We are now at the end of April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), during which we had many of events here at PSU. Communities Against Rape and Abuse from Seattle came down to do a workshop on sexual assault. Student group Allies Against Rape Culture put on a Penis Registration Drive to raise awareness about consent. Jed Johnson from Northwest Family Services came to lecture on healthy relationships. And of course, we had Take Back The Night last Thursday.
“If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal,” Emma Goldman once said. Strong words from a strong (and oft-quoted) woman, the philosophy of which holds a lot of weight these days on both a national and a local level. Roughly 40 percent of the eligible voting population didn’t vote in the 2004 general election. And that’s a trifle compared to the over 90 percent of the eligible voting population here at PSU that didn’t vote in the student elections last year. And that’s a problem.
If the Judd Apatow avalanche of hilarious yet undeniably male-centered comedies has irked you in any way, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have some great news for you. It’s a baby! Of comedy!
88 Minutes, the new thriller flick starring Al Pacino, starts out with two attractive female roommates getting ready for bed. The camera focuses on a Seattle newspaper with a headline about Princess Di’s murder, apparently to let us know the year is 1997. Then, in case we didn’t get it the first time, the camera gives a close-up of the newspaper date of September 1, 1997. Then, in case we really didn’t get it the first time, one of the roommates puts on the Backstreet Boys’ “Quit Playin’ Games With My Heart” before she goes to bed.
If one thing is evident from all the hoopla over Thomas Beatie, the transgender pregnant man from Bend, it’s that transphobia is very much alive and tolerated, even in our progressive city that was called “a mecca for transsexuals” by Lori Sirotsky of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition.
It’s hard to walk around Portland for a lengthy period of time without seeing stickers or flyers proclaiming “My food doesn’t have a face!” or a variant thereof. It’s hard to walk into a restaurant in Portland and not have your pick of vegetarian, if not vegan, options.
The Ruins is not good, not at all. But the film does teach us six valuable lessons. Read on for knowledge. (Note: actual list value uncertain. Proceed with caution.)
Senate Bill 1066 passed through the Oregon Legislature this week, offering a full tuition waiver for children and spouses of U.S. Armed Forces personnel who have died during active duty, become fully disabled during service or died as a result of a disability sustained during active duty, all after Sept. 11.
Ah, George Clooney. You are one of those people in the movie business who can do and say anything you want. Usually you have used that power to throw your weight behind socially conscious films like Good Night, and Good Luck and Michael Clayton. Or you’ve used your clout to raise awareness about issues like the Darfur conflict.
I have some good news and I have some strange news. The good news: Jim Carrey, obviously miffed about blowing ass in all his work since Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, decided to make a kick-ass movie again. The strange news is that the movie he made is Horton Hears a Who!
Take note, Catholics, rosaries are considered gang symbols now. And public school systems are cracking down. In a kerfuffle earlier this month that briefly put Albany in the national spotlight, The Oregonian reported that Jaime Salazar, 14, and Marco Castro, 16, were suspended from South Albany High School for refusing to remove their crucifix necklaces on the grounds that they were rosaries and gang-related. Castro did not comment to the press beyond confirming the story, but Salazar spoke out, saying he is “not a gangster and does not dress like one.”