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DESIGN BY HALEY HSU
Portland State University found guilty of unfair labor practices against adjunct faculty union
After withholding funds specified in union benefits, PSU must now release funding with interest to all affected adjunct faculty
The State of Oregon’s Employee Relations Board found Portland State University guilty of engaging in unfair labor practices against the Portland State University Faculty Association (PSU-FA). This decision was reached after PSU administration failed to distribute funds from the union’s Adjunct Financial Assistance Fund, Professional Development Fund and the Faculty Education Fund.
The Professional Development Fund is intended for adjuncts who want to attend conferences or other professional development opportunities, and the Faculty Education Fund allows parttime faculty to take PSU classes at the cost of $31 per credit. On the other hand, the Financial Assistance Fund acts as emergency assistance for adjunct faculty facing unforeseen financial hardships. This money, agreed upon in previous bargaining contracts between PSU-FA and PSU, is for “sudden loss of income; housing insecurity; family crisis or urgent need; [or] unanticipated or catastrophic losses,” as is described on the PSU-FA website.
“Those funds are for adjuncts that are very economically precarious,” said Erica Thomas, PSU-FA Co-Chair and Chair of Communications. “And unfortunately, there’s quite a lot of economically precarious adjuncts. I know of at least one person that had been planning on paying their rent with that check.”
PSA-FA members were notified in July that money from the aforementioned funds would not be disbursed, because of the expiration of PSU-FA’s current bargaining contract with PSU, which occurred on June 30. PSU-FA and PSU were in active bargaining talks during that time.
“Their opinion was that these [funds] were permissive, and our opinion was that they were not permissive. And essentially that was the discrepancy… are they allowed to optionally, not pay people?” said Thomas.
Jenna Padbury, an Adjunct Instructor teaching University Studies, is one PSU-FA member whose approved application for funding still hasn’t been fulfilled. She applied to receive funds from the Professional Development Fund in the spring, in order to get reimbursed for a conference she was attending in the summer. As of Oct. 23, she has not received her reimbursement.
“The funding, if it had come through on the typical timeline, would have given me ample time to pay without thinking twice about it,” said Padbury.
While Padbury was still able to use her own funds to attend the conference, the biggest impact for her was how it affected her trust in the University.
“It tightened my budget a little bit, but more importantly, it really changed my outlook about the relationship that the Union, and that I have with PSU. It fundamentally shifted my idea that PSU administration bargains in good faith,” said Padbury.
After PSU-FA was notified about PSU’s intentions not to disburse the funds, additional negotiations between the parties began. When a consensus couldn’t be reached, PSU-FA filed an Unfair Labor Practice complaint against the University.
They filed it with Oregon’s Employee Relations Board, who, after an expedited hearing, found that PSU legally could not withhold these hardship funds from adjunct faculty, even if the previous contract had expired. The Employee Relations Board ruled that, because funding had been allocated in previous years even when the bargaining contract lapsed, PSU “failed to preserve the status quo” on three different occasions.
Because of this, the University has to disburse the previously agreed upon funds with interest at a rate of 9 percent annum, according to the official Employee Relations Board notice about the ruling. In addition, the notice must be placed in “high promi-
nent places where Association-represented employees are likely to see it,” and sent via email to all PSU-FA union members.
Katy Swordfisk, the Media Relations Manager for PSU, wrote in an email statement that the University is complying with the Employee Relations Board’s orders, and is looking into potentially appealing the ruling.
“In the meantime, PSU is committed to bargaining in good faith to reach a fair agreement for a new contract. We value our adjunct faculty and are dedicated to a transparent, sustainable resolution,” wrote Swordfisk.
Thomas gives credit to the members waiting for their disbursement, and their resilience during this situation. She also specifically recognizes PSU-FAs bargaining team’s efforts, who persisted during the process of negotiations and submitting the Unfair Labor Practice complaint. She commended that, during a financially stressful time, those members still showed up and took action.
“I hope that what it means for them is that they get relief, that they get their money soon. That’s the most important thing. But I also hope that it shows them the power of organizing and the collective bargaining power that they have with their co-workers,” said Thomas.
For Padbury, this situation has led to frustration towards the University, as she believes that this withholding of funds was done deliberately to affect financially sensitive adjunct faculty.
“I actively had to cultivate seeds of empathy and connection and compassionate response, both towards the part of me that was frustrated and irritated, and towards the people on the other side of the bargaining table,” said Padbury. “I can only cultivate that they are acting out of a place of misinformed fear and scarcity.”
OLIVIA YOUNG
HALEY HSU
The Beauty of the Undead: “Dracula” Returns
The Oregon Ballet Theatre brings “Dracula” back for a bone chilling two weekends.
ADYAN HUSSEIN
Between dark and light, lust and repulsion, elegance and the macabre, the juxtapositions of the notorious Dracula ballet will be seared into your memory and stamped on your neck.
The Oregon Ballet Theatre (OBT) had “Dracula” in production from Oct. 10 to Oct. 18, 2025. As one of choreographer Ben Stevenson’s most atmospheric ballets, and due to very popular demand, it was brought back to enhance Oregon’s chilling air as a beautifully haunting tale.
OBT is the largest professional ballet company in Oregon, and is led by Artistic Director Dani Rowe, and Executive Director Shane Jewell. OBT also operates a ballet school and invests in new works by contemporary choreographers.
“Dracula” is a classic in terms of story, and a little less traditional in terms of ballets. It debuted at OBT in early 2022, and almost 30 years ago originally as a co-commission between the Houston Ballet and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. The ballet was adapted into a full length ballet much later than the known 19th century classic works.
The ballet followed the traditional format for storytelling and was divided into three separate acts. This was to depict different areas of the story, before joining them together for the final climax. After introducing us to the characters, setting and theme of the story, the plot and dramatic conflicts began to crawl onto stage.
Act 1: “The Crypt of Dracula’s Castle,” began with a gloomy evening in a castle. Count Dracula and his Brides awakened from their coffins and pranced around. After being kidnapped long ago by Dracula, the Brides now live in the world of the undead to entertain and serve Dracula. Flora is one of these brides, and originally lived as an innocent villager.
Act 2: “The Village,” depicted a bright and whimsical village square. The Innkeeper and his wife are celebrating the eighteenth birthday of their daughter Sventana. All the villagers join in the playful celebration while Sventana and Frederick, who are in love, are enjoying their time together. Sventana tells her lover that it’s time they were engaged, and is subtly pushing him to ask her father for permission to marry. Her father isn’t too excited about the idea at first, but then gives in at last. The
lovers dance together in joy, and afterwards an old woman approaches Sventlana and gives her a necklace with garlic blossoms. While the village is dancing and celebrating, Flora makes her way in while looking unusually ill. The villagers reach out to her but she begins to claw at them and then collapses. Sventlana tries to comfort her after she is helped to a chair, but Flora just snatches off Sventlana’s new necklace. The Priest of the village notices in horror the bite marks that are bared on Flora’s neck. She then jumps up in an attempt to attack the villagers while the Priest is holding her off with his cross.
Following the events of Flora’s outrage, lightning strikes the village and it gets dark. Dracula then appears after being told of Sventlana’s beauty and has come to abduct her. Renfield, Dracula’s servant, then appears in the village with his carriage as Fredrick and the other villagers are trying to save Sventlana. Alas, they are no match for the power of Dracula and the carriage sweeps Sventlana away to his castle.
Act 3: “The Bedroom of Count Dracula,” carries us back to the dark bedroom within Count Dracula’s castle. Flora and the other brides are seen dancing around while waiting for Dracula’s return. Once he returns, Renfield drags in the horrified Sventlana. The brides all gather around her, curious, as Dracula tells them to prepare for the wedding ceremony. Sventlana then returns in a bridal gown while struggling against Dracula as he overpowers her.
Renfield then bursts into the room to warn Dracula that Frederick, Sventlana’s Father and the Priest have almost made it to the castle. Dracula then summons all the brides as the final battle and climax of the play ensues. At last, Frederick pulls down the curtains surrounding the castle and daylight spills into the room. Dracula jumps back, and in a desperate attempt to escape and save himself he flies up into the chandelier. As the tension releases and the sky begins to clear up, Frederick lovingly takes Svetlana in his arms and they dance together once again.
This haunting ballet brought out emotions of awe, sadness, profound worry and relief while simultaneously having the audience on the edge of their seats. The choreography itself pulls the crowd onto the stage where it feels as though there is no set at all.
Move Over, Spooky Season The War on Halloween must be won
NICK GATLIN
Every year it plays out the same way: as soon as the leaves begin to change, legions of Halloweenies crawl out of their dank, bat-infested caves and march their way to costume shops and vintage stores, clothing themselves in the vestments of war. Thus spooky season begins, for the entirety of October, or even longer — the starting gun seemed to shoot off on the first day of September this year. Why must we accept cobwebs and jack-o-lanterns and kitschy plastic skeletons invading our schools, our public spaces, our apartment lobbies?
Enough. Halloween’s hegemony over the month of October must end. The unjust, tyrannical rule of goblins, drybones and ghouls must give way to a new, democratic autumnal regime, guided by the principles of fairness and proportional spooky representation. Since 1994, millions and millions in the antiHalloween community have been forced to endure the stresses of unexpected, unwanted frights (if someone tries to jumpscare me one more time I’m going to lose it), holding out for their only hope of salvation, the sweet sound of Mariah Carey’s hit holiday single, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (Don’t ask what we did before that.).
If we want to be serious about beating back the tide of Halloween, that’s a place to start. Imagine, Fred Meyer blasting Carey’s clarion voice through the aisles in early October, clearing away the (frankly, disgusting) cobwebs on the “Seasonal”
Halloween shelves to make room for nutcrackers and big red stockings and so on. That could be a reality, if we all get involved. Write to your city council — hell, call your senator.
Now, Christmas isn’t perfect, I admit — in its modern form, it’s basically a holiday where rich kids get spoiled upon the altar of late-capitalist American consumerism. But we need all the allies we can get, and let’s face it, Thanksgiving just doesn’t have the firepower to hack it with the big guns. This is trench warfare, and we need a bunker buster, not a peashooter. I don’t know about you, but I’d prefer to see (and hear) Carey and Big Man Kringle leading the charge, not the stuck-up prigs who hitched a ride on the Mayflower.
You might be wondering, “Is this really war? Can’t you just ignore all the Halloween stuff and go on with your life? Isn’t Christmas a far more pervasive and unavoidable holiday, eclipsing basically every other holiday of the year?” To that I’d say, first, shut up — and second, I’m not saying it’s ONLY Christmas on our side. All holidays from all traditions and cultures are free to take up arms and lend their aid in the War on Halloween (even All Saints’ Day, if for no other reason than because it marks the end of Halloween season.) It’s just that Christmas has the big money behind it, and it has the cultural capital to make a serious dent in Halloween’s dominance over the early fall months.
Troublingly, the witches of Halloweentown just this week signed an agreement with Jack Skellington, King of Halloween
Town (no relation), to establish a Joint Halloween Task Force (JHTF) — all part of their sick and twisted plan to expand Halloween season beyond the confines of October, worming their way into November and perhaps even December through force if necessary. The JHTF has reportedly conducted spooky missile (spmissile) tests over Christmastown, in what North Pole Aerospace Defense Command spokesman Bernard Elf has called “a brazen attack on the territorial integrity of the holiday season.”
No more. No longer shall porch steps and building foyers be marred by carved pumpkins rotting from the inside out; no more haunted houses that seek to frighten hard-working Americans into pissing their pants; no more supermarket speakers blaring “Monster Mash.”
Reader, do you want movies about zombie turkeys at Thanksgiving? Would you like Valentine’s Day to transform into another tacky goth holiday? (There’s an idea: just wear your “sexy [insert profession here]” costumes on February 14 instead.)
Thanksgiving is the first domino about to fall, potentially opening up the entire year to domination by the Halloweenists. In order to contain the ghoulish menace, anti-spooky forces must stand athwart Halloween, yelling “Stop” before it’s too late. It’s close to midnight, and something evil’s lurking in the dark — it’s time to confront the evil empire head-on, and prevent darkness from falling across the land forever.
NASH BENNETT / HALEY HSU
His name is Lewis.
The Face of Mortality: How PSU Confronts Death Through Dialogue
Through exploring how death is discussed both in and outside of the classroom, broader social commentary can be made
At the beginning of the legendary Pink Floyd song, “The Great Gig in the Sky” a voice says “I am not frightened of dying, you know. Any time will do, I don’t mind. Why should I be frightened of dying? There’s no reason for it. You gotta go sometime.”
It’s a fitting sentiment for this time of year. Gothic vampire outfits cloaked in Patagonia coats, along with ghostly statues, haunt Portland’s front yards. Halloween is a holiday that celebrates the absurd, the unnatural and entertains conversations of death. At Portland State University, those conversations extend beyond costume parties and ghoul masks.
Both faculty and students are breaking the silence surrounding death, turning the taboo topic into open discussions about grief, society and human nature.
A sociology course titled “Soc of Death and Dying” was offered by Tina Burdsall, a teaching assistant professor at PSU, during the winter 2021 term. The class explored death through its’ historical and social impacts. This spring, Burdsall will lead an honors seminar titled “Death, Dying and Bereavement,” continuing the conversation. According to Burdsall, the coursework emphasized topics of mortality and humanity’s response to death.
“Some of [the classes] are more textbook based, getting major concepts and major theoretical approaches to different concepts. Others are more reading and discussion based, and others are more research based, so it really kind of varies,” said Burdsall.
Connecting to death in a multi-faceted way is a core element of the coursework, Burdsall explained. Through her coursework she demonstrates that mortality connects to core sociological
concepts, remaining relevant to understanding social structures.
For Burdsall, studying mortality offers a method of examining ourselves as a society, exploring the reality of dying across various socio-economic classes, races, and distinctions.
“Death and dying brings up a lot of concepts around what we value, what we don't value [and] what we hide, so there's a lot that goes into it that's very sociological,.” said Burdsall. “Death isn't just biological, it's social, it's public, [and] it's structural.”
According to Burdsall, studying death offers a mirror through which society can view itself. Burdsall adds that exploring death in a community setting helps ease the discomfort of confronting it. She adds that even the aspects of death we turn a blind eye to can be revealing.
“Thinking about death actually helps us think about how we connect to other people and how we care about other people. So even when you're talking about it in this academic tone, it's almost impossible to pull yourself out of that [perspective],” said Bursdall. “When we hide things, what we hide is really instructive, right? And to me, it was a way that we could explore how grief, loss and compassion are shaped by society.”
Students have taken further exploration of the topic into their own hands with the creation of the “Death and Dying” club at PSU. Meeting at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday evenings in room 406 of the Vernier Science Center, the club is rich with conversation and compassion, discussing death in a candid, open format. The group emphasizes its intent to provide a safe, welcoming community for students to confront ideas of mortality.
“A majority of the club is discussion based. I'll usually pick a theme or a question of the week, and then we discuss [it] over
some warm tea and other snacks,” said Emori Baretich-Gregory, an anthropology major and the club’s president. “I understand that not everybody likes talking about death, but it's such a big part of the human experience.”
Baretich-Gregory says that the club approaches death holistically, examining topics such as assisted suicide and society’s growing desensitization to violence. Members engage with these topics from the perspective of a range of disciplines including sociology, psychology and anthropology.
“The discussion has been less about our individual experiences and more about concepts, abstract ideas, and systematic issues that surround death,” said Baretich-Gregory.
“We really got deep into talking about assisted suicide and the ethics of it. I know that pretty much everyone had something to pitch in.”
After explaining the club’s premise and practices, BaretichGregory reflected on the broader stigma of the topic. They noted that avoidance of discussing death often leads to deeper fear.
“Vilifying the idea of death does way more harm than good., I understand, some people may be uncomfortable with the idea or [have] had a recent personal trauma, and don't want to think about it,” they said. “I know that people have a really hard time coping with death.”
As “The Great Gig in the Sky” reminds us, death is universal. Through coursework and community dialogue PSU students and faculty continue to destigmatize death. Both the classroom setting and the student group provide structured spaces for productive conversation. These efforts suggest that by facing death directly, society can approach mortality with less fear.
SAGE LAMOTT
HALEY HSU
Vote Yes On Measure 26-260
Otherwise, the consequences for Portland parks could be catastrophic
NICK GATLIN
It’s an off year, so you may not have heard about it, but there’s an election next month. On Tuesday, Nov. 4, Portland voters will decide on whether or not to adopt Measure 26-260, a fiveyear levy to fund operations for Portland parks and recreation. They should vote “Yes.” If they don’t, the impact on parks is potentially catastrophic — if the measure doesn’t pass, the Parks operating budget will be reduced by about half, according to the ballot summary. That means reductions in programs and services including basic maintenance and repair, trash pickup and safety patrols.
Parks are an essential part of our city, providing natural, green spaces across Portland free of charge. As you’ve probably noticed, it costs money to go pretty much anywhere—but not the park. Portland’s parks are, if you’ll allow me to be a bit sentimental about it, some of our most cherished public spaces; really, they’re some of our only public spaces left.
To be sure, this shouldn’t have to be a ballot measure in the first place.
Portland Parks & Recreation racked up an $800 million backlog in mainte -
nance costs because of poor planning, and the “infrastructure crisis” we now face is an unforced error caused by an apparent lack of any kind of long-term thinking, according to a recent city audit. Portland keeps building new parks facilities without first finding a way to pay for maintenance, by far the biggest cost factor — around 80–90% of the total cost of ownership — and now they’re asking voters to clean up their mess. It sucks.
It’s also incredibly necessary. Just take a second to think about the disaster that would result if Parks lost half — fifty percent! — of its budget. Essential parks operations would completely stop: garbage would pile up, park rangers would be out of a job and community centers, public parks and pools would be shuttered. City planners left us a gaping hole in the budget, and regardless of how we got here, this is our chance to fix it. The stakes are too high not to.
The levy would raise the property tax to $1.40 per $1,000 of assessed property value, with the increased revenue being used to fund PP&R operations, account-
ing for about two-fifths of the Parks operations budget in the first year.
If you’re a college student reading this, you probably don’t own a house or any other property affected by the tax; if you’re under 30 you’re probably never going to, either. Again, it’s not a perfect solution, but it’s the one we have. I, for one, can’t imagine what it would be like to live in this city without its parks. I’m prepared to pay a little extra in the off chance I can ever (miraculously) afford to buy a house here.
The parks levy is the only item on the ballot, so it’s not hard to miss. It takes about 10 seconds to find a pen and fill in the bubble, and returning your ballot is easy to do at any mailbox or ballot drop box across the city. Unfortunately, the voter registration deadline has passed, so if you’re not already signed up there’s nothing to do. But if you are registered to vote in Portland, please make sure to turn in your vote—even if you vote “No”—if only to show the city that Portlanders really do care about what happens to their parks.
When the wind’s chill returns, when the leaves don their decaying hues, when pumpkin drinks and pastries return to the menu, I get an itch. An alternative, indie rock itch. A british, drawl-y itch that I’m happy to give in to every year. That itch leads me to one of the first CD’s I bought with my own money – the Arctic Monkey’s fifth studio album, “AM.”
Is this an incredibly basic indie music take? Maybe. Probably. But consider it wouldn’t be so basic if it wasn’t so good. Named one of Apple Music’s 100 best albums, “AM” delivers deep, soul touching beats with a signature Alex Turner sleaze. This is the British indie rock group’s fifth studio album, following up the less uniform but still great “Suck It and See”. They chose to take a more bass heavy approach with this record, which pays off when coupled with the dark, heavy vibes of the album. Songs like “One for the Road” and “I Want It All” are transformed by the bass guitar and ingenuity of Jack O’Malley.
This album also sports iconic songs like “Do I Wanna Know?”, “R U Mine?”, and “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?”. If you’re a fan of indie rock, or you were like me and discovered them in middle school and thought you were super indie and underground, you’re already familiar with these songs. These songs were all over 2014 Tumblr, coupled with pictures of black mini skirts, gasoline rainbow effects and copious amounts of “soft grunge”.
Those three songs blend together commanding guitar and bass with Turner’s lyricism and British drawl, creating a velvety smooth listening experience that transports you into the Arctic Monkey’s musical world. A world where everything is determined by guitar riffs, and the band member’s lead and backup vocals create a moody, captivating atmosphere.
The Arctic Monkeys, and specifically this album, will always remind me of fall. My brother surprised me with concert tickets to see them in the fall of 2018 (coincidentally, and I didn’t realize until I started researching for this column, I saw them exactly seven years ago from the day of me writing this). So not only is this a quintessential fall album, it also holds nostalgic ties and fond memories that mean the world to me. That being said, if you’re looking for a nostalgic, captivating album to blare on the way to the pumpkin patch, “AM” is definitely the way to go.
