Portland State Magazine Winter 2008

Jerry Gordon '68 has joined the PSU Alumni Boatd of Ditectors. Gordon is a retired high scl;10ol teacher and coach. He lives in Portland. Joe Spooner '68 is a self-em– ployed illustrator and authot liv– ing in Portland. Spooner wrote and illustrated a book titled N is far Nostril, an alphabet book for children, which was published and released in October. Roy Barbour '69 is a senior systems programmer at Intel Corporation in Hillsboro. Ron Campbell '69, MA '70 started a Dracula-themed blood drive this past Halloween at North Carolina State University, where he teaches business law. The drive reached maximum capacity of student donors. Campbell, who has donated 25 gallons of blood in his lifetime, got other colleges in the area to hold their own drives that day. He hopes to have hundreds of schools participate next year. 1970-79 Ned Helzer '70, MST '71 retir– ed from the Reynolds School District, where he was a health and physical education teacher. Helzer and his wife spend winters in Mesa, Arizona, and enjoy sunshine, golf, and travel. Larry St. Pierre '70 lives on Isla Colon, a tropical island in northeast Panama. St. Pierre is involved with the Bocas Educa– tional Services, a nonprofit orga– nization dedicated to improving educational services in Bocas de! Toro. He tutors three Ameri– can boys and teaches English and business at the local high school. He also volunteered to map, name, and number some of the rural roads and streets. St. Pierre writes, "This whole expe– rience is ... like Prof. Dodds' History of the Westward Move– ment course. We didn't discuss much about urban planning." Larry Medinger '71 was appointed by Gov. Ted Kulongoski to chair the Oregon State Housing Council. The agency sets housing policy and administers federal and state anti-poverty, homeless, energy assistance, and community ser– vice programs. Medinger owns and operates Medinger Con– struction Company in Ashland. Richard "Dick" Chiesa MBA '74 owns Coquille Valley Financial Management, a tax and financial services practice in Myrtle Point. In recognition of his commitment to his clients and his professionalism as a financial services professional, Chiesa received the excellence award from H.D. Vest Financial Services, a non-bank subsidiary ofWells Fargo & Company. Scott Davis '74 was recently named chairman and chief executive of UPS (United Parcel Services). Davis, who lives in Alpharetta, Georgia, joined the company in 1986 and served in positions of increas– ing responsibility in finance and accounting before assum– ing the role of chief financial officer in 2001. Read about his career in a past Portland State Magazine at www.pdx. edu/magazine/profiles/7568/. Joan Hoss MSW '74 is director of human services for Sutter County in Yuba City, California. Hoss has been with the agency for 30 years, serving as assistant human services director since 1996. Bruce Williamson '75 is conductor of the Southwest Washington Youth Philhar– monic Orchestra and teaches orchestra at Kelso High School and two middle schools in Kelso, Washington. June (Jackson) Balaban MA '77 is retired and lives in Edmond, Oklahoma. Balaban is building and maintaining a library-pre-K through high school-in a shelter for abused and neglected children, and a home for teen mothers. Labib Baltagi '77 is a certified public accountant and owns Labib Baltagi, CPA, in North Miami Beach, Florida. Baltagi would like to reconnect with old friends and can be reached at baltagi46@aol.com. Stephen Stetson '77 has been elected senior vice commander for the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). This is the second highest position in the state ofWashington. Stetson hopes to be elected the Stace Four commander in June, a supervisory position for more than 33,000 VFW veterans. Bernard "Bernie" Kleutsch '78 is a manager with the Oregon Department of Transportation, where he supervises a group ofstructural, hydraulic, and geotechnical engineers; engineering geolo– gists; hazmat specialists; and drafters. He lives in Keizer. Kenneth Rust '78 is the city of Portland chief administrative officer. Rust's duties include coordinating human resources, purchasing and technology for Portland, and managing the city buildings and bud- get. He previously served as Portland's chief financial officer and as the debt manager. 1980-89 Bethe (LeCoure) McChesney MS '80 is co-founder of the Ica– fari Foundation, which benefits Rwanda in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide. Information on the foundation is available on the Web at www.itafari.org . Kelly (Hall) Reams MSW '80 writes chat she was among the first class that graduated from the Oregon Psychoanalytic In– stitute in 2004-becoming its first social work psychoanalyst. Reams now owns a practice in ALUMNI NOTES northeast Portland and is also a faculty member at the institute. Ellen (Gordon) Yager '82, MST '89 is music specialist for Lyle Elementary School in Dallas, Oregon. Yager teaches general music in kindergarten through fifth grade. She also teaches an after-school elemen– tary community choir at the school and is a piano accom– panist for a choir at LaCreole Middle School. She lives in Oregon City with her husband, Steve, two dogs, and one cat. Deborah Bond '83 is the city of Gresham finance director, after having served as deputy director for three years. Bond previously spent 11 years working for Portland's water bureau. In her spare time, she enjoys golfing and bike riding. Lisa Rawlings '83 is princi– pal at McBride Elementary School in St. Helens. Rawl– ings previously taught in the Beaverton and Redmond school districts. She and her husband have three children. Nelson Wong '83 is a network hardware engineer at Intel Corporation in Hillsboro. Linda Samek MS '84, EdD '03 received the Oscar Schaaf Secondary Mathematics Educa– tion Award at a ceremony in August. The award is given by the Oregon Council of Teach– ers of Mathematics. Samek has spent more than 30 years in education and has been an advocate for high quality mathematics teaching for all students. She is provost and professor of teacher education at Corban College in Salem. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, hiking, and traveling. Jeff Davis '85 sold his land– scape business in 2006 and is now semi-retired. Davis lives in central Oregon. WINTER 2008 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE 23