossible to find a valid argument.

Whether or not we admit it, we are all guilty of driving errors while using our phones and have seen it with other drivers.

According to The Oregonian, The Oregon Department of Transportation reported 1,660 crashes between 2003 and 2008 involving drivers on cell phones, with 21 of those resulting in fatalities.

The phone call, and especially the text, can wait.

Illustration by Kira Meyrick

Failure to avoid stopped or parked vehicle ahead Failure to yield rightof-way Driving too fast for conditions

What do you think?

Is the issue of cell phones being used whiel driving road really cause for concern? Are they another distraction making it more dangerous on the road?

Also, what about the topless law in Oregon? Is it a matter of gender equality, or have we perhaps lost a sense of modesty? Could driving topless while on the cell phone be the true culprit?

Send a letter to the editor and tell us what you think. E-mail opinion@dailyvanguard.com.

Failure to maintain lane or ran off road Improper change of traffic lanes

Women can bare it all in the Rose City

Following too close Inattention Left turn in front of on-coming traffic Disregarded traffic signal —www.oregon.gov/ ODOT

Did you know Portland allows women to go topless in public?

Meaghan Daniels Vanguard staff

Portland women have the right to bare their breasts in public and still be in compliance with the law.

It seems like equality is alive and well in the Rose City, and it is one of the few cities where it is not illegal for women to go topless in public.

Oregon’s indecent exposure law only prohibits nudity that is intended to cause arousal in public.

Portland created its own ordinance to include exposed genitalia, but there is no law against women baring their breasts in public.

The right to bare one’s breasts publicly is about freedom of

expression and equality. Just because a woman can go topless in public does not mean it is an act of sexuality. Not everything is about sex and that is something people forget, especially in a city that contains a multitude of strip clubs.

If men are able to show their chests in public, why should women not be able to? Yes, men and women’s bodies are different.

Yes, women have breasts. Yes, let’s embrace Portland’s law.

Two Portland State students recently decided to embrace this law along Northwest 23rd Avenue.

Lauren Krueger is in a Women’s Studies Sophomore Inquiry course and she came up with this idea for her final project as a revolutionary feminist act.

She asked a guy who was also in the class to walk with her after she realized that most people

in the class felt uncomfortable participating. But that is not to say that Krueger was not nervous herself: In fact, she was very nervous. She pushed through it with her male friend, both of them topless.

“I expected to get hassled by the law or possibly arrested while baring my breasts in public,” Krueger said.

They walked along the popular avenue, asking people if they could talk to them. They did not come across too many negative responses.

Krueger said that most people who would have given them negative responses were fearful and would not talk to them or would completely avoid eye contact.

Krueger and her friend asked if people would like to know why they were doing it. They explained that they were participating in the movement for equality.

Illustrations by Kira Meyrick

“We’re trying to help women to perceive their breasts as natural parts of the body that shouldn’t have to be shamefully hidden,” Krueger said.

Part of the reason they did this was so that men can distinguish between nudity and sexuality, and so that women can feel comfortable exposing their breasts in public.

Krueger asked people if they knew that what she was doing was not illegal. Shockingly, no one knew about the topless law in Portland.

Women having the ability to go topless brings Portland one step closer to gender equality. Sexual objectification and body-image issues need to end for women to be seen as equal and for them to be comfortable in their own skin. But for now, the topless law is a great step forward for equality.

etc.

ART WEDNESDAY The New York Times Syndication Sales Corporation 500 Seventh Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018 For Information Call: 1-800-972-3550 For Release Saturday, November 07, 2009

Edited by Will Shortz Across 1 Cousin of ours 9 Rey Juan Carlosʼs home 15 Stand-up guy 16 It holds its liquor 17 Much of Redwood National Park 19 He wrote the best sellers “Couplehood” and “Babyhood” 20 “Walkabout” director Nicolas 21 Souvenir thatʼs strung 22 End-of-page abbr.

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44 Doesnʼt go straight 45 Is frank about 46 Setting of William the Conquerorʼs castle 47 Itʼll shut you up 48 Finnish composer Bergman 49 Von Rothbart turned her into a swan

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For answers, call 1-900-285-5656, $1.49 a minute; or, with a credit card, 1-800-814-5554.

Annual subscriptions are available for the best of Sunday crosswords from the last 50 years: 1-888-7-ACROSS. AT&T users: Text NYTX to 386 to download puzzles, or visit nytimes.com/mobilexword for more information.

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Wanted Marketing Manager In charge of relations with the public to promote the Vanguard on the PSU campus.

To apply, e-mail editor@daillyvanguard.com

;

Semicolon. Friend or foe?

WANTED: Copy Editor for the Daily Vanguard

KenKen® is a registered trademark of Nextoy, LLC. ©2009 KenKen Puzzle LLC. All rights reserved. Dist. by UFS, Inc. www.kenken.com

Send résumés to: editor@dailyvanguard.com

Each row and each column ● must contain the numbers 1 through 4 (easy) or 1 through 6 (challenging) without repeating.

numberswithintheheavily ● outlinedTheboxes, called cages,

WANTED

must combine using the given

operation (in any order) to produce the target numbers in the top-left corners.

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Freebies:Fillinsingle-box cages with the number in the top-left corner.

Comic artist for the Vanguard Send résumés to: arts@dailyvanguard.com

Today International Student Coffee Hour 3:30 p.m.

SMSU, room 228

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HELP WANTED

Vanguard Vanguard Etc. || 77 Arts November 2009 Month Day,25, 2009

Fall 6-on-6 Speed Soccer 5:50 p.m.

Campus Rec Field

Thursday Thanksgiving Day All day

Friday The Faculty: Farnell Newton 8 p.m.

Brasserie Montmartre 626 SW Park Ave.

Saturday Portland Ballet and PSU Orchestra: The Enchanted Toyshop 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m Newmark Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway Tickets via Ticketmaster

To place an event: Contact vgcalendar@ gmail.com or pick up a calendar request form at the Vanguard advertising office, Smith Memorial Student Union, room 115.

ART WEDNESDAY Humor tainted by vintage misogyny

A not-so-happy Thanksgiving: five coping strategies for the turkey blues

It’s a mixed bag with The Man Who Came to Dinner Anita Kinney

1. Assess options early

Vanguard staff

The deadline is indeed deadly. While deadlines at times serve as positive reinforcement in our lives, holiday deadlines are absolutely brutal.

This is no time to dillydally. The posture of the day here is to be proactive. This is especially important if, in fact, you may find yourself alone at Thanksgiving.

By resolving this issue early you allow yourself time to set positive, personal plans into action.

Terrific. Plan early so you’ll feel a positive sense of momentum as Thanksgiving approaches.

2. Mark the calendar This sounds quite simple, but is actually very powerful. By marking your plans down on paper, you are saying to yourself that you, indeed, have plans. Now, instead of fretting about what to do at Thanksgiving, you have the peace of knowing that all is in order. If you stumble upon a more enticing way to spend your day, it’s simply an added bonus.

From left: Tobias Anderson as Whiteside, Anne Hargreaves as Nurse Preen and Jill Westerby as Maggie Cutler.

still fresh after 70 years, and ensures that there is never a dull moment.

The play seems to be about Whiteside’s development as a person—from his self-serving beginning to his turn in a Scrooge-like redemption when he understands that Maggie has found true love. Unfortunately, his Christmas-flavored brand of personal growth rings somewhat false.

In 2009, it seems inconceivable that a well-educated woman would sacrifice her life and career in order to settle down with a man she’s only known for two weeks. Consequently, Whiteside emerges as the only sane character in the play—albeit

one with deep communication problems. Watching a parade of men based on prominent actors of the day stroll in to try to convince Whiteside that Maggie has “finally fallen in love” is jarring, and reduces Maggie—a competent, no-nonsense businesswoman excellently portrayed by Westerby—to a pining girl who remains desperately in love even as her man cheats on her. It’s a shame to see such a strong female character reduced to the show’s most illogical, desperate player.

The flip side of this simplistic, sexist treatment of Maggie is that Whiteside becomes an even more nuanced figure. The play, after all, is a vehicle for Whiteside, and Andersen gives a suitably virtuoso performance that carries the play evenly throughout, delivering cutting witticisms. Gorham as Bert exudes charm and desperation in equal measures and Boulé is a welcome example of an old-fashioned diva, even if her character is at times a negative female stereotype.

Anne Hargreaves’ cameo as a frazzled, but ultimately self-reliant nurse is a standout for its humor and Hargreaves’ studiously dour stage manner. It’s a shame that she’s the only female character who isn’t manipulated by the show’s men and the turning point of the show from drawing-room comedy to sexist garbage is the entrance of bit player Banjo (played by the likeable Garland Lyons), a lewd comedian who is a perfect example of the script’s

All photos courtesy of Lake Oswego Photographers

Lakewood Theatre Company’s yuletide offering, The Man Who Came to Dinner, is an enjoyable family production. A period piece, the play is set in the early 1940s and tells the story of a celebrity author and radio personality who is stranded at the home of a wealthy couple during the holidays.

Sheridan Whiteside (Tobias Andersen), a media sensation, comes to dinner at the small-town Ohio home of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley (Scott Malcolm and Jane Fellows, respectively). This is no small matter for the wealthy couple, who treat the occasion as a social coup.

Unfortunately, Whiteside slips on their icy front steps and fractures his hip, resulting in a forced stay at the couple’s home. Immediately, Whiteside takes over the household with his demands, threatening to sue his hosts, effectively placing them under house arrest and terrorizing their domestic help.

If this play were about a curmudgeon though, it wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining. Soon, Whiteside reveals his penchant for the absurd. He receives phone calls from Walt Disney and H.G. Wells, Christmas gifts from Shirley Temple and is the recipient of a taxidermy octopus, four live penguins and an antique Egyptian sarcophagus. He proves himself to be a delightful eccentric as he mentors the Stanleys’ likeable children, June (Alyssa Roehrenbeck) and Richard (Todd Tschida). Whiteside is a complex, ambiguous character, and teeters between acting like a spoiled child and a truly loving father.

Whiteside’s disagreement with his personal assistant, Maggie (Jill Westerby) is the crux of the play.

Maggie has fallen in love with smalltime newspaper editor Bert Jefferson (Jeff Gorham) and threatens to leave her job to pursue a relationship with him. Whiteside’s response is to trick actress Lorraine Sheldon (Margie Boulé) into seducing Jefferson, who is an aspiring playwright. The ensuing drama and manipulation is clever and suspenseful, and justifies the play’s three acts and extended running time.

Director Joe Theissen has done an excellent job using the large, twostory set, which is modeled after a Craftsman mansion. The huge cast enters and exits smoothly and their movements on set, particularly in large group scenes, are close to a dance routine. The script’s humor is

Vanguard Arts & Culture | 8 November 25, 2009

willingness to sacrifice women for comedic purposes (Banjo’s first appearance onstage involves him touching Miss Preen in a manner that, in the 21st century, would be grounds for a workplace harassment suit). Bert, likewise, is still meant to be a hero even as he proves himself a starstruck philanderer. The relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Stanley is also depressing.

The Man Who Came to Dinner is certainly enjoyable and Lakewood Theatre Company’s production is of the highest caliber. It’s a shame that the source material is so dated— its jokes would have been far more enjoyable were they advancing a less misogynistic plot. For an audience comfortable watching women get reduced down to vapid plot devices, The Man Who Came to Dinner is hard to beat as seasonal entertainment.

For the more critical out there, this play will fail to inspire Christmas cheer—unless your idea of holiday fun involves thinking about how patriarchy can ruin just about everything.

The Man Who Came to Dinner Lakewood Center for the Arts 368 S State St., Lake Oswego Thu through Sat, 7:30 p.m.

Sun, 2 p.m.

Runs through Dec. 6 $24 students, $26 general

3. Be definitive with times Don’t fall into the temptation of being careless at this stage of your planning. Be specific, even if that is not your normal bent, in each of the activities you plan for the day. Most of all, plan stingily.

Allot time periods to activities that are on the shy side of what you actually expect they may require.

By planning in this abbreviated fashion you will not find yourself lingering over an activity that has played itself out.

4. Simplify Big, complicated plans often go awry and, especially at Thanksgiving, all things awry are most unwelcome. By consciously deciding to keep things simple you open up the realm of tripping over unexpected and delightful surprises.

5. Reach out This is, perhaps, the hardest of the steps to take. It’s also, without a doubt, the most rewarding.

This step, however, should be taken only in the context of simplicity expressed in step number four.

Don’t agonize over inviting a family of 12 complete strangers to dinner in your tiny apartment or set the alarm for 4 a.m. and then scour the city for homeless people to shelter and feed.

—ezinearticles.com