Portland State Vanguard Volume 75 Issue 7

VOLUME 75 • ISSUE 7 • AUGUST 11, 2020

OREGON’S LARGEST UNIVERSITIES APPROACH

REOPENING IN DIFFERENT WAYS

P. 5

NEWS Special Election Town Hall

INTERNATIONAL Floods in Bangladesh

ARTS & CULTURE Gritty action from a Portland comics legend

CONTENTS COVER BY SHANNON STEED/SAM PERSON NEWS HILL TO HALL CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES ADDRESS STUDENT CONCERNS

OREGON’S LARGEST UNIVERSITIES TO HIT THE BOOKS IN DIFFERENT WAYS THIS FALL

EDIT ORI A L EDITOR IN CHIEF Dylan Jefferies MANAGING EDITOR Justin Grinnell NEWS EDITORS Hanna Anderson Aidan Kennelley INTERNATIONAL EDITOR Isabel Rekow ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Nick Townsend OPINION EDITOR AJ Earl ONLINE EDITOR Lily Hennings

COPY CHIEF Sophie Concannon

MONSOON FLOODS BANGLADESH

P. 6

P. 4

ARTS & CULTURE THE OLD GUARD

P. 7

OPINION HANGING OUT WHEN SCHOOL’S OUT

P. 8

P. 5

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ARRESTED IN HONG KONG UNDER NEW SECURITY LAW

STAFF

P. 3

P. 6

DIS T RIBU TION DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Dylan Jefferies

To contact Portland State Vanguard, email editor@psuvanguard.com

CONTRIBUTORS Natalie Conway Ida Ayu Karina Dwijayanti Nick Gatlin Mary Joaquin Lily Lamadrid Emma Sage

T ECHNOL OGY & W EB SIT E TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANTS Juliana Bigelow Kahela Fickle George Olson John Rojas

PHO T O & MULTIMEDI A PHOTO EDITOR Annie Schutz

A DV ISING & ACCOUN TING COORDINATOR OF STUDENT MEDIA Reaz Mahmood

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.

PRODUC TION & DE SIGN CREATIVE DIRECTOR Sam Person

STUDENT MEDIA ACCOUNTANT Sheri Pitcher

DESIGNERS Farah Alkayed Shannon Steed

STUDENT MEDIA TECHNOLOGY ADVISOR Corrine Nightingale

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, Twitter and Instagram @psuvanguard for multimedia content and breaking news.

AUGUST 6–8 NICK GATLIN

AUGUST 6: FEDERAL JUDGE SIDES WITH ACLU,

EXTENDS RESTRAINING ORDER

AGAINST FEDERAL OFFICERS

A federal judge decided Thursday to extend a restraining order, protecting journalists and legal observers covering the Portland protests, for another two weeks, according to OPB. The order prevents federal officers from using force, arresting or dispersing anyone they should “reasonably know” are journalists or observers. An attorney for the Justice Department argued against the order, stating circumstances in Portland have changed since the state reached an agreement with the federal government to keep officers inside the federal courthouse, according to The Oregonian.

The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of multiple journalists and legal observers, KATU reported.

AUGUST 6: OREGON SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS

PUBLIC PENSION BENEFITS REDUCTION

The Oregon Supreme Court upheld a reduction in public employee pension benefits in a unanimous decision Thursday, according to AP News. According to The Oregonian, nine public employees filed suit last year to overturn the reductions passed by the state Legislature, arguing the changes were “taking without just compensation” and a violation of the employees’ contract rights. The court rejected the plaintiffs’ argument, citing a 2015 decision that held the Legislature is entitled to change future employee benefits, the Statesman Journal reported.

AUGUST 7: STATE LEGISLATURE EXPECTED TO

MEET FOR SPECIAL SESSION ON

POLICE, BUDGET DEFICIT

The state Legislature will meet on Monday for the second special session of 2020, aiming to fill a $1.2 billion revenue deficit caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to AP News. It may also introduce bills relating to police reform, spurred by protests in Portland and across the country after the death of George Floyd.

Democratic budget writers aim to cut $400 million from the state budget and pull $400 million from the state education reserve fund, according to The Oregonian. The News-Register reported Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, has a narrow focus for the session, saying, “I want to deal with the budget. That’s it,” while Sen. James Manning, D-Eugene, the co-chair of the Joint Committee for Transparent Policing and Reform, would like to introduce reforms to strengthen the statewide ban on chokeholds and clearly define the use of tear gas and crowd control munitions.

AUGUST 8: OUT-OF-STATE CAMPERS FACE HIGHER

FEES IN OREGON

Nonresidents who camp at state parks in Oregon will face a 30% surcharge in order to help mitigate losses from the COVID-19 economic downturn, according to AP News. According to the Statesman Journal, the surcharge is also aimed to encourage local travel and discourage visitors from out of state, though Oregon Parks and Recreation officials emphasized the fees would only last through the end of 2020.

PSU Vanguard • AUGUST 11, 2020 • psuvanguard.com

NEWS

3

CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES ADDRESS STUDENT ISSUES

ASPSU HOSTS A TOWN HALL FOR POTENTIAL CITY LEADERS TO ANSWER STUDENT QUESTIONS

HANNA ANDERSON Two candidates for the Portland City Council spoke with students during a virtual town hall event ahead of the August 11 special election. Their names, Dan Ryan and Loretta Smith, will be the only two names on the ballot.

The Associated Students of Portland State University (ASPSU) arranged the event to give potential city leaders a chance to address the issues most important to PSU students directly. Before the town hall, students had the opportunity to list their most pressing questions and concerns through an online survey, as well as ask questions through the Zoom webinar. The live town hall was streamed through ASPSU’s Facebook page.

City Council and its candidates are running to lead Portland in one of the most turbulent times in the city’s history, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and continued protests for police reform after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The race for commissioner seat two, however, was never going to be completely normal.

The seat was formerly held by commissioner Nick Fish, who passed away in January. The initial race during the May primary saw 18 candidates running for the position. Smith and Ryan were the top two candidates, with 18.8% and 16.6% of the vote, respectively, pushing them into the runoff election on Tuesday.

Whoever wins will serve the remaining two years left by Fish, rather than the usual four years for a commissioner.

With the special election, four out of five seats on the city council are up for reelection in 2020, giving voters a chance to almost completely overhaul their local government. Commissioner seat one was decided during the May primary, and was won by Carmen Rubio. Runoff elections for mayor and the fourth commissioner seat will take place in November.

4

NEWS

For commissioner seat two, the runoff will be between Smith, a former Multnomah County commissioner, and Ryan, the former head of local nonprofit All Hands Raised. The candidates discussed a variety of topics at the town hall, including campaign financing, police and government reform and sustainability.

The town hall began with Ryan and Smith’s top priorities, two of which they shared: Recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and housing and houselessness in Portland. In addition, Smith cited climate change as her third priority.

“We’re making the biggest financial investments in affordable housing in modern history,” Smith said during her opening statement, “but we’re not ensuring that the housing we’re building is affordable for the most rent burdened and the most in danger of becoming homeless. We’re not accounting for alternative housing methods for people that don’t meet [the] chronically homeless definition, and we’re not paying attention to those people on the streets who do not do well in traditional housing.”

For Ryan, his next priority is police reform.

“Government hasn’t been working locally for some time for many, many residents—it’s what’s good for the bureau, what’s good for the department, as opposed to what’s good for the residents of the city.” Ryan said. “We have to continue to take advantage of this moment.”

Defunding the police was the most-discussed topic at the town hall, and both candidates supported some measure of police defunding.

Smith released a package of police reform to the City Council in June, which would reduce the police budget by $50 million, ban tear gas, rubber bullets and tasering, as well as remove qualified immunity. One part of the package also included plans

for a stronger review committee more capable of holding the Portland Police Bureau accountable, which was passed by the current city council, and will go to Portland voters as a ballot measure this November.

“It hasn’t always been a big issue for me, but George Floyd really opened the eyes of a lot of us, to say look, we need to take some of those dollars and put it into communities of color and social services and community development,” Smith said. “So that’s why I want to move those $50 million over to other places.”

Ryan agreed that at least a portion of the police budget would be better spent elsewhere. “[Defunding the police] is about repurposing money that’s currently all in the police department, like the police force is the only option we have for community safety. That’s not right and never has been,” Ryan said. For him, the money would go towards K-12 education, addiction and recovery services and programs such as the Portland Street Response.

The same year the majority of city council is up for reelection, commissioners will also face a charter review, which will give city council a chance to change Portland’s system of government away from a commissioner system, which both candidates support.

“I’m really thrilled that there’s momentum for the radical change of our charter,” Ryan said. “Throughout my life, I’ve wondered why my hometown has a form of government that no other city in the country has, so we’re trying to catch up with the last century. You can’t run a $5.6 billion organization in the way that we currently run it.”

Voting for the special election will take place on August 11, with results of who wins released later on Tuesday night.

PSU Vanguard • AUGUST 11, 2020 • psuvanguard.com

OREGON’S LARGEST UNIVERSITIES TO HIT THE BOOKS IN DIFFERENT WAYS THIS FALL PSU PLANS MOSTLY REMOTE FALL TERM, OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY AND UNIVERSITY OF OREGON TO MAINTAIN HIGH ON-CAMPUS PRESENCES LILY LAMADRID Portland State announced a “mostly remote” fall term in an email to students on Thursday, July 7. While maintaining the moniker “Flexible Fall,” the urban university has moved to designating nearly all fall term courses as remote.

Meanwhile, University of Oregon (UO) will conduct in-person classes of less than 50 people, and Oregon State University (OSU) will maintain a more robust on-campus presence than PSU. PSU’s shift to mostly online classes for the fall term was prompted by a variety of factors. One key factor was allowing students ample time to plan for a school year filled with uncertainties.

“There’s out-of-state students planning housing, students with jobs, we don’t know what [COVID-19] will look like in two months, but we want students to be able to plan,” said Associate Vice President for Communications Christopher Broderick.

As the statistics for COVID-19 in Oregon change daily, no one can predict how the state’s handling of the virus will look by September 28—the first day of classes for fall term.

The university wants to allow students the ability to plan their lives. This allows out-of-state students to decide to remain home, or to secure housing without having to scramble at the last minute.

PSU’s decision also offers students with jobs the ability to plan what they will need to do in terms of scheduling classes and childcare, among other tasks.

“There will still be more on campus this fall then there was last spring,” Broderick said. “There will be more students in housing, the rec center will be open, the library will be open.”

Starting August 10, students will be able to see how all courses will be offered.

Some will be remote synchronous, meaning that they will have scheduled times that students are expected to be present for lectures or discussions remotely. Another course option is remote asynchronous, meaning there will be no set meeting times and no extra online fees. Finally, students have the option to take standard online courses. These carry a $140 fee per four-credit course.

There will also be a very limited number of inperson classes happening on campus.

At UO and OSU, the story is different. UO plans to hold in-person classes as long as they are under 50 people. Classes with more than 50 people will be offered remotely or in a hybrid form.

If things change, there are plans in place to move instruction online. “We will continue to put student, faculty, and staff health and safety at the forefront,” UO’s return to campus website states.

At OSU, plans are more vague, but it is clear the university intends to hold more in-person instruction than PSU, according to their reopening website.

One aspect of these colleges’ reopening plans is that they are in more rural counties with fewer cases. According to The New York Times, Lane County, OR, home of UO, had 68 cases in the last seven days. Benton, OR, home of OSU, had only 13.

Conversely, Multnomah County had 393. This stark difference creates very different realities for Oregon’s largest state universities.

Students at PSU have had mixed reactions to the new plan for fall term. “They’re confused about what is happening during the fall,” said Victor Chavez-Gonzales, vice president of ASPSU. The university has been sending out emails, but confusion still persists. On Tuesday, August 11, there will be a webinar for students to voice their concerns and ask questions. Students can register for the webinar at pdx.edu/flexible-fall-psu.

When asked how the fall term will play out for students returning to school this fall, ChavezGonzalez emphasized there will be a lot of challenges involved. When it comes to navigating the upcoming school year, he emphasized the

importance of a sense of resilience from all members of the campus community.

He also stressed almost all student services remain open, even if they have to operate remotely.

“PSU is trying to at least have services available for students that would be there if they were on campus,” Chavez-Gonzalez said. “I work in the [Multicultural] Resource Center, and the resources they’re offering are still there.”

Chavez-Gonzalez also expressed some students felt the university was indecisive in planning for the new school year. Broderick characterized the decisions made by the university as “doing the best with the information we had at the time in a quickly changing situation.”

When asked what PSU administration’s decision-making process for fall term might look like, Broderick emphasized uncertainty. “That’s a crystal ball question, it’s too soon to tell,” he said.

SHANNON STEED

PSU Vanguard • AUGUST 11, 2020 • psuvanguard.com

NEWS

5

STUDENTS ARRESTED IN HONG KONG UNDER NEW SECURITY LAW MARY JOAQUIN Under Hong Kong’s new national security law, police arrested four former members of disbanded pro-independence group Studentlocalism on July 29 for suspicion of inciting secession through social media.

The arrested students, aged 16–21, included former Studentlocalism leader Tony Chung, according to the South China Morning Post.

All four students were released on bail on July 31, along with a travel ban restricting them to the city for the next six months. They are required to report back to authorities in late August.

Chung said the police searched his home and took unrelated items, such as his school report cards, when there have yet to be charges against him.

Studentlocalism started in 2016, advocating Hong Kong independence by “courageous and militant resistance.” It took former members of the disbanded group Scholarism under its wing.

The South China Morning Post reported former Scholarism leaders Joshua Wong and Nathan Law were recently disqualified from political candidacy and exiled, respectively.

Studentlocalism, which had 12–30 members and a 17,000-strong following on Facebook, disbanded hours before the new security law came into effect.

Li Kwai-wah, senior superintendent of the National Security Department, said during a press conference law enforcement extends to social media, where Studentlocalism’s posts ad-

STUDENT VOLUNTEERS HAND OUT FLYERS TO PROMOTE HONG KONG'S INDEPENDENCE. COURTESY OF STUDENTLOCALISM vocated for Hong Kong independence.

“Don't think you can escape from the responsibility in cyberspace and commit crimes,” Li said.

The Hong Kong national security law, passed and signed on June 30, went into effect at 11 p.m.

According to The Guardian, less than 40 days passed between the plan to impose the law and its implementation.

The first arrests under the new law took place amid protests against its implementation

the next day, the 23rd anniversary of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong. The event symbolized both the end of British rule in the former colony and marked the region’s “one country, two systems” principle that guaranteed a 50-year long “high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defense affairs,” according to the joint declaration made by China and the United Kingdom.

The Chinese government said past pro-democracy protests necessitated the new law as it increases national security. Authorities said it is intended to “target only a minority of troublemakers,” as reported by Al Jazeera.

The law’s passage received international backlash prompting several countries to suspend their extradition treaties with Hong Kong, while the U.K. offered a route to citizenship to British overseas nationals. Despite criticism, Chinese officials insist foreign interferences concerning Hong Kong affairs are unwelcome, according to TIME. Through the new law, the National Security Department operates outside of Hong Kong’s jurisdiction and therefore is not subject to local laws and court reviews.

“This first coordinated police operation to enforce Hong Kong’s national security law is a significant, and alarming, moment for the right to freedom of expression in the city,” said Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific regional director. “That four young people could potentially face life imprisonment on the basis of some social media posts lays bare the draconian nature of the national security law.”

MONSOON FLOODS BANGLADESH IDA AYU KARINA DWIJAYANTI AND EMMA SAGE The annual South Asian monsoon caused floods in approximately a quarter of Bangladesh this summer, causing millions to lose their homes and jobs in the midst of a global pandemic.

According to Al Jazeera, although the monsoon that falls from June–Sept. is important to Bangladesh’s economy, it also causes destruction in the country. “This is going to be the worst flood in a decade,” said Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan,

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INTERNATIONAL

LOCALS GATHER SUPPLIES DURING THE DEVASTING FLOODS. COURTESY OF FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS the chief of Bangladesh's Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre.

Flooding in Bangladesh has intensified in recent years—a trend scientists expect to continue due to climate change. Developing countries like Bangladesh bear the brunt of climate change and environmental degradation, which are caused disproportionately by rich countries such as the United States, as reported by The New York Times.

“People are losing whatever little they have,” said Farah Kabir, the Bangladesh country director for ActionAid International. “When is the global community going to take responsibility?”

Akkas Ali, a villager in Brahmaputra, said his farmland went underwater, along with the village’s mosque, market and school. Although Ali is used to devastating floods, this year is worse due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Currently, Bangladesh has over a quarter of a million cases, according to Worldometers, and more than 3,000 deaths.

Taijul Islam, a sharecropper from the Kurigam district, said vegetables are unaffordable and fish and meat “are now unimaginable.” He lost many cattle, goats, chickens, ducks and even his house in the floods.

Reuters reported the pandemic caused obstacles for Bangladeshi workers abroad and at home as they lost their jobs due to cancelled clothing orders from European brands.

Thousands of workers were laid off and sent home.

One of these workers was Mohammad Summon. “My wife and I lost our jobs because the factory said they weren’t getting orders due to the coronavirus,” he said. He

had to move back to his village in Jamalpur, which flooded two months later.

According to Reuters, a new strategy to overcome these challenges includes forecast-based funding by the United Nations, which gives money to vulnerable communities before predicted disasters hit.

“The money that I got did help, but I have still been badly affected. My goats and chickens died because of the flood,” said Aklima Begum, a resident of North Bangladesh. She and thousands of other Bangladeshis received $50 from the U.N. before this year’s floods.

While the coronavirus is still spreading, forcing Bangladeshis to return to their villages, rural Bangladeshis also face a lack of access to medical care.

“The two most important things that are happening right now in South Asia are the loss of life and loss of property. While the monsoons, mudslides and flooding do kill people directly, other lives are being lost because the closest hospitals are often days of walking away from where the people live,” said Patrick Bancke, president and CEO of Nepal Medics.

“It’s so critical that we have RFRs [Rural First Responders] trained and ready to act directly in these villages.”

PSU Vanguard • AUGUST 11, 2020 • psuvanguard.com

THE OLD GUARD NATALIE CONWAY

ANDY AND BOOKER IN THE OLD GUARD. COURTESY OF NETFLIX

GRITTY ACTION FROM A PORTLAND COMICS LEGEND

PSU Vanguard • AUGUST 11, 2020 • psuvanguard.com

It’s rare that a violent, action-packed thriller begins with the death of its lead. The Old Guard opens to the chilling, lifeless stare of its narrator, Andy, and her crew as they lay mangled on the ground. From the start, The Old Guard, an action/fantasy movie released on Netflix on July 10, stands apart from others of its kind.

Andy, Booker, Joe and Nicky are a group of immortal warriors who travel the world, stealthily fighting for what they believe in. Andy, played by Charlize Theron, is the picture of a suave action lead with her leather jacket, brunette pixie cut and ever-present pair of sunglasses. Nile, played by Kiki Layne, is a marine stationed in Afghanistan who gets a rude awakening when she learns she cannot die. Nile’s confrontation with her immortality and her heartfelt dynamic with Andy prove to be a guiding force in the movie’s plot.

At the beginning of the movie, Andy is caught in existential strife. “Have you been watching the news lately? Some good means nothing,” she tells Booker, at the prospect of taking on another good samaritan mission. Nile brings fresh blood to a group that has known each other for hundreds of years, and in the process, she gives Andy a new lens with which to evaluate her life’s work.

The release of The Old Guard was eagerly awaited by fans of the popular comic series that it’s based on. Greg Rucka, author of both the comic and the screenplay, is a local Portland comic book writer who has worked on big name comics from Wonder Woman to Batman. Since the first installment of The Old Guard was published by Image Comics in 2017, the comic has had a cult following.

Leonardo Fernandez, the comic book artist, worked along with Rucka in the production of the movie. In an

interview with Critical Hit, Rucka explained both he and Fernandez strived to maintain “fidelity to the intention of the comic, its heart and soul” when adapting The Old Guard into a screenplay. This isn’t Rucka’s first time watching one of his comics come to life on the screen. Stumptown, a comic he created with Matthew Southworth, premiered as a TV show with ABC in 2019.

While mentions of immortality give rise to mental images of Twilight, this movie’s take on living forever breathes some new life into an old cliche. The tone of a gritty action movie changes when the characters simply can’t die. When it only takes a couple minutes to recover from about 20 bullet wounds, characters are able to take risks and push boundaries that might otherwise be out of the question. This makes for some pretty thrilling battle scenes, especially with Andy, who expertly swings her double-bladed axe after thousands of years of practice.

Overall, The Old Guard offers the same stereotyped characters and overblown action that you might expect from an average thriller. The movie does attempt to dive deep into the heart of its characters, and this is where it shines. Andy’s confrontation with the moral implications of the life she has chosen adds depth to the story, and Nile’s new presence in the group leads to rewarding character dynamics.

By the end, the movie pushes beyond surface-level action, grappling with the question: if you could live forever, what would you fight for? Even when it fails to break from cliche, it never ceases to take a critical eye to the violence it depicts. With its carefully adapted screenplay, thrilling action, and heartfelt storytelling, The Old Guard has plenty to offer its audience.

ARTS & CULTURE

7

HANGING OUT WHEN SCHOOL’S OUT AJ EARL The catastrophic “now” that this moment inhabits has created a dynamic within the student body that is terrifying and isolating, a new normal that has taken students away from their peers and friends and created a new dynamic campus that sprawls worldwide. With fall term at PSU officially on track to be a mostly remote learning term, anxious students, especially those just out of high school, will again have to make it without the physical bonds they were socialized with growing up.

Instead of catching up with old friends in an arranged exchange of recent life stories, something increasingly anachronistic as anyone under the age of 25 is younger than instant messaging, students will need to engage with existing networks of friends online. Unfortunately for many communities in the United States, young adults are upsetting this terrible new dynamic by returning to their former partying habits.

That includes students in every age group.

It is understandable many have reached limit after limit when it comes to isolation, even those who are still working throughout this crisis. It is understandable some would be frustrated by the constantly evolving situation at hand. These and other concerns are understandable because everyone is feeling these things.

We are all in this together, and the importance of doing things with your community rather than opposed to it is

heightened right now. Therefore, socializing in ever-larger groups is bad, due to fairly high daily infection rates in Oregon and beyond, as well as the apparent shortage of national, focused determination for reasons other than war. Daily stories that have moved from determined contrarians flouting the law to beaches filled with regular folks have only heightened the public resolve to move past this, even if it is just over in their mind.

Students need to make up their mind.

ALTERNATIVES TO SOCIALIZING IN PERSON

If you absolutely must go out into public despite repeated pleading with you to stay inside, then only local laws will stop you. For the rest of us, there are more than a few creative ways you can socialize without necessarily exposing yourself to illness.

MOBILE GAMES

Nowadays, geolocation features are standard in most newer mobile games, creating a physical playing space that brings video games into the “here” without necessarily requiring being within a block of each other. For example, new features in the Niantic game Pokémon Go have recently made it easier to engage with distant players while still taking advantage of the physical aspects of the game.

CHATROOMS, THE OLD-SCHOOL KIND

For years, the humble chatroom offered a refuge for people who wanted to be social but did not have the physical ability or capacity to meet with others. This could be far-flung friend groups that loved chatting about TV shows, or it could be conspiracy theorists talking about HAARP. Now, these groups are in the palm of your hand with new technology that takes the chatroom off the wires and moves it into a neat, always-there companionship.

GEOCACHING

The practice of hiding a cache of goods at a geographically specific point is understandably daunting at first glance, especially with all the jargon just tumbling out of any mention of the hobby.

The idea, though, of exchanging gifts to acknowledge each other’s smarts, has a great appeal in these times. You can social distance, but at the same time you get to find and pick up the caches left behind by friends and strangers.

ANTI-POOL PARTY

Pools aren’t going away any time soon, so spending the next year or two away from them is good for both the soul and your overall health. Instead of sliding into a crowded algae farm, why not invest in a small kiddy pool and hang out with your favorite chilled beverage and all your friends doing the same—but with video chat!! How very modern.

SHANNON STEED

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OPINION

PSU Vanguard • AUGUST 11, 2020 • psuvanguard.com