To contact Portland State Vanguard, email editor@psuvanguard.com.
MISSION STATEMENT
PSU 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.
ABOUT
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 online 24/7 at psuvanguard.com.
CONTRIBUTORS
Write. Edit. Photograph. Film. Design. Illustrate. Create.
WRITE: News, Arts & Culture, Science & Tech, Sports and Opinion.
PHOTO & FILM: Create engaging content that captivates our audience in modern and creative ways.
EDIT: Ensure precision, clarity and consistency in every article.
DESIGN: Create impactful visual content that empowers, respects, educates, guides and shares truth.
Learn skills, build a professional portfolio and make your own schedule. We are willing to train inexperienced applicants who demonstrate ability and a desire to learn the skills. Contributors are paid for published work.
Vice President of Finance defends survey showing campus support, despite only one student response
ISAIAH BURNS
On Apr. 4, the Portland State University (PSU) Board of Trustees (BOT) voted to increase tuition by approximately 5% next academic year. When presenting to the BOT on the proposed increase, PSU Vice President of Finance & Administration Andria Johnson claimed a majority of the campus approved of a tuition increase when surveyed. However, Johnson faced criticism from board members when it was revealed the presented results were primarily based on the input of staff, with few faculty responses and almost zero student input.
“We always like to get campus feedback before we bring a tuition proposal to you,” Johnson said, while presenting to the Finance and Administration Committee on Apr. 3. “In March, we did hold a university-wide budget forum, and we asked the participants a couple of questions… In that survey, over 70% of the respondents did support a 5% or greater tuition increase.”
This same slide also presented on the importance of transparency from administration, referencing this as one of the most significant concerns raised during campus feedback efforts.
“Our campus community wants even greater transparency,” Johnson said. “I think they would like to see us follow through with the goals in our Strategic Plan, and… many are ready for us to make some difficult decisions that will address our budget constraints. That was clear in their commentary.”
After this statement, BOT Chair Benjamin Berry asked Johnson to clarify if these results were based on student input.
“This was mostly staff,” Johnson said in response. “This was open to anybody. There were faculty members that attended and filled out the service, too. But I would say the majority of the respondents to this particular survey were staff members.”
Following this, Student Trustee AJ Romero-Gemmell questioned Johnson on how many of the respondents were students.
“I think there were not many students,” Johnson said in response.
Romero-Gemmell further pressed Johnson for a specific number, to which she consulted notes with a colleague.
After which, Johnson said, “Just one.”
Later on in the meeting during the discussion portion, RomeroGemmell made a comment referencing this interaction.
“How we communicate and work with the community at large is really important,” Romero-Gemmell said. “And to be honest, looking at slide 20… seeing [it titled] ‘Campus Feedback,’ and knowing… only one of them was a student… [that] is quite infuriating and enraging as a student and as a board member… Disheartening and disgusting to be honest.”
In an interview with PSU Vanguard, Johnson addressed the concerns regarding the legitimacy of the survey results.
“I think it was an accurate reflection of the data that was collected,” Johnson said. “I think it could have been worded differently. I think I could have shared additional information about who responded to the survey. But it was definitely an accurate representation of those that did respond to the survey.”
Johnson noted that the next slide in the presentation focused on remarks from the Tuition Review Advisory Committee (TRAC), which had conducted their own survey of campus feedback on three possible tuition increases. That survey had a more diverse pool of responses. Out of 95 responses, 49 were students. However, the results of that survey were not listed on the presentation slides, and instead, were stated verbally during a slide labeled, “Tuition Proposal Remarks From the Tuition Review Advisory Committee (TRAC).”
When this incident was brought up at the BOT meeting the next day on Apr. 4, Johnson once again defended their position by referencing this second survey conducted by TRAC.
“I just want to remind you that that was one survey that we did,” Johnson said. “There was, in fact, a survey that was directly aimed at students that went out in the Virtual Viking that was written by the Tuition Review Advisory Committee (TRAC). And while those responses were not on that particular slide, that one did receive more student input, and it was virtually the same… in aggregate, I should say, the same type of responses.”
The more diverse survey conducted by TRAC saw around 42% in favor of increasing the tuition by 5%, in contrast with the 70% from the staff-heavy survey.
“Similar results in the sense that… folks understood the need for a tuition increase…” Johnson said. “What the student members and TRAC learned was… 5% is something that we can support.”
The entrance of the Neuberger Center that houses PSU administration.
ISAIAH BURNS/PSU VANGUARD
Johnson was then asked why the slideshow presented the findings of the first survey and omitted the results of the TRAC one.
“I mean, sure…” Johnson said in response. “I could have changed up the wording to have it be a little bit different there… I’ll just leave it at that.”
At the BOT meeting, Johnson cited difficulties in gathering student input on issues related to budget and finance, claiming low engagement hampered their ability to obtain comprehensive feedback.
“I also welcome, from any of you, any ways to actually get our students involved,” Johnson said. “We have people that say they’re going to sign up for TRAC, and then they don't show up. We have tried forums in the past directly aimed at students. We've tried working with ASPSU, and I really appreciate their push on that as well, but honestly, it doesn't seem to be something that our students want to participate in.”
Other board members voiced concern over the university’s inability to gather campus feedback, expressing a desire to improve on this subject.
“We're a research institution, and so why are we talking about a survey in this way, representing it as if it has true input from students, if there really was only one student…” Trustee Marissa Madrigal said. “I mean, I think that that is a legitimate and valid criticism of that statistic, and it does undermine our relationship with the community.”
When asked why tuition needed to be raised in the midst of program cuts and faculty layoffs, Johnson cited rising costs as
well as several unforeseen financial impacts.
“It costs us more tomorrow to do what we're doing today,” Johnson said. “In the case of a university and in particular, Portland State University, 80% of our Education & General fund costs are people… We want to give our folks raises, and the people that work at Portland State are incredible folks that work really hard and deserve to see some salary increases to help with the costs… of living.”
Johnson also mentioned an unexpected increase in the university’s obligations to the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS)—a state program that allocates funds for retiring employees. The amount of money the university needs to pay toward the PERS is set by the State of Oregon. According to Johnson, PSU was surprised to learn its costs had increased by 9%—a factor the university had not accounted for.
Another unexpected change to the university’s cost came in the amount they were expecting from a critical source of money, the Public University Support Fund. While the support other Oregon universities receive has either remained flat or increased, PSU’s share has been in a consistent state of decline due to falling enrollment.
“I don't know why [resident] students are choosing to attend… other universities. I can say… The students from California or other states are choosing not to come to OSU and UO, that makes more slots available for resident students that would have otherwise been turned away and might have come to PSU,” Johnson said.
On whether or not students can expect continuing tuition increases in the following years, Johnson said this was likely.
“I suspect that we will have tuition increases, just as we will have cost increases,” Johnson said. “I can't speculate on how large they'll be… One of the mechanisms that we have for covering increasing costs is tuition increases.”
Other board members expressed worries over the long-term viability of tuition increases and program cuts as a means to combat the university’s ongoing financial crisis.
“This can work for a bit, but it is unsustainable…” Trustee Gregory Hinckley said. “What we have to do is find out a way... How do we grow credit hours? How do we increase students?”
Faculty Trustee Vicki Reitenauer voiced similar concerns.
“We should really be thinking about the kind of cuts that work directly against retaining students, and that's what we're pursuing,” Reitenauer said.
Following the discussion, all Trustees voted yes to raising the tuition, with the exception of the two student representatives on the board, who both voted no.
The total tuition and fee increase will be kept below 5%, which is the maximum amount the university can raise tuition without state approval. A majority of undergraduate students in the Tuition Free Degree program will not be affected. The estimated increase per term for resident undergraduates is $182, and $305 for resident graduates. More information can be found in the slide deck for the Apr. 3 BOT meeting.
ISAIAH BURNS/PSU VANGUARD
Protest paraphenalia scattered across the Park Blocks.
Charges against Palestinian liberation group SUPER have been dropped
Alleged code of conduct violations following a peaceful protest have been dismissed
NASH BENNETT
Code of Conduct Office charges against PSU’s chapter of Students United for Palestinian Equality and Rights (SUPER) have been dropped. Charges were made following a peaceful protest on campus, in which the group was accused of violating the probation status they’d acquired due to previous alleged conduct violations in the Spring term of 2024. The decision to drop the charges fell promptly after Portland City Councilor Mitch Green’s speech at the National Day of Action for Higher Ed protest on campus, threatening to vote against the funding of PSU’s new performing arts building if the administration did not relax crackdowns on student activism.
“I stand in solidarity with the students and their fight for civil rights,” Green said at the rally.
On March 22, 2024, the former president of SUPER received a letter from the Code of Conduct Office charging the group with a list of violations following a protest held at a Board of Trustees meeting. Violations noted in the letter included the unauthorized use of a sound amplification device, collusion and the misuse of space. These charges resulted in a probation period for the group that is currently active at the time of publication, set to end on June 30, 2025.
Probation for student groups acts as a period of warning, and any further conduct violations during the period could result in
the group’s potential suspension. Organizations on probation also undergao code of conduct training sessions, among other disciplinary actions.
In January of 2025, SUPER members gathered in the Karl Miller Center (KMC) to hold a die-in protest, a demonstration in which activists lie down in a public place as a representation of war-related casualties.
“It was really beautiful to see people show up and in an effort to bring some attention to the genocide that’s happening in Palestine,” said Khadija Almayahi, Current President of SUPER.
During the protest, Almayahi read aloud the names of various Palestinian martyrs over a small megaphone.
On March 22, 2025, Almayahi received a letter from Jordan Banks, PSU’s Conduct and Conflict Resolution Officer, stating that the protest at KMC violated the group’s probation. Banks cited that using the megaphone was the unauthorized use of a sound amplification device, among other alleged offenses that violated probation.
Following the new charges, SUPER sought support from the National Lawyers Guild to navigate the situation at hand. The group notified the administration that they had acquired legal representation. In the following weeks, various attempts to schedule conduct reviews had been made but fell through on
multiple occasions.
In late April, SUPER received a letter from Banks confirming that the charges had been officially dropped. This decision came shortly after the National Day of Action for Higher Ed protest, in which Councilor Green pressured PSU to reel back on harsh actions against student protestors.
PSU stated in an interview with Portland Mercury that the decision to drop the charges against SUPER were not related to Councilor Green’s comments.
“Student conduct decisions are, and have always been, made independently and are completely unrelated to any comments by Councilor Green or other external political statements,” read the PSU statement.
Whilst the university’s statement denies influence from Councilor Green’s speech, students remain skeptical of the decision’s coincidental timing.
“ We had speculated that perhaps even Councilor Green’s comments put some pressure on the administration to back off in certain ways, Portland State has said that that’s not the case, and I really don’t believe that’s true,” Almayahi said.
While the conduct violation charges from the die-in protest at KMC have been dropped, the group remains on probation at the time of publication, and it isn’t set to be lifted until June 30, 2025.
LIAM SCHMITT/PSU VANGUARD
Mariachi in the park performing.
A Week Spent with La Casa Latina
La Casa Latina presents a plethora of community building activities to enjoy on campus.
After thoroughly crashing out over midterms, what’s more relaxing than fresh fruits and a week of event hopping?
La Casa Latina (La Casa) returns with its annual Si Se Puede week, a lineup of events that took place over the span of the first week of May.
The first event that took place was the 5 de Mayo: Night at the Rec, an event located at the Campus Recreation Center in the Urban Plaza. This event had a mechanical bull open for students to ride and try to keep their balance, a five-versus-five indoor soccer tournament and fruta picada cups, which are chopped up fruits that are often seasoned with chili and lime, as well as other Mexican snacks.
Evelyn Rosas-Atrian is a PSU Student and a part of the student programming team for event planning at La Casa.
“We’re gonna be doing events from different themes every day, from Monday to Friday,” Rosas-Atrian said. “Today, Monday, it’s a Cinco de Mayo event, and we honestly just got lucky that it [took place] on Cinco de Mayo as well. I’m most excited for today, just because I’m excited to see everyone ride the bull, and to see how the soccer tournament turns out.”
On Tuesday, a double feature movie night was hosted in the La Casa Latina, SMSU 228 student center. The films presented were Roma (2018), directed by Mexican Filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón, and Problemista (2023), directed by and starring Salvadoran-American Actor Julio Torres.
Roma follows Cleo—an Indigenous domestic worker in 1970s Mexico—and it highlights her position as a marginalized figure within a wealthy family and her struggles within society.
This film is known for its elegant black and white cinematography and longer takes, as well as its sense of realism.
Problemista follows Alejandro—who is a Salvadoran immigrant in New York City—and he navigates a bureaucratic system to stay in the United States while pursuing his dream of becoming a toy designer. Problemista—in contrast to Roma—is more comedic, uses a more colorful and surreal visual palette and uses very particular elements to reflect this sense of strangeness of the systems in the United States.
On Wednesday, La Casa collaborated with MEChA De PSU—a Latino based student group that aims to uplift Chicanos through higher education and to implement plans of action concerning the Chicano community—and the MultiCultural Center (MCC), who helped host a Mariachi in the park blocks.
A Mariachi is a traditional Mexican musical ensemble that consists of a group of musicians who sing and play a variety of different instruments that can include trumpets, violins and guitars.
Favio Estrada-Sanchez is a PSU Alumnus and La Casa’s Main Coordinator. Estrada-Sanchez will be a master’s student in the fall at the PSU School of Social Work.
“Mariachi in the park has always been a really great event, people come out for lunch—faculty is out, staff is out, students are out, we get a lot of people coming to the park blocks and we really have a great time,” Estrada-Sanchez said. “It’s a really relaxing time and it’s always been a fun event, especially when the weather is really nice.”
On Thursday, the “Creatures in Color” event took place, where students and community members learned about Alebrijes while creating colorful artwork to express creativity with friends.
Alebrijes are brightly colored fantasy Mexican folk art sculptures that depict hybrid creatures in unique ways.
“They’re originally made out of wood, and they are painted with a lot of different patterns, but in this case to make it easier for students, we decided to make it with paper, aluminum foil, and clay,” Rosas-Atrian explained. “When people think about Latinx, people think about the same traditions, but there’s so many that go with different countries that are considered Latinos like Elsavedor, and even Brazil. They are considered Latin, so it’s great to be in an area where all of that is celebrated.”
Briana Quintero is the Secretary for Las Mujeres—a Chicana and Latina women’s empowerment organization. She shared a bit about the history of the culture surrounding Alebrijes.
“Alebrijes are very popular within Hispanic cultures, especially surrounding the Day of the Dead,” Quintero explained. “It’s supposed to serve as a spirit guide that helps people cross over after they pass away, and so the animals themselves are just very big within our culture.”
To end Si Se Puede week, La Casa collaborated with MEChA and finished with an open mic night.
This event was advertised as a way to celebrate the vibrant voices of the Latinx community. Poetry, stand-up comedy, music and storytelling all created an exciting lineup of events.
“La Casa at PSU is home, a home away from home,” EstradaSanchez said. “If we want to acknowledge the barriers that come with being in higher education, it’s already difficult to be in college—and a lot more difficult for our community historically. Access hasn’t always been there, and that’s why our space is here. To promote the community here on campus and to show them that there are people who care about them and that they can feel a sense of belonging when they are here. The goal of La Casa is to be a home away from home.”
Planning Club
Thinking critically about the city we live in
NASH
BENNETT
The PSU Planning Club is dedicated to discussing and educating the community on urban planning. Their goal is to create a community through public activities and informational presentations related to the field. While the club’s primary intention is to serve as a social outlet for PSU’s Master’s of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) students, community members of all disciplines are welcome to attend.
Planning Club is unique in that it’s one of the few clubs on campus that’s primarily focused on serving students in a master’s program, as many clubs tend to target undergraduate students.
The club holds a variety of events each term, ranging from social outings to educational talks. On Friday, May 16, the Planning Club held their fourth Annual Bowling Extravaganza in the basement of the Smith Memorial Student Union. This event acts as their end-of-year celebration. They also conduct regular city tours, discussing the urban planning behind it all as they go. The club even organized a screening of the 1992 film, Candyman, which deals with social themes related to urban studies like gentrification.
At the start of the Spring term 2025, the club held a series of three talks titled “International Month.” Each talk highlighted a different country and its respective urban planning dynamics. The first three topics are planning in Puerto Rico, China and Botswana.
Planning Club has a strong focus on outreach and networking, extending outside of the PSU community, connecting with Urban Studies and Planning students from other universities. In February, 15 UC Berkeley Students visited PSU, during which the Planning Club took them on a walking tour of Portland.
“ Even though sometimes things might be tailored for Planning students, everyone is welcome and we welcome everyone's curiosity,” said Autumn Fluetsch, First Year CoRepresentative at Planning Club. “It's more fun when we get to meet more people and hear different perspectives and embrace them.”
Fletch mentioned that many students from other programs like the PSU Schools of Architecture, Political Science and Social Work have found interest in the club.
To stay up to date with Planning Club events, students can join their newsletter via PSU Connect.
ADYAN HUSSEIN
ISAIAH BURNS/PSU VANGUARD
Disabled Students Deserve Better
PSU’s disability accommodations need an overhaul
NICK GATLIN
As anyone with a disability will tell you, it’s hard to live with one. Of course, attending college is difficult anyway, even more so if you’re navigating university while disabled. This is the reason why Portland State University should be doing everything possible to support disabled students.
Unfortunately, that’s often not the case. As PSU Vanguard has previously reported, the Disability Resource Center (DRC) is chronically underfunded and understaffed, which causes this campus resource to be underutilized by students who need it. Accessibility concerns at PSU are a longstanding problem, as Vanguard has reported for years.
As a writer for the Vanguard, I’ve written before on issues regarding PSU’s mental health support systems, including ones related to DRC accommodations for mental health and developmental disorders. Many of these issues apply to all kinds of disability accommodations, whether students are chronically ill, hard of hearing, rely on a mobility aid, have a learning disability or have any other disability that impacts their academic experience.
For one, the need for a formal diagnosis in order to access accommodations is an ongoing problem, and one that often gatekeeps many students from accessing the help they need to keep up with their classes.
According to the Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ), average wait times to see a provider in the United States for non-urgent care range from 27 days in Houston to 70 days in Boston. If you need to see a doctor to get a formal diagnosis for a disability, let’s hope you’re able to wait a while.
That’s assuming you can get a diagnosis from your primary care provider and that you even have a primary care doctor, which, according to the National Association of Community Health Centers, a third of Americans do not.
If your disability requires a specialist to give a diagnosis—say from a rheumatologist or a psychiatrist—you’re going to have an even harder time. According to the AHCJ, nationwide, “average waits ranged from 20 days for orthopedic surgery to 68 days for rheumatology.”
It’s no better for mental health diagnoses. According to a 2023 research article in General Hospital Psychiatry, less than 20% of psychiatrists in the United States were accepting new patients. Median wait times for in-person and telepsychiatry appointments, respectively, were 67 days and 43 days.
“Psychiatric care,” the authors of the article concluded, “has been restricted in the US with low accessibility and long wait times.”
An academic term at PSU is 10 weeks, or about
70 days. If a student needs accommodations for a disability that interferes with their ability to attend class, engage with the material or otherwise remain in good academic standing, they’re left up to the mercy of the American medical system. This creates a scenario where a disabled student could fail their classes through no fault of their own, unable to receive accommodations without a formal diagnosis.
Regarding mental health diagnoses, there’s also a new lurking threat—the fear of being put on a federal list based on a disability diagnosis. I wrote an article for Vanguard earlier this month about U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s “war on autism,” and the alarm raised by autism advocacy groups over the administration’s potential collection of personal identification medical information.
President Trump’s Feb. 13 executive order establishing the “Make America Healthy Again Commission” raised alarm bells as well. It stated that an increase in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnoses among children “poses a dire threat to the American people and our way of life,” and directs the commission to “assess the prevalence of and threat posed by the prescription of” medications including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychot -
ics, mood stabilizers and stimulants.
In short, if the DRC truly wants to support disabled students, it should work to do away with the diagnosis requirement, or at least provide stop-gap accommodations for students who are unable to receive one in a timely manner. What would be the harm in providing an accommodation for a student with a clear need, despite lacking a piece of paper from their doctor? Is there some epidemic of students with fake disabilities rushing to the DRC to… what, wait two to four weeks for an appointment to get an accommodation that their professor may or may not even cooperate with?
Believe me, nobody is going through the labyrinthine process of accessing disability accommodations unless they need it. It’s hard enough to navigate with a diagnosis. Considering there are now real fears for students who receive certain diagnoses, a harmreduction approach would prioritize giving help to students who need it, whatever their situation is.
To serve all disabled students effectively, the DRC needs better funding, more staff and more support from the university. Given PSU’s $18 million budget deficit and misguided cuts to essential services, that’s unlikely to happen, but to live with a disability in this society is to get used to disappointment.
ABIGAIL GREEN/PSU VANGUARD
Why You Should Study French—or any Foreign Language
The Importance of Being Bilingual
There are over 7,000 languages spoken in the world, and yet I still need to look up words in one of my fat dictionaries every time I read a book published in English—my native language. I’ve reached the point where I can read children’s books written in French, but that’s nothing to brag about. Children can read children’s books in French. According to a 2019 survey published by the National Institute of Health, bilingualism “affects not only language development, but a range of other developmental processes, including perception, cognition, brain development, social development, and educational outcomes.”
Rates of language literacy vary from country to country but one ranking is certain: the U.S. is at the bottom. 67% of Europeans are at least bilingual, with many being multilingual. 55% of Canadians are bilingual while India’s population gets by with 25%. Only 20% of Americans are bilingual. That needs to change.
I was raised by a first-generation Italian mother who refused to teach me her native tongue.
She always said to me, “My parents came to this country from Naples, the scuffed-up end of Italy’s boot. You don’t want to go there. You speak English good, you get a good job. You can be anything you want to be in America— this is the land of opportunity!”
The only time I heard my mother speak the language I coveted was when her sister Margaret came to mooch off us. My Aunt Margie was a professional giocatrice (pronounced jock-a-tree-chay), or gambler, who quit her first and only short-lived job at a bank when she found a bookie in New York City who taught her how to gamble and win. My aunt was always calling someone a stunod (a stupid or crazy person), a chooch (same), or a boombotz (idiot) because she had no respect for people who didn’t gamble.
If you search online job boards such as Indeed.com, you can find well-paying, interesting work as an interpreter, tutor, teacher at a public or Catholic school, instructor at a French immersion school such as Le Monde or L’Etoile, lecturer, ecommerce entrepreneur, translator, marketing and business developer for French companies, among other opportunities. There’s always a demand for voice actors! Once you become proficient in a foreign language, you can showcase your talent by contributing to podcasts, movie trailers, TV commercials, video games, radio ads, narration for animation projects, audio books and more. Bilingual job seekers post their CVs (French companies prefer the term ‘CV’ to ‘résumé’) on sites such as Backstage, Voice123, Voicebooking, Voices and even Upwork. We all need money to pay our bills—universities like PSU need to do a better job of helping students with a passion for language connect the dots between studying a foreign tongue and finding meaningful employment.
Of course, meeting your two-year foreign language requirement is typically not long enough to become fluent in a foreign language. (And, thanks to PSU’s misguided budget cuts to the Humanities, students interested in French and Italian will have to pursue proficiency in those languages elsewhere.) Many students need to work to earn money outside of taking a full 12-credit course load and it’s easy to fall behind. Apps such as Duolingo and Memrise are free and can be utilized on your phone in between class and daily commutes.
The Beastie Boys’ 1994 album bustles with eternal energy
NOAH CARANDANIS
Imagine you’re peacefully lounging in the Summer sun. Picnic blanket underneath you, your favorite La Croix next to you and sunglasses that make you just cool enough to properly blend into the scene of the Park Blocks. All of a sudden, three shadows loom over you with an energy one can only describe as, ill
These three figures present themselves as a Holy Trinity of Hip-Hop: Adam “Ad Rock” Horovitz, Adam “MCA” Yauch and Michael “Mike D” Diamond. Before you know it, they shove headphones on you that throw what could only be called a sick guitar riff into your eardrums.
“I can’t stand it, I know you planned it / I’ma set it straight this Watergate!”
Your peaceful picnic has been sabotaged.
The Beastie Boys fourth studio album Ill Communication is a cacophony of hip-hop, rap rock, jazz, funk and punk sounds barrelling witty, youth fueled lyrics at the listener.
“Why should I work to make other people rich?” was her mantra. In high school, I studied French but was constantly discouraged not to by family and strangers alike who admonished me with the cliché: French is for snobs. Fast forward a few decades where I am now taking French 203 at PSU—my last term to meet my foreign language requirement. The French instructors I’ve encountered at PSU have been kind, approachable, generous with their time and clearly have a passion for the subject they teach.
PSU French Professor Julie Nelson is currently teaching the asynchronous online French 203 class. I asked her why learning French is important.
“It’s a beautiful language full of rich, cultural heritage,” Nelson said. “Roughly half of the words in English come from the French language, so to learn French is to better understand English. Moreover, there are 320 million French speakers across the world and French is the 5th most spoken language in the world which means that being able to speak French brings an important skill set to the job market.”
Such learning tools weren’t around in my first youth, and no one I knew spoke another language other than the slurred speech spilling into the streets from liquor stores and bars. I grew up in a family shaped by generational poverty and trauma. Most of my relatives were ambitious, but they never caught on to the fact that education often leads to financial stability. They cut corners, got fooled by pyramid schemes and filled trailers with unread and unwanted magazines from Publishers Clearing House. I was fortunate to escape the mold. With a role model like my Aunt Margie—someone who liked to stop strangers in the street to ask if they were feeling lucky then demand from them a number she could play at the track—I have never been tempted to “play the numbers game,” as the saying goes in grifter economics. I refuse to even play Bingo. It would be nice if learning a foreign language made me more employable, and nicer still if my efforts could stave off cognitive decline. Mostly though, I just think French is the most beautiful language in the world. Learning such a gorgeous language keeps my mentality above the din of ugly words that pummeled my childhood and early adult years.
The most popular single on the album, “Sabotage,” is something that must not only be listened to but watched. Filmmaker Spike Jonze directed the music video for the track which can only be described as a classic SNL skit that you wish would’ve had a followup movie.
“Root Down” displays the strength of the Beastie Boys’ instrumental prowess mixing with lyrics such as “Sometimes I feel as though I’ve been blessed / Because I’m doing what I want so I never rest.”
The New York City trio demands to be listened to.
The playfulness oozing from tracks with serious musical complexity is akin to seeing a child piano prodigy put Mozart on ice and begin playing Miles Davis’ “So What” to a crowd of classical enthusiasts. They disrupt, and they’re so damn good at it that you can do nothing but revel in it.
This album doesn’t let you rest as a listener. In fact, by the end of its 20 tracks you feel ill — and you hope you never recover.
SANDRA STEVENS
PARKER PATNODE/PSU VANGUARD
GILBERTO Z.O /PSU VANGUARD
DEVIN SINGH/PSU VANGUARD
Community & Wellness Resources
Updated weekly
BY NOAH CARANDANIS
Happening Soon
Job Search Party!
FMH 342H
May 23, 1 – 3 p.m.
Free
Make progress on your job search at this event hosted by the University Career Center.
Compost Workshop
1208 SW Montgomery St., The Green
May 23, 2:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Free, RSVP
Register to learn how to make compost and build a compost bin.
International Night
Viking Pavilion
May 23, 5 – 9 p.m.
Free
Celebrate a cultural night with a diverse array of food, performances and cultural booths.
David Jimerson Memorial Recital
Lincoln Recital Hall
May 25, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Free
A memorial concert for Vocal Performance Professor David A. Jimerson.
5th Avenue Cinema Presents: Pather Panchali
5th Avenue Cinema
May 23, 6 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
May 24, 6 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
May 25, 3 p.m.
Free for Students
Watch Director Satyajit Ray’s film Pather Panchali at 5th Avenue Cinema.
Résumés & Cover Letters Workshop
Online
May 28, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Free
Work on the craft of writing résumés and cover letters with the University Career Center.
Resources
PSU Basic Needs Hub
SMSU Suite 435
Mon–Fri, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Free for students
Helps students access resources such as funds, food, housing, employment, childcare and health support.
PSU Food Pantry
1704 SW Broadway (temporary location)
Tues–Thur, 12 – 4 p.m.
Free for students
Access to free groceries in a welcoming, equitable, trauma-informed way. Must be enrolled in at least one credit for Summer or Fall.
SMART Recovery Meetings
University Center Building 340 E Times vary Free
In peer recovery, students with shared experiences connect to reduce stigma and build a campus recovery community.
Cinema Therapy for Grief and Loss
SHAC Group Room
Mondays 2 – 3:30 p.m.
Free
Identifies grief through film in a group setting that builds community and relationships.
Community Technology Space
730 SW 10th Ave. Suite 111 (entrance on SW 9th Ave.)
Mon–Fri, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Free
Multnomah County official cooling center with access to free technology, internet, limited books and events.
Oregon Energy Fund
Varying Locations
Mon–Fri, hours vary Free
Provides energy bill assistance to low-income Oregonians to support household stability.
Wellness
SHAC Mind Spa
UCB Suite 310
Mon–Fri (by appointment)
Free for students
Solo space to experience biofeedback, light therapy, meditation, massages, relaxation and more. Must be enrolled in at least five credits for Summer or Fall.
Student-Athlete Support Group
Morrow Room, Stott 138
Weds, 4 p.m.
Free for student athletes
Weekly meeting designed for PSU athletes to have a space to build community and develop healthy coping strategies.
Mindful Meanderings
Listen on Spotify
Available 24/7
Free
PSU-produced podcast about being mindful while outside, practicing gratitude, finding joy and being in the moment.
SHAC Nap Rooms
UBC 340
Available first come first serve
Free for PSU students
Provides a space for PSU Students to nap in a safe and comfortable environment.
Outdoor Workshop Wednesdays
Watch on Youtube
Available 24/7
Free
PSU Campus Recreation Center staff videos about topics ranging from Leave No Trace and plant identification to hiking spots and land acknowledgments.
BORP Online Fitness Studio
Watch on Zoom
Mon–Sat, hours vary
Free
Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program’s (BORP) virtual exercise classes for people with physical disabilities.
