PSU Magazine Fall 1999

Task force takes on Portland airport's future Could a third runway solve Portland International Airport's continual growth issues, or is a new airport in Wilsonville the answer? A 15 -member task force at PSU's Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies will rev iew all options in the next eight months and give its recommendations to the Port of Portland. T he task force, led by Beaverton Mayor Rob Drake, takes up where a master plan study conducted during the past three years left off. Consultants hired by the Port collected resident concerns and tried to antici– pate what fac ilities will be needed by the year 2020. However, the process got bogged down, says Mike Thorne, Port of Portland executive director. "Should we build a new regional airport in Wilsonville or on prime farmland somewhere in the Willamette Valley? Or should we just tell trave lers, 'Sorry, but there are no more airline seats'?" asks Thorne. "Too many questions could not be resolved by the consultants." Ethan Seltzer, director of the Institute of Portland Metropoli tan Studies, says a common suggestion is to move the airport either down the Willamette Valley or to somewhere between Vancouver, Wash ., and Seattle that could be served by high– speed rail. But a move would be expensive and probably would pose land-use problems, Seltzer says, adding, "There is no easy alternative." The task force will also consider whether to support high-speed ra il to Seattle and let Sea-Tac become Portland 's airport. One key element of the master plan-the projected number of passen– gers in 2020-has changed several times since the study was launched. The initial forecast was that 12 million would grow to 24 million, but today's passenger total is pushing 14 million a year, and the 2020 guess is now 28 million to 30 million. The task force expects to present a report to the Port's commissioners in May 2000, and the master plan should be complete by summer. Student ad campaign a winner for Toyota When Toyota rolls out its new compact car, Echo, in October, PSU students will likely see something familiar in the national marketing campaign. A team of 11 marketing students, under the guidance of faculty member Don Dickinson , captured econd place in the Pacific Northwest Region of the American Advertising Federation's National Student Advertising Competition. The team, which goes by the name "NetGen Strategies," came up with a campaign for Toyota targeting the "netgeneration of computer savvy 18- to 33-year-old consumers. Their Internet strategy includes an interac– tive owners club site, a promotions page with contests, and a public service page with an emphasis on Toyota's lead in combating the national "road rage" problem. In addi– tion to print, radio, TV, and outdoor advertising, the team suggested a trav– eling showroom on a flatbed semi– trailer called "ECHO 'n motion." It would serve as both a display and a mobile test drive center. "It was as exciting as any new busi– ness pitch I've been in, 11 says Dickinson, a former partner at Portland's Gerber Advertising who joined the Business School faculty in fall 1998. Gathering tales of crime from Kosovo refugees Horrendous stories of rape, mutilation, and death were told over and over to Steve Kosokoff as he interv iewed ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo in the Republic of Macedonia. Kosokoff, professor emeritus of speech communication, conducted the interviews during April, May, and June for the International War C rimes Tribunal. He and many others were tapped by the United Nations as it pursued prosecution of Yugoslav ian President Slobodan Milosev ic and others for their role in the bloody war. Kosokoff spent the previous 18 months in relative calm as he taught in Macedonia's cap ital city, Skopj e. Fir t he taught U.S. h istory at St. Cyril and Method ius University, the national un iversity, and then he taught public speaking to American sold iers on a United Nations base. Because he is a skilled interviewer, Ko okoff was asked to assist in the United N ations' War Crimes Documentation Project. In his imme– diate group were five Albanian inter– viewers. They rarely went into refugee camps as many of the interviewers did , but conducted their talks (an inter– preter always accompanied Kosokoff) in the homes of Macedonia Albanians who had taken in Kosovo refugees. In stark contrast to the tales of terror was the generosity of the hosts. Kosokoff saw a fami ly who had taken in 130 individuals and a tax i driver who had 61 refugees living with him. "It wasn't unusual to see 20 people living in a small apartment," he recount . Kosokoff's team conducted 400 interv iews in three months. The info r– mation now resides in a database in The Hague. "Hopefully we will see some prosecutions from this, particu– larly at the smaller, local level," says Kosokoff, who heard some names– individuals associated with atrocities– repeated many times. Even if the accounts never result in prosecution, Kosokoff says there was value in allowing these individuals to tell their heart-rending stories. Out of his own curiosity, Kosokoff asked every refugee at the end of an interv iew if he or she thought it wou ld be possible to live in peace with the Serbs. "For nine out of 10 the answer was no, 11 he says, "and if ou lived through what they did you would have fe lt the same." Be in the know Want to know what's happening on campus? Call our events phone line, (503) 725-2950, or go to our Web calendar, www.pdx.edu (click on Campus Information and then Events at PSU). Most of our lectures and exhibits are free, and plays, concerts, and sporting events are low-cost. FALL 1999 PSU MAGAZINE 3