Portland State Magazine Spring 2007

Viewpoint Can college be intimidating when there is no one to show you the ropes? PETER COLLIER , sociology faculty, thinks so, and findings from his mentoring program for students who are the first in their family to go to college, bear this out. Collier discusses the Students First program, now in its second year at PSU. Q: What was the most significant result from the pilot year of Students First? A: While we expected our students' grade point averages and retention levels to be higher than average, we were sur– prised that they also completed more credit hours each term. Q: Doesn't it just take smarts and hard work to succeed at a university? A: No, a critical part of success involves what we like to call navigation skills. We help students find needed resourc– es, connect to the campus and other students, and basically develop strategies to help them get the work done. Q: Do you think it makes a difference having students with similar backgrounds mentoring your students? A: Yes, our new students do not have parents telling them about their college days. In a way, our peer mentors help fill this gap. The peer mentors are first-generation students who have already earned a bachelor's degree. Confucius says BY THE YE AR 2010, the Ministry of Education in China estimates that 200 million people worldwide will be learning Chinese as a foreign language. To facilitate this trend, China is establishing Confucius Insti– tutes, including one at Portland State. The institutes promote Chinese language and culture. The PSU Confucius Institute expects to offer short courses this summer in cultural awareness for business and travel. Chinese government funding will also support community outreach, library materials, and a visiting faculty member from Suzhou University, PSU's sister school in southwestern China. The University's Chinese language classes have a ready audi– ence. Last year, Portland Public Schools received a $700,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to double the number of students studying Chinese in its immersion programs-many of whom will become students in PSU's Confucius Institute. 6 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE SPRING 2007 Unexpected art THE RIVER ROCKS used in an award-winning storm water management system at Stephen E. Epler Hall have become the subject of some "unintended conse– quences that are pretty cool," says Josh Lighthipe, an engineer for the system. The rocks now sport words, writings, and tiny pic– tures. Apparently, students sit on the raised boxes and decorate the rocks. A depiction of the painting known as "The Scream" is one of Lighthipe's favorites. He first noticed the "public art" while visiting the system that he and other civil engineering colleagues from KPFF Consulting Engineers designed three years ago. Rainwater from the roofs of Epler Hall and neigh– boring King Albert Hall is collected in the river rock boxes. The water Aows to underground retention tanks where it is treated using ultraviolet light before resurfac– ing for use as flush water in first-floor restrooms and in landscape irrigation. The student residential hall won LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver rating from tl1e U.S. Green Building Council. Barbara Roberts to lead commencement OR EGON'S ONLY WOMAN governor, Barbara Roberts, will give the spring commencement speech and receive an honorary degree on Saturday, June 16, at 10 a.m. at the Rose Garden Arena. More than 16,000 students and guests are expected to attend. Roberts, who served as governor from 1991 to 1995, has a long history of public service. She was the first woman to serve as majority leader of the Oregon House and the first Democratic secretary of state elected in 100 years. Until 2005, she was an associate director in PSU's Executive Leadership Institute. She continues to support the University in various ways, including a scholarship honoring her lace husband, Frank Roberts, a faculty member and state senator.