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, 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Officers Larry Sawyer President Clarence Hein President-elect / Program Chair Marge Terdal Past President / Membership Chair Robert Vogelsang Treasurer / Regional Retirement Association Ad Hoc Committee Chair Joan Shireman Secretary Doug Swanson Editor Board Members-at-Large Priscilla Blumel Susan Jackson DawnWhite Committees Alumni Association Pat Squire Awards Committee Robert Tufts, Chair History Preservation Committee Steve Brannan, Chair Pictorial History Book Committee Mary Brannan, Chair Social/Friendship Committee Beryl and Vic Dahl, Co-Chairs Office Manager MiMi Bernal-Graves 503-725-3447 / raps@pdx.edu THE RAPSSHEET FEBRUARY 2010 PSU prof tells ‘Franken Food’ story Feb. 18 Genetically modified foods—a scientific development that was hailed 40 years ago with a Nobel Peace Prize—is now condemned by many as environmentally dangerous. What happened over those 40 years and what the future holds is the subject of the new book, FoodFray, by PSU biology professor Lisa Weasel. She will speak to RAPS on Thursday, Feb. 18, at 1 p.m. in 338 Smith Memorial Student Union. In 1970 an American plant biologist named Norman Borlaug, who developed hybrid strains of wheat and rice, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. The Nobel committee said, in part, “More than any other single person of this age, he has helped provide bread for a hungry world. We have made this choice in the hope that providing bread will also give the world peace.” Borlaug often was called the father of the green revolution. Forty years later major countries around the world are rejecting so-called genetically modified (GM) foods, calling them environmentally dangerous “Franken Food,” and banning them outright. And it’s hard to stroll the aisles of any grocery store and not see product labels crowing “no hormones” or “all natural.” Weasel’s book is a story with heroes and villains, corporate intrigue, government mismanagement and, sometimes, plain old-fashioned skullduggery. It also is a story still playing out today with the recent federal court decision denying Oregon farmers access to GM sugar beet seeds which, some farmers argue, have helped the state remain number one in sugar beet seed production. Weasel points out that Oregon has been at the forefront of many major anti-GM food movements, beginning with the decision by Tillamook dairy farmers to eliminate bovine growth hormones from feed, a move that eventually spread across the entire country and involved such corporate giants as Starbucks and Kraft Foods. Weasel, a graduate of Harvard and Cambridge University, received a National Science Foundation Career Award in 2001. Send in your RAPS bylaws ballot There’s something extra in your RAPS Sheet mailing. Two somethings extra, actually. A committee recently took a look at the RAPS bylaws and decided a change or two would make things much smoother. That’s why you have a four-page sheet with proposed changes to the organization’s bylaws and a ballot with which you can wield your authority to approve the changes or strike them down. The major changes are explained at the top of the bylaws document. After giving painstaking consideration to your decision, please mark your ballot, fold it so the address panel shows, slap a stamp on it, and mail it no later than Monday, Feb. 8.
—2— President’s Message LARRY SAWYER Your board of directors would like to extend the length of office for the treasurer and secretary from one to two years. This would result in more continuity in these positions and one fewer new officer each year. This is a bylaws amendment. We have also made some minor changes in the wording to better define the elected and appointed offices. We have also added a very short statement of purpose at the beginning, before the listing of our nine main objectives. As the election of officers will take place very soon, we are asking for your approval of this amendment before voting on the new officers slate. If the amendment passes, we will adjust the length of office of the secretary and treasurer for the next election only to allow these two offices to be elected alternate years. The RAPS Board has approved the proposed amendment. As many of you know, the Ferdinand Society disbanded a few years ago. The RAPS History Preservation Committee has made arrangements for their records to be housed in the Library archives. RAPS donated $2,500 up front for the publication of Portland State: A History in Pictures, and we are listed as the publisher and owner of its ISBN number. Money from the book sales is now paying back the investment. Some of this money will be held for a future edition of the book. The board has authorized two other specific areas for use of the as-yet unknown total amount of income. First, we have transferred $1,000 to the Library for its oral history project. This donation increased available funds to $2,000. Many of the interesting details of PSU’s history exist only in the memory of people like us, and the Library is interested in documenting these recollections. I urge you to contact the Library if you have PSU historical non-print (or print) information you feel should be documented. The second area is the scholarship fund. At the Jan. 14 board meeting, the treasurer reported $690 in the fund. We would like the fund to be at least $1,000 before requesting scholarship applications. In memoriam: Jack C. Finley, 1930-2009 Jack C. Finley, associate professor emeritus of social work, died Dec. 31, 2009, after a year-long illness with cancer, in Vancouver, Wash., where he resided for most of his life. Services were held on Jan. 8 at Liberty Bible Church in Vancouver. His guest book may be signed at www.columbian.com/obits. Prof. Finley was born in Portland on Oct. 25, 1930. After graduating from Fort Vancouver High School, Prof. Finley enlisted in the United States Navy Reserve, and in January 1952, during the Korean Conflict, he was called to active duty to serve as a weatherman. After his discharge, he attended Clark Community College and the University of Washington, and earned a B.S. degree in psychology at Lewis & Clark College in 1958. He completed a Master of Social Work degree at the University of Washington in 1961. After more than a decade of service in various public welfare and mental health agencies in western Washington, he took an appointment as an assistant professor at the PSU School of Social Work in 1967. In 1986 he earned a Ph.D. degree at the University of Oregon, emphasizing educational policy and management. After a long and distinguished PSU career, Prof. Finley received emeritus status on July 1, 1993. Prof. Finley’s campus tenure coincided with the School of Social Work’s development as the institution’s first graduate program, which in 1961 had been mandated to serve the Portland metropolitan community and the state of Oregon. To that end, the school’s founding dean, Gordon Hearn, recruited highly qualified faculty members to launch a thoroughly professional degree program. Prof. Finley came to the pioneer School of Social Work in 1967 as an experienced, skillful practitioner who contributed substantially to its formative development by collaborating with his colleagues in devising appropriate curriculum, instruction, and management procedures. In 1984 Prof. Finley was appointed coordinator of the social work undergraduate program. Concurrently with School of Social Work responsibilities, Prof. Finley served on many University-wide academic governance bodies, such as the Faculty Senate and Graduate Council. All those who worked with him held his contributions to institutional objectives in continued on page 4
—3— RAPS club reports Book Club: ‘The Madonnas of Leningrad’ The RAPS Book Club will meet on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 1:30 p.m. at the home of Marge Terdal, 997 SW Westwood Dr., Portland. Contact her at 503-244-5714 or terdalm@pdx.edu to RSVP and for directions. We will discuss The Madonnas of Leningrad, written by Debra Dean. On the cover, it is described as: Bit by bit, the ravages of age are eroding Marina’s grip on the everyday. An elderly Russian woman now living in America, she cannot hold on to fresh memories—the details of her grown children’s lives, the approaching wedding of her grandchild—yet her distant past is miraculously preserved in her mind’s eye. Vivid images of her youth in war-torn Leningrad arise unbidden, carrying her back to the terrible fall of 1941, when she was a tour guide at the Hermitage Museum and the German army’s approach signaled the beginning of what would be a long, torturous siege on the city. As the people braved starvation, bitter cold, and a relentless German onslaught, Marina joined other staff members in removing the museum’s priceless masterpieces for safekeeping, leaving the frames hanging empty on the walls to symbolize the artworks’ eventual return. As the Luftwaffe’s bombs pounded the proud, stricken city, Marina built a personal Hermitage in her mind—a refuge that would stay buried deep within her, until she needed it once more . . . Looking ahead, we will read The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery, for March. —Mary Brannan Bridge Group: Second Tuesdays The RAPS Bridge Group meets at 1:00 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month. The group is open to all members of RAPS. If you are interested in playing or need information about the group, please call me at 503-292-0838. —Colin Dunkeld Past Tense FLORESTAN TRIO ENRICHES PSU In 1974 violinist Carol Sindell, cellist Hamilton Cheifetz, and pianist Harold Gray won the competition to become Portland State University Music Department’s first (and only) artists-in-residence ensemble—and the Florestan Trio came into being. These artists were hired not only to provide music students with rehearsal and performance techniques and opportunities, but also to provide the University and Portland-area audiences with the very finest performances of the piano trio literature. Concerts were performed on campus and throughout greater Portland as well as on state tours. The Florestan Trio (named after a character in Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio) was only half of the trio’s appointment. The other half of the trio’s members’ time was to be spent in teaching their respective instruments to PSU students. As a result, chamber music became a vital part of Portland State students’ music education. The trio also toured Japan and performed for several summers in educational programs and festivals in France. While most other major universities were able to keep their residence ensemble programs, with a series of severe budget cuts over the years at Portland State, the post of artist-in-residence was abolished. The members of the trio then became regular members of the Music Department faculty. Upon Harold Gray’s retirement, Janet Guggenheim (although not connected with the PSU Music Department) became the trio’s pianist. The Florestan Trio has joined the Friends of Chamber Music, the Piano Series, and the Guitar Festival as having once been under the auspices of the PSU Music Department. Each of these ensembles has continued to provide a rich and varied musical culture to the Portland area and the entire state. —Gordon Solie Hikers: Tualatin Hills Nature Park On Tuesday, Feb. 23, we will hike in the Tualatin Hills Nature Park, 15655 SW Millikan Way, just west of Beaverton. Meet at the entrance of the park at 9:30 a.m. We will hike a series of loop trails for less than five miles. Lunch after the hike will be at a local restaurant. Contact Larry Sawyer at 503-771-1616 or larry_sawyer@comcast.net for more information or to confirm your participation. —Larry Sawyer Carol Sindell, Hamilton Cheifetz, Harold Gray
Eugene E. Hakanson, retired director of Counseling and Testing Services, died at his Portland home on Nov. 20, 2009. A native Iowan, Prof. Hakanson was born June 29, 1939, in Independence, graduated as valedictorian at Blairstown High School, and earned a B.A. degree with a joint major in history and mathematics at the University of Northern Iowa at Cedar Falls in 1961. After teaching in Iowa secondary schools, he pursued graduate studies in counseling and psychology, completing an M.S. degree at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1963, and an Ed.D. at the University of Indiana, Bloomington, in 1967. Prof. Hakanson came to PSU in 1966 to head Counseling and Testing Services. His arrival coincided with the onset of surging undergraduate enrollments with the exciting backdrop of vigorous campus civil rights demonstrations and Vietnam-era antiwar protests. Those conditions imposed burdens and strains that affected instructional departments as well as student personnel services during a critical period in the institution’s transition from an urban college to a major comprehensive university. When confronted by volatile situations, his dignified, calm responses inevitably produced soothing solutions that helped to reduce crises. During his long service to the institution, large numbers of students relied upon him for caring guidance. His colleagues across the campus relied upon his professional wisdom, accumulated experience, and thoughtful assistance when addressing student counseling needs. The Graduate School of Social Work and the Department of Psychology regularly appointed him to teach courses appropriate to his specialty interests. Ongoing professional interests and intellectual inquisitiveness prompted him to engage in post-doctoral studies at Oregon Health Sciences University and the University of Oregon. As a licensed psychologist, Prof. Hakanson actively supported the institution’s role in extending services to satisfy needs of the metropolitan region. Local hospitals and Portland Public Schools extensively deployed his consultation services. The Multnomah County Commission utilized his expertise for devising programs to control drug and alcohol abuse by young people. A private practice further facilitated and supported his community outreach. Prof. Hakanson retired in 2002 after a distinguished career during which he contributed significantly to the University’s academic mission. The institution owes him a debt of gratitude for his selfless service and noteworthy accomplishments. In 1982 Gene married Sandra Goldstone, who survives him. His brother, Dean; sister, Joanne Patterson; and many other family members also survive him. To them our organization extends its heartfelt condolences. Friends gathered on Jan. 16 at Hoffmann Hall for a memorial service celebrating Gene’s life. Contributions in his memory may be made to the PSU Library Foundation, P.O. Box 243, Portland OR 97207. An extensive obituary appeared in The Oregonian and may be consulted in the RAPS office. Why, youdon’t look 85! But here’s your free lifetime RAPSmembershipanyway If you’re 85 or better, you have something to show for it: your RAPS membership is free. The RAPS Board recently approved a motion to grant free lifetime membership to any member who is 85 or older. Unfortunately, RAPS does not maintain information on the ages of its members. So, if you’re 85 or older, call the RAPS office at 503-725-3447 to claim your free lifetime membership. This is RAPS’ way of showing appreciation for your years of participation in RAPS. In memoriam: Eugene E. Hakanson, 1939-2009 high regard. Prof. Finley actively participated in regional and national social work professional organizations. His extensive community outreach services included numerous public school workshops, lectures, and consultations for medical and psychological service providers. Survivors include Jeanette, his wife of 36 years; and sons, Christopher and Steffan; their spouses, Karen and Barbara; and seven grandchildren. To them our organization extends its heartfelt sympathy and condolences. All of us owe a debt of gratitude to Prof. Finley for his notable contributions to the highly acclaimed achievements of PSU’s first graduate degreeawarding unit. —Victor C. Dahl, Professor Emeritus of History, with assistance from Arthur C. Emlen, Professor Emeritus of Social Work Jack C. Finley . . . from page 2
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