PHOTO ESSAY: The Front Row Card Show Comes to Portland
OPINION: The Case for Mindfulness
NEWS: University to Introduce Administrative Restructuring
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PSU to introduce restructuring within the Office of Academic Affairs
Explaining the incoming administrative restructuring
In an email sent on July 28, PSU President Ann Cudd announced a restructuring of the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA). Facing mounting financial challenges for the University, two key departments will be relocating their operations.
“Enrollment Management will move to OAA reporting to a newly created Vice Provost of Enrollment Management,” the email said. “The portfolio of student support services currently existing within Global Diversity and Inclusion, including multicultural student services and student retention programs, will move to the Office of Academic Affairs; the Office of Equity and Compliance will transition to a newly created Office of Equity, Compliance & Internal Audit. A new, universitywide Chief Diversity Officer position will be created, reporting to the President’s Office and working with departments across campus.”
In this transition, select positions will be eliminated. Cudd wrote, “We will be working hard to ensure that each person affected — and everyone on campus — can have a clear understanding of the changes coming on Jan. 1 and how to prepare for them.”
The message assures that within the coming months administration will collaborate to confirm how to run the new OAA efficiently. Within this new office, a Vice Provost is set to serve, implying new, expanded duties for the role. Current Provost Shelly Chabon is set to leave the position, in addition to two unnamed positions within GDI.
“Reporting relationships will be shifting, and some positions will be eliminated by this reorganization, and some new positions will be created,” the email stated.
Sheila Martin, the Vice President of Public Affairs, presented a clearer picture of the impact on the PSU community. She noted that this restructuring is modelled to centralize student resources, maximizing efficiency.
“Student success is our job,” Martin said. Under this new model, collaboration is emphasized to provide consistency for both students and student resources.
“The goal is to have no wrong door for students, consistency rather than streamlining.”
In addition to hiring a new Provost, a new position, entitled Chief Diversity Officer, will be filled.
According to Martin, the role would center on, “Developing and implementing strategies around inclusivity, helping students feel welcome, and ensuring equitable practices.”
The findings of the Huron report point to disorganization within student services as a major issue. Martin advocates for “leaders who can holistically view the situation.”
“We want to center the student journey; we want students to be able to find help along every step of that journey,” Martin said. “We want to improve the student experience.” Martin assures that student opinions will be considered as this restructuring develops, aiming for a “clear pathway forward.”
She additionally emphasizes the importance of collaboration between the intersecting groups in adapting to new spaces. With a community outreach-emphasized approach, the administration aims to support students through this shift.
Trading card enthusiasts gather in hopes to score the best deal
NASH BENNETT/PSU VANGUARD
Ergo Proxy (2006)—A Series Analysis and the Implications of Self-Aware Robots
Exploring the world of Ergo Proxy and the morality of robots in a real and fictional society.
If robots develop self-awareness, what would make them different from humans through a societal point of view?
“Ergo Proxy” is a Japanese animated series created in 2006 that ran for 23 episodes. It was produced by Manglobe, directed by Shūkō Murase and written by Dai Satō.
The series is a cyberpunk, post-apocalyptic psychological thriller and follows the main character Re-L. The story takes place in a dystopian future where humans and AutoReiv androids live peacefully in a coexisting society until a virus spreads that gives androids self-awareness. This causes a series of murders to take place and the assigned inspector Re-L discovers a much more complex system happening behind the scenes.
After an ecological disaster caused the outside world to be uninhabitable, domed cities were built as safe havens for the remaining population. The city Romdeau, where the story begins, is heavily governed by a bureaucracy that controls every aspect of life.
Despite the era it was released in, “Ergo Proxy” doesn’t feel like the generic futuristic dystopian series—even with its strong early 2000s aesthetic. Themes of existentialism, individualism vs collectivism, consciousness and what it means to be alive in society
are portrayed through a unique philosophical and reflective lens.
One key aspect of this world is the existence of Proxies. A Proxy is essentially a race of genetically engineered superhumans that were created as messengers to look over humanity within the domes after the global disaster occurred. They possess otherworldly powers and are considered immortal—only to be killed during one specific situation.
Although Proxies are genetically engineered, they are flawed and lonely. They struggle with the meaning of their existence and what their purpose truly is within the dome.
This series is not straightforward in any sense but rather pushes viewers to juggle these complex philosophical ideas along with the characters.
It’s very easy to jump into “Ergo Proxy” for the unique character design and gothic aesthetic while thinking, “Yeah, I’ll just lock in and analyze everything they say,” when in fact, the chances of locking in and actually understanding the entirety of the series on a first watch-through is quite literally zero.
This series has no shame in withholding significant information from the viewer until the last couple of episodes. It delivers such intense whiplash that there is no way to connect all of the events without rewatching—and then picking
The Case for Mindfulness
Why YOU should try meditation.
NICK GATLIN
Do you get anxious? Do you tend to overthink things? Is your mind buzzing like a bee all day every day? Does doomscrolling make you feel like a floating mind without a body? If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, stick around. You—yes, you— might stand to benefit from the ancient art of mindfulness, which is a fancy word for “getting your mind to stay still for even one single second.”
It’s a little more complex than that, to be sure. But mastering the basics of mindfulness is a pretty simple process, and you can get started right away, wherever and whenever you are. To start, just sit or lay down, and close your eyes. (Note: close them after you’ve finished reading this section.) Then, breathe normally. Don’t try to force anything—let your body breathe however it wants to.
up on of the foreshadowing and details that have laid out the final revelation.
The Cogito virus is arguably one of the most interesting plot points in the series, and could even be discussed in the context of our own society when it comes to AI and robots becoming more apparent and widespread.
The Cogito virus is essentially a virus that infects AutoReivs with a sense of self-awareness—which begins to threaten the hyper-controlled balance within the Dome.
The ideas that play out in Ergo Proxy bring up a lot of interesting questions: what is the ideal society? How much do we as individuals need to give up for the greater good of humanity?
Are the results of an action that deserves consequences or do the intentions identify that?
The concept of our current society getting to the point of the already in development self-aware robots brings up the conversation of where the line is drawn when it comes to ethics in artificial humans.
Autorevis do not have flesh or a soul—yet when one is killed in the series it feels immoral and unconscionable. What does this mean for a world that is headed towards coexistence with robots?
How does it feel? Where can you feel the breath in your body? Often you’ll feel it most strongly in the abdomen or chest, but you can also feel it in your back, your head, or anywhere else in your body, even your hands and feet. Take a few breaths and notice whether they’re more shallow or more deep, longer or shorter. What kind of breathing feels more comfortable? Can you make it more comfortable? If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! You did a mindfulness! Meditation doesn’t have to be a boring slog, and it shouldn’t be. Have fun with it—if you no tice your attention starting to drift, try to find ways to make it more interesting. You could—for exam ple—pull your ears back and hum while you breathe (this is called bumblebee breathing, and yes, it’s a real thing), or you could do a series of quick, short breaths like a panting puppy (again, yeah, that’s a thing). Whatever feels interesting to you in the moment, try it out. One goal of this kind of mindful breathing is to bring you back into your body, in order to give yourself a reprieve from the wear and tear of daily life. It’s a chance to rest—really, actually rest—both your body and your mind. When you can get your mind and body to be still, it allows you to begin to heal
from whatever wounds you’ve acquired in the course of your life; imagine a hurt animal laying down very quietly in the forest. When mindfulness becomes a habit, your breath becomes a place to go in any circumstance, no matter how uncomfortable or painful it may be. As long as you’re alive, your breath is always there with you—it’s a good idea to make
That’s not to say that it’s only useful for uncomfortable situations! Mindfulness allows you to more fully take in your present experience, including the good things. Take the way you eat: most of the taste of whatever you’re eating is transmitted through smell, which is mediated by—you guessed it—your breath. Try paying attention to how you breathe the next time you eat a meal. Are you getting a full breath in through your nose? Can you describe how the food smells, and how it tastes? How does it feel in your mouth? If it’s good, great! You can be that much more aware of just how good it is. If it’s bad—well, stop eating.
In the United States, most people probably associate meditation with Buddhism, but practically every religion or spiritual tradition includes its own form of meditation. It doesn’t require you to subscribe to any specific belief system, or even to hold any beliefs at all. All you need is your breath and your awareness—two things that every person on Earth has. Don’t just take my word for it—there are countless (free!) resources available online, or at your local library (seriously, please use the library). If you want a good place to start, just type “Thich Nhat Hanh meditation” into the YouTube search bar and click on whatever piques your interest the
Part of the appeal of mindfulness is its universality: your breath is always with you wherever you go. If you have a second or two to take a few breaths in and out, you can practice mindfulness. There are no guarantees, but if you make it a habit to sit with your breath for a few minutes every day, you might be amazed at how much you’re able to help your mind and body settle down. And god, wouldn’t it be nice to chill out for a while?
