THE RAPS SHEET SEPTEMBER 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: Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:30 am to 5:30 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 Pat Squire 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 A new look at PSU’s oldest building Lincoln Hall, revealed (again) hen RAPS members gather in the west foyer of Lincoln Hall at 1:00 pm Thursday, Sept. 15 for the first RAPS program of the season, they will be getting a look at the first building on campus to receive the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum designation from the U.S. Green Building Council. Guided by Barbara Sestak, Dean of the School of Fine and Performing Arts, RAPSters will see the latest evidence of the intensive restoration and renovation work begun in 2009. Construction began this summer on a new entrance and lobby on the Broadway side of the building. Upcoming RAPS programs Thursday, Oct. 20: PSU Initiatives/Endowment Giving, 1:00 pm, 296 SMSU Speaker: Catherine Faris, Associate Vice President for Development Thursday, Nov. 17: Research on Children with Autism, 1:00 pm, 296 SMSU Speaker: Helen Young, Senior Research Associate, Special Education Thursday, Dec. 15: Holiday Party at the Multnomah Athletic Club Have an idea for the entertainment portion of the holiday party? Please contact Program Chair Dave Krug, davek17@msn.com. W
2 President’s Message It seems impossible that summer has gone so fast—though the first home football game on Sept. 3 makes it official that fall is here. Actually, this year, it seems that summer is leaving almost at the same time that it arrived. RAPS kept busy during the summer. The Bridge Group and the Book Group met regularly. Dawn White got out a summer RAPS newsletter. And Beryl and Vic Dahl masterminded a wonderful picnic on a perfect summer evening. It has been a busy summer in the RAPS office. You may remember that in late spring mold was discovered in the office, and Maya Burton, our office manager, had to move out for several weeks while this situation was resolved. The RAPS office furniture and equipment were moved to a different corner of the room in preparation for the mold abatement process. Just as Maya was preparing to move back in, it was discovered that the RAPS computer had been mishandled and its hard drive destroyed. So Maya has spent the summer working to restore the information that was on that drive, and as fall approaches she says that she is ready for business. We are appreciative of her hard work and good cheer during the summer. RAPS too is ready for autumn. Dave Krug, the new chair of our program committee, has a wonderful set of programs ready for the fall. We have a new history booklet ready to advertise, authored by Steve Brannan and Doug Swanson. We will award the first RAPS scholarship this fall, thanks to the hard work of Robert Vogelsang and his committee. And, as your new president, I am eager to hear what activities you would like to see RAPS undertake. So share your ideas with me. I’m looking forward to a very good year. --Joan Shireman The RAPS Book Club gathered at Marge Terdal’s beach house Aug. 16, with each member selecting a mystery book to read and discuss with the group. Pictured (left to right) are Bettye Lou Bennet, Mary Brannan, Marge Terdal, Dez Roberts, Betsey Brown, and Felicia Wirtz. Bibliophiles take note: the Book Club is always on the lookout for new members. Photo by Maxine Thomas.
3 PAST TENSE 1976: Keith Larson garners Partners Award for PSU The Special Education Department at Portland State University has a rich history of involvement with the Partners of The Americas, an international nongovernmental organization committed to fostering a closer relationship between the peoples of Latin America and the United States. In 1969 Oregon became a partner with Costa Rica, and improved services for the disabled were identified as a high priority. Keith Larson, Chair of the Special Education Department at Portland State, was recruited by the Oregon Partners to co-chair a cooperative inter-Americas project fostering improved opportunities and education and rehabilitation services for Costa Ricans with disabilities. Larson’s efforts during the 70s included assisting Costa Rica with the first study of special education’s status in the country, helping establish Costa Rica’s first national program of special education, and supporting creation of a new department of Special Education within the Ministry of Education and at the University of Costa Rica. Keith’s major efforts over several years focused on student, faculty, and teacher exchanges between Oregon and Costa Rica that embraced all major areas of disability and needed services. In 1976 Keith received special recognition for his efforts when Portland State University was presented with the international “Distinguished Service Award” from the Partners of the Americas. This award recognized the important services provided to the Partners by PSU’s Special Education Department under the leadership of Keith Larson. The award, in the form of a plaque, was presented by National Partners President Alan Rubin to Keith Larson and PSU President Joseph Blumel. Keith Larson died April 16, 2011. At the July 29 memorial for Keith at PSU, the Larson family gave the Partners award and accompanying photo to the Special Education Department, with the request that the gift be prominently displayed in the School to preserve and celebrate an important aspect of the Special Education Program’s history. –Steve Brannan PAST TENSE features glimpses into Portland State’s history. To submit a story (or an idea for one), email the RAPS History Preservation Committee, raps@pdx.edu. RAPS club reports Book Club reads Rebecca Skloot’s bestseller The RAPS Book Club meets Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 1:30 pm at Marge Terdal’s beach house. Contact her at 503-2445714 or terdalm@pdx.edu to RSVP and for directions. We will discuss the New York Times nonfiction bestseller The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. The book is described on the back cover as follows: Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more . . . This phenomenal New York Times bestseller tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing, and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew. Looking ahead to October, we will discuss The Eleventh Man by Ivan Doig. --Mary Brannan RAPS Hikers hit the trail Sept. 9 On Aug. 12, the RAPS hikers took a short hike to Ecola Point in Ecola State Park followed by lunch hosted by Jack Cooper and Terry Rohe at their Cannon Beach home. The Sept. 9 hike will be on the trail from Frog Lake to Lower Twin Lake, four miles round trip. Despite the 500foot elevation gain, the trail is an easy grade all the way. Frog Lake is just off Hwy 26, about eight miles south of Government Camp. Bring a sack lunch. Please let Marge Terdal know if you will be participating in the hike. Contact her at terdalm@pdx.edu or phone 503-244-5714. --Marge Terdal Bridge Group counts the cards Sept. 13 The RAPS Bridge Group meets at 1:00 pm Tuesday, Sept. 13. For further information, including the venue, call Colin Dunkeld, 503-292-0838. Please call by Friday, Sept. 9. --Colin Dunkeld Partners President Alan Rubin (center) presents the Distinguished Service Award to President Joseph Blumel (left) and Special Education Chair Keith Larson.
4 In memoriam: Keith H. Larson, 1926 – 2011 meritus Professor of Education Keith H. Larson was born Nov. 16, 1926 and died April 28, 2011. A lifelong Oregonian, Keith studied at Oregon State College before serving in the U.S. Navy from 1944-1946. After military service he resumed studies at OSC (1946-1948), transferring to the University of Oregon where he earned a BS degree (1949) in secondary education. During subsequent Portland Public School District service he continued to pursue graduate studies at that institution, earning an MS in 1952 and a doctoral degree in 1964. Professor Larson’s wide-ranging public school experience included teaching, counseling, and administrative assignments encompassing grades five through twelve. Early in his career he taught Ford Foundation-sponsored classes for gifted children. That experience prompted him to work toward state certification in the new and developing “Special Education” field to meet the needs of students with developmental and related disabilities. From 1959 to 1962 he fulfilled various assignments as a teacher and work experience coordinator for special education students in vocational-instructional programs at several metropolitan high schools. In 1964 Keith joined the PSU School of Education to found the Special Education Department, thereby launching a teacher training program in a career field that he had adopted and nurtured as an educational pioneer. He immediately submitted two successful faculty support grant proposals to the Federal Bureau of Education for the Handicapped (BEH), which sponsored the first PSU Special Education classes, the only Visually Handicapped Teacher Training program in the Pacific Northwest. His visionary efforts enabled the University to mount an enduring instructional program with a comprehensive curriculum for training teachers to serve special education students varying in age and type of disability. During the ensuing years, Dr. Larson and newly appointed faculty members submitted successful requests for federal sponsorship of PSU’s wide-ranging Special Education teacher preparation and related research programs. His initiative also led to cooperative arrangements that elicited valuable advice and assistance from highly qualified specialists in conducting programs for hearing and vision impaired children at metropolitan public schools, OHSU’s Crippled Children Division, and residential schools in Salem and Vancouver WA. Keith’s nationwide reputation for generating successful Special Education programs prompted the BEH to utilize his expertise on evaluation teams to judge personnel preparation and research grants received nationwide. Professor Larson added an international dimension to the Special Education department through cooperative exchange arrangements with academic institutions in Costa Rica under the auspices of the Partners of the Americas, a grassroots nongovernmental program stemming from the Alliance for Progress (Alianza para progreso) established during the Kennedy administration. Oregon’s “partnership” arrangements led to PSU faculty and student exchanges with Costa Rican institutions whereby Keith and his colleagues assisted with training teachers and developing programs to aid children, youth and adults with disabilities in a third world country. In 1976 National Partners President Alan Rubin honored the Special Education Department under Keith’s direction with a “Distinguished Service Award . . . in Recognition of Outstanding Leadership and Service.” The department extended its international outreach by enabling various faculty members to attend international conferences in several Latin American countries, the United Kingdom, and the former Soviet Union. In 1952 Keith married Vivian Harper; their union produced two children, Robert K. (Coleen) and Nancy Larson Macpherson (Mac). The RAPS organization extends its heartfelt sympathy to Vivian, their children, and four grandchildren. On July 29, 2011 Professor Larson’s family, many community friends, and former colleagues gathered at the Simon Benson House for a “Remembering Keith Larson” observance that acknowledged his service and contributions. The entire institution owes him a lasting debt of gratitude. Those of us who knew and worked with him cherish his memory. --Victor C. Dahl, Professor Emeritus of History, and Steven A. Brannan, Professor Emeritus of Education (Keith’s longtime colleagues and handball court opponents) E
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