PSU Magazine Spring 2001

T H E P A R K Football game to honor Vanport legacy In 1947, Vanport Extension Center, later Portland State University, played its first football game, losing to Pacific University 48-0. Later the next spring, an even greater disaster struck. A flood wiped out Portland's only public institution of higher learning. It also destroyed housing originally built for shipyard workers, which became home to many returning veterans and a large African American community. Grambling State University, one of the most storied programs in college football history, will play Portland State Sept. 22 in the inaugural Van– port Classic Football game. The game, in the newly renovated PGE Park, is intended to recall the beginnings of PSU and honor its ties to the African American community. Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams coaches Gram– bling, located in Grambling, Louisiana. The school, coming off a 10-2 season in 2000, has long been one of the top black colleges in the nation. A number of special events are planned in conjunction with the game, including a tailgate party at the stadium and a lunch featuring Williams and PSU football coach Tim Walsh. The Grambling State march– ing band will perform during the game and at Pioneer Courthouse Square the Friday prior to the game. B L 0 C K S Online with new eMBA The University is accepting applications for a new eMBA program that combines the Master of Bu iness Administration degree program with cutting-edge edu– cational and distance learning capabili– ties. The new program builds on PSU's 10 years of experience in delivering an MBA program via distance learning. Formerly the Statewide MBA program, the eMBA is geared toward busy pro– fessiona ls inside and outside the Port– land area. The program offers the same courses and faculty as the School of Business Administration's campus– based program using distance learning technologies, including the Web. The three-year program also Bookstore open for business in Urban Plaza Two female students take a break near a bubbling foun– tain on a recent sunny day. Across the wide plaza, near a curve of the new Portland Streetcar track, two other stu– dents munch pizza at outdoor tables. On the comer of the plaza, in a new steel, brick, and glass building shared with the College of Urban and Public Affairs, the new three-story Portland State Bookstore looks out on the public square. If a library is the heart of the university, its bookstore is certainly one of the heart's chambers. The new 24,000-square-foot store is a far cry from the dark, small space it once occupied in the basement of Smith Memorial Center. Or the long– gone first store, which began as a membership cooperative selling everything from diapers to baby food at the old Vanport location in 1947. Like the rest of the Vanport commu– nity, the co-op was swept away in the 1948 flood. The new store, featuring what manager Ken Brown calls "three boutiques stacked on each other" is also quite an improvement over the venerable old store at SW Sixth and Hall, the bookstore's home for 30 years. For one thing, the new store is 30 percent larger. The new space has a 2 PSU MAGAZINE SPRING 2001 light, airy feel with tall ceilings and lots of glass. The ground floor features books and magazines, clothing, snacks, and office supplies. In the basement are textbooks PHOTO BY STEVE DIPAOLA and art supplies. Upstairs you'll find electronics, music, and trade books. And don't forget to check out the stairwells. Large photographic collages of PSU history are hung there, with a memorabilia case soon to follow. Also coming soon is the final touch, as far as many book lovers are concerned: a Tully's coffee shop is in the works for the nearby plaza. Says Brown, the store was designed "to tie into the overall concept of the plaza" as a gateway to and gathering place for the university community. But with the streetcar arriving in July and ongoing public events planned for the plaza, Brown hopes the book– store becomes both a better resource for the university-and more of a city-wide destination. Brown points out that the store is not only one of the last large college cooperatives or member-owned stores, but one of the few larger retailers still locally owned. "We're kind of a hold-out," muses Brown. "We're fighting the good fight."