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 Eben Yemoh Telephone: 503-725-3447 Email: rapsmail@pdx.edu In office: 11 am-3 pm Mon-Wed Remotely: 11 am-3 pm Thurs & Fri Campus mail: RAPS Web: www.pdx.edu/raps Board Members Co-Presidents Pat Squire Bruce Stern Secretary Brian Lewis Treasurer Ansel Johnson Members-at-Large Nancy Eriksson Cheryl Livneh Michael Taylor RAPS Sheet Editor Doug Swanson Website Editor Larry Sawyer RAPS Representative to Regional & National Retirement Associations Larry Sawyer Committees Awards Steve Brennan, Chair History Preservation Eileen Brennan, Chair Membership Pati Sluys, Chair Program Dawn White, Chair Scholarship Joan Shireman, Chair Social Nancy Eriksson, Chair The RAPS Sheet The newsletter of the Retirement Association of Portland State OCTOBER 2021 THE CUBE? It’s a program within the School of Business Administration’s Center for Entrepreneurship (PSUCE) that’s been described as “an incubator for student-led businesses” and “a launchpad for student entrepreneurs, innovators, and inventors.” Juan Barraza, director of student innovation at PSUCE, and two of his students take RAPS members “Inside ‘The Cube’: PSU’s Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship” in a presentation of the same name on Thursday, October 21. Student presenters German Ochoa and Omar Waked are part of the Cube’s inaugural cohort class of 2020. Ochoa is the founder of Woppa, which produces alfajores, an Argentinian sandwich cookie. Waked is co-founder and CEO of Raedam, a parking app. The students will describe how the Cube’s intensive curriculum prepared them to launch their companies and take their products to market. Barraza leads all Center for Entrepreneurship student innovation programming efforts and communi- cations, weaving entrepreneurship into the fabric of the daily activities of students and faculty at PSU. In addition to The Cube, he leads the signature PSU Cleantech Challenge and InventOR programs. The RAPS meeting begins at noon Thursday, October 21, in 333 Smith Memorial Student Union, with a light deli lunch. The presentation by Barraza and his student entrepreneurs follows at about 12:40 p.m. German Ochoa Omar Waked RAPS gets a look at PSU’s ‘idea lab’ at October 21 general meeting Juan Barraza, director of student innovation at PSU’s Center for Entrepreneurship, will take RAPS members inside “The Cube,” the University’s idea lab for innovation and entrepreneurship, on Thursday, October 21.
2 The RAPS Sheet October 2021 CO-PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Fall has returned, and so have in-person programs FALL IS MY FAVORITE SEASON of the year. We have moderate temperatures, leaves are changing colors, and the vegetables I’ve planted and nursed along are producing delicious results. This year, unlike last, PSU will have in-person activities and classes. As a result, RAPS will begin meeting in person for our monthly programs. We will follow University guidelines and likely be masked and socially distanced. Our first program took place September 16 with a guided tour of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art in Fariborz Maseeh Hall (formerly Neuberger Hall). If you were not able to attend, the current exhibit is of French-American artist Louise Bourgeois’ works. During fall each year the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, takes place. This year a friend sent me this message (from an unknown author): To those I have wronged, I ask for forgiveness. To those I have helped, I wish I did more. To those I neglected, I ask for understanding. To those who helped me, I sincerely thank you. No matter your religious orientation, aren’t these wonderful words to guide all of us? This year RAPS has a wonderful lineup of programs for you. I’d like to especially thank Dawn White for arranging such an impressive set of programs and activities. Our first speaker program of the school year will take place on Thursday, October 21, in 333 Smith Memorial Student Union. The program will feature Juan Barraza, director of student innovation at PSU’s Center for Entrepreneurship. He and students in the program will speak about the center’s activities and how those students brought their creative ideas from concept to reality. As always, we will begin with a deli lunch at noon and then move onto our program. Looking ahead, our November 18 program will feature President Steve Percy and Dr. Ame Lambert. Their topic will be PSU’s racial justice and equity initiatives. As always, we are open to your ideas. Feel free to contact Pat Squire, Dawn White, or me if you’d like to share them. —Bruce Stern ‘Portland State Magazine’ keeps you in touch with PSU ARE YOU GETTING every issue Portland State Magazine? Well, if you’re not, you should! And it’s easy and free to have it delivered to your email inbox. The magazine—previously titled PSU Magazine—has been published since 1987. (Before that, PSU published a quarterly newsletter.) Portland State Magazine tells the story of the University through compelling writing, photography, and design. Last spring the magazine was recognized with two regional awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). The spring 2020 issue won a gold award for best magazine on a limited budget. The cover feature, “1970: The Year That Shaped PSU,” was noted for being a “standout for its approach, writing and design.” Author Suzanne Pardington Effros won a CASE silver award for writing. The latest issue featured a fascinating look at Portland State’s past through short articles on 21 objects and artifacts. Among objects examined were PSU’s seal, the copper beach tree that fronts Millar Library, and the 14-foot mural by Isaka Shamsud-Din ’99 in Smith Memorial Student Union that tells the story of the Vanport flood. You can receive Portland State Magazine via your email by clicking https://psudayofgiving.org/s/1904/bp19/interiorfull-width.aspx?sid=1904&gid=2&pgid=820&cid= 2553&post_id=0. Copies of the magazine will also be available at the monthly RAPS general meetings. We will follow University guidelines and likely be masked and socially distanced.
3 The RAPS Sheet October 2021 RAPS Group Reports Book Group IN SEPTEMBER the RAPS book group read The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman. The book is set in France during the Second World War. Beautifully written, almost poetic, the book is a story of love and death. The rescue of Jewish citizens provides the action, as the major characters in the novel become part of the French resistance. The book has a mystical theme with a major character being a golem created to help save one of the threatened children. Particularly notable is the beauty of the writing, which draws on Jewish tradition. One mourns the waste of lives as one reads. In October we will return to nonfiction with Walter Isaacson’s The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race. This is a biography of Jennifer Doudna who, as part of a team of scientists, developed a tool, CRISPER, that can edit DNA. From the back cover: “The tale is gripping. The implications are mind-blowing.” The Book Group meets the third Tuesday of each month, traditionally in the homes of various members. Currently we are using Zoom for our meetings. Any RAPS member is welcome to join the group. —Joan Shireman Bridge Group THE RAPS BRIDGE GROUP (pre-pandemic shut down) used to meet in the afternoon on the first Tuesday of each month. Play began at 12:15 p.m. and finished up by 4 p.m. We met in Smith Center. We had a set of about 10 regular players. Most months we had two tables, but some months we could only get enough players for one table. Given the sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in Oregon, we do not plan on starting up bridge sessions until October at the earliest. We need additional players; do you want to join us? I would like to hear from any interested RAPS members, or others you know who might want to play in our group. The RAPS Bridge Group does not require RAPS membership; your friends and relatives would be welcome to join us. Please contact Steve Brennan, 503-889-0146. My email address is: the.steve.brennan@gmail.com. —Steve Brennan Hiking Group THE RAPS HIKING GROUP tackled a 4.5-mile hike on September 28. The Chapman Landing in the Scappoose area was the start (and end) of the out-and-back trip along a dike. The hikers hadn’t settled on an October hike by the RAPS Sheet deadline. RAPS VISITS SCHNITZER MUSEUM OF ART—A guided tour of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art on September 16 kicked off the 2021-2022 programming year for RAPS. The museum is located on the ground floor of Fariborz Maseeh Hall (formerly Neuberger Hall) and is directed by Maryanna Ramirez. Anna Kienberger, museum assistant, led the tour of a new installation featuring the work of French-American artist Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010).
4 The RAPS Sheet October 2021 Upcoming RAPS events NOVEMBER Thursday, November 18 “Acting on Equity and Racial Justice,” presentation by President Steve Percy and Ame Lambert, vice president for Global Diversity and Inclusion, on the University’s efforts to combat racism and advance social justice across campus. Room 333 SMSU. DECEMBER Thursday, December 9 Annual Holiday Party, Augustana Lutheran Church, NE Portland. JANUARY Thursday, January 20 “What Happened in Afghanistan?” presentation by Grant Farr, professor emeritus of sociology. Room TBA. FEBRUARY Thursday, February 17 “The Inside Story on Who First Planted Pinot Noir in Oregon. It Might Not Be Who You Think,” presentation by Michael Alberty, wine writer for The Oregonian. Room TBA. RAPS Scholarship Donation Form N a m e __________________________________________________________________________ A d d r e s s ______________________________________________________________________ C i t y __________________________________________________________________________ State ________ Zip __________________________________ P h o n e __________________________________________________________________________ Email __________________________________________ Donation amount: q $500 q $250 q $100 q $50 Other: ____ Donation made in memory of: ______________________________________ Donation made in honor of: ______________________________________ Make checks payable to: PSU Foundation and noted for RAPS Scholarship Please mail to: RAPS, Portland State University, PO Box 751, Portland, OR 97207-0751 To use a credit card, go to the PSU Foundation website: https://www.psuf.org Since 2011 RAPS has awarded a scholarship every year to a student whose interest is focused on an aspect of gerontology. Some recipients have focused on health care, others on the economic and social challenges of old age. Four years ago, noting rising tuition and costs of books, the scholarship amount was raised to $4,500. And always we have been successful in funding the scholarship, even through the past academic year when the PSU campus was closed and many of our fundraising activities were not possible. We are now starting a new academic year. The campus is opening and, though nothing is certain, it seems that more and more in-person events are going to be possible. The scholarship recipient for the 2021 academic year will soon be announced. So expect door prizes and opportunities to donate. Most importantly, travel is resuming—albeit rather cautiously. We expect to resume our partnership with Collette Tours. When a RAPS member travels with Collette, the scholarship fund receives a generous donation. A trip to Portugal was being planned when COVID interfered. That may seem a big trip to many of us who have scarcely left home in recent months, but Collette offers many less ambitious tours, such as the Western national parks, the South focusing on Savannah, or the East with the Islands of New England. So think about where you might like to travel. Larry Sawyer is our link to Collette; let him know what ideas you have. And thank you for your generosity in the past year. —Joan Shireman Door prizes? Travel? Opportunities to donate to the RAPS Scholarship abound!
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