PSU Magazine Fall 1998

0 UN D Korean peace on campus After a meeting in July with South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung, PSU 's own president, Dan Bernstine, signed an agreement that will bring $4.8 million and an international peace center to Portland State. The World Peace Center at PSU will promote cultural and academic exchanges and undertake research for Korean reunification. North and South Korea have been divided since 1945. Korea University will partner with PSU and provide major funding for the peace center. The money will allow PSU to complete the purchase and renovation of the Fourth Avenue Building, the former US West Building at SW Fourth and Harrison, which will house the center. The University plans to prov ide $3.2 million in bonds. The peace center honors Kim, a nine-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee who has in the past suffered arrest and torture in his own country for his promotion of peace and democracy. Kim visited the PSU campus in 1995 fo r an international conference on "Korea and the Future of Northeast Asia. " A t that time he was presented with an honorary degree for his human rights activities. Bernstine negotiated the partner– ship in July with Korea University President Jung-Bae Kim. Detailed activities fo r the new center, which is expected to open in September 1999, have not been determined. Bernstine says he expects the new center will "expand PSU 's role on the interna– tional stage," prov iding an ideal Pacific Rim location for international confer– ences and negotiating sessions. Faculty favorites The classroom abilities of 16 faculty members in the College of Liberal Arts and Science- as rated by their students-were honored in June. The John Eliot Allen O utstanding Teaching Awards were presented fo r the first time this past spring. Award - 4 PSU MAGAZINE FALL 1998 T H E P A R K winning teachers were identified by outstanding students from each depart– ment. The award was named in memory of Allen, a much -respected professor emeritus of geology who taught at PSU from 1956 to 1974. Winners of the first awards are Virginia Butler, anthropology; Richard Forbes, biology; Raymond Lutz, chemistry; Martin Schmidt, econom– ics; Deeanne Westbrook, English; Teresa Bulman , geography; Kenneth C ruikshank, geology; Bernard Burke, history; Marj orie Terdal, applied linguistics; Gavin Bjork, mathematics; Larry Bowlden, philosophy; Erik Bodegom, physics; Donald Truxillo, psychology; Veronica Dujon, sociol– ogy; Peter Ehrenhaus, speech commu– nication; and Ruben Sierra, Chicano/Latino studies. Giving up a voice Village Voice is no longer available at the PSU Library. Several years ago, the library was forced to cancel more than 1,000 journal and serial titles because of budget cuts. Some have been brought back through the Adopt-a– Journal program, the innovative idea of two library managers, but more adop– tions are needed. Pledge the cost of a subscription-$65 for Village Voice--0r call for a list of titles. Contact Joan Young at the PSU Library, 725-5783 or by e-mail: jupite1®pdx .edu . B L 0 C K Grant from Turkey reviewed and approved Portland State will keep the $750,000 grant from the Turkish government to launch the Contemporary Turkish Studies Program. President Dan Bernstine announced in May that the gift was consistent with the University's Policy Statement on External Gifts and Grants and met appropriate academic standards. Bernstine based his decision on the recommendations of an ad hoc committee he appointed to review the grant. Less than a year ago, PSU accepted a down payment from Turkey for an endowed chair in Contemporary Turkish Studies. At that time a Faculty Senate advisory council reviewed the proposal and received faculty input. The council recom– mended that the University accept the gift and concluded that "normal peer review procedures are sufficient to protect Turkish Studies from improper external influence on academic policies." A controversy arose last fa ll when people from the local Armenian and Greek communities protested the gift and launched a letterwriting campaign to state and federal lawmakers, as well as to PSU administrators. Critics ques– tioned language in the grant's deed of contract that restricted PSU to choos– ing a scholar for the endowed chair who had "published works based upon extensive utilization of archives and libraries in Turkey" and who must "maintain cordial relations with academic circles in Turkey." Some interpreted the wording as restricting PSU to hiring only pro-Turkey scholars. The ad hoc committee requested and rece ived clarification on these contract points from the Turkish government. The committee was satis– fied that a PSU-hired scholar would be free to draw on appropriate source materials wherever these materials are located and that the Turkish govern-