Portland State University - Sustainability Updates

Ivy in the City: Sustainability and Higher Education in the Pacific Northwest

By Becky Brun, Sustainable Industries

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Wim Wiewel is facing the same issues that most university presidents are facing today: increasing student enrollment at a time when in-kind giving is down and states are dealing with budget shortfalls; keeping up with master plans that include major renovations and construction projects; staying on top of faculty research as well as students’ needs—and that’s just skimming the surface.

Wiewel is also trying to make Portland State University (PSU) a national leader in sustainable higher education. Recipient of a $25 million grant from The James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation for sustainability education, PSU is gaining even more traction in the sustainability arena. But the current recession could force Wiewel and other university leaders to take fewer risks on things such as new courses and degrees in 2009.

A native of The Netherlands, Wiewel is known for his charismatic leadership and his ability to ignite success in those around him. While the dean of the business school at the University of Illinois, Chicago, Wiewel took the business college from 94th to 49th on the U.S. News & World Report’s national business school rankings. Sustainable Industries caught up with Wiewel on the downtown campus of the state’s largest university to talk about Portland State’s role in helping Oregon become a world leader in sustainability and how his approach to leadership has changed during the current recession.

SI: You’ve said that part of your attraction to Portland and Portland State was the opportunity to apply research to tangible projects in the city. Now that you’ve been at PSU for a year, where do you see the biggest opportunities?

Wiewel: One of the things I had not spent much time thinking about until I came here is the sustainable practices of the institution itself. We are a large corporation, so how we conduct our business obviously matters. Here 62 percent of the faculty, staff and students use transportation other than the automobile to get here. We make the place attractive to bicyclists. We are a co-investor on many projects with Tri-Met. On the facilities side, we go beyond state requirement for green building.

Our Green Building Research Lab, where we develop and test new green building technologies provides workforce training and facilitates the adoption of energy-efficient technologies throughout the building industry. We are working with Glumac, Interface Engineering, PAE Consultants, Gerding Edlen, David Evans and Associates and we will be involving others.

SI: How is PSU prepared to be a national leader in sustainable education?

Wiewel: It already is. I think that we clearly have a lot of people that are doing research in this area. It’s diffused through a lot of the curriculum, so we draw both faculty and researchers who want to teach here, which then makes us more attractive to people who want to get degrees related to this area. Then the students become the workforce and entrepreneurs and the civic leaders who will continue to promote sustainability and enhance Portland’s ability to make sustainability an economic, cultural and social niche for this region.

Read the entire Sustainable Industries interview with Wiewel, as well as interviews with the University of Washington's Dan Poston, and San Francisco State University's Nancy Hayes at http://www.sustainableindustries.com/sijprofile/42019422.html?page=1.

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PSU Studies Effects of Green Roofs, Solar Arrays

Daily Journal of Commerce

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Three faculty members at Portland State University have won a grant to help them pay for their research into the effects of combining green roofs with solar arrays. Carl Wamser, a member of the university’s chemistry faculty; David Sailor, a mechanical and materials engineering faculty member; and Todd Rosenstiel, of the school’s biology faculty, received the $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The trio’s project also is being supported by Portland General Electric, the city of Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services and the Oregon Built Environmental and Sustainable Technologies Center.

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Turning off the Lights: Hiring an Energy Manager Could be Key to Saving Money, Environment

By Wolf Donat, The Daily Vanguard

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Noelle Studer-Spevak believes that Portland State University needs an energy manager. One has merely to walk by the Millar Library or ASPSU office at 3 a.m. and see that all of the lights are on in order to agree with her. Studer-Spevak, the sustainability manager in the Finance and Administration Office, has been working to figure out how to add a Certified Energy Manager to the staff at PSU.

Certified Energy Managers are becoming more popular worldwide, serving industry, business and government. CEMs are professionally certified by the Association of Energy Engineers. Their job duties normally entail analyzing and mitigating energy usage. They track usage an implement new technologies and design changes in order to increase the efficiency of energy system operations.

One of the CEM’s duties would be to help Portland State honor its signing of the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment. The commitment, involving more than 600 universities and signed by former Portland State President Daniel Bernstine, promises that the participating universities will make efforts to become climate-neutral as soon as possible.

Intermediate steps toward the climate-neutrality goal would include overhauling the energy plan currently in place and coming up with a series of long-range steps toward the goal of climate neutrality. One of the issues that Studer-Spevak is facing is that in the face of a budget shortfall, the university has instituted a hiring freeze, meaning that an energy manager could not be hired.  However, the university has also cut the utility budget, “and I’m not sure how we can cut the utility budget without someone to manage those cuts,” Studer-Spevak said. She knows that there are a multitude of things that can be done to save money and energy.

“In the past year, there have been several large projects we’ve done to save energy,” she said. “One of them is to replace all of the broken steam traps on campus.” The steam loops, like those surrounding Cramer Hall, transport steam from different boilers around campus in order to heat the buildings. “It’s been years since they were maintained,” Studer-Spevak said. Another maintenance project currently underway is cleaning the coils used to transmit heat. Dirt and dust tend to build up around the coils, significantly decreasing their efficiency.

While she wasn’t sure of the precise amount of money saved by the maintenance work, she said it was substantial. Though she would like to see that money go toward other energy-saving projects, “the money will be swept into other areas that need money.” “Our hope is that someday we can get to what Harvard does, and have a revolving fund. If we have energy savings one year, a portion of those savings will be funneled back into other energy-saving projects,” she said.

Student Senator Pro-Tempore Heather Spalding - recipient of a 2009 Oregon Campus Compact Faith Gabelnick Student Leadership Award - works with Studer-Spevak. “It’s like getting an oil change in your car,” Spalding said. “Spending the money for maintenance … it’s like a royalty. Once you put these things in place, the benefits just last and last.”

Studer-Spevak estimated that the salary for a CEM would run from $80,000-$100,000 per year. But she stressed that “that person would pay back their salary at least three times over. It’s an investment.” Studer-Spevak and Spalding are in the midst of holding meetings with the Student Fee Committee, looking at the possibility of having student fees cover the cost of an energy manager’s salary, or at least help fund smaller projects often overlooked by funding committees.

“Students are interested in creating a fund that could fund energy retrofits, for example,” Studer-Spevak said. “It’s really cool, because students are saying, ‘What do we have the power to do?'"

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World Environmental Awards Recognize Portland Nonprofit, Efforts Staffed by PSU Students and Faculty

By Abby Haight, OregonLive

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Green Empowerment is a Portland-based nonprofit which has been recognized at the Energy Globe Awards in Prague for installing solar-powered water systems in remote communities in Nicaragua. The projects were staffed by specially trained students and faculty members from Portland State University.

The environmental awards, founded in 1999, reward projects that create economic use of resources and employ alternative energy sources. More than 800 projects from 111 nations vie for awards in five categories -- Earth, Fire, Water, Air and Youth. The awards opened a meeting of European Union environment ministers in Prague. Border Green Energy Team, a Thai partner of Green Empowerment, won first prize in the Fire category and the audience-elected overall Grand Prize for solar powered clinics in Eastern Myanmar.

Green Empowerment helped design and put in place the 35 remote clinics and two large hospitals, which serve 175,000 people and are designed to be disassembled if the Myanmar junta's military approaches. The clinics are scattered over 600 miles of jungle. Green Empowerment also was a finalist in the Water category for its work with partner Asofenix in Nicaraguan villages, installing solar-based water delivery systems. With access to clean water, communities improved their overall health, while adding latrines, showers, biogas digesters and home gardens. The Portland nonprofit also is involved in a project that brought electricity to remote Peruvian villages through wind turbines, micro-hydro and solar installations, providing power to four rural clinics, nine schools, four community centers and 40 family homes.

Green Empowerment was founded in 1997 with a focus on social justice, environmentalism and internationalism. One of its first projects was continuing the micro-hydro efforts in Nicaragua started by Ben Linder, a young Portland engineer who was killed by Contras. The organization has also projects in Borneo, Philippines, Ecuador, Guatemala and on the border of Myanmar/Thailand.

University of Oregon, Lane Community College Projects Receive Seed Grants

Ashland Daily Tidings Online

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Six projects from the University of Oregon and Lane Community College have won grants for 2009 from the Meyer Fund for a Sustainable Environment. Meyer funds provide seed funding to UO and LCC faculty for research and teaching initiatives that are innovative, interdisciplinary and promote a sustainable society.

The UO received a $1 million grant in 2007 from the London-based T & J Meyer Family Foundation to establish the Meyer Fund for a Sustainable Environment. The UO fund is a five year program managed by a steering committee of UO and LCC faculty. Approximately $200,000 is distributed annually to projects led by faculty of the two institutions. The newly announced grants, totaling $200,119, are for the second year of the fund.

The largest 2009 grant, for $58,051, went to a solar energy project (Energizing the Next Generation with Photovoltaics) led by UO physics professor Frank Vignola. The project — a curriculum building approach designed to capture students' enthusiasm for science and to teach them about the basic principles of solar technology — includes faculty from UO physics department and LCC's Science Division. The project also supports the Electric Vehicle/Solar Challenge curricula sponsored by the Eugene Water and Electric Board in more than 60 area middle-school classrooms.

"It is one thing to develop a lab kit and curriculum," Vignola said. "It is another to test the curriculum and lab kit in the classroom. The Meyer Fund award enables us to do this and to improve the prototype and refine the curriculum. The improved curriculum and PV lab kit can then be used worldwide to help educate students about science with photovoltaics, an exciting renewable technology."

Vignola heads the UO's Solar Radiation Monitoring Laboratory, which promotes a sound solar energy future.

A $35,700 grant will support a curriculum-building project (Engaging Labor Efforts to Address Climate Change: An Educational Approach to Building Involvement) for union leaders and core activists, led by Barbara Byrd of the UO's Labor Education Research Center (LERC) in partnership with faculty from two UO departments: geography and planning, public policy & management. LERC's faculty and partners will develop a climate-change curriculum designed to help prepare union members to fill green collar jobs.

"The climate emergency caused by global warming, and the policy responses to this crisis, will fundamentally remake Oregon's economy," Byrd said. "In addition, the National Economic Recovery Act promises to generate millions of new green jobs. But while environmental advocates and representatives from business and regulated utilities engage in the debates, a critical partner is often missing: workers and the organizations that represent them."

Labor's participation in the design and implementation of the "green economy" is critical, she said.

"The single greatest barrier to labor involvement in climate-change discussion is the disconnect between labor's traditional focus on wages and working conditions and the seemingly abstract issue of global warming," she said. "This project aims at bridging that gap, relying on LERC's longstanding commitment to helping unions, their leaders and members to build their capacity to engage in policy-making. We will train our constituents in the science and technical aspects of global warming and climate change policy, and the implications of those issues for work, workers and unions. Our goal is to increase not only labor's ability but also its motivation to contribute to the state dialogue and assure that the 'triple bottom line' of environmental, economic and social sustainability is reached."

The four other grants are:

$35,694 for "Zero-Sum Gained: Moving Our Existing Building Stock Toward Net Energy Equilibrium," a project led by the UO's Donald Corner, department of architecture. The project will establish a case reference base that will guide the rehabilitation of existing buildings toward a balance of energy demand and production -- or net-zero-energy. An evaluative framework will be developed to guide reinvestment decisions.

$34,566 for "Spreading Sustainability: How Science-Based Solutions Move to Broad Practice" led by the Andrew Nelson of the UO's Lundquist College of Business in partnership with his colleague Jennifer Howard-Grenville and Julie Haack of the UO department of chemistry. They will develop a model for understanding the processes through which university-based sustainability research and education influences industry and policy. They also will create a replicable set of tools for visualizing and communicating the dissemination and impact of such research and education.

$22,000 for "Workforce Water Efficiency Training Teams," a project led by LCC's Tammie Stark, a water and sustainability instructor, and Roger Ebbage, energy management program manager. This project addresses the economic, social and environmental challenges of water scarcity and climate change through the creation and distribution of water auditing tools. Teachers and students would use the tools to increase water efficiency in residential and K-12 settings. Partners include the Lane Community College Water Conservation Technician degree program, the UO's Climate Master Program and Kennedy High School.

$14,108 for a "Junior Climate Initiative" led by Rob Ribe, UO department of landscape architecture, and Bob Doppelt of the UO's Institute for a Sustainable Environment. A youth program Junior Climate Stewards will be piloted in Lane County, building on the successes of the Climate Leadership Initiative’s Climate Master Program and the Oregon State University Extension’s Wildlife Stewards program. The partnership supports youth and adult community members in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing energy efficiency.

While based in the United Kingdom, the T & J Meyer Family Foundation has ties to the UO by way of family members' earning their college degrees from the institution. The foundation is managed by Tim and Jane Meyer and their four children. In addition to foundation work, the Meyer family has sustainable projects, research and education centers in Oregon, Argentina and London.

Mexico's Head of Science and Technology — a Southern Oregon University Grad — Proposes Closer Ties

By John Darling, The Mail Tribune Online

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Mexico's top official for science and technology says his nation's worst problem is poverty and that the business, governmental and educational sectors of the United States need to step up to full partnership with Mexico to create a more stable and prosperous region.

Juan Carlos Romero Hicks, a graduate of Southern Oregon University, told an SOU audience Thursday that 40 million of Mexico's 105 million people don't have basic needs such as education, health care, clean water and employment, and that much of the solution lies in the areas of shared technology.

Romero Hicks, whose mother and wife immigrated to Mexico from the U.S., earned two degrees from SOU and became the governor of the state of Guanajuato. He is general director of the National Council for Science and Technology. Some of his 10 children attend school in Ashland.

Romero Hicks lauded SOU as a model of a university that works with Mexico and for decades has facilitated a strong flow of ideas, programs and people back and forth. Some 35 people traveled here this week from Guanajuato, Ashland's sister city in Mexico, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of ties between the two cities and between SOU and the University of Guanajuato.

However, Romero Hicks decried the persisting negative stereotypes of Mexicans in this country, and vice-versa, noting, "how little we know about each other."

North America should be a partnership of equals like the European Union, he said, adding that the NAFTA trade agreement of the 1990s "is a contradiction because it opened a free flow of merchandise but not of people "¦ in a free, orderly and safe migration."

Romero Hicks said Mexico and the U.S. have many links in history, culture and trade, and "you need a strong Mexico. We need to listen to each other."

Pointing to problems in trade, migration, drug trafficking, public safety and the rule of law, Romero Hicks said all need a vision grounded in new technology, with university researchers able to get their advances readily commercialized.

"It's a huge contradiction. We've never known so much yet never had so many people in poverty," said Romero Hicks, noting that Mexico devotes .05 percent of its gross domestic product to science and technology, compared to 2.6 percent in the U.S. In addition, Mexico graduates 2,500 doctorate students a year compared to 50,000 in the U.S., he said.

Romero Hicks' candid assessment of Mexico drew support and suggestions from the audience, which included four past and present SOU presidents.

Stephen Reno, now chancellor of the University System of New Hampshire, lauded growing regional partnerships between businesses, governments and universities and pointed to a new $235 million system piping methane from a landfill 13 miles to the University of New Hampshire, supplying 90 percent of its energy.

"It took seven years to do it — the first four years convincing people it was worth exploring," said Reno.

Romero Hicks responded with tales of his own — families responding "like it was a funeral" when a child planned to go into science, and professors who said that channeling their research to commercial applications would be "like prostitution."

To much laughter, he responded, "Well, you need more prostitutes."

As part of the shared vision sought by Mexico, Romero Hicks said his nation is seeking international partners and shared degree programs with universities.

ARAMARK Higher Education Raises the Green Stakes on Campuses Nationwide

Business Wire Online

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To celebrate Earth Day 2009, ARAMARK Higher Education, a world leader in providing professional services to more than 600 colleges and universities throughout North America, has committed to implement Green Stakes, five key sustainable practices across all of its operations by 2010. The Company has also partnered with Clean Air - Cool Planet (CA-CP), an independent, non-profit organization, to create a calculator tool that more accurately assesses the carbon footprint or “foodprint” of foods served on campus by quantifying the environmental impact of growing, producing, transporting and disposing of food. Once developed, the new tool will help students make more responsible decisions about the foods they choose.

As part of Green Stakes, ARAMARK Higher Education strives to implement the following sustainable and environmental practices by 2010:

• Implement an Energy and Water Conservation program at every partner campus;
• Only purchase paper products made with recycled content;
• Utilize daily green cleaning products at all locations;
• Divert 100 percent of fryer oil waste;
• Increase the level of sustainable food offerings served by at least 5 percent per year.

“The issues of climate change, energy conservation and the over-utilization of natural resources continue to impact everyone,” said Chris Stemen, Senior Director of Sustainability and Environmental Stewardship, ARAMARK Higher Education. “Through Green Stakes, our partnership with CA-CP, and our environmental stewardship program, we hope to effect positive, sustainable change at all of our partner campuses nationwide.”

“Our new ‘FoodPrint’ tool will help the food service industry calculate and strategically reduce its greenhouse gas impact,” said Adam Markham, CEO of Clean Air - Cool Planet (CA-CP). “It will work in tandem with our Campus Carbon Calculator^TM or as a separate means to aid in business analysis and planning.”

CA-CP’s Campus Carbon Calculator^TM, a greenhouse gas calculator used at over 1,500 educational institutions across North America, is the inventory tool of record for the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC).

“Working with CA-CP and future partners of the program, we will all better understand the environmental impact of our food choices, and make both personal and environmentally responsible decisions about the foods we choose,” Stemen added.

ARAMARK Higher Education develops and implements long-term environmental stewardship programs and policies within the pillars of sustainable food; green buildings; responsible procurement; energy and water conservation; transportation; and waste management.

Following are a few examples of successful environmental stewardship programs across ARAMARK partner campuses:

Striving for Zero Waste

Zero Waste is the process of safely recycling all materials back into nature or the marketplace in a manner that protects human health and the environment.

Portland State University (OR) is striving to become a zero waste institution by eliminating waste that goes to the landfill. ARAMARK and Portland State University Dining Services are recycling all cans, glass bottles, plastic containers, cardboard boxes and paper. They are also composting all food waste (last year totaling 41.8 tons), and recycling used cooking oil for conversion into eco-friendly biodiesel.

Several campuses, including University of Florida, Baylor University (TX), University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Peace College (NC) and Salem College (NC), are now offering reusable to-go food containers that are dishwasher-safe and made to be reused over and over again, helping reduce the amount of waste produced from their traditional disposable counterparts.

Trayless Dining, removing trays from the dining venue, has immediate and tangible environmental, social, and economic benefits. On average, elimination of trays reduces food waste by 25-30 percent per person, while also reducing the cost of energy, water, cleaning agents and waste removal. More than 50 percent of ARAMARK's campus partners removed trays from dining halls during the 2008-2009 school year.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), food waste is the number one least recycled material in the United States. Studies by the U.S. Department of Agriculture have shown that every year Americans throw away 96 billion pounds of food, which is equivalent to 3,044 pounds per second.

Sustainable Food

Arizona State University, New York University and University of Virginia have opened eco-friendly restaurants and dining halls, featuring locally grown, sustainable food and environmentally friendly practices.

Through a partnership with the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s SEAFOOD WATCH® program, all ARAMARK partner campuses have committed to preserve our oceans and fisheries for future generations by encouraging the use of sustainable seafood.

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About ARAMARK Higher Education

ARAMARK Higher Education is dedicated to excellence in dining, facility, conference center, and stadium and arena services. ARAMARK enhances the living and learning experience and environment for more than 600 colleges and universities throughout North America. For more information and a list of our services, visit www.aramarkhighered.com.

About ARAMARK

ARAMARK is a leader in professional services, providing award-winning food services, facilities management, and uniform and career apparel to health care institutions, universities and school districts, stadiums and arenas, and businesses around the world. In FORTUNE magazine's 2009 list of "World's Most Admired Companies," ARAMARK was ranked number one in its industry, consistently ranking since 1998 as one of the top three most admired companies in its industry as evaluated by peers and analysts. ARAMARK seeks to responsibly address issues that matter to its clients, customers, employees and communities by focusing on employee advocacy, environmental stewardship, health and wellness, and community involvement. Headquartered in Philadelphia, ARAMARK has approximately 260,000 employees serving clients in 22 countries. Learn more at the company's Web site,www.aramark.com.

Event: Effective Strategies for Connecting Schools with Families & Community

Learn and discuss effective strategies for connecting schools to families and the community with educator Karen Mapp. Mapp is a lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Education and former deputy superintendent of family and community engagement at Boston Public Schools. She specializes in educational leadership and partnerships and co-authored "Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to Family-School Partnerships."

All parents, school staff and community members are welcome. This FREE event is Wednesday, May 6, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at PCC Cascade Campus, 705 N. Killingsworth, in the Moriarty Arts and Humanities Building, Room 104. Lunch will be provided. THis event is sponsored by PPS and Portland Community College.

To RSVP, contact Candice Ysasaga, 503-916-2000 x71582 or email cysasaga@pps.k12.or.us.

Green Energy Boom Spreads to Oregon Community Colleges

By Abby Haight, The Oregonian

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The growth of green energy businesses in Bend spurred another kind of boom -- in college classrooms.

One example: Kathy Walsh, vice president for instruction at Central Oregon Community College in Bend, helped launch programs to train students in weatherization and solar photovoltaics. The classes quickly filled. But the programs were just a first step. Central Oregon hopes to win federal stimulus dollars to introduce a degree program in resource management technology by 2010 and expand its technology center. 

"The aim in the training is to match growth and need in local industry and take workers, in the short term, to match industry," Walsh said. "It's not an easy time to make changes, but obviously this has to have a high priority, both in terms of industry change, in joblessness and in diminishing resources."

Statewide, the economy has shaken the job market in more ways than one. Laid-off workers are looking for retraining in family-wage jobs. High school graduates seek careers in healthy, growing industries.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski believes Oregon's future is tied to renewable energy industries, saying wind, solar and other renewables are the "entrance to a new economy." The Obama administration wants to create 5 million "green collar" jobs in the next decade.

Oregon's other two- and four-year colleges and universities, both public and private, have responded with program decisions that could prepare Oregonians for careers in sustainable energy and green technology. They've increased courses and programs to cover a gamut of green careers, from researching wave energy to sustainable forestry to public policy.

Responding to industry 
The state's community colleges, where tuitions run about $70 per credit for residents, have rushed in response to industry demand.

"The key thing for us is trying to implement a vision to match up the needs of employers, who are already here, with the talent pool development we offer," said Greg Harris, associate dean of public information, marketing and student recruitment at Chemeketa Community College in Salem.

Chemeketa recently partnered with Wildwood Inc. and Pacific Biodiesel Technologies Inc. to seek $10 million in federal funds for a biofuels research and processing plant in Salem. The proposed facility could produce as much as 432,000 gallons of biofuels from algae, woody waste and agricultural waste. It also would be a training ground for about 60 students and could create 450 new jobs in construction and biofuels processing and distribution.

The college estimates there are 1,300 jobs available now in its district for workers with process technology skills.

"They've invested in an industry that they see has potential and they need workers," Harris said. "We're interested in following the market, not just the ivory tower."

PCC's partnerships 
Portland Community College has developed similar industry partnerships with its solar and wind energy programs.

SolarWorld AG, with operations in Hillsboro, asked the college to develop a train-the-trainer program for maintenance technicians. The school, in turn, has developed an associate's degree program in solar voltaic technology, with graduates moving into positions at SolarWorld, Intel, SpectraWatt, Enxco, XsunX and Solaicx. The school also regularly places students from its manufacturing foundations course with Solaicx's manufacturing plant.

"Classes are almost full every term and prospective students keep calling the microelectronics technology department showing an interest in the field," said Dorina Cornea-Hasegan, the department chairwoman.

PCC's electronic engineering technology program has added an associate's degree in renewable energy systems. The program, which has 40 students, receives advice from the wind energy firm Vestas.

Department Chairwoman Sanda Williams said the school is prepared for a flood of students enrolling in the renewable energy systems course next fall.

The renewable energy technology program at Columbia Gorge Community College in The Dalles set the tone for community colleges with its response to the growth of wind farms on the rolling hills of Oregon and Washington above the Columbia River Gorge. The school expects 500 to 600 technicians will be needed by 2011 to tend to the electronic and mechanical systems on the 400-foot-tall structures.

Oregon Health & Sciences University & NE Oregon Area Health Education Center Partner to create Rural Rotation for Dental Students

By Mike Ferguson, Baker City Herald Online - - - - - Just weeks away from his graduation from the dental school at Oregon Health & Sciences University, Ryan LeMert is getting a close-up look at a real rural dental practice, the kind Baker City dentist Sean Benson practices. Beyond just observing, LeMert, 27, has seen between eight and 10 patients every day during his rural rotation, where he’s done everything from fillings to root canals. In a way, Baker County patients have opened their mouths, but it’s been LeMert who has said, “awe.” “Sean has taken good care of me. He’s a fun guy and we’ve got a lot of the same ideas about playing and working,” LeMert said in between seeing patients during his last day at the Baker City practice Thursday. “He should be given a lot of credit for making this happen. He’s been a good guy to work with, and the people are really friendly here.” It’s good to get out of the classroom for a time and into a thriving, busy dental office, LeMert said. “Portland just doesn’t suit me,” he said. LeMert grew up in Roseburg, and his first rural rotation at dental school was at a health clinic there. He said he’s open to operating a private practice in rural Oregon, but in the down economy more and more older dentists are holding on to their practices, and he’s had a hard time purchasing one. He said he might fall back on working for the National Health Service for a while. “I’m still,” he said, just weeks from completing four hard years of study, “trying to figure out what I’m going to do.” LeMert’s two-week stay is an effort by OHSU and the Northeast Oregon Area Health Education Center to convince health science students that practicing medicine in a rural setting is an option that can be both fun and rewarding, said Michael Plunkett, the OHSU School of Dentistry’s director of community outreach and a faculty member in the university’s Department of Community Dentistry. Plunkett was in Baker City Thursday both to visit LeMert and Benson and to enjoy a brief vacation in Northeastern Oregon. LeMert is one of three of the school’s current crop of 75 dentists in training to undertake a rural rotation, Plunkett said. Most students opt instead for an urban health-care center setting. Eventually, Plunkett said, he’d like up to two-thirds of his students to try their practi-cum in a place Baker City- sized or smaller. “This is a more realistic representation of how dentistry is practiced,” Plunkett said, gesturing to a small cluster of exam rooms where Baker City’s Mike Long is having a checkup while Benson is filling a cavity in a nearby room. “Our goal is to make the educational process mirror what’s really going on.” The La Grande-based Northeast Oregon Area Health Education Center plays a role in the rural rotations, not only for dentists but for physicians and nurses as well, Plunkett said. It’s provided LeMert free housing in Baker City for two weeks, and enough gas money to power him to and from Portland and around Baker County while he was here. According to the La Grande AHEC office, many communities in Eastern Oregon, including Halfway, Richland, North Powder, Union and John Day, are short of enough health professionals to care for their residents. The organization is working to help meet that need, with the idea that the more young health care providers are exposed to rural settings, the more likely they are to establish their practices in one. And for the record, Plunkett wants to dispel the myth that rural dentists have to take a pay cut compared with their brothers and sisters in urban settings. “It’s a misnomer that it’s not financially rewarding to practice in rural areas,” he said. NEOAHEC, together with Eastern Oregon University, also tries to help ease the rural health-care provider shortage by getting children interested in science, health and literacy through curriculum called Great Discoveries and a Girls in Science project. It also puts on a career choice camp called MedQuest. The nonprofit group coordinates 80 educational rotations every year for OHSU and Pacific University students. Once he’d seen his last patient Thursday, LeMert was already waxing a little nostalgic for his stay. “This has been an intermediate step” between dental school and his new life outside school, he said. “I’ve treated it like an apprenticeship, and it’s been a rewarding one.”

Celebration Held for Salem Area Learning Center

By Thelma Guerrero-Hudson, The Statesman Journal

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When Aileen John moved to Salem last September from the Micronesian Island of Chuuk, she couldn't speak a word of English. "I learn a lot of things at the center," the 11-year-old girl said. "It's helped me learn to speak English, do my homework and tell stories."

John, a fifth-grader at Washington Elementary, made the comments during the grand opening of the Northgate Community Learning Center on April 22. The celebration was attended by more than 60 people, who were treated to a free lunch. It was sponsored by the North Salem Business Association.

The Northgate Community Learning Center is an after-school facility that helps children develop the skills and self-discipline needed to succeed in school. It serves youngsters between the ages of 11 and 14 who attend Washington Elementary, Waldo Middle School, or Hallman Elementary. Students must be in grades fifth through eighth to qualify.

Children are referred to the center by their teachers. Ten volunteers — primarily students from Willamette University, Corban College and Chemeketa Community College — mentor and tutor about 30 youngsters in the after-school program.

One of those helpers is Brendan Morin, who works with students in the center's computer lab.

"It's fun," said Morin, who has a degree in applied science. "I do it because I like helping kids."

Parents also are involved through "Family Nights," a monthly meeting that includes topics such as parent-youth communication; community gardening; nutrition; and, affordable housing.

Through "Homework Power Hour," parents learn how to create a positive homework environment for their children.

Last week's grand opening also featured guest speakers. Linda St. Pierre, principal of Washington Elementary School, told attendees the center was making a "measurable difference" in students' lives. "This program is phenomenal," the principal said. "I've interviewed students to get their impressions of the center. They all said it's helped them get their homework done in time and improved their skills in reading, writing and math."

The center is a collaborative effort of 15 community organizations championed by the Family Systems Investment Consortium, or FSIC, of the Marion County Children and Families Commission. It opened its doors in October.

Jim Seymour, executive director of Catholic Community Services, said the center is "an important component in strengthening families and building healthy communities."

The FSIC said it hopes to open other similar centers in as many as 10 Salem neighborhoods.