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: 10 am-2 pm Wed-Fri Remotely: 10 am-2 pm Mon & Tue 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 MARCH 2022 THE CHARM OF VIENNESE operetta and the wit of Shakespeare come together in the PSU Opera Program’s spring production of Merry Wives of Windsor, with music by Otto Nicolai and libretto by Salomon Hermann Mosenthal. Four performances are scheduled between April 22 and May 1, but RAPS members will get a preview at the in-person member meeting Thursday, March 17, from Harry Baechtel, director of the opera program, and several of his student performers. Set in Windsor, England, in the early 15th century, the three-act comic opera follows the adventures of Sir Richard Falstaff, the portly middle-aged knight attempting to woo two married women in the town. Baechtel, associate professor of voice at PSU, joined the faculty in 2015. He holds a Master of Music degree in voice performance from Northwestern University, a performer’s certificate from Boston University’s Opera Institute, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Oregon. His doctoral research delved into a cultural analysis of the complex relationship between Gustav Mahler, his musical settings in the German folk idiom, and the early 19th century folk poetry collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Baechtel describes himself as an advocate for new music but also has extensive experience in the standard operatic and oratorio repertoire. His operatic roles include Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Il Conte in Le nozze di Figaro, Malatesta in Don Pasquale, Schaunard in La bohéme, and Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette. He has sung with Boston Lyric Opera, Berkshire Opera, Eugene Opera, Intermezzo Opera, and The New Opera, and has performed as baritone soloist in a broad spectrum of the oratorio repertory. The March 17 meeting will be held in 225 Lincoln Hall beginning at 1 p.m. Back comes spring, and with it, PSU’s ‘Merry Wives of Windsor’ Two years after the pandemic forced its cancellation, ‘Merry Wives of Windsor’ is back. Harry Baechtel (left), director of the PSU Opera Program, will provide RAPS members a preview on March 17.
2 The RAPS Sheet March 2022 CO-PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Masks off, opera on, and our world in turmoil SOME THOUGHTS as we enter March: l Masks off soon! (Yes, it will be a personal choice.) Today I had my hair cut. My hairdresser said someone asked her what she would do when masks were allowed to come off. She hesitated, because she’s been wearing it for two years and is dying to get rid of it. Her answer was wise: “I will ask each customer what she prefers.” l We’ll be in person for our March meeting, and yes, we get to hear opera! I’m so excited! l Our world is in turmoil, sponsored by one individual who has dreams of the way things used to be, before 1989 when, suddenly, the Soviet Union was no longer a union. It is more important than ever that we talk rationally with those who hold opposing views. l “Multnomah Reads” featured an adult graphic novel by Mira Jacobs, Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations. It’s an excellent book and talks about how we can get along, even though we may have differences. l RAPS offers an extraordinary way to get involved in current issues, learn about books, wine, culture, and Portland State. I encourage you to involve your friends and former colleagues. As we grow our organization, we will all continue to thrive. l Thank you for all of your contributions to Portland State, to your schools and departments, and to your many students. Think about the lives you have affected! And thank you again for your donations to the RAPS Scholarship. Reading about Jett Koda, our scholarship recipient, and her work with hospice care was truly an inspiration. —Pat Squire TRIGGERED BY A dramatic increase of the RAPS Scholarship account balance during the last quarter of 2021, the RAPS Board voted February 10 to place $50,000 with the PSU Foundation in a quasi-endowed scholarship—the realization of a long-sought goal for the scholarship program. Barbara Alberty, former chair of the Scholarship Committee, is managing the transfer of the funds to the Foundation. The board also voted to double the amount of the annual RAPS Scholarship award from $4,500 to $9,000. The University’s estimate of the cost of a year of graduate study, currently close to $36,700, prompted the board’s decision. The sudden increase in the scholarship account balance began with a donation last fall of more than $5,000 from an anonymous donor, who also pledged to match fourth-quarter donations by as much as 200 percent. The total increase— fueled by the donor’s original gift, the gifts from RAPS members, and the donor’s matches—came to nearly $39,000, boosting the account balance to more than $86,000. After placing $50,000—the minimum for an endowed scholarship—with the Foundation, RAPS was left with a scholarship account of about $36,000. According to Joan Shireman, chair of the Scholarship Committee, future fundraising for the RAPS Scholarship will be added to the RAPS account, and the funds required for the annual scholarship award will also come from the RAPS account. “We have to replenish this fund each year to continue giving our scholarship,” Shireman explained. “The income generated by the endowed scholarship will be of some help, but it will not be sufficient to fund the entire scholarship.” Shireman noted that these actions place considerable responsibility on the RAPS membership to continue to support the scholarship, through donations and through participation in the Collette trips that board member Larry Sawyer arranges for RAPS members. Board doubles annual RAPS Scholarship award to $9,000 Upcoming RAPS events FRIDAY, APRIL 29 President Steve Percy will speak to RAPS members over Zoom, providing an update on all aspects of the University and responding to questions from the audience. The President’s Annual Luncheon for Retired Staff and Faculty has been canceled. THURSDAY, MAY 19 “Supported Conversation for Aphasia,” a presentation by Susan Ginley, clinical professor in Speech and Hearing Sciences, on a communication method to encourage conversation when working with someone, such as a stroke victim, who has lost the ability to communicate.
Hiking Group THE MARCH 22 hike will be either Lacamas Lake or Steigerwald Natural Wildlife Area, depending on the status of the camas flowers. On January 25 six hikers braved the beautiful but cold weather for a three-mile hike in Oxbow Regional Park, a park few, if any, of us had ever been to despite being longterm Portlanders. The trail was well maintained and varied in aspect, from riverside to woods, climbs and descents; the picnic sites we passed were clean and inviting for a warmer day, while the river was a rushing, cold stream enticing to the steelhead anglers. On February 22 four hikers, having previously scouted the scheduled Salmon Creek Greenway, instead walked the sevenmile, 1,200-foot elevation gain Wildwood Trail loop from the Japanese Garden entrance to Holman Park, with beginning and ending of the loop at a hiker’s house in Northwest Portland. This Wildwood segment climbs from the Garden to the Arboretum, descends a bit to the Barbara Walker Crossing across West Burnside, then ascends to the Pittock Mansion and down to the Audubon Society, at which it descends to the Witches Hut. Surprisingly for the clear blue sky, it was not a four-mountain day: only Mt. Adams and a bit of Mt. Hood rose above a lower level cloud cover at the Thurman Street bridge viewing area. —Tom Dieterich 3 The RAPS Sheet March 2022 RAPS Group Reports Book Group THE RAPS BOOK GROUP gathered on February 15 via Zoom to discuss Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. We were a small group, several members having conflicting duties that afternoon. Braiding Sweetgrass offers big ideas, and we had an animated discussion. The author is Native American, and she wrote of the basic attitude that the individual needed to be grateful to the earth, receiving its gifts with appropriate thanks and never taking more than needed. The contrast with modern industry and farming methods is evident. The book also contained descriptive chapters about the attempt to destroy the Native American culture. By the end of the discussion we were an indignant group, ready to do something, but pessimistic about undoing the damage to the earth. We will next meet on March 15 and discuss The Sentence by Louise Erdrich. She is an author the group has enjoyed, and we are looking forward to this new book. She also is a Native American author, and we expect some of the same philosophy. However, there will be differences; this novel is set in a Minneapolis bookstore in 2019-2020 and is a ghost story. We are eager to read and discuss it. The RAPS Book Group meets on the third Tuesday of the month. Though we traditionally meet in members’ homes, we are currently meeting via Zoom. All RAPS members are welcome to join us. —Joan Shireman Bridge Group I SEE BETTER TIMES ahead, but I am not sure when we should restart playing RAPS bridge in person. The omicron spike is in a steep decline. Per capita case counts are still much higher than they will be when we arrive at the new normal. COVID-19 cases in Multnomah County do not seem to be declining to a “moderate risk” level. In fact Multnomah County is currently at an “extremely high” risk level. We will watch that risk level and begin bridge sessions when the risk drops down to “moderate” or maybe just “high risk.” 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 Front to back: Cilla Murray, Mary Lane Stevens, and Tom Hard at the Barbara Walker Crossing on the Wildwood Trail, February 22. Left to right: Larry Sawyer, Nancy Chapman, Cilla Murray, Mary Lane Stevens, and Tom Hard at Oxbow Regional Park, January 25.
4 The RAPS Sheet March 2022 RAPS: From campus retired faculty club to nationally relevant retirement organization In the early 1960s, senior faculty at Portland State began to meet informally as the Professors Club. Over time, as many retired, a formal organization was founded and adopted the name Emeritus and Retired Faculty of Portland State (ERFOPS). In 1985 the association’s name shifted to Retired & Emeritus Professors of Portland State (REPPS). When retired Portland State staff members were invited to join the organization in 2001, the name was subsequently changed to the Retirement Association of Portland State (RAPS). In formal agreements between RAPS and the PSU Office of Academic Affairs, which provides financial and organizational support, the stated common goal was to have RAPS members continue their involvement with Portland State. In recent decades, RAPS has provided opportunities for hundreds of retired PSU faculty and staff to engage in educational and social activities tailored to their interests and needs, receive timely communications from the University, and maintain professional contacts. In order to track recent developments and better serve members, in 2010 RAPS joined the Association of Retirement Organizations in Higher Education (AROHE), a national organization that supports the development and enhancement of campus-based retirement organizations. Over the years RAPS members have attended national and regional conferences of AROHE to learn about promising new initiatives to serve retirees. After the 2020 pandemic posed new challenges to retirees, AROHE invited RAPS to present the innovative practices that have helped Portland State RAPS members thrive despite changing and challenging circumstances. Together with presenters from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Retirement Association (UWRA), RAPS members Larry Sawyer, Dawn White, and Eileen Brennan participated in a national AROHE Member Spotlight Webinar on January 27, 2021, that featured their presentation on RAPS programming and the ways the organization pivoted to better serve retirees. The audience included representatives of 55 university retirement associations, who participated in lively breakout sessions that discussed the innovative approaches presented and exchanged the solutions that they had tried as well. PAST TENSE: Looking back at PSU’s early history C. WILLIAM SAVERY, who served Portland State for more than 20 years as a professor of mechanical engineering and chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, died January 14 at the age of 87. Professor Savery was born on January 3, 1935, in White Plains, New York, to Clyde W. Savery and Jean Fisher. His father died in 1939, and he moved with his mother and younger brother, John, to Hinsdale, a western suburb of Chicago. In 1942 his mother married Ralph McClelland, who brought his son, Bob, into the family. Professor Savery attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps student, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering in 1957. While still in the Navy, Professor Savery met his future wife, Meredith, at a San Diego beach party. They were married in July 1958. After discharge from the Navy later that year, he entered the University of Washington to pursue a master’s in nuclear engineering, and after graduation joined General Atomics in La Jolla, California. By 1966 Professor Savery had decided on a career in In memoriam: C. William Savery, 1935-2022 higher education and moved his family to Madison, Wisconsin, to pursue a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering. He joined Drexel University in Philadelphia after completing his doctorate in 1969. His research interest was the use of solar power for residential heating, and energy conservation and environmental issues remained interests for the rest of his life. In 1980 he joined Portland State as professor of mechanical engineering and chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He retired in 2001 as professor emeritus. Professor Savery is survived by his wife, Meredith; his daughter, Caitlin Szieff (Bill), of Los Angeles; his son, Ben, of Portland; three grandsons, Julian and John Szieff and Clyde Savery; and his stepbrother, Bob McClelland, of Flagstaff, Arizona. Professor Savery’s death was preceded by that of his parents and younger brother, John. Remembrances may be sent to an environmental organization of the donor’s choice or to the Savery Scholarship in Mechanical Engineering, Portland State University Foundation, PO Box 243, Portland, OR 97207-0243. An online guestbook is at www.oregonlive.com/obits.
5 The RAPS Sheet March 2022 Autumn in Vermont & Spotlights of Boston TWO RAPS TRIP IN FALL OF 2022 TO BENEFIT THE RAPS SCHOLARSHIP If New England fall colors and Boston history and culture sound appealing, the Scholarship Committee has some suggestions for you. “Autumn in Vermont” and “Spotlights of Boston” are scheduled for next October and are led by Collette, and part of your fare will benefit the RAPS Scholarship. “Spotlights of Boston” begins October 6 and concludes October 11, 2022. “Autumn in Vermont” runs from October 14 to October 20, 2022. Both trips begin and end in Boston and are three days apart. You have the option of enrolling in either one or both with a three-day layover in Boston. We have customized flyers and web pages for both. The Boston trip highlights both historical and modern Boston. The Vermont trip focuses on the autumn colors, but you’ll also see historical sites such as Fort Ticonderoga and Lake Champlain. Custom websites are: Boston: https://gateway.gocollette.com/link/1088346 Vermont: https://gateway.gocollette.com/link/1088348 PDF flyers: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Asvnw2QV39fanF_zQ2yfRQPzrYA-?e=W1YSQU To learn more, please contact larry_sawyer@comcast.net or joanshireman@gmail.com.
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