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VOLUME 70 | ISSUE 21 | JANUARY 19, 2016 LAUNCH TRUMP INTO SPACE? p. 7 STUDENTS ON SAFETY: NO ON GUNS p. 5 News Opinion BIG WILD. YES, THE BIG WILD p. 10 Arts & Culture BELGIAN SECURITY: NOT SO SECURE. p. 14 International PORTLAND STATE VANGUARD

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January 19, 2016

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Page 1: Portland State Vanguard

VOLUME 70 | ISSUE 21 | JANUARY 19, 2016

LAUNCH TRUMP INTO SPACE? p. 7

STUDENTS ON SAFETY: NO ON GUNS p. 5 News

Opinion

BIG WILD. YES, T H E BIG WILD p. 10 Arts & Culture

BELGIAN SECURITY: NOT SO SECURE. p. 14 International

PORTLAND STATE VANGUARD

Page 2: Portland State Vanguard

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Follow us online at psuvanguard.com

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BED BECAUSE YOUR MOM IS THERE AND

YOU JUST REALLY DONT WANT TO TALK

TO HER BECAUSE OMG MOM YOU’RE EMBARRASSING ME

NO I DON’T WANT TO CLEAN MY ROOM

I LIKE IT AS IT IS?

Page 3: Portland State Vanguard

CONTENT

MARKETING & DISTRIBUTION MANAGERTurner Lobey

ADVERTISING [email protected] Neuberger

ADVERTISING DESIGNERSam Hicks

ADVISERReaz Mahmood

ADVERTISING ADVISERAnn Roman

DESIGNERSTerra DeHartElise FurlanRachel GoldsteinShannon Kidd

WRITERSMyles Boyns, Kevin Hadsell, Turner Lobey, Sarah Mustafa, John Pinney, Ellena Rosenthal, Adriana Stein

ADVERTISING SALESEva SpencerBecca PropperDennis CaceresKayla Clemens

[email protected] Leary

MANAGING [email protected] Sullivan

NEWS [email protected] Ray

ARTS & CULTURE [email protected] Renninson

OPINION [email protected] Barbee

INTERNATIONAL [email protected] Ozier

Associate News [email protected] Bradley

PRODUCTION [email protected] Einstein

PHOTO [email protected] Cardullo

COPY [email protected] Bradshaw

ONLINE [email protected] Dunkle

COPY EDITORSMolly HuntAlexis Woodcock

NEWSOPINIONCOVERARTS & CULTUREETCETERAINTERNATIONAL

468

10 1214

The Vanguard is published weekly as an independent student newspaper gov-erned 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 those of the PSU student body, faculty, staff or administration. One copy of the Vanguard is provided free of charge to all community members; additional copies or subscription issues may incur a 25 cent charge.

©2015 PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY VANGUARD 1825 S.W. BROADWAY SMITH MEMORIAL STUDENT UNION, RM. S-26PORTLAND, OR 97201

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Page 4: Portland State Vanguard

NEWS

4 Vanguard | JANUARY 19, 2016 | psuvanguard.com

PORTLAND STATE’S SECOND-HALF SURGE FALLS SHORT AGAINST IDAHO STATEThe Portland State Vi-kings took on the Idaho State Bengals in another Big Sky conference match-up Saturday night. Both teams looked to end a two-game losing streak with a win at the PSU Stott Center.

In the first half, the Ben-gals exploited the Vikings’ defense and scored on sev-eral fast breaks. The Vikings struggled to recover defen-sive rebounds, opening up second-chance scoring op-portunities for the Bengals. At the end of the first half, Idaho State led 41-31.

The Bengals pressed their lead into the second half,

extending the margin by 14 points with just over nine minutes of game time. The Vikings refused to give up, making a run for a comeback as the clock wound down.

In the game’s final minutes, PSU forward Cameron Forte sank a layup and a free throw, bringing the Vikings within three points of the Bengals. The Vikings made a stop on defense to regain possession, but Idaho State guard Geno Luzcando stole the ball and drew a foul, extending the Bengals lead to five with 13 seconds left to play.

Armani Collins scored a layup in the final seconds,

nudging PSU closer to Idaho State. But time was not on the Vikings’ side and the Bengals clenched a 73-70 victory.

Bengals guard Ethan Telfair led all scorers with 25 points (8-18 FG, 8-9 FT), 11 assists and six re-bounds. PSU forward Isa-iah Pineiro led the way for the Vikings with 15 points (5-11 FG), 9 rebounds and three assists.

The Vikings face Sac-ramento State on Jan. 23 in Sacramento. Video and audio broadcasting will be available online at www.eversport.tv/ big-sky.

MYLES BOYNS

VIKINGS COMMUNITY MOURNS THE PASSING OF AJ SCHLATTERELLIE BRADLEY

According to a press re-lease issued Monday by GoViks.com:

Portland State linebacker AJ Schlatter passed away at home on Sunday evening due to a complication fol-lowing minor throat surgery. Schlatter was 20 years old.

A native of Canby, OR, Schlatter came to PSU as a walk-on. Known for be-ing an outstanding student and committed athlete, he earned a full scholarship with the football program through his hard work and dedication.

“My heart is with the Schlatter family. They are our focus right now,” said Viking Head Coach Bruce Barnum in Monday’s press

release. “We lost a diamond that will never be replaced. He was the definition of what we are about at PSU.”

Schlatter started 10 games for the Vikings in 2015, receiv-ing Big Sky Conference Defen-sive Player of the Week honors following the Vikings’ win over Eastern Washington on Nov. 21.

Schlatter grew up in a family with strong ties to the Viking athletic tradition. His mother, Terri Jo, is a member of the PSU Athletics Hall of Fame and his father, Jim, spent time as an assistant football coach for the Vikings during the 1980s. Schlatter’s sister Garyn re-cently graduated from PSU and was a standout volleyball player for the Vikings; his sister Kasey played volleyball at Montana

State, a fellow member in the Big Sky program.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Schlatter fam-ily with all the compassion and sympathy we can bring to bear during this difficult time,” said Director of Ath-letics Mark Rountree in the statement released Monday.

“Things like this, aren’t supposed to happen,” Rountree said in the state-ment. “We cherish every student’s well-being, and the loss of AJ will be tough on our family. He repre-sented his family and [PSU] with passion, courage, and humility that made us all proud. He will be missed.”.

Further details and memorial arrangements are yet to come.

AJ SCHLATTER BLOCKS a University of Montana player in a 2015 game. Photo by Troy Wayrynen Courtesy of GoViks.com

TERRA DEHART /PSU VANGUARD

Page 5: Portland State Vanguard

NEWSNEWS

Vanguard | JANUARY 19, 2016 | psuvanguard.com 5

“We’d rather err on the side of caution;” timely warning raises questions about campus safety protocol ELLIE BRADLEY

The Campus Public Safety Office (CPSO) released a campus-wide timely warning on Wednesday, Jan. 13. The issued statement warned of a security threat regarding Asish Nand Sharma, a suspect in a domestic dispute.

“Mr. SHARMA currently has a warrant for his arrest and faces additional charges related to an assault occurring on cam-pus,” said the warning released Wednesday. “It has also been reported that he was made [sic] threats to shoot the assault vic-tim and law enforcement.”

“That came out of a do-mestic dispute,” said Scott Ghallager, Director of Com-munications for PSU. “That

the Clery Act, a consumer pro-tection law passed in 1990. The legislation requires all colleges and universities receiving fed-eral funding to share informa-tion about crime on campus; this also includes timely dis-semination of warnings and emergency notifications as outlined by university poli-cies. (Source: Clery Center for Security on Campus)

Any student information included in security notices is protected by privacy laws detailed in the Family Educa-tional Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The mandated no-tices are sent to all PDX email accounts; additional accounts and phones must be opted-in

victim is a student and cur-rently lives on campus. So in an over-abundance of caution… we sent a timely warning.”

According to Ghallagher, the warning was issued in favor of a PSU Alert because alerts are distributed in the event of an immediate emer-gency.

A 2013 task force desig-nated by President Wiewel has acknowledged that PSU can improve transparency and consistency in emer-gency preparation and knowledge.

“A campus-wide ‘emer-gency-notification’ will be issued if a situation is an

through students’ Banweb ac-counts.

Wednesday’s emailed warn-ing also included a photo of Sharma and a description.

“Police had a warrant out for his arrest,” said Chris Broder-ick, Associate Vice President for Communications at PSU. “That’s why we sent out the picture, too, to try to aid in ar-resting him.”

“Safety is our priority at the university,” Ghallager said. “We’d rather err on the side of caution than not.”

At the time of print, Sharma was still at large.

“If he’s arrested, there will be a follow-up on [the warning],” Broderick said.

immediate threat to the community,” states a final report from the Presiden-tial Task Force on Campus Safety. “These notifications are issued through a variety of communication methods including text messages, email and local media out-lets. A ‘timely warning’ alert is issued when a situation represents a serious or con-tinuing threat to students and employees.”

The report also states that the current alert system can, “make people more con-cerned when there is no fol-low up [sic].”

The requirement for issued security threats comes from

If you have any significant concerns about your immediate personal safety, please notify law enforcement officials by calling 911. If you have any non-emergency questions regarding the timely notice, please contact PSU’s Campus Public Safety at 503.725.4407.

JEOFFRY RAY AND ELLENA ROSENTHAL

A recent student-host-ed campus safety forum trenched into continued de-bate about last year’s move to introduce a sworn, armed police force to PSU.

The forum’s featured pan-elists from throughout the PSU community, including faculty, administrators and a student (see side panel for complete list).

Hunte moderated the roundtable discussion, giving each panelist two minutes to respond to various prompts. The panelists explored ques-tions about their perceptions of safety, both on campus and more broadly, as well as ideas about how to keep PSU safe.

Pace, who has previously participated in interruptions of campus events in protest of the decision to arm CPSO of-ficers, argued that dissenting voices were ignored through-out the arming process.

“That is not a safe campus, when those being kept safe aren’t included in those deci-sions,” she said.

The process that led to arming CPSO officers began with a 2008 report by the office of the Vice President

for Finance and Administra-tion, which offered several solutions to improve campus safety, including establishing a regular police force. Admin-istrators argue that efforts have been made to include student voices throughout the process. A 2013 final re-port from the Presidential Task Force on Campus Safety noted that interviews were conducted with an array of departments and student communities, such as athlet-ics, Student Activities and Leadership Programs and the Women’s Resource Cen-ter. University-led forums in-vited student and community input ahead of the final Board of Trustees vote in December 2014.

Student attendees disputed administrator arguments during a subsequent Q&A period, with several arguing that administrator efforts at student outreach were lim-ited. ASPSU President Dana Ghazi also contested that current students were not in attendance at PSU during previous efforts and thus un-able to be involved through-out the process.

“Honestly, we are talking about a conversation that has started in 2008,” she said during the forum’s closing statement. “Students gradu-ate every four years; the same students are not involved in this conversation. I don’t know how we hold our stu-dents accountable for the conversation that was started in 2008.”

The Q&A period consisted entirely of opponents to the arming of campus police, with all comments directed against the university deci-sion or Zerzan himself.

Postbaccalaureate biology student Akash Singh, who has followed the issue since starting classes last January, argued that the justice sys-tem has proven to take great lengths to protect police of-ficers involved in shooting incidents. He also said that student awareness of these incidents has created an in-ability to trust armed officers.

“If ever you feel there is a sys-temic problem in the way you feel safe on campus, then you should be going to individu-als who are tasked with your safety,” Singh said. “But when

the students themselves can-not trust those very individuals, it creates an incredible imbal-ance and I’m not sure where students are supposed to go at that juncture.”

PSUSU member William Peterson noted that the con-versation seemed like more of the same, particularly from ad-ministration representatives, whom he accused of towing an administrative line. But he also appreciated the panelists’ open engagement with topics such as toxic masculinity and the response to arming CPSO.

“It’s very refreshing not to just hear that from the stu-dents,” he said. “It was very re-freshing to hear that from staff members.”

After the forum, Singh called the conversation helpful. De-spite frustrations with the ad-ministration holding firm on its stance, he acknowledged the

value of hearing perspectives on the discussion across depart-ments.

“I feel it was one of the most illuminating conversations that I’ve had regarding this topic, especially when it comes to students interacting with in-dividuals who are part of differ-ent departments and who have different roles at this school,” Singh said.

But he also pointed to the rel-atively small size of the forum audience as a greater issue faced by the community.

“It certainly needs to be on a much more frequent level and it needs to be much larger than this,” he said.

“This is a school of several thousand students. If we are able to have this incredibly informed conversation and it happens in a room of this size, then it’s a systemic problem we need to address.”

ASPSU SAFETY FORUM FOCUSES ON ARMED POLICE

ROUNDTABLERoberta Hunte: Assistant Professor, PhD in Peace and Conflict Studies

Dr. Tom Hastings: Assistant Professor, Con-flict Resolution Depart-ment

Adrienne Graf: Interpersonal Violence Advocate, Women’s Re-source Center

Olivia Pace: Political science major, PSUSU/#DisarmPSU member

Dr. Carmen Suarez: Vice President for Global Diversity and Inclusion

Phil Zerzan: Chief, PSU Campus Pub-lic Safety Office

JEOFFRY RAY/PSU VANGUARD

Page 6: Portland State Vanguard

OPINION

6 Vanguard | JANUARY 19, 2016 | psuvanguard.com

THE DOLLAR AWAKENS

Page by Pageby Brie Barbee

THE CROSSROADS BETWEEN NERD CULTURE AND CONSUMERISM

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” will go down in history as one of the biggest movies of all time, having grossed over $1.7 billion since its release last month.

As it currently stands, the seventh installment of the “Star Wars” franchise is the third-biggest global movie of all time, coming in just behind “Titanic” and “Avatar”.

The popularity of “Star Wars” is apparent anywhere you go, from “Star Wars”-themed toys, action figures, video games, board games and costumes, to a “Star Wars”-branded make-up line from Covergirl. I was even given a cat-sized BB8 headband from the cashier at Petco. “Star Wars” fever is taking over.

It’s never been so cool to be a nerd and businesses are taking advantage of that. It also puts us in an interesting position, because we are starting to see an overlap between consumer culture and nerd culture.

Before the release of Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, before “Harry Potter”, before “Game of Thrones” and before console gaming became a multi-million dollar industry, being a nerd wasn’t cool.

Some people didn’t even like Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” when it was released. It received mixed reviews, and Tolkien has been regularly condemned by the academic community.

But now, it seems like all of a sudden, fantasy and science fiction are super popular. Graduate students are writing about “Harry Potter” for their theses, and showing up to the midnight releases of movies like “Star Wars” is no longer re-served for the most hardcore fans.

That being said, people who have identified as nerds be-fore this boom in commercial nerd culture are skeptical of its current popularity.

When I was in middle and high school, reading manga and playing video games, especially as a girl, was generally met with skepticism and even criticism.

Those same people who made fun of me for playing my Gameboy at lunch or trading Pokémon with my friends at the park, are now the same people who are loudly declaring on Facebook that they will un-friend me and anyone else if we spoil the new “Star Wars” film for them.

There now seems to be a division in the nerd community: long-term nerds vs. the newbies, those who never previ-ously identified as nerds, but are now lining up to see every new superhero movie and are spending their Friday nights playing Dungeons & Dragons with their friends.

Should the nerd community accept these people who haven’t been with the cause as long as they have? Now that it’s “cool” to be nerdy, are these new nerds as deserving as others of being a part of the community?

It can be hard for long-time nerds when the people who may have bullied us or criticized our passions for everything nerdy are now taking-over our culture. Many of us have considered our-selves nerds for many years, way before it was a cool thing to do.

Science fiction and make-up would have never been together in the same ad just a few years ago. But now they are, and there are more official and unofficial coloring books, cookbooks, stuffed animals, figurines, clothing and electronics dedicated to our favorite TV shows, movies, video games and books.

Being a nerd today is much different than it was when we were all in high school. But just because the nerd community is gaining momentum and more and more people are identify-ing as nerds, doesn’t mean we should isolate those people who are now willing to call themselves nerds.

We should embrace our fellow geeks, old or new, dedicated or only vaguely interested, because who are we to say that someone shouldn’t or can’t like the same things as us? Con-sumerism as made being a nerd cool, and I can’t complain, es-pecially when I’m covered head to foot in nerd paraphernalia.

BY KAYLA TOWNSLEY

ELISE FURLAN/PSU VANGUARD

Page 7: Portland State Vanguard

OPINION

Vanguard | JANUARY 19, 2016 | psuvanguard.com 7

WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH TRUMP?MUSINGS FROM THE SUB-BASEMENTby Kevin Hadsell

By now you, Dear Reader, have probably formed an opin-ion of some type on Donald Trump. Indeed, the Republican front-runner has sparked strong opinions on either side of the political spectrum.

Recently, I came across a story in my News Feed that piqued my interest: Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO, gener-ously offering to launch Donald Trump into space with the help of a Blue Origin rocket. It might be worth noting that Blue Origin is also owned by Bezos.

It may sound excessive to deport a person from the en-tire planet, especially someone who has already given the world so, so much. He has, for instance, single-handedly proven to the world what many of us had long suspected: that anyone, regardless of their background, beliefs, or actual qualifications for political leadership, can one day grow up to be President of the United States as long as they have several billion dollars worth of assets.

He is the living embodiment of the American dream; an inspiration to starry-eyed American youth ev-erywhere. All you need to do is inherit a real-estate empire, have a bazillion dollars to pretty much just do whatever with, and use said bazillion dollars to get elected. This is democracy, folks. Or at least democ-racy as we have conceived of it in the good ol’ US of A.

Furthermore, and this point is crucial, Donald Trump is the closest thing that America has to a real-life Scrooge McDuck, making him something of a na-tional treasure. What other public figure do we have that embodies, to an almost total degree, an iconic car-toon character beloved by millions? And what is Trump Tower, after all, but a real-life version of Scrooge’s tow-ering money vault?

The only thing missing from Trump Tower is the enor-mous dollar-sign insignia emblazoned across the front of the building. And I am willing to bet that somewhere in the dark recesses of Trump Tower is an Olympic-sized swim-ming pool filled with gold coins and a diving board perched high above it. So would it not be ungracious, perhaps even ob-scene, to expel such a figure from the entirety of planet Earth?

But I would like to take a moment to consider–seriously consider–this course of action.

Donald Trump currently ranks among the richest people in America (#121, according to Forbes). He is, for all practical purposes,

America’s “fattened calf.” There is a long tradition, both in the Old Testament and in numerous reli-gions throughout history and the world, of sacrific-

ing one’s worldly goods (farm animals and crops, in particular) to ensure a productive harvest, a good

year and continuing good fortunes. Donald Trump would make for an excellent

and worthy sacrifice to Jehovah, Yahweh, the Elder Gods or whomever it is that one prays to. Imagine the

good fortune this would bestow upon the nation! We may be looking at another American Century if all goes according to plan. Trump’s hair alone would be a unique, one-of-a-kind offering. America has never

produced anything like it before; we may never see an-other in our lifetime.

Also noteworthy is the fact that Jeff Bezos has gen-erously offered to use his company to put up the funds for the

project. In an era of government austerity and cuts to public funding, it would not cost the public a dime.

In the end, however, it may be the less tangible ben-efits that will mean the most. Imagine, if you will, the fate-ful day we launch Donald Trump into space for the good of the nation. People, everywhere, would gather together to

watch the countdown broadcasted live on television, just like the moon landing. The President himself, acting as the mas-

ter of ceremonies, would step up to a podium overlooking Cape Canaveral and intone over the crowd,

“O infinite void of space, timeless and eternal, we ask that you accept our offering of Donald Trump into your infinite abyss, that

we may be blessed and purified by our collective sacrifice. May his exit from our small blue planet be pleasing to thee.”

And then we would fire up the rocket engines.The countdown would begin, and the rocket would lift off from

the launch pad for its final ascent. And we—all of us—would gather round and watch as the figure of Donald Trump gets smaller and

smaller until he finally disappears into the infinitude of the Cosmos, and we will say, “well, that’s that” and go back inside, feeling somewhat more aware of our place in the Cosmos and the relative smallness of our indi-

vidual human lives. Because we will have just seen Donald Trump vanish into an invisible

speck in the night sky, forever; and how much smaller, then, are we, not having billions of dollars or real estate empires of our own? We may, for a brief, fleeting

moment, rethink our entire place in the Universe as a species. And that, I think, may be a plan worth pursuing.

SHANNON KIDD

Page 8: Portland State Vanguard

COVER

8 Vanguard | JANUARY 19, 2016 | psuvanguard.com

COVER

TURNER LOBEY

Portland State’s left-leaning alternative newspaper The Rearguard has printed for the last time. So has The Portland Spec-trum—formerly The Port-land Spectator—the univer-sity’s in-depth investigative magazine.

A recent student-led merger united the two pub-lications into a new monthly magazine, The Pacific Sen-tinel. The new publication hit stands across the PSU campus for the first time on Friday.

Print Editor-in-Chief Alex Skousen said that both the format and the style take in-spiration from the in-depth investigations of The New Yorker and The Atlantic.

The Pacific Sentinel aims to combine the two mission statements of the previous publications into one cohe-sive entity. The “sentinel”

held a two-day forum to discuss the possibility of a merger, but public feedback and organizational support wasn’t strong enough to call for a definitive merger. The conversations continued in January 2015 with another forum, following a year of continued struggle for the organizations. Results again were inconclusive.

Skousen said the recent idea to merge the two or-ganizations came from The Rearguard’s former Editor-in-Chief Astrid Woolridge, who graduated after the groups united.

Skousen also cited dimin-ished staff size in the publica-tions’ previous print struggles. He said that one person leav-ing could throw off the whole publication cycle.

Student Media Coordina-tor Reaz Mahmood pointed to a number of factors that

aspect of the name comes from the imagery of a watch-tower or a lookout, aligning with The Rearguard’s previ-ous dedication to social jus-tice and advocating for the marginalized. The “pacific” is the opposing coast to The Atlantic’s.

“It’s really just a com-bination of the ideals of The Spectrum and The Re-arguard, because we have the balanced, in-depth, in-vestigative journalism The Spectrum offered as well as social justice issues that The Rearguard brought in,” Skousen said.

The Sentinel will feature a section dedicated to so-cial justice, as well as news, arts and culture, technology and academics. In addition to printing physical edi-tions, the publication plans to regularly release online content on social media and

might have impacted the groups’ ability to publish, including increasing tuition costs and the rising rental rates in Portland—all of which could deter students from participating in extra-curricular activities in the efforts of making ends meet.

Annual budgets have also factored into the publications’ struggles. The Rearguard’s budget fell from $42,298 in the 2009–2010 fiscal year to $26,099 in the 2015–2016 fiscal year. In that same time period, The Spectrum/Spectator budget fell from $41,917 to $23,236.

At the time Skousen was approached about the pos-sibility of merging publica-tions, he was coming out of a summer term without fund-ing for The Spectrum. The ASPSU Student Fee Com-mittee did not approve ap-peals for funding for all four academic terms, despite the

a website, to be developed in the near future.

Having merged organiza-tions, The Sentinel enters winter term with two Edi-tor-in-Chief positions; one managing print, the other online. All editor positions are tentative and must be ap-proved by the Educational Leadership Service Awards Committee.

The ELSA Committee is a board that oversees proce-dures related to a particu-lar type of student funding. Students within Student Media, as well as other or-ganizations like the Associ-ated Students of PSU, are not technically university em-ployees, receiving compen-sation similar to scholarship awards rather than wages.

The history of a potential merger for the publications goes back several years. In May 2014, Student Media

Student Media Board ini-tially approving the publica-tion to operate year-round.

Without funding, Skou-sen said he was forced to delay hiring and training a staff, planning with the pa-per’s printer and setting a publication cycle. As well as entering fall without fund-ing, Skousen said he was a new Editor-in-Chief without substantial training for the position. Because of this, The Spectrum didn’t print during fall term.

“Astrid and I both found that unacceptable,” Skousen said.

“We have this forum for students, by the students,” Skousen said. “It’s a very powerful forum to get ideas out there, to have it just not print for an entire quarter because of bureaucratic dis-crepancies and problems and not understanding what our organizations do.”

Page 9: Portland State Vanguard

COVER

Vanguard | JANUARY 19, 2016 | psuvanguard.com 9

COVER

to operate within the com-mittee’s guidelines.

At the time of this print-ing Skousen has met with the SFC’s liaison to the Student Media, Patricia Perez-Cruz, and has sub-mitted an agenda request with the SFC to discuss these topics.

“This is going to save student money, because you spend less money on personnel just sitting for a quarter and you spend more money on a product that consistently comes out,” Skousen said.

The editors hope that The Sentinel will be allowed to use the two separate bud-gets for the common goal.

After meeting with the SFC, the magazine must also meet with the ELSA Committee to keep them in the loop and adjust for any potential editorial staffing regulations.

Skousen will also begin hiring for open staffing po-sitions, as regulations clar-ify. With Woolridge’s recent departure, Skousen must hire an Online Editor-in-Chief. The Sentinel is also seeking a Production Man-

“As much as those peo-ple in those organizations try really hard to be under-standing and open minded to it, it’s still a bureau-cratic system that’s com-plicated and difficult to get through,” he continued.

Skousen said a merger was the most sustainable deci-sion for the publication.

“I really liked The Spectrum,” Skousen said. “I just feel like this is better, ulti-mately, for the organiza-tion.” He added that the merger focuses on both short- and long-term goals for the publication.

“We just feel like there’s more power together if we work together as a team,” he continued.

Skousen and Woolridge drafted a charter for a new pub-lication and pitched it to the Student Media Board for ap-proval. The Media Board offi-cially approved the merger and The Sentinel on Nov. 13, 2015.

Mahmood, who is also a non-voting member of the board, hopes the merger will lead to consistent publica-tion and staffing.

“Hopefully it will stabi-lize and hopefully we can

ager to lead the magazine’s design team, as well as a News Editor.

Despite the challenges, Mahmood was upbeat about the merger. He pointed to a history of conflicting personal views and passions as roadblocks staggering previous pub-lication staffs’ efforts. He noted Woolridge’s and Skousen’s efforts as an in-dicator of progress toward a mutual vision.

“What we have is stu-dents themselves in the op-erations,” he said. “They’ve come to a common pur-pose and they’ve taken into consideration many of the outside perspectives but they’ve made a decision and we’ll see what happens.”

Skousen hopes the new magazine has a positive im-pact on Student Media, in part by collaborating with other media organizations like Pathos, PSU-TV and KPSU.

“We really want to be a unifying force,” he said.

Note: Turner Lobey is also the Marketing and Dis-tribution Manager for Stu-dent Media.

provide enough support institutionally where it will really flourish,” Mah-mood said. “But it’s one of the things where the chal-lenges have been so real, but you really don’t know what ultimately is going to happen until you get maybe one or two solid years, and you can gain confidence in its overall trajectory.”

Ultimately, it will be up to the students to guaran-tee the publication’s future success.

“One of the things I try to do is as much as it’s a challenge is help the stu-dents function as much as it’s appropriate for us to do so,” Mahmood said. “We can provide institu-tional support and after a certain point it’s the stu-dents themselves who have to carry the load and do what’s necessary to sustain an operation.”

The new publication still has a long and seemingly uncertain path before things stabilize. Repre-sentatives must meet with the SFC to inform it about the merger and determine what steps must be taken PRINT EDITION-IN-CHIEF ALEX SKOUSEN IS ONE of the chief architects of a recent Rearguard Specturm Merger.

SILVIA CARDULLO/PSU VANGUARD

PAPER BUDGET CUTS since 2009 Rachael Goldstein/PSU Vanguard

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ARTS & CULTURE

10 Vanguard | JANUARY 19, 2016 | psuvanguard.com

I had the honor of conducting an interview with DJ and artist, Big Wild, after I saw him perform at the Roseland The-ater. He has gained enough excitement from his EDM origi-nals and remixes to go on tour this year with ODESZA and GRiZ. You might recognize him from his hit “Aftergold” from ODESZA’s Foreign Family Collective imprint. You might also recognize his GRiZ remix “For the Love”. His success has grown two-fold over the last year and it only continues to flourish. If you don’t know him yet, trust me, Big Wild will be in your playlist by summer.

AISLINN RENNISON: How did you like playing in Portland?

BIG WILD: A lot. Every time I’ve been there it’s been really cool. It’s a cool city too, to go and visit. Last time [I visited] we had a couple days off so we got to go explore. They weren’t ly-ing about the rain and the cloudiness; it was raining literally the whole time. But super lush, I like it a lot.

AR: So how was touring with ODESZA and how did you get the opportunity to go with them?—which is awesome by the way!

BW: I first toured with them in Feb. or March [of last year] as an opener as well and I’ve done a couple other things with them, like the “Say My Name” remix and the Foreign Family Collective release. They have been very supportive of my music. We have similar music style with some of our songs so it is kind of a good pairing. So when they asked me to come on this tour, I was more than happy to do that. It’s been re-ally helpful to be on tour with them and they are really great guys. We will show each other what we are working on, our work-in-progress and what we are into at the time; it’s really cool to have someone to share that musical interest with.

AR: So is your process of making music similar?

BW: It is a little different because there are two of them and one of me and we come from different backgrounds in terms of music. But after being with them, I did get an understanding of where they come from, and likewise from me. We definitely learned from each other.

AR: That’s great, so what do you think was the most valu-able thing you learned from them?

BW: Definitely learned a good amount about arrangement and song structure and what goes into making a song. And learning what you need and don’t need in the song, cutting out unneces-sary parts.

AR: So as I was watching you perform, you reminded me a lot of Lido by the way you have your instruments all around you and you turn in circles to play. It looks like you have a lot of fun with it. Did you get inspiration from him or him from you to perform that way?

BW: You know, I’ve been doing that pretty much since I started but I wouldn’t say I’ve had a long career, I would say I started at the beginning of this year. That being said though, I did see his show and it was really awesome—I was inspired, but at the same time I could see what he was doing with it with his performance and set-up. Then I was really into Slow Magic’s show and just the sheer energy. I think raw energy is something I try to have in my own show, too. That is one of the reasons we all go to see music,

because you want to get energized and inspired. So, those are two really big performers for me. I’ve also seen a fair amount of shows outside of electronic music—people who I could tell were really into the music on stage—that is how I want to be presenting myself on stage: as someone who is really into the music, but who really wants to engage the crowd too.

AR: That’s awesome—the way you describe that raw energy is for sure what I felt when I saw you perform. What are your favorite in-struments and [electronic] sounds to mess around with?

BW: That’s a good question... My favorite one to play is the drums, it is more physical than the other instruments and it comes natural to me. That be-ing said, as far as a particular sound, it’s hard to say. I’m al-ways looking for new sounds; I can get bored with sounds really easily so I will always try to find something new. But I do gravitate toward the piano a lot. That is always a classical, good sounding instrument. That is often times where I come up with the melodies and harmo-nies for my songs. I will take the piano and maybe put it into a synthesizer or something. The piano for me, is where a lot of my ideas start.

AR: That’s what I was about to ask next: How do you

start? How do you come up with that first initial sound—is there ever a story behind it or any type of emotion? Or is it most of the time just messing around to find something and then going from there?

BW: A lot of the time I have made a sound that for whatever reason at that point in time I just really vibe with. Then I can start to get this feeling of inspiration and vision as to where I could take it. Then I just roll with it; all these ideas start pouring out. Those kinds of songs usually end up being my best ones. But that doesn’t always happen all the time; I don’t always create that way. Sometimes I have to force it because of a deadline; I’m just in a different state of mind, but those can be cool too. My favorite is when I start out and I have an emotion, those are the ones I really enjoy rolling with and making.

AR: Do you find that to be different or the same with your originals vs your remixes?

BW: I’ve gotten that feeling with both. Remixes do give you a starting point and set limitations with what you can do. For me, limitations are good, they kind of give you direction sometimes and force you to be creative with what you have. But with an original, literally nothing is on the table, you could do anything you want, which sometimes makes it more difficult because you have to pick a path where you are going. So remixes are easier to start but originals, when I do find something I like, originals are more satisfying for me when I finish them.

AR: Totally understandable. So I saw that Dancing Astronaut put you in the top 25 artists to listen for in 2016—which is an honor and I completely agree you should be on that list—but how do you think things have changed for you, or will change for you, as you become more and more recognizable and successful?

BW: Yeah, that [Dancing Astronaut article] was awesome! But it’s really cool, it gives me more confidence with what I am doing. When I perform live and people know me and my music and

BIG WILD A.K.A. JACKSONAISLINN RENNISON

“That is how I

want to present

myself on stage: as someone

who is really

into the music,

but who really

wants to engage

the crowd too.”

A few words with...

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ARTS & CULTURE

Vanguard | JANUARY 19, 2016 | psuvanguard.com 11

I’m not just some dude on stage–that makes me feel more con-fident that what I am doing is actually resonating with people. That is the biggest and most positive thing I have experienced so far and that is what I am really looking forward to in this headline tour that is coming up in April and May. I can’t wait to actually see all the people who are into my music, I am really excited about that.

AR: What future plans do you have besides those tours?

BW: I do have a couple big projects in the works, just working on a lot of new music, and that headline tour I mentioned but also performing at some festivals this summer. Then I am hop-ing to have some upcoming show or some kind of tour for the fall. But right now I am working on all new music and vocal-ists—making something special for my fans.

AR: Awesome, I am excited to hear your new stuff!

BW: Thanks, I am excited too, it has been a little while. I al-most forgot what it feels like to release music.

AR: I saw your photos on Instagram and Facebook and if that is you taking those pictures then you have another tal-ent...in photography.

BW: I just started having my girlfriend help me out with those pictures, so I have to give her some of the credit for the most recent ones. But also all the touring I’ve done this past year has given me the opportunity for great photos from people on the road or people who are taking photos at the shows. Hats off to the lighting guys too, because they make me look a lot better on stage.

AR: Besides photography, what other side passions do you value in your life?

BW: Ah man, I gotta say music, pretty much, is it all the time. But probably my second biggest passion is food. I always try to make sure to eat well. And, I am kind-of learning how to surf because I need another hobby to get me out of the studio.

AR: I read that you taught third graders how to make music on the computer. Could you tell me about that experience?—It sounds pretty cool.

BW: So that was my sister-in-law, a third grade teacher, and she thought it would be cool if I went into the class and showed them how to make a few things on the computer. So I basically set up my little drum pad and little keyboard and I was showing making music on the computer to be cool and leave some type of an impression. Maybe a kid goes home and downloads some software from a computer and you never know—it could start a new hobby. To be able to show it to kids who are so impressionable is really cool. I think they would probably get a lot more into that than starting to learn an instrument. Maybe the idea of making music on the computer is a little more ap-pealing to them, so I thought it was a cool thing to do for sure.

AR: When you were growing up did you have someone like that, who introduced you to music and helped pave the path in that way?

BW: When I was young I learned to play piano and trumpet. My brother was a trumpet player and that’s what got me into trumpet. I started getting into hip-hop when I downloaded it on my computer and started learning.

I kinda learned that one by myself. I did have a good friend from high school—we produced together and shared ideas which is something you need starting out. But yeah, I origi-nally was a trumpet player.

AR: Do you still play the trumpet?

BW: Honestly not in a while but I brought it out with me from me Massachusetts to L.A. and I am going to practice everyday and maybe use it for my live shows. But we will see about that, I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

AR: You are with Red Light Management; what was the pro-cess of getting signed on with them?

BW: They originally [sought] me out because ODESZA also has the same management and I already knew Adam at Red Light. And I was at a point in my career where I was looking for management that was more experienced and also had more re-sources in terms of who they knew and how to manage a career. It has been great so far, working with them.

AR: Is there anything else you would like your fans to know?

BW: I just want them to know that I am hard at work with new music and 2016 is going to have a lot of new releases coming out. But I am going to keep my mouth shut, I don’t want to give everything away.

AR: For sure. One last simple question for you...How did you chose your name: Big Wild?

BW: It came about from my first trip to California and I was amazed by the landscape. It was something I had never seen before and it represented what I wanted my music to do which is something adventurous and unique. Those two words, Big Wild, kind of came naturally. I can’t say that there was a Eu-reka moment where I was like, “Alright, Big Wild!” but there was a moment when it just seemed right and I have stuck with it ever since.

AR: Thank you so much for the interview, it was an honor to meet you. I am glad I got to see you perform and I’m for sure excited for your 2016 releases.

BW: Great, thanks dude, I appreciate it!

“...it represented what I wanted my music to do, which

is something adventerous and

unique.”

PHOTOGRAPHY COURTSEY OF EMILY BUCKINGHAM/PITCH PERFECT PR

COURTSEY OF FOREGIN FAMILY COLLECTICE/2015

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JOHN PINNEY

WEDNESDAY JAN. 20

THURSDAY JAN. 21

FRIDAY JAN. 22

SATURDAYJAN. 23

SUNDAYJAN. 24

FEATUREDEVENT

Libra (Sept. 23– Oct. 22)Though you stuck your neck out for someone else, the results were not what you intended. Though you did a good deed and some-thing negative happened, don’t stop doing good in the world.

Scorpio (Oct. 23–Nov. 21)Everyone has something about themselves they don’t like. But in that haze of uncertainty, you have the unique opportunity to mo-tivate or shape that dislike into something positive.

Gemini (May 21–June 20)You’re not living up to your potential. You’ve spent a long time giving about a quarter of what you’re able to and that’s not fair to those who believe in you.

Cancer (June 21–July 22)The line you drew in the sand not long ago is starting to fade and a few toes have crossed. Always remember where that line is and re-draw when necessary.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22– Dec. 21)Share your meal with oth-ers. Not because you have an abundance, but because the world is a global com-munity and giving is im-portant.

Capricorn (Dec. 22–Jan. 19)One of your favorite ways of discussion is debate. You love to spend hours pre-paring and refining your argument. Why not just let yourself go with passion just this one time?

Leo (July 23–Aug. 22)Every special event is the start of another chapter in life’s journey. We mark our lives with ceremonies, so embrace the ceremony as something special and not to be spurned.

Virgo (Aug. 23–Sept. 22)Before you know it, the warm rays of spring will cut through the harshness of winter. If you just have patience, you’ll see the sun again before too long.

Aquarius (Jan. 20–Feb. 18)This is your week. You have the stage and the micro-phone. Own your message. Those who empathize will come and follow alongside. Don’t be afraid.

Pisces (Feb. 20–March 19)Someone you love is hav-ing a birthday this week. Treat them to a time away and give them something unexpected. They’ll love you so much for it.

“THE BOOK OF MORMON”TIMES VARY, SEE ONLINE FOR FULL SCHEDULEKELLER AUDITORIUMFEE: $40Whether you go to the mati-nee or nightly show, “The Book of Mormon” is guaran-teed to leave you tapping your toes while finding it ironic when actual Mormon mis-sionaries, who don’t get the irony, show up outside the theater at the end of the show.

“RUNNING YOUR FIRST ULTRA”7:30 P.M.POWELL’S ON BURNSIDEKrissy Moehl hangs out and reads from her book on long distance running. Ultra is a term for Ultra Marathon, which generally has a smaller field of applicants and has more of a nature trail vibe than a rock n’ roll vibe since it’s much lon-ger than a normal marathon.

VENGEANCE IN EARLY MODERN JAPAN5:30 P.M.NASCCIf you’re interested in the ka-buki theater show coming up this term or in that Keanu Reeves movie that was a very loose interpretation of the 47 Loyal Retainers, this lecture will be your guide into the true history of the world of sacrifice and loyalty.

NW MUSIC VIDEOS7 P.M.SKYPE LIVE STUDIOFREEAs part of the local work of the NW Film Center, this music centric video presentation is all about local works and art-ists merging the sound and the visual. Since submissions are open to all, some of this event will be a complete surprise and delight. All of the event will be homegrown.

OREGON TRUFFLE FESTIVALFEE AND LOCATION VARIES, CHECK ONLINEIf you didn’t get enough of the rich stuff at the Chocolate Fest, let this weekend open the doors of indulgence for you. If you’re new to Eugene, Newberg or Yamhill, check out the competitions, edu-cational opportunities and the truffles in both choco-late and mushroom form. All info can be found at oregontrufflefestival.com.

GROOVIN’ GREENHOUSE7:30 P.M.POLARIS DANCE THEATREFEE: $18 TO $22This six-year-old dance-centric center of the Fertile Ground art festival universe tradition tends to sell out quickly for most of its eight performanc-es. Join local dance compa-nies at this celebration of agil-ity and spirit.

NW COFFEE BEER INVITATIONAL12 P.M. TO 7 P.M.THE GOOSE HOLLOW INN21+FEE: $15This celebration of flavor promises the refined tastes of 16 talented local artisans. The chocolate is rich and the beer is seven ABV or less, so let yourself go a little wild while the food works its magic.

“THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE”7:30 P.M.WINNINGSTAD THEATREFEE: $10 TO $12Though not as well known as some of its Broadway cousins, this 1922 romp in New York’s jazz and flapper days takes an innocent young girl and puts her through the New York ring-er and brings her out shining like the diamond engagement ring she desperately desires.

CRYSTAL BALLROOM BIRTHDAY BASH2 P.M.FREEALL AGESAfter 102 years, the folks at McMenamin’s Crystal Ball-room aren’t slowing down; they will be throwing their birthday party this week which will cover two city blocks. Music, comedy, kids areas, food, drinks and special adult birthday beverages will be offered.

DIDO AND AENEAS4 P.M.FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCHFEE: $25One of the great tragic op-eras, and one of the first in English, will be performed in a concert setting with seven singers and a variety of string instruments.

Horoscopes for the Week of 01/17

Aries (March 21–April 19)Next time you go to the store, don’t get distracted and buy a lot of extras. You have a list, stick to it. No-body needs 14 packages of Peppermint Oreos.

Taurus (April 20–May 20)Every day is a battle to get out of bed and to live your routine. Why not own it? Even if they only suggest so-lutions, just keep doing you.

EVENT LISTINGS FOR JAN. 20TH – 24TH

CHOCOLATE FEST!OREGON CONVENTION CENTER HALL AFEE: $15 (FOR ADVANCED, AT THE

DOOR AND VIP TICKETS TBD)ALL WEEKEND LONG 11 A.M. TO 5 P.M.Since Fridays are defi-nitely more for the 21+ set that likes to ruin their chocolate experience with samples of wine, I will just talk about the rest of the scrumptious weekend. It’s true that there are people who will go and expect to fill up on samples (you can’t). And it’s true that someone in your friend circle doesn’t like chocolate (love them anyways). Neither of those things means you can’t enjoy frolicking through locally made scrumptious goodies on your own or with a part-ner in crime. I’d bring about 40 bucks of spend-ing money because you’ll want to come away with some cupcakes, fudge and cookies. My per-sonal favorite is a local chocolatier who makes her own molds and has whiskey buttercream you have to try to believe.

EVENT LISTINGS FOR JAN. 20TH – 24TH

JOHN PINNEY

JOHN PINNEY

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Vanguard | JANUARY 19, 2016 | psuvanguard.com 13

TERRA DEHART

CROSSWORD COURTESY OF ALBERICHCROSSWORDS.COM

ACROSS1 Ariadne ran off with adjutant

(4)3,14,24,19,1d,11,25,10 22’s

view of us: Hah! Listening meekly to broadcast 24 he tucked into sandwich? 1d sweetheart, he’s not one to be stirred by leader of ensemble’s silly mistake 3,7,3,3,4, 5,3,4,10,4,3,5,2,5)

9 Mist over river cleared from water running northward (5,2)

11 See 3 12 Indian tribesmen lark around,

carrying wood (7)

13 Fight is fixed before start of third round (3-2)

15 The Northern alternative to American doughnut? (5)

16 Rendition of score – Schubert’s third – reflected skill of one under 22? (9)

18 To ply one with booze could be a bit cruel (9)

21 Keep talking with African country (5)

23 Jolly group getting a bit of heat? (5)

25 See 327 A discussion on French art

with intimate friend (7)

28 These dancers are big in Russia (7)

29 Crafty lech harassed Phoebe perhaps (10)

30 Captain’s deputy gets a duck (4)

DOWN1 Cleverly stores dissolved

substance by itself (10)2 Lady’s maid is part of the

furniture (7)4 Extremely posh boy struggles

with half of learning curve (9)5 The ultimate female swinger (5)6 Dance is presented with too

much in the middle (7)7 Delaware’s taken off from

where Motown started to produce anthem (7)

8 Hypocritical clerk makes a pile according to rumour (4)

10 See 3 14 See 3 17 Can be influenced by soap

to be biased in broadcasting medium? (9)

19 See 3 20 One train heading for

Euston’s annoyingly showing lack of movement (7)

21 Following good recipe, I will cook (5)

22 Wood, Henry, nowhere near amateur conductor (7)

24 A trio perhaps, one entertaining us after encounter with the farmer’s wife? (5)

26 North American fellows can be socially crass (4)

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Page 14: Portland State Vanguard

INTERNATIONALINTERNATIONAL

14 Vanguard | JANUARY 19, 2016 | psuvanguard.com

MAP OF BELGIUM COURTESY OF USER OCHA THROUGH CREATIVE COMMONS VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Youth tickets only $10 for ages 7-25!

Six concerts showcasing arrangements of classic chamber works, including

two concerts on Portland State’s campus!

For full concert listings and tickets:www.CMNW.org | 503-294-6400

January 27 – February 1, 2016

BORDER CONTROL OR LACK THEREOF?ADRIANA STEIN

Five days after the Paris attacks, Brussels went into a citywide lockdown due to fear that one of the terrorist orga-nizers was hiding within the city on Nov. 21.

According to a Novem-ber Reuters report written a week after the attacks, “The European Union will step up checks on its citizens travel-ing abroad, tighten gun con-trol and collect more data on airline passengers, ministers agreed on Friday in response to the Paris attacks.”

The city’s threat level re-mained at level 4—the highest possible level—for five days. While the city was in lock-down, Belgian police and anti-terrorism forces interviewed dozens of people, conducted raids, and arrested nine peo-ple thought to be in cahoots with Salah Abdeslam, an or-ganizer of the Paris attacks.

On Nov. 26 the threat level was mysteriously lowered to a level 3.

“The authorities did not immediately explain what prompted the change,” ac-cording to the New York Times. The Prime Minister of Belgium, Charles Michel, offered no further informa-tion as to exactly why or how this decision was made. After being in a state of complete

lockdown in which schools and businesses were not al-lowed to open, and citizens were asked to remain inside their houses, the city of Brus-sels was now free to roam as usual.

Compared to U.S. border security after the 9/11 at-tacks, and the new require-ments in accordance with the U.S.A. Patriot Act, Bel-gium’s decisions for border security could be considered extremely lax. Following 9/11 the U.S.’ goal was to “Balance counterterrorism efforts and civil liberties,” according to a New York Times article.

Thanks to the 26-nation open-borders Schengen zone, before the Paris attacks EU citizens were only subject to a visual check of their docu-ments according to Reuters.This works similarly for U.S. citizens who only need a state-issued ID when travel-ing within the nation, rather than a passport.

Since the attacks and the high influx of refugees com-ing into EU nations, the Schengen zone regulations are being revised. New York Times quoted Letta Tayler, a Human Rights Watch ter-rorism researcher, stating,

“Whenever a country is at-tacked or threatened, there

is a danger that governments will overreact in an effort to make people secure.”

But Belgium has seemed to take the opposite approach.

So, is America overreacting?According to CNN, a father

was outraged after watching his daughter get “groped” by TSA agents because she was holding a Capri Sun juice box. The juice box exceeded the three ounce limit for liquids allowed in carry-on luggage. Whether we can chalk this up to fear from the Paris attacks or good ol’ American secu-

BELGIUM’S SECURITY LOOSENS SINCE LOCKDOWN. U.S.’ REACTION IS NOT SO CHILL

rity practices, it’s hard to tell. As for Belgium, they want the Paris attacks to remain an isolated incident.

To hear from a Belgian citi-zen on the matter, I spoke to Francois Wery, a native of Brussels.

“I’m more scared to take the car or the motorbike than walk around,” Wery said.

Wery commented on how much military there has been around the city since the lock-down. He feels this form of se-curity is a better option than the closed-circuit television

cameras that are scattered throughout the city of London.

When asked about Ameri-can security Wery thought it was immoderate.

“[I’m] impressed by all the controls at the American bor-der,” he said. “I was checked five times from Brussels to Seattle, but when I came back I had only one check.”

Though the Paris attacks hadn’t yet occurred, to many Europeans, American security seems excessive compared to their lax border controls, like in Belgium.

Things have been calm in Belgium, until the end of December when Bel-gian authorities arrested two people on terror-ism charges. Their plans were focused on civilian sites, specifically the cen-tral square, where a huge Christmas market was lo-cated–no weapons or ex-plosives were found.

It seems as though Bel-gium has decided not to let the terrorists win by allow-ing normal life in Brussels to continue.

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INTERNATIONALINTERNATIONAL

Vanguard | JANUARY 19, 2016 | psuvanguard.com 15

The difference between success and failure is a thin line...let us design, print, display & mail your way to success

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EMILY: THE HELPFUL DRONE

As Syrian refugees leave their country in hopes of finding a fresh start, many have taken to the Mediterra-nean Sea.

The trouble is they don’t have the proper equipment to do so. Their boats aren’t stable–the motors barely function as they reach the coast—and most of them don’t have life jackets. Over 4,000 refugees have lost their lives at sea at the hands of insufficient gear.

According to Digital Trends, refugees cross the borders of Syria almost daily into neighboring nations such as Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq. Many are fleeing into Europe—more than one mil-lion—to escape the conflict, while 2,000 arrive in Greece by boat everyday.

So far, 18,000 refugees have arrived in Lesbos, Greece since the beginning of the new year. The continent does not see an end to the over-flooding of intake as the war continues to be incredibly dangerous.

“Already, it’s a record year,” said Boris Cheshirkov, spokesman on Lesbos for the United Nations High Com-missioner for Refugees, “We don’t have a crystal ball, but the war in Syria is not going to end tomorrow. If anything, it’s becoming more deadly.”

Due to the high influx of refugees on the coast of Greece and water tempera-tures dropping to frigid de-grees, the local Coast Guard has enlisted the help of a robot named EMILY: the Emergency Integrated Life-saving Lanyard, with the

SARAH MUSTAFA

hope of protecting the thou-sands of refugees that arrive on the Greek island of Les-bos every day.

Tram Nguyen, a senior at Portland State said, “I think it’s a great idea...It’s definitely better than actual lifeguards there because in the long run EMILY can be out there in the cold, heat or whatever temperature it is and save lives, without injuring and risking the lives of human lifeguards.”

Nguyen pointed out that Greece has found a way to help Syrian refugees without putting their own citizen’s lives at risk.

The robot EMILY was orig-inally created to help stray swimmers in the United States. The buoy is four feet long and controlled by a hu-man operator. With the help of EMILY, the Coast Guard and lifeguards can prioritize

unconscious victims that would otherwise not be able to grab onto the buoy.

“I think EMILY is a good technolog[ical] tool,” Nguyen said. “I don’t see why everyone else isn’t ex-panding on this more be-cause there’s a lot of people who can’t swim and are drowning.”

With so many Syrian’s trying to escape the violent struggles they face at home, many have died in an attempt to flee their country without necessary supplies. With this rapid technology cruis-ing through rip-currents at a quick speed of up to 22 mph, saving distressed swimmers has never been so efficient.

With Greece making a move to use drones and ro-botic lifeguards to rescue ship wrecked Syrian refugees, it could potentially elicit help from other countries.

GREECE ENLISTS DRONE DESIGNED TO HELP THOSE AT SEA

COURTESY OF USER GGIA THROUGH CREATIVE COMMONS VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

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Writers for all sections

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