Retirement Association of Portland State Portland State University Post Office Box 751 Portland, OR 97207-0751 Simon Benson House 1803 SW Park Avenue Campus mail: RAPS Web: www.raps.pdx.edu Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Officers Robert Tufts President Marjorie Terdal President-elect / Program Chair Bruce Stern Past President / Membership Chair Robert Vogelsang Treasurer / Regional Retirement Association Ad Hoc Committee Chair Larry Sawyer Secretary Doug Swanson Editor Robert Pearson Webmaster Board Members-at-Large Roger Moseley Jan DeCarrico Charlene Levesque Committees Alumni Association Pat Squire Awards Committee Chair / Pictorial History Book Committee Chair Mary Brannan History Preservation Committee Chair Steve Brannan Membership Committee Chair Bruce Stern Social/Friendship Committee Co-Chairs Beryl and Vic Dahl Office Manager AmyValdez 503-725-3447 / raps@pdx.edu continued on page 2 THE RAPSSHEET MARCH2008 The March 20 RAPS meeting will provide an opportunity to socialize with our fellow members and friends at a potluck lunch, followed by a panel discussion, “Housing Options as We Age.” The potluck begins at 12:30 p.m. in 333 Smith Memorial Student Union. As we grow older we need to consider many options for places to live: Should we stay in Oregon or move to a sunnier climate? How long can we remain in our familiar homes? Should we move into a retirement center? Is it time to check out assisted living and other kinds of continuing care places? What other options are there as we age? Five RAPS members will discuss the housing decisions they have made, the reasons why they made their choices, and the advantages and disadvantages they are experiencing. Prue Douglas, who retired after many years as an instructor in the Center for English as a Second Language, moved first to the Oregon Coast and then to Terwilliger Plaza close to downtown Portland. LaRay Barna, a retired speech communications professor, and her husband accepted their daughter’s offer to move into an apartment in a new Penguins onpatrol In the middle of a wet, chilly Oregon winter, most people long to head south. Marge and Leif Terdal did just that. But the Terdals went way, way south, to Antarctica, where they found these penguins, along with whales, seals, and glaciers. Read all about it onpage4. To stay or to go? A panel considers various housing options ’as we age’ Next up: “Housing Options as We Age” Thursday, March 20, 12:30 333 Smith Memorial Union RAPS’ annual Potluck Lunch! Bring sandwich makings, salad, or dessert Plates and utensils provided Coffee and tea provided RSVP to RAPS office by March 12 and tell us what you plan to bring raps@pdx.edu or 503-725-3447
—2— Again we read and witness the intrusion of needless violence and death on a college campus. Universities must be open to ideas and access for and by its community of scholars, faculty, students, and contributors. A mantle of fear and terror must not be accepted—either in an open university or a free society. In our collective RAPS lives, we have endured fear in a world war and terror in a Cold War that threatened nuclear annihilation. I remember my mother saying, “I’m going downtown to dance in the streets, because the war is over.” And I remember elementary school bomb shelters against Soviet bombers and that we were required to wear dog tags in high school. So it’s clear that our RAPS’ generations have experienced more anxiety than all the promotion of fear and terror that has been shoved at us since 9/11 could possibly trigger. The promotion of fear needs to be resisted. A free and open environment must prevail in our society and our universities. Our RAPS office will soon relocate from the Alumni Relations office to the second floor of Koinonia House, sharing space with the Society for Values in Higher Education (SVHE). In my first President’s Message last September, I noted that Alumni Relations needed to grow. Since then, your RAPS Board and individual members have been actively seeking a suitable new location, while the University as a whole has been striving to accommodate space reallocation as a number of buildings come off-line. I wish to thank Marvin Kaiser, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, for responding to our need. His staff and SVHE have been most helpful and welcoming as we address details of the move. We will send a membership email when the move has been completed. Meanwhile, an Art Museum tour was just enjoyed by about 40 RAPS folks, and our annual potluck is coming up on March 20. Engage your organization! —BobTufts President’s Message house that she was building along the Willamette River. Sally Jacobsen, formerly a part-time English instructor at Portland State, and more recently on an English department faculty at a Kentucky university, decided to move back to Portland after 20-plus years elsewhere. She bought a condo in a 100-yearold building in Northwest Portland. VicDahl came to Portland State in 1959 to teach history and served in a variety of administrative positions, including dean of Undergraduate Studies and director of International Programs. Vic and his wife, Beryl, are determined to remain as long as possible in their family home in Lake Oswego. Charlene Levesque, who served as manager of Campus Event Scheduling until her retirement last year, will talk about housing options for low-income seniors in Portland. There will be time for the audience to ask questions and to discuss still other options for housing as we age. Markyour calendars April 17, noon President’s Luncheon University Place, Columbia Falls Ballroom May 15, 1:00p.m. Ice Cream Social Michael Munk, “Portland’s Radical Past” University Place, Astoria Room Housing options . . . continued from page 1 RAPS seeks nominees for awards Nominate a colleague for a RAPS award who deserves to be recognized for achievements made after retirement. Nominees should be exemplary in three of four areas: service to the community; service to the university; professional/career achievements; service to RAPS. Submit your nomination(s) to the RAPS Office, Simon Benson House, Portland State University, PO Box 751, Portland, OR 97207. Contact the RAPS Office, 503-725-3447 or raps@pdx.edu, to obtain a nomination form.
Book Club: Designing a love affair The RAPS Book Club will meet on March 18 at the home of Sally Jacobsen, 2184 NW Kearney Street, Portland. Contact her at jacobsen_sally@msn.comor 971-570-2922 to RSVP and for directions. We will discuss Loving Frank, written by Nancy Horan. It is historical fiction; below is an excerpt from the jacket: I have been standing on the side of life, watching it float by. I want to swim in the river. I want to feel the current. So writes Mamah Borthwick Cheney in her diary as she struggles to justify her clandestine love affair with Frank Lloyd Wright. Four years earlier, in 1903, Mamah and her husband, Edwin, had commissioned the renowned architect to design a new home for them. During the construction of the house, a powerful attraction developed between Mamah and Frank, and in time the lovers, each married with children, embarked on a course that would shock Chicago society and forever change their lives. In this ambitious debut novel, fact and fiction blend together brilliantly. While scholars have largely relegated Mamah to a footnote in the life of America’s greatest architect, author Nancy Horan gives full weight to their dramatic love story and illuminates Cheney’s profound influence on Wright. Drawing on years of research, Horan weaves little-known facts into a compelling narrative, vividly portraying the conflicts and struggles of a woman forced to choose between the roles of mother, wife, lover, and intellectual. Mamah’s is an unforgettable journey marked by choices that reshape her notions of love and responsi- bility, leading inexorably to this novel’s stunning conclusion. We read The Lemon Tree, by Sandy Dolan, a nonfiction book that chronicles the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by telling the story of the relationship and experiences of Bashir Khairi, a Palestinian, and Ealia Eshkenzai Landau, an Israeli. The book was written from a Palestinian perspective. We intend to follow up in April or May by selecting a book from an Israeli perspective. Any suggestions would be appreciated. —Mary Brannan — 3 — RAPS club reports PAST TENSE 1955-1969: Portland State starts growing up If the Old West had its boomtowns, Portland State provided the New West with a “boom college.” Between 1955 and 1969— the years from PSU’s establishment as a four-year college to its promotion to university status—the institution added 26 buildings to its campus. Some were older buildings that were purchased, and several were new structures, including State Hall (now Cramer), Student Center (now Smith), and Neuberger Hall. The total space exploded from 135,000 square feet in 1955—represented by Old Main (now Lincoln)—to nearly 2 million square feet in 1969. One plan that never flew: a proposal by President John Cramer (originally suggested by his administrative assistant, Errett Hummel) to build a heliport atop one of the buildings—presumably for Viking One to take off and land. Source: Dodds, Gordon B. 2000. The College That Would Not Die. Oregon Historical Society Press. Past Tense features glimpses into Portland State’s history. To submit a story (or an idea for one), email the RAPS History Preservation Committee at raps@pdx.edu. Hiking Club: Hoyt Arboretum trek March 28 On Friday, March 28, we will hike trails in the Hoyt Arboretum. We’ll meet at 9:30 a.m. outside of the Hoyt Arboretum Visitors Center (4000 SW Fairview Blvd.). From the zoo parking lot, go all the way to the top at Fairview and turn right for a very short distance. The actual trails hiked will depend on what is blooming. We will keep the distance of the hike to four miles or less. Lunch will be at a restaurant in the area. We have hiking plans through April and will plan the May and June hikes at lunch. The April 25 hike will be at LaCamas Park. We hope to see camas in bloom. Confirm your March 28 participation by Thursday, March 27, to Larry Sawyer, 503-771-1616 or larry_sawyer@comcast.net. —Larry Sawyer Bridge Club: Shows its cards March 11 The RAPS Bridge Group will meet at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11, at Willamette View. If you would like to play or have questions about the group, please call me at 503-292-0838 or e-mail colinkeld@gmail.com. —Colin Dunkeld
Our Traveling Retirees: To the land of ice, snow, and penguins By Marge Terdal / RAPS President-elect Ice, snow and penguins—that was my gift to my husband, Leif Terdal, for his 70th birthday. After looking at numerous enticing ads for Antarctica cruises, I selected an all-inclusive cruise with Vantage Travel on Nordnorge, a Norwegian cruise ship. It cost about $2,500 less than comparable cruises, included three-day stays in Buenos Aires and Santiago, and was on a small ship (330 passengers) known for safety. We flew from Portland on Jan. 21 to Buenos Aires, where we had three days to rest up from jet lag and to sample the sights and food of Argentina’s largest city. From there we flew to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. We boarded our ship there and set sail across the Drake Passage, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Frequent fierce winds and strong currents have given this stretch of water a reputation for stormy seas and shipwrecks. For Leif, who has spent years fishing in the ocean off the Columbia Bar, the four- to six-foot swells on our voyage were flat water. We were told this was one of the calmest passages the crew had ever experienced. The next week was spent cruising along the Antarctic Peninsula. As the ship cruised the narrow, glacier-lined Lemaire Channel, passengers lined the decks spotting humpback and killer whales, elephant and leopard seals, and penguins. One day we enjoyed brilliant blue sunshine and magnificent cliffs, while another day we watched as snow flakes covered the deck and the water around the ship gradually iced over. Each day passengers pulled on rubber boots, donned life jackets, and climbed down into eightperson Polar Cirkel boats for landings at various sites. Our first landing was Deception Island, with black volcanic sand and warm springs (a few hardy souls even jumped in for a quick swim, but not us). Other stops included Neko Harbor, home to thousands of gentoo penguins and elephant seals; Almirante Brown in Paradise Harbor, with spectacular cliffs and calving glaciers; and Cuerville Island, with icebergs and the largest known colony of gentoo penguins in Antarctica. We also went ashore at Port Lockroy, where we received a passport stamp even though no country actually owns or governs Antarctica, and at a Polish research station. Many countries have small research stations along the coast of Antarctica. When we were not on shore, we found much to do on board ship. Expedition leaders presented themed lectures on the continent’s history and geology, wildlife and guidelines for visitors to Antarctica: only 100 persons are permitted to be onshore at any one time, one must stay at least 15 feet from wildlife, although the penguins are allowed to approach closer—and often did. We both made good use of the ship library. We browsed through all of the picture books about Antarctica’s history, geology, and fauna. I read Endurance, the story of Shackleton’s amazing rescue in 1914-16, and borrowed other books exchanged by passengers. The panoramic lounge on deck 7, with its comfortable chairs, was a favorite place for reading, gazing at the scenery, and talking with fellow passengers. After a return crossing of the Drake Passage, also calm, we came within view of Cape Horn. Although a sudden strong wind prevented our landing, we did get good photos. We then cruised through the Beagle Channel, named after the famous ship on which Charles Darwin sailed, and from there into the Magellan Strait and the Chilean Fjords in southern Patagonia. Passengers again lined the decks to photograph the spectacular glaciers, high mountain peaks, and abundant bird and sea life. When the ship docked in Puerto Natales, Leif and I, along with five fellow passengers, located a small bus that took us on a daylong trip into Torres Del Paine National Park. The cruise ended in Puntas Arenas, where we flew to Santiago for the final three days. A highlight of that stop was an all-day bus trip into the Andes, winding up a steep mountain road to Portillo, a ski resort where Olympic skiers train. Now that we are back in Portland, I am dropping hints to Leif for my birthday gift! Marge and Leif Terdal
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