portland state MAGAZINE THE CLIMATE CHANGE ISSUE SPRING 2022 HOPE INSIDE: COMEBACK KIDS | CLIMATE QUIZ
AND YOUR UNSTOPPABLE FUTURE Congratulations to the Portland State University Class of 2022! We’re proud to welcome you into the Vikings family of 200,000 alumni worldwide. CELEBRATING YOUR INCREDIBLE JOURNEY CELEBRATING
contents ON THE COVER// Illustration by Shaw Nielsen From the President Inbox 2 3 39 40 28 SIERRA T. , COMEBACK KID Bookshelf Looking Back IN EVERY ISSUE: 5 FACULTY VOICES Three scientists answer the question: How do you stay hopeful and motivated to make a difference with climate change? 6 PARK BLOCKS PSU makes strides toward a more welcoming campus; new Basic Needs Hub opens; Oregon’s first satellite launches and more. 12 RESEARCH From the NICU to mothers returning from incarceration, Portland State researchers are investigating how to help the most vulnerable parents. DEPARTMENTS 14 ARTS Silenced by COVID-19 for two years, Portland State Opera retakes the stage with the “Merry Wives of Windsor.” 16 ATHLETICS After a hard start, a record-breaking steeplechase runner finds his way at PSU. 34 ALUMNI LIFE Remembering Charles Moose, Portland’s first Black police chief; Oregon’s newest Teacher of the Year; volunteer opportunities and more. Spring 2022// The magazine for alumni and friends of Portland State University FEATURES 18 HOPE STARTS HERE Portland State mobilizes for the next era of climate action. Also: students and alumni making a difference; test your knowledge of PSU’s environmental past. 28 COMEBACK KIDS With perseverance and a little help, these students show that it’s never too late to graduate. SPRING 2022 // 1
IN EARLY 2021, Portland suffered a major ice storm that knocked out power to tens of thousands of residents for multiple days. As summer approached, an unprecedented number of wildfires started across the Western United States. And, then in June 2021, Oregon sweltered under the intensity of an historic heat wave. More than 100 people died. Soon after the event ended, a global team of scientists concluded that the catastrophe was “virtually impossible without human-caused climate change.” Nature had knocked on our door—and not for the first time.The climate crisis is accelerating right before our eyes. As Jennifer Allen, environmental and natural resource policy faculty, puts it: “This is a focusing moment.” From almost any perspective, it is time for action, and in my view, PSU is ready to take the lead. This magazine’s terrific cover story points out that taking action on climate issues is nothing new at PSU. Over the decades, we have built an exceptional array of climate-related knowledge, research and practice that cuts across disciplines and permeates the University. PSU secured a James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation research grant in 2008, under the leadership of former President Wim Wiewel, to integrate sustainability across the campus. We further committed to making PSU’s operations carbon-neutral by 2040. This year I called upon our campus to focus on climate action. PSU is home to dozens of disciplines, academic and research units, and engagement projects working to adapt to, mitigate and explain the effects of climate change. We’re examining how we can amplify PSU’s climate and social justice experts, making new connections between disciplines and staying focused on our core values. Every school, college, unit and department has a role to play. Because of our position as Oregon’s only urban research university, PSU applies a unique lens and capacity to understanding and responding to climate change, a position that directly aligns with our top institutional priority of advancing racial equity and justice. We know that any successful response to climate change will have equity at its core. Indeed, our own Vivek Shandas, geography faculty, found that some of the deadliest areas in Portland during the June 2021 heatwave were located in outer Southeast Portland, in neighborhoods with high concentrations of low-income and minoritized residents. Our experience at PSU tells us that we are most successful at manifesting change when the people who will implement those changes are engaged from the beginning. As we tighten our focus on climate change, we’re seeking the wisdom of new partners and asking the community to guide us, rather than telling the community what it needs. Together, we can show leadership, press for innovation and solutions, and continue the legacy of Oregon’s environmental trailblazers. Sincerely, Stephen Percy President, Portland State University SPRING 2022 VOL . 36 // NO. 2 EDI TOR Scholle McFarland GRADUATE ASS I STANT Jack Heffernan CREAT I VE DIRECTOR Brett Forman SENIOR DES IGNER Evan Kirkley DES IGNER Sofia Estrada Ferry ’20 LE T TERS TO THE EDI TOR Portland State Magazine P.O. Box 751 Portland, OR 97207-0751 psumag@pdx.edu ADDRESS AND DEL I VERY CHANGES Scan this code with your smartphone camera to update contact information or switch to email delivery. PSU ALUMNI ASSOC I AT ION Mary Coniglio, Senior Director Simon Benson House alum@pdx.edu PSU BOARD OF TRUSTEES Ben Berry Antoinette Chandler Emily Chow Gregory Hinckley (Chair) Katy Ho Thomas J. Imeson Margaret D. Kirkpatrick (Vice Chair) Yves Labissiere Irving Levin Sheryl Manning Pete Nickerson Judith Ramaley Lisa Sablan Wally Van Valkenburg Stephen Percy portland state MAGAZINE from the president Portland State Magazine is published two times a year, during fall and spring terms. Contents may be reprinted only by permission of the editor. Portland State University is an af firmative action/equal opportunity institution. A FOCUSING MOMENT EDMUND KEENE
CELEBRATING OUR COMMUNITY Let me say that the issue of the PSU Magazine that arrived yesterday was a delight!! The stories were well written, the photography was wonderful, and the selection of subjects was just right!! Design is really attractive— meaning it catches my interest. And, I know that the magazine is produced with a tight budget...as everything is at PSU. I worked in University Relations in the early ’90s, and I know the budget restraints are always a consideration. Yet, the magazine is a fine representation of the PSU that I do love! Thanks for your efforts and the finished product that I certainly enjoy. —Don Riggs ’83 What a thrill to read of the amazing success of some fellow PSU grads. It makes me proud! —Dolores Eyler MS ’78 PORTRAITS OF PSU VETERANS Please tell Mr. Pimentel [featured in “Once a Warrior”] that we have much in common. I graduated from PSU in 2000. I, too, went in the Army in 1967 and to Vietnam in 1968, where I was subjected to many rocket attacks. I disliked the war and the Army, although now I’m glad I served. I was 100% service-connected disabled because of my participation over there. I use both a wheelchair and a walker. I was drafted into the Army at the Portland Induction Center on July 5, 1967. When I got out, I surrounded myself with hippie friends who protested the war. As a side note, Arthur Honeyman used to live with us at my mother’s boarding house. He wrote a poem about my father and his cigar smoking. Art and I would laugh ’till our sides hurt over this and that when I was in high school and he was in college. Loved that guy. —Stephen (aka “Lanny”) Patterson ’00 In 1953 we organized the Portland State Vets Club. At the time we were mostly Korean vets from all branches. I could be wrong on the date, but I was a member. We eventually came up with pins to be like the frats. I still have mine. Stressful time. —Jim Long ’57 PSU’S 75TH ANNIVERSARY I was excited to read the articles about Frederic Littman and also Ray Grimm in [“Pieces of History” (Spring 2021)] as they were highly influential teachers of mine at PSU from 1967-69. I was also part of a “chain” of European sculptural techniques arriving to Portland through both Littman and his student Manuel Izquierdo who taught me later at the Museum Art School. My parents were also of the same wave of immigration from Nazi Europe in 1940, so I shared a culture with my teachers. —Joan Rudd ’69 INBOX THOUGHTS Charles Blatner’s Inbox letter in the fall issue is simply factually incorrect about systemic/ structural racism. I wish he would drop his defensiveness and look more closely at what is called unsanitized history.The United States has had a racism problem since the very beginning. Wonderfully, it is the stated ideal of the Declaration of Independence that proclaims that all men are created equal as a self-evident truth.The lofty ideal is there in print even if it has never been a reality. Which brings me to Mr. Blatner’s second error, that recognizing systemic racism is about blaming systems and rich guys. It’s not! It’s about setting aside our white fragility and assuming responsibility for building a more just and equitable society, recognizing our previous flaws, yet embracing the ideal of the Declaration of Independence. It entails the hard work of being accountable for a future free of racism, both systemically and individually. Please, Mr. Blatner, pick up the mantle of that hard work. It is a noble cause. —Rev. M. Michael Morse I had to laugh at what the Inbox letter writer, Bob Jones, had to say in the Fall 2021 issue about how the May 1970 PSU student strike was all the doing of “a minority of off-campus radical activists who tried to engage a vulnerable student body” at Portland State.The PSU Strike, as well as all of the many protest marches from campus through downtown Portland that school year, were inbox portland state MAGAZINE INSIDE: PORTRAITS OF PSU VETERANS | HOW COVID-19 CHANGED CAMPUS FALL 2021 JIM LOMMASSON SPRING 2022 // 3
inbox WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Send your letters and comments to psumag@ pdx.edu. We reserve the right to determine the suitability of letters for publication and to edit them for clarity, accuracy and length. Received the latest copy of @Portland_State Magazine today. Thanks for the shout out on the award from @NCSE. As a proud @PSU_Biology alum, it means a lot for y’all to be proud of me too. —Jason R. Wiles ’99 SEEN ON SOCIAL MEDIA “We look forward to our upcoming May 11 ‘50 + 2’ ceremony to be held in the Park Blocks commemorating the PSU Strike, where we will be able to set the record straight.” @portlandstate always keeping LCP alive much love to all #friendsofcowpigeon #read #portlandstatemagazine #letknowledgeservethecity —Little Cow Pigeon COURTESY OF THE OREGONIAN 100% organized by our group of PSU student activists.This photo [above] clearly shows the strike leadership—all PSU students—peacefully standing in front of the famous hospital tent in the Park Blocks across from Smith Center on the afternoon of May 11, 1970, just moments before hundreds of Portland Police officers violently attacked us, sending 30 students to the hospital. We look forward to our upcoming May 11“50 + 2” ceremony to be held in the Park Blocks commemorating the PSU Strike, where we will be able to set the record straight on all of the actual events of May, 1970. [See bit.ly/RememberingMay11 for event details.] —Doug Weiskopf ’71 The recent editions of Portland State Magazine brought back a flood of memories, especially the photo of “Mim”McKee [in Inbox]. I was a 23-year-old Marine Corps veteran in my sophomore year at Portland State College and flunking out of my pre-med biology major. I had just left the counseling center where I was told I could expect to succeed in any career field except law or medicine. Luckily, I met an old friend I had not seen since high school, Jay Sturgill ’67, who had just graduated with a geology degree. He introduced me to lab instructor Miriam McKee. Her love of geology was infectious and sharing her geology experiences in Arizona and Alaska led me to become a geology major, then an exploration geologist, and then an environmental geologist. Other classmates with geology careers included James Basille, Mike Free ’71, Kathy Manning, Kent Mathiot ’71 and Ruth Simmon ’69. Oftentimes we gathered at the old Cheerful Tortoise to socialize. —Mike McCarthy ’70 4 // PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE
JENNIFER ALLEN Professor in Environmental and Natural Resources, College of Urban and Public Affairs JOHN PERONA Professor of Environmental Biochemistry and Law, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences ANDREW G. FOUNTAIN Professor Emeritus of Geology and Geography, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences TAKING MEANINGFUL action—be that choosing lower-carbon transportation, shifting to a lower-carbon diet, or working to support policy changes to address climate change—is one of the best antidotes to discouragement and despair. What gives me hope are the actions already being taken to address climate change impacts. I am working closely with others at Portland State to explore how we can elevate and accelerate PSU’s work on climate resilience, gathering information on climate-related research, education and community partnerships, and identifying ways we can better align and coordinate these efforts for greater impact.The update to PSU’s 2010 Climate Action Plan will center on equity and integrate a focus on resilience and adaptation as well as mitigation. I am also inspired by the dedication and commitment of PSU’s students, who are working with other regional schools and colleges to organize the Youth Climate Summit scheduled for Earth Day 2022. Our students don’t need to be convinced of the urgency of this issue— they are fully engaged in identifying actions that can help address climate impacts. Faculty, staff and students across PSU are eager to explore how they can contribute to climate-focused solutions. As Will Turner with Conservation International recently stated, “inaction [on climate] due to hopelessness is indefensible. We can still make a difference, but we must act now.” And PSU is acting now. DOOMSDAY NARRATIVES about climate change are not uncommon because they appeal to a strand of apocalyptic thinking in America with adherents on both left and right sides of the political spectrum. But this kind of storytelling is out of sync with reality. What gives me hope and motivation to address climate change are the revolution in awareness and the great strides made in renewable energy over the past decade. A dozen years ago, solar panels and wind farms were a gleam in the eye, and battery electric vehicles were all but nonexistent. But in 2009, President Barack Obama and Congress leveraged the financial crisis to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which invested large sums to jumpstart the clean energy economy.The positive consequences of that investment are all around us now: 40% of U.S. electricity is already carbon-free, and automakers everywhere are racing to claim shares of the ascendant EV market. A crucial transformation has occurred in business and finance. Dirty fuel operations are becoming uninsurable, green banks are proliferating and renewable energy stocks are much more profitable than their fossil fuel counterparts. And the voice of the world’s youth is now irreversibly activated, most prominently by Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future in Europe and the Sunrise Movement here. A great deal of work lies before us to follow through on these technological and social breakthroughs, but there is no question that the fundamental breakthrough has been achieved. MY WORK directly faces the effects of climate change. I study glaciers and how they respond to climate. From time to time, I check on the glacier that I first visited in 1980; it is unrecognizably smaller. Only recently it dawned on me, in a visceral way, that perhaps in a few decades the science of alpine glaciers will be, more or less, dead. I understand that the Earth has gone through climatic changes throughout its history and that it was probably covered in ice several times and vacant of ice several times. So, part of me has a “whatever” attitude. Sure, humans are largely causing much of the current global warming and nature is responding. But I also understand that humans have global power to affect climate, water resources and all ecosystems. Our influence has been an unconscious product of our lifestyle activities multiplied by population size. But we have agency. We can consciously decide to change the global climate if we wish to do so. The Montreal Protocol of the late 1980s is an example.The protective layer of ozone in the atmosphere was shrinking and the polar ozone hole was enlarging because of increasing human production of ozone-depleting chemicals. The Protocol reduced production of those chemicals and the ozone hole stopped growing. Collective action can stop climate warming. Knowing this, I remain active and positive that we can make change. Have a question you’d like to ask Portland State’s faculty? Email psumag@pdx.edu faculty voices HOPE FOR THE LONG HAUL How do you—and how can we—stay hopeful and motivated to make a difference with climate change? ILLUSTRATIONS BY BRETT FORMAN SPRING 2022 // 5
MAKING CAMPUS MORE WELCOMING AS PROTESTS SWEPT the nation in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd and individuals across the campus community called for more action against racism, President Stephen Percy made equity and racial justice his top priority.The decision was motivated by the local and national urgency of that summer, but it was also strategically intertwined with his other priorities of elevating student success and more deeply engaging with the community. What’s the vision? Simply the success of every Portland State University student and employee—from every background. In concrete terms, that means equitable retention and advancement toward graduation for students, as well as a stable career path and sense of belonging for employees. Late in 2021, Portland State launched a three-year equity plan and a scorecard to track the University’s progress.The work is backed by the $1.5 million Racial Justice Fund, matched by a PSU Foundation fund and supported by a number of grants from the Higher Education Coordinating Commission and the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities. Early wins are already having an impact on the student experience. For example, in fall 2021, Portland State launched an initiative to support undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children (known as “Dreamers” after the 2001 DREAM Act). Plans for study abroad heritage trips oriented toward students who identify as Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) are also in the works. A new BIPOC Student Advisory Council will ensure that initiatives will center student voices and that there is an open line of communication with University leadership. A new Summer Bridge Scholars program, put in place last summer, helps students— including those who are the first in their families to go to college—get familiar with campus and learn skills for successfully transitioning from high school. To ensure students don’t miss internships and research opportunities because of financial concerns, park blocks A LEG UP A new CollegeNET ranking places Portland State University in the top 10% nationwide—and No. 1 in Oregon—for the upward mobility of its low-income students, as judged by metrics including graduation rate and early career salary. DESTINATION OREGON COVID-19 lockdowns didn’t deter people relocating to Oregon. The state added roughly 29,304 residents between April 1, 2020, and July 1, 2021, according to PSU Population Research Center estimates—an increase over the year before. WAVE POWER A $4.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy will fund PSU researchers’ work on an electromagnetic device that turns ocean waves into a source of renewable energy up to 10 times more effectively than current technology. 29,304 $4.5 M No. 1 NEWS BY THE NUMBERS NASHCO 6 // PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE
NEIGHBORS WELCOME Students in 11 Washington counties bordering Oregon can now come to PSU for only 10% above in-state tuition, a big savings compared to regular out-of-state tuition. THE BEER’S ON BRUCE To coax football fans back to the stands after a COVID-canceled season, Coach Bruce Barnum offered the first beer on him at the opening home game. His final tab? $14,448. (Viks won 21-7.) 11 $14,448 → Portland State has found more sources of funding for internship stipends. The new Basic Needs Hub, opened recently in Smith Memorial Student Union, makes it easier for students to find emergency resources when they need them so they can stay in school (see page 8). To ensure students navigating housing crises have a safe place to stay, the PSU Landing at FUMC (fumcpdx. org/landing)—launched by First United Methodist Church in partnership with Portland State—now offers temporary safe-haven housing in the Goose Hollow neighborhood. Financial support for housing has also been increased through state funding and philanthropic gifts. Student success is also reliant on Portland State’s staff and faculty reflecting its diverse student population, making it imperative to support and retain employees of color. Affinity groups—for example, the Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander Employee Resource Group, the Black Faculty/Staff Affinity Group and the Native Caucus—now proactively reach out when new hires arrive on campus. Employees at all levels across the University are also exploring aspects of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, whether through formal training or informal study groups. Equity goals have been incorporated into everything from performance reviews to the budgeting process. Portland State University’s focus on racial equity is about more than just doing the right thing.The University is on the path toward becoming a majority BIPOC institution.This fall, PSU welcomed its most racially and ethnically diverse set of new undergraduates ever with a record 48.5% identifying as Asian, Black, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islander or as more than one race. Creating a sense of belonging and a pathway to success for all students isn’t some lofty ideal—it’s a competitive advantage and the key to PSU’s future. —CHRISTINA WILLIAMS A NEW EXHIBIT at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU showcases the work of 20 Oregon artists exploring themes of resistance and resilience in response to systemic racism. “Black Lives Matter—we have all heard these words many, many times— but what do they mean? How do they affect you? How do we gain knowledge and understanding of each other?” said Jordan Schnitzer, local philanthropist and businessman. “The 20 artists in the exhibition force us, in different ways, to reach into our hearts, minds and souls to help find answers.” Artists’ contributions were supported by $2,500 grants.The results span photography, video, painting, performance, textiles, sculpture, poetry and printmaking. (Work from artist Latoya Lovely shown here.) See the Black Lives Matter Artist Grant Exhibition on campus through April 30. Check pdx.edu/museum-of-art for details. NITR, ADOBE STOCK SPRING 2022 // 7
NEW BASIC NEEDS HUB OPENS WHETHER THEY’RE SHORT on funds or food, students in need can now find resources in one place: Portland State’s Basic Needs Hub.The supports aren’t new, but the easy access is. “It is very confusing trying to navigate all the many services PSU offers,” said Lee Phillips ’08 MSW ’10, PSU’s newly hired Basic Needs Navigator. Phillips was once a first-generation, nontraditional student herself. Her goal is to make it simple for students to get help, so they can focus on their studies.The Basic Needs Hub, which opened in February in Smith Memorial Student Union, offers a mini food pantry, diapers and sleep care kits, complete with ear plugs, an eye mask and other essentials. Phillips connects students to emergency supports like hardship funds, housing resources, and food assistance on campus—such as the PSU Food Pantry, meal vouchers and the Free Food Market—as well as to outside benefits from county, state and federal resources. Funding for the Basic Needs Navigator is supported by House Bill 2835, which provided funding to Oregon’s public universities and community colleges to hire navigators to help students access resources. A 2020 report from PSU’s Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative showed that 45% of PSU students had experienced housing insecurity in the previous year and 47% had experienced food insecurity in the past month. —KATY SWORDFISK park blocks The Basic Needs Hub in Smith Memorial Student Union helps students navigate Portland State’s many services for emergency food, housing and funding. BIG GUY HITS THE BIG TIME PROFESSIONAL WRESTLERS might soon need to grapple with a lion-sized Viking. Former Portland State offensive lineman John Krahn has signed a promotional deal with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Krahn stands 7 feet tall and weighs 400 pounds. By comparison, the average male lion weighs up to 420 pounds, according to the Zoological Society of London.That also makes Krahn 7 inches taller (and 140 pounds heavier) than another college football player turned WWE wrestler—Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.Though, Krahn is not quite as imposing as one of the sport’s biggest competitors of all time—André the Giant, at 7 feet 4 inches tall and 520 pounds. Krahn’s two-year career with the Vikings came after he gained national notoriety in high school for dismissing opposing linemen from the line of scrimmage. New NCAA rules allow for “name, image and likeness” (NIL) deals that enable college athletes to receive payment in exchange for promotional work. Krahn signed with the WWE while completing his degree in criminal justice this March. The largest player in Portland State history will travel to the WWE’s training facility in Orlando to meet with executives and discuss opportunities. —JACK HEFFERNAN EDIS JURCYS CRAVEN WHITLOW 8 // PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE
A NEW WAY TO NAVIGATE CAMPUS PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY is one of the first places in the Pacific Northwest to be outfitted with GoodMaps, a platform that uses scanning technology to map buildings in detail, and provide wayfinding for its users via a smartphone app.The technology, developed by Louisville-based GoodMaps, a startup born out of the American Printing House for the Blind, is especially useful for blind or visually impaired users. GoodMaps and Intel began mapping Smith Memorial Student Union in May 2021.They used Lidar mapping, which is more accurate than GPS and allows someone—in this case, marketing and communications coordinator Randy Mishler—to add labels, common-sense descriptions of each room and formal designations that otherwise wouldn’t be available. Mishler said the entire mapping process took only a few hours and required a rig resembling a backpack to record the building. Once the building was added to GoodMaps’ database in December, the labeling process could begin. Damkerng Mungthanya, a PSU student with a visual impairment, described using the app like walking with friends. “If we have GoodMaps in every building, every place, I can travel with confidence that I will go to the right place,”Mungthanya said. “I will be safe.” —KATY SWORDFISK OREGON’S FIRST SATELLITE LAUNCHES AFTER MONTHS and months of research, testing and development, the Portland State Aerospace Society (PSAS) sent Oregon’s first satellite into space.The interdisciplinary student group delivered the satellite known as OreSat0 to Seattle-based Spaceflight, which launched the satellite aboard an Astra Rocket 3.3 from Kodiak, Alaska on March 15. OreSat0 is the first in a series of three satellites designed by PSAS and is just about the size of a tissue box.The satellite includes solar panels, batteries, a color camera and an amateur radio system. Andrew Greenberg, electrical and computer engineering faculty and PSAS Advisor, said OreSat0’s mission is simple: “It’s supposed to not catch fire in space.” But OreSat0 also gives PSAS a chance to test its open-source satellite design before building the next iteration. Scheduled to take flight in late 2022 with NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative, that satellite will examine cirrus clouds on a climate science mission. See where OreSat0 is in space right now at bit.ly/viksatellite or check out its live data feed at bit.ly/vikdata. —KATY SWORDFISK ELVIS HAS LEFT THE…ATMOSPHERE? ROCK AND ROLL legend Elvis Presley “left the building” for the last time in 1977. Now another Elvis is gearing up to make an exit in 2023, but this time the journey is from Portland State to the International Space Station. Developed by Jay Nadeau, physics faculty, and her research group, the ELVIS—or Extreme Life Volumetric Imaging System—combines a holographic microscope and light-field microscope. Astronauts on the space station will use ELVIS to watch bacteria swim in three-dimensional space. “The cool part is they’re going to relay everything live and the astronauts will show us a video of what they’re doing,” says Nadeau. ELVIS has the potential to answer some important questions about how being in space changes bacteria. “In theory, microgravity should not affect bacteria.They’re too small,” says Nadeau. “Yet, starting with the very earliest experiments on the space station, people have found the bacteria act very differently when they’ve been exposed to microgravity and that includes things like salmonella becoming much more dangerous.”These changes can be bad news for astronauts who suffer from increased intestinal, respiratory and urinary tract infections in space. Students have been instrumental in developing ELVIS and will help work out the logistics that will make the microscope operational. —SUMMER ALLEN OreSat0 Oregon’s First Satelitte! ART BY SOFIA ESTRADA FERRY ’20 SPRING 2022 // 9
3 ALUMNI PODCASTS WORTH A LISTEN MAKING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SMARTER park blocks 1 “You’re Wrong About,” hosted by Sarah Marshall ’10 MFA ’12 MA ’13, is a bi-weekly podcast dedicated to taking a fresh look at people, events and phenomena—from Tonya Harding to the McDonald’s hot coffee case—that have been “miscast in the public imagination.” Since it began in 2018, it’s received rave reviews from publications including The New Yorker and Time Magazine. Variety named it (and the next podcast in this list) as one of the 20 best podcasts of 2021. Listen at: yourewrongabout.com 2 “Between the Covers,” hosted by David Naimon MFA ’19 and brought to you by Portland-based publishers Tin House, offers in-depth conversations with fiction, nonfiction and poetry writers about their newest works. Naimon interviews both heavy hitters and debut novelists in these often two-hour-plus long talks. In addition to being named to Variety’s list, “Between the Covers” also made The Guardian’s 10 Best Book Podcasts list and Book Riot’s 15 Outstanding Podcasts for Book Lovers. Listen at: tinhouse.com/podcasts 3 “Kick Ass Oregon History,” hosted by Doug Kenck-Crispin ’09 MA ’16, offers short, punchy (and sometimes NSFW) anecdotes from Oregon history, from the story of the roughly 9,000 “balloon bombs” Japan sent aloft toward the West coast for six months between 1944 and 1945 to the unusual history behind why The Dalles has a paucity of salad bars. Spoiler alert: it involves a 1984 food-poisoning plot by followers of Baghwan Shree Rajneesh to incapacitate the city’s voters. Listen at: orhistory.com —SCHOLLE McFARLAND AN INFANT’S BRAIN is able to gradually learn and adapt, often more easily than an adult brain. For example, research shows that before adolescence, children are able to pick up languages much faster than adults. Portland State’s Christof Teuscher, engineering and computer science faculty, uses this same analogy to describe new artificial intelligence (AI) technology he helped develop. Current systems suffer from what’s known as catastrophic forgetting. When an existing system is programmed to learn something new, it forgets what it had already learned, forcing the system to essentially start from scratch. “What we developed as a breakthrough in AI technology is a novel type of device and approach to build systems that can be completely changed and reconfigured on the fly for different applications. We can, for example, create neurons on synapses on demand, as the system needs to learn new things,”Teuscher said. “This opens up avenues for AI technology that continuously learns, grows as needed, and gradually improves, something that current AI systems simply can’t do.” —KATY SWORDFISK LEFT: Students soaked up a whole lot of llama love during midterm stress relief activities in Smith Ballroom. CENTER: Our ever-exuberant women’s volleyball team celebrated after a come-from-behind win over top-ranked Weber State. RIGHT: The Simon Benson House was illuminated with projected art for the Winter Lights Festival. Here are some of our favorite PSU Instagram photos from the past few months. Tag us with #portlandstate, #portlandstatealumni, or #proudviks. INSTAWORTHY PSU PINKEYES, ADOBE STOCK 10 // PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE
THANK YOU! THANK 4,208 58% 80% 5% 42% NEW UNDERGRAD STUDENTS TRANSFERS FROM OREGON INTERNATIONAL FIRST YEARS ALUMN I HE LPED MAKE OUR OPEN FOR FALL . OPEN FOR ALL . RE T URN TO CAMPUS A SUCCE S S .
research PRECARIOUS PARENTHOOD Portland State researchers investigate how to support the most vulnerable parents WHEN ROBERTA HUNTE, social work faculty, talks to Black people who have given birth she hears about painful and alienating experiences with healthcare providers and worries about deliveries. “That was one of my biggest fears,” one woman told her. “You know, dying while giving birth.” Hunte is one of a slate of Portland State researchers working to identify factors—from racism to inadequate parental leave—that can make pregnancy, birth and parenting extra tough—and what can be done about it. Together these researchers highlight how tackling hard societal issues like structural racism, parental leave, child care and affordable housing may help pull the most vulnerable parents away from the brink and set up the next generation for a thriving future. HUNTE and fellow social work faculty member Susanne Klawetter are examining the Healthy Birth Initiatives (HBI), a Multnomah County home-visit program that provides individualized care to Black families during pregnancy and for 18 months after birth. If you’re Black in the United States, delivering a child is a dangerous proposition. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women—a gap that widens with age and education. “What is incredibly important to note about HBI is that it is a program of Black birth workers. I think that’s its key intervention,” says Hunte, who was also a participant in the program. “It’s run by Black people, it’s for Black people, and it is engaging with the broader medical system and asking it to be better.” The study found that racism-related stress was a chronic experience for participants with a direct impact on their parenting. In focus groups, they described traumatic birth experiences, struggles paying for housing and worries about the safety of their children in school and around police. As a result, the program focuses on well-being within and beyond medical appointments, offering conversation, transportation, child care, housing assistance and even intervening if Child Protective Services gets involved. Data shows the approach is working. Black mothers who go through the program are less likely to encounter unexpected health complications following delivery than Portland mothers of any other racial group. KLAWETTER is also researching how to support parents with children in the neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, which she experienced first-hand when her triplets were born 15 years ago. Roughly 10-15% of babies require this high level of medical care after birth.Their parents often deal with multiple additional stressors—from caring for older children to juggling jobs so they can maintain employment and housing—and show increased rates of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic disorder. Klawetter has identified several ways to better support them, for example by screening for depression and anxiety throughout their babies’ NICU stay and at discharge. But there’s one intervention the healthcare system alone can’t provide, Klawetter says. SEVENTYFOUR, ADOBE STOCK 12 // PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE
“We have great evidence from all around the world for decades that shows us that having a parent present in the neonatal intensive care unit is a driver for positive outcomes; babies need their parents in the NICU,” says Klawetter. To make that possible, she says, parents need paid leave. JULIA GOODMAN, OHSU-PSU School of Public Health faculty, studies family leave policies that could make a difference when NICU and other working parents face difficult times. She and colleagues Dawn Richardson and David Hurtado looked at the effects of a Multnomah County policy started in 2015 to provide employees six weeks of fully paid parental leave.The researchers found that while the new program did not dramatically change the amount of leave mothers took, it definitely improved their finances. For dads, the policy actually increased their leave. In 2019, Oregon passed one of the most far-reaching paid family and medical leave policies in the nation, set to begin September 2023, which will provide 12 weeks of full pay for low-wage workers. That’s progress, Goodman says, but to see many health benefits for babies and parents, “We need to be thinking more like six months of leave.” Still, the pandemic has opened many people’s eyes to the importance of both sick leave and paid family leave. “There’s a growing recognition that these are really important issues and that we need structural solutions,” she says. MELISSA THOMPSON, sociology faculty, and Summer Newell MPH ’05 PhD ’18 have been examining another precarious juncture for mothers—the return from incarceration. For their 2021 book Motherhood after Incarceration, they interviewed 39 mothers in the Portland area. While women are more likely to have been in an active parenting role prior to their incarceration than men, there’s little research about them. Many grappled with intense guilt and anxiety and were eager to reunite with their children. “That’s what’s motivating them, that’s what’s driving them forward,” says Thompson. But to regain custody, they often had to prove to the Department of Human Services and their probation or parole officers that they were ready.That meant finding not only a job, but also a safe place to live. With affordable housing scarce in Portland, this proved difficult. The stress of jumping through these hoops helps explain one of the key findings in the book: Mothers who regained custody of their children right away tended to do worse. “In the long term, generally getting custody was good for these women,” says Thompson. “In the short term, it was an added stressor.” Thompson and Newell’s research points to resources that could help ease this transition, including child care, employers willing to hire people with felony records, housing assistance, and accessible mental health and substance use treatment. Though this could prove expensive, Thompson says, “Especially when it comes to things like crime and criminal justice, we would actually be saving money by intervening more now and saving ourselves some pain, agony and money in the future.” “The more we head off these problems, the less likely we will be to see the cyclical nature of crime and incarceration,” she says, noting that children with a parent who goes to prison are significantly more likely to eventually end up in prison themselves. —SUMMER ALLEN “Having a parent present in the neonatal intensive care unit is a driver for positive outcomes; babies need their parents in the NICU.” SEEING SCIENCE: Breathe Easier Wildfires are increasing in size and intensity across the Western United States and with them come a new seasonal threat: smoke. The hazardous gases and particulate matter set aloft by large fires pose health risks, particularly for those with cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. But how can you protect yourself Box Fan: Fastener: Washable fabric tube: Rubber bands: Results: Text by Shaun McGillis MFA ‘11 | Illustration by Colin Hayes A standard 20-inch box fan does the trick. During the competition, Matthew Moore ‘20 and students Gunn and Brett Stinson used a ratchet strap (available from hardware stores) to tightly seal the fabric’s edge to the fan. They’ve also had success in the lab using daisy-chained zip-ties. They created a 4-foot-long tube with a 20-inch diameter by sewing together a length of cotton batting (with help from Gall’s mother-in-law). They’re testing a range of fabrics now to see if some might capture particulates even more eectively. The team folded the far end and secured it with rubber bands to create the closed part of the “sock.” Competition field testing showed the Cocoon accomplished a clean air delivery rate of 125 cubic feet per minute of particle-free air, equivalent or greater to many commercially available room-scale air cleaners. when commercial air filters and cleaners are in short supply? A team of three Portland State mechanical and materials engineering students and alumni, advised by faculty member Elliott Gall, came up with a solution that won $10,000 and the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2021 Cleaner Indoor Air During Wildfires Challenge. Their device—dubbed “the Cocoon”—uses materials found around the house or easily purchased for less than $45. “The design was intentionally simple,” said student Warren Gunn. “We wanted it to be low-cost, simple to make and use, and accessible to everyone.” SPRING 2022 // 13
IN EARLY MARCH 2020, the cast of Portland State Opera’s production of Otto Nicolai’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor” was deep in music rehearsals, preparing for an April opening. Students were thrilled to be a part of a fully staged opera—a high point of their academic careers. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought the production to a swift halt on March 13, 2020.The cancellation came as a blow. “To be honest, it was really crushing,” recalls Reid Duhrkoop, a senior playing the role of Fenton. “There were so many hours of practicing and rehearsal that we had put in, and in a matter of a few hours one day, it was all gone. I think out of frustration, I actually threw away my music, because it was hard to look at.” Like so many, the students found it to be a bewildering time. “I was disappointed because I had worked so hard on the role and felt like I was finally finding my footing when the show got shut down,” says Ava Price, a master’s student in vocal performance playing Meg Page. After the cancellation, classes in the School of Music and Theater continued online, with instructors meeting with vocal students via Zoom—not an ideal method for teaching such a physical art. “One of the things I work hardest on in my lessons is my posture,” Price says, “and to not have my professor physically present to correct it was very difficult.” Practicing opera at home presented other challenges, too, like worries that full-throated singing might disturb the neighbors. But PSU’s return to in-person classes in fall 2021 paved the way for a triumphant reboot of “The Merry Wives of Windsor” in April 2022, with some unexpected benefits. “Despite its various challenges and disappointments, the hiatus has allowed many of our singers to grow into their roles,” says Harry Baechtel, voice area coordinator. For example, the role of Falstaff was originally assigned to professional opera singer Richard Zeller in 2020, but two years later, student Wyatt Jackson—a bass-baritone who shares the role with John Gladen—had developed enough the arts OPERA RETURNS Silenced by the pandemic for two years, Portland State Opera sings again SO-MIN KANG “Though students experienced a roller coaster of anticipation, disappointment and delay, they came back ready to take the stage.”
vocal maturity to pull off the role. Other students, including Duhrkoop and Price, are also better positioned for success, he says. “Our audiences will get to hear the fruits of their patience and diligent work.” Though students experienced a roller coaster of anticipation, disappointment and delay, they came back ready to take the stage. “We have a truly fantastic, eager, talented and resilient group of singers in this cast,” Baechtel says. Under the direction of William Mouat, the PSU production promises to be a funfilled romp. Set in the Elizabethan era, it unfolds over one full day. “The moon will set and the sun will rise at the very beginning of the show,” Baechtel says. “The audience will be able to follow its progressive track back to the same position by the end.” The comedy leans not only on Shakespeare’s brilliant story, but also on the immensely entertaining Italian comedic tradition of commedia dell ’arte, featuring a familiar set of archetypal characters and stock scenarios—the late-Renaissance equivalent of the sitcom. Audiences can expect broad physical comedy, hilarious misunderstandings and romance. Beyond the current production, big changes are afoot with the PSU program itself. After 15 years of building the acclaimed opera program known for giving undergraduate students performance opportunities in fully staged productions—a rarity in collegiate opera programs—Christine Meadows ’83, voice and opera program director, retired in 2021. Her retirement is bittersweet, Baechtel says.The sweet part is her ongoing mentoring of students, including those preparing for their “Merry Wives” roles. Many of them started the production with her before it was canceled. “We are so grateful that she continues to be such a wonderful colleague and that she has left the program in a better place than she found it,” he says.The production leadership, artistic team and performers have approached “The Merry Wives of Windsor” as a labor of love to bring Meadows’ last opera at PSU to completion. At press time, the search for her replacement was nearing an end. “There are many challenges ahead, but we seek to move the needle in terms of equity and inclusion in this art form,” Baechtel says. Changes in curriculum intend to elevate the work of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, as well as women.The program is also collaborating with PSU’s Queer Opera and bringing in diverse scholars and performers. “PSU Opera is invested in committing our hearts, minds and hard work toward finding a thoughtful balance as we pass on this genre to our students and future audiences,” he says. Portland State Opera’s production of “The Merry Wives of Windsor” runs April 22 through May 1. Get tickets at pdx.edu/music-theater/merrywives. —KAREN O’DONNELL STEIN CORPOREAL GESTURES APRIL 4-29 PDX.EDU/ARCHITECTURE/EVENTS/ CORPOREAL-GESTURES In this exhibition organized by Clive Knights, architecture faculty and collage artists from around the world respond to a series of “muses” related to the shared human experience of living in a physical body: breathing, nourishing, sleeping, procreating, communicating and more. “NO EXIT” BY JEAN-PAUL SARTRE MAY 19-28 PDX.EDU/MUSIC-THEATER/NO-EXIT The School of Music and Theater presents “No Exit,” Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialist drama in which three deceased characters are locked together in a room, forced to confront their life choices and each other ’s judgment for eternity. MFA/BFA SHOWCASE MAY 24-JUNE 11 (WITH RECEPTION MAY 26, 5-7 P.M.) PDX.EDU/ART-DESIGN/EVENTS/MFA-BFA Join the School of Art + Design in celebrating the work of graduating students in the MFA Contemporary Art Practice (Studio Practice and Art + Social Practice) and BFA Art Practice areas in this exhibition at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU. PSU FILM SPRING SHOWCASE STARTING JUNE 3 PSUFILMSPRINGSHOWCASE.COM The School of Film’s online showcase features award-winning student films and essays from the past year and a portfolio show where soon-to-be-graduates present themselves as emerging professionals to friends, family, alumni and the media industry. AN EVENING WITH JIMMIE HERROD, GEORGE COLLIGAN AND PSU JAZZ JUNE 6 PDX.EDU/MUSIC-THEATER/HERROD Vocalist and composer Jimmie Herrod MM ’16, “America’s Got Talent” finalist and 2021 Simon Benson Award recipient, will perform jazz standards and original compositions with a quartet featuring George Colligan, jazz faculty, on piano. The PSU Jazz Band will open the evening with selections from the jazz repertoire. In this Shakespearean comedy, a middle-aged knight (played by John Gladen), tries to improve his financial situation by courting two married women at once (Taylor Hulett, at left, and Ava Price, at right). The ladies decide to teach him a lesson, setting off a series of high jinks. EVENTS SO-MIN KANG SPRING 2022 // 15
SOMETHING TO PROVE After a hard start, a record-breaking runner finds his way BY THE TIME Josh Snyder broke the Portland State 3,000-meter steeplechase record, he’d already mastered the art of clearing barriers. In April 2021, the senior broke the 39-year-old school record and then quickly broke it again, ultimately clocking a time of 8:56.64 at the Oregon Relays. Long before that, he navigated a turbulent childhood. Snyder’s biological father left the family before he was born. His mother remarried, but substance addiction coupled with physical and emotional abuse took a toll on the family. His step-grandmother, Byrl Hammons, took on the unofficial role of guardian for him and his five siblings, and the family moved from Nevada to Bandon when Snyder was 10 years old. Several years after they arrived at the small, coastal Oregon city, Hammons applied for custody of Snyder and his siblings, and she eventually adopted them when Snyder was 17. “I just gave him the guidance and the love that he needed and believed in him,” Hammons said. Though they had entered the foster care system, Synder and his siblings were under the supervision of a family member. Snyder said he considers himself relatively lucky because it would have been “just as easy” for Hammons to contact the Department of Human Services and have the state find a home for him and his siblings. But it was a painful experience, Snyder said, recalling a court hearing that offered his biological parents a final chance to retain parental status. Neither of them attended. “It was super hurtful,” Snyder said. “It makes you feel, like, not really loved or not wanted. And so, I think that one of the things that has developed in me over time now is that I have this motivation of always trying to prove myself even if I don’t have to.” SNYDER’S ATHLETIC prospects became apparent in his sophomore year of high school, when his 5,000meter time improved by nearly a minute to 16:20. In track and cross country, he’d found a place where he belonged. “He was struggling as a young guy to find a way, who he was, what he believed in,” said Brent Hutton, the Bandon High School track coach. “He really found a group that he meshed with, and it really sent his life in a different direction than it would have gone.” Snyder grew close to Hutton and his son, Hunter, a teammate.“It took a while for Josh to have that kind of trust for people who really care for him,” said Hunter Hutton, now a distance runner at Western athletics SO-MIN KANG 16 // PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE
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