Portland State Vanguard, Vol. 73, Issue 27

PORTLAND STATE VANGUARD

VOLUME 73 • ISSUE 27 • MAY 14, 2019

INTERNATIONAL PSU STUDENTS SHARE INDIAN CULTURE • COVER SHOURESHI RESIGNS • ARTS & CULTURE MAC DEMARCO IS A SHIT SHOW

CRIME BLOTTER

May 2–13

DYLAN JEFFERIES MAY 2 Menacing Activity At around 7:27 p.m. Campus Public Safety officers responded to threats being made against a student by a non-student at the University Pointe Apartments.

MAY 10 Arson Suspect At 2:40 p.m. CPSO assisted the Portland Police Bureau in detaining a non-student who was a suspect in an arson case at Portland State. The arrest occurred at SW Montgomery and 14th.

MAY 7 Forgery CPSO responded to a report at around 3 p.m. that several fake credit cards were used by a non-student to reserve two rooms at the University Place Hotel.

MAY 12 Trash Can Fire At around 7:40 p.m. CPSO and the Portland Fire Bureau responded to a trash can on fire at the art building. Numerous cigarettes were found in the area.

MAY 9 Burglary Two non-students reported that someone broke into their apartment at University Pointe and broke a bottle. The incident occurred at around 3:47 a.m. on May 8.

MAY 13 Fire Alarm CPSO and the Portland Fire Bureau responded to three fire alarms at 2:58 a.m., 6:24 a.m. and 6:33 a.m. at the Richard and Maurine Neuberger Center. There was no smoke of flames. All of the alarms were determined to be false.

CONTENTS COVER BY JOHN ROJAS

NEWS HILL TO HALL

P. 3

DRIVER’S LICENSES FOR ALL

BOARD VOTES TO APPROVE 11% TUITION INCREASE

P. 3 P. 4

OREGON’S FIRST IMMIGRANT CONGRESSWOMAN SPEAKS ON REPRESENTATION

P. 5

INTERNATIONAL CLEANING CREW REMOVES 6,000 POUNDS OF TRASH, DEAD BODIES FROM MOUNT EVEREST

FAILED VENEZUELAN COUP COULD LEAD TO U.S. INTERVENTION

EXTINCTION REBELLION CALLS FOR CLIMATE REGULATION

P. 10 P. 10 P. 11

OPINION THE YEEHAW AGENDA IS BLACK

P. 12

INTERNATIONAL THIS WEEK AROUND THE WORLD

P. 6

BIG CORPORATIONS AREN’T YOUR FRIENDS

P. 13

SHARING INDIAN CULTURE WITH PSU

P. 7

FESTIVAL FAILURES

P. 14

COVER SHOURESHI RESIGNS

P. 8–9

ARTS & CULTURE MAC DEMARCO MESS

P. 15

EVENTS CALENDAR

P. 16

STAFF

COPY CHIEF Hannah Welbourn

LEAD DESIGNER Dana Townsend

CONTRIBUTORS Christina Casanova Chloe Dysart Dylan Jefferies Emily Price Gregory Retz Marena Riggan McKinzie Smith

DESIGNERS Rosemary Oliva Zak Stone

INTERNATIONAL EDITOR Madison Cecil

PHO T O & MULTIMEDI A PHOTO EDITOR Bo Koering

T ECHNOL OGY & W EB SIT E STUDENT MEDIA TECHNOLOGY ADVISOR Corrine Nightingale

ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Cervanté Pope

MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Huilyn Loo

OPINION EDITOR Taylar Rivers

PRODUC TION & DE SIGN CREATIVE DIRECTOR John Rojas

EDIT ORI A L EDITOR IN CHIEF Nada Sewidan MANAGING EDITOR Marta Yousif NEWS EDITORS Sophie Concannon Anamika Vaughan

ONLINE EDITOR Sangi Lama

DIS T RIBU TION & M A R K E TING DISTRIBUTION & MARKETING MANAGER Dylan Jefferies

TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANTS Damaris Dusciuc Long V. Nguyen Annie Ton

A DV ISING & ACCOUN TING COORDINATOR OF STUDENT MEDIA Reaz Mahmood STUDENT MEDIA ACCOUNTANT Sheri Pitcher To contact Portland State Vanguard, email info@psuvanguard.com

MIS SION S TAT EMEN T Vanguard’s mission is to serve the Portland State community with timely, accurate, comprehensive and critical content while upholding high journalistic standards. In the process, we aim to enrich our staff with quality, hands-on journalism education and a number of skills highly valued in today’s job market.

A BOU T 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 Tuesdays and online 24/7 at psuvanguard.com Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @psuvanguard for multimedia content and breaking news.

NEWS

DRIVER’S LICENSES FOR ALL DREAM PSU FIGHTS FOR UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

MAY 6–9 CHLOE DYSART

MAY 6: OREGON REPUBLICANS SHUT DOWN SENATE OVER TAX BILL

Oregon Republicans have shut down the Oregon Senate in protest to House Bill 3427, a bill that would tax businesses with revenues over $1 million and give an estimated $2 billion to schools, according to Associated Press. Many senators have refused to show up to the capitol, resulting in not enough members for a formal vote. Many say they will not appear on the floor until the bill comes back from committee with changes. Sen. Mark Hass, D–Beaverton, has expressed worry over ensuring that the money will actually be put toward schools, which would take a constitutional amendment.

JOHN ROJAS

MAY 7: OREGON DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY DENIES PERMIT FOR PIPELINE

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality denied a water quality permit for the Jordan Cove LNG project, a 229-mile natural gas pipeline in southern Oregon’s Coos County by Canadian fossil fuel corporation Pembina. This decision comes in celebration from some groups, such as the Klamath Tribe and environmental protesters, who are concerned about leakage of drilling materials disrupting the water supply and fisheries. Opposition to the pipeline has been going on for 15 years. It is currently unknown if Pembina will reapply for the water quality permit.

MAY 8: 25,000 TEACHERS PROTEST IN PORTLAND

Oregon Public School teachers participated in a walkout to protest the lack of funding for education. According to Associated Press, Oregon public schools have one of the lowest graduation rates and some of the largest class sizes in the country. The May 8 protest was scheduled after the Oregon state budget was released, nearly $9 billion for K–12 education, which school administrators say will not be sufficient. Teachers and students protested in Portland for increased funding as well as in response to cuts of student services such as counseling services. According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, several local school districts around Portland canceled school for the day.

MAY 9: DISABILITY RIGHTS GROUP PUSHES BACK AGAINST E-SCOOTER COMPLAINTS

According to the disability rights group Disability Rights Oregon, Portland’s decision to put e-scooter companies in charge of handling citizen complaints is potentially problematic. According to DRO, the latest attempt to regulate the scooters was not done through a public process and did not allow input from those who need a motorized vehicle to get around the city. The City of Portland has required companies to maintain a 24-hour complaint line, but DRO is worried about having a private company in charge of the complaints because it’s a violation of public records transparency.

GREGORY RETZ Dream PSU joined Causa—Oregon’s immigrant rights organization—on May 7 to spread awareness of House Bill 2015, an Oregon law proposed by Rep. Diego Hernandez which would allow any Oregon resident who can provide proof of residency to receive a driver’s license.

The event, held in Parkway North, provided phones and instructed students on how to contact relevant Oregon legislators so students could call in support of H.B. 2015, which would allow undocumented Oregonians to drive without breaking the law.

Dream PSU is a student organization that seeks to provide undocumented students with resources and a community. There are more than 10,000 Deferred Action For Childhood Recipients living in Oregon according to the American Immigration Council, and many Oregon DACA recipients are students at Portland State.

If passed, the bill won’t take effect until 2021 when the Department of Motor Vehicles is fully prepared to accommodate these changes.

Oregon would be the first state to allow undocumented immigrants access to driver’s licenses. New York currently has a similar bill in committee that will be passed through the state House and Senate in the following months, but no state has enacted a version of this bill into law as of May 2019.

Fatima Preciado, a PSU student who helped create Dream PSU, identified herself as a DACA recipient.

“We want to expand the resources for this demographic,” Preciado said. “Providing educational support, finding educational opportunities, if students are facing legal issues we can connect them to the right resources.

At the moment, PSU doesn’t have a centralized location where undocumented students can go to for support. We’d like to become that space.”

Preciado said Dream PSU is attempting to expand their resources to have a physical space on campus much like the Cultural Resources Centers.

“Our team has been working really hard to put forward a demand for an undocumented students resource center on the PSU campus,” Preciado said. “We’ve been working in collaboration with [Portland Community College] Rock Creek, [which] already has a dreamer center established on their campus.”

Preciado also said Dream PSU would be presenting during the Board of Trustees meeting on May 13. However, at the Board meeting, the BOT removed Dream PSU from the agenda.

“Dream PSU will be attempting to secure funding for the center as well as hiring a director familiar with the issues undocumented students face,” Preciado said.

PSU Vanguard • MAY 14, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

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NEWS

BOARD VOTES TO APPROVE 11% TUITION INCREASE

SOME MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES VOTE IN APPROVAL OF THE RECOMMENDED TUITION INCREASE. MONDAY, MAY 13. BO KOERING/PSU VANGUARD ANAMIKA VAUGHAN Portland State’s Board of Trustees voted 6-3 to approve the finance and administration’s recommended budget proposal for the upcoming biennium—including an 11.11% tuition increase. The Board meeting ran 30 minutes over to give the trustees time to discuss the tuition proposal.

Those who voted against were Sho Donzo, Ben Barry and Antonio Leiva. Maude Hines abstained from voting.

The recommendation also included an increase to the student incidental fee by $23 per term.

Hines brought up concerns that the system of increasing tuition as a response to reduced state funding is not sustainable.

“I suddenly feel so aware of my own ignorance that I can’t vote on this,” Hines said.

“I think approving this budget sends a message to co-chairs and governors—we can’t shoot ourselves in the foot and expect to run a good university,” said Board member Christine Vernier.

“I’m gonna have to vote for it as awful as I feel about it.”

Students in the crowd voiced their opposition to Vernier’s comment: “You don’t have to vote this way.”

Vice President of Finance and Administration Kevin Reynolds presented the tuition and mandatory fee recommendation to the Board, touching briefly on what was discussed at the Finance and Administration Board meeting May 3.

University of Oregon is recommending an 11.06% increase, Southern Oregon University is considering a 13.5% increase and Oregon Institute of Technology a 9% increase in undergraduate resident tuition.

Oregon State University, Eastern Oregon University and Western Oregon University are all considering increases under 5%.

Part of the budget recommendation also includes an alternative increase plan of 15.79% to undergraduate residents if the Engineering and Technology Sustaining Funds and Sports

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PSU Vanguard • MAY 14, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

Lottery funds are not restored by the state to the same levels as the 2017–19 budget.

“We are fairly optimistic that those will be restored,” said Reynolds.

If the state were to invest more in the public university support fund, the university has a step-down tuition plan for reducing the increase appropriately.

The budget will now be passed onto the Higher Education Coordination Committee for approval on June 13.

STUDENT, FACULTY AND PSU COMMUNITY CONCERNS Over 100 students, faculty and community members crowded the Academic Student Recreation Center room to protest the tuition increase, including representatives from Portland Teachers Program, Graduate Employees Union, PSU Student Union and Dream PSU. Several Dream PSU students and students from Portland Community College shared concerns for their future at PSU. Many of these PCC students are undocumented, do not qualify for federal financial aid and have to work full time in order to pay for tuition.

Dream PSU representatives requested more resources on campus, including a center for undocumented and DACA students.

Associate Professor of Sociology Jose Padin and Information Technology Specialist Rob Fullmer shared concerns over the size of executive salaries at PSU. Fullmer asked the Board to keep former President Rahmat Shoureshi’s promise not to give raises to administrators with salaries over $120,000.

“If you want legislators to invest in higher education, you have to be sure they know that money is going into student success,” Fullmer said.

Students from the Portland Teachers Program requested the Board continue to provide tuition remissions to students going through the program.

PTP is a partnership between PSU, Portland Public Schools, Portland Community College and the Beaverton school district to “prepare culturally competent teachers with a special focus on historically underrepresented groups.”

Graduate Employees Union representatives protested the disproportionate cuts to graduate jobs. Ted Cooper with the GEU explained that for a 4% increase scenario for graduate students, the school would be cutting 53 graduate assistant positions.

BUDGET TROUBLES The 11.11% rise in tuition also comes with around $10 million in cuts to the university’s budget.

A 5% increase would have required an additional $6 million in cuts, which according to Reynolds would have been “just too impactful on student support, timely graduation, academic quality and long-term fiscal stability.”

Going into financial year 2020, PSU is facing an estimated annual expenditure increase of $18.6 million.

As of right now, the state has pledged an additional $40.5 million to public universities and colleges, which equates to an additional $1.3 million to PSU’s budget from last year. Reynolds said the university is hoping to get more before the legislative session is over. There will be a predicted $7.3 million in net tuition growth from the FY19 budget.

Reynolds clarified that the university might be spending between $5–10 million in reserves, depending on how many departments underspend their budget and student enrollment.

OREGON’S FIRST IMMIGRANT CONGRESSWOMAN SPEAKS ON REPRESENTATION

NEWS

CHLOE DYSART Students and staff in Smith Memorial Student Union gathered for the 7th annual Walk of the Heroines lecture on May 9 featuring keynote speaker Rep. Teresa Alonso León.

León is the first Indigenous Latina immigrant woman in the Oregon Legislature and represents District 22, which includes Woodburn, Gervais, Brooks and northeast Salem, Ore. Lisa Weasel, chair of the gender and sexualities department, stated both the lecture series and the physical Walk of the Heroines space was a “university community collaboration to draw attention to the contributions and influence of women from diverse backgrounds and perspectives.”

The Walk of the Heroines monument is located behind Branford Price Millar Library in the walkway adjacent to Hoffman Hall.

This year has been called the “year of women” in politics, as Oregon has seen more women in state office than men.

When asked why there are more and more women running for office, Weasel said she thinks the “current political situation is encouraging more people to bring their diverse forces into politics.” She also said she thinks the issues rising to the surface are specifically focused on groups who have been marginalized. “That is causing people to recognize that we need more of these forces,” Weasel said.

Throughout the speech, León recounted the challenges she had to overcome growing as an immigrant in the United States, including seeing a lack of representation in her community, which was majority Latinx.

León grew up in a close-knit family and faced many responsibilities as the oldest daughter, including working to contribute to her family’s income starting as young as age 5.

León said college never seemed like an option until teachers in her life planted the seed that college was possible, which started her passion for education.

After completing a masters degree in public administration at Portland State, León moved home to Woodburn, Ore. and was asked to run for city council by members of her community who said they hadn’t had Latinx representation in over 10 years despite the Latinx majority.

León said she made a choice to run because “representation matters.”

“If people don’t participate in leadership positions, then other people are making decisions for you and are not really thinking about your lens or your perspective.”

Being on city council was not always easy for León. “I started bringing ideas that were not what they were used to—a couple times I was the lonely vote, which is okay, because to be a leader, I heard somewhere that you have to be prepared to stand alone sometimes,” she said.

After serving on city council, León decided to run for the Oregon House of Representatives. She was told for her campaign she would have to raise half a million dollars because she was in a swing district.

“I think about my parents’ journey—they didn’t speak the language, they didn’t understand the culture, but their vision for their kids was to have opportunity. They dared to do this, why not me?” León said.

OREGON REPRESENTATIVE TERESA ALONSO LEÓN GREETING U.S. SOLDIERS. COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS León went on to run the first multilingual campaign in the history of Oregon state. In the process, she raised $800,000 and was endorsed by former President Barack Obama. She became the first immigrant representative in Oregon when she won her House bid in 2016.

“I could not believe that a little girl who worked in the fields was now a city leader,” León said of her win. As of May 2019, she is serving in her second term.

León is currently working on passing legislation in the Oregon House that will increase funding for K-12 school programs. She also plans to work on funding for higher education.

León credits her teachers with planting the idea that she could go to college. “We need to tell our girls when they are little that one day [they’re] going to be an amazing leader in any area [they] want to be in,” she said.

Weasel said the Walk of Heroines lecture series, as well as the physical space, aims to “deepen that conversation to focus on diverse lived experiences.”

She also said the lecture series and space aim to recognize all identities of women and the way those identities intersect.

“We recognize that women are not a monolithic unity and that people who identify as women bring with them a wide rage of experiences and identities,” Weasel said.

PSU Vanguard • MAY 14, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

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INTERNATIONAL

THIS WEEK

around the

WORLD May 5–10

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May 5

KHIMKI, RUSSIA

At least 41 people, including two children, were killed while another six were hospitalized after a passenger jet caught fire while making a crash landing. According to Deutsche Welle, the Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet 100 was en route to the city of Murmansk but was forced to return to the Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow shortly after takeoff due to technical difficulties. After failing a first attempt at an emergency landing, officials told Deutsche Welle that pilots made a hard landing, at which point the plane’s landing gear and nose hit the runway and caught fire. Footage of the blaze was captured from inside the plane by one of the passengers and was circulated by various news outlets including Euronews. From the 78 passengers and crew members on board, 37 survived.

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May 6

ISRAEL; GAZA, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

A ceasefire between Israel and Gaza was declared in the early morning of May 6 following an escalation between the two sides which began on May 3, Al Jazeera reported.

During the three days of fighting, almost 700

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rockets were launched by Hamas—a militant organization and the governing political body of Gaza—into Israel, while the Israeli Defense Force conducted some 350 airstrikes over the strip, reported The Guardian.

Four Israelis and 25 Palestinians were killed during the fighting.

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May 8

IRAN

The Islamic Republic informed the remaining signatories of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—commonly referred to as the Iran Nuclear Deal—it would resume high-level uranium enrichment within 60 days if the associated governments failed to protect Iran from U.S.–imposed sanctions, as reported

by Deutsche Welle. “If the five countries join negotiations and help Iran to reach its benefits in the field of oil and banking, Iran will return to its commitments according to the nuclear deal,” President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised address. The decision to cease implementing certain key provisions of the agreement came amid the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf as a “clear and unmistakable message” to Iran, according to National Security Adviser John Bolton.

PSU Vanguard • MAY 14, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

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May 8

PAKISTAN

A bomb exploded outside a shrine in the eastern city of Lahore on the morning of May 8, killing at least 10 people while injuring more than 20. As reported by Al Jazeera, the Sufi shrine of Data Darbar is one of the most prominent in the country and is visited by thousands daily, with numbers increasing during the holy Islamic month of Ramadan. Provincial Police Chief Arif Nawaz claimed police were the main target of the attack. At least five of the 10 killed were policemen, while another five of the wounded are in critical condition. While it’s not yet known if the attack was administered by a suicide bomber or an improvised explosive device (IED), Deutsche Welle reported Pakistan Taliban have claimed responsibility.

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May 8

SOUTH AFRICA

Following 25 years since the country transitioned from apartheid to democracy, the nation headed to the polls to vote in the country’s general elections. The Guardian reported 48 parties vied for representation in the National Assembly, with the frontrunners being Cyril Ramaphosa of the ruling African National Congress, Mmusi Maimane of the centre-left

Democratic Alliance and Julius Malema of the populist far-left Economic Freedom Fighters. South African news outlets News 24 and The South African reported the ANC, leading in every province except Western Cape, won with 57.5% of the votes, giving them 230 of the 400 seats available. The DA secured 20.76%, giving them 84 seats while the EFF received 10.8% and a subsequent 44 seats. Voter turnout dropped this year from about 73.48% in 2014 to 65.99% despite an increase of 1.3 million more eligible voters than in 2014.

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May 10

U.S.; CHINA:

Despite hosting trade talks in Washington D.C. with Vice Premier Liu He, President Donald Trump went ahead with his decision to more than double existing tariffs on Chinesemade products. Vox reports the decision went into effect as of 12:01 a.m. on May 10, increasing tariffs from 10% up to 25% on $200 billion of Chinese goods. The escalation comes after weeks of progress between the two countries to reach a negotiation. The New York Times reports the decision has caused fear of a renewed trade war as China’s Ministry of Commerce declared in a statement they would respond with countermeasures.

INTERNATIONAL

SHARING INDIAN CULTURE WITH PSU

PERFORMERS DURING THE PORTLAND STATE INDIAN STUDENT ASSOCIATION’S ANNUAL EVENT SANSKRITI. MAY 11, 2019. MADISON CECIL/PSU VANGUARD MADISON CECIL The Portland State Indian Student Association hosted their annual event Sanskriti, which translates to “culture” in Hindu, a celebration of Indian music, food and culture.

The event was held on May 11 in the Smith Memorial Student Union Ballroom as a way to share Indian culture with the rest of campus.

Sanskriti coordinator and emcee Amulya Iruvanti started the night by saying, “This evening, let’s forget everything about the assignments, projects, internships, tests and exams and simply have one night to enjoy our culture.”

The ISA provided traditional Indian food, including curry, vegetable biryani, naan bread and yogurt. Biryani is a traditional Indian dish served with rice, topped with either chicken or vegetables. Rhaita, which is the yogurt served at Sanskriti, is traditionally mixed into rice in Indian cuisine.

Event-goers could get a henna tattoo or take photos in front of one of the several photo booths ISA coordinators created while they waited for the other performances to begin.

“We’re trying to show all of Indian culture with the lights and the dances,” ISA coordinator Kirtan Mehta said. “We want to show our Indian music and our Indian culture.

How we dance, how we play our music, how we enjoy our music. We are doing a lot of traditional Indian things to share them with people.”

Individuals and groups registered to perform at Sanskriti. There were 12 dance and music performances total. The Portland Abhinaya performed three times throughout the night, with a classical Indian dance solo followed by a classical group performance and a group folk dance.

International PSU students originally from India performed several dances, including a hip-hop number that was choreographed to Indian music. The hip-hop performers were all studying computer science or electrical engineering at PSU. Bollywood choreographer and dancer Deepa Barve also performed.

“Dance is one of the most sacred art forms I believe,” Mehta said, commenting on the im-

portance of dance to Indian culture. “It goes much beyond shaking your arms and legs. It is a way to express your emotions and feelings without having to say anything. In the ancient times, dances were considered to be the messages of God.” This year, the Sanskriti event included a sangeet celebration, which happens a few days before a traditional Indian wedding. The celebration is intended for the families to commune and get to know each other before the bride and groom are formally married.

“The premise of the sangeet is not just to have fun but also for the families to come together and familiarize themselves with each other before the big wedding day,” Mehta explained. “Nothing connects people better than good food and music, so the relatives and friends of the bride and groom choreographed these dance numbers to perform for the couple.”

The families of the future bride and groom each performed a dance for the crowd in celebration of the wedding to come.

“Sanskriti has always been a platform for the Indian community to come together and showcase our culture,” Iruvante said. “It’s a time to remember everything that is wonderful about our homeland and to share that spirit with everyone.”

Many attendees wore traditional Indian clothes. For men, this meant kurtas or pajamas. Women wore sarees, lehenga cholis, panches or lungis. India is a diverse country, so what people consider traditional depends on where in the country they are from.

Mehta said “females have a lot of options for traditional clothes” in comparison to men.

The ISA wrapped up the night with a fashion show, where PSU students and ISA representatives modeled the wide variety of Indian clothing that is worn throughout the country.

“People from different states wear different clothes depending on where they are from,” Mehta explained. “Every person from a different state has their own idea of traditional clothes. It just depends on where they are from.”

PSU Vanguard • MAY 14, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

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COVER

SHOURESHI RESIGNS

JOHN ROJAS

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PSU Vanguard • MAY 14, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

COVER

SOPHIE CONCANNON Amidst an ongoing ethics investigation, employee accusations of unlawful termination and proof of deleted emails, Portland State President Rahmat Shoureshi resigned from his position, effective December 14, 2019.

After a cancelation of the quarterly press conference with student media, scheduled for May 10, Shoureshi sent out a letter addressed to the student body. He stated the reason for his resignation as “focusing on [his] family first.”

When asked if the Board of Trustees asked Shoureshi to resign, both the BOT and PSU’s Director of Media and Public Relations Kenny Ma declined to comment.

Board Chair Gale Castillo said she “did not want to answer questions in the middle of a Board meeting.”

Shoureshi will be on paid administrative leave until the December date. PSU’s Department of Communications estimated he will be paid around $880,000 over the course of 15 months, ending in August 2020.

The price of Shoureshi’s administrative leave— $880,000—is equivalent to one year’s worth of his pay.

When asked about the “massive payout” on a teleconference with the media, Ma declined to comment but said “the Board feels the settlement was reasonable, and this outcome is in the best interest of both the university and the president.”

When asked if Shoureshi’s administrative leave would affect the school’s budget for 2019–20, Castillo responded that it would not. When asked where the money would be coming from, Castillo declined to comment.

TIMELINE OF ALLEGATIONS On Nov. 14, 2018, Castillo stated in a letter addressed to Shoureshi that she had “serious concerns about [his] ability to be successful at PSU.” Members of the Board were also concerned about allegations of Shoureshi harassing several employees, as well as the departure of former PSU employees Erin Flynn, Lois Davis and three female provosts in the span of two years.

The letter also addressed the Board’s concerns with Shoureshi’s past actions. In 2017, Shoureshi asked for a 4% raise “to match the faculty’s raise,” even though the faculty only received a raise of 2.5 to 3.5%.

Castillo demanded Shoureshi request his raise be lowered to 2.3%. In the letter, she noted Shoureshi was “putting [his] own financial self-interest ahead of the university’s,” “treating staff unprofessionally” and “engaging in conduct that could seriously adversely affect the university’s reputation and standing among critical stakeholders.”

According to the letter, Shoureshi was given the opportunity to resign and instead agreed to the Board’s performance plan, which included “executive coaching ” and close supervision. In the six months following the institution of the performance plan, the Oregon Government Ethics Commission contacted Shoureshi and notified him of the possi-

bility of an upcoming ethics investigation into Shoureshi’s actions at PSU. Shoureshi said he would “cooperate fully with [the] request to uncover the facts.”

Amid both the possibility of an ethics investigation and an ongoing private investigation into Shoureshi’s actions, Shoureshi deleted over a thousand emails after becoming aware of their public records status, including flight confirmations and emails regarding the newest Board member Ben Berry.

According to a March 3 article published by The Oregonian, the BOT advised Shoureshi not to delete anything, and Shoureshi “denied doing anything wrong.”

The article also referenced a letter written by Flynn addressed to a member of the Board, claiming Shoureshi was “bullying and degrading PSU employees” after she was fired from her eight-year tenure as associate vice president a few months after Shoureshi’s arrival in 2017.

Shoureshi denied Flynn’s claims, saying the Oregonian article contained “errors and misleading comments.”

The investigation was into whether Shoureshi mistreated his employees, misled the Board or committed other transgressions concluded in April. Over the past two months, the Board has held four private executive meetings in Stoel Rives, a law firm located off campus.

The notices for the meetings on May 1 and May 5 stated the Board gathered to “hear and consider information related to complaints against a university official.”

The meetings were not open to the public, but provisions in the law allowed media to attend on the condition they would not disclose any information discussed in session. The Board could not take final actions or make any final decisions at the executive sessions.

When asked whether the Board would release the findings of the investigation into Shoureshi’s actions during his tenure at PSU, Castillo said, “Part of the agreement we reached with the former president includes the reports, so we’re not allowed to discuss the reports in public according to the agreement.”

FUTURE OF PSU On May 13, the BOT voted unanimously in favor of a resolution to make Stephen Percy—current dean of the College of Urban and Public Affairs—acting president until an interim president is appointed.

During the meeting, Castillo—the vice-chair of the committee that selects the university’s president—said the vice presidents spoke favorably of Percy’s appointment.

Percy stated he looks forward to “leading PSU during this transitional period as [the university sustains their] commitment to core values that include providing Oregonians with affordable and quality education.”

Percy, along with the Board, confirmed the university would continue Shoureshi’s work and initiatives into the coming academic year.

“[Percy will] be in the position for the next several months,” Ma said.

During the Board meeting, Castillo said that a committee, headed by vice-chair Greg Hinckley, would consider the input of faculty, staff and students in deciding the next interim president.

“The Board would receive the nominations,” Castillo said. “The governor’s interested in nominating as well.”

Castillo explained the committee would interview candidates and recommend to the full board three of those candidates, followed by a second round of interviews and a final selection made by the Board.

However, Board member Irving Levin brought up concerns with conducting a search similar to the one conducted in 2017 with Shoureshi. A national search for an interim president would take approximately a year.

Levin suggested promoting candidates from within PSU, and Castillo recommended reaching out to faculty groups for their nominations.

“Theoretically, I could just appoint someone,” Castillo said, referencing the statutes for the appointment of an interim president. “I don’t think that’s wise. I think everyone needs to be engaged.”

Wim Wiewel, PSU’s president before Shoureshi, was president of the university for nine years before resigning after the 2016–17 academic year and becoming president of Lewis and Clark College in 2017.

According to The Oregonian, Wiewel collected an annual compensation of $539,000 until he was replaced. A national search for a new president was announced, and a year later, the Board settled on Shoureshi in May 2017, who signed a five-year contract starting in August 2017.

According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, Shoureshi said shortly after that he saw the value in staying “even longer” than Wiewel did.

“The first five years are about vision and strategy,” Shoureshi said. “The second five years, you really put your heart into it together with the community to make sure that that vision not only gets executed but is successful.”

Shoureshi spent a total of 21 months in office.

According to the Board, Shoureshi was originally brought on because of his skill in fundraising and fund negotiation.

“One of the [aspects] that attracted Dr. Shoureshi to us was his experience in fundraising,” said Board member Pete Nickerson. “We have a three-legged stool here at Portland State. There’s tuition, there’s state support and philanthropic giving. Our weakest link is philanthropic giving.”

On maintaining Shoureshi’s vision, Ma said “PSU’s core mission remains the same. Our outstanding, quality faculty and students...all that stays the same.”

According to Ma, with or without the Board’s approval of Percy, Shoureshi will “no longer have any functions or duties at the university.”

Shoureshi’s resignation is effective immediately as is his payout of administrative leave, which will begin this month.

PSU Vanguard • MAY 14, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

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INTERNATIONAL

CREW REMOVES FAILED VENEZUELAN TRASH, DEAD BODIES COUP COULD LEAD TO FROM EVEREST U.S. INTERVENTION MADISON CECIL

A CLEAN-UP CREW REMOVED 6,613 POUNDS OF TRASH AND RECOVERED FOUR DEAD BODIES FROM MOUNT EVEREST. COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS EMILY PRICE A recent Mount Everest 14-member cleanup crew removed 6,613 pounds of trash and recovered four unidentified human bodies in the first two weeks of the 45-day mission that began on April 14.

Approximately, 5,200 people have climbed Mount Everest, former President of the Nepal Mountaineering Association Ang Tshering Sherpa told ABC News, and while these thousands of climbers bring multiple pounds of food and gear up the mountain with them, not all of it comes back down.

The Nepalese government decided to fund the clean-up when the 29,029-foot mountain became a “garbage dump” as a result of decades worth of climbers. According to the Everest Summiteers Association, a recent increase in the number of climbers had a severe impact on the mountain’s environment. The campaign is estimated to cost about 23 million Nepalese rupees, the equivalent of $206,540, according to Nepal’s Department of Tourism.

According to CNN, the Everest Cleaning Campaign has removed empty cans, bottles, plastic and discarded climbing gear. The garbage is transported via army helicopter to Kathmandu for disposal.

In addition to the over 6,000 pounds of garbage, the clean-up campaign has also recovered four bodies and expects to find more.

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Over 300 mountaineers have died on the peak since 1922 since records have recorded, Tshering told CNN. Melting glaciers have revealed decades worth of trash and dead bodies. “Due to the impact of climate change and global warming, snow and glaciers are fast-melting, and dead bodies are increasingly being exposed and discovered by climbers,” Tshering said.

In an effort to reduce the amount of litter, China banned non-climbers from its side of the mountain in February. In 2014, Nepal announced each climber is required to pay a $4,000 garbage tax before climbing. The money will only be refunded to the climber if they bring at least 17.6 pounds of trash back down the mountain.

According to Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, it’s estimated that 28,000 pounds of human waste have been recovered from Base Camp this year alone. The committee estimates 30 tons of trash and debris still remain on the mountain.

“Our goal is to extract as much waste as possible from Everest so as to restore glory to the mountain,” Dandu Raj Ghimere, director general of Nepal’s Department of Tourism, told reporters in Kathmandu.

“Everest is not just the crown of the world, but our pride.”

PSU Vanguard • MAY 14, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

After an alleged coup attempt against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on April 30, opposition leader and President Juan Guaidó has said he may request military intervention from the United States.

Guaidó called the attempted coup the “final phase” of his plan to end Maduro’s presidency, but Maduro claimed the military was still showing him their “total loyalty.” Several representatives from the Venezuelan government denied that any high-ranking military officials were moving against Maduro.

Some people believe the coup attempt was a move by the U.S. “It is not a coup attempt from the military,” Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said, according to Al Jazeera. “This is directly planned in Washington, in the Pentagon and Department of State and by Bolton.”

After severing diplomatic ties with the U.S. on Jan. 24, Maduro announced all Venezuelan embassies and consulates in the U.S. would be shut down. This was in response to the U.S. recognizing Guaidó as the president of Venezuela.

President Donald Trump announced his support for self-declared president Guaidó on Jan. 23. The U.S. is one of 50 countries who have officially announced their support for Guaidó. Others, including Russia and China, are in support of Maduro.

“I think that President Trump’s position is very firm, which we appreciate, as does the entire world,” Guaidó told BBC, regarding

whether he would ask for military intervention from the U.S. “I, as the president in charge of the national parliament, will evaluate all the necessary options,” Guaidó added.

As of now, Trump is not looking to use the military to intervene in Venezuela, according to The Washington Post. Since the U.S. and Russia are on opposing sides of this political issue, there were concerns that if the U.S. was to provide military support to Guaidó, Russia would support Maduro. “[Putin] is not looking to get involved in Venezuela other than he’d like to see something positive happen for Venezuela,” Trump said after speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone for an hour, according to Al Jazeera. “And I feel the same.”

Trump and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence have both assured the public the U.S. will not provide military intervention for now but also said that it is still an option if the situation continues to escalate.

“We want [Venezuela] to be an autonomous, independent sovereign state with democratically elected officials,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News. “That is what we desire for the Venezuelan people.”

Arreaza has warned that if the U.S. “opts for the military path, [Venezuela] has an armed force, a people, a national guard that will be able to not just resist and fight, but also to win.”

WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER AMBASSADOR JOHN BOLTON SPEAKING ABOUT VENEZUELA ON APRIL 30, 2019. COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS

INTERNATIONAL

EXTINCTION REBELLION CALLS FOR CLIMATE REGULATION PROTESTS STAGED ACROSS EUROPE CHRISTINA CASANOVA A new climate change movement, known as the Extinction Rebellion, is on the rise in European countries—the most recent protests in Central London resulted in the arrest of over 1,000 protesters.

The Extinction Rebellion—a rebellion aiming to raise awareness regarding climate change—was formed in October 2018. The movement, influenced by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who gained attention when she held climate change protests at her high school, uses nonviolent civil disobedience tactics to spread their message.

With the effects of climate change increasing, the movement demands immediate action. With some protesters wearing red robes and white face paint, Extinction Rebellion members blocked major roads for seven minutes at a time and demanded politicians take action against global warming at the most recent protests on April 15.

Protesters across the country laid down in shopping malls and busy areas. Several held signs that read, “Are we next?” Some young adults and children carried signs with photos of different endangered species whose existence is threatened by climate change. Several youth organizations who are associated with the Extinction Rebellion, including the Wee Rebellion, participated in the protests on April 15.

“We know we have disrupted your lives,” the Extinction Rebellion said in a written statement.

“We do not do this lightly. We only do this because this is an emergency.”

Protesters have said they will continue to stage what they call “die-ins” across France, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom until local and central governments commit to zero greenhouse gas emissions within 11 years and establish citizen assemblies to initiate changes that will reduce the effects of climate change.

The protesters in London have asked the government to set a goal to eliminate all carbon emissions by 2025. They also asked politicians to declare a state of emergency and to “tell the truth” about climate change.

“We’re hoping that the political class wakes up because if they don’t, the next thing that will happen will be much more dramatic,” Roger Hallam, a founder and organizer of the Extinction Rebellion movement told The Guardian.

Protesters have formed blockades in the streets, glued themselves to the entrance of the London Stock Exchange and chained themselves to British politician Jeremy Corbyn’s house.

Protesters were unfazed when they were told they would be arrested, and several did not fight back and peacefully went into custody. One activist Cleo Peterson said, “I want it on my record as a human being.”

Several police officers’ days off were canceled in order to balance the protests. The government claimed the demonstrators disrupted the lives of many Londoners. Several citizens who are not involved with the Extinction Rebellion joined the protests.

“It’s my first time swarming, but I’m out here because we have a climate and ecological crisis,” August Hall from North London told The

Guardian. “I’ve been with Extinction Rebellion all week and have been inspired by the way they do things, the non-violence, the support of protesters when they’re being arrested and the focus on love of the planet.”

Several celebrities were seen at the protests as well. Actress Emma Thompson joined activists in the centre of Oxford Circus, and Olympic medal winning canoeist Etienne Stott was spotted at the protests on the Waterloo Bridge. Stott was arrested for his involvement in the protests but was later released pending police investigation.

“We have seriously failed them, and our planet is in serious trouble,” Thompson said

at a speech from Berta Cáceres. “We have much, much less time than we thought. I have seen the evidence for myself, and I really care about my children and grandchildren enough to want to be here today to stand with the next generation.”

At a ceremony in Hyde Park to signal the end of the protests, leaders told people to “go back to their communities” but to expect more demonstrations soon. British Environment Minister Michael Gove said the activists’ “point had to be made” and acknowledged it was time for “a serious conversation about what we can do to collectively deal with [climate change].”

EXTINCTION REBELLION PROTESTING FOR CLIMATE CHANGE REFORM. COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS

PSU Vanguard • MAY 14, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

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OPINION

THE YEEHAW AGENDA IS BLACK

COUNTRY MUSIC ORIGINATED IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY, WHITE PEOPLE MADE IT MAINSTREAM

BIZNESSBOI, LIL NAS X AND BOYBAND IN THE RECORDING STUDIO, APRIL 2019. COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS TAYLAR RIVERS Country music may be dominated by white people, but it was created by and for the Black community.

This particular genre of music is filled with white musicians who make music for people who look like them, and for the most part, that is perfectly fine. The issue is the erasure of the Black impact on not only the creation of the genre but the rise of it in mainstream music. The whitewashing of cultural impacts led by Black people is not a new concept, but the country music industry has made no effort to address this or even acknowledge it.

The relationship between Black people and country music began centuries ago. In fact, Black people in the rural South helped create country music and remain avid fans today, according to Pamela Foster, author of the book, My Country: The African Diaspora’s Country Music Heritage. The sound was originally created by African-Americans living in the rural South, employing elements of the blues (also created by Black people) and the banjo—originally an African instrument.

While it can be argued that a genre such as hip-hop was born specifically from an experience of Blackness—and that it emerged, in part, to give voice to that experience—country music was not born from an experience of whiteness. Even decades before the first country performer on Grand Ole Opry the longest running radio show in U.S. history, DeFord Bailey, so-called Black hillbilly artists were ubiquitous around the South, performing string-band music at picnics, square dances and parties.

The book Blues People by LeRoi Jones, also known as Amiri Baraka, artfully explains the historical connection between Black culture and American music such as blues, country, jazz, rock and roll and the list goes on.

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Historians acknowledge that country music is derived from a melting pot of cultures. Mountain or hillbilly music, in particular, combines the ballads and folk songs brought to the South by immigrants from the British Isles in the 18th and 19th Centuries and the rhythmic influences of African immigrants. The banjo, which mimics the banjar played in Africa, was invented by Southern Black people in the late 1690s.

Slaves also played the fiddle, which was introduced to them by their white masters.

A famous Black musician, Ray Charles, was one of the original country artists. Labeled as one of the 100 most influential country singers in Life magazine in 1994, he also had one of the first country albums to sell over a million records. Charles had childhood immersed in the sounds of jazz, blues, gospel and country. To him, the boundaries between those styles of music were made to be crossed, and he made a career out of doing just that.

Elvis Presley, who was known to blend country and rock and roll, is known as one of the greatest artists. Though he may have the sales and popularity that still lingers, his music was greatly influenced by the Black community. He owed much of his success to the fact that he was a white man performing Black music for a mass white audience largely unwilling to accept—let alone support—rock and R&B performed by its Black originators. Presley started his career by doing covers of songs from Black artists such as Chuck Berry. One of his most notable songs “Memphis, Tennessee” that charted on Billboard is actually a Chuck Berry song that never garnered much public attention.

It’s understandable that a genre that now has long-standing roots of racism exclusivity would be uncomfortable with opening “their” music to others. The genre rose to the mainstream eye in era of civil rights and ongoing segregation. As more white people began to revel in country and find a sense of relatability, the Black sound became washed away and replaced.

Today when you google the top country artist you see Kacey Musgraves, Blake Shelton, Luke Combs, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, etc. None of these are Black people.

Recently, Lil Nas X released a song called “Old Town Road” that brings back the Black voice that country originally had while also keeping a modern tone. Despite this song being authentically country, it was removed from the Billboard Country charts because “it does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current version,” said a Billboard representative.

It wasn’t until Billy Ray Cyrus, a well-known country singer, joined on a remix of the song that it became to be recognized by the more “elite” country organization. Unfortunately, there is no way to prove whether or not it was the addition of a famous white voice, that the song needed be co-signed by an established country artist or a combination of both.

It is clear that country music is not fully ready to embrace the Black community. The only respectful solution is to acknowledge their roots and give credit to the people who crafted the sound. Music is meant to bring communities together not close the doors on the artists who dare join.

If it is perfectly fine for Post Malone, a white rapper, to head the Billboard rap charts, then artists such as Lil Nas X can dominate the country charts.

OPINION

BIG CORPORATIONS AREN’T YOUR FRIENDS TAYLAR RIVERS The rise of social media has changed the way corporations interact with their customers. Though they may brand themselves as relatable individuals that “get you” and bank off “shit-posting,” they are not your friends.

Corporations have long contributed to unlivable minimum wages, immoral means of production, problematic leadership and an overall lack of empathy and care for their customers or employees. Social media has given these companies the platform to now amplify humorous elements of their business and disguise their problematic standing. The reality is that Twitter and other social media are geared not toward companies but toward real people. No amount of memes will erase the fact that they are not relatable individuals but a bunch of corporate executives who wouldn’t know what it was like to be one of us if it bit them in the ass.

Understandably, companies are desperate to tap into the elusive millennial demographic and have assumed that by being on Twitter they will find the secret path to the next generation of customers. Informing this thinking is the further assumption that adopting a snarky and hip tone is what’s needed to tap into a youthful market.

Earlier this year, Chase, which is under the branch of JP Morgan, tweeted a distasteful meme. In their attempt at being relatable and following trends it seems they may have forgotten how far they are from truly understanding the life of their consumers. This post insinuates that someone’s bank account is low because they buy coffee and go out to eat, when in all reality, a lot of people can’t afford to live for reasons out of their control.

The tweet is trying so hard to sound like a millennial despite coming from a bank that made $109 billion in revenue last year and received a $12 billion taxpayer bailout in 2008. In addition to this, they charge overdraft fees as high as $34 and paid billions in fines in part for foreclosing on customers’ homes by using defective or fraudulent documents.

In the article published by Vanity Fair, writer Bess Levin said among the worst things about Twitter “is that corporate brands feel the need to tweet in a voice they think will appeal to the youths.”

Before social media, a viral piece of content may have been a funny chain email or a video that was picked up by a few dozen news stations. Now, viral content has the ability to reach millions of people instantaneously, while allowing those users to interact with one another for everyone to see. In fact, viral content has become such a crucial success factor for many businesses that they invest large portions of their marketing budget toward creating content that gets passed around and shared.

Netflix is a great example of the weird ways in which companies interact on social media.

Currently the company has over 23 million likes on their Facebook page, 2.03 million Twitter followers on the U.S. account, around 1.7 million fans on their Instagram page and a constant presence on Reddit. Their instagram is filled with original memes of theirs or previously viral jokes now made in partnership with their content. Knowing your audience is a great skill to have as a company, but things got a little weird when these companies began to refer to themselves as one person. Netflix consists of numerous employees and executives, yet when they post content they always use first person.

There is no public knowledge of Netflix unfairly treating their employees, but that does not mean they are doing everything right. They market themselves to be so relatable, yet they don’t actually listen or seem to share the same thoughts as their consumers. Shows such as Sense8 and

The Get Down were abruptly canceled by the streaming service despite multiple large profile campaigns to keep them around. In May of this year they are also raising their pricing to upwards of $16 that they claim is to fund original content—that no one asked for.

A less corporate example of this social issue is a classic American diner such as Denny’s that for some odd reason has over 900 million social impressions and 15 million engagements across various social media platforms in the last two years. Recently, their social media has taken on a new type of branding that consists of hopping on every humorous trend that crosses the internet. Their tweets may garner a laugh from some for either being genuinely funny or being outright ridiculous, but that won’t erase their discriminatory past.

For well over 20 years, Denny’s has been involved in a series of discrimination lawsuits involving servers denying or providing inferior service to minorities, especially Black customers.

In 1994, Denny’s settled a class action lawsuit filed by Black customers who had been refused service, forced to wait longer or pay more than white customers. The $54.4 million settlement was the

largest to date under federal public-accommodations laws established thirty years earlier.

In 2013, a Black family was refused a table at the diner because a white customer felt “threatened.” In addition to this, in 2017, staff members at a Denny’s in Vancouver, Canada were accused of making an Indigenous woman pay for her meal before it was served. After the customer left, restaurant staff called police to report the incident, alleging that the patron had a sharp metal object in their pocket.

Instead of focusing on what relatable content they should chune out for the day, they should address their racist past and present and work on making a change instead of just brushing it under the rug or writing a check. Their half-assed efforts and wrongful praise for them is the result of focusing on what is trending and not your values.

Consumers want quality products, reasonable prices and moral means of producing those things, not memes. Distracting consumers with “relatable’ content does not take away from the fact that these corporations are often times corrupt and don’t have our best interest in mind.

ZAK STONE

PSU Vanguard • MAY 14, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

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OPINION

FESTIVAL FAILURES

CONCERT GOERS FROLICKING IN THE MUD. COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS MCKINZIE SMITH Festivals can’t be truly revolutionary until they make an effort to include the young adults they claim to target.

As a young person, it can feel like every corner of social media is begging you to pick a festival and go. However, as festivals aim to make themselves larger and more fantastic, the financial aspect of festival-going becomes more unattainable. You’re much more likely to see supermodels and trust-fund kids posting festival selfies than you are your partner from biology class.

For the past 50 years, festivals have become culturally significant. They decide what artists and fashion styles are cool as well as bring wealth and relevance to their locations. In the months before festival season, Instagram is filled with paid advertisements and posts from all the biggest musical artists attending every festival under the sun.

It’s not clear what exactly Woodstock 50 will be or if it will be anything at all. According to their website, the festival is still on. “Our intention holds firm,” the front page reads.

“We’re in this together.” The countdown runs on the bottom of the page, promising a festival in August. Yet they still lack the proper funding after backer Amplifi Live decided to pull support. With Woodstock up in the air, Coachella right behind us and Fyre Festival forever in our hearts, it’s as good a time as ever to think about the festival myth.

One would think that after Fyre Festival, organizers have realized they must take their time and prioritize the basics:

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food, location, performers and safety. For some festivals, this comes easily. Long-time giants Coachella and Lollapalooza have set locations they’ve used every year since their beginnings and both have world-class food options. For others, though, not so much. Fyre is the prime example: Putting together a festival is more difficult than it looks, especially if it doesn’t have the good will of the locals or its target audience on its side.

Even if the big names don’t drop the ball, does it actually make them worth the price? A weekend at Coachella costs $554 for a general pass plus a camping spot. Sure, you’re seeing all the biggest musical acts, but the campsite isn’t exactly luxury as the “site” is more like a glorified parking spot. This doesn’t even include food, which tends to be expensive, or travel. $554 is a significant expense for most young people, and yet that same demographic is the realistic target audience for these sorts of events. So why isn’t more being done to bring us in?

This is a problem Woodstock 50 actually attempted to fix.

When the festival was announced, the original plan was to offer discounted tickets to “college students between 18–25 years of age” before anyone else. Unfortunately, as planning for the event has gone downhill this promise has fallen by the wayside. With funding on the rocks, it’s likely this offer is no longer on the table.

Festivals could be drawing young adults in if they’d have the courage to tone it down. Fyre went down in infamy because its creator had too many ideas. Coachella is expensive because they hire around 150 artists or more per year.

Woodstock may be expensive because it will need to recoup the costs of the location and large lineup.

If festivals downsized their vision, the experience would be more attainable. Having 50 artists instead of 150 and having cheaper food booths instead of gourmet meals doesn’t make a festival any less important or fun—it just means more kinds of people can attend and partake in this cultural experience.

The original Woodstock in 1969 had 30 performers and technically provided the tickets for an $18 fee. Today that ticket price would equate to approximately $124.68, which is exceedingly lower than the average $200 festival ticket. This is still possible. Instead of making festivals a luxury event, it’s more revolutionary to go back to basics.

Music for the youth, by the artists we support, with only as much structure as we need to survive for a weekend is the ideal attainable festival. At the current rate, festivals will become so outrageous that only the uber-wealthy can go and new festivals will be unable to fund themselves. Woodstock 50 has been provided a chance to be something different.

For the sake of young music lovers everywhere, I hope they choose to keep it simple.

ARTS & CULTURE

A MAC DEMARCO MESS CERVANTÉ POPE

What could have been a fairly intimate performance at Mac DeMarco’s concert ended up being, for lack of a better description, an utter goddamn shit show.

For some, Mac DeMarco is a legend. At 29, the Canadian singer-songwriter has six records under his belt of jangly lo-fi rock to tout, including his most recent Here Comes the Cowboy. It’s not necessarily DeMarco’s music that puts him on any type of talented pedestal, though.

If anything, DeMarco’s drunk-uncle demeanor and goofy stage presence makes him someone to considerably celebrate, particularly amongst a younger crowd who typically idolizes comical self-expression. In some instances, DeMarco’s funny shenanigans totally work—he and the troupe of clowns he calls bandmates come off as relatable, indie “dudes next door.” Yet during other times, their lack of put-togetherness totally fails, teetering on sloppy and outright inappropriate, especially without any prior context.

That’s what happened on May 10 at his Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall show. Things didn’t start off terribly. After an eclectic set from opener Donny Benét, the packed concert hall oozed excitement with everyone jumping to their feet once DeMarco’s beat-up Vans stepped onto the stage.

Guests on the ground floor flocked to fill the area closest to the stage, aching to get as close to DeMarco and company as possible. They switched off between old standards like “Salad Days” and new releases in an easily enjoyable way, but as the show went on—and everyone on stage spiraled further and further into intoxication—things took a turn for the worst.

It was around “Ode to Viceroy”—which bassist Jon Lent decided to dedicate to a dude in the crowd wearing a Kanji shirt—where this change in manner became obvious.

During “Another One,” keyboardist and guitarist Andy White chose to sing his piano parts instead of playing them, which ended up sounding like the harmonies of a wounded bird. The toxicity of his inebriation increased as they worked through “The Cattleman’s Prayer” and “Freaking Out the Neighborhood.”

Jokes about Hall and Oates and Huey Lewis and the News got laughs from those in the crowd old enough to even know who those groups are, and an acoustic lounge-esque version of the Friends theme song got some laughs, but White began making promises he legally wasn’t able to keep.

DeMarco slightly stammered his way through mentioning the local new nightclub Barbarella, where he was slated to do a DJ set later that night for their grand opening. White then shouted over him, saying the club wouldn’t be checking IDs and that everyone in the venue was invited to come get wasted “no matter their age.” He continued pushing for young drunkenness before mildly retracting that statement and saying he couldn’t confirm the underage club entrance.

White’s mouth was definitely the most troublesome of the night. Some kids in the crowd initiated the frat chant “Chug!

Chug! Chug!” as the players on stage refreshed their palettes with beer. White very aggressively told them to “shut the fuck up”—the first time got a few chuckles but the more he said it, the less laughs it got. He repeated it with a stern tone at various times throughout the rest of the set.

“My Kind of Woman” mellowed everything back out, with DeMarco guiding the audience through singing the chorus like a choir conductor. They then teased with a cover of Michael McDonald’s “I Keep Forgettin’ (Every Time You’re Near),” joking that they were doing Nate Dogg’s beat from “Regulator.”

White randomly shouted “fuck the Army.” It noticeably rubbed people the wrong way, more than when he joked about how small his penis was. It became more and more apparent how this probably shouldn’t have been an all-ages show.

It seemed as though all the cringeworthy moments of the night were nearing a close. Everyone on stage was very vis-

MAC DEMARCO SINGING A LITTLE DIDDY AT HIS SHOW FRIDAY, MAY 10. CERVANTÉ POPE/PSU VANGUARD ibly drunk as they went into their final song “Still Together.”

Looking exasperated and straight up messy, they tried their hardest to get through the first part of the song when White, rubbing his nipples, started to go into his own rendition of Gary Wright’s “Dream Weaver.” Interspersed between his singing of the chorus was a strange diatribe against fascists, the rich and the police.

“If you know any fascists, shoot them while they sleep, kill them first, slit their throats and kill their children too, please,” White said as the rest of the band played the usually calming notes of Wright’s song. “If any of your friends are billionaires, shame them, kill them first, crash your car into their house, burn their parents and kill their kids, who cares?” He also urged for shooting them in their “eyeballs, penises and vaginas” before saying that “all cops are bastards” and that

billionaires are a “failure in policy.” “Dream Weaver” never sounded so controversial.

With a very mixed reception from the crowd, the band then circled back around in a “Still Together” reprise. DeMarco stripped himself of his shirt and banged the mic on his beerbloated belly. As if things couldn’t get messier, the band then started drunkenly talking about nonsense and attempting to jam as if they were at band practice. Many in the audience looked confused, others amused, but it was clear that no one really knew what was going on at all.

On the street, hoards of youth marched in the direction of Barbarella in hopes of White’s promises while others perplexed on certain points of the show. Mac DeMarco does have a history of interesting concerts, but this one was surely fascinating for all the wrong reasons.

PSU Vanguard • MAY 14, 2019 • psuvanguard.com

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Cervanté Pope & Hannah Welbourn

May 14–20 MUSIC

FILM & THEATRE

“HOUSEHOLD” PORTLAND STATE ART BUILDING 9 A.M.–5 P.M. FREE This family exhibition features works

by Jack Featherly and Laura Hughes along with their children, Leven and Iris Featherly.

HIGH ON FIRE, HOLY GROVE, GLORY IN THE SHADOWS TONIC LOUNGE 9 P.M. SOLD OUT Tonic Lounge is closing in August, but Sleep’s Matt Pike is using his own band High on Fire to send them out properly.

POP UP MAGAZINE: SPRING ISSUE REVOLUTION HALL $29 7:30 P.M. It’s like all the inner workings of a magazine played for you in person.

BIKE & BREW TOM MCCALL WATERFRONT PARK 6 P.M. FREE Hosted by Portland Bike Gear, this ride begins at the waterfront and ends at Breakside Brewery, because nothing is more Portland than bikes and beer.

“PLANE OF SCATTERED PASTS” UPFOR GALLERY WED–SAT: 11 A.M.–6 P.M. FREE Heidi Schwegler and Quayola’s joint exhibition focuses on the fragmentation of objects as they age.

WILLIAM TYLER, DOLPHIN MIDWIVES POLARIS HALL 8 P.M. $16–18 • 21+ Dolphin Midwives is what really makes this. Her intricate and delicate harp, pedalboard and vocal work is a strangely heavenly thing to witness live.

NETFLIX AND DRAG CRUSH BAR 8:30 P.M. $8 A drag nod to all the shows you’ve Netflix and chilled to, though it’ll be more lively and less stony and sensual (probably).

PUBLIC CUPPING BUCKMAN COFFEE FACTORY 10 A.M–NOON FREE Cupping is the process of tasting and smelling of brewed coffee, and you can try it for free at this event hosted by Genuine Origin.

NORTHERN LIGHTS: CERAMIC ART OF HOKKAIDO REVISITED PORTLAND JAPANESE GARDEN TUE–SUN: 10 A.M.–7 P.M.; MON: NOON–7 P.M. INCLUDED WITH GARDEN ADMISSION This showcase of ceramics is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Hokkaido Pottery Society.

PHOG, CRYSTAL LOGIC, DR. DEAF THE FIXIN’ TO 8 P.M. $5 • 21+ If a blend of doom metal and country sounds right up your alley, then this is the show for you.

‘LET ME DOWN EASY’ PORTLAND PLAYHOUSE THU–SAT: 7:30 P.M.; SUN: 2 P.M. THROUGH JUNE 16 $20–36 Inspired by real-life interviews, this play looks at the resilience of human nature through a healthcare lens.

SLAMLANDIA POETRY OPEN MIC PICNIC PDX 6:30 P.M. $5 SUGGESTED DONATION Poets are invited to share up to two poems lasting three minutes at this open mic, which will be followed by a poetry slam.

FRI MAY 17

“PROCESS PATTERNS” EUTECTIC GALLERY FRI–SAT: 10 A.M.–6 P.M.; SUN: NOON–5 P.M. FREE These ceramic pieces by Kat Hutter and Roger Lee are inspired by the colors and patterns seen living in Southern California.

THE FAINT, CHOIR BOY, CLOSENESS STAR THEATER 9 P.M. SOLD OUT • 21+ The Faint are bringing back dancepunk, and it’s about goddamn time.

‘THE LOST BOYS—LIVE!’ SIREN THEATER FRI & SAT: 8 P.M., THROUGH MAY 25 $18–28 It’s the freakin Lost Boys, one of the greatest ‘80s movies ever, performed right in front of your eyes.

OMSI AFTER DARK OREGON MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY 6–10 P.M. $15–4 • 21+ Have you ever wanted to explore Portland’s famed science museum without the enormous number of children? This is your chance.

SAT MAY 18

“A TYPOLOGY OF LAMENT” FROELICK GALLERY TUE–SAT: 10:30 A.M.–5:30 P.M. FREE Portland-based photographer Susan Seubert’s exhibition features images of handkerchiefs created through the process of ambrotype.

MOANING, MINI BLINDS POLARIS HALL 5:30 P.M. $10–12 Post-punk isn’t usually abrasive, but Moaning has a different take on it.

‘THE LIVING LIBRARY’ ECHO THEATER 1 P.M., 4:30 P.M. $10–25 Artists from the ages of 7–14 act out the lives of books, and it’s interesting.

HEFE DAY 2019 WIDMER BROTHERS BREWING 2–8 P.M. $1 POURS OF HEFE ALL DAY Usually the only beer you can get for $1 is Pabst or Rolling Rock— read: water—so take advantage and celebrate one of Oregon’s most famous craft beers.

“SELF PORTRAIT PARTY” WOLFF GALLERY WED–SUN: 11 A.M.–6 P.M. FREE Artist Rachel Mulder used mediums from etching to even human hair to create this exhibition.

THE HUGS, GHOST FROG RONTOMS 8 P.M. FREE • 21+ The Hugs make indie pop, Ghost Frog makes spacey punk and they’re both dishing it out for free.

SPRING BALL: MEDICAL EDITION TONIC LOUNGE 5 P.M. $10 It’s the Imperial Sovereign Rose Court’s annual ball, and this year’s theme involves scary scientists and naughty nurses.

DEPRESSED CAKE SHOP OPAL 28 1–4 P.M. FREE This one-day, pop-up cake shop seeks to encourage conversation on mental health, featuring gray baked goods donated by local bakers.

“UNDER PRESSURE” LITTMAN GALLERY, SMSU 250 MON–WED: NOON–5 P.M.; FRI–SAT: NOON– 6 P.M. FREE The 7th annual juried exhibition is a showcase of art by PSU students and will be on display until May 22.

WORSHIP: THE SCENE CHURCH 8 P.M. FREE • 21+ Every Monday, we get to worship our scene gods in a different kind of church.

BAUHAUS SPIRIT: 100 YEARS OF BAUHAUS WHITSELL AUDITORIUM 7 P.M. $8–10 It’s not a film about the beloved band but about the German Weimar-era school of design that inspired them.

PIXAR TRIVIA SENATE 7 P.M. FREE Hosted by Stumptown Trivia, this all-ages trivia night is complete with a raffle and a full bar.

ART

COMMUNITY

TUE MAY 14 WED MAY 15 THU MAY 16 SUN MAY 19 MON MAY 20