—2— President’s Message LARRY SAWYER Plans are being made for the annual dinner at the Multnomah Athletic Club (MAC), which is scheduled for Dec. 17. Prior to 2008, RAPS underwrote the cost by $10 or more per person—equivalent to your total annual RAPS dues. Last year the Board elected not to underwrite the dinner and charged $50 per person. This covered the meals and some of the entertainment. At that time, the MAC representative suggested that we consider a luncheon as a cost-saving measure. This year we are asking you for your opinion—luncheon or dinner? An e-mail was sent recently to the membership, and the limited response was evenly split among “don’t care,” “luncheon,” and “dinner.” A quick raise of hands at the October general meeting produced about the same result. We have access to the MAC through sponsorship of club member Mary Brannan. She’s also the one they bill. Our costs are basically for the food, drinks, and entertainment. I have seen the two menus, and the luncheon would definitely be cheaper. Pros for lunch have been cost and the concern about driving or using public transportation at night. Pros for dinner include a more formal three-course dinner. The musicians that entertained us last year are available again this year but both have day jobs. Clarence will have to come up with different entertainment for a luncheon. If you have a preference, please let us know as soon as possible at raps@pdx.eduor voice mail at 503-7253447. If we choose a dinner, would some of you be willing to drive a fellow member who has concerns about night driving? PSU looks to the future . . . continued from page 1 To get the job under way, Portland State gathered the usual suspects from campus—deans, faculty, and students—but also brought in people from the neighborhoods and members of the Portland Development Commission. Then PSU sought outside professionals. Sasaki Associates, of Boston and San Francisco, has extensive experience in campus planning, and SERA Architects, Inc., of Portland, was invited to provide local knowledge. Transportation analysts as well as parks and green space specialists were also hired. The cost? About $850,000, Gregory said, of which $500,000 went to the physical plant analysis and the balance to the economic development facet. “Is it wise to spend that much on planning?” he asked. “Well, I would suggest that each building we build costs about $100 million—more than 100 times (the cost of the plan)—so if we’re doing anything wrong, and we’re building one (building) a year, we’re really better to stop and think, ‘What kind of buildings do we want to build and where do we want to build them?’” One of the big planning issues is student enrollment, and the projections tend to waver a bit. Oregon University System estimates, Gregory said, have been consistently low over the years, when compared to the number of students that have actually enrolled at Portland State. OUS projects Portland State to have 36,000 students in 20 years. On the other hand, last December, in his remarks on his budget proposal, Gov. Ted Kulongoski said his goal for Oregon by 2025 would have 40 percent of the population holding a four-year degree, 40 percent holding a two-year degree, and 20 percent having a high school diploma. If that were to come to pass, Gregory said, about 50,000 students would have to be enrolled at Portland State—nearly twice the number enrolled today. A more realistic estimate, Gregory said, is about 40,000 students. “People say that Portland needs a great university. Well, PSU is at least becoming a great big university,” he said, drawing laughs. “We’re starting to look a lot more like the big institutions in the United States.” ‘If I wrote a definitive plan, I’d pay twice as muchfor every block.’
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz