4 RAPS club reports RAPS Hikers: Nov. hike iced out November’s icy cold prevented the RAPS hikers from making their planned hike on Nov. 23. Larry Sawyer shot this picture of Fairy Falls during the Raps Hikers’ Oct. 26 jaunt along the Wahkeena Creek Trail in the Columbia Gorge. The group will hold its annual potluck and 2011 planning session in December. For additional information, contact Larry Sawyer at 503-771-1616 or larry_sawyer@comcast.net. --Larry Sawyer Book Club: ‘The Lacuna’ The RAPS Book Club will meet Tuesday, Dec. 21, at 1:00 pm at the home of Joan Shireman, 13584 SE Snowfire Drive in Happy Valley. NOTE THE TIME CHANGE. Please contact Joan at jshireman@myfrontiermail.com or 503-698-9951 to RSVP and for directions. We will discuss The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. The book is described as follows on the back cover: In this powerfully imagined, provocative novel, Barbara Kingsolver takes us on an epic journey from the Mexico of artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo to the America of Pearl Harbor, FDR, and J. Edgar Hoover. The Lacuna is the poignant story of a man pulled between two nations as well as an unforgettable portrait of the artist—and of art itself. Looking ahead to January, we have selected Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann. --Mary Brannan Bridge Group: Eats first Dec. 14 The RAPS Bridge Group meets at Willamette View at 1:00 pm Tuesday, Dec. 14. The December gathering begins with lunch ($8.75) and includes a white elephant gift exchange. For further information, please call Colin Dunkeld, 503292-0838. Please call no later than Friday, Dec. 10. --Colin Dunkeld PAST TENSE The mad dash between State Hall and Old Main tate Hall (now Cramer Hall) was the first building constructed by Portland State College. Begun in 1956, it was built a quarter block at a time. The first section had a north entrance door directly across from the south door of Old Main (now Lincoln Hall)—right in the middle of the block. Remember that all streets went through the Park Blocks at that time, including Mill Street, which separates the two buildings. Given that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points, everyone crossed Mill Street directly between those two doors. Anyone crossing at that point was technically jaywalking. Policemen were posted on both sides of the street to hand out tickets for this “crime.” It didn’t take long for students, staff and faculty to realize that they needed a plan to cross between buildings. They would congregate at either door until two large clusters had formed, then make a mad dash for the other side. The police were able to pick off only one or two at each crossing--much like big fish picking off smaller fish swimming in schools for protection. Not surprisingly, tempers flared. Someone illegally painted a crosswalk between the two buildings. After a series of angry calls to the mayor’s office and letters to the editor, the police were called off, a legal crosswalk was painted, and tempers were calmed. Today we have only to watch in one direction for the streetcars rather than in both directions for automobiles. --Gordon Solie 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. S
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