THE RAPS SHEET JANUARY 2012 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 TBA 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 Robert “Vogie” Vogelsang (left) surprised and delighted RAPS members at the annual holiday dinner Dec. 15 when he played harmonica with the Wanderers – Carl Allen and Bill Murlin -- during the after-dinner entertainment. Allen and Murlin, former students of Vogie’s, have played folk music together for over half a century. Photo by Larry Sawyer. Two RAPS programs jumpstart 2012 APS programs are generally held on the third Thursday of each month. January features an extra program, arranged by President-elect Dave Krug. Up the Library Steps Michael Bowman of the PSU Library leads off Thursday, Jan. 19 with a review of the Library’s services, focusing on resources for retired employees. His presentation includes demonstrations of the Library’s website and online resources and a tour of the building to see the latest technological innovations. The session is scheduled from 1:00 to 3:00 pm in the Library’s Room ML160. Up the Capitol Steps Governor Barbara Roberts takes RAPS members “Up the Capitol Steps” Wednesday, Jan. 25 when she reads from and discusses her new book of the same name. Subtitled A Woman’s March to the Governorship, the book is a personal and political memoir by Oregon’s first and only woman governor. In it she offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of a woman’s life in politics, aiming to demystify leadership by telling the story of her own unlikely rise to power. The event takes place 1:00 to 3:00 pm in 236 SMSU. Coming up in February: Tom Potiowski, Economics chair and former economist for the State of Oregon, speaks Thursday, Feb. 16 on “The Little Engine that Could: Oregon’s On-Again, Off-Again Economic Recovery.” R
2 President’s Message he holidays are over—and what pleasant memories they bring. The RAPS holiday dinner was a grand affair. With 68 of us attending, there were chances to visit with people we seldom see, as well as with good friends. In fact, we were so busy visiting that I imagine relatively few actually heard the strolling carolers, in Victorian garb, singing familiar songs. Music was a theme of the evening, with The Wanderers performing for us. Did you get a chance to talk with either of the Wanderers? Bill Marlin and Carl Allen met when they were students at Washington State University, they told me, and have presented concerts together for over 50 years, despite academic careers that located them in different cities. Along the way, at one of those academic meetings, they discovered the name of Robert Vogelsang, a former favorite professor, on the program, and reconnected with him. The Wanderers brought us splendid music at the holiday dinner, with many songs on the program written by folk artists we knew well when we were young. And our Robert Vogelsang joined in the Wanderers’ final number, playing the harmonica. The other theme of the evening, from my perspective, was the close cooperation and willingness of everyone to work together and do whatever was needed to make the evening a success. Mary Brannan and Dave Krug worked with the Multnomah Athletic Club to bring the cost of dinner down, and the Board voted to subsidize it from the RAPS treasury to further reduce the price. Then, with the mailing of information about the dinner delayed due to illness, all the Board members pitched in to make telephone calls. Every RAPS member for whom we had a telephone number received a personal invitation to the dinner (and a reminder to reply promptly). Larry Sawyer made new name tags for everyone, and then took good pictures. Together we created a gala evening. As we leave the holidays behind and turn to the tasks of the New Year, I think the memories of this dinner will energize us. The solicitation for funds for our student scholarship fund is probably the first major task of 2012—we have a committee working on the planning. (There too the dinner played a part: our wine raffle, enhanced by donations of three of their CDs by the Wanderers, netted about $175 for the RAPS scholarship.) There are good programs lined up for the New Year, including an “extra” in January that is really very special. The many activities of the organization continue. So, I wish you a prosperous New Year and hope to see you at many of the RAPS events. --Joan Shireman RAPS club reports Bridge Group plays the hands it’s dealt on Jan. 10 Why Bridge? And why a RAPS Bridge Group? In chess, everything is out on the table. All the information is there for both players. It is a game of skill. Luck has nothing to do with it – unless you consider it lucky when your opponent makes a fatal mistake. In bridge, a fair amount of information is out on the table but much is hidden, and each person knows something that no one else knows for sure. Oh yes, there is plenty of luck, but there is also skill in how you make use of that luck. In poker there is . . . well, I’ll leave that to you. On a scale of 1 (Relaxed) to 10 (Competitive), the RAPS Bridge Group ranks about a 3. Remember, we are all retired! We play to enjoy the challenge of doing our best with the hands we are dealt (not unlike life). Most of us play using conventions we learned years ago – and we still learn from each other. If you played in the past and would like to take it up again, you would probably fit in well with our group. If you know a little about the game (or nothing at all) and would like to know more, we can give you a little help to get you started. The RAPS Bridge Group meets the second Tuesday of each month from 1:00 pm to about 4:00 pm. Currently we have about a dozen regular members and meet at Friendly House in northwest Portland. If you would like to know more, please let me know. You can reach me at 503-292-0838 or by email at colinkeld@gmail.com. --Colin Dunkeld Book Club reads Hirsi Ali’s memoir ‘Infidel’ Our first RAPS Book Club meeting in 2012 will be held Tuesday, Jan. 17 at 1:30 pm at the home of Dez Roberts, 2610 SW 84th in Portland. Contact her at 503-292-6095 or dezrob@comcast.net to RSVP and for directions. We will discuss Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. continued on page 3 T
3 PAST TENSE Judith Ramaley: Portland State’s First Female President udith Ramaley came to Portland State in 1990 but my story actually begins in 1985, a year before the retirement of President Joseph Blumel. I was a member of the search committee charged with finding a replacement for our highly respected leader. Each time our committee met, we found a certain applicant’s file folder on top of the pile. As this candidate, whom I shall call “Candidate X,” was not high on any search committee member’s list, his file would be put at the bottom of the stack and we would continue discussing the merits of the other candidates. At the next meeting of the search committee, we would find Candidate X’s file on top again. From one meeting to the next, his file would have risen miraculously from the bottom to the top. When we realized it wasn’t the hand of God that was causing this miracle but rather the hand of the State Board of Higher Education, we knew we were fighting a losing battle. It did come to pass that Candidate X was chosen by the Board and served the next two years as PSU’s president. It also came to pass that I retired when Joe Blumel did, so I was no longer an active faculty member when the next president was chosen. Roger Edgington served as Interim President from 1988 until 1990, when our next President, Judith Ramaley, was selected. Many of us were convinced that the members of the Board of Higher Education wanted an easily manipulated leader for PSU. Much to their surprise, Judith Ramaley was not what the Board had anticipated. Dr. Ramaley brought to PSU strong leadership which at times clashed with the higher powers that be. Thankfully she prevailed in most cases. In addition to her skills as an administrator, Dr. Ramaley possessed a fine contralto voice and was well trained in vocal music. She was called upon to sing at various PSU functions as well as occasionally with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra. After seven years as PSU’s leader (1990-97), Judith went on to become President of the University of Vermont (19972001). From there she joined the National Science Foundation as Director of Education and Human Resources (2001-2004). She served jointly as a Fellow at the Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy and as Presidential Professor at the University of Maine (2004-05) before becoming the 14 th President of Winona State University in Winona, MN, a position she has held since 2005. Her presence at PSU is still in evidence. As you drive south on Broadway, the motto she approved for PSU -- “Let knowledge serve the city” – stands out in bold gold letters on the side of the pedestrian overpass. She is also honored on “Portland’s Walk of the Heroines,” the campus garden and walkway near Harrison Hall that recognizes women’s vital contributions to society. --Gordon Solie Editor’s note: Judith announced in her 2011 Christmas letter that she will retire from Winona State University in May 2012 and return to Portland, “the place I have always felt most at home.” 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. RAPS club reports, cont. The book is described on the back cover as follows: Infidel shows the coming of age of this distinguished political superstar and champion of free speech as well as the development of her beliefs, iron will, and extraordinary determination to fight injustice. Raised in a strict Muslim family, Hirsi Ali survived civil war, female mutilation, brutal beatings, adolescence as a devout believer during the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and life in four troubled, unstable countries ruled largely by despots. . . . Under constant threat, demonized by reactionary Islamists and politicians, disowned by her father, and expelled from family and clan, she refuses to be silenced. Ultimately a celebration of triumph over adversity, Hirsi Ali’s story tells how a bright little girl evolves out of dutiful obedience to become an outspoken, pioneering fighter. In February we will discuss Blood Brothers by Elias Chacour along with a presentation by Marge Terdal and Maxine Thomas on their trip to Palestine and Israel. --Mary Brannan J
4 In memoriam: Morris Weitman, 1924-2011 rofessor Emeritus Morris (“Morrie”) Weitman was born Aug. 14, 1924 in New York City and died in Portland Nov. 25, 2011. Interment with military honors took place Nov. 19 in Willamette National Cemetery in Portland. Family and a large number of friends and colleagues paid their final respects to a worthy member of the “greatest generation.” Morrie was raised in New York City, attending public schools on Manhattan’s lower east side. From Sept. 1940 until Morris Weitman Dec. 1942, he attended City College of New York prior to army paratrooper service during World War II. After being wounded and captured by the Nazi army, he survived prisoner of war hardships. Upon returning to civilian life in 1946, Morris returned to City College, completing a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1948. Graduate studies at the New School for Social Research in New York City led to a master’s degree in 1953 and a doctoral degree in 1960. He held a series of research and teaching appointments at Cornell Medical School, the Universities of Illinois and Colorado, and Western Washington University. Professor Weitman began an academic career in Oregon in July 1960, with three years of instructional service at the Medical School. In the fall of 1963 he joined PSU’s psychology faculty as an associate professor. His PSU appointment coincided with the institution’s emergence as a comprehensive urban university designed to meet felt needs for advanced levels of education and research. At Portland State Morrie attracted significant numbers of enthusiastic students in his popular classes. His research interests focused on innovation and evaluation in higher education, notably contributing to the department’s curricular development. His expertise on devising and evaluating survey and interview methodologies led to successful collaborative efforts with researchers from various public service agencies dealing with issues such as children’s health needs and drug use prevention. Colleagues from across the institution highly respected Professor Weitman for his impressive service on faculty constitutional committees. In 1966 he chaired an ad hoc committee assigned to devise an equitable system for distributing one-time cash grants (the controversial “Mosser Awards”) based upon student questionnaires to identify outstanding faculty members. His advice proved to be useful in arriving at an acceptable solution to a highly sensitive issue. Professor Weitman’s research undertakings led to grants from the National Institutes of Mental Health and the U.S. Office of Special Education. His investigative findings appeared in juried publications in numerous professional journals in the fields of psychology, medical science, and education. After coming to PSU, he regularly collaborated on research projects with faculty from Oregon Health Sciences University. Many of us knew Morrie through his consistent attention to physical fitness. As a witty and wellinformed person whose knowledge and intellectual interests transcended a broad range of subjects, a conversation with him inevitably was delightful. Our organization sends its heartfelt condolences to his survivors: daughter Ruth Weitman Bath (David); son Leonard (Debbie); grandchildren Monica Weitman, and Jasmine and Jade Bath; and, his sister Mollie Elkin (Frank). Remembrance donations may be made to PSU at www.foundation.pdx.edu/publicgift/psychology.jsp. A guest book may be signed at www.oregonlive.com.obits. --Emeritus Professor of History Victor C. Dahl RAPS club reports, cont. RAPS Hikers sally forth on Friday the 13th The RAPS Hikers planned their 2012 hikes at the annual December potluck. Hikes are scheduled on the second Friday of the month January through November. They include local hikes, a Mt. Hood hike, one in the Columbia Gorge, two along the Oregon Coast, one at Lacamas Lake, and two in Oregon State Parks. The January hike is scheduled for Friday the 13th on the Willamette River Esplanade. This is a water level loop with almost no elevation gain. Meet at 9:30 am at the OMSI parking lot by the electric car charging stations. We will decide on a nearby restaurant for lunch following the hike. Confirm your participation to Larry Sawyer 503771-1616 or larry_sawyer@comcast.net. --Larry Sawyer P
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