Lewis & Clark College

The Pioneer Log: Lewis & Clark College’s Student-Run Newspaper

Volume 95, No. 1

Lewis & Clark College Student Newspaper

Pioneer Log Staff

2020-09-18

text/pdf

Text; Newspaper

For questions about rights statements, or access to the original document please contact Lewis & Clark College Special Collections and Archives http://specialcollections.lclark.edu

Lewis & Clark College: Pioneer Log / Mossy Log

By VENUS EDLIN
CAMPUS LIVING a t L e w i s & C l a r k
was forced to alter many of its
policies over the summer in light
of the coronavirus. Many students and
resident advisors (RAs) voiced concerns
about policy implementation and
communication leading up to the start of
the school year and beyond.
RAs moved in on Aug. 16. Shortly after,
19 RAs and the co-chairs of the student-led
COVID-19 Response Task Force endorsed
a letter sent to the college’s Executive
Council with concerns and demands
about LC’s campus policies concerning the
COVID-19 virus. Cas Mulford ’23, Nathan
Oakley ’22 and Kaylee-Anna Jayaweera ’22
were the three RAs who drafted the letter.
It was made public after administrators
did not meet all the demands outlined by
Aug. 25.
The students who wrote the letter
were concerned about transparency
between the college and students, as well
as what they referred to as “ambiguous
policies.” They demanded a meeting with
the Executive Council via Zoom before
Aug. 25 and that all classes be online until
COVID-19 testing results came back for all
undergraduate students living or taking
classes on campus. The three RAs met with
members of the Executive Council over
Zoom before the deadline and continue to
meet with members of the administration.
“We ask the Executive Council
to ask themselves, under the current
circumstances and with the current policies
in place, would they feel comfortable and
safe living in the residence halls during this
term?” the students asked in the letter.
One of the RAs’ concerns was that
many policies were not announced until
Aug. 21 via email, after tuition was already
due and some students had already moved onto campus, including some athletes and
New Student Orientation (NSO) leaders.
Mandatory testing was announced in this
HPDLOEXWZDVVFKHGXOHGGXULQJWKH¿UVW
week of school instead of during student
entry.
RAs demanded entry testing for
students, but Vice President of Student
Life and Dean of Students Robin Holmes-
Sullivan said the campus was encouraged
E\KHDOWKṘFLDOVWRGHOD\WHVWLQJ
“The folks we consulted with felt that the optimal time to test was actually after
WKHVWXGHQWVKDGEHHQKHUHIRU¿YHWRVHYHQ
days because of the incubation period of
the virus,” Holmes-Sullivan said. “We felt
that we would get the biggest bang for our
buck to test students (during that) period.”
Before RAs moved in there was one
case of the coronavirus associated with
the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS).
There have been two additional cases
associated with CAS since, and the virus
has been detected in wastewater tests from Copeland Hall, West Hall and Forest Halls.
During RA training, 15% of RAs
resigned, according to the letter, with
more resignations expected because of
LC’s handling of reopening during the
pandemic.
Copeland RA Maddie Piotrowski ’23,
who co-signed the letter, sympathizes with
the RAs who resigned.
“They didn’t even know if the RA
job was really worth it if we’re gonna
have to be, like, risking our lives for it.” Piotrowski said.
In the letter, RAs also listed concerns
about the formatting of the website,
claiming that it does not highlight
prominent information and that the
webpage reporting COVID-19 testing
result data is not easily accessible. One
of the demands was a reformatting of
the website, which LC has done since the
release of the letter.
Manzanita Hall RA Aneliese Baker
¶ VDLG WKH ZHEVLWH ZDV LQVẊFLHQW
pushing RAs to make their own COVID-19
guidelines and communications for
residents.
“The RAs took it upon themselves to
create a master document of policies for
the campus and residents,” Baker said. “I
distributed that via email to my residents
and they feel a lot better now that we have
that document of streamlined information
because I know my residents told me the
website was not very clear.”
Copeland RA Keara Lea Cooney ’23
said she was frustrated that RAs had to do
this.
“I shouldn’t be making bathroom and
kitchen guidelines,” Cooney said. “I should
be doing normal RA duties.”
All interviewed RAs also had concerns
that they were instructed to call Campus
Safety more often to deal with COVID-19
policy violations, though many are
uncomfortable about their safety in
enforcing these policies.
³, GH¿QLWHO\ GRQ¶W ZDQW WR EH WKDW
person that is using punitive or carceral
behaviors,” Baker said. “At the same time,
I feel my position has been vastly altered
and raised. So, I do feel responsible for
other people’s safety and that makes us
have to use more harsh standards.”
Holmes-Sullivan said she understands
WKHVHFRQFHUQVIURP5$VEXW¿QGVWKLV
“RAs voice” continued on page 3
Vol. 95 No.1 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020 www.piolog.com
Zoom Cyber Security
How safe is Zoom? The company’s questionable
cybersecurity practices leave little concern for the
leaking of student data.
See page 5Professor Maureen Healy was shot by law
enforcement while attending a Black Lives Matter
protest in Portland this summer.Faculty support BLM
See page 6Both the NBA and the MLB went on strike in
early September in support of Black Lives Matter
amidst the coronavirus pandemic.Pro Sports Strike
See page 11Tune in to this week’s episode of The PioPod,
where Director of Broadcasting Charlotte
3RZHUV GLVFXVVHV WKH ¿QDQFLDO VWDWH RI /HZLV
 &ODUN GLVDUPLQJ 368 ṘFHUV DQG FDPSXV
changes to Title IX.Back to School
Artists have painted murals in support of the Black
Lives Matter movement on plywood barriers in front of
storefronts in downtown Portland.BLM and Public Art
See page 8
Due to COVID-19, this newspaper is intended for single use. After a thorough read, please keep it for your personal records or recycle.LC community impacted by fire
evacuations and hazardous airVirus causes Campus Living policy concerns
Title IX changes force
new campus guidelines
By IHSAAN MOHAMED
OVER THE PAST s e v e r a l d a y s ,
authorities have told some Lewis
& Clark community members
to be ready to evacuate due to nearby
¿UHV :KLOH UHVLGHQWV RI &ODFNDPDV
County were preparing to possibly
evacuate, students on campus and in
Multnomah County have been dealing
with hazardous air quality.
In August, lightning struck some
southern Oregon counties during a
particularly dry and hot summer,
UHVXOWLQJ LQ VHYHUDO ZLOG¿UHV %\ $XJ
PDQ\RIWKHVH¿UHVVHHPHGWREH
under control with more than 30%
containment. However, on Sept. 7, high
winds over 30 miles per hour led to
PRUHZLOG¿UHVDQGH[DFHUEDWHGH[LVWLQJ
¿UHV
&XUUHQWO\WKHUHDUHRYHUZLOG¿UHV
in Oregon. Seventeen of them have
burned 1,000 acres or more. Altogether,
over 1 million acres have burned and
over 40,000 people have been forced
to evacuate their homes in search of
refuge. Over 50,000 more are in areas
with evacuation warnings. Clackamas
County, the county that borders LC to
the south, has been in various levels of
evacuation for the past week.7KH SUHVHQFH RI PXOWLSOH ¿UHV KDV
made conditions especially dangerous.
7KH %HDFKLH &UHHN ¿UH QHDU 'HWURLW
Oregon, was originally burning just 469
acres. After the Sept. 7 windstorm, it
grew to over 130,000 acres overnight.
%\6HSWLWKDGEULHÀ\PHUJHGZLWK
WKH /LRQVKHDG ¿UH $GGLWLRQDOO\
WKH DFUH 5LYHUVLGH ¿UH LQ
Clackamas County has gotten within 30
miles of Portland.
8QOLNH PDQ\ 2UHJRQ ¿UHV RI WKH
past, these events are directly impacting
the LC community. A number of
faculty and upperclassmen live in
areas surrounding Portland that are
under evacuation warnings. Assistant
3URIHVVRURI,QWHUQDWLRQDO$̆DLUV/DXUD
Vinson lives in the Milwaukee area and
had been under a Level 1 evacuation
QRWLFH6WLOOVPRNHIURPWKHQHDUE\¿UHV
KDVVLJQL¿FDQWO\LPSDFWHGKHUKRPH
“The room where I teach in my
home started getting more smoky on
Thursday, and I couldn’t teach down
there now,” Vinson said.
She is hopeful that by this next week,
WKHVPRNHZLOOFOHDURXWDQGWKH¿UHVZLOO
die down. However, she is worried about
whether she is making the right choice
by not evacuating immediately.
“Students” continued on page 3By JILLIAN JACKSON
WARNING: This article discusses
policy and events surrounding sexual
misconduct.
THIS PAST MAY , Secretary of
Education Betsy DeVos announced
revisions to Title IX regulations,
changing disciplinary proceedings for
sexual misconduct at Lewis & Clark.
To comply with these new directives
and continue to receive federal funding,
/&¶V 2̇FH RI (TXLW\ DQG ,QFOXVLRQ UH -
leased an updated Sexual Misconduct Pol -
LF\H̆HFWLYH$XJ7KHWZRNH\FKDQJHV
to LC policy are a new requirement for live
hearings with cross-examination and new
procedures for investigations of miscon -
duct occurring outside of the U.S.
Associate Dean of Equity and Inclu -
sion and Title IX Coordinator Casey Bie -
berich said that not all students reporting
sexual misconduct should expect a live
hearing with cross-examination. But if
a student reporting Title IX misconduct
takes “disciplinary action against some -
one — interim suspension, suspension,
expulsion — you need to have that hear -
ing.” However, those accused of miscon -
duct and their alleged victim can use on -
line platforms like Zoom to attend the live hearing from separate locations. Advisors
representing each party, rather than the
students personally involved, conduct
cross-examination. While either party
may hire an outside lawyer, LC law stu -
dents enrolled in Bieberich’s new course,
7LWOH,;RQ&DPSXVZLOOR̆HU³QRFRVW
representation that is still high quality.”
Even with these accommodations,
Bieberich acknowledged the mixed re -
action to the federal cross-examination
mandate.
“It’s something that people are real -
ly upset about, and felt was directly de -
signed to discourage reporting and people
coming forward,” Bieberich said. “That is
the part that has really been a struggle to
implement.”
/&¶V 2̇FH RI (TXLW\ DQG ,QFOXVLRQ
faces additional challenges when adhering
to DeVos’ standards.
“The trend of this national regulation
is to really legalize everything, make every -
thing quasi-judicial, much more parallel
to the legal system, and that is a hard ask,
especially for small colleges,” Bieberich
said. “We don’t have subpoenas. We don’t
have warrants … We don’t have a lot of
the tools that are used in something like
a criminal case, or even a civil case to get
really strong, reliable pieces of evidence.”
³/&PRGL¿HV´FRQWLQXHGRQSDJHJO TABACEK/THE PIONEER LOG
7ZRVWXGHQWVZDONDFURVVWKHFDPSXVEULGJHFRQQHFWLQJDFDGHPLF FDPSXVWRWKHUHVLGHQFHKDOOVSXVKLQJWKURXJKZLOG¿UHVPRNH
NICHOLAS NERLI/THE PIONEER LOG
Smoke covers the Frank Manor House.NEWS 2
Despite pandemic, LC reports stable finances
Class of 2024 enrollment numbers fall just short of administration’s pre-pandemic target of 526 students
By NICHOLAS NERLI
OVER SIX MONTHS into the
COVID-19 pandemic, Lewis &
Clark is “faring well” amid an
unprecedented economic downturn
that has threatened colleges and
universities across the country.
According to Andrea Dooley, chief
financial officer and vice president
for operations, LC has remained
financially stable by accepting federal
aid, maintaining a relatively normal
student population, cutting costs and
making strategic revisions to the 2020-
21 budget.
“From a Lewis & Clark perspective,
I’d say we’re faring well,” Dooley said.
“If I take a look back, we closed the
(2019-20) year out pretty well.”
Since March, when LC transitioned
to fully remote learning, the college has
taken steps to protect its finances while
also preparing to welcome students
back for the Fall 2020 semester.
In April, President Wim Wiewel
announced via email that “many staff,
and all of the senior leadership, (were)
taking partial furloughs” in an effort to
save jobs and “protect the long-term
future of Lewis & Clark.” This news
was preceded by the controversial
decision to not rebate the Spring 2020
tuition while going forward with cost
of attendance increases for Fall 2020.
During this period, LC received federal
assistance through the coronavirus
relief package passed by Congress in
late March, which included at least
$728,200 in emergency grants for
impacted students.
According to Dooley, the college
decided to move forward with Fall 2020
in-person instruction in Spring 2020.
While other regional institutions,
including the University of Portland,
opted for a fully remote fall term,
LC spent the summer preparing to
reopen campus and welcome returning community members. In fact, LC did
not make financial projections for a
scenario where the Fall 2020 semester
would be fully remote.
“Our intention, since the spring, has
been to prioritize in-person instruction
because we know that’s what part of the
LC experience is really about,” Dooley
said. “We never really took a step back
and said ‘what would the numbers
look like if we didn’t open’ because our
intention was always to open.”
Over the summer, as colleges
nationwide began announcing plans
for the fall term, a widespread theme
emerged: cost of attendance would
not be discounted. At LC, where
students were given the option of
fully or partially remote instruction
or, for some classes, a fully in-person
education, many were dismayed that
the $70,000 undergraduate cost
of attendance would not change.
According to Dooley, though the idea
of adjusting cost of attendance was
discussed, administrators realized that
LC could not afford to reduce costs for
Fall 2020.
“The question (of whether to
adjust cost of attendance) certainly
came up,” Dooley said. “We talked
about the fact that that concept was
out there. Ultimately, the cost to
provide the Lewis & Clark experience
isn’t changing, it’s becoming more
expensive as a result of COVID-19. Our
ability to reduce the cost for students
was not possible.”
The consequential decision to
reopen campus meant that LC would
have to incur costs related to COVID-19
testing and campus sanitization. For
the 2020-21 academic year, Dooley
estimates that the college will spend
$1.5 million on testing and $425,000
for additional custodial staff. Dooley
hopes that these estimates are
“conservative,” but notes that “the
actual amount that (LC) will spend will really depend on what’s happening on
campus.”
Additionally, Dooley estimates
that the college has spent around
$200,000 on technology to make
classes remotely accessible.
Administrators were not
entirely sure how COVID-19 would
impact the enrollment of first-year
students. Before the pandemic
began, LC was aiming for 526
students in the class of 2024.
Currently, there are 513 first-
year students. According to
Eric Staab, vice president
for admissions and
financial aid, part
of the reason why
LC succeeded in
enrolling that
many first-years
was because of its
messaging over
the summer.
“Some
schools
had a
neb -
ulous
re -
sponse
to what
things might
look like (in the
fall), while we more
clearly stated ‘this is what
our plan is,’” Staab said. “By mid-June,
we saw that deposit numbers were
much more robust than we had feared.
I think (LC) was very stable before the
pandemic, and we’re pretty darn stable
now.”
On top of 513 enrolled first-years,
over 100 admitted students decided to
defer for one year, two to three times
the number seen in a typical academic
year. There were also 36 students that
transferred to LC, just one short of
the post-pandemic goal of 37 transfer students and nine less than the pre-
pandemic goal of 45.
Beyond the class of 2024, Staab
reported that LC retained
fewer current sophomores
and seniors than
administrators
had hoped. The
junior class,
however,
was
retained
at the level
projected by the college.
Before Fall 2020 enrollment
and retention numbers were
available, there was concern among
administrators, faculty and staff that
job cuts would happen if there was
a substantial drop in the student
population. Associate Professor of
History and Program Director for
Asian Studies Susan Glosser, a member of the faculty-led Budget Advisory
Committee, commented on these fears
and the relatively stable state of the
undergraduate student body.
“There was a lot of concern that if
we came back and, worst case scenario,
only 50% of students returned, then
would we have to furlough?” Glosser
said. “If so, would we have to furlough
not only staff, but faculty, too? It didn’t
happen. We have almost as many
students as we had last year.”
Staab estimates that the Financial
Aid office saw a tripling of students
requesting revisions to aid packages.
While many students have expressed
disappointment over their financial
awards for the 2020-21 academic year,
Staab said that LC was more generous
than usual.
“We were more liberal and we were
freer in what we awarded to make it
financially possible
for families and
students to come
back,” Staab said.
“We are definitely
spending more
on financial
aid this year
than we have
in previous
years.”
Despite the
extraordinary challenges
brought about by COVID-19,
Dooley is confident that LC has
implemented strong strategies
to maintain long-term financial
stability.
“I think there is a lot that is still
unclear for what this year will look
like,” Dooley said. “Right now, I’m
really optimistic that we have come
up with a revised budget that doesn’t
deplete the financial resources of the
college. If we’re able to execute on that,
I don’t anticipate that there will be any
significant long-term impact.”
By AIDAN D’ANNA
COVI D-19 TESTING capacity
was one of the biggest factors
in deciding whether to reopen
college and university campuses
across the country this fall.
Of the types of diagnostic tests
widely available, most schools who
offer campus-wide testing opted to
use the polymerase chain reaction
(PCR) test, in which the student’s
saliva is collected and then sent to an
off-site lab. PCR tests work by adding
enzymes and primers to a genetic
sample (in this case, saliva) and
letting the primers bind to the virus
particles.
However, according to the Mayo
Clinic website, PCR tests only work
on DNA, and the genetic code for
COVID-19 is found in RNA, the nucleic
acid that carries a gene’s instructions
and information. Advancements in
science have created a workaround
for this issue.
“Fortunately, viral enzymes
to convert RNA into DNA were
discovered decades ago, and have
been harnessed, along with PCR, to
find unique signatures in RNA, too,”
the website said.
This is the method that Lewis &
Clark administrators chose to em -
ploy for the campus-wide testing
that took place between Aug. 24 and
Sept. 4. According to Vice President
of Student Life and Dean of Students
Robin Holmes-Sullivan, LC will soon
be changing its main method of virus
detection.
“We just recently got (the rapid
test) machines, but we’re still waiting
for them to deliver the test kits,”
Holmes-Sullivan said, “But (those
are) antigen tests, and so it’s not
quite as sensitive as the molecular
test is, which is why we used the
molecular tests for testing all the
undergraduates.”
While PCR tests look for genetic material from the virus, antigen tests
look for active viral molecules on the
virus’s surface. Antigen tests can be
conducted at the point of care, are far
less expensive than the PCR test and
return results in approximately 15
minutes.
According to Holmes-Sullivan,
after the antigen test kits arrive, the
school will transition to using those
as the main diagnostic test. However,
since antigen tests have high rates of
false negatives, the PCR saliva tests
will remain on hand.
“If you get a negative [antigen test result], we have to follow that up with
a saliva test,” Holmes-Sullivan said.
This is not the only method LC
is using to detect the coronavirus.
In addition to diagnostic testing of
students, the school has partnered
with the company Clean Water
Services at the suggestion of James M.
“Jim” Spencer ’85, an LC trustee who
also sits on Clean Water Services’s
board of directors. Clean Water
Services will provide effluent testing
to all residential buildings on campus.
Effluent testing, also known as
sewage or wastewater testing, is done by running an RNA test for
the virus that causes COVID-19 in
the wastewater, including water
from toilets, showers and sinks of a
residential building.
According to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
website, effluent testing is effective
because the SARS-CoV-2 virus strain
can be detected in feces in cases with
or without symptoms. Sewage testing
is also a leading indicator of COVID-19
presence in a community.
“(Researchers can use effluent
testing) to find evidence of the virus at the neighborhood scale, which
could provide an early warning sign of
the virus in a community,” the Clean
Water Services website says.
Clean Water Services is providing
weekly testing of LC buildings, and
the samples are being sent to the lab
at Oregon State University (OSU). Ely
O’Connor, senior public information
specialist at Clean Water Services,
said LC is taking samples from eight
locations on campus.
“We collect and extract the
samples and send them to OSU
where they are analyzed for virus
concentration,” O’Connor said over
email. “We then take that data and put
it into a dashboard we built for (LC)
and help with data interpretation and
response.”
When considering how best to
respond to the possibility of COVID-19
cases on campus, the college had to
consider cost when deciding how to
implement testing procedures.
“(The Executive Council) decided
that (effluent testing) could be a
form of surveillance testing that was
affordable for us and could be an
effective ... way of surveilling students
without them having to have an
invasive test, without the big cost of
the test going to the students or to the
school,” Holmes-Sullivan said.
Although LC is taking presumptive
positive effluent results seriously, as
with the cases in Copeland Hall, West
Hall and the Forest Halls, Holmes-
Sullivan made it clear that this testing
is not “the whole toolbox.” The school
is still mostly relying on diagnostic
molecular tests for now and will
transition to a more antigen-heavy
approach as soon as the antigen test
kits arrive.
With regard to the actual testing
process on campus, Facilities Services,
Health Promotion and Wellness and
the Office of Public Relations did not
respond to a request for comment by
the time of publishing.LC partners with outside company for effluent testing
Clean Water Services tests wastewater samples as the college prepares to shift saliva testing tactics
AIDAN D’ANNA /THE PIONEER LOG
Clean Water Services employees access the LC sewers outside of Odell Hall to test wastewater for virus that causes COVID-19.CAYDEN BULLOCK/THE PIONEER LOGFRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020Continued from page 1
For now, LC will continue to use an
Obama-era standard. In a 2011 letter
to colleges, the Obama administration
recommended finding students or staff
in violation of Title IX if “it is more
likely than not that sexual harassment
or violence occurred.” A second
DeVos change removes colleges’
previous obligation to investigate
sexual misconduct taking place during
overseas programs. In an Aug. 17
message to the community, Dean of Equity and Inclusion Mark Figueroa
and Bieberich wrote that “the campus
will be available
and responsive
regardless of
where harm
or conduct
occurred.” During
her interview,
Bieberich put
simply that
“Lewis & Clark
still cares.” The
college will offer
its own separate
disciplinary
proceedings if
sexual misconduct
occurs when
LC clubs travel.
DeVos’ strict requirements for a
live hearing and cross-examination
may not apply in these disciplinary
proceedings conducted outside Title
IX.
Official LC policy revisions arrive
a month after a class of 2019 alumna
posted a video to YouTube alleging
that the Office of Student Rights
and Responsibilities and the now-
defunct provost office violated Title
IX throughout her sexual misconduct case’s proceedings. The alumna claimed
that LC did not inform her of her right
to counsel while
a lawyer wrote
statements for her
wealthy alleged
assailant.
Since the
video’s release,
students and
alumni submitted
174 stories of
sexual misconduct
to @superstarterpac
on Instagram.
Student-led
organization
Take Action LC
(TALC) outlined
their demands
in a petition to the president, vice
presidents, deans and trustees.
Over 1,400 current students and
alumni signed. Bieberich characterized
TALC’s demands as “great asks about
how Lewis & Clark can do work
differently.” However, DeVos’ new Title
IX regulations will complicate how LC
can respond to student critiques or
condemnation.
This is a developing story.FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020
NEWS 3
PSU disarms campus officers amid
this summer’s reckoning with race
By J ACOB MUSCARELLA
ON AUG. 13 , Portland State
University (PSU) announced that its
Campus Public Safety officers will
no longer be armed, starting this fall term.
The decision was made by Campus
Public Safety Chief Willie Halliburton amid
a summer of protests against systemic
racism that began after Minneapolis police
killed George Floyd, an unarmed Black
man. Lewis & Clark President Wim Wiewel
was president of PSU when the decision to
arm officers was first made.
“This is a historic event in the world
of police work,” Halliburton said in a
statement provided to Oregon Public
Broadcasting (OPB). “I understand it’s
going to have its challenges, but it’s the right
thing to do for Portland State. We will still
protect our campus. We will still provide
police services. We will have police officers
available. We will have them here, but they
will be unarmed.”
PSU students, along with Portland
residents, have been calling for PSU
to disarm ever since Campus Public
Safety Officer Shawn McKenzie shot and
killed Jason Washington in June 2018.
Washington, a Black man, had attempted
to break up a fight outside of the Cheerful
Tortoise bar in downtown Portland when
he was killed. A grand jury decided not to
bring charges against McKenzie and his
colleague, Campus Public Safety Officer
James Dewey, claiming that the shooting of
Washington was lawful self-defense.
Wiewel has been criticized by LC
students and alumni for the role he played
in the original decision to arm PSU Campus
Public Safety officers. This criticism
heightened on social media after Floyd’s
death this summer, especially as a campaign
to disarm PSU gained traction. LC students
submitted a letter to Wiewel at the end of
June asking for him to acknowledge his
“involvement in the decision to arm the
Campus Public Safety Officers at PSU” and
how he “will work to make sure students at
Lewis & Clark remain safe.”
In early July, Wiewel sent a response
letter to those concerned students. He
began by directly answering the two points
above.
“Let me start by acknowledging that
I was involved in that decision, and that
Jason Washington being shot and killed
by the Portland State University police
was horrible and tragic,” Wiewel said.
“Furthermore, I state unequivocally that I
will never propose or support any effort to
arm Lewis & Clark Campus Safety officers.”
Wiewel became president of PSU in
2008 amid debate about how to keep athe
campus safe. At this time, they chose not to
arm officers.“A Task Force established at PSU
following the shootings at Virginia Tech
in 2007 had recommended the campus
should have a sworn police force itself, or
as part of a system-wide police force for all
public universities,” Wiewel said. “At PSU,
the then-Vice President of Administration
opposed it for financial and other reasons,
and we did not pursue it. Having grown up
in the Netherlands, where gun ownership
is almost non-existent, I have always
hated guns, and had no interest in arming
officers.”
Wiewel went on to say that in 2013,
several PSU administrators, including the
chief of public safety, told him that they
were concerned about increasing crime
rates around the university. They were
concerned by the slow response time of
Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officers in
the event of a mass shooting. Because of an
Oregon state law that allowed other public
universities, like the University of Oregon
and Oregon Health and Science University,
to create police departments, PSU was
motivated to do the same.
“The Vice President and others argued
that it would be irresponsible for PSU to be
an outlier in the event of an active shooter
or other horrific criminal event on campus,”
Wiewel said. “Many people also felt that if police were ever necessary to deal with an
issue on campus, PSU police officers would
be more sensitive to the nature of students
and campus life than Portland Police would
be.”
After PPB, OHSU Police and Oregon
State Police refused to partner with PSU for
policing, Wiewel proposed to PSU trustees
in Fall 2014 that the university create its
own police force. The proposal led to the
creation of a special committee and several
town halls to receive public comments.
Ultimately, in June 2015, the board
approved, forming a police force that was
trained on “university-oriented policing,
cultural competency, unconscious bias,
mental health issues and interacting with
persons with disabilities.”
Wiewel retired from PSU in the
summer of 2017, before Washington’s
death. Looking back, Wiewel has different
thoughts about his proposal now.
“If I had known then what I know now,
both in terms of what happened to Jason
Washington and in regard to alternative
forms of securing public safety, I don’t
believe we would have taken the same
approach,” Wiewel said. “It was agonizing
at the time, agonizing again after the death
of Jason Washington, and all the more
agonizing now as our nation struggles anew with issues of policing and race.”
Wiewel closed his letter by describing
some of his plans for LC’s future.
“As stated above, I will never propose
or support arming our Campus Safety
officers,” Wiewel said. “However, the larger
issues of safety for Black, Indigenous, and
other people of color goes beyond the role of
Campus Safety. ... We are already changing
our student recruitment in order to attract
more Black, Latinx and other students of
color.”
Along with new recruitment strategies
for students of color, LC will be starting
new fundraising initiatives to fund financial
aid, implementing antiracism training for
faculty and students, addressing issues
with classroom climate and curriculum and
focusing on hiring more faculty and staff of
color.
When asked for a reaction to PSU’s
decision to disarm its Campus Public
Safety officers, Wiewel responded with a
statement by email.
“While I generally don’t think it is
appropriate for me to comment on current
decisions made at PSU, I will say that I
very much understand and support their
decision to restrict their Public Safety
personnel’s ability to carry weapons,”
Wiewel said.
MAX LORENZE/THE PIONEER LOG
The Portland State University (PSU) campus is located in the heart of downtown with over 20,000 undergraduate students.
LC modifies its sexual misconduct
policies due to Title IX revisions
MAX LORENZE/THE PIONEER LOGRAs voice
concerns,
send letter
Students worry over
air quality and fires
Continued from page 1
Alys Chang ’22 lives in a flat
in Lake Oswego. Chang has also
been under a Level 1 evacuation
warning since early September.
Although she is from California,
she never expected to deal with a
wildfire at LC. At first, she began
taking precautions, buying an
air filter and filling up the gas in
her car. However, when the fires
threatening Clackamas County
merged, Chang panicked.
“I have two suitcases right now
with basic necessities just in case
I get moved up to a Level 2,” she
said.
Air quality, not evacuation,
has been the main concern of
administrators. Last Thursday, a
campus-wide email was sent out
detailing LC’s response. Through
at least Friday, Sept. 18, all on-
campus activities and classes have
been canceled or moved online
and students are being instructed
to stay inside. LC offered access to
medical resources in the email for
students who may have negative reactions to the smoke.
Annika Bateman ’22 lives in
West Hall. As the fires began
creeping closer to campus,
Bateman and her roommates were
on lockdown. Effluent testing had
revealed a potential positive in
her hall, and they were required
to isolate until they had gotten a
second round of saliva tests.
“This week was extremely
stressful,” Bateman said.
LC has maintained that
students have little to worry about
and that classes would resume
online as long as air quality
remains dangerous. On Monday,
Dean of the College of Arts
and Sciences Bruce Suttmeier
emphasized in a campus-wide
email that “the mission of the
College is to provide an education
to students, even in challenging
times, perhaps especially in
challenging times.” According
to administrators, LC will
continue to operate for the time
being, despite these extreme
circumstances.In an Aug. 17 message
to the community,
Dean of Equity and
Inclusion Mark
Figueroa and Bieberich
wrote that “the campus
will be available and
responsive regardless
of where harm or
conduct occurred.”Continued from page 1
practice necessary in extreme situations.
“We do not want campus security
showing up every five minutes and
telling students to put on masks,”
Holmes-Sullivan said. “We just want
students to put on the mask in the first
place so we don’t have to do that.”
RAs were also concerned that the
college has no public campus closure
plan, though Holmes-Sullivan has
assured that there is a plan and that
safety is the top priority.
“If we need to, because our resources
become depleted or we just cannot keep
people safe, of course we would have
to close the campus, and we would do
that,” Holmes-Sullivan said. “We think
that we have a shot at keeping the
campus open.”
Jayaweera said lack of student
involvement in the reopening plan
forced the RAs to send this letter,
though it was not ideal. She said the
letter was sent not to create opposition,
but to facilitate communication.
“We didn’t want to escalate it; we
just wanted to get answers,” Jayaweera
said. “And it just got to the point where
we felt we had no other option.”
Response from the letter has
solidified her feelings.
“Since the letter has been released,
we have gotten emails from students
saying this is the most clarifying and
informative piece of information that we
have gotten all summer about the true
policy on campus,” Jayaweera said. “I
think that speaks volumes about how
communication with the student body
has been completely unacceptable.”
Robin Holmes-Sullivan said she
felt the RAs’s letter was justified
and has opened more channels for
communication. She said she was
surprised when she first received the
letter.
“My first reaction (to the letter) was,
‘Oh shoot!’” Holmes-Sullivan said. “My
second reaction was, ‘everything they
are saying is completely reasonable and
we need to respond to this.’”
Despite criticism of many members
of the Executive Council, several
students praised the efforts of Holmes-
Sullivan.
“Robin has been steadfast in her
support for students and we have all
seen how hard she has been working
to get us answers and setting up office
hours,” Oakley said. “She proves time
and time again that she is putting
students first.”By TYLER SHORT
VIRTUAL LIVING took on a
drastic new meaning as our
jobs, education and social lives
abruptly transitioned online after the
outbreak of COVID-19. The situation
has been challenging to say the least.
We have not only been tasked with
adapting to countless changes, but
with developing ways to cope with
the immense stresses brought on by
the pandemic. We each had to ask
ourselves: what do you do when reality
becomes overwhelming?
I suggest you escape to virtual
realities in the form of video games.
A number of news outlets, from The Wall Street Journal to TIME, have
reported on the remarkable increase
in video game sales and video game
participation in
the U.S in light
of COVID-19.
When “Animal
Crossing: New
Horizons” swept
the nation after
its release in
March, the
Nintendo Switch
was sold-out in
stores for weeks
at a time. Video games have never been
as relevant as they are now. As they are
both safe and social, gaming is one of the best stay-at-home pastimes during
the pandemic.
Now, I can see the irony in
encouraging
people to play
video games
when our lives
are, more so than
ever, dependent
on technology.
However,
despite common
misconceptions,
research has
suggested that
video games, in moderation, can be
good for you. A review of several studies
on how video games affect the brain, reported on by Medical News Today,
found that gaming had positive effects
on people’s visual and motor skills, as
well as attention span. Theoretically,
playing video games could help us
adjust to our digital-oriented lives.
This was relieving news to me as I grew
up believing that gaming would rot my
brain (a worthwhile risk).
Multiplayer video games allow
us to socially interact with people
without breaching social distancing
regulations, as all communication
is online. This was the primary way
I remained in regular contact with
some of my friends throughout the
summer. Most nights we would log
on to Discord and get lost in various
multiplayer games, ranging from
competitive first-person shooters
like “Call of Duty: Warzone” to co-
op survival games like “The Forest,”
where we explored a remote island
inhabited by vicious mutant creatures.
If violent games are not for you, there
are many relaxing alternatives, such as
the aforementioned “Animal Crossing:
New Horizons.” Its popularity can, in
part, be accounted for by its meditative
effect (spare paying off your mortgage
to Tom Nook, the greedy raccoon who
runs the island’s store) that many
players experience as they design
their island and perform satisfying,
routine tasks like picking fruit from a
tree or catching fish from a river. With
endless variety, there is a video game for everyone.
Gaming on a student budget can be
difficult, especially with employment
being scarce right now, but there are
some lower-cost options. If you already
have a gaming PC, Steam’s annual
summer sale has lots of games at
extremely low prices. Epic Games also
offers a free video game every week.
For those new to gaming, pcpartpicker.
com has builds for as low as $493.75,
the Nintendo Switch Lite is $199, and
the Playstation 4 and Xbox One are
both $299.99. While these gaming
systems obviously are not inexpensive,
you would be investing in, potentially,
years of immersive and interactive fun.
The common advice to go out and
experience the world has sadly lost
its sense of immediacy for me, and
I suspect for many of us. Go out and
experience what world? One with
empty city streets? Where a virus
runs rampant and the sky is smoke-
laden? For the time being, there is not
much of a world worth experiencing. I
would rather immerse myself in virtual
worlds where I can tame a wild horse in
“Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,”
explore a society living underwater in
“Bioshock” or nurture a farm with my
friends in the classic “Stardew Valley.”
In these trying times, video games are a
digital refuge — a place of comfort and
exploration that you can experience
with those close to you. Just remember
to take a walk now and then. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020
OPINION 4
Unless otherwise stated, the views expressed in the Opinion section are those of the authors and are not held by The Pioneer Log and its editorial board.Reflecting on life during Copeland lockdown
A resident describes her experience of community bonding and self-isolation in LC’s largest dormitory
By BELLA MET
AFTER THE COVID-19 virus
was detected in Copeland Hall’s
sewage, it became the first
dormitory to be locked down. This
did not come as a shock as Copeland
is the largest residence hall and has a
controversial reputation of partying.
This is an unprecedented semester, with
new rules and regulations that have
redefined the college experience. One
of these rules included self-isolation,
which was what I, and other students,
experienced in the great Copeland
lockdown of 2020. Fortunately, the
second test later returned negative.
However, those five days spent
on lockdown were a whirlwind of
memories and emotions. It can only
be summarized with Charles Dickens’s
most iconic quote: “It was the best of
times and the worst of times.”
The “best of times” shocked me
as I expected quarantine to be a
bore, as we could only interact with
roommates and fellow Copeland
residents. Unfortunately, I did not have
the company of a roommate and my
pod mate was outside my residence
hall. Rather than falling into despair,
I decided to reach out to people on
my floor. By the following night I was
playing “Cards Against Humanity”
with my neighbor and her friends,
and laughing at both the obscene and
extremely dumb combinations of cards.
I did not think I would have so much
delight in hanging out with a group of
strangers, and yet, it left me with a sense
that quarantine was going to be okay.
Self-isolation also included another
night of delight with “Mario Kart” and
“Just Dance 3.” As I sipped Bobablastic
taro boba in Copeland’s main lounge, I
witnessed the greatest Just Dance duet to “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” by
Queen where one dancer wore a bear
onesie and the other donned trout
slippers. Amid the eccentricity, comfort
was discovered and new relationships were forged.
Despite the fun and games, the
“worst of times” set in at certain points.
My time in quarantine during the six
months before returning to school could be described as purgatory. One second
it was heaven spending time with my
family and baking delicious goodies, and
the next would be hell as I was parlyzed
with full-fledged anxiety attacks. I have always struggled with my mental
health, and as a result of quarantine
it worsened. The self-isolation due to
the hours I spent in my single room
alone did not help in the slightest. I
experienced crippling loneliness as my
friends were out enjoying their Labor
Day weekend. On top of it all, the Oregon
wildfires were ravaging my hometown
and creeping closer to campus. My
stress eating worsened and I wondered
if evacuation was destined for LC. I am
blessed to say my family is safe, but I
know many people who have evacuated
and lost everything. And due to the
thick smoke that fillewd the Portland
air, I could not release my emotions like
I usually did by taking a walk or using
the elliptical. Thankfully, when I was
feeling my worst, isolation was broken
and I was able to get back into a positive
mindset.
Although the first, Copeland will not
be the last hall to experience quarantine
at LC. Here is some advice for those
who are currently, or who will be,
isolated as the semester progresses: it
will get better. This is an extraordinary
historical era in our lives, so go and make
memories. Introduce yourself to new
people and play games if you get along
so that you are able to experience some
social interaction — socially distanced
of course! Even to my fellow introverts,
socializing is crucial to the human
experience. And do not be afraid of the
time alone. In moments of seclusion
you can exercise to release endorphins,
catch up on homework that you have
been procrastinating on or enjoy a stroll
through campus (once the pollution
clears out). Isolation can be the best and
the worst of times, depending on what
you make of it. I am thankful to all the
people and friends that I have made for
making those five days worthwhile.
Video games prove to be perfect pandemic pastime
UMI CALDWELL/THE PIONEER LOGNews Editors
Venus Edlin
Jacob MuscarellaArts Editors
Justin Howerton
Aubrey Roché
Sports Editors
Aidan D’Anna
Henry GoodierOpinion Editors
Amatullah Aman
Bella MetFeatures Editors
Madeline Cox
Yasmin Kemer
The Backdoor Editor
Mackenzie Herring
Faculty Advisor
Molly RobinsonCopy Chief
Tyler Short
Web & Social Media Manager
Alex BarrVisuals Editors
Amelia Madarang
Jo Tabacek
Rachelle Binder
Jillian Jackson
Arunima Jamwal
Jasom Kowalski Ariel McGee
Andrew Nourie
Tor Parsons
Julia WarlingStaff Writers
Umi Caldwell
Arunima Jamwal
Ariel McGeeSofia Reeves
Maya Winshell Photographers & IllustratorsEditor-in-Chief
Nicholas NerliManaging Editor
Ihsaan Mohamed
Director of Broadcasting
Charlotte PowersBusiness Manager
Stuart Myers
While these gaming
systems obviously are not
inexpensive, you would be
investing in, potentially,
years of immersive and
interactive fun. UMI CALDWELL/THE PIONEER LOGFRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020
OPINION 5
Unless otherwise stated, the views expressed in the Opinion section are those of the authors and are not held by The Pioneer Log and its editorial board.By JASON KOWALSKI
Amidst a global pandemic, online
education has become the new
normal for many of us. In a
matter of months, Zoom went from
a relatively unknown platform to the
classroom setting of choice for the
reformed U.S. education system. As a
result of switching to online meetings,
it is no surprise that Zoom was forced to
rapidly implement new security policies
and features. So the question stands:
Should cybersecurity be another item
on our long list of concerns?
Zoom has been no stranger to
complaints of cybersecurity. Between
“Zoombombing,” leaking the emails
and names of thousands of users, using
Chinese encryption keys that can be
forcibly taken by their government
and sending information to Facebook
regardless of if you have an account,
it is astonishing that the backlash
has not been stronger. Despite the
U.S. government cautioning against
the use of Zoom in April, as well as
SpaceX and Google banning it entirely,
its widespread use might be seen as
irresponsible.
However, these concerns have been
far from unaddressed. While the U.S.
Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael C.
Stenger recommended against using
the free version, Zoom for Government
has existed since April 2019. It claims
to provide more security than the
standard version. Zoom introduced
waiting rooms and passcodes for calls
to prevent Zoombombing, options to
only allow people with a certain email
domain to enter and created a way to
report users. The company brought
in a new chief information security officer and acquired Keybase which
allowed them to provide end-to-end
encryption. They have even worked
individually with institutions like
Harvard University to provide explicit
and contractual guarantees on the privacy of users.
Here at Lewis & Clark, we are
fortunate enough to have professors
that specialize in such topics. I
interviewed Professor of International
Affairs and Chair of International Affairs Bob Mandel, who recently wrote
a book on cybersecurity and the use of
Zoom on college campuses. He noted
that Zoom’s cybersecurity issues are not
unique and that Zoom is not inherently
more or less safe than its competitors. According to Mandel, the cybersecurity
risk when using Zoom is not any
higher, and every system has unique
vulnerabilities. Despite governmental
concerns, educational use is not going
to create the same kind of risks.
“The fact that on university
campuses there may be people who
are exploiting the vulnerabilities is not
going to be a national security threat,”
Mandel said. “It’s going to be more
an issue with the student’s right to
privacy, the student’s ability to know
that comments they’ve made in class
will not be used or taken out of context
elsewhere, and faculty as well.”
Ultimately, when it comes down
to balancing student privacy and
safety, Mandel said “All one can do,
all any teacher can do, is find the best
combination for what they’re doing
while placing the needs of the students
first.”
So should this matter to you?
Maybe. It comes down to how much you
value your privacy and security. If you
do not care about the chance of your
email getting leaked or being recorded
in class, then you can probably carry
on with nothing more than the usual
level of existential anxiety. If you have
concerns, you can always talk with
our IT department and your teachers
about what steps are being taken to
keep us safe and what the policies are
in case of a privacy breach. At the end
of the day, the risks, while present,
are very low and most of us are not
in peril of having extremely sensitive
information released. That said, we
should understand the risks and make
our own cost analysis about our online
activity while we are attending Zoom
“University.”
Alarm over cybersecurity at Zoom University
As the video conferencing platform sees a surge of users, students should be concerned over potiential data breaches
LC declassified: freshman survival guide
By ALEX BARR
There is a not-so-subtle note of
irony in writing an article about
how to enjoy your first year of
college when the West Coast is on
fire and you are quarantined in your
dorm room due to a deadly pandemic.
While almost everyone goes through
uncomfortable adjustments during
their first year, the class of 2024 has
unequivocally taken the cake in terms
of chaos. If first year struggles were a
competition, you all went for gold.
Alas, I once thought that I could
never stand on a soapbox proclaiming
that the world is ending, yet here I am.
Now that I have dredged the
“worst-case scenarios” from the
dramatic swamps of my (and possibly
your) mind, I can hopefully provide
a little comfort. I know that I cannot
even begin to understand what
the class of 2024 is going through.
However, I can say that I too felt like the world was ending at the beginning
of my first year. This was most likely
due to my aforementioned flair for
the dramatic, rather than actual life-
threatening
circumstances,
but I digress.
While I
angst-ed my
way through the
first two weeks,
I begrudgingly
tried all of the
things that
well-meaning
loved ones told
me would make me happy, one of
which happened to be working out. In
the basement of Stewart Hall, there
is a gym with a sign above the mirror
that says “If it doesn’t challenge you,
it doesn’t change you.” Whenever you
feel out of place in the coming months,
I urge you to repeat this phrase over
and over in your mind. If I could distill everything I learned my first year
into one idiom, it would be that one.
I remember seeing that sign for the
first time and feeling a little bit of the
world’s weight
shift off of my
shoulders. I
did not know
it then, but
the manure
stench that
engulfs those
memories is
what grew the
gardens of joy
that flourish in
my life today.
If there are any down-trodden first-
years reading this, please know that it
is so normal to be unhappy or upset in any way during this time. Change
like this under normal circumstances
is hard enough. Give yourself more
credit than you think you deserve.
Be aggressively kind and forgiving to
yourself. You will make mistakes, but
your mistakes will not make you.
My final piece of advice is arguably
the most important, and fittingly so,
is not even my own. During one of my
many calls with my mother, I lamented
the fact that I still had no friends after
an entire week. I felt scared, foolish
and just plain sad. During a phone
call, in between my blubbering sobs,
my mom interjected, in a shockingly
stern tone, “Alex, you just need to tell
someone that you need a friend.” That,
at the time, seemed utterly impossible.
I conceded that I would but had no plans to actually follow through.
However, the next day, I asked a girl
from class to go to lunch with me,
and she agreed. In between bites of
Bon lentils, I thought about what my
mom said and suddenly blurted out,
“I have no friends!” After a moment
of stunned silence, she invited me to
go to the roller rink with her and her
friends later that night. As fate would
have it, I met my current best friends,
roommates and biggest supporters on
that disco-lit wooden floor.
Despite what you may think right
now, no one else has it figured out. No
matter how many Instagram stories
you see, everyone feels lonely at some
point during this transition. Take a
moment to pause and take a deep
breath, even if it is through a mask.
AMELIA MADARANG/ THE PIONEER LOGJASON KOWALSKI /THE PIONEER LOG
“I did not know it then, but
the manure stench that
engulfs those memories is
what grew the gardens of
joy that flourish in my life
today.” FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020
FEATURES 6
New minor in entrepreneurial leadership and innovation
By MADELINE COX
IN MARCH, Lewis & Clark approved
its newest minor, entrepreneurial
leadership and innovation (ELI).
The new curriculum structure began
this semester, and class of 2021 will
be the first to be awarded the minor,
according to the LC website.
The ELI minor focuses on helping
students build a set of skills that
prepares them for the future.
“The goal of the entrepreneurial
leadership and innovation minor is to
leverage students’ liberal arts education
to solve problems and put solutions
into action,” Director of the Bates
Center and Professor of Psychology
Brian Detweiler-Bedell said via email.
“Entrepreneurship at Lewis & Clark is
about creating positive change in any
setting, whether within an organization
or a community, or through a business
or not-for-profit organization. We
add context, skills and networking so
that students have the resources they
need, and we give them the clarity and
confidence to create such change.”
The minor incorporates hands-on
experience through programs such as
an internship-focused course, the Bates
Center’s Lunch with a Leader series and
the center’s Winterim program.
Nick Lombardi ’21 was able to
work at Portland-based commercial
real estate firm PacTrust through Innovation at Work: Internship and
Seminar, one of the minor’s courses.
“(Innovation at Work) was probably
my favorite class because they allow you
to do an internship,” Lombardi said.
“You meet in class one day a week and
then do your internship the other two,
so that was super
cool to get real
work experience
while taking a
class.”
Students
can participate
in Winterim
to fulfill the
co-curricular
requirement of
the ELI minor.
Winterim is
a five-day-
long intensive
workshop that
happens during
the last week of
winter break.
Students learn
about a variety of
topics related to
entrepreneurship
from experts in the field throughout the
week. They also form teams in order to
pitch a potential business idea, which
could even receive funding.
Tuse Mahenya ’21 participated in
Winterim her sophomore year, and her experience launched her interest in
entrepreneurship.
“All of the people that they let us
meet were always so kind and generous,”
Mahenya said. “(They) would actually
give their time to students, and they
were pretty important people in their
own fields. So it
felt really good to
feel like someone
was there for
you.”
Mahenya
encourages
all students to
participate in
Winterim, even
if they are not an
ELI minor.
“The idea was
that we learn all
about business,
personal literacy,
how design
thinking is
done, branding,
everything
that one might
need to know
about starting
a business or succeeding in their
business,” Mahenya said. “It was an
all around incredible experience for
anyone that’s looking to be creative or
be a problem solver in whatever field
that they’re in.”
Students not only gain hands on
experience in entrepreneurship but
skills that will help them in any career
they choose. Mahenya believes that her
experience within the ELI minor has
given her an entrepreneurial mindset
that will help her achieve her goals no
matter what they are.
“I think the that entrepreneurship
minor...(has) just made me feel so
much more confident about presenting
myself to other people,” Mahenya said.
“I feel like they teach you people skills,
which is really good because I feel like
no other major tells you how to do
that.”
Associate Director of the Bates
Center Chrys Hutchings similarly
wants to dispel the myth that
entrepreneurship is just business in
disguise.
“The Bates Center is certainly here for students who want to create
something new through a business, but
entrepreneurship goes far beyond that,”
Hutchings said. “Entrepreneurship
is problem solving. It’s about
being the most effective version of
yourself. And leadership is executing
solutions in partnership with others.
Entrepreneurship and leadership,
taken together, include social justice,
systems change, social enterprise, and
equity and inclusion efforts.”
Hutchings wants to emphasize that
entrepreneurship at LC is dedicated to expanding the field to be more inclusive
and diverse.
“‘Entrepreneurship as change’
and ‘entrepreneurship as self-
transformation’ can be a force for
greater equity,” Hutchings said via
email. “At Lewis & Clark, we are in
a position and have an obligation to
support this at the start of a young
person’s journey. For example, it’s a top
priority that we host a diverse group
of speakers and mentors in our Lunch
with a Leader series and Winterim
workshop.”
Fall 2021
Full Year 2021-2022OVERSEAS & OFF-CAMPUS PROGRAMS
APPLICATION DUE DATE: OCTOBER 5, 2020
Need help getting started? Visit our website for more
information, and to explore our Overseas Advising options!
QUESTIONS? CONTACT US AT OVERSEAS@LCLARK.EDUPhoto by Fox Pfund Pulliam LC faculty injured in the fight for social justice
By ROSEMARY HICKMAN
THIS SUMMER , as Portland saw a
boom in social justice activism in
the wake of the murder of Geroge
Floyd, Lewis & Clark Associate Professor
of History and Department Chair
Maureen “Mo” Healy took to the streets
along with thousands of other Portland
residents.
According to Healy, protesting had
not been a large part of her political life
prior to this summer. With the exception
of popular demonstrations such as
the Women’s March and some anti-
war activity during the Gulf Wars, her
involvement had been minimal.
“I felt like I couldn’t be passive
anymore,” Healy said. “Enough is enough.
We have to get outside and speak.”
Healy, along with her friends and
family, attended several marches
throughout Portland neighborhoods that
were primarily organized by Black youth
leaders in the Portland community.
Healy was particularly inspired by
young Black voices telling their stories
and organizing demonstrations.
“I was really moved and blown away
by the leadership,” Healy said. “Some of
these leaders are 16 or 17 years old riding
in the back of pickups with speakers and
leading thousands of people in marches. I
learned a lot.”
One night in July, while peacefully
protesting, Healy sustained a head injury
from a rubber bullet. The protest occurred
during a period of time when federal
law enforcement was present in the city.
These troops were sent to Portland by the
president in an effort to quell the protests.
They worked alongside the Portland
police before taking their leave in early
August.
“I was in a crowd of at least
1,000 people,” Healy said. “(Federal
law enforcement officers) were indiscriminately shooting at American
citizens expressing (their) right to freedom
of speech. As a citizen that bothers me.”
From the perspective of a historian,
Healy also expressed concern. She warns
about drawing too hasty of a connection
between anti-democratic regimes in
European history and the present-day
U.S., even though trademark tactics of
these regimes, such as using state violence
to control protests, are being seen today.
“It’s a very bad precedent, and there is
precedent for it in other countries,” Healy
said. “I’m very careful as a historian not
to draw really easy parallels, yet there are
parallels.”
Healy’s passion for social justice and
draw to the Black Lives Matter movement
(BLM), in particular, comes from the roots
of injustice embedded in our country’s
history.
“Living in a majority white city, in
a majority white country, white people
must stand up and support in a position of
allyship as people of color seek redress for
these grievances,” Healy said.
While Portland has been home to
movements such as Don’t Shoot PDX for
several years, the increase in attendance
at protests this summer and the visibility
that has accompanied that growth is a
change in the Portland community.
“It’s on every street corner, it’s in every
window,” Healy said. “And, since (the
death of) George Floyd, there have just
been more police killings of Black people,
or serious injuries in the case of Jacob
Blake.”
Healy noted that the reasons for
protesting at the beginning of the summer
are just as prevalent today. While the
behavior of police officers continues in
this manner, it is imperative to continue
speaking up. Change does not occur
quickly, but with the unity of education
and action it is possible to make a real
difference.
The Bates Center’s insignia rests outside of their office on the third floor of J.R. Howard Hall. JO TABACEK/THE PIONEER LOG
Protestors against racial injustice in the Portland area express their frustration with law enforcement through street art.
Entrepreneurship is
problem solving. It’s
about being the most
effective version of
yourself. And leadership
is executing solutions in
partnership with others.
Entrepreneurship and
leadership, taken together,
include social justice,
systems change, social
enterprises, and equity and
inclusion efforts.
FROM THE PIONEER LOG ARCHIVESFRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020
FEATURES 7
Prison Abolition Club advocates for change
By TOR PARSONS
OVER THE PAST few months,
the U.S.’s racial reckoning
following the death of George
Floyd has led to once radical concepts
entering the mainstream. People have
begun seriously reconsidering the
roles of policing and criminal justice
in society to an extent rarely seen
before, and Lewis & Clark’s new Prison
Abolition Club is at the vanguard of
this social movement.
“People’s first impression is ‘oh,
they just want to get rid of the prison
system,’” Elijah Hart ’21, the club’s
vice president, said. “But it’s more
applicable to think of (prison abolition)
as an ideology, of questioning the ways
of addressing crime.”
In the beginning, the club will
focus less on activism and more on
education.
Rather than starting out with an
established path toward abolishing
prisons, Co-Founder Emi Olson ’22
envisions the club as a space where
students can bounce ideas off each
other and gradually reach conclusions
through discussion.
“The point of our club is really
to explore the alternatives and
possibilities of abolishing (prisons),”
Olson said.
The club’s ultimate mission,
according to Co-Founder Coral Barrett
’22, is to promote the idea of “restorative
justice” as opposed to “retributive
justice,” at LC and beyond. Restorative
justice is defined as a justice system
that emphasizes the rehabilitation
of incarcerated individuals back into society. It is the opposite of retributive
justice, which centers exclusively on
punishment.
The club’s leaders have gained
experience in restorative justice
through their jobs. Olson works with youth who have committed sexual
offenses under a state program that
allows them to complete a treatment
program instead of being registered
as sex offenders. Barrett provides
care to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and aspires to become
a disability lawyer. Hart is a treatment
specialist for the Oregon Psychiatric
Security Review Board, a state agency
that provides psychological treatment
for incarcerated individuals who have been found not guilty by reason of
insanity, a system that only exists in a
few other states besides Oregon.
This work has given them insight
into alternatives to imprisonment and
what a post-prison world could look
like. However, they are all adamant
that programs like the Oregon
Psychiatric Security Review Board
and treatment for young sex offenders
are not enough. Olson describes these
policies as resulting from “a reform
view, altering the system slightly but
maintaining the same system, which
is not the goal (of the Prison Abolition
Club).”
The club is partnering with several
like-minded organizations in Portland,
including Black Lives Matter, national
anti-prison group Critical Resistance
and the Write Them All campaign,
which aims to send a handwritten
letter to every prisoner in Oregon.
Though interest in prison abolition
has spiked since the nationwide Black
Lives Matter protests began in May,
Barrett and Olson had founded the
Prison Abolition Club before George
Floyd’s death. They completed the
paperwork to start the club in March,
but they were not able to hold the first
meeting as the school transitioned to
online instruction due to COVID-19.
As a result of the delay, there are still
a few things that have not been finalized.
A regular schedule for the club’s
Zoom meetings has yet to be worked
out, but they do have an official club
email. Barrett and Olson recommend
that anybody interested in the Prison
Abolition Club should contact them at
prisonabolitionlc@lclark.edu.Club promotes restorative justice through education, activism and partnership with local organizations
By JULIA WARLING
STUDYING abroad is an experience
that many Lewis & Clark students
look forward to during their time
at the college, and the students that
left during the spring of 2020 were
no exception. Bags packed and ready,
everyone had arrived in their various host
countries by February. Unfortunately,
the emergence of a dangerous new strain
of the coronavirus had other plans.
COVID-19 took everyone by
surprise, and as the world shut down,
LC students were instructed to return
home. However, not everything went
according to plan. Students all over the
world, including those in France, Japan
and Australia, were left to fend for
themselves, arranging trains, flights and
paperwork to return home on extremely
short notice. Two groups of students,
those studying in Morocco and Ecuador,
were stranded in their countries when
the borders closed.
Kayla Barrera ’21 was one of the
students studying in Morocco when the
pandemic hit.
“I’m one of the many students
that experienced trauma while
overseas,” Barrera said. “The situation
of uncertainty, perpetuated by the
(indecisiveness) of the school’s
administration, triggered a lot for me.”
For many of the students overseas,
getting home was not easy. Many
thought that LC’s response time and the
mitigation of an emergency situation
were lacking.
“The Morocco program was canceled
on Friday, March 13,” Mary-Claire
Spurgin ’21 said via email. “We all knew
it was coming – with different countries
closing their borders and the international
response (to the coronavirus) escalating
quickly, it was obvious that the program
wasn’t safe or sustainable. The delay in
canceling our program and the general
lack of support for students in leaving
Morocco really spoke to a lack of
emergency preparedness in the Overseas
Office. I don’t think that’s the fault of any
individual working in that office, but it
speaks more to broader institutional
weaknesses at Lewis & Clark.”
Corey Pierson ’21 was studying
abroad in Fukuoka, Japan, when the program was canceled. He received little
to no support from LC, both financially
and working with the school in Japan to
get the appropriate credits, which led to
a long discussion between Pierson and
the school.
“It was very rushed and stressful,”
Pierson said. “LC had the opportunity
to bring us home in a less rushed, less
expensive and less stressful fashion.”
Only a few students in Ecuador and
Morocco were provided with financial
support for emergency transportation,
which was extremely costly for the rest
of those who were effectively trapped in
a foreign country, some having to pay
thousands of dollars due to canceled
flights with no available refunds.
“The Overseas Office left us on our
own to book flights, both logistically
and financially,” Spurgin said. “Twelve
students, along with our faculty advisor,
were stuck in Morocco once its border
closed. Eventually, the rest of them
got out on a stroke of total luck. The
Overseas Office did provide some level
of support in helping those students get
out; however, that was only after I left,
and it was only logistical support.”
No one could have predicted the
extent and severity of COVID-19, but according to these students, LC could
have done a much better job with helping
students get home.
“I hope that the school has revisited
and reassessed its emergency policies,
especially when it comes to students
abroad,” Spurgin said. “Unless that has
happened, I would urge students to think
twice about their plans to study abroad
with the school.”
When asked to comment on this
story, Overseas & Off-Campus Programs
referred The Pioneer Log to previous
statements made in March, when Spring
2020 programs were being canceled.
At the time, Blythe Knott, director of
the Overseas Office, commented on the
unprecedented challenges brought by
COVID-19.
“Normal protocols didn’t work in
this situation,” Knott said via email.
“(It was) not a normal situation on any
level. We always evaluate our protocols
after any emergency situation. Certainly
we will do so again once the dust settles
from this one.”
All Fall 2020 study abroad programs
were canceled. On Oct. 1, Overseas &
Off-Campus Programs will announce
whether Spring 2021 programs will
proceed or also be rescinded.Students discuss returning home
from abroad during a pandemic
By YASMIN KEMER
VISITING Assistant Professor
of International Affairs
Matthew Scroggs is one
of two new faculty members in
the International Affairs (IA)
department. Scroggs spent much
of his childhood on the West Coast
and was excited at the opportunity to
move back. Teaching at Lewis & Clark
has provided him with the ability to
be close to family and continue his
passion for research and education
around policy.
Scroggs began his journey at the
University of Washington, where he
double-majored in political science
and international studies.
“I was initially interested in
politics from the standpoint of
domestic policy,” Scroggs said. “I
was interested in how domestic
politics influenced the decisions that
states made, primarily East Asian
countries.”
His focus later shifted towards
structural factors in international
relations. This led him to seek his
master’s degree in international
relations from the University of
Chicago. Scroggs then went on
to the University of Virginia in
pursuit of a Ph.D. His research
focused on coercive diplomacy and
how states use threats of violence
and sanctions in order to get what
they want. During his time there
Scroggs published “Ballots and
Blackmail: Coercive Diplomacy
and the Democratic Peace” with
Michael Poznansky, where they
highlighted the ways democratic
peace influences diplomacy. He also
published a paper with LC’s very own
Assistant Professor of International
Affairs Suparna Chaudry and Cornell
University’s Assistant Professor
of Government Sabrina Karim,
titled “How Leaders’ Experiences
and Rebellion Shape Military
Recruitment During the Civil War.”
This paper discussed coercive
recruitment strategies state leaders
adopt during civil wars.
In his teaching, Scroggs primary areas of focus are international
security and U.S. foreign policy. Over
the course of the academic year,
Scroggs will teach two courses in the
IA department: U.S. Foreign Policy
in the fall and Middle East Politics
in the spring. These courses have
traditionally been taught by Senior
Lecturer in Social Sciences Cyrus
Partovi who, this year, is teaching
a class on Middle East Politics in
addition to Studies of Diplomacy.
Outside of IA, he also teaches Politics
of Numbers, a course that is a part of
LC’s new first-year seminar Words
and Numbers.
Although his position is not
tenured and there is no certainty
about how long he will be at LC,
Scroggs expressed a desire to be on
Palatine Hill as long as possible. As
his teaching style is one where he
focuses on “allowing students to play
a more active role in shaping the
discussion (and research),” Scroggs
aims at doing research with students.
At the previous institution where he
taught, Scroggs worked alongside
and mentored one of his students.
In Politics of Numbers, Scroggs
sets aside a week for the students to
decide the topic that he teaches. He
believes it is important to include
students’ interests in their education.
Scroggs is thrilled to work at LC
and engage with students. Despite the
restrictions imposed by COVID-19,
he is excited to immerse himself with
the campus’ culture this year.
Professor Scroggs
joins IA departmentMAYA WINSHELL/THE PIONEER LOG
MADELINE COX/THE PIONEER LOGCOURTESY OF LEWIS & CLARK
Before COVID-19, LC students were studying around the world in places like Japan.Scroggs is new to LC this semester.By BELLA MET
IN 2007, TONY Award-winner
Lin-Manuel Miranda read author
Ron Chernow’s biography about
Alexander Hamilton — a book that
caused controversy for its revisionist
depiction of the first secretary of the
treasury. When Miranda read it, he
found that the rivalry between Hamilton
and Aaron Burr in the revolutionary
age mirrored the one between rappers Tupac and Biggie. This comparison
inspired him to write a hip-hop musical.
Following nine years of writing and
collaborating, “Hamilton: An American
Musical” premiered off-Broadway on
Feb. 16, 2015. It was praised for its
portrayal of history through the styles
of rap and jazz and having a diverse cast
play white historical figures.
In July 2020, a filmed version of
“Hamilton” was released on Disney+,
resulting in both excitement and critique. Its recent availability on
a streaming service coincided with
the nationwide Black Lives Matter
protests and revitalized a conversation
that emerged when “Hamilton” first
premiered. It has been noted that
despite the fact that cast members of
color portray the Founding Fathers, the
show neglects Hamilton’s role in slavery
and glorifies slaveowners.
For example, certain moments with
John Laurens, Hamilton’s friend and avid critic of slavery, seems to imply
that Hamilton shared the same views.
One prominent moment can be found
in the song “Yorktown (The World
Turned Upside Down)” when Laurens
sings, “We’ll never be free until we end
slavery” and Hamilton pats him on the
back.
This also seems apparent during the
“Cabinet Battle #1” sequence in which
Hamilton raps, “A civics lesson from a
slaver / Your debts are paid ’cause you
don’t pay for labor / We know who’s
really doing the planting.”
Despite moments like that, the
musical only reveals a fraction of
the truth. Hamilton himself did not
own enslaved individuals, but his
wife Elizabeth Schuyler’s family did.
Additionally, according to Harvard
professor and historian Annette
Gordon-Reed, Hamilton actively
partook in the financial dealings of
buying and selling enslaved people for
the Schuyler family.
Since the musical buried, ignored
or failed to even mention such details,
Ishmael Reed wrote a play called “The
Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda,”
which was later produced by acclaimed
author Toni Morrison. The production
weaves a similar tale to that of Charles
Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol.” Reed
replaces Scrooge with Miranda haunted
by the spirits of Harriet Tubman, Native
Americans and enslaved Africans,
while under the influence of Ambien.
Through the aforementioned characters
and plot lines, which include George
Washington and Thomas Jefferson as
well, Reed’s play demonstrates how,
in contrast, Miranda’s musical pushes
aside much of the U.S.’s dark history.
This is also noted by Gordon-Reed
when she critiqued how “Hamilton”
misrepresented Jefferson’s relationship with Sally Hemings. Jefferson is
introduced as he is returning to
Monticello from France in the number
“What’d I Miss?”
In one lyric, Jefferson sings, “Sally,
would you be a lamb, darling,” which
is a reference to Hemings, an enslaved
woman and his late-wife’s half-sister.
He had a non-consenting sexual rela -
tionship with her that began when she
was fourteen and resulted in six preg -
nancies. The use of the word “lamb” is
meant to be endearing and add to the
feel of the swinging jazz tune. But their
relationship is not one that should be
seen with fondness; instead, it should
be viewed as what it truly was: a repre -
hensible product of slavery.
Although Miranda has accepted the
criticism, he has stated that the issues
are the result of compiling many years
of history into a two hour and 45-minute
musical. This is a poor excuse because
there should be no justification for
romanticizing history, as it contributes
to the misunderstanding of racial
injustice.
As a fan of the musical, I believe
the controversies within “Hamilton”
are worth discussing, given that this
country was founded on words it has
never honored. It also coincides with
our nation’s inability to acknowledge
its disgusting past. Miranda wanted
his musical to be more inclusive by
casting actors of color. Diversity in art
is always worth celebrating and should
be encouraged; however, not when it
comes at the cost of burying the truth.
In both its successes and its flaws,
“Hamilton” shows us how our country
is like a garden that has come far
but desperately still needs to grow.
Hopefully, one day we can raise a glass
to freedom and ensure justice and
respect for all.FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020
ARTS 8
Public art thrives on boarded-up storefronts
VENUS EDLIN/THE PIONEER LOGVENUS EDLIN/THE PIONEER LOG
George Floyd’s portrait is surrounded by photographs of victims of police violence.
A painting in honor of Breonna Taylor is located near the Apple store in Portland.By VENUS EDLIN
DESPITE THE relatively quiet
summer on campus following
Lewis & Clark’s closure in
March, downtown Portland has been
thriving with activity. Local artists have
transformed boarded-up storefronts
into incredible murals, with many of
them drawing attention to the Black
Lives Matter movement.
In March, many stores decided to
erect plywood barriers in front of their
businesses while they were inactive
during the beginning of the new
coronavirus pandemic. Almost every
storefront in Pioneer Place was boarded
up in order to prevent vandalism and
break-ins while vacant. Nationwide
demand for racial justice and opposition
against the police has led to an increase
in public art, especially on these large
expanses of plywood.
Amaranta Colindres, @curlieturtle
on Instagram, is a Black and Indigenous
artist who graduated from the Academy
of Art University in San Francisco.
Colindres has found some benefits from
the protective plywood barriers.
“The good thing about COVID-19
and the businesses with the boarded up
walls is that according to Portland, if I
am painting a temporary wall, which is
plywood screwed in over a door, no per -
mit is required, no red tape,” Colindres
said. “A business owner hands me some
money, I paint the wall, I get the money,
I pay my bills, everybody is happy and I
thrive as an artist.”
Portland just approved Colindres
to paint her first wall in the city two
months after she applied. She wants
Portland to revisit its public art policies
in light of these events. Colindres said
many artists she knows have been able
to pick up more work because of the ply -
wood work-around.
Colindres said that everyone has the
inherent right to enjoy public art.
“Public spaces should be accessible,”
Colindres said. “Because I’m also
Indigenous and in Indigenous culture,
the air does not belong to anybody, the
rivers do not belong to anybody; they
are for everybody, the same way a wall
should be enjoyed by everybody.”As Colindres specified, some store
owners have paid for artists to paint
the plywood attached to their build -
ings. However, a significant portion of
the work has not been authorized by
businesses, though it has significantly
reduced the presence of tagging in the
Pioneer Place area. The plywood was al -
ready heavily tagged before the murals
were painted.
Xochilt Ruvalcaba, @xochilt.art
on Instagram, has also
studied fine art and mainly
works as a screen-printer.
As a Mexican woman, she
felt compelled to stand
against racism with her
art.
“I had planned to do
my own pop-up mural on
34th and Clinton in the
middle of the night and I
was probably going to get
cited,” Ruvalcaba said. “I
told my boss and she said not to do it,
that you are going to get arrested.”
Instead, her boss insisted that
Ruvalcaba paint the front of her
restaurant, Mother’s Bistro and Bar.
Ruvalcaba painted portraits of seven
Black children who have died at the
hands of police. A few sentences
describing the circumstances of each
child’s death accompany the portraits.
“These kids were killed for doing
normal things: playing in parks, going
to parties, sitting in the car, sleeping
in their living room,” Ruvalcaba said.
“These kids are doing normal shit that
kids do and they get killed for it. Why?
Because they are Black.”
During the two and a half weeks it
took Ruvalcaba to paint the mural, she
faced consistent racist harassment. One
man nearly started a fight with her and
her husband, who was there to help her
paint. A tagger destroyed two of the
child portraits which have since been
repainted. Also, due to the downtown
presence of the Proud Boys, a far-right
organization labeled a hate group by the
Southern Poverty Law Center, she felt
unsafe.
“It was hard for me in the final mo -
ments because I felt like I had to leave
these kids again to be hurt because two of the portraits were already vandal -
ized,” Ruvalcaba said. “I was so angry
because even in these children’s deaths,
they are not loved.”
However, one interaction proved
that her work could indeed effect
change. Ruvalcaba saw a child read one
of the stories, despite dismay from both
of their parents. After meeting resis -
tance, the child kept reading.
“The next three that he read, he
read out loud. He read
every single one, word for
word, out loud with his
mom about four steps be -
hind him,” Ruvalcaba said.
“You could tell that the
parents did not support
the Black Lives Matter
movement for whatever
reason, but I was watch -
ing him gain knowledge
of what happened to these
children and I was watch -
ing her having to participate with him.”
Colindres also felt urged to act when
she heard about the protests downtown.
She believes artists play an important
part in social movements as observers
and documenters.
“The role of an artist is to tell the
story of history, so right now we are
just expressing what is going on in the
atmosphere,” Colindres said. “Also, we
are trying to open people’s hearts to the
fact that it is unjust to hurt people just
because of how tan they are.”
The brightly painted landscape of
downtown has also led to more business
for independent vendors. Donald “G”
Patterson has been selling T-shirts with
pro-Black Lives Matter designs in front
of the Apple store in Pioneer Place. He
worked with a team of artists to design
and produce the tees. For Patterson, it
is an opportunity to promote the move -
ment, educate people and make money
in the process.
“A lot of people want to be part of
the protests, but they do not want to
be on the battlefield for whatever rea -
son,” Patterson said. “They want to do
their part, so they want to come get a
shirt and represent Black Lives Matter
and everyone who lost their lives to the
crooked police.”
Commentary: “Hamilton” lacks complete representation
AMELIA MADARANG/THE PIONEER LOG
Coronavirus closures and protests downtown provide environment for artists to comment on current events
“Artists play
an important
part in social
movements as
observers and
documenters.”
VENUS EDLIN/THE PIONEER LOG
The names of famous Black women have been written around the artist’s work.FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020
ARTS 9
Pandemic prompts restructuring of art classes
By AUBREY ROCH É
WHILE MANY lecture and
discussion-based classes have
little difficulty switching to
hybrid teaching or going completely
online, it is not so simple for studio
and performing arts. Classes such as
sculpture and ceramics have required
in-person components, meaning that
these classes cannot be taken by fully
remote students.
While studio art classes involving in-
person elements may seem to require the
most reorganization, other classes in the
art department have also had to modify
their usual coursework. This semester
Alaryx Tenzer ’23 is taking Studio
Seminar, a discussion-based class that
studies artistic texts and art pieces and
would normally feature presentations by
various artists.
“We can’t bring people in in-person
anymore to have conversations,” Tenzer
said. “We’re moving that to Zoom, which
in a way is nice because it can be a lot
more international, but you’re losing the
one-on-one interaction with an actual
artist.”
Studio Seminar students are
primarily juniors, who must now do their
portfolio review digitally, which Tenzer
described as being “a big roadblock.”
As for music performance classes,
courses have responded in various
ways. Community Chorale, for example,
is taught over Zoom, while many instrument-based classes use hybrid and
in-person models. For Frankie Spurbeck
’23, who takes Community Chorale
online and Classical Guitar Private
Lessons in-person, this means adapting to practicing alone in their room and no
longer sharing sheet music with other
students.
“We warm up and we all have our
microphones muted,” Spurbeck said. “We use breakout rooms to divide into
sections, and then we will learn whatever
sound we’re learning … and you just
have to do it by yourself. It’s hard for
me because I rely on people around me knowing the part.”
In addition to changes to class
structures, students must now reserve
time slots online in order to access the
art studios in Fields Center for the Visual
Arts and practice rooms in Evans Music
Center, as compared to previously being
able to go in at any time. With only a
certain number of people allowed in a
studio at one time, studio art classes,
in particular, must now reconsider the
amount of work assigned outside of class.
Spurbeck described feeling less inclined
to use practice rooms due to the added
requirements, despite getting distracted
more when practicing elsewhere.
Both Tenzer and Spurbeck expressed
that online classes impact the way they
approach the creative and performative
aspects of art and music, respectively.
“A lot of artists are working on finding
ways to create within the circumstances,
rather than creating despite them,”
Tenzer said. “I definitely think that’s the
only solution, because (online classes
have) just a completely different way of
presenting anything that you’ve made.”
For Spurbeck, online choir has
lessened the amount of time they spend
practicing and how confident they feel
when singing.
Online and hybrid classes inevitably
change the way artists interact with their
work, but the persistence of creation in
today’s reality proves the importance
of art and music in a world full of
uncertainty.
“I’m Thinking of Ending Things”
offers scrambled, rewarding ridePAM exhibit examines
Black representation
By ARIEL MCGEE
SINCE THE BEGINNING of the
shutdown caused by COVID-19,
I have been sitting, scrolling,
sleeping, reading or watching. In a time
of civic unrest and social idleness, most
of us have been filling a friend-shaped
gap in our lives with massive amounts
of media consumption. Director and
writer Charlie Kaufman hit many
collective emotions right on the head
with his latest film, “I’m Thinking of
Ending Things,” such as loneliness,
misdirected anger and acute anxiety.
In true Kaufman style, this film, which
debuted on Netflix on Sept. 4, engages
in a philosophical conversation about
the ways we choose, and choose not,
to communicate with each other.
Much like this pandemic, I can truly
say that “I’m Thinking of Ending
Things” is unlike anything I have ever
experienced.
Kaufman is best known for writing
the screenplays for “Eternal Sunshine
of the Spotless Mind” and “Being John
Malkovich,” both of which are movies
that in some way or another take place
within the mind of a character. His
latest release is no different; in fact,
it is arguably his most metaphysical work yet.
The film begins with a familiar
storyline: Lucy (Jessie Buckley) is
getting ready to meet her boyfriend
Jake’s (Jesse Plemons) family. As she
stands outside in the snow, waiting for
him to arrive, she has many thoughts
in quick succession. She admits that
though she has a special connection
with Jake, she’s “thinking of ending
things.” Right before Jake pulls up
to the house, we are introduced to an
older man gazing out of a window and
presumably looking at Lucy — though
he will appear throughout the film,
his relation to our two protagonists is
heavily obscured.
Much of the film takes place on the
car ride out into the country to meet
Jake’s parents and the car ride back
to the city later that night. Kaufman
very carefully recreates the feeling of
sitting in a car next to someone and
knowing that you would rather be
left with your thoughts than fill the
space with conversation. Much of the
dialogue between the two characters
consists of direct quotes from William
Wordsworth’s poems, David Foster
Wallace’s essays, film critics, songs
and commercials. The only narrative
that is untouched by pop-culture references is the one within Lucy’s
mind. For Jake, there seems to be
almost no attachment to reality, and
he has no way to relate to Lucy other
than by referencing the words or work
of others.
As the movie progresses, it
becomes clear that neither Lucy nor
Jake are reliable characters. The
story of how they met is told several
times within the movie, and it morphs
into several narratives, none of
which can be identified as the truth.
Though the audience is invited into
the mind of Lucy with many internal
dialogues and the wrestling of her
thoughts, the question of who she is
and what she believes about herself
becomes increasingly indeterminate.
She begins to merge mentally with
the overbearing and sensitive Jake,
and it becomes almost impossible
to decipher where she ends and he
begins.
In one of the most striking
sequences of the film, Jake’s parents
(Toni Collette and David Thewlis) are
introduced, and the two couples have
a very strange dinner. His parents
randomly age, getting younger and
older again as they leave and re-enter
the rooms of Jake’s childhood house.
What is most peculiar about this
dinner is how calm Lucy is; she does
not have any intense reactions to the
unexplainable and odd behavior of
Jake or his parents during the visit.
There is so much more that could
be written about this movie, but much
of it would be better left for you to
discover. Much like Lucy, I was taken
for a ride to the middle of nowhere and
left with my own jumbled thoughts. In
an interview with The New York Times,
Plemons thought back to a moment
during the filming of “I’m Thinking of
Ending Things” when someone asked
Kaufman what the movie was about
and he responded by saying that he
did not know.
“Charlie kind of arrived at saying,
‘I think we just have to accept that we
don’t know, and just accept that we’re
going to fail sometimes,” Plemons
said. “We have to embrace that.’”
Truth be told, the same can be said
about our current situation. We are
living through a global pandemic and
witnessing the devastating wreckage
of state-wide fires. We are just as
confused and unsettled now as this
movie made me feel then.By JUSTIN HOWERTON
THE MUSEUM and art industries
have suffered severe losses due
to the effects of the ongoing
pandemic. However, certain institutions,
including the Portland Art Museum
(PAM), have reopened their doors with
cautionary measures in effect, such as
requiring visitors to wear face coverings
and enacting social distancing policies.
PAM, specifically, not only offers in-
person tours but has also uploaded virtual
walkthroughs of their current exhibitions
for free online. One such exhibition titled
“Art and Race Matters,” featuring the
career and work of controversial Black
artist Robert Colescott, can be seen
either in-person or digitally and will be
on display until Dec. 13.
Colescott’s art career began under
the tutelage of French modernist
painter Fernand Léger in the mid-
20th century. His early works possess
a blend of abstraction and more formal
representation as Colescott experimented
with various techniques before settling
on his own distinctive style. The subjects
of his paintings (including landscapes,
figures and still lifes) varied greatly
during this period.
Colescott’s position as an artist-
in-residence in Cairo, Egypt at
the American Research Center
revolutionized his earlier subdued style.
He experimented heavily with color and
form; using massive swaths of color on
canvas to both articulate and muddle
his depiction of figures. The Egyptian
landscape and the country’s cultural
heritage challenged Colescott to confront
the more experimental, taboo side of
art head-on. In his painting “Nubian
Queen,” for example, one can discern two
possible figures at best; however, vibrant,
segmented areas of color cover most of
the canvas. The intense use of color seen
in this period of Colescott’s career would
influence his later body of work.
In the 1970s, Colescott found his stride
and began to use aggressive, gestural
brushstrokes coupled with intense color
usage in his work. He gained notoriety
and acclaim for his blatant distortion and
reimagining of artworks created decades
earlier and his idiosyncratic technique. In
one example, Colescott satirizes Picasso’s
“Les Demoiselles d’Avignon,” a portrait
of five apparently white women, by
depicting three out of the five women in
the painting as Black. He further mimics
the work of Picasso through his portrayal of the women in exaggerated, suggestive
poses. The Black woman in the middle of
the portrait reveals her cleavage to the
viewer while a white woman peers over
her shoulder rather erotically.
While Picasso’s art is often criticized
for appropriating elements of African
art, in “Les Demoiselles d’Alabama:
Vestidas,” Colescott does not shy away
from the question of race. In choosing
to depict the majority of women as
Black, Colescott highlights the absence
of Black people in art history while
simultaneously calling for Black
representation within the modern art
canon. Furthermore, much of his later
work called into question the ethics of
contemporary events of his time such
as conflicts at the Mexico/U.S. border
during the 1990s. Thus, Colescott’s work
not only demanded an investigation
concerning the absence of Black people
in art history but also into the social
and political practices that he witnessed
throughout his life.
Within the context of the Black
Lives Matter movement, this exhibit
could not be more relevant. Colescott’s
work is intended to make the viewer
uncomfortable and to force them to
acknowledge white supremacy within
art history. With the histories and
stories of Black artists repressed for so
long by dominant white narratives, this
exhibition serves as a refreshing look
into the career of one artist who never
sacrificed quality, provocative content
for public appeal.SOFIA REEVES/THE PIONEER LOG
ARIEL MCGEE/THE PIONEER LOGJUSTIN HOWERTON/THE PIONEER LOGStudents in both the art and music departments have been forced to adapt to hybrid styles of learningFRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020
SPORTS 10
LC athletics keep on rolling during COVID-19
THE NORTHWEST Conference
(NWC) announced that all
conference competition was
to be suspended due to the ongoing
coronavirus pandemic until Jan. 1,
2021. Cross country, golf, and tennis
were the last fall sports to have their
season cancelled after receiving word
on Aug. 17. However, the conference
has made it clear that all sports can
engage in practice and athletically
related activities subject to any NCAA
Division III restrictions and directives
at the local, state, or college level.
Since receiving word on the ability
to practice, coaches at Lewis & Clark
have been scrambling to find a way to
keep student-athletes in shape for the
Spring 2021 season, while balancing
the weight of keeping everyone as safe
as possible. Universally among the
LC athletic department, coaches and
players must wear masks at all times,
keep social-distance rules in order,
and use facilities only when permitted.
The football team would usually
be well on their way into the season
at this point in the year; instead, they
are only training five days a week.
Their modified practice consists of
wearing masks at all times, strict
social distancing rules on the field, and
meetings are most often held in the
stands of Griswold Stadium.
Unlike many sports, the women’s
soccer team had to modify some of
the typical playing styles in order to
practice this fall. For instance, players
are not allowed to slide tackle, handle
or head the ball. They are also not
permitted to take part in any group
celebrations, such as high fives and
hugs, that require physical contact.
Volleyball is another sport that had
to adjust a few of their usual traditions. Currently, they are not permitted
to stand closer than six feet apart
for huddles after matches. During
practice, they split up onto two courts
and they are not allowed to interact
until after the practice. It works out
to be eight players on one court and
six on the other with two coaches per court.
The softball team has also
implemented a myriad of new rules
regarding their fall season, beginning
on Sept. 15. There will be limited players
allowed on the field at once, face masks
worn at all times, no sharing batting
tees, no sharing plates and, like the baseball team, there will be designated
areas for their equipment separated
by position. The baseball team has
reported that they will have a check-in
and check-out sheet the players must
fill out when arriving and departing
practice that asks if a player is showing
symptoms of COVID-19. They are also adding specific locations to stand when
waiting to hit in the batting cages to
maintain social distancing regulations.
The LC weight room has also been
facing its own set of challenges since
every sports team is in an off-season.
Angela Dendas-Pleasant, the head
strength and conditioning coach at
LC, has managed to get each of the
sports teams their own time slot for
the weight room. Before entering, a
student-worker behind plexiglass takes
down every student’s name and ID
number in order to keep track of who is
entering and the number of people in
the gym at all times. The weight room
also has a new set of precautions for the
fall: six-feet of social distancing, hand-
sanitizing before and after touching
a weight, having a maximum of two
people at each squat-rack, sanitizing
barbells and med-balls after every use
and, of course, wearing a face mask at
all times.
Student-athletes are also not
permitted to use any sports facilities
unless they check in with the medical
app “Sway.” This daily check-in is
required by the NCAA and provides
an easy way for LC athletic trainers
to minimize the risk of possible
coronavirus contraction.
“Athletes receive a daily push
notification to input symptoms and
record their temperature to identify
possible cases before coming on
campus.”
If “yes” is answered for any
question, the student-athlete will
be flagged and unable to use any
LC facilities until a health expert on
campus attends to them. With so many
other colleges shutting down athletics
or even in-person education, the
athletic department at LC is working
tirelessly to make sure sports can still
go on in a practical yet safe manner.By HENRY GOODIERThe Northwest Conference suspends all scheduled conference competition until the spring semester
Protests against racial injustice erupt across pro sports
AS PORTLANDERS and Lewis
& Clark students, it is fair to
say that we are all trying to
figure out where we fit into the racial
and social justice movement that is
sweeping the nation. Many of us feel
that the best way to contribute to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement
is to recognize and check our privilege,
while simultaneously using our various
platforms to amplify and stand with the
voices of movement leaders.
In that vein, the number of
professional athletes that use
their platforms to publicly protest
against systemic racism has grown
considerably. Most recently, on Aug. 26, the Milwaukee Bucks refused to move
forward with their playoff game against
Orlando Magic as a protest against
the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Blake was shot in the back seven times
by a white police officer in Kenosha,
Wisconsin, and has since become an
important voice in the BLM movement
from his hospital bed in Milwaukee.
This is one of the scarce occasions when an entire professional sports team
has decided to strike, and it shocked
many spectators. While this walkout
was nearly unprecedented, activism in
the U.S. athletic world has been growing
for years. This high-profile strike was
an incredible act of solidarity. It was
likely made possible
by the social justice
wave that has been
flowing through
the Women’s
National Basketball
Association
(WNBA) for years.
In July 2016, four
Minnesota Lynx
players wore warm-
up shirts that
heightened national
media attention
to the killings of
Alton Sterling and
Philando Castile. It comes as little
surprise that on Aug. 26, the WNBA
postponed all games to protest the
shooting of Jacob Blake.
One day after the Milwaukee Bucks
strike, the New York Mets and Miami
Marlins followed suit. Each member
of the two teams took off his cap and
observed 42 seconds of silence for
Jackie Robinson, who donned that
number on his jersey. Instead of
playing, they left a single BLM T-shirt
on Citi Field and walked off. This game
was among seven other Major League
Baseball (MLB) games that were
scheduled but not played that day.
These high profile athletic strikes,
among others, were revolutionary
and unheard of, and subjected many
athletes to racially-charged attacks
from the far right. Laura Ingraham, the
controversial Fox News host, suggested
that Kevin Durant and LeBron James
“keep the political commentary to
themselves and … shut up and dribble.”
Symbolic actions such as those listed
above bring further media attention to
racially motivated shootings. However,
it is just as important to create
sustainable and incremental change by
committing to work on issues of police brutality, racial disparities, systematic
racism and neo-nationalism.
A superb example of sustained
athletic social justice is right here in
our city. The Portland Trail Blazers
have long been dedicated to giving back
to their community through the Trail
Blazers Foundation.
Since 2009,
they have given
over $7 million
to community
efforts in Oregon
and southwest
Washington.
Additionally, the
foundation sponsors
the Blazers Boys
& Girls Club, the
first in the nation to
be sponsored by a
professional sports
team. In response to
the BLM movement, they have outlined
their commitments to the movement
in a statement on nba.com and created
the Racial Injustice Fund of the Trail
Blazers Foundation.
The Blazer’s list of commitments
promises both specific actions, broad
solutions and lends solidarity to those
who have suffered at the hands of
police. The beginning of their statement
specifically addresses the responsibility
with which they intend to use their
privilege.
“We take very seriously our
responsibility to leverage our position,
platform, resources and influence to
create the safe, secure quality of life
we all deserve,” the statement says.
“We are committed to do all that we
can to move us toward a more just and
equitable society. Our commitment
begins here.”
The Trail Blazers are paving the way
for future, and more transformative,
athletic activism. Sustained media
attention, strikes and T-shirts are
extremely important aspects of athletic
activism, but using a powerful platform
as leverage to raise awareness and
money for the cause creates more
concrete and substantial change.The Griswold Football Stadium sits empty until the Northwest Conference allows competition again in January 2021 or later. JO TABACEK/THE PIONEER LOG
NICHOLAS NERLI/THE PIONEER LOGBy ARIEL MCGEE After the shooting of Jacob Blake, athletes across America rally behind the Black Lives Matter movement
Laura Ingraham,
the controversial Fox
News host, suggest -
ed that Kevin Durant
and LeBron James
“keep the political
commentary to them -
selves and … shut up
and dribble.” FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020
SPORTS 11
By AIDAN D’ANNA
EVEN THOUGH most traditional
sports have been relegated to
personal fitness exercises because
of COVID-19, and outdoor activity now
means a socially distanced walk in the
woods, it is still important for students to
stay active and stay healthy.
College Outdoors (CO) provides Lewis
& Clark students with the opportunity
to engage with the nature of the Pacific
Northwest through their hiking,
backpacking, skiing and rafting programs.
Despite some modifications to their
programs, CO is still the easiest way for
students to engage in structured outdoor
activity. Michael Mulrennan ’22 is an assistant
leader for CO and leader of the CO Open
House program, a biweekly information
session aimed at attracting new
participants to CO.
“In normal years … we would go and
take our vans and travel to places outside
of the Portland area,”Mulrennan said.
“But due to the restrictions put in place
to keep students safe … we can’t go off-
campus, so everything has to be within
walking distance.”
CO has begun to utilize the Riverview
Natural Area behind Griswold Stadium
and Fir Acres Theatre for hikes, as well
as leading hiking and ethnobotany trips
through Tryon Creek State Natural Area.
CO is making these modifications not only to meet COVID-19 regulations, but
because they believe they can reach a
greater number of students this way.
“(Staying closer to campus) has been
a good way to get folks who maybe can’t
afford trips through College Outdoors in
normal years,” Mulrennan said.“It’s been
a lot more inclusive for folks who might
have a couple of hours on a Saturday or
a Sunday to just get out and do a hike
through Tryon or Riverview.”
In addition to physical fitness, there
are also opportunities for students to
engage in exercises related to their
mental health. For example, the Office
of Spiritual Life is hosting a weekly
guided meditation session via zoom this
semester that is open to all LC students.
Jeanne Lilly is the contemplative
and spiritual life coordinator at LC, as
well as the leader of those weekly guided
meditations.
“Normally we would hold our
sessions in person in the basement of
the chapel,” Lilly said. “But like so many
other offices we have had to start doing
a lot of our work online through Zoom.”
Similar to the nature of the CO trips,
Lilly’s meditation sessions are open
to all LC students, and are aimed at
attracting the widest audience possible.
Anyone is welcome, and all students are
encouraged to participate.
“I want to support students who find
that in this time of their life, some regular
practice would be useful,” Lilly said.
“(The weekly meditations use) general
mindfulness meditation, in which we
begin by settling in, and focusing on the
breath of body sensations. Then we notice
thoughts arising with the encouragement
to allow them simply to pass if we can.”
Both Lilly and Mulrennan agree that
supporting one’s physical and mental
well-being is extremely important during
this uniquely challenging time.
“Even just getting outside … was
incredible, just exploring a new
part of what is basically our campus
that I had never explored before,”
Mulrennan said. “I know that our
participants also had a good time and
… it was a chance for them to get off
campus.” Lilly stresses the mental wellness
one can achieve even while staying in
one’s room.
“I think that my connection to a
higher consciousness is extremely
important during this time, and I
know it is for many people,” Lilly said.
“(There is research that suggests that)
if adolescents have a connection to a
higher consciousness, it buffers them against mental health problems.”
CO is leading a backpacking trip
through Tryon on the weekend of
Sept. 26-27, and the Office of Spiritual
Life hosts weekly meditation sessions
on Thursdays at 4 p.m.
In addition, if you would like to
receive the newsletter for the Office
of Spiritual Life, please contact
spirituallife@lclark.edu.Students seek new ways to maintain wellness
AIDAN D’ANNA/THE PIONEER LOG
College Outdoors continues to sponsor outdoor trips within walking distance of LC.
By ARUNIMA JAMWAL
MULTNOMAH County
stands on the lands of the
Clackamas, Chinook and
numerous tribes of the Columbia
and Willamette Rivers. As those
who find peace and joy in the lands
around us, it is essential that we
recognize Indigenous communities
and their stewardship of these
ecologies since time immemorial as
well as the ongoing harm that settler-
colonialism perpetuates through its
logic of infinite extraction.
The onset of fall is a beautiful
time to be in Portland. While it
is currently unsafe to venture
outside, here is a simple guide to
easy trails near campus so you can
plan a late September weekend
adventure. Included are some long-
time favorites and a couple of less-
frequented routes that are either in
or very close to the city. Pay special
attention to trails four and five in this
list, as they are accessible by foot via
campus! Remember to apply through
the Office of the Vice President of
Student Life if you live on-campus
and would like to partake in non-
essential off-campus activities such
as these hikes.
1. Latourell Falls Loop Hike
Our proximity to the Columbia
River Gorge means we are blessed
with an abundance of relatively
short hikes that you can pace at your
comfort. The Latourell Falls trail is
my personal favorite for its division
into two segments: lower and upper.
Get ready to see stunning golden,
dark-green cobblestone lichen
hugging the old basalt formations by
the falls.
Distance: 2.4 miles Elevation
gain: 625 ft. Difficulty: Easy.
2. Hoyt Arboretum Loop
Portland’s Hoyt Arboretum is
also called the “world of trees.” It
is home to many species native to
the Pacific Northwest, besides West
Coast favorites such as sequoias and
redwoods.
Distance: 4.7 miles Elevation
gain: 425 ft. Difficulty: Easy.3. Discovery Point Trail
This hike offers incredible views
of Crater Lake, the deepest lake in
the world. In Crater Lake National
Park, it is an out-and-back route so
the distance can be modified to suit
all levels.
Distance: 4.0 miles Elevation
gain: 915 ft. Difficulty: Moderate.
4. Riverview Natural Area
Trail #3, Southwest Portland
This trail leaves from the north
edge of the Fir Acres parking lot,
directly north of Fir Acres Theatre.
This short walk is perfect for an
afternoon mosey down to the
Willamette River. Besides landing
you close to the Sellwood Bridge,
this is also a quicker way to get to
Macadam Ave. than the Rose Garden
path, also known as Southwest Trail
5, which is closed as of Sept. 10.
5. Maplecrest Ridge Trail,
Southwest Portland
Maplecrest Ridge Trail is a scenic
and leisurely route in Tryon Creek
State Park that also features some
undulation. To get to it, exit the bike
path when you see the North Horse
Loop sign on your right. If 0.7 miles
is too short, you can extend your loop
via the Big Fir Trail.
Difficulty: Easy.
6. Forest Park, Northwest
Portland
All the trails in Forest Park are
beautiful. Be sure to mask up since
they can get a little cozy and there
is a medium-high likelihood you
will be passed by a shirtless running
enthusiast panting heavily. If you
are new to the area and do make it
to the north side, be sure to set aside
at least a few moments to stare at the
legendary St. John’s Bridge in awe.
7. Mt. Tabor Loop, Southeast
Portland
Most of the trails, like the loop,
are fairly flat. If you are looking for
a bit more fun and cardio, walk to
the intersection of Southeast Lincoln
and Mt. Tabor Drive, then take the
steep trail straight up the hill. Bring
a picnic because this park has quite
a few relaxing spots, perfect for a
physically-distanced day out.By AMELIA MADARANG
IN THE CRITICALLY acclaimed 2001
movie “Legally Blonde,” Elle Woods
(Reese Witherspoon) famously
said, “Exercise gives you endorphins.
Endorphins make you happy. Happy
people just don’t shoot their husbands,
they just don’t.”
Woods provides a good reason to
work out that is not just for the sake of
patriarchal beauty standards. You can also
workout to destress, sleep better at night,
have more energy for sex, distract yourself
from the nihilism of academic life during
the time of COVID-19 or any other reason
you can think of.
A great way to start working out is
with these hip stretches, which you can do
while watching “Legally Blonde!”
1. Low lunge for one minute each
side
Get down on one knee like you are
proposing to the love of your life. Move
the foot that is in front of you forward until
you feel a stretch in your hip. Be mindful
to keep your knee directly above your
ankle so as to not hurt yourself. If you feel
comfortable you can reach your arms up
and back while keeping your hips squared
off. Alternatively you can rest your hand
on your knee. Then hold the pose. Do this
stretch for both sides of your body.
2. Half split for one minute
Start in a low lunge position with your
right foot forward and your hands on the
outside of the foot to provide support.
Bring your left knee down to the ground.
If it hurts to put your knee directly on
the ground, place a mat, a pillow or a
folded shirt underneath your knee. While
walking your hands back to your left foot,
rotate your hips back toward your left heel
and lengthen the right leg. Then hold the
pose for one minute. Do this stretch for
both sides.
3. Half pigeon pose for one
minute each sideStart in a downward-facing dog or
plank position. From here, step your
right foot toward your right wrist and
bring your knee on the ground near your
left wrist. Straighten your left leg back.
Check that your right knee is in line with
your right hip. If you feel comfortable,
walk your hands forward. Lower your
forehead to the ground while squaring
your hips toward the ground. Then hold
the pose. Repeat on the other side.
4. Pike for one minute
Start by sitting on the ground with
your legs straight out in front of you.
Point your toes to the sky. Fold forward
with your back straight and reach for
your toes. If you can not reach your toes,
an easy modification is to take a band or
a t-shirt and loop over the base of your
feet and hold on to this with your hands.
Then hold the pose.5. Forward fold for one minute
This is very similar to the pike pose
but you let gravity do some of the work.
Stand up straight with your feet together
and arms by your sides. Reach your arms
up over your head while looking up.
With arms reaching high, engage your
core and, then, bend at the waist with a
flat back. If you feel comfortable, try to
place your hands on the floor slightly in
front of you or beside your feet. Make
sure all parts of your feet are touching
the ground. Then hold the pose for one
minute.
These stretches are a great way to
loosen up your hip flexor, which can be
really helpful if your end goal is to do the
front splits or improve your WAP dance
skills. It is also good for your general
flexibility. As always, go slow and modify
the stretch when you need to.
Simple at-home hip stretches to
start your new exercise routineTop seven hikes on
or near LC campus
AMELIA MADARANG/THE PIONEER LOGARUNIMA JAMWAL/THE PIONEER LOG
A hiker crosses a bridge in Tryon Creek Natural Area, near the LC campus.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020
12
The Days of Our Pods: deceit, delusion, debauchery
By MACKENZIE HERRING
UNSUSPECTING Lewis & Clark
students arrived on campus
for their Fall 2020 semester,
during a time that can only be described
as an unprecedented fustercluck of
disease and natural disaster, rivaled
only by that one Copeland bathtub.
Little did they know that the most
dramatic, turbulent, emotional and
illogical time of their lives would soon
begin. This phenomenon is known as
Days of our Pods.
Quickly, like the coronavirus,
stories began spreading of the drama
brewing, hearts breaking and backs
stabbed. If you listened closely, you
could hear the sighs of exhaustion
from an overworked RA at any given
time. Below are the true accounts of
members or observers of one infamous
pod, but beware, some of these
students will be played by multiple
people due to contract disputes. You
have been warned.
The pod in question, known as
the Spruce Squad, has the following
free spirits as members: Echo Forrest
Sunshine ’23, Crystal Moon ’23,
Xavier Goldman Sachs ’23, Phillip
Groundwater ’23 and Trinityleigh
Mitchell ’23. Last year, they all bonded
while enjoying the greenery (wink) at Tryon.
Goldman Sachs and his life
partner of three months, Mitchell,
were recently heard fighting by the
reflecting pool, which scared the
frogs.
“Apparently Goldman Sachs told
Mitchell that he was going to be
hanging out in Forrest, and she just
assumed it was the dorm and not the
person,” an anonymous observer said.
“He tried to explain with a supply and
demand curve why it was not that big
of a deal. That is econ majors for you.”
Mitchell threatened to tell
everyone on campus that Goldman
Sachs lived in a gated community,
which prompted him to defend
himself:
“I worked for everything I have,”
Goldman Sachs said. “My parents
immigrated from Canada. Do you
have any idea how hard that is? And it
is not a gated community, by the way,
it is an upscale condo.”
On the other side of campus,
Groundwater was fighting his own
battles. The sophomore recently
learned about his evil estranged twin
that his family had separated from
him at birth.
“Apparently he is also from the Bay
Area and goes to USC,” Groundwater
said. “He has pretended to be me on multiple Zoom calls and will not stop
saying ‘we are the same, brother.’
It feels like a poorly written ‘The
Californians’ SNL sketch.”
Moon and Sunshine recently had
a falling out in that one really cold
spot in the J.R. Howard hallway, quite
loudly.
“I heard that Sunshine girl call
Moon a backstabber because she went
to the Bon without her,” an unnamed
professor said. “I get that the school
needs these pods but it is becoming so
annoying, assigning people for group
projects is like mapping the seating
chart at a wedding where all the family
members hate each other. I really am
not paid enough for this.”
Despite the contentious
relationship between the Spruce
Squad members, they all came
together to become the crimelords of
the LC campus. Their plan? Stealing
all the free condoms from dorm halls
and selling them at a very steep price.
But in their very secret lair, the
Coop, they found evidence that Vim
Veevil, with his 24 karat monocle
and handlebar mustache, was using
the saliva from the COVID-19 tests to
clone the entire student body. Until
next time, like sands through an
hourglass, these are the days of our
pods.O’ Copeland’s commode,
we offer you this ode
By JASON KOWALSKI
THE CURRENT protests have
stirred up debate and have
pushed society to reflect. In
Portland, specifically, the use of
force against protesters has brought
up concerns regarding the safety and
sustainability of such actions.
Karen White, micromanager of an
essential oil business and parental
helicopter pilot, reached out to us
for an interview, threatening to ask
for the managing editor if we did not provide one. She feels that the police
department has acted carelessly, and
wants to expand her voice beyond
her Facebook group, Amazing
Creations, Art, Beauty (ACAB).
“I was going to a gender reveal
party last week, and I found all these
things on the ground,” White said.
“I thought someone had dropped
a bunch of CBD lip balm, but I just
could not get one open. So I asked
my daughter, Qaittelynne, (she is
on the honor roll, you see) what she
thought it was. And Qaittelynne, my daughter on the honor roll, said that
they were rubber bullets. I was —
well, I was just in awe.”
At this point, White sat down
and huffed some oils to regain her
composure before continuing. She
went on to detail her 12-minute
research session, culminating
in her realization of how rubber
bullets, dubbed “less-than-lethal
munitions,” can cause serious harm.
“Rubber bullets are terrible
for the environment,” White said.
“Rubber can break and end up
deep in the ecosystem. And they
were everywhere, I can not imagine
how they could shoot so many
of them without even thinking
about the consequences. What if
my Pomeranian ate one? Can you
imagine some innocent thing, a
life, getting hurt because of all the
craziness going on? It could just be
minding its own business and ... I do
not want to think about it.”
White offered essential oil dog
treats to her Pomeranian, who
had been yipping intermittently
throughout the interview. It did not
seem to help.
“I think the police have been
setting a terrible example,” White
said. “What if my son, Aèiyddânn
sees all these bullets and thinks that
littering is okay? Cleaning his room
is a big ask as it is. We had to pull
him from the tee-ball team after the
school kept pushing their political
views on vaccines.”
White expressed further concerns
about how the rubber bullets might
have an impact. She worries that
the bullets, with their rubber
coatings, might bounce if they are
not aimed directly at their target,
and potentially damage someone’s
property.
The Porkland Police Department
declined to comment on this matter,
but White provides a solution.
“The most outrageous part is that
under the rubber is metal,” White
said. “So they could just remove
the rubber and we’d have a totally
recyclable bullet.”By ANDREW NOURIE
THE CHILDREN of Copeland
were preparing for bed,
with thoughts of Labor Day
weekend flowing through their heads,
but to their surprise a man went to the
sewers, to protect Copeland from viral
wrongdoers.
It was none other than our President
Wim! He was the one who dared to
take the swim!
He rushed down the ladder, towards
the contents of our bladders.
When his feet touched the ground, he
gave a big frown.
Wim’s nose filled with something
quite vile, but he was still determined
to go the extra mile!
He took a ginormous scoop of these
college students’ poop.
What he found was quite
dubious, the virus had come
out from their gluteus!
Wim had to let someone know
what he had found! There was a
virus all around! Covered head to toe in brown, he ran
back to Copeland town.
He told them the news, that they
could not choose
to leave their dorms, those were the
norms.
The children of Copeland let out a
sigh, but they would surely comply.
One student yelled “this is the pits!
Our weekend is ruined because of our
sh--!”
But fret not dear children, because
shortly thereafter, the skies would
soon be filled with the Copelander’s
laughter.
They found that there was no disease,
in the undigested Bon cheese.
Copeland was free at last! But
suddenly it was overcast!
There was smoke all throughout! All
the Copelanders began to
pout.
I guess choosing to live in
Copeland was a mistake,
they just never seem to
catch a break!
Karen upset with rubber
bullets, opts for recyclables
AMELIA MADARANG/THE PIONEER LOG
AMELIA MADARANG/THE PIONEER LOGAMELIA MADARANG/THE PIONEER LOGThe Backdoor is a work of humor and fiction