PSU Magazine Spring 1987

• • PSU ·MAGAZINE· To the reader: New name. New look. Did you recogn ize us? After 25 years as a tabloid, PSU Perspective is starting a new life as a magazine. Bright and bold, PSU Magazine is the expression of a university in its prime, confident of its future. Portland State University has always valued its alumni and friends and PSU Magazine reflects that esteem. We hope it is a publication that you will read eagerly and share proudly. In this premier issue of PSU Magazine you will find a few old friends: the popular Alum Notes (pp. 23-27), the campus calendar (pp. 28-29), and the Foundation page reporting on private giving. We're also introducing a couple of new faces: ''Around the Park Blocks" brings you breaking news , short items of special interest, and a sampling of upcoming campus events; "Campus Notes" offers news about facu lty, research, and Un iversity programs and policies, as well as legislative updates. And in between these news pages are the customary features about Portland State facu lty and alumni, University friends and visitors, and ongoing research - presented in a more read– able, visually appealing format. Look th rough the pages of this spring issue for features on President Sicuro's newly appointed Advisory Board, some important research related to the Hanford Nuclear Reserva– tion, the man who gave Portland State its first endowed chair, the new director of PSU's In ternational Studies Degree Program, and alumni making names for themselves in TV aerobics and political polling. We hope you enjoy our new approach to keeping you in touch with Portland State. Write or call and let us know what you think. Letters to the editor are more than welcome. -The Editor ---·CONTENTS·--- FEATURES SPRING 1987 All the University's Friends President Sicuro has appointed a 50-member Advisory Board of community members to help guide Port/,and State University into the 1990s. Pages 4-5 Basalt Under the Microscope Geology professor Michael Cummings is probing the volcanic basalt rock of ea.stern Oregon for clues to the safety of nuclear storage at Hanford. Pages 6-8 Working it Out on TV PSU alum Cristi Litvin ('85) hosts an outdoor aerobics program on cable television that gets Port/,anders off their sofas. Pages 14-16 ~ A Global Kind of Guy ~ Mel Gurtov, the first permanent director of PSU's ~ International Studies Degree Program, discusses his ~ evolution from a "mainstream sort of guy" to a committed promoter of global values. Pages 17-18 DEPARTMENTS Around the Park Blocks Foundation Campus Notes Alum Notes Calendar 2-3 19 20-22 23-27 28-29 Cover photo: This microscopic view of basalt, showing secondary minerals that have crystalized within an air pocket, will help PSU geologist Michael Cummings understand the rock~ porous properties and, ultimately, offer clues to the safety of storing nuclear waste in basaltic terrain. See story on pages 6-8. PSU Magazine is published quarterly for alumni and friends of Portland State University by the PSU Office of Public Affairs. Editor: Cynthia D. Stowell. Contributors: Clarence Hein ('65) , Cliff J ohnson. Calendar Editor: Pat Scott. Letters lo the editor, news items and inquiries about advertising should be directed to the Editor, News and Information Services, Portland State University, P.O. Box 751, Portland, Oregon 97207; (503) 229-3711. Please send address changes to the Office of Development, Portland State University, P.O. Box 75 1, Portland, Oregon 97207. PSU supports equal educational opportunity without regard to sex, race, handicap, age, national origin, marital status or religion. ·~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PSU MAGAZINE PAGE 1