THE RAPS SHEET February 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 Adam Jones (503)725-3447, rapsmail@pdx.edu Office Hours: Weds., 12-3; Thurs. & Fri., 9-3. Campus mail: RAPS Web: www.pdx.edu/raps Officers Susan Poulsen Co-President Dawn White Co-President Brian Lewis Secretary Ansel Johnson Treasurer Eileen Brennan RAPS Sheet Editor Larry Sawyer RAPS Representative to Regional & National Retirement Associations, Website Editor Board Members-at-Large Steven Brenner Nancy Eriksson Charlie White Committees Dave Krug History Preservation and Pictorial History Book Chair Terril Doherty Social Committee Chair Doug Swanson Friendship Chair Priscilla Blumel Membership Chair Nancy Chapman Scholarship Chair Charlie White Awards Chair Claudine Fisher Reflects on Family History and Writing at February 16 Member Meeting Claudine Fisher, Professor Emerita of French Language and Literature at PSU, speaks to RAPS Thursday, February 16, on “The French Far West,” discussing her early life in North Africa and the family history that inspired her to become a writer of historical fiction following her retirement in 2011. Claudine is currently finishing the third novel in a trilogy based in part on her family history. In 2016 her first novel in the trilogy, The Reluctant Paris Rebel, was published. Scheduled for release in 2017 are the second and third parts, Southbound French Settlers and The Breton BlackFoot. The three novels cover more than 100 years, from the Revolution of 1848 in Paris through the Algerian War of 1957-62. Professor Fisher earned her doctorate, Doctorat-ès-Lettres with highest honors, at the University of Paris VIII in 1983. During her three decades at PSU (1971-2011), she was very active professionally, authoring books, book chapters, articles, and reviews, and presenting papers at conferences domestically and abroad. Her academic interests include 20th and 21st Century French Literature, Quebec Literature, French Women Writers, and Comparative Literature. In 1998 Claudine was named Honorary Consul of France for the State of Oregon, a role she fulfilled for 13 years. She also served as Director of Canadian Studies at PSU from 2007-2011. She is the recipient of many prestigious awards. In 1991 she received the French Academic Palms (Chevalier des Palmes Académiques) in recognition of outstanding contributions to the promotion of French language and culture, and in 2008 the French government promoted her to Officier des Palmes Académiques. The RAPS meeting on February 16 begins at noon in 294 SMSU with a light lunch followed by Claudine’s talk at 1:00 pm. We hope to see you there.
Co-President’s Message When RAPS established a scholarship account with the PSU Foundation a few years ago, the goal was $25,000, the minimum needed to create an endowed scholarship. Until the minimum was reached, the account would be expendable, meaning RAPS could award scholarships as long as the account held sufficient funds. Six deserving students have received scholarships over the last six years while the scholarship account has continued to grow. Recently, as RAPS was nearing the magic $25,000 figure, the Foundation announced the minimum had been raised to $50,000. A setback? Perhaps not. Since funds in an endowed account are invested, returns on the investment must generate the revenue needed to award scholarships. Further, an endowed account should have a 20% cushion to protect the principal from poor investment returns. In the event of market losses, an endowment can slip below the minimum and must recover those funds through more donations before new scholarships can be awarded. Where does this leave RAPS? We will raise funds with a new goal in sight -- $60,000 (the new $50,000 minimum plus a $10,000 cushion) -- knowing that we can revisit the issue of endowed vs. expendable accounts at that point. According to the Foundation, a dual approach is possible: RAPS keeps some funds in an expendable account while investments from an endowed account generate income (in the best of all worlds). Thank you, RAPS members and supporters, for your generous contributions to the scholarship fund. The fund is increased through individual contributions, proceeds from the Vogie wine raffles at our monthly meetings, and special fundraising efforts such as the silent auction at our holiday brunch in December. Our scholarship recipients are so grateful! --Dawn White Upcoming RAPS Events—Save the Dates March 16, 2017 (Room 238 Smith Memorial Center) Christine Meadows, Director of PSU's Opera Program, will give a preview of PSU's spring opera, “Tragedy and Comedy: PSU Opera Presents Puccini!” Students in the opera program will perform. Please come and bring your favorite salad or dessert. April 20, 2017 (Room 238 Smith Memorial Center) Chris Shortell, PSU Professor of Political Science and Department Chair, will speak on “The Supreme Court in the Trump Administration: Change, Stasis, and Uncertainty." This event will be followed by the annual RAPS Ice Cream Social. May 3, 2017 Wine Tour with Professor Emeritus Scott Burns, including commentary about the geology of the Columbia River Gorge as we travel to and visit three wineries in the Hood River area, probably Cathedral Ridge, Phelps Creek, and Springhill Cellars. Cost: $70 per person, of which $30 will support our Scholarship Fund. Limit of 26 participants. More details in next month's RAPS Sheet. May 18, 2017 (Columbia Falls Ballroom, University Place) President’s Gathering for Retired Faculty and Staff. 2
Retirement Association of Portland State 2017 Awards: Outstanding Portland State Retiree and Special Recognition ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Each spring at the President’s Luncheon RAPS gives an Outstanding Retiree Award to one or more PSU retirees and gives a Special Recognition Award to one or more persons (alumni, present PSU employeers, RAPS members, and persons not affiliated with PSU) who have demonstrated accomplishments that promote PSU. Outstanding Retiree Awards are in recognition of post-retirement accomplishments in two or more of the following areas: 1) service to the community, 2) service to the University, 3) professional or career achievements, 4) service to RAPS. Current RAPS Board members are not eligible for an Outstanding Retiree Award. Special Recognition Awards are in recognition of service in one or more of the following areas: 1) service to the community, 2) service to the University, 3) professional or career achievements. Now is the time for RAPS members to submit nominations. Please take the time to think about your colleagues and others who are deserving of recognition and their many achievements. The RAPS Board is hopeful many nominations will be submitted. For your convenience, a nomination form is included on the reverse side of this page in this issue of the RAPS Sheet. It will also be available online at https://goo.gl/uiJtZh Please send nominations by US mail to RAPS, Portland State University, PO Box 751, Portland OR 97207 or by email (you don’t have to use the form) to Adam Jones, RAPS Office Manager, at rapsmail@pdx.edu. Deadline for receipt of nominations is Thursday, April 20, 2017. Questions? Please contact Charlie White, Chair of the Awards Committee, at chaswhite@comcast.net or 503-232-3089. 3
OUTSTANDING PORTLAND STATE RETIREE AND SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARDS 2017 RAPS Award Form Award Type (please check one): ____ Outstanding PSU Retiree ____Special Recognition Nominee____________________________________________________________________________________ Nominee’s position(s) at PSU or community status___________________________________________________ Please outline in the space below the accomplishments of your nominee. Attach an additional page if needed. Nominator____________________________________________________________________________ Contact information (phone and email)_____________________________________________________ Please send nominations by US mail to RAPS, Portland State University, PO Box 751, Portland OR 97207 or by email (you don’t have to use the form) to Adam Jones, RAPS Office Manager, at rapsmail@pdx.edu. Deadline for receipt of nominations is Thursday, April 20, 2017. Questions? Please contact Charlie White, Chair of the Awards Committee, at chaswhite@comcast.net or 503232-3089. 4
RAPS Group Reports The RAPS Book Group. The January meeting of the RAPS Book group was cancelled, as members decided they did not want to drive in an ice storm. The February meeting will be on Tuesday, February 21. We will discuss In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick. This is a true story; Herman Melville’s Moby Dick was inspired by the voyage described. The book is characterized by a New York Times reviewer as bringing “a wrenching tale of death and destruction magnificently to life. In addition to being an incredibly gripping tale of survival, Philbrick’s book is an amazingly detailed and intimate look at life aboard a nineteenth century whaling ship.” The meeting will be at the home of Nancy Chapman, 4214 NE Hazelfern Place, Portland, 97213 at 1:30 pm. Call Nancy at 503-234-0162 or e-mail her at chapmannj@comcast.net to let her know whether you will be there, and to get directions. On March 21 the group will discuss the book originally planned for the cancelled January meeting, A Man Called Ove by Swedish writer Fredrik Backman. The back cover describes it as an “uplifting exploration of the unreliability of first impressions and a gentle reminder that life is sweeter when it is shared with other people.” We will meet at the home of Felicia Wirtz, 16344 NW Avamere Ct., Beaverton, 97229. Contact Felicia at (503) 645-0947 or feliciawirtz@gmail.com to let her know whether you can be there, and for directions. The book group meets the third Tuesday of every month at 1:30. New members are always welcome. –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 pm. We meet in Smith Center, usually on the second floor but sometimes on the third floor. Please mark your calendars for the following upcoming months, bridge dates, and times: Tuesday, February 7, 2017; 12:15 pm in SMSU 333 Tuesday, March 7, 2017; 12:15 pm in SMSU 294 Tuesday, April 4, 2017; 12:15 pm in SMSU 294 I will send out the reminder email notice about one week prior to each date we play. The RAPS Bridge Group members are very 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. The Tuesday, February 28 hike combines a tour of the Pendleton Woolen Mill and a hike through the Steigerwald National Wildlife Refuge outside of Washougal. Meet at 8:30 am in the factory store at 2 Pendleton Way, Washougal, WA 98671 for the 9 am tour. The tour will be 45 minutes to an hour. After the tour, we will drive a few miles to the Steigerwald National Wildlife Refuge for our bird watching hike. The weblink to the Steigerwald trail map is: https://www.fws.gov/uploadedFiles/Region_1/NWRS/Zone_2/Ridgefield_Complex/Steigerwald_Lake/Do cuments/Steigerwald-Lake-NWR_Brochure-Map.pdf#a Lunch will be at a restaurant of choice in Washougal. Please confirm your participation to Larry Sawyer 503-771-1616 or larry_sawyer@comcast.net by noon on the 27th, as he will be giving a head count for the tour that afternoon. --Larry Sawyer 5
Lisle “Bill” Meloy--1981 In Memoriam: Lisle “Bill” Meloy, 1916-2017 isle “Bill” Meloy, who served Portland State University as Director of Facilities, died December 24. He was 100 years old. Mr. Meloy was born November 15, 1916, in Musselshell, Montana, to Frank and Iva (Carner) Meloy. The family moved to Oregon in 1929. After graduating from high school in Wilbur, a community about eight miles north of Roseburg, he joined the U.S. Army, served in World War II, and was honorably discharged in 1945. Mr. Meloy was married to Helen Adams on September 15, 1941, in Grants Pass. They had two children, Diane and Rita. Mrs. Meloy died in 1985. After the war, Mr. Meloy found work as a miner, then began a career in construction that included building houses in Grants Pass and establishing a general contracting company in Salem. He capped his career at Portland State, from which he retired in 1983. Last November the Gresham Outlook published an article marking Mr. Meloy’s 100th birthday. He reminisced about his boyhood, growing up in the Great Depression, and the hard winters when everyone in the family—including his brothers, Robert and Bert, his sister, Verda, and his Uncle Bob—would sleep in the kitchen, then wake up in the morning to snow banked around the corners of the bed. He also recalled how Roseburg seemed like a metropolis because the Rose Motel had a neon sign and the local elementary school had separate classrooms for each grade. In retirement Mr. Meloy returned to carpentry, a long-time passion that he developed as a boy in Montana. According to the Outlook article, in his early 90s he started crafting handmade ukuleles, an activity that evoked the many trips he and his wife made to Hawaii. His interests also included old radios, history, gardening, and wildlife. Mr. Meloy is survived by his daughters, Diane Young and Rita Hamlin, nine grandchildren, and 15 greatgrandchildren. A celebration of life was held on January 15 in Gresham. Mr. Meloy was laid to rest with his wife at Hillcrest Memorial Park in Grants Pass. RAPS extends sincere condolences to the Meloy family. --Doug Swanson --Photograph from the Portland State University Archives Digital Gallery Thank You to RAPS Scholarship Contributors! e would like to thank those who donated to RAPS scholarships during 2016. Recent contributions were received by the PSU Foundation from the following donors between December 20 and December 31, 2016: Barbara Alberty Steven Brenner Scott Burns Nancy Chapman Mary Constans Brent Schauer—In honor of Steve Brannan and Mary Gordon Brannan Pati Sluys 6 L W
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