THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2010 • PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY • VOLUME 64, ISSUE 99
Event of the day Come out and show your commitment to ending sexual violence at Take Back the Night/Bike Back the Night. The march and ride through the city will be followed by a survivor speak-out and vigil to honor sexual assault survivors. When: 6 p.m. Where: PSU Park Blocks
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INSIDE Arts
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Ambient bliss Eluvium takes his music and his audience to a state of musical calm PAGE 4
You can take it with you Portable bean salads keep your stomach and your wallet full PAGE 5
Sports Thursday throwdown Blazers’ playoff fate in peril heading into crucial Game 6 PAGE 6 Table tennis club competes locally PSU players struggle at Bill Mason Memorial PAGE 6
PSU coach named Big Sky Golf Coach of the Year Takaishi honored after guiding Viks to championship PAGE 6
March against sexual assault WRC organized march, ride and rally against violence against women tonight Sharon Rhodes Vanguard staff
Tonight from 6–9 p.m. the Women’s Resource Center and the Portland Women’s Crisis Line will join together in hosting the Take Back the Night and Bike Back the Night events on the Portland State University Park Blocks. April is Sexual Assault Awareness month and the WRC organized a number of events, including a workshop on consent and several lectures related to sexual assault, according to the Women’s Resource Center website. Take Back the Night, a rally, march and bike ride, is the culmination of the month and aims both to celebrate survivors and spread awareness about sexual assault and its prevention. According to the Take Back the Night Foundation, both the foundation and the rallies that it
helps to organize exist in the hopes of ending the anxiety that women face when walking alone at night. Miranda Williamson, the WRC’s faculty and community liaison, said, “the first recorded ‘Take Back the Night’ occurred in 1976 at the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women in Brussels.” In that instance, 2,000 women marched to protest sexual violence, Williamson said. Although some organizations have used the phrase “Take Back the Night” to protest pornography and more general violence, “over the last 30 years in the United States, Take Back the Night has returned its focus to eliminating sexual violence in all forms,” according to the event website. Williamson said, PSU has hosted Take Back the Night events since the 1990s. Since that time “it has grown from a small group of women organizers...into a huge inclusive event that draws hundreds.” This year the Portland Women’s Crisis Line and the WRC will be hosting Bike Back the Night together with Take Back the Night as “one large event with the goal
Portland State Vanguard Archives
Take Back the Night: Last year's event drew large crowds.
of spreading the message on both a bike and march route,” Williamson said. According to Williamson, Brickers, a local ska band, will open the night at 6 p.m. with a short concert. Next, an artist known as Tash will give a spoken word performance, followed by a short speech. Around 7 p.m., marchers and bicyclists will begin their separate routes, both with chants and signs to increase awareness and to protest sexual assault, Williamson said. When riders and marchers return to the PSU park blocks, around 8 p.m., survivors of violence can share their stories in the survivor speak-out portion of the rally. “Survivor speak-outs are an inseparable part of Take Back the
Night,” Williamson said. “Take Back the Night has inspired both women and men to confront a myriad of social ills, including rape, sexual violence, domestic violence, violence against children and violence against women.” And according to the TBTN Foundation, survivor speak-outs particularly “help survivors know that they are not alone.” A candlelight vigil to honor survivors of sexual assault will follow the survivor speak-out. Both groups hosting this year’s event, the WRC and the PWCL, Williamson said, “are striving to raise awareness in our communities and end sexual violence” by making both assault and survival more visible.
Spring textbooks unavailable Bookstore repairs will limit textbook sales Amy Staples Vanguard staff
Students who have not yet purchased all the books needed for spring quarter should hustle down to the bookstore before May 1. The bookstore’s lower level will be closed from May 2–16 in order to finish necessary repairs. “All of the work is related to the damage from the flood in February,” said Ken Brown, bookstore president and CEO. On February 7, 120,000 gallons of water inundated the lower level, destroying thousands of dollars of books and supplies. “Remaining work includes re-carpeting the entire basement, replacing damaged fixtures and furniture, and repairing the walls that were cut as part of the abatement efforts,” Brown said. DOW Columbia is the contractor that has been working in the bookstore since the flood. “We tried to time [the closure] to impact students the least,” Brown said. He said that summer is not a good time to shut down because
classes start every week and students need books continuously throughout the summer quarter. Water damage to sheetrock, cubicles and carpeting on the lower level is still visible. DOW Columbia staff have been painting the office area on the lower level and have replaced much of the damaged sheetrock. Bookstore staff have been displaced by the flooding and subsequent repairs. “It’s been very disruptive,” Brown said. “We’ve had to move out of our office.” He said that the cost for this phase of the repairs mainly repainting, re-carpeting and replacing rusting fixtures and furniture is somewhere between $370,000 to $400,000. That number is in addition to the cost of the initial cleanup, $125,000 in lost inventory and $75,000 in computer equipment. “If the books are here they will be available until they are returned to the publishers,” Brown said. However, “We have already done a large number of publisher returns so we don’t have to handle the product more than necessary,” he said. Although spring books will be largely unavailable after May 16, summer books will be available as usual after that time.
Liana Shewey/Portland State Vanguard
Buy books now: Redmodeling in the basement to repair flood damage will halt access to buying
spring textbooks.
Other items found on the lower level, including art supplies, test forms and some office supplies, will be available on other floors during the closure. There is still an active review and investigation into the cause of the flooding being handled by the bookstore’s insurance company
and the State of Oregon’s risk management company. “Logistically this has been very interesting for us,” Brown said. “DOW Columbia and the other companies working on this have been running very tight and wellorganized, so that’s been nice.”