FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8TH, 2010
PSUVANGUARD.COM
VOL. 65 NO. 11
Viks soccer begins conference play this weekend by hosting Eagles and Grizzlies Nilesh Tendolkar Vanguard staff The 2010 season hasn’t gone exactly as planned for Portland State women’s soccer. The team is currently on a five-game winless streak, and has an overall record of 4-7-1 this season.
However, these results will not matter for the Viks as the reigning Big Sky Conference’s regular season champs begin defending their title when league play kicks off this weekend. Portland State takes on Eastern Washington at 5 p.m. today at Hillsboro Stadium, before hosting Montana at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Portland State head coach Laura Schott, last year’s Big Sky Coach of the Year, said her Vikings have played a challenging schedule to date.
“A lot of players have had the opportunity to play during our non-conference matches, and they’ve played very well,” she said. “I’m looking forward to starting conference play.”
Last season, the month of October was the turning point in Portland State’s championship campaign, with the Viks getting into their rhythm and going 6-1-2 that month. The team won all four home games and finished the Big Sky regular season with a title-winning 4-1-2 record, scoring 11 goals in the process.
Eastern Washington has the worst record among Big Sky teams in 2010 and has lost every game since the draw against California State Bakersfield in its season opener. The Eagles go into league play with a 0-9-1 record.
In the head-to-head series between the schools, Portland State leads, 9-4-1. Last season, a PSU goal in the dying seconds from junior defender Toni Carnovale earned the Viks a 1-1 draw with the Eagles when they met in Cheney, Wash. Portland State’s sole loss to the Eagles was back in 2000, when they fell 3-2.
Montana’s record in 2010, too, has not been a source of pride. The Lady Griz are 1-8-2 this season, placing them just above Eastern Washington and Weber State in the Big Sky standings. Their only win was a 1-0 triumph over North Dakota on Sept. 19.
Portland State currently trails the Grizzlies 6-8-1 in the head-to-head series, but has won six of the last seven meetings. Last season, senior Frankie Ross scored the lone goal in the 1-0 win over the Grizzlies. Ross is currently the joint top scorer for the Vikings in 2010 with three goals and is tied at fourth for assists in the program’s history.
This year, Portland State looks to become the first team to win back-to-back Big Sky regular season championships since Montana in 1999–2000.
Currently, Ross and juniors Kala Renard and Melissa Trammel lead the team with three goals each. In total, the team’s 16 goals have come from nine different players.
Last weekend, the Viks settled for a 1-1 draw after taking the lead against Utah Valley at home, and were then shot down by Seattle, 0-2, on the road.
For Schott, this weekend offers a chance for her 20th win at the helm of Portland State’s women’s soccer program, and if she succeeds she will be only the third coach in the program’s history to reach such a milestone. Over the past two seasons, Schott has the best record among Big Sky coaches (8-2-4).
“Both EWU and Montana are physical teams that bring their best when conference matches start,” Schott said. “Conference games are always exciting, and I’m looking forward to the weekend.” ?
Football faces intimidating opponent on the road in Bozeman Allison Whited Vanguard staff Records entering the game
Portland State is 2-2 on the season and 1-0 in conference play after a resounding 38-3 victory over conference rival Idaho State in last week’s home opener. Montana State is 4-1 on the season and a perfect 2-0 in conference play after snagging a clutch, 64-61, overtime win last week against another Big Sky contender, Sacramento State.
The Bobcats were the victors with a score of 28-10, but the Viks were never really in this one. By halftime, the Bobcats had padded their lead to 28-0. The Viking defense did kick in after the midway point and limited the Bobcats to little more than 50 offensive yards, but it was too little, too late. The starting quarterback, Drew Hubel, was lost in the first half with a shoulder injury that has never gone away.
At the time, neither team was built for offense. The Viks weren’t built for defense either, but the Bobcats were. Montana State will have history on its side entering the fray. It has won seven of the last eight matchups with Portland State, and leads the all-time series, 9-2, on the turf in Bozeman.
The Viks’ sophomore kicker Zach Brown has been just as impressive this year as he was last year. He’s 8 of 12 on the season with two of his four misses coming from over 50 yards. The season isn’t over yet, and he has already put up an impressive 53-yarder. Brown is incredibly accurate in the 40 to 49 yard zone, kicking for a perfect 6 of 6—a feat that most NFL kickers can’t claim.
Despite this, the Bobcats have the Big Sky’s top-ranked kicker on their team. Jason Cunningham has missed only one field goal this season, bringing his tally to 13 of 14. He is also the Big Sky’s leading scorer with 61 points. His only miss is from 52 yards and he enters this game the second-ranked kicker in the nation.
This looks to be a different Montana State team than those of years past. The Bobcat offense has been putting up some big numbers and leads the Big Sky in just about every offensive category: scoring offense, pass offense, rushing offense and total offense. The Bobcats are ranked 10th in the nation in their division, third in the nation in total offense and second in the nation in scoring offense.
Montana State’s real threat is freshman quarterback Denarius McGhee, who has given the Bobcats an offensive identity. Last week, he was named the Big Sky’s Freshman of the Week, and his four touchdown passes and 386 yards also qualified him for Offensive Player of the Week. Making the feat even more impressive is the fact that McGhee threw an interception-free game. McGhee also exhibits some mobility as evidenced by his five-yards per rush average in last week’s game. He is second in the conference in passing average per game and third in pass efficiency.
This is also the homecoming game for the Bobcats, so the team will surely be riding a swell of pride. Everything and everyone in Bozeman will be looking for a Bobcat win.
Head coach Nigel Burton’s defense really came into its own last week against Idaho State. The Vikings not only prevented the Bengals from getting a touchdown—something they haven’t done to a team since 2006—but they also limited them to just 195 yards of total offense. Hopefully, they will be able to do the same thing this week and pressure their opponent’s freshman quarterback into mistakes. Look for junior safety Manoa Latu, this week’s Co-Defensive Player of the Week, to wreak some havoc.
Latu is having a tremendous first year at Portland State. He is tied for the team lead in tackles, 31, with junior linebacker Ryan Rau. He also had two interceptions, one of which was returned 43 yards for a touchdown in last week’s game against Idaho State, and has broken up four passes. Both of these also tie with team leaders.
The passing offense will hopefully start to gel in the same way that the running offense has. Junior quarterback Connor Kavanaugh is ranked dead last in the Big Sky in passing efficiency, completing just 58.1 percent of his passes. Portland State also doesn’t have even one of the top 10 receivers in the conference.
The running game should continue to improve and keep making the dynamic strides that it has been. The Viks had run the spread offense for so long that not a single opponent’s defense really had the weight of that possibility on their shoulders. All of that has changed now. Junior running back Cory McCaffrey is the fifth-ranked rusher in the conference with three touchdowns, 322 yards and an average of 5.2-yards per carry. Most surprising of all is that the Viks had not one but two rushers with over 100 yards last week.
Kickoff for the Vikings’ second game of conference play is set for 12:35 p.m. on Saturday. The game can be viewed live online at www.b2tv.com or heard on 970 AM. Replay will be available on Comcast Sports Net at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. ?
Intra-squad scrimmage introduces the new and improved Blazers team to fans Stephen Isle Vanguard Staff The Portland Trail Blazers continued their preseason tradition Friday when they held the annual Fan Fest scrimmage in front of a crowd of 11,525 at the Rose Garden. The free event offered Blazers fans a first-come, first-served sneak peek into what the coming season has in store for the city’s NBA team. While concessions at the arena remained at the standard prices, the always-appreciated free ticket made the event difficult to pass up for Blazers fans. As the evening approached, so did the die-hard Blazer fans wanting to get good seats. Lines weaved around the Rose Garden, and when 5 p.m. hit, the crowds swarmed on the doors. News of the team had been up and down as of late, and for the Rip City regulars, Fan Fest provided a great chance to see the status of those players whose futures seem to be in limbo. Question marks have surrounded Centers Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla throughout the offseason, and fans wanted to know when they would be ready for games. But even without their presence on the court, interest in the condition of the players the Blazers acquired over the summer was still high. There wasn’t a bad seat in the house on Friday, as the crowd was just small enough that the Rose Garden’s upper-level seating was not needed. The event began with the team warming up as people shuffled into their seats, and then a team interview before the scrimmage helped the fans to get a feel for their new team. Players were welcomed with cheers, and almost all got huge rounds of applause from the crowd. It was obvious that there were mixed feelings toward some, though. While Brandon Roy received the largest ovation of the evening, guard Rudy Fernandez—who, during the offseason, expressed interest in leaving the Blazers because he was unhappy with his playing time and the NBA in general—was showered with a large mix of both boos and cheers during his interview. The cheers seemed to be good enough for him though, and he generally appeared happy to be there. After the team had been introduced and players had a chance to address the fans, more warm-ups and drills came, which, for this basketball fan, was comforting to see. Warm up for as long as you need to, Blazers—the last thing the team needs is another injury before the start of preseason play. The warm-ups took up a good portion of the night, but were interesting nonetheless, as players’ footwork and dribbling skills were put to the test. When the five-on-five scrimmage started, the Blazers were split up into black and white squads. The white team was primarily composed of bench players and rookies, while the black squad featured the Blazers’ likely starters. It seemed on paper that it would be a walk in the park for the black squad, but the absence of all three starting centers revealed weaknesses in the middle and took away from the black squad’s rebounding. Marcus Camby, last year’s much-needed midseason acquisition, sat out with a mild groin injury. The audience was informed that his injury is nothing serious, and that the team was merely being cautious. The game consisted of four 10-minute quarters (rather than the NBA-standard 12 minutes), and showed off the incredible talent of the lesser-known players. While Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 15 and 12 points, respectively, Portland’s newest Blazer outplayed both. Wesley Matthews, the man who gave the Blazers headaches last year and who became a large part of the Utah Jazz’s recent success, won MVP of the night by finishing with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting. In addition, Matthews went 3 for 4 from behind the 3-point arc. While it was difficult to watch Matthews perform well with the Jazz last year, it is comforting to know he is now on Rip City’s side. And though he may end up as Brandon Roy’s backup this season, he still had an impressive performance on Friday. Jerryd Bayless also had an impressive night for the white squad, and finished with 12 points, eight assists and six rebounds. Rookies also had their time to shine Friday night, but not without having to go through innocent team hazing first. As the first half came to a close, rather than heading to the locker room, the rookies were called to the center of the court. Their embarrassment was apparent as Aldridge requested that the music start and they began dancing for the crowd. Rookies Elliot Williams, Luke Babbitt and Armon Johnson all showed their moves, and it was terrible—but entertaining nonetheless. Their dancing was a good showing as to why they are meant to play basketball. In the end, the white squad, which was thought to be the “bench” team, ended up with a 58-54 victory over the black team. Much of the credit can be given to Matthews, but the team as a whole showed good signs for the year to come. While the question marks remain on when Oden and Przybilla will return, the team in the meantime has plenty of weapons to turn to. ?
Applicants must be available to work Monday evenings, starting at 2 P.M. The Portland State Vanguard is hiring a design assistant for the 2010-11 school year. The ideal applicant will be proficient in Adobe InDesign, possess strong page layout skills and be capable of working quickly and independently in a newsroom environment. Design assistants use newspaper style sheets to design spreads, information graphics and illustrations.
The 2010-2011 Vanguard is published in print on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Design assistants can expect to work between five and ten hours per week. ?
OCTOBER 1ST, 2010
PSUVANGUARD.COM
VOL. 65
Give us the Dam Cup New competition with Eastern Washington begins this weekend Robert Britt Vanguard Staff
Starting today, the Vikings are playing for the Dam Cup.
This weekend, the Portland State Vikings and the Eastern Washington Eagles will play each other in women’s soccer and women’s volleyball, two of the five sports that are part of a new yearlong rivalry competition between the two schools called the Dam Cup, according to statements released from the schools.
Named for the four dams on the Columbia River that one drives past on a trip from Portland to Spokane, Wash., the Dam Cup is a points-based contest that will “celebrate the friendly rivalry between the states of Oregon and Washington within the Big Sky Conference.”
In addition to the soccer and volleyball games played this weekend, the rivalry will include two men’s and two women’s basketball games, the annual football game and next month’s volleyball game in Spokane. The football game is worth four points and the soccer match is worth one. Each of the women’s volleyball, men’s basketball and women’s basketball games are worth two points, for a total of 17 possible points.
The school that wins at least nine points will be awarded the inaugural Dam Trophy.
“It has always been enjoyable when we beat Eastern Washington,” said Torre Chisholm, Portland State’s director of athletics. “This should make it even better.”
Portland State would have won the Dam Cup if the contest had been going last year, with 10.5 points. After the schools tied in soccer, the Vikings went on to win both women’s volleyball matches, both men’s basketball games and one of the women’s basketball games.
According to the schools, the goals of the new inter-state rivalry include boosting alumni pride and school spirit at each university and increasing attendance at sporting events.
The four Columbia River dams the competition refers to are the Bonneville, The Dalles, John Day and McNary dams. ?
Intramural sports program thriving at Portland State Rusty Vineyard, intramural sports coordinator, talks sports Kevin Fong Vanguard staff
There’s nothing quite like the thrill of intense competition, or that feeling of unity that a team can achieve by learning to work together. Sports can be a lot of fun, and fortunately for students looking for a little recreation, Portland State offers growing, well-managed and spirited intramural leagues through the Campus Rec program.
“It’s a chance [for people] to get out and participate in something recreational instead of always having their nose stuck in the books,” said Rusty Vineyard, Campus Rec’s intramural sports coordinator.
Portland State offers an increasingly wide variety of events through its intramural sports program, ranging from flag football to dodgeball leagues. Running throughout the year, the intramural leagues offer numerous sports varying from season to season. Each league usually has about 10 teams participating, with the exception of some of the more popular sports, such as basketball and soccer, which see as many as 20 teams competing in a season.
With a $40 per team entry fee, intramural leagues are a healthy and inexpensive form of entertainment. They are run in an open format, meaning there typically aren’t different competition levels and the league is available to almost anyone as long they are a PSU student, staff or alumni. Teams can be co-ed or single gender, and can be composed of students or teachers, but either way, all teams are usually in the same league and are eligible to play one another.
Vineyard recalls a flag football team called the Bloody Gamecocks, a team that was the product of two teams (the Bloody Knuckles and the Gamecocks) that had merged together because both were short on players. Although they were a mixture of young and old players—essentially a random combination of students, alumni and faculty that were thrown together—the team bonded quickly and went on to win three flag football championships in a row.
“I think everybody took them for granted,” Vineyard remembered with a laugh.
In four years of working as Portland State’s intramurals coordinator, Vineyard has seen the program develop and evolve quickly. He has also gathered a few interesting stories over the years.
Vineyard said that when he first came to PSU, it was just him and seven game officials at the office. Under Vineyard’s watch, the intramural leagues have since seen a significant spike in participation and now he has two assistants, six supervisors, four scorekeepers, and more than 15 officials around to help out with the leagues.
Staying active and playing sports has been a big part of Vineyard’s life and eventually, his interests became his career. Since 1997, he has been involved with intramural sports in one form or another and still plays today in as many leagues as he can find time for. If you stop by his office and sign up for an activity, there’s a chance you could be playing against his team later that season.
“I want to know that I’m playing the same sports the students are,” Vineyard said. “It helps me to [understand] things at a different level.”
One of his goals is to get students to not only try out the different sports and events that are available, but he also wants them to give their feedback on what’s working or what could use improvement. It’s part of the reason the intramural sports program has been successful in recent years.
“We want to hear from the students,” Vineyard said. “And make it as fun as possible for them.”
For students who are on the fence about joining a team, the intramural league puts on exhibition nights throughout the year. These events are free and operate similarly to an “open gym” where people can come and play in pickup games, meet new people, and get a sense of the action.
If you don’t have a team, don’t let that stop you from participating. Players without teams are dubbed free agents and can almost always find a team that will welcome them with open arms. Often, they are put in contact with other free agents and will then form their own teams. In the past, Vineyard has even held free agent drafts, where teams will take turns selecting the extra players.
“Even if you don’t know someone with a team, there’s always someone to sign up with,” said Kyle Arntson, a junior at Portland State.
Last year, Arntson ran into an old high school friend on campus who asked him if he’d be interested in playing on her intramural basketball team. Arntson decided to give it a try and is now in his second season of basketball with thoughts of playing soccer or possibly flag football in the near future.
“I was surprised at how organized they were,” Arntson said. “I met a ton of new people and had a great time doing it. The competition was solid and I really enjoyed their facilities.”
Registration for soccer, flag football and dodgeball is available on the Campus Rec website at www.pdx.edu/recreation/intramurals, and is open through this weekend.
Also, Vineyard and the staff will host a wide variety of competitions and promotional events throughout the year where students can win prizes and other giveaways. Last month, a “Minute to Win It” competition was held, in which selected students were given the opportunity to compete in quick and trivial activities. In the end, the winner was awarded a $1,000 scholarship donation from Bank of America.
For more information, check out the intramural sports program’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/intramurals for updates. ?
Organisms that live near deep-sea vents spark scientific speculation Joe Mantecon Vanguard Staff There are few known biologically-active environments that are as hostile as those which surround the deep-sea hydrothermal vents studied by Dr. Anna-Louis Reysenbach, a member of the Portland State biology faculty.
A specialist in microbial ecology, Reysenbach and her team study the unique habitat represented by hydrothermal vents off the coast of Oregon by using a deep-sea submarine known as Alvin. In particular, the team’s research focuses on the resilient life forms that live near the vents.
“This is a frontier of science,” Reysenbach said. “We know that we’re going to find brand new, unusual organisms that nobody knew existed. That’s a huge genetic potential. If you’ve got so many novel genes, there’s a possibility for novel discoveries.”
Traditional notions in the ecological community hold that the sun is the foundational source of energy for life on earth. However, at depths of about two kilometers below the surface of the ocean—sometimes as deep as five kilometers—darkness is so absolute that a number of species do not even develop eyes. As a result, organisms must rely on an alternative source of energy. The hydrothermal vent is a prime candidate.
The vents are roughly cylindrical in shape and resemble an underwater volcano. The vent, which can grow at a rate of one foot per day, is porous rock formed by the precipitation of minerals as the super-heated water—upwards of 900 degrees Fahrenheit—spews from the fissure, and confronts the surrounding frigid marine environment.
The plumes of black smoke that are ejected by the vents are in fact minerals, notably sulfides, from the earth’s crust.
The significance of these microbes is not confined to circles of academic speculation. The atypical properties of these organisms suggest a number of interesting possibilities, ranging as far as medical and nanotechnology, which is engineering at a microscopic level.
For example, the presence of an abnormal flexibility in the cell walls of these microbes could have great implications in the nanotechnological community if the material could be reproduced, synthetically or otherwise. Additionally, the gravitation of these microbes toward toxins and acidity could prove useful in the clearing and draining of acid mines, where harmful chemicals and metals, like arsenic, pose a hazard.
For Reysenbach’s research forays into this field, she has received grants from both the National Science Foundation and NASA.
According to PSU’s website, Reysenbach has also studied deep-sea vents in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
However, she admits that there remains a great deal of unknowns surrounding the organisms that inhabit these unique biomes.
“We can only describe about 1 percent of the organisms—microbes—that are in the environment,” she said.
How and when these microbes colonize these formations, the localization of populations and the prolificacy of certain species throughout the oceans are debatable, according to Reysenbach. The biggest question, however, is just how these organisms live so successfully in such a volatile climate. But, according to Reysenbach, it appears they do it with skill.
“They don’t survive [there],” Reysenbach said. “They thrive.” ?
Print-on-demand program needs to succeed In August, the Portland State University bookstore began a print-on-demand pilot program with Hewlett-Packard. This program, one of only three in the United States, has the potential to revolutionize the textbook industry as we know it and change the way you buy your class content.
It fits Portland to a ‘T.’ The bookstore’s new print-on-demand program is good for students, the bookstore and the earth. This program deserves support and is a great asset to Portland State students.
Kenneth Brown, the president and CEO of the Portland State Bookstore, feels the program, called Odin Ink, could redefine the business model.
“Publishing on-demand gets the books students need into their hands when they need them,” Brown said. If a student needs a book the store has the file for, they can print it for them then and there. And that’s if it’s not already available—the store already has several books on the shelf from its own printing.
More than the convenience, though, is the effect on textbook prices. “This program has the potential to drop prices immensely,” Brown said. Not only does printing in-house reduce the overall cost of the book itself, but it also eliminates movement costs. The objective is to lower store and publisher costs to lower the price for students.
The project is also a step in the right direction sustainability-wise. The elimination of transportation from the equation makes the process more environmentally friendly than the traditional method. And because the store can print as many copies as students need, there is also a reduction in wasteful printing.
The endeavor is not without its obstacles. Only available at PSU, Kansas University and Arizona State University, the program is still experimental. As a pilot program, a lot is expected to be learned from real-world application. The textbooks that can be printed right now are fewer than the store would like to offer.
“Major publishers have been reticent to give files to us,” Brown said, though he adds that most have expressed interest in working with the store to move the program forward. So far, the store has gotten files for a good number of texts, especially considering that the program is so new. Despite the initial difficulties, Brown is optimistic about getting more publishers on board by winter term.
Some students are skeptical about the quality of the books that would be printed. The concern is that the end result would be bound, single-sided packets like those sold at Clean Copy. This is not the case, however. According to Brown, “What we print is exactly the same as what we would receive from the publisher.” The books have the same professional binding as those already being sold; the primary difference, it seems, would be the price.
Prices are still very dependent on what the publisher charges for the right to print the books. Copyright and royalties can also contribute to higher prices for these texts. However, the availability of open-source textbooks is changing this as well. A few books already being printed are open-source, requiring no royalties to the authors; They can be printed and sold for significantly less than those obtained from textbook publishers. This is also true of public-domain texts, and this program may encourage the use of both.
Another worry for all students is buyback potential. With the capacity available to print new copies to keep up with demand, some students have expressed concern that they would not be able to sell their books back to the store, or that the exchange would be for less money than with other books. However, they do not have to worry. According to Brown, the store will offer the same buyback amount for books printed in-store as those ordered from other publishers: half the new book price for a text with a course request for the next term, and half the national wholesale value for texts with no course request.
The new print-on-demand program is a brilliant innovation with the potential to save money and reduce pollution. Although it is still only a pilot program, with support such as yours it could easily become the primary method of textbook acquisition, with applications all over the United States and the world. With time and backing, Odin Ink will make overpriced textbooks a thing of the past. ?
Anarchy got baptized at a summer conference. On trial for cocaine charges, William Kinney III says he answers to God and not to the laws of Oregon. What happens to a society, to law, when religion is the base of social contention and political thought?
Those who are radical tend to have the loudest voices whether they are proselytizing for religious thought or a political movement. For William Kinney III, it seems to be both. During his trial, his judge silenced him with 12 contempt of court charges, added four months on his sentence and charged a $3,000 fine for talking over attorneys and trying to make his point.
His complete disrespect for the law is what resulted in a fatal auto accident in 2002, which is what got Kinney in trouble in the first place.
Views such as Kinney’s, for obvious reasons, are held as a threat to traditional societal structures. For example, a well-read anarchist despising most things considered well-bred, i.e. raising one’s hand in school to raising one’s hands at church. Radicals test the individual’s limits in society so regular people don’t have to.
Truthfully, education, police forces, etc. are part of civil and religious socialization and one should always be aware of them and their effects. Yet Kinney’s claim of being above the law for religious reasons is beyond reason.
He justifies driving without a license, speeding and having a large amount of cocaine by claiming he’s above the law—”remnant of a divine people” and a “sovereign individual,” according to oregonlive.com. William Kinney may be mentally unstable, but in the minds of some people, he is on to something.
For example, jesusradicals.com provides both an anarchical critique of government power and brings a religious intention, stating that “the best available option [for Christians] is anarchism because it opens up space for Christians to engage without selling out their primary allegiances.”
There seems to be quite the following of this philosophy in Portland, big enough to hold a conference here in early August.
Granted, this group of people seems to be comprised of mostly pacifists, and they have every right to believe what they believe. Yet, the unstable mixology of religion with a heavy dose of political activity has given rise to many oddities over the decades. We have the FLDS (Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints) in rural Utah who still practice polygamy, yet are left alone by the government.
A more local example are the Rajneeshees, who were infamous in the mid’80s for salmonella poisoning in The Dalles in order to influence local elections. While some beliefs are adverse to human equality or in support of political control by fear, it’s easy to judge a book by its cover.
In light of those examples, relig