THE RAPS SHEET May 2016 Retirement Association of Portland State Portland State University Post Office Box 751--RAPS Portland OR 97207-0751 Campus Public Safety Building, second floor, 633 SW Montgomery. Office Manager Carissa Ponting (503)725-3447, raps@pdx.edu Campus mail: RAPS Web: www.pdx.edu/raps Spring Term Office Hours: Monday and Thursday 9 am to 5 pm, Friday 9 am 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 Robert Liberty to Consider Trends In Sustainability at May Meeting n Thursday, May 19, Robert Liberty will address “Sustainability at ISS, PSU, in the Portland Region and Beyond.” The Director of Portland State’s Institute for Sustainable Solutions (ISS), Robert’s sustainability work was inspired by a tape recording of a presentation at PSU, played by one of his high school teachers in 1969. Since that early spark, he has observed and participated in the growth and evolution of the environmental and the sustainability movements in Oregon, the United States and recently in China. Robert will reflect on this evolution, the challenges he sees ahead in the world and how PSU and our region might contribute to meeting those challenges. Robert works with the ISS staff and PSU faculty, students, and community partners to advance the Institute’s research, academic, and community service agendas and to attract the resources needed to increase the impact of ISS. Prior to becoming director of ISS, he helped create the Urban Sustainability Accelerator at PSU, a program he continues to lead. Before coming to PSU, Robert was a Metro councilor, senior counsel to Congressman Earl Blumenauer, and a staff attorney and executive director at 1000 Friends of Oregon. He serves as a member of the Columbia Gorge Commission, which administers the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Robert has degrees from the University of Oregon Honors College, Oxford University, and Harvard Law School. The May 19 members meeting will begin at noon in Room 333, Smith Memorial Student Union, with a light luncheon, followed by a RAPS scholarship wine raffle. Robert Liberty will speak at 1:00 pm. Following his talk, we will hold our traditional spring Ice Cream Social, this year featuring gelato. Please join us for this event. O
President’s Message As we approach the end of spring term, I would like to thank the talented and collegial members of the RAPS Board and RAPS committees for their contributions to making this a rewarding year. Past President Priscilla Blumel worked with Dawn White and Barbara Alberty to restructure the bylaws and revitalize our organization through the successful election of co-presidents and new Board members for next year. The Membership Committee and Board redoubled their efforts to reach out to new retirees and invite them to join our organization. The History Preservation and Pictorial History Committee insured that interviews were conducted with key PSU leaders, and the Friendship Committee chaired by John Cooper made sure that the passing of our members and colleagues was acknowledged through In Memoriam articles. Awards Committee members identified and recognized those PSU retirees who provided exceptional service to the university, community, and RAPS. Thanks also go to the members of the Scholarship Committee who have steadily worked toward endowing the RAPS Scholarship and have designed delightful fundraising events such as the upcoming wine tour with Scott Burns. Program Committee members planned an exceptional year of members meetings, and Social Committee members were responsible for organizing signature events including the summer picnic, the March potluck, and this month’s ice cream social. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to Barbara Alberty, Nancy Benson, Priscilla Blumel, Nancy Chapman, and Mary Ricks, who have done critical work for our organization with skill and good humor, and who finish their Board terms in June. Our office manager, Carissa Ponting, also leaves us in June, after two years of personable and competent service, for a career in social work. It has been my pleasure to serve with all of you. --Eileen Brennan Coming Events May 11, 10 am, Scott Burns Wine Tour May 19, noon, Gelato Social, Robert Liberty speaks on Sustainability August 18, 4 pm, Annual Picnic at Overlook Park --Terril Doherty New RAPS Officers and Board Members Announced APS members have elected Susan Poulsen and Dawn White to serve as co-presidents beginning June of this year. Current Board member Ansel Johnson was elected as treasurer, and Steven Brenner, Nancy Eriksson and Charlie White will be joining the Board as members at large. Outgoing president Eileen Brennan announced these election results at the President’s Annual Luncheon for retired faculty and staff. Susan Poulsen, professor emerita in the Department of Communication served as RAPS president in 2013-14, and has agreed to be co-president for a one-year term. Dawn White, retired director of International Education Services, and former Board member and RAPS Sheet editor, will serve as co-president for a two-year term. Members-at-Large include Steven Brenner, professor emeritus in the School of Business Administration; Nancy Eriksson, retired Geology Department staff member; and Charlie White, professor emeritus of History. 2 R
The RAPS Book Group discussed “The President’s Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity” by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy at our April meeting. We met at the home of Nancy Chapman, at our usual 1:30 pm time. The group has selected Timothy Egan’s “Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher” as the book to discuss in May. This is a biography of Edward Curtis, whose photographs are on display at the Portland Art Museum through early May. We will meet on May 17 at 1:30 at the home of Joan Shireman, 13584 SE Snowfire Dr., Happy Valley. E-mail her at joanshireman@gmail.com or telephone her at 503-698-9951 for directions and to let her know whether you will attend. Having read two substantial books in the spring, we selected fiction for our summer reading. In June we will read “The Moor’s Account” by Laila Lalami, a tale told in the voice of a crew member of Pánfilo de Narváez’s expedition to the new world in 1527. In July, we will dip into science fiction with “The Martian” by Anthony Weir, the tale of a member of a space exploration accidentally left behind on Mars. In August we will leave the distant past and the distant future and return to something closer to our own time with Annie Barrows “The Truth According to Us,” a story of an inquisitive young girl in a small town in West Virginia in the late 1930s. (Of course, one has to be a RAPS member to feel that the 1930s are close to our time). 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 meets on the first Tuesday afternoon each month. We are changing our meeting time to 12:15 pm from May onward. The time change is to give us better opportunity for parking. Please mark your calendars for the next two months’ bridge dates and times: Tuesday May 3 at 12:15 pm in SMSU 238 Tuesday June 7 at 12:15 pm in SMSU 236 We will continue to play throughout the summer. Meeting rooms for summer play are to be announced. I will send out a reminder email notice closer to each date we play. The RAPS bridge group is very friendly, and we 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 hiked around Round Lake in Lacamas Lake Park in Camas, WA on April 12. In Larry’s absence, Marge Terdal led the hike. This was the last “local” hike until the November Oaks Bottom hike. We start our longer carpool hikes in May with a walk through the Mosier Tunnels in the Columbia Gorge. This will be a carpool/car shuttle hike. Meet at the SE corner of the Gateway Transit Parking Structure at 9:00 am. We will leave extra cars there. Do not park in the Fred Meyer lot, or your car will be towed. If we hike west to east, we can have lunch in Mosier. More information about the hike appears on the RAPS website, www.pdx.edu/raps. Click on the Hiking Group tab at the left of the page. --Larry Sawyer 3
Clarence Hein and Nancy Koroloff Recognized for Outstanding Service he President’s Annual Gathering for Retired Faculty and Staff on April 21 featured the RAPS Awards for Outstanding Faculty and Staff. This year’s recipients are Clarence Hein, retired Manager of Community Programs of the Office of the President, and Director of News and Information Services of the Office of University Relations, and Nancy Koroloff, Professor Emerita of Social Work and former Director of the Regional Research Institute for Human Services, and Associate Vice President for Research. Introducing Clarence Hein, Doug Swanson said that his writing skill, journalism background, and understanding of the University have expanded the record of Portland State’s history. Through Clarence’s work with the University archivist, Portland State’s victory in the College Bowl in 1965, the fight to establish a PSU engineering program, and the history of the Natale Sicuro and Gregory Wolfe administrations have been documented. Clarence also served as RAPS president in 2010-11 and as a RAPS Board member from 2009-12. He co-edited Portland State: A History in Pictures. He is also an active volunteer in service to the Multnomah County Library. Joan Shireman, who nominated Nancy Koroloff, highlighted her continuing contributions to the field of children’s mental health through her leadership of national research projects designed to improve services to young people and their families. She also spoke of Nancy’s willingness take on leadership positions during times of transition, serving as special assistant to the Vice President for Research and as Interim Dean of the School of Social Work, even after her retirement. Joan noted that Nancy has sorted and archived documents related to the history of social work in Oregon, has done oral history interviews, and has co-authored two articles based on this work. The RAPS Outstanding Retired Faculty and Staff Awards recognize the continuing contributions of retired PSU employees to the community, University, and RAPS. Ansel Johnson chaired the 2015-16 Nominations Committee. 4 T
Dear RAPS Member, Within the next two decades, nearly one in five Americans will be 65 or older. Globally, the older population is expected to double over the next three decades. The impact of these demographic changes on the health, economics, and quality of life of societies worldwide will be unprecedented. --Margaret Neal, PSU Institute on Aging Our PSU students are aware of the impact of an older generation on society. Many share classrooms and lunches with our Portland senior population living close to the PSU campus. The PSU curriculum offers programs for students whose career goals would improve the lives of older people through their work in many fields ranging from health to housing. RAPS established a scholarship fund for undergraduate and graduate students in any major whose career plans are related to gerontology. As we all know, the cost of a college education for both undergraduates and graduates is rising rapidly. At PSU, tuition and fees this year for graduate students average $14,100 per year for residents, $20,100 for nonresidents — not counting the increased cost of living, especially housing. There will be another increase for 2016-17. Our recipients often report severe financial issues in supporting themselves (and families) while working toward a degree. The first RAPS scholarship was awarded in 2011-2012. This year, Jillian Szilagyi Kelly, a graduate student in the social work master’s program, received the fifth scholarship. While giving one scholarship a year, we have raised over $19,000 toward the $25,000 required to endow our scholarship fund and continue awarding scholarships into the future. Please help us move toward the endowment and ongoing scholarship support. Thank you! Eileen Brennan, RAPS President Nancy Chapman, Scholarship Committee ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RAPS Scholarship Donation Form: Name: _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: ______________________________________________________________________________________________ City: ________________________________________________________ State: ________________ Zip: ____________ Phone: ___________________________________________ Email: ____________________________________________ Donation Amount: $ _____________________________________________________________ Donation made in memory of _________________________________________________ Donation made to honor: _______________________________________________________ Make checks payable to: PSU Foundation and noted for RAPS Scholarship Please mail to RAPS@PSU, PO Box 751, Portland, OR 97207-0751. Alternatively, to use a credit card, go to https://www.pdx.edu/raps/scholarship-fund . 5
In Memoriam: Gary Perlstein, 1940-2016 rofessor Perlstein was born on February 7, 1940, in the Bronx, New York, and died in Portland on March 1, 2016. He earned a B.A. in Sociology from Missouri Central Cp;;ege om 1961, and an M.A. in Sociology from the University of Missouri in 1965. During that time, he also worked as a social worker and community relations coordinator for the Planned Parenthood Association in Kansas City, Missouri. He earned a Ph.D. in Criminology from Florida State University in 1971. He was hired as assistant professor in the Department of Administration of Justice at Portland State University in 1971. He became chair of the department in 1995. He retired in 2001. At PSU, Professor Perlstein originally focused his research on community corrections, and he co-authored several books on the subject, including Alternatives to Prison: Community-Based Corrections. He became interested in terrorism after attending an international conference on the subject in the United Kingdom. He coauthored "Perspectives on Terrorism" in 1991, and he published several articles on the same general topic. After the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington DC, Gary became widely recognized as a leading authority on the issue and was a source for many news stories and articles. Professor Perlstein was a member of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, the American Corrections Association, the American Society of Criminology, and the Western Society of Criminology. RAPS conveys sincere condolences to Professor Perlstein’s friends and family. --John R. Cooper, Professor Emeritus of English 6 P
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