PSU Magazine Winter 1992

Architecture education could come to PSU Portland State and University of Oregon are exploring the possibility of offering a joint architectural degree program on the PSU campus. Planning for an accredited program is in the beginning stages. Details of the program, funding sources, and state approval will take a year or more. The Oregon State System of Higher Education has expressed a commitment to delivering professional, accredited architecture education in Portland. The city is one of only two or three major urban areas in the United States that does not have an accredited architectural degree program. The Oregon School of Architecture and Design in Portland recently closed due to financial problems and lack of accreditation. The schools have already eliminated the possibility of relocating UO's exist– ing degree program or having PSU create its own accredited program. Development of architecture education in Portland will be a interinstitutional agreement. Working with industry to improve software quality The new Center for Software Quality Research (CSQR) on campus is help– ing Northwest companies to cost-effec– tively develop high-quality software. Established in January 1991, the CSQR is matching University research to the research and technology needs of companies. Warren Harrison, associate professor of computer science, serves as director, and faculty from the department staff the center. CSQR's founding corporate mem– bers are Tektronix, Mentor Graphics Corp., and Sequent Computer System Systems. In return for a $10,000 annual fee, the companies receive access to CSQR researchers in an advisory capacity, and have access to the center's technical and software libraries, a bibliography service, peri– odic white paper summaries of world- wide research, prepublication distribu– tion of all CSQR technical reports, and an initiation to an annual technical in– terchange symposium. Currently, Portland State provides some support for the CSQR, but Harrison expects the center to be self– supporting within three years, with all funding coming from membership dues and grants. Exploring the universe This year's Science, Technology and Society Lecture Series, continues with insightful and controversial views of the universe. Co-sponsored by Portland State, the lecture series features celebrated authors from both academic and popular circles. Ilya Prigogine, a Nobel Prize win– ning chemist and systems scientist, will discuss 'The Time Paradox" on Friday, March 6. He is the central intellectual figure of the emerging living systems paradigm, which is replacing the mechanical world view. On April 10, John Polkinghorne, a mathematical physics scientist and Anglican priest, will discuss "The Friendship of Science and Religion." And Lynn Margulis, a botanist from University of Massachusetts, will dis– cuss "The Gaia Theory: The Earth as Living Organism" on May l. All lectures take place at 7:30 p.m. in Portland's Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Tickets are available from FAS– TIXX outlets, 224-8499, and from Portland Center for the Performing Arts, 248-4496. The 1991-92 Science, Technology and Society Lectures are presented by the Institute for Science, Engineering and Public Policy. Business by computer Information on 100,000 Oregon busi– nesses is just a phone call away for on– line computer users, thanks to a new Oregon Business Electronic Database created by the International Trade Institute (ITI) of Portland State. Beginning Nov. 1, registered users have been able to gain basic informa– tion on the 100,000 entries such as business name, mailing address, and standard industry classification (SIC) code, which tells what product or ser– vice the company markets. More impor– tantly, users can select and sort the database by information categories and create specialized lists. The Oregon Business Electronic Database is the most complete business database now available in the state. "It's essential to have information about the characteristics of the interna– tional economy in Oregon if we're going to take advantage of internation– al business opportunities," said Gil Latz, executive director of IT!. To access the information, users must be registered through !TI and pay a one-year user fee of $55 and an initial setup fee of $10. Any type of computer equipped with a modem and com– munications software can reach the database 24 hours a day, seven days a week. !TI has also developed an electronic bulletin board for international trade leads, notices for trade-related events, and a directory of state and federal trade agencies located in Portland's World Trade Center where !TI has its offices. The bulletin board is available to modem-equipped computer users free of charge. New social work Ph.D. Problems of urban communities will be the focus of a new Ph.D. in social work and social research. Students will be ad– mitted to the new program beginning fall 1992. Offered through the PSU Graduate School of Social Work, the new Ph.D. received funding from the State Legisla– tive for improving higher education in the Portland metropolitan area. Students in the two-year program will study social urban problems, includ– ing policy issues involved, actual inter– ventions needed, and possibly a model for testing their research. Professor Joan Shireman is director of the degree pro– gram. For more information contact the Graduate School of Social Work at 725-4712. PSU5