PSU Magazine Fall 2004

Computer Science faculty come from OHSU Ten tenure-track faculty, their 20 doctoral students, and $2 million in annual research expenditures have moved to the PSU Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science from Oregon Health & Science Univer– sity's OGI School of Science & Engi– neering. The change allows each institution Lo concentrate on its own unique areas within computer science. The Oregonian called the change "inter-institutional cooperation" and an "act of flexibility and productivity" in an editorial after the September 17 announcement. Under this arrangement, nationally recognized OGl computer science programs in networking and systems, programming languages and formal methods, and databases will transition to PSU's Maseeh College, where they will be consolidated within the existing computer science research and educa– tion programs, which include research clusters in the area of software engi– neering, theory and algorithms, learning systems, high performa~ce computing, and computer security. The shift at OGI will accelerate its computer science and engineering research focus into issues of human and ecosystem health. Increasing the number of computer science faculty and students, as well as funded research, moves the Maseeh College closer to its goal of creating a nationally ranked computer science program, says Robert Dryden, dean of the college. The new faculty join a program that serves 450 undergraduate and 120 graduate students. Helping women become future leaders Women wanting Lo know what it takes to be a strong leader gathered on cam– pus in June for an intensive weeklong workshop. The nearly 40 Oregon col– lege women, ranging in age from 20 Lo 50, came with one purpose but very different aspirations: elected official; Peace Corps volunteer; medical researcher, police officer; and advocate for women, children and the elderly. Ready to show them the way was an impressive group of proven, Oregon women leaders. The women students were drawn to PSU's inaugural session of National Edu– cation for Women's Leadership Oregon program-an affiliate of a nationally rec– ognized program at Rutgers University. The program is designed to educate and encourage college women Lo become politically active and take on leadership roles on their campuses and in their communities, says its director, Melody Rose, a PSU political science professor. This year's mentors included former Gov. Barbara Roberts; House Speaker Karen Minnis, R-Wood Village; Vanessa Gaston, president and CEO of the Urban League of Portland; and Gretchen Kafoury, former Oregon legislator, and Multnomah County and Portland city commissioner. Roberts and Kafoury teach in the PSU Hatfield School of Government. Oregon ranks fifth in the nation for the proportion of women serving in state legislatures, according Lo the Cen– ter for American Women and Politics at Rutgers. But nationally, the political gains that women achieved in the 1980s and early 1990s have slowed. ln 1995, women held 84 of 315 statewide positions around the nation , according to the Rutgers' center. This year, they hold 80. Tina Gentzkow, a student who helped organized the workshop, says the speakers shared many inspiring stories, including a favo1ite from Jo Ann Bowman, a former Oregon legislator who is now directing a voter expansion project for Oregon Action. "Jo Ann had been a community activist but never considered herself a political person before becoming a leg– islator," says Gentzkow. "Her lesson was that women should not wait Lo be asked, but start viewing themselves as political leaders because of the work they already do. " Many students have views of Mt. Hood from the modern studio apartments in the new Broadway. Newest student building a sell-out Students have rented all 384 studio apartments in The Broadway, the newest bui lding on campus. The top eight floors of the two-towered, 10-story complex are student hous– ing. The second level features class– rooms and a 24-hour computer lab. Retail shops ,viii soon be open for business on the ground floor, and the largest eco-roof in Multnomah County will be planted on the rooftop. The $47.5 million, 217,000- square foot complex is the latest public/private partnership among Portland State, the PSU Foundation, and Gerdtng!Edlen Development, LLC, the latter of which helped arrange and coordinate The Broad– way's bond financing and managed its construction. Prior to The Broadwa)', PSU had only 1,240 units for its 24,000 students. FALL 2004 PSU MAGAZINE 3