PSU Magazine Fall 1990

I AROUND THE PARK BLOCKS Recycling made easy For some Portland and Beaverton apartment dwellers, " recyc ling is now as easy as taking out the garbage." This slogan was used by Portl and State University's Recyc ling Education Project (REP), which establi shed recycling systems in 200 local multi-family bui ldings during the last year. Under the direction of Urban Studies Professor Gerald Blake, the project was completed in June for the Multi-Family Recycling Programs sponsored by the cities of Portland and Beaverton and the Metropolitan Service District (METRO). "Curbside recyc ling has focused primar– ily on single-family residences," says Blake. " Multi-family dwellings, including apartment bu ildings and condominiums, have rece ived less attention but pose a seriou s problem." For the project PSU grad uate and undergraduate students establi shed contact wi th bui lding managers , assisted with the outdoor and indoor recyc ling systems. contacted the local haulers, and provided educat ional material s for tenants. Parti– c ipants were asked to separate newspaper, clear, green, and brown glass, tin , aluminum , and cardboard into metal outdoor recycling shelters or indoor barre ls. The project revea led that the outdoor systems were more popular and that tenant use was re lative ly high. "The most frequent commen t we heard from tenants through the managers," says Blake, "was that they were grateful for the opportunity to separate recyc lables and store them in a convenient location." The pilot project proved a little too successfu l at first with an overwhe lming amount of newspaper being collected. Blake has suggested that in the future a large, separate container be used for newspapers. Encouraging recycling at multi-family dwellings will require an ongoing education program , according to project findings, because of the constant turnover of tenants and managers, and the unique way in which recyclables are collected and stored in apartment and condomin ium complexes. PSU 6 The REP project will continue and expand next year, according to Blake. With METRO sponsorship, 150 to 200 new sites wi ll be added in the Portland area, and students will be making improvements in the system based on findin gs from the initial pilot project. Are we at home with violence? Our soc iety ho lds contradictory views of violence. We deplore violence, yet we misuse gun s. We value children, yet chi ld abuse is rampant. We ex tol the law-ab id– ing family, yet we can view rape, mayhem and terror in our living rooms daily on telev ision. A pane l of three di stingui shed visitors - social sc ienti st Jon Conte, hi storian Eric Monkkonen, and psycholog ist/criminolo– gist Christopher Webster - along with moderator David Newhall, professor emeritus of philosophy at PSU , will discuss these contradictions during the free public symposi um , "'Are We ' At Home ' With Violence?" on Nov. 8 at 5:30 p.m. in Lincoln Hall, Room 75. This is the fourth symposium in the series "Humanities Present : Current Ethical Issues in Debate," and is sponsored by the University Honors Program and the Division of Continuing Education, and endorsed by Oregon Health Dec isions, Ecumenical Mini stries of Oregon, and PSU 's Friends of Hi story. A conference for helping professionals - also entit led " Are We ' At Home' With Violence?" - will take pl ace Friday, Nov. 9, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in PSU 's Smith Center ( 1825 S.W. Broadway). Registration is $65 ($50 for student s and PSU Soc ial Work alumni ) and inc ludes lunch. To receive a conference brochure or to pre-register, call 725-4800. ,-~ -ij :/1 Police Gazette. 1892 Historian investigates "Women and Crime" Internati onall y-recognized hi stori an Olwen Hufton will reconstruct female crim– inals and crime vict ims of Early Modem Western Europe for the third annual Friends of Hi story Endowed Lecture, "Women and Crime," on Thursday, ov. I, at 7:30 p.m. in Smith Center Ballroom. Certain character types recur: the infanticidal mother, the beaten wife, the woman who murders her husband, and the victim of rape or other sexua l horrors, Hufton finds. She locates these women in the ir soc ial contex t, drawing contrasts between women in Northern Europe and the Med iterranean. Educated in Britain, Hufton is an expert on the soc ial hi story of women in Europe as well as the issues of protest and the poor in Europe. She has published and taught widely in Europe and the United States with part icular emphasis on comparative soc ial hi story, particularl y women but also crime, ri ot and violence," she says. Hufton is currentl y professor of European Hi story and Women's Studies at Harvard University.