Retirement Association of Portland State Portland State University Post Office Box 751 Portland, OR 97207-0751 Koinonia House, second floor SW Montgomery at Broadway 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 MAY2008 President’s Luncheon: Portland State still growing, but faculty’s feeling the ’pinch’ Interim President Michael Reardon offered an encouraging look at the state of Portland State during the President’s Annual Luncheon for Retired Faculty and Staff last month. Yet he also cautioned that a growing disparity between PSU’s growth and the size of the institution’s faculty and staff will be “a major challenge both now and in the immediate future.” About 125 RAPS members and guests crowded a University Place ballroom on April 17 to hear Reardon talk about the University; Nancy Grech, of Facilities, describe campus construction projects; Jesse Cornett, interim director of government relations, and Mary Moller, federal relations associate, report on legislative priorities; and see RAPS members Vic Dahl and Richard Brinkman receive awards. Reardon spoke on the same day that anOregonian article revealed that one of the finalists for the Portland State presidency, Jon Whitmore, president of Texas Tech, had withdrawn his name from consideration. According to the article, Chancellor George Pernsteiner said that while Whitmore was impressed with the faculty, “he said very directly that there just aren’t enough of them for the work ahead of us.” While he described Portland State as growing on many fronts, Reardon echoed Whitmore’s unease, expressing concern that there “has not been significant growth in faculty resources, particularly in terms of hiring full-time, tenure-related faculty.” “We are beginning to, in terms of the size we are now, really feel the pinch of that disconnection between the ongoing growth in enrollment and programs, and the size of the faculty and staff we have at the institution,” Reardon said. Although overall enrollment growth has slowed—next year’s increase is expected to be no more than 2 percent, Reardon said— more and more international and out-of-state students continue to enter PSU. Programmatic growth is also on the rise, he said, pointing out that in the past year 10 new degree programs and five certificate programs have either been approved or are nearing approval. Two of the programs are Ph.D.s in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. These new programs mark a departure from past years when the state system limited Portland State Ph.D.s to interdisciplinary or profesMichael Reardon Next up: Portland’s Radical Past Thursday, May 15 University Place 310 SW Lincoln Street PREVIEW STORY ON PAGE 2
President’s Message sional programs. “This is a very important achievement for the institution,” Reardon pointed out. He suggested that approval of the new Ph.D. programs signals that the long resistance to Portland State’s development is “at least significantly beginning to ebb and wane within the system.” Portland State is attracting record numbers of international students—about 1,600 are enrolled this year—and Reardon pointed out that PSU is trying to create strong ties to institutions outside the United States “in ways that go beyond our traditional approach to international programming.” He cited international recognition of Portland as a center for sustainability and environmental responsibility, professional development programs in China and Vietnam, successful alumni gatherings in the Middle East, and enthusiastic alumni in Thailand, Japan, and Korea. “One of the things we need to make very clear is that we are an increasingly international institution,” Reardon said. “The more success we have internationally, the more we are elevating Portland and the region as a global and international location. That, I think, is a contribution that will produce a great deal of interest in what we do and be of great benefit to the region and institution.” Reardon . . . continued from page 1 We have just enjoyed the President’s Annual Luncheon for Retired Faculty and Staff, which also provides the occasion for our annual RAPS Awards presentations. Invitations to the luncheon go to all retired folks, not just RAPS members, and it’s an opportunity to socialize and get reacquainted. I wish to acknowledge the Office of the President and its personnel for their continuing support of this event. I’ve been associated with PSU for 30 years, and I’ve observed some of the social infrastructure decline (e.g., the faculty women’s association, potlucks, Ferdinand). This luncheon tradition is very important, I think, to the vitality and health of PSU. So our appreciation goes to Michael Reardon, interim president, who again was called out of retirement to serve the University, and Rod Diman, who has served in many roles for many decades. Behind the scenes are Terri Meaney and Amy Ross. The Elections Committee slate of nominees has been accepted and elected by you for the coming year. President-elect is Larry Sawyer, who has served as secretary for many years, dutifully recording our monthly programs and the RAPS’ Board meetings (and the monthly state Board of Higher Education meetings). Joan Shireman, of the Graduate School of Social Work, is your new secretary. Our new member-at-large is Dawn White, retired director of International Faculty Services. Robert Vogelsang (aka “Vogie”) is re-elected as treasurer. And your incoming president is Marge Terdal, who has provided a great program this past year. Several members are interested in forming a RAPS Writers Response Group, wherein members read something they have written, and it’s discussed like a book club, providing feedback and incentive. If this appeals to you, please contact Colin Dunkeld at colinkeld@gmail.com. As your president, this has been a great year. —BobTufts May program: Ice cream and radicals Ice cream and radicals are on the agenda of the fifth edition of RAPS’ 2007-08 Speakers Series on May 15. The program features a talk by Michael Munk on “Portland’s Radical Past,” and it is also RAPS’ annual ice cream social. The social begins at 1:00 p.m. in the Astoria Room, University Place, 310 SW Lincoln St., followed by Munk’s talk at 1:30. Munk is the author of The Portland Red Guide, published in 2007 by Portland State’s Ooligan Press. The book presents a different account of Portland’s history—not the story of the winners of struggles over land, lumber, and profits honored on our streets, buildings, and monuments—but of the “losers.” Munk tells the stories of these Portland radicals and refers to specific places in Portland that one can visit today. Munk was born in Prague in 1934 and escaped the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, fleeing with his family to the United States in 1939 (his father was Frank Munk, a political science professor at Portland State). He is a graduate of Lincoln High School and Reed College, and holds a master’s in political science from UO and a Ph.D. in politics from NYU. Munk taught political science for more than 25 years at SUNY Stony Brook, Roosevelt University in Chicago, and Rutgers University before moving back to Portland. —2—
Book Club: Seeing red in Portland The RAPS Book Club will be hosted on May 20 by Prue Douglas at Terwilliger Plaza, 2545 SW Terwilliger Blvd., Portland. Call her at 503-299-4928 to RSVP and for directions. We will discuss The Portland Red Guide: Sites & Stories of Our Radical Past written by Michael Munk and published by PSU’s Ooligan Press. It should be an interesting postlude to Munk’s presentation as a guest speaker at the RAPS ice cream social on May15. The author is a retired political science professor who retired in Portland. This nonfiction book is described on the jacket as follows: A historical guidebook of social dissent, The Portland Red Guidelinks local radicals, their organizations, and their activities to physical sites in the Rose City. With the aid of maps and historical photos, Munk’s stories are those that history books often exclude. The listings expand readers’ perspectives of our unique city and radical past. Follow up Munk’s presentation by reading his book and talking about it at our May meeting. The book selected for June is Coal River by Michael Shnayerson. —Mary Brannan Hikers: Four Fridays, four hikes The fourth Friday hike schedule is: : May 23—North Columbia Slough loop. Four-and-a-half miles with no elevation gain/loss. Lunch in North Portland. Meet at 9:30 a.m. at the MAX yellow line Kenton/N. Denver station. June 27—Mosier Tunnels along the old Columbia River Highway. Lunch in Mosier. July 25—Lewis River east of Cougar. Four waterfalls, 5.6 miles out and back. Approximately 200-foot elevation change. Sack lunch. August 22—Salmon Creek Greenway just north of Vancouver. Paved, level trail along creek. Six-mile loop or three miles with car shuttle. Lunch in Vancouver. More details will be provided at a later date. Please confirm your participation by the Thursday before the hike to Larry Sawyer (503-771-1616 or larry_sawyer@ comcast.net). —Larry Sawyer — 3 — RAPS club reports PAST TENSE Early Efforts in Environmental Education Concerns in the late ‘60s about the degrading and squandering of our natural resources led to the establishment of Oregon’s first major Environmental Education Center at Portland State. U.S. Department of Education funding for the project was procured by Donald Stotler, science education supervisor, Portland Public Schools, who partnered with PSU science education professor Mike Fiasca to bring the center to PSU. The center was housed in room 326 of Lincoln Hall. Coordinated by Fiasca and directed by Michael Soulé and Larry Beutler, the center became a clearing house for information on environmental education, a sponsor of workshops to develop EE curricula and course materials for K-university teachers, and a setting to accommodate practitioners and national experts on environmental issues and idea exchanges. After federal monies expired in the late 1970s, and due to the lack of University support, the center closed. 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. BridgeGroup: May 13 at Willamette View The RAPS Bridge Group will next meet at Willamette View on Tuesday, May 13, at 1:00 p.m. If you would like to play, please let me know as soon as you can and no later than Friday, May 9. Please call me at 503292-0838 or e-mail colinkeld@gmail.comif you have questions. —Colin Dunkeld Two RAPS members received awards during the April 17 President’s Luncheon at University Place. Richard Brinkman, professor emeritus of economics, received the Outstanding Retired Faculty Award. Brinkman was recognized for his service to the University and to RAPS, as well as his scholarly work. Since his retirement in 2001, Brinkman has coauthored two books, published eight journal articles and two book reviews, and presented six papers. Vic Dahl, professor emeritus of history, received a special recognition award for his biographical sketches of deceased Portland State faculty and staff. The articles appear in the RAPS Sheet. “These biographies are meticulously researched, written with passion, and present the life histories in an interesting manner,” Mike Fiasca, professor emeritus of education, wrote in his nomination. Brinkman, Dahl win RAPS awards Mike Fiasca
Our Traveling Retirees: A bassoonist loose in Brazil By Gordon Solie / Professor Emeritus of Music It’s always a wonderful feeling to be able to mix business with pleasure, especially when your business is also a great pleasure. On a recent trip to Brazil with our chapter of Friendship Force International, I was able to make some wonderful new friends, see some beautiful country, and add some 35 works to my little publishing house, EditionsVIENTO. Of the 25 composers represented in my catalog, five live in Brazil. My hostess during our first week in Belo Horizonte organized a master class for me with the bassoon students at the federal university. Somehow I managed to survive doing this in Portuguese. The bassoon instructor must be a fine teacher as all students played very well. He also showed me a collection of some 40 works for bassoon that he has collected from composers only in the state of Minas Gerais. Can you imagine 40 works for bassoon written by Oregon composers? My hostess also arranged for me to meet the bassoonists of the Belo Horizonte Symphony Orchestra. As their contrabassoonist was in Canada at the time, it was up to me to fill in for him—and on an instrument far different from mine. We read many arrangements that the first bassoonist had made for four bassoons and contrabassoon. What fun! Our second week of home stays was after a long but beautiful bus ride to Piracicaba. My Belo Horizonte hostess had also arranged for me to meet and tour the Piracicaba School of Music. This school and its director, Ernst Mahle, are very famous throughout the country. We ended the day listening to an evening rehearsal of a children’s orchestra. They played with typical Brazilian enthusiasm, especially when rehearsing some of the 1,400 folk songs that Mahle had arranged for them from folk songs throughout the world. Each song was greeted with eager chatter. I was on my own for my third week. Three of the Brazilian composers I work with live in São Paulo, so I spent three days visiting them. One delightful day was spent with one of Brazil’s leading composers, Osvaldo Lacerda, and his wife. She tours Brazil performing piano compositions of Brazilian composers and seemed pleased that I knew many of the pieces she played for me. Before I left, Osvaldo handed me a large stack of his bassoon music he wanted me to publish, as he seemed very pleased with the work I had done on a woodwind quintet of his. All these compositions are now completed and in my catalog. I then flew to Brasilia because I wanted to interview and write an article on Hary Schweizer, the only bassoon maker in all Latin America. I was very fortunate that I could stay with yet another Friendship Force member. We spent a delightful afternoon with Schweizer, complete with the traditional churrasco (Brazilian barbecue) and drank a few caipirinhas (Brazil’s national drink) made from his own homemade cachaça (Brazilian fire water!). That article still is in my computer—uncompleted. In Brasilia I spent an afternoon with the owner of Latin America’s largest sheet music store. He told me that I had more Brazilian music in my catalog than he had in his entire store and that he wanted to purchase most of it. To date I have not heard from him, but Brazilians go at a much more leisurely pace than we, so hope springs eternal. My hostess and I spent another wonderful afternoon with other Friendship Force members who were here in Portland two years ago. Yes, more caipirinhas and another churrasco. The last day in Brasilia was spent with friends and another churrasco and many caipirenhas. Then it was off to the airport and back to São Paulo. Every moment of every day of those three weeks was a special moment. Brazilians are wonderful people and Brazil is such a fascinating country. These are two good reasons that I keep returning to that country. This was my fifth time, but the first to try getting along in Portuguese. Many more packages of music have arrived on my doorstep and more is expected at any time. What a way to mix business with pleasure! Hary Schweizer
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz