PSU Magazine Winter 1994

PSU Weekend a success From the Balance Sheet Bowl to the Columbia Gorge tour, from listening to lecture to greeting old friends, P U alumni and friends had a great time at the fourth annua l PSU Weekend held on campu Nov. 12-14. Sponsored by the PSU Alumni Association and open to the entire community, this year's PSU Weekend attracted participants from southern Oregon, northern California, the Seattle area and as fa r away as Texas. "Seminar Day is great! Could you expand it to include Sunday," said one participant. "There were three lecture I wanted to hear; but they were all at the ame time." said another partici– pant. Keynote speaker Eugene Lang, the New York City businessman who origi– nated the "I Have a Dream" education program, captivated the luncheon audience on Saturday. Lang founded the "I Have a Dream" program in 1981, while speaking to a sixth-grade cla s in his old East Harlem elementary chool. He promised the students he would give each of them a college scholarship if they graduated from high school. His message of hope for young people and his descriptions of how his per onal interventions made a differ– ence in the lives of his "dreamer" student had a strong affect on the audience. "He more than lived up to our expectations," says Jo Ann mith '90, P U Weekend chair. "Our audience was really touched by his commitment and his message fits right in with the mis ion of Portland State University. People really enjoyed him." At the Saturday Seminar Day program alum and friends could choo e from 28 fifty-minute lectures. Topics ranged from the historical perspective of Terence O'Donnell and Joe Uris MA '71, PhD '81, to the technological world of Internet, a de cribed by Professor Gary Sampson. Viking Night at the Multnomah Athletic C lub brought out more than 400 alumni and Viking fans who got 22 PSU Magazine Merrie Ziady '80, MST '82, seminar day chair, chats with PSU Weekend's featured speaker Eugene Lang. reacquainted before the footba ll game. The most traditional part of the weekend, this event took on the feel of a reunion. If you mis ed this year's event, you may want to mark your 1994 calendar now for next year: P U Weekend is set for October 14-16, 1994. Viking Vets reunite Twenty-eight former members of the Viking Vets club, many who had not seen one another in over 25 years, attended a first-time reunion a part of PSU Weekend Nov. 13. After three hours of live ly reminisc– ing at the Silver Dollar Saloon in northwest Portland, the general consensus was to get together again, says the event's organizer Bob Handy '69, MA '71, who made all arrange– ments from his home in Dickinson, Texas. The Viking Vet wa a tudent veterans club organized in 1958. It had a reputation on campus as a fun-loving and often times irreverent organization, says Handy, best remembered for it popular "stag" events and annual " trawberry pop" fest ival (a pseudonym for beer). The Vets were of legal drinking age; however, student organization were not allowed to promote drinking activities so the Vets renamed their favor ite beverage. "Blitz loved us, as each year, on the morning of the festival, we loaded moving vans with crushed ice and kegs of the brewery's own strawberry pop," remember Handy. Vet alum, Dick Krattiger '60, brought to the reunion the first bottle of strawbe rry pop-a real quart jug of strawberry soda. It retains the official rags for every fest ival from 1958 through 1963. Krattiger also shared his scrapbook, others brought pictures and wore Viking Vet sweatshirts from the mid-'60 , and one member produced a red ribbon awarded to a Viking Vets' Rose Festival float in the early '60s. The following vets also attended the event: Jeff Barker '69, Sam Bell '68, Jim Bohlander '73, Bruce Briese, Roger Cherry '70, Ray Damerall, Dave Elliott '70, Allen Gray '68, Gerry Green '65, Gene Hanson, Lee Hodges, Leo Isotalo '63, Robert King, Larry Large '64, Dick Macy '69, Ray Miller '66, Dave Milligan '68, John Newhou e, Jim Powell, Leroy Scott, Larry St. Pierre '71, Larry Thompson '68, Ron Trefry '68, Larry Ulvi '68, Chuck Wright, and John Yadon '69. Middle Eastern alums An Arabian Gu lf alumni chapter is in the works thanks to three area alums who met with Grant Farr, director of PSU' Middle East Studies Center. In Bahrain, a small island country 20 miles off the eastern coast of audi Arabia, Farr met with Hassan Al-Sahaf '82, M '84, a well-known scu lptor and art in tructor at Bahrain Univer ity; Adel Al-Mangour '83, MBA '88, of the Gu lf International Bank; and Ali Hasan Follad, of the Civil Aviation Authority. They are working to establi ha regional alumni chapter for the Arabian Gulf that includes Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, the U.A.E. and, of course, Bahrain. The group decided to get the ball rolling by pub lishing a regular newsletter anq