THE RAPS SHEET January 2016 Retirement Association of Portland State Portland State University Post Office Box 751--RAPS Portland OR 97207-0751 Koinonia House, second floor SW Montgomery at Broadway Office Manager Carissa Ponting (503)725-3447, raps@pdx.edu Campus mail: RAPS Web: www.pdx.edu/raps Fall Term Office Hours: Monday and Thursday 9am to 5pm, Friday 9am to noon. Officers Eileen Brennan President Barbara Alberty Interim President-Elect Priscilla Blumel Past President Brian Lewis Secretary Nancy Benson Treasurer Mary Ricks RAPS Sheet Editor Larry Sawyer RAPS Representative to Regional & National Retirement Associations, Website Editor Board Members-at-Large Nancy Chapman Ansel Johnson Bob Tufts Committees Dave Krug History Preservation and Pictorial History Book Chair Terril Doherty Social Committee Chair John Cooper Friendship Chair Bob Tufts Membership Chair Nancy Chapman Scholarship Chair Ansel Johnson Awards Chair OMSI President Nancy Steuber to Speak January 21 lease join us Thursday, January 21 for a presentation by Nancy Steuber, the President and CEO of Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), considering “Innovating for Change: How OMSI is Shaping Portland’s Future.” Nancy will describe OMSI’s longrange plans, the rapid changes underway on Portland’s east side, and an emerging vision for an Innovation Quadrant for Portland. The importance of public understanding of science has never been greater, and OMSI is poised to be a change agent in the quality of science education as traditional education systems are disrupted. Find out about these exciting changes and how you can get involved. Nancy has served as President of OMSI since 2000, leading the development of the organization’s 20-Year Vision and the accompanying strategic plan focused on mission impact and performance measures. She has led OMSI to financial stability, significantly increased attendance and membership, and acquired land for future expansion. A new OMSI marine science camp in Newport, Oregon will open this spring. Nancy has a passion for involving people in science learning, engaging the community, and working to remove barriers to access so that everyone can participate. Nancy graduated with honors from the University of Pittsburgh with a BS degree in environmental biology and terrestrial ecology, with graduate work in ecology and management. The Portland Business Journal named Nancy the 2014 Woman Executive of the Year representing non-profit organizations. Please note that the January meeting will begin at 1PM with a light lunch, in Room 294 Smith Memorial Student Union. Nancy will speak at 2PM. P
President’s Message Thanks to all who succeeded in making the annual RAPS Holiday Party such an enjoyable event. Members and their guests were definitely in a festive spirit, there were bountiful holiday treats, and the Scholarship Committee was very successful in increasing scholarship funds thanks to the generosity of members. Although escalating tuition costs have prompted us to raise our scholarship award to $3,000 a year, we have been making steady progress toward fully endowing the RAPS Scholarship fund under Nancy Chapman’s leadership. Another RAPS group that is hard at work this year is our History Preservation/Historical Book Committee. Thanks to the efforts of David Krug, Steve Brannan, University Archivist Cristine Paschild, and other members, a project interviewing key PSU faculty and administrators about the history of the university is ongoing. Book sales of Portland State: A History in Pictures continue through the PSU Bookstore and membership meetings. The committee also guides the production of Past Tense historical essays. This issue features an article by Arthur Emlen, Professor Emeritus of Social Work, who provides a brief view of the partnerships formed by the Regional Research Institute that have resulted in major advances in human services. Please join us on January 21 for the membership luncheon and Nancy Steuber’s discussion of “Innovation for Change.” This event would be a great introduction to the stimulating programs planned for 2016, so please invite newly retired PSU faculty and staff to participate. --Eileen Brennan Save the Date! RAPS Wine Tour May 11 ave the Date! Our fellow member, geologist, and wine connoisseur, Scott Burns, has volunteered to offer a wine tour for our members. A small bus holding 28 members will leave Portland on May 11 at 10 am visiting three wineries probably in the Dundee and Yamhill/Carlton valleys, returning by 5 pm. More details on price and procedure to sign up will be in the February RAPS Sheet. This will not only be an enjoyable and educational event, but it will raise money for our scholarship fund. Thank you, Scott! Nancy Chapman Holiday Brunch orty-five RAPS members spent time together Sunday, December 13th, at the Multnomah Athletic Club, enjoying a delicious brunch, good conversation, and at the same time, raising money for the RAPS Scholarship Fund. The wine raffle brought in $185. A dozen members donated items for sale, mainly homemade baked goods, netting $284. In addition, scholarship donation checks totaled $650. Raising over $1100 for the Scholarship fund was a delicious experience! --Nancy Chapman Scholarship Contributions cholarship contributions were received by the PSU Foundation from the following individuals as of November 30, 2015: Priscilla Blumel Scott Burns Carol Gerity and from the Robert W. Vogelsang Memorial Wine Raffle 2 S F S
OF PORTLAD STATE (RAPS) RAPS AWARDS The Awards Committee of RAPS is in the process of identifying and selecting candidates for the OUTSTANDING RETIRED FACULTY AND STAFF AWARDS. The RAPS Awards will be presented at the President’s Luncheon for PSU faculty and staff retirees on April 21, 2016 at University Place, Portland State’s educational conference center. Nominations for the awards are being solicited from RAPS members. A completed nomination form with documentation on the nominee should be submitted to the committee by Monday, March 7, 2016 (see reverse of this page.) All Portland State University faculty and staff retirees are eligible to be nominated for the award. Both members and non-members of RAPS will be considered. Selection of the award recipients will be based on their noteworthy achievements since retirement in at least three of the four following areas: a) Service to the community b) Service to the university c) Professional/career achievements d) Service to RAPS Again, these achievements MUST BE POST-RETIREMENT. Award nominations will be reviewed by the RAPS Award Committee, of which Ansel Johnson is Chair. Please take the time to think about your colleagues and their many achievements. You are in the best position to know and appreciate a colleague’s accomplishments since retirement. Please forward your nomination soon, while you still have the thought in mind! Please mail your completed nomination form by March 7, 2016 to Retirement Association of Portland State (RAPS) Koinonia House Portland State University PO Box 751 Portland, OR 97207-0751 3 RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION OF PORTLAND STATE
OUTSTANDING RETIRED FACULTY AND STAFF AWARDS 2016 NOMINATION FORM The Retirement Association of Portland State (RAPS) invites nominations for the annual Outstanding Retired Faculty and Staff Awards, which will be presented at the PSU President’s Annual Luncheon on Thursday, April 21, 2016. The luncheon will be at University Place. Both members and non-members of RAPS are eligible for awards. The Outstanding Retired and Staff Faculty Awards recognize and honor faculty and staff retirees of Portland State who have excelled in at least three of the four following areas since retirement: a) service to the community, b) service to the university, c) professional/career achievements, and d) service to RAPS. Nominee ___________________________________________________________________________ Faculty____ Staff____ Address: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ Telephone: (____) ___________________ Title/Position/Department _____________________________________ If known: Degree(s): _____________________________ Year(s): _______________________________ Please provide written information on the nominee’s notable achievements post-retirement in the areas listed below (at least three of the four below). Please be brief and limit responses to no more than one typed page for each factor mentioned. A) Service to the community: B) Service to the university: C) Professional/career achievements: D) Service to RAPS: Nominated by: ___________________________________________________________________ Phone #: _____________________________ email _________________________________________ If you have questions, please call Carissa Ponting, RAPS Office Manager, at 503-725-3447 or rapsmail@pdx.edu. Thank you for your nomination. Nominations must be submitted by Monday, March 7, 2016 to: Retirement Association of Portland State (RAPS) Koinonia House Portland State University P. O. Box 751 Portland, OR 97207-0751 4
RAPS Group Reports The RAPS Book Group met on December 15 at the Rose Villa home of Maxine Thomas and had a delightful and lively discussion of David McCullough’s The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914. Charlie White, who had taught a class using McCullough’s book, joined the group. The group felt that they learned a good deal about the political and physical difficulties of constructing a canal. Our January meeting will be at the Terwilliger Plaza home of Marge and Leif Terdal (2545 SW Terwilliger Blvd. #812). We will discuss Elizabeth Gilbert’s historical novel The Signature of All Things. Set in a time when old assumptions about science, religion, commerce and class were being challenged, it is the tale of a botanical explorer, her ventures across the globe, and her love for a man whose ideas were more traditional. Contact Marge at 503-808-7438 or dbmt@pdx.edu to RSVP and for directions. Free valet parking is available at the front of the building. Our February meeting will be at the home of Eileen and Steve Brennan. We will be discussing A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity by Nicolas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. The Book Group meets at 1:30 pm on the third Tuesday of every month. New members are always welcome. –Joan Shireman The RAPS Bridge Group will meet (or already has met) on Tuesday, January 5, 2016. We meet regularly on the first Tuesday of each month. Given the timing of the monthly RAPS Sheet let me inform you of a couple of upcoming bridge sessions: February 2, 2016 and March 1, 2016. On December 1, we will gather in Cascade Room (Room 236) of Smith Memorial Student Center at PSU. Playing begins at 1 pm and continues to about 4:30 pm. The RAPS bridge group members are friendly and are always looking for new players. If you wish to join us, please contact Steve Brennan, 503-646-6297. My email address is the.steve.brennan@gmail.com. --Steve Brennan The RAPS Hiking Group held a potluck at the home of Larry and Diane Sawyer on December 16, followed by the planning of the 2016 schedule from January through November. At a request from one hiker with a conflict, we changed the day of the week we hike in 2016. Effectively in January, we will hike on the SECOND TUESDAY of the month. The complete 2016 schedule can be found at the RAPS website, http://www.pdx.edu/raps/calendar-events. Scroll down to the monthly groups at the bottom and click on the 2016 schedule link On Tuesday, January 12, we will hike in Tryon Creek State Park. The trails are short loops, and we will hike a total distance of less than five miles. Meet at the Tryon Creek Information Center at 9:30 am. We will share lunch at a local restaurant to be decided by the hikers. For more information, follow the link below or contact Larry Sawyer at 503-771-1616 or larry_sawyer@comcast.net (there is an underscore between “larry” and “sawyer in that internet address.) Please confirm your participation to Larry by Monday January 11. Tryon Creek Trail Map and address: http://oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=main.loadFile&load=_siteFiles/publications/tryon_map.pdf (there is an underscore between “=” and “site” and between “tryon”and “map” in this internet address.) --Larry Sawyer 5
Past Tense Regional Research Institute Research Partners have already told the story of how mentors made possible what I managed to accomplish. Missing from the mentoring tale, however, are the partners in the research I was able to accomplish. Almost all of my research involved partnerships with persons or parties external to the RRI and to the university, such as parents, families, other professions, employers, administrators, interest groups, or agencies at the community, county, state or regional level. Establishing partnerships with external groups is a signal characteristic of almost all of the research conducted by the Regional Research Institute for Human Services (RRI). That was true when I was director and has been ever since. The RRI is the research arm of Portland State University’s School of Social Work. The mission of the RRI is to conduct applied research on issues of social policy and practice, to clarify important issues with good questions, good data, and good conclusions that can assist the larger community in bringing about that change. Our community partners shared these interests and played a vital role in our research projects. They provided the scene of the action, the context of the problem and its solution, the scene of political action in relation to public policy. The diverse participants in research partnerships share a desire to make the world a better place. Within the research partnership, however, the role of the university researcher does require a delicate division of labor. The primary responsibility of those of us from the ivied halls is to be astute observers and scientifically disciplined analysts. The researcher from the university is at least one step outside the political and social action, and needs to be somewhat above the fray. Over the past 47 years, research partnerships have grown in size, number, variety, and richness of community participation. The sectors of society involved include parents, youth, families, employers, racial and ethnic groups, interest groups, community agencies, as well as local, county, state, and federal government agencies, and other universities. Historic RRI projects addressed juvenile delinquency, vocational rehabilitation, family permanency in child welfare, informal helping networks, dependent care arrangements of working parents and elders, and family partnerships in child mental health. The expanding scope of RRI projects has addressed domestic violence, youth transition to adulthood, youth futures, homelessness, housing, peer mentoring, self-determination, culturally-grounded methods, inclusion, supported employment, substance abuse, disease control, HIV prevention, and more. Research partners have played a crucial and continuing institutional role in Regional Research Institute’s research. --Art Emlen Note: The RAPS Historical Preservation Committee has edited this article. The full text is available in the Portland State University Archives. 6 I
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