THE RAPS SHEET NOVEMBER 2011 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.pdx.edu/raps Office hours: Wednesdays 8:00 am to 2:00 pm Thursdays 9:00 am to 3:00 pm Officers Joan Shireman President Dave Krug President-elect / Program Chair Clarence Hein / Membership Chair Past President Robert Lockerby Secretary Robert Vogelsang Treasurer / Regional Retirement Association Ad Hoc Committee Chair Dawn White Editor Board Members-at-Large Anne Bender Priscilla Blumel Susan Jackson Committees Tom Bull Alumni Association Steve Brannan History Preservation Committee Chair Mary Brannan Pictorial History Book Committee Chair Beryl and Vic Dahl Social/Friendship Committee Co-Chairs Larry Sawyer Awards Committee Chair Office Manager Maya Burton 503/725-3447 / raps@pdx.edu RAPS scholarship recipient named elissa Cannon, a third year doctoral student in Urban Studies, is the first recipient of the RAPS Scholarship, awarded fall term 2011. Melissa graduated with highest honors in March 2009 with a BS degree from PSU in Community Development and entered the doctoral program in Urban Studies in fall 2009. The focus of her graduate program is gerontology and community development. Since the beginning of her doctoral studies, she has been a graduate research assistant for Dr. Margaret Neal, Director of the Institute on Aging. Melissa stated in her application that her research will be directed toward “developing communities that are vibrant, accessible, and well prepared for our rapidly aging population.” The purpose of the RAPS scholarship is to aid Melissa Cannon students who have an interest in some aspect of gerontology, are upper division or graduate students at PSU, have high academic achievement, and have financial need. Melissa has a multitude of experiences with aging populations. She heads the Gerontology Association at PSU, organizing events such as a holiday drive for older adults and the annual “Careers in Aging Week.” She has volunteered for Meals on Wheels for over two years. In 2010, she coordinated volunteers for the Grand Works Northwest Art Festival, an event that celebrates creativity in aging. Last year she was a volunteer for the Well Arts Institute’s “Voices of Our Elders” program. Additionally, Melissa has been engaged globally, specifically coordinating an aging and health service-learning program for students traveling to Nicaragua continued on page 2 Coming up Nov. 17 Autism next RAPS meeting topic raduate School of Education Professors Helen Young and Ruth Falco are Project Directors for the CAPSTAR Project, a $2.6 million federal grant to study the learning gains of young children with autism in public school settings. Over 300 children with autism, their parents, and their teachers are participating in this controlled experimental design study to evaluate the effects of the CAPSTAR program. Drs. Young and Falco will share information about autism and the project at the next RAPS general meeting Thursday, Nov. 17, at 1:00 pm in 296 SMSU. M G
2 President’s Message n October 20, those present at the RAPS program heard the story of the development activity behind the growth of Portland State. Catherine Faris, Associate Vice President for Development, told of the changed philosophy and enhanced effort of the new University Advancement office. She talked of larger expectations and of investment in the process of building the University’s financial wellbeing, in an environment in which the state is contributing a diminishing share. The RAPS scholarship is our contribution to this effort. The first RAPS scholarship has just been awarded to Melissa Cannon, a third year doctoral student in Urban Studies, working in gerontology and community development. Melissa has an impressive background and a research interest in building sustainable communities that will enhance the lives of an aging population. You will get a chance to meet her at the Holiday Dinner in December. The funding of this scholarship was largely through the repayment of a loan from RAPS for the printing of Portland State: A History in Pictures. Now we need to raise money for next year’s scholarship. Perhaps we need to raise our expectations and look toward raising money for an endowment that will fund scholarships for many years. The University Advancement Office is giving us the help of a graduate intern, Denise Harrison, who will help us with strategies and plans for raising money. You can be sure that you will be hearing more about this as we move beyond wine raffles in our quest to fund the scholarship. --Joan Shireman First call for nominations of outstanding retirees he RAPS Awards Committee is seeking nominations for the Outstanding Retired Faculty and Staff Awards. The awards will be presented at the annual President’s Luncheon to be held in April 2012 at University Place. Awards recipients are selected based on their achievements since retirement in at least three of the following categories: Service to the community Service to the University Professional/career achievements Service to RAPS Both members and non-members of RAPS will be considered. Nominations will also be accepted for special awards to persons who excel in a single category. Nominations will be reviewed by the RAPS Awards Committee, composed of Larry Sawyer, chair, and members Anne Bender, Marge Terdal and Brian Lewis. Nomination forms are due by March 15, 2012. Forms may be obtained by calling Maya Burton, the RAPS Office Manager, at 503-725-3447 or emailing raps@pdx.edu. In addition, forms will be available at the monthly general meetings through March. For questions, please contact Larry Sawyer by phone at 503-771-1616 or email him at larry_sawyer@comcast.net. Scholarship . . . continued from page 1 to develop services and support for low-income Nicaraguan elders. Melissa already has two publications and numerous presentations to her credit and is currently working on two co-authored refereed publications. She is a student member of the Gerontological Society of America. Melissa has already made her mark and is well on her way to becoming an outstanding professional. You can contribute to the RAPS Scholarship fund to help support other deserving students in the future by sending a check to the RAPS Office payable to the “RAPS Scholarship Fund, PSU Foundation.” Your contribution is totally tax deductible. --Mary Brannan Don’t be left out of the new RAPS Directory! Make sure your contact information is up-to-date by emailing raps@pdx.edu or calling the RAPS Office at 503-725-3447. Questions? Pease contact Larry Sawyer, 503-771-1616 or larry_sawyer@comcast.net O T
3 RAPS club reports Bridge Group deals 2 nd Tuesday of the month The RAPS Bridge Group meets at 1:00 pm Tuesday, Nov. 8, at Friendly House (corner of NW 26 th and Thurman). For information about the group, please call Colin Dunkeld, 503-292-0838. If you would like to play, please call before noon Friday, Nov. 1. This gives us time to invite guests to join us if we need to make up a table. --Colin Dunkeld Book Club reads novel set in Pacific Northwest The RAPS Book Club meets at 1:30 pm Tuesday, Nov. 15 at the home of Dez Roberts, 2610 SW 84th in Portland. Contact her at dezrob@comcast.net or 503-292-6095 to RSVP and for directions. We will discuss Jamie Ford’s debut novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. According to Publishers Weekly, Ford’s novel . . . concerns Henry Lee, a Chinese-American in Seattle who, in 1986, has just lost his wife to cancer. After Henry hears that the belongings of Japanese immigrants interned during WWII have been found in the basement of the Panama Hotel, the narrative shuttles between 1986 and the 1940s in a predictable story that chronicles the losses of old age and the bewilderment of youth. Henry recalls the difficulties of life in America during WWII, when he and his Japanese-American school friend, Keiko, wandered through wartime Seattle. Keiko and her family are later interned in a camp, and Henry, horrified by America's anti-Japanese hysteria, is further conflicted because of his Chinese father's antiJapanese sentiment. Looking ahead to December, we will discuss The Plain Truth by Jodie Picoult. --Mary Brannan RAPS Hikers hike locally as winter approaches The RAPS Hikers are shifting to local hikes for the winter. On Friday, Nov. 11 we will hike the pathway along the west bank of the Willamette River and dine at the Spaghetti Factory afterwards. This is a level hike on a paved walkway. Meet at the parking lot of the Spaghetti Factory at 9:30 am. The streetcar turns around about two blocks from there. RSVP to Larry Sawyer by Nov. 10 at 503-771-1616 or larry_sawyer@comcast.net. In early December or possibly early January after the holidays, we will hold our annual potluck and planning session at one of the hiker’s homes. Potluck plans will be discussed on the November hike. --Larry Sawyer PAST TENSE SBA students join the PC revolution 1981 BC (Before Computers) hen IBM introduced its breakthrough personal computer (PC) in 1981, it was not cheap -- $2,880 without screen, according to one source, putting it far out of reach financially for most students. Recognizing the importance of introducing this new technology to students and providing both access and training, the School of Business Administration secured a $50,000 grant in 1984 from the Chiles Foundation to establish a microcomputer laboratory on the second floor of East Hall, at that time the home of SBA. The lab equipment consisted of 12 latest model IBM PCs with two floppy disk drives, six NEC dot matrix printers, and a Radio Shack daisy wheel printer. The Chiles Foundation continued its support of this program in 1985 and 1986, providing an additional $50,000 each year. In the spring of 1987, the Foundation granted $200,000 to provide for new and upgraded quarters in the new SBA Building and another $50,000 in 1988 for further development. Today the School of Business Administration has three computers labs: one for instruction, one for undergraduate students, and one for graduate students. Current computer equipment consists of 110 Dell PCs, one high-speed printer in each lab for graduate student and instructional use, and three in the lab for undergraduate student use. These labs are appropriately staffed for convenient student access. --Professors Emeritus Roger Moseley and Alan Raedels 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. Save the date! RAPS Annual Holiday Party Thursday, Dec. 15 Multnomah Athletic Club W
4 Community Mentoring Program Seeks Volunteers Members of the 2011 Community Mentor Program, now known as the Compass Program, pose behind the Simon Benson House following the May 20, 2011 appreciation lunch. RAPS member Maxine Thomas is in the front row, second from the left, flanked by Anna Gindlesperger and Jill Townley from the PSU Office of International Affairs. Photo by Sarah Kenney. ow in its second year, the Compass Program is a community mentoring program which pairs volunteers from the community with international students. The program was created by the International Student Life team in the Office of International Affairs with cooperation of the Senior Adult Learning Center (SALC). Since its inception, senior citizens enrolled in PSU classes through SALC, a few RAPS members, and other community volunteers have served as mentors to some of PSU’s 1500 international students who have completed ESL and are enrolled in regular classes. The main activity of mentors is to provide social activities and opportunities for social interaction. For example, mentors might take their students to visit the Japanese or Chinese garden, eat at a restaurant downtown, participate in a family celebration, visit an American home, go shopping at COSTCO, or hike the 4T trail. These are all activities that last year’s mentees mentioned they enjoyed. This program does not require academic mentoring, although providing assistance with writing is fine. Mentors commit to meeting their students a couple times a month starting at the end of January 2012 and continuing through the end of May 2012. What will you gain from the experience as a mentor? You will expand your intercultural understanding and empathy for international students by seeing things from their perspective. You will have the satisfaction of knowing you have helped a student adjust to life in Portland. And you will gain a new friend (and who knows? Maybe someday that student’s family members will welcome you for a visit to their country). An orientation meeting has been tentatively set for Friday, Dec. 9 from 11 a.m. to noon in East Hall 109. The meeting provides an opportunity to learn more about the Compass Program, enjoy a free lunch, and fill out an application to be a mentor. To receive more information about the program or orientation meeting, please email Jill Townley at townleyj@pdx.edu. --Marge Terdal N
5 In memoriam: Rudi Nussbaum, 1922-2011 rofessor Emeritus Rudi Nussbaum died in a Netherlands hospital July 22, 2011 of injuries sustained in a fall that occurred two days earlier in the Amsterdam airport. He and his wife, Laureen Nussbaum, PSU Emeritus Professor of Foreign Lan- guages and Literatures, were homeward bound after traveling to Western European countries where they had lived before emigrating to the United States. Fortunately, their two sons, Ralph and Fred, and their wives could join him during his last hours. A large number of Rudi’s Rudi Nussbaum in 1982 colleagues and friends gathered Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011 at University Place for a celebration of his remarkable life. Born March 21, 1922 in Furth, Bavaria, Rudi lived there until 1931 when his father, a pharmacist, moved the family to Frankfurt. In 1936 the Nussbaums fled Nazi Germany, taking refuge in Italy. By 1938 that country no longer offered a safe haven and the family moved to Amsterdam. Two years later Nazi forces overran the Netherlands, and eventually the German occupiers deported his parents to death camps. Rudi survived by joining the resistance and going underground until Nazi Germany’s defeat in 1945. Nazi persecution from 1936 to 1945 had precluded any regular schooling. In the fall of 1945, 23-year old Rudi enrolled as a senior in a Dutch academic high school and in July 1946, by dint of intensive studying and tutoring, he passed the final exams required for university admission. His tutors included two other members of the German-Jewish refugee community, Laureen Klein and her sister. Rudi and Laureen married in 1947 to begin a long, productive and fulfilling life together. Rudi matriculated at the University of Amsterdam to study experimental nuclear physics, completing a doctoral degree in 1954. During 1954-1955 he held a UNESCO fellowship at the University of Liverpool, followed by year-long senior research appointments at the University of Indiana and CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, in Geneva. From 1957 to 1959 he served as an assistant professor of physics at the University of California, Davis. In 1959 Rudi joined Portland State College’s Division of Science as an associate professor of physics. At that juncture, PSC faculty members faced daunting undergraduate classroom teaching assignments with large enrollments under conditions that afforded little time or few facilities for research. Science faculty offices, classrooms and laboratories utilized cramped space adjacent to a basement gymnasium in the former Lincoln High School building, today’s Lincoln Hall. Nevertheless, Rudi and his colleagues worked hard to develop a department that would undergird the institution as it improved, expanded, and moved forward to become a comprehensive university offering both high quality undergraduate instruction and significant graduate studies and research programs. One of Rudi’s main contributions to the research enterprise at Portland State was his work in collaboration with Professor Donald Howard and colleagues at the University of Washington on Mossbauer spectroscopy, a rare blending from the fields of solid state and nuclear physics. Instructional, research, and publication achievements led PSU to honor him in 1982 with the Branford P. Millar Award for Faculty Excellence. During his three-decade long PSU career, Professor Nussbaum continuously engaged in faculty governance activities. Colleagues throughout the institution acknowledged the highest level of respect for his faculty service on departmental and university curriculum committees. Soon after his arrival at PSC he participated in strengthening the American Association of University Professors organization, later serving as chapter president and working for its selection as faculty bargaining agent. As a scientist who had survived the Holocaust and become a dedicated pacifist, Rudi emerged as an outspoken advocate for international peace and a proponent of raising alarm about the dangers of nuclear radiation. His active environmental science research—in collaboration with departmental and international colleagues—verified the dangers of low level radiation and vigorously disputed governmental and private agencies that downplayed dangers of nuclear power generation. In collaboration with organizations such as Physicians for Social Responsibility, these findings publicized the adverse health effects inflicted on the Columbia River region’s population living downwind of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. continued on page 6 P
6 In memoriam: Stanley L. Johnson, 1920-2011 meritus Professor of English Stanley L. Johnson died in Portland July 27, 2011 after a long illness. Stanley was born in Garland, Utah Oct. 6, 1920, the first of seven children of Elwood L. and Ida Hansen Johnson. Four sisters and a brother survive him. A memorial service attended by local friends and colleagues was held in Portland at his residence, Calaroga Terrace, on July 29. A funeral service was held in Brigham City, Utah on Aug. 1. Stanley attended Weber State College (1938-1940) and the University of Utah Stan Johnson in 1970 (1940-1942), earning a BA degree in English. After being drafted into the army in 1942, he served in the South Pacific and Japan before demobilization in December 1945. He pursued graduate studies in English at the University of Southern California from 1946 until 1950 and then came to Vanport Extension Center as an instructor in English. While teaching in Oregon he finished requirements for a PhD degree, which was awarded in 1955. As a gifted classroom teacher, Stan attracted large numbers of students to his literature and composition courses at Vanport and later at Portland State when it moved to its Park Blocks location. He had begun reading mystery and detective stories in elementary school, and this interest persisted into his professorial career as a specialist in 20th century literature. For a decade he taught a highly popular course on detective fiction with special emphasis on Sherlock Holmes. Professor Johnson also offered very popular literature courses dealing with drama, and in 1958 he and two colleagues edited a textbook, The Dramatic Experience (Prentice-Hall, 1958), which preceded their textbook publication The Play and the Reader (Prentice-Hall, 1967). In the 1950s the Division of Continuing Education engaged his services to offer 20th century literature courses in Astoria and The Dalles. While in high school, Stan wrote a weekly contribution, “Columneandering,” for the local newspaper, The Garland Times, and continued to do so for approximately 20 years. Perhaps that experience sparked his interest in presenting ideas to a popular audience. Over the years, he followed a deep-seated interest in musical performance and served on the boards of directors for the Portland Opera Guild and the Musical Theatre Company. He attended most of the local performance arts productions. Stanley was an active RAPS member and was involved as well as with the Senior Studies Institute (SSI), an organization sponsored by Portland Community College to present educational and public interest programs for retirees and senior citizens. He was a longtime active member of the Thomas Wolfe and Sherlock Holmes Societies. For his service to these and other groups, in 2001 RAPS accorded him a community service recognition award. Professor Stanley Johnson contributed significantly to this institution’s mission to meet the public education needs of the Portland metropolitan community. His popularity as a speaker prompted frequent requests to present lectures to cultural and service organizations. His service to the university community contributed significantly to our academic mission. Those of us who knew and interacted with him will miss his presence at lectures and performances. Donations in his memory may be made to the University of Utah. --Victor C. Dahl, Emeritus Professor of History Rudi Nussbaum . . . continued from page 5 The University owes a debt of gratitude to Professor Nussbaum for his intellectual achievements and contributions to its academic mission. Our organization extends its heartfelt sympathies to Laureen as well as to their sons Ralph (Carol) and Fred (Nan) and grandchildren Robin, Alix, Devin, Kalen, and greatgranddaughter, Rhylin. The Nussbaums’ daughter Elka preceded Rudi in death. The family suggests that gifts in Rudi’s honor be made to any of these organizations: Mercy Corps International, www.mercycorps.org Physicians for Social Responsibility-Oregon, www.psr.org/chapters/oregon Right Livelihood Award Foundation, www.rightlivelihood.org --Victor C. Dahl, Emeritus Professor of History, with assistance from Emeritus Professor of Physics, Arnold D. Pickar E
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