Portland State Magazine Winter 2016

4 pORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE winter 2016 Park Blocks Shoring up for climate change INTENSE SNOWFALL, flooding, tornados and other extreme weather events are becoming increasingly common as a result of our changing climate. How can urban areas become more resilient? Portland State is part of a $12 million international research project that will help cities analyze their infrastructures to make them more adaptable in the face of extreme weather. The PSU researchers—urban planning, geography and environmental scientists—will collaborate with Portland officials during the five-year project, which includes eight other cities in North and South America, 25 institutions and 70 collaborators. The National Science Foundation is funding the project. Photo by Don Schwartz. Better late than never TWO BOOKS borrowed from the Portland State Library were returned this fall 52 years late. The books were left in a book drop with a rubber band around them and a note saying: “‘Borrowed’ these books around 1963 for my high school speech class. They have moved with me many times. It is now time for them [to] go back home. Outdated—yes—but I’ll let you decide their fate now.” Librarian Joan Petit doesn’t know who had the books—records don’t go back that far—or why they were returned. But, she said, “If it were me, the guilt would have been relieved by returning them.”