The RAPS Sheet The newsletter of the Retirement Association of Portland State MAY 2018 Retirement Association of Portland State Portland State University–RAPS Post Office Box 751 Portland OR 97207-0751 Campus Public Safety Building second floor, Room 212 SW Montgomery at Broadway Office Manager Rebecca Butterworth Telephone: 503-725-3447 Email: rapsmail@pdx.edu Office hours: Mon & Wed, 9 to 1 Tues, 9 to 2, Thurs, 9 to 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 Scholarships Priscilla Blumel, Chair Social Nancy Eriksson, Chair Chris Shortell takes up Trump, the press, and norms May 10 RAPS ROUNDS OUT its year of monthly programming Thursday, May 10, with a talk by Christopher Shortell on “The Importance of Norms: Trump vs the Press.” Shortell is associate professor of political science in PSU’s Hatfield School of Government, where he also serves as department chair. He teaches courses on public law and American politics, including judicial process, constitutional law, and civil liberties. His research focuses on the relationship between law and the broader political system, with particular emphasis on the interactions between law and society, law and elections, and federalism. Professor Shortell graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in political science and theatre arts from Loyola Marymount University in 1997. He earned an M.A. from the University of California San Diego in 2004 and received a Ph.D. in political science from UCSD in 2004. He joined the PSU faculty in 2008. The program begins with a light lunch at noon in 296 SMSU. Professor Shortell begins speaking at 12:45 pm. Following Professor Shortell’s talk we will hold our traditional spring ice cream social, which will also be held in 296 SMSU.
Co-President’s Message The president’s authenticity 2 “WHAT WE’VE GOT HERE is a failure to communicate." That memorable bit of movie dialogue is from Cool Hand Luke, delivered by the Captain as he stands over Luke whom the Captain has just cold cocked. But very few remember the Captain’s next line: "Some men you just can't reach." And that's one of the big challenges of communication: finding a way to reach everybody even those, like Luke, who might be skeptical of the message—or even the messenger. It's a vexing problem for leaders of large organizations, whether universities, governments, or corporations. How do top administrators reach their audiences so that their messages are understood, discussed, and absorbed? Well, sometimes they don’t. I’ve seen a few presentations by corner office types in my day. Sure, some were good, but a few were plainly lacking, delivered in a charmless, rapid-fire fashion and accompanied by Power Point slides featuring lots of overlapping circles. Maybe the messages were good, but the delivery just wasn’t authentic. And those presentations led to, as the Captain said, a failure to communicate. So I came to the President's Luncheon for Retired Faculty and Staff last month less curious about the message that PSU's new president, Rahmat Shoureshi, would deliver, and more curious about how he would deliver it. Of course, the president walked into the room with a built-in advantage: the RAPS audience is hardly unreachable. You'd have to search far and wide to find more staunch supporters of Portland State. On the other hand, they're smart, they know PSU, and, if you'll pardon the expression, they've been around the block a time or two. Best to leave the smoke and mirrors at home. What we got from President Shoureshi was authenticity. The man spoke clearly, thoughtfully, and deliberately. His remarks were not off the cuff, but he conveyed his words with sincerity and, when he was listing Portland State’s accomplishments, genuine pride. My verdict? President Shoureshi was warm, gracious, occasionally humorous, and he delivered his message simply and well. He was certainly authentic. The new guy aced it, and good for him—and for Portland State. —Doug Swanson President Shoureshi delivers his address on advances at Portland State to a gathering of retired PSU faculty and staff on April 16. —-Photograph by Larry Sawyer
RAPS Group Reports Book Group THE BOOK GROUP met on April 17 at the home of Eileen and Steve Brennan. We discussed Exit West by Mohsin Hamid, the story of two young people who leave the conflict of their homeland and follow current refugee trails. It was a finalist for the Man Booker prize, and is described on the back cover as “compulsively readable. . . tremendously profound and entertaining.” We enjoyed the book and the discussion of the many complex issues that it raised—probably finding it profound rather than entertaining. In May we will meet at Brian Lewis’s home to discuss Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild. It is a sociologist’s exploration of the territory of the conservative right. It won several awards in 2016, and we are looking forward to the discussion. Brian’s home is at 12828 SW Walnut Street in Tigard. Contact Brian at 503-590-5890 or brianlewispdx@gmail.com to let him know whether you will be there and to get directions. For those of you who like to plan ahead, in June we will be reading Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward. Winner of numerous awards, it is said to be a beautifully crafted novel exploring the history and contemporary plight of a young family today in Mississippi. The book group meets the third Tuesday of every month at 1:30 pm. New members are always welcome. —Joan Shireman Bridge Group THE RAPS BRIDGE GROUPmeets 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, on the second floor. Please mark your calendars for the following upcoming meetings: Tuesday, May 1, in SMSU 294 Tuesday, June 5, in SMSU 294 Tuesday, July 3, in SMSU 258 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 Hiking Group OUR HIKE ON MAY 22 will follow trails in two different areas. We will first visit the Camassia Natural Area, which is owned and maintained by the Nature Conservancy. This is a 22-acre area near West Linn named after the camas plant. We are hopeful that the camas plants will still be in bloom in late May. The nature park is host to more than 300 plants plus several species of birds; bring your binoculars. The second part of our hike will follow the old trolley trail that goes from Gladstone to Milwaukie. Lunch will be in the Gladstone area. We will hike the trolley trail until we decide to turn back to our cars. The April hike took place on the Wind Mountain Trail in the Columbia River Gorge, on the Washington side. Five hikers participated and enjoyed perfect weather and magnificent views. If you plan to hike in May, contact Larry Sawyer at 503-771-1616 or larry_sawyer@comcast.net. For more details about this hike or future hiking plans in 2018, please consult the RAPS hikers’ website: https://www.pdx.edu/raps/RAPS-Hikers. —Larry Sawyer Save the date! RAPS Summer Picnic returns to Willamette Park on August 16, noon to 4 pm. —Photograph of the 2017 RAPS summer picnic by Larry Sawyer 3
In memoriam: Maxine Thomas, 1935-2018 MAXINE LORRAINE ANDERSON THOMAS, associate professor emerita of education, died in Clackamas on March 29 from complications from a recent surgery. She was 82 years old. Professor Thomas was born June 20, 1935, in River Sioux, Iowa, the fifth of six children born to Ralph and Anna Anderson. She graduated from high school in the nearby town of Little Sioux in 1953 as salutatorian. After high school Professor Thomas moved to California and enrolled at El Camino College in Torrance. She returned to Iowa to earn her bachelor’s degree in 1957 at the University of Iowa, then moved to the West Coast again, this time to Medford, for her first teaching position. That same year she met Eddy Thomas. They married in Portland in 1959 and had three children between 1961 and 1966: Lori, Victor, and Scott. In 1966 Professor Thomas joined Portland State, which she served until her retirement in 1991. She completed a master’s degree at PSU in 1971 and an Ed.D. at the University of Oregon in 1980. She began teaching internationally in 1983, first at La Trobe University, Bendigo, Australia, and in 1986 at Henan University, Kaifeng, China, taking the opportunity to travel to Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore on her return home. Back at PSU, Professor Thomas broke a barrier when she became the first woman member of the Ferdinand Society, a social group founded in 1956 to encourage faculty from various disciplines to socialize and share ideas. Her name appeared on the ballot as “Max Thomas,” she was elected, and the all-male barrier fell. After her retirement from Portland State she became active in RAPS, serving as President during 2003-2004, and founding both the Bridge Group and the Hiking Group. In 1995 Professor Thomas joined the Peace Corps, serving in Namibia for two years. She served another tour with the Peace Corps in Thailand in 2001. However, her adventures didn’t end with the Peace Corps. She climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro; hiked the Grand Canyon, the Camino de Santiago, and the Inca Trail into Machu Picchu; bicycled Ireland, the Silverado Trail in Northern California, the Kaiser Permanente STP (Seattle to Portland), and the Tour de Lopez on Lopez Island in the San Juans; sky dived; kayaked the Sea of Cortez; ran the Hood-to-Coast; and hiked weekly with the Wednesday Women Walkers. Professor Thomas’s professional accomplishments included presenting at the Olympic Scientific Congress in Korea and serving as president of the Oregon Association for the Advancement of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, from which she also received an Honorary Lifetime Award. She was a charter member of the Oregon Governor’s Council for Health, Fitness and Sport and was honored by two institutions of higher education, receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award from El Camino College in 1997 and the Outstanding Alumna Award from Portland State in 2001. Professor Thomas is survived by her daughter, Lori Hecker, and son-in-law, Scott Rigby, of Dallas, Texas; son Victor, of Portland; brother Paul, of Omaha, Nebraska; and grandchildren Allison Hallas (Billy), Katherine Barclay (Chris), Melissa Rigby, Rebecca Rigby, and Makayla Hecker; great-grandchildren Madison and Tyler; and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her son Scott and her siblings Kenneth, Marian, Patricia, and Sherry. Services were held April 4 at the Rose Villa Performing Arts Center. The family requests remembrances be sent to the OHSU Parkinson’s Center, OHSU Foundation, 1121 SW Salmon Street, #100, Portland, OR 97205; the check should be made payable to the OHSU Foundation, with “OHSU Parkinson Center” written on the memo line. The family expresses their thanks to the caregivers at Trilogy Home Care. —Doug Swanson Photo credit: Thomas Family 4
RAPS 2018 awards honor Doherty, Lemman, and Coniglio TERRIL DOHERTY AND W. T. “BILL” LEMMAN were presented with Outstanding Retiree Awards from RAPS and current employee Mary Coniglio was given a RAPS Special Recognition award at the annual President’s Luncheon held April 16 at Portland State. The honorees received plaques inscribed with words outlining their service and accomplishments. Terril Doherty, a graduate of PSU, worked for several years in the Budget Office in the School of Extended Studies. After retiring she became active in the RAPS Bridge Group and served on the RAPS Board as chair of the Social Committee. Terril’s activity in the community includes volunteering weekly with a senior citizen group, working on church committees, and staffing food lines two times a week in support of community members in need. W. T. “Bill” Lemman’s connection with Portland State spans eight decades, beginning in 1946 as an entrepreneurial student at Vanport Extension Center, continuing through his years at Portland State as chief fiscal officer, where his vision and long-range planning skills helped the institution grow and prosper, and into retirement where he has served on local and national boards, agencies, commissions, and non-profits. Bill also spent 18 years of his professional life in the Chancellor’s Office, initially as vice chancellor of personnel and administration and later serving as interim chancellor. He received an honorary doctorate from PSU in 2004. Mary Coniglio, director of Alumni Relations, is celebrating her 18th year at Portland State. She was recognized for her support of RAPS and also for her commitment and service to alumni, students, staff, and faculty of the University as well as to other supporters of PSU. RAPS extends heartiest congratulations to the honorees. --Charlie White, Awards Committee Chair Recipients of the 2018 RAPS awards were (from left to right): Mary Coniglio, W. T. “Bill’ Lemman, and Terril Doherty. —-Photograph by Larry Sawyer 5
RAPS hikers Tom Hard, Pati Sluys, and Deve Swaim enjoy their view of the Columbia River Gorge from the summit of the Wind Mountain Trail. —-Photograph by Larry Sawyer 6
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz