PSU Magazine Fall 2000

AROUND THE PARK BLOCKS $21 million program for youth comes to PSU The Graduate Schoo l of Social Work has rece ived a $2 1 million gra nt to change how the nation serves sub– stance-abusing juvenile offenders. The five-year award, made by the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, establishes PSU as the national site for the Youth Intervention Network Pro– gram. The network will look at how substance abuse services are conceptu– alized and made ava ilab le to you th in the juvenile justice system. For the project 10 communities will be selected from around the country to receive up to $250,000 for each of the fi ve years. The grant will help these communities develop, tra in staff fo r, and offer better services for juvenile offenders and their fam ilies. "We are in a unique pos ition ," says James Ward, dean of the Graduate Schoo l of Social Work, "to provide national leadership by develop ing and testing curriculum fo r educational spe– cialization , se rv ing as a center fo r prac– tice development and training, and develop ing research opportunities fo r faculty and doctora l students." The Youth Interventi on Network Program is co-directed by Laura N issen and Judge Don Owen Costello. Nissen was director of the Center for High Risk Youth Stud ies at the Metropoli– tan State College of Denver. Costello is chief judge of the Coquille Indian Tribal Court and acting judge of the Tribal Court of the Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde. Bemstine helps Urban League recover What a difference a year has made for the Urban League of Portland. Severe financial woes last year prompted large supporters such as United Way of the Columbia-Willamette to withdraw its fund ing from the League. Today the support is back and the organization is un<ler the management of a popular new leader, Margaret Carter. Much of the League's present success can be attributed to PSU President Dan Bernstine, says Carter. Since becoming chairman of the Urban League board in January, Bernstine reestablished ties with important supporters and helped boost the effectiveness of the group's leadership. Among his accomplishments, according to Carter, president and CEO of the League, were his negotiations with Bank of America to consolidate the Urban League's debts and work with Key Bank to extend loan payment schedules. Carter credits Bernstine for starting Monday Morning Quarterback meetings with board mem– bers to help improve relationships with the busi– ness community. He also brought in PSU's Institute for Nonprofit Man agement to help the League form a recovery action plan . O nce the League's finances stabilized, he organized addi– tional meetings on fund raising to get the League back on its feet. Bernstine, who has been on the board since 1998, was not scheduled to become chair until the spring of 2000. He assumed the role in January to reconstitute the board and assign tasks, says Carter. "His leadership restored the confidence in the community necessary for the League to fulfill its role as the premier agency for civil rights and help– ing low- income people," she says. 4 PSU MAGAZINE FALL 2000 Engineering receives $5 million from city Portland Mayor Vera Katz made good on her 2000 State of the C ity promise to push fo r a top-tier engineering pro– gram at Portland State. At her prompting, the Portland Development Commiss ion amended its 2000-01 budget to allocate $5 mill ion to help build a new engineering fac ility on campus. The University is seeking $70 mi l– lion for the project, which would involve the remodeling of the College of Engineering and Computer Sci– ence's Fourth Avenue Building and construction of a new building adja– cent to the site. Fund ing is expected to come from a combination of private, corporate, and government dollars dur– ing the next fi ve years. New faci lities would allow the University to double the size of its engineering program and meet the growing need from the region's high-tech industry for more well-trained graduates. PSU offers degrees in computer sci– ence, electrica l and computer engi– neering, engineering and technology management, mechanical engineering, software engineering, systems engi– neering, and civil and environmental engineering. The University recently rece ived approval to offer a Ph.D. in computer sc ience. In exchange for the $5 million allocation, the Portland Development Commiss ion will acquire property or the rights to develop property that Portland State owns. The final agree– ment is still being negotiated. Students appointed to important state boards Two Portland State students are serv– ing on key education boards fo r the state fo llowing appointment by Gov. John Kitzhaber. Tim Young was appointed to the Oregon State Board of Higher Education, and Anne Cohen now sits on the State Student Ass istance Commission. Both will serve two-year terms. Young is the seventh PSU student to serve on the governing board of the • •