THE RAPS SHEET December 2017 Retirement Association of Portland State Portland State University Post Office Box 751--RAPS Portland OR 97207-0751 Campus Public Safety Building, second floor, SW Montgomery at Broadway Office Manager Rebecca Butterworth (503)725-3447, rapsmail@pdx.edu Office Hours: Mon. & Weds., 9-1; Tues. 9-2; Thurs. 9-3. Campus mail: RAPS Web: www.pdx.edu/raps Board Members Co-Presidents Doug Swanson Dawn White Secretary Brian Lewis Treasurer Ansel Johnson Members-at-Large Steven Brenner Nancy Eriksson Charlie White RAPS Sheet Editor Eileen Brennan Website Editor Larry Sawyer RAPS Representative to Regional & National Retirement Associations Larry Sawyer Committees Awards Charlie White, Chair History Preservation Nancy Koroloff, Chair Membership Dawn White, Chair Scholarship Priscilla Blumel, Chair Social Nancy Eriksson, Chair RAPS Annual Holiday Brunch Thursday, December 14 December 2016 Holiday Brunch—Photo by Larry Sawyer Nordia House, 8800 SW Oleson Road, Portland Parking in the adjacent Nordia House lot; carpooling recommended. Socializing begins at 10:30 am. Brunch is served at 11:00 am Highlights of This Year’s Event Entertainment by RAPS member and chanteuse Susan Johnson Meet our 2017-18 scholarship recipient, Keborah Andren Holiday treats will be on sale including tempting baked goods (All sale proceeds go to the RAPS Scholarship Fund). Brief presentation on Collette Tours on the RAPS Italy trip Brunch Menu* Mimosas (cash bar) Fresh fruit juices, sliced seasonal fruit Vegetarian egg frittata with cheese and fresh herbs Swedish meatballs in sherry cream sauce Roasted Brussels sprouts with balsamic reduction Janssen’s Temptation potato gratin *Have dietary restrictions? Please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you. Cost is $23 per person. Respond to Rebecca Butterworth, RAPS Office Manager, PO Box 751, Portland OR 97207, or call her at 503-725-3447. You may pay by check made out to the PSU Foundation (marked RAPS Holiday Brunch) or call Rebecca at 503-725-3447 to pay by credit card. Deadline for receipt of payment is Tuesday, December 5.
Co-President’s Message I have one word for you: bylaws. Are you snoozing yet? Bylaws are an essential part of an organization like RAPS but let’s face it, they’re not likely to top anyone’s reading list. Still, bylaws should be reviewed every few years to make sure they continue to accurately reflect an organization’s activities and current practice. An ad hoc bylaws committee was formed recently to take a look at the entire document. Priscilla Blumel, Eileen Brennan, Doug Swanson, and I served on that committee. Thanks to Sue Poulsen, who took the initiative to review the bylaws as her term as co-president was ending, we started with a list of items that needed attention. One of them caught us by surprise: the Scholarship Committee was created circa 2010 but has never been formally recognized in the bylaws as a standing committee. That has been rectified, along with a couple of significant modifications, such as changing terms of office for all Board members from three years to two. The committee also clarified ambiguous phrases and made other changes to bring the bylaws up to date with how RAPS operates. While some might consider a bylaws overhaul yawn-inducing, I must confess I enjoyed the process, and I’m happy to report the Board accepted all the changes the committee suggested. Now it’s your turn. RAPS members need to review the proposed changes and vote on whether to accept them. Full details and a ballot will be included in the January 2018 RAPS Sheet. My thanks to Priscilla, Eileen, and Doug for working on the bylaws revision with me. And thanks once again to Sue for being the catalyst for this project. —Dawn White, Co-President Winter Term 2018 Events—Save the Dates January 18 (333 Smith Memorial Center; lunch at noon, presentation at 12:45 pm) “The History and Ideology of North Korea’s Provocations” Danny Kim, visiting assistant professor of history, will talk about the history of North Korean provocation and “Supreme Leader” Kim Jong-un’s cult of personality. February 15 (333 Smith Memorial Center; lunch at noon, presentation at 12:45pm) “An Extraordinary Pilgrimage: Camino Francés to Santiago de Compostela” Retired physician Jim Peck, who spoke to RAPS last year about working for Doctors without Borders in war-torn countries around the world, and his wife, Joan Peck, will give an illustrated talk of their experience walking “the camino” together in 2016. March 15 (333 Smith Center potluck at noon, opera presentation in 326 Lincoln Hall at 1:00 pm) Christine Meadows, director of PSU's Opera Program, will give a preview of PSU's spring opera, Albert Herring by Benjamin Britten, and students in the opera program will perform. The March meeting includes the annual spring potluck. Please come and bring your favorite salad or dessert. The potluck will be held in 333 SMSU and we will move to 326 LH for the opera presentation, which begins at 1:00 pm. 2
RAPS Group Reports The RAPS Book Group. The November 21 meeting of the book group was at the home of Felicia Wirtz. We discussed The Black Count by Tom Reiss, a biography of Alex Dumas, a general of the Napoleonic era. We know his life through The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, written by his son, Alexandre Dumas, and based on the father’s adventures. He has been one of the few men of color to command vast armies. The book was also a fascinating account of the role of slavery, as revolution and the rise of the common man were celebrated in France. In December we will meet on the 19th and plan to discuss Love, Africa: A Memoir of Romance, War, and Survival by Jeffrey Gettleman. It is the autobiography of a seasoned correspondent and East Africa bureau chief for the New York Times and recounts his adventures in and love for Africa, and his love for his wife and family in the United States. We will meet at the home of Joan Shireman, 13584 SE Snowfire Drive, Happy Valley. Contact her at joanshireman@gmail.com or 503-698-9951 to let her know whether you can be there. At our January 16 meeting, to be held at the home of Nancy Chapman, we will discuss A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. The book group meets the third Tuesday of every month at 1:30 pm. New members are always welcome. We welcome suggestions of books that are interesting to read and full of issues for discussion. --Joan Shireman The RAPS Bridge Group. The RAPS Bridge Group meets in the afternoon on the first Tuesday of each month. We begin play at 12:15 pm. We try to finish up by 4:00 pm. We meet in Smith Memorial Student Union (SMSU), usually on the second floor, but sometimes on the third floor. Please mark your calendars for the following fall and winter term bridge group meetings: Tuesday, December 5, 2017; in SMSU 294 Tuesday, January 2, 2018; in SMSU 294 Monday, February 5, 2018; in SMSU 294 (Note: not on Tuesday) Tuesday, March 6, 2018; in SMSU 294 I will send out the reminder email notice about one week prior 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. The November 28 hike was a “4T” experience, involving a trail, a tram ride (Portland Aerial Tram), a trolley (Portland Street Car), and the MAX train. The hike began at the Portland Zoo MAX station and followed the trail to Marquam Hill and OHSU. Hikers rode the tram down to the trolley line, followed by a return to the zoo on MAX, stopping for lunch along the way. Our December meeting is a potluck lunch and 2018 hiking planning session at the home of Larry and Diane Sawyer. Please contact Larry Sawyer at 503-771-1616 or larry_sawyer@comcast.net for further information. For more details about the planning event or upcoming hikes please consult the RAPS hikers website : https://www.pdx.edu/raps/RAPS-Hikers 3 --Larry Sawyer
In Memoriam: Guido Pinamonti, Sr., 1921-2017 uido Pinamonti, Sr., who served Portland State as a professor of social work for more than 15 years, died November 7 in Portland. He was 96 years old. Professor Pinamonti was born April 5, 1921, in Pyrolite, Colorado. He was the first of five children born to Carlo and Carlotta Pinamonti, who emigrated to the United States from northern Italy. As a young man during World War II, he worked for Douglas Aircraft in Inglewood, California. In an article published in November 2016 in the Sherwood Gazette, Professor Pinamonti recalled his wartime service in the U.S. Army Air Forces. He quit his job at Douglas in 1944 to enlist, and he soon found himself at Arizona State University learning to fly a B-17 Flying Fortress. “I had never flown an airplane,” Professor Pinamonti said. “I had never been in an airplane.” Soon he was a newly minted lieutenant and a B-17 co-pilot, assigned to the Eighth Air Force’s 447th Bomb Group, based in Rattlesden, England. With only three missions left on his tour, Professor Pinamonti and his crew set out for Oranienburg, Germany, on March 15, 1945. The target was chosen because military intelligence believed— mistakenly—that Hitler was hiding in Oranienburg, a suburb about 20 miles north of Berlin. Professor Pinamonti’s plane was hit by flak, and two engines caught fire. Rather than bail out, he and the pilot decided to crash-land the plane. “We picked out a little field that had trees at the end,” he said, adding that he thought it “fabulous that all 10 of us got out alive.” The crew split into pairs, fanning out across an area of farmland, trees, and hills. Most were caught in a day or two, but Professor Pinamonti and his companion hid in forests during the day and traveled at night. They evaded capture for eight days, finally running out of luck when they were spotted crossing a meadow. In prison camp, a German officer interrogated Professor Pinamonti. Frustrated with his refusal to answer, the German put a gun on the table and threatened to shoot him. Professor Pinamonti called the German’s bluff, and the officer dismissed him. British soldiers freed the Americans a few weeks later. After the war ended, Professor Pinamonti entered college, earning a bachelor’s degree from Loyola Marymount University in 1949, the same year he married Louise Pilon, with whom he had two sons, John and Guido, Jr. He went on to earn a master’s in social work from St. Louis University in 1951 and, after a stint running the Catholic Youth Organization in Los Angeles, a doctorate in social work from the University of Southern California in 1961. Before joining Portland State in 1970, Professor Pinamonti taught at USC and at the Worden School of Social Service, Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, Texas. At PSU he taught group work, human behavior, and direct practice. He also served as acting dean while Dean Gordon Hearn was ill. Upon his retirement in 1986, Professor Pinamonti was awarded emeritus status. Professor Pinamonti is survived by his sons, John (Susan), of New York City, and Guido, Jr. (Katherine), of Tualatin, and a sister, Theresa Zeigler. Louise Pinamonti died in 2012. A Funeral Mass was celebrated on November 15 at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Portland. A graveside service with military honors was held the following day at Willamette National Cemetery, Portland. --Doug Swanson 4 G
In Memoriam: F. Miles Turner, 1944-2017 arron Miles Turner, whose career in Portland State administration spanned five decades, died at his home in Portland on October 20 at age 73. Mr. Turner was born October 2, 1944, in New York City and spent his early life there and in London. He graduated from Antioch College in 1967 with a B.A. in English literature and moved to Oregon shortly afterward. In 1968 Mr. Turner married Diana Stalnaker, daughter of longtime PSU music professor William Stalnaker. She died unexpectedly in 1976. In the late 1960s Mr. Turner was hired as an administrative assistant in Educational Activities. When Charlie White was named director of Summer Session in 1970, he recruited Mr. Turner as his assistant, a position he held until the mid-1990s. He then became fiscal officer in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, retiring in 2006. He worked a few years post-retirement, first in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and then in the College of Fine and Performing Arts. In the 1970s Mr. Turner was a music critic for Willamette Week, writing weekly reviews for several years. He was the author of Paupers’ Paris, a guidebook for tourists published by Pan Books in 1982. The book was so successful it went through seven editions. It was followed by Paupers’ New York in 1986 and Paupers’ Barcelona in 1992. Mr. Turner is survived by his wife, Amy Ross. -–Dawn White RAPS Scholarship Contributions cholarship contributions were received by the PSU Foundation from the following donors between May 21, 2017 and November 22, 2017: Priscilla Blumel Steve and Mary Brannan in memory of Gordon Solie Steven Brenner Georgia Ronan Crampton Nancy Eriksson Thomas Pfingsten Doug and Barbara Swanson Charlie and Dawn White Sandra Wiscarson We also received scholarship donations from the Robert W. Vogelsang Memorial Raffle held at member meetings. 5 F S
RAPS Member Meetings Bryan Johanson reveals his path from musician to urban beekeeper at the November meeting. ---Photograph by Larry Sawyer RAPS Scholarship winner Tanya Kindrachuk (right), who spoke at the 2016 Holiday Brunch. ---Photograph by Larry Sawyer 6
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