Portland State Magazine Fall 2009

PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE FALL 2009 / VOL. 2 4 NO. 1 EDITOR Kathryn Kirkland CONTRIBUTORS Katie Hall COPY EDITOR Martha Wagner DESIGN Brett Forman EDITORIAL OFFICE 730 Market Center Building POBox751 Portland OR 97207-0751 503-725-4451, fax 503-725-4465 psumag@pdx.edu ADDRESS CHANGES PSU Alumni Association wwwpdx.edu/alumni click on "update your info" or call 503-725-4948 ALUMNI RELATIONS OFFICE Pat Squire MPA '95, Assistant Vice President Simon Benson House 1803 SW Park Ave POBox751 Portland OR 97207-0751 503-725-4948 psualum@pdx.edu ALUMNI BOARD OF DIRECTORS Kori Allen '84, President Gary Barth '86 Steve Brannan '57 Chris Cooper MBA '06 Aubre Dickson '98 Dave Friesen '03 Jerry Gordon '68 Eric Graham '87 Linda Hamilton '90 Richard Helzer '62 Behzad Hosseini '96, MBA '97 David Keys '81, MBA '92 8111 Lemman, Vanport, DHL ·04 Gina Leon ·95 M1lica Markovic '04 Karen McCarty '06 Kendal McDonald MA '02 Nancy Morgan '87 Tamara "TJ" Newby '90 Krishna Regupathy MS '99 Barbara Verchot MPA '97 Rick Watson MBA '00 ALUMNI AMBASSADORS Jon Jalali '67, MBA '71, Medford Dennis Olson "68, MS '80, Pendleton Cathy Williams '56, Sisters Portland State Magazine is published three times a year, during fall, winter, and spring terms. Contents may be reprinted only by permission of the editor. The magazine is printed on recycled paper. Portland State University is an affirmative action I equal opportunity inst1tut1on. 2 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE FALL 11 • FROM THE PRESIDENT A bountiful experience WALK THROUGH our campus build– ings and you will see lively classrooms teeming with students and faculty offices overflowing with books and projects. Bur understand chat these rooms are just gateways-portals to further learning char may rake place on Portland-area rooftops or riverbanks, in third-grade classrooms, or in company boardrooms. This "engaged learning" is what attracted me to Portland Scare and now makes me proud of both the University and this wonderful community. Together we are forming valuable partnerships, providing real experiences, and making a difference for us all. This culture of cooperation was liter– ally brought home to me and my family chis past year. In May, a group of graduate students helped us transform a portion of our front lawn at the PSU-owned presi– dent's house into a permaculture garden. Ir scarred out as a class project: Design a self– sufficient, organic garden for food, flow- ers, and herbs. Bur the students went far beyond the call of academic duty when they volunteered to actually put in the garden and brought along their spouses and friends to help. I was so impressed with their com– mitment to the cause of permaculrure and also with their obvious belief in che value of "social capital"-doing something together char contributes to a greater good. Graduate students designed a perma– culture garden for the president's residence in a class project. They went the extra mile and helped the Wiewels (standing, leh to right), Sam, Alice, and Wim, plant the garden. Friends and family of the students also helped. Alice and I both loved working with the students, as did our 17-year-old son, Sam. Ir cook 10 of us all day ro put in the garden. ince then Alice and I have main– tained it: weeding, watering, and harvest– ing. So far, we have enjoyed strawberries, blueberries, lettuce, peas, tomatoes, and squash. The garden is pretty low maintenance becau e of the design: Cardboard under the topsoil keeps weeds to a minimum and the co-planting of certain planes has totally discouraged pests. We use no fertilizer and are saving clippings and scraps from the kitchen in a compost pile to enrich the soil next year. We look at the garden's growth with delight every meal rime, since we can see it right from our kitchen window. Portland Stare students and faculty are responsible for hundreds of campus– community projects each year. Please read about a few Senior Capstone projects start– ing on page 8. I'm pleased rhar I can now talk about these learning experiences from a very personal perspective. Wim Wiewel PRESIDENT, PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY