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.

RecycleMania Winners Announced - 510 Institutions Compete

RecycleMania has announced the winners of its 2009 competition in which 510 institutions in the United States and Canada competed to reduce, reuse, and recycle the most campus waste.

California State University, San Marcos is the 2009 Grand Champion. In addition, North Lake College (TX) won the Waste Minimization contest, McNeese State University (LA) won the Stephen K Gaski Per Capita Classic and for Corrugated Cardboard, Rutgers University (NJ) won the Gorilla Prize, Stephens College (MO) won for Paper, Kalamazoo College (MI) won for Bottles & Cans, and Bard College (NY) won for Food Service Organics.

In all, 4.7 million students and 1.1 million faculty and staff collectively recycled or composted just over 69.4 million pounds of waste over ten weeks.

Oregon Community Colleges Receive Two out of 20 National Grants for Military Veterans

NewsBlaze Online

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"The Wal-Mart Foundation and the American Council on Education today identified 20 colleges as recipients of Success for Vets Grants, meant to help them develop innovative ways to help veterans make the transition from military service to college," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "Each winner can use its $100,000 award to 'accelerate the development of programs they already had in place,' said James Selbe, assistant vice president for lifelong learning at the council.

Many of the winning proposals include plans to enhance veteran-support services, train faculty members to be aware of veterans' needs, and create orientation programs about useful resources on and near the campus. Oregon's Clackamas Community College, for example, plans to 'develop standards for awarding credit for military training and experience,' an issue that has long been raised by veterans seeking college degrees. Colorado State University plans to establish a national honor society for student veterans."

Success for Veterans Grant Recipients

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona - Create interactive online veterans-specific orientation program, including faculty advising option and networking opportunities.

California State University Sacramento - Create a Veterans Education Transition Success Program, including college assimilation summer program, academic advising, and fall orientation.

Clackamas Community College - Expand outreach to veterans and develop standards for awarding credit for military training and experience.

Colorado State University - Develop faculty training program, establish a national veterans student honor society, expand outreach efforts, and develop a more comprehensive student orientation program.

Empire State College - Expand and enhance educational support services and improve training of faculty, mentors and staff to create awareness of challenges to the student veteran population.

Fairleigh Dickinson University - Develop and implement an integrated veterans' services model to enhance one-stop support and expand capacity to provide psychological services.

Fresno City College - Expand partnership with PG&E to train veterans for employment, including preparation for pre-employment testing and access to counseling.

George Mason University - Enhance comprehensive, coordinated one-stop resource and support center to ensure academic support and psychological/transition support.

Hunter College School of Social Work - Expand existing Project for Return and Opportunity in Veterans Education (PROVE), which provides peer mentoring and counseling services, to two additional CUNY campuses.

Lane Community College - Expand Lane Integration of Vets in Education (LIVE) program to deliver first-year experience, including learning communities, advising, supplemental instruction and early intervention systems.

Los Angeles City College - Create formal mentoring program, publish veterans handbook, train faculty and staff to increase awareness of the challenges to the student veteran population.

Madison Area Technical College - Create Project Success and Access for Veterans Education (SAVE), which will provide streamlined veterans services, veteran student orientation, and expansion of programs and services to veteran families.

Onondaga Community College - Establish visible presence to welcome veterans; increase awareness and knowledge of unique veterans' issues by faculty and staff; expand and enhance services to current and prospective veteran students; and communicate best practices to other campuses.

Park University - Develop online transition courses for veterans, train faculty and staff on veterans issues, develop best practices for serving veterans in online learning environments.

Ramapo College Foundation, NJASCU - Create Operation College Promise to collect best practices from nine state institutions and disseminate to all 52 New Jersey institutions of higher education through seminars, web site, and advisory group.

Southwestern College - Establish a Veterans Welcome Center to provide more comprehensive counseling, support services, job placement and faculty development.

Trident Technical College - Create Project VETS (Veterans' Educational Transition Services) to provide a continuum of services from pre-college through graduation, including veterans-specific orientation program, faculty and staff development, veterans task force creation, and veterans student club.

University of California, Santa Cruz - Expand Veterans Education Teams Support (VETS) and Services for Transfer and Re-entry Students (STARS) to provide expanded peer mentorship, as well as transition services, and increased outreach to local community college.

University of Maine at Augusta - Develop deliberate approach to veterans services that will create social, classroom, and professional networks for veterans through peer mentors, student veteran organization, online social network.

University of Maryland University College - Develop, implement, evaluate and disseminate a veterans service model that integrates comprehensive services into a web-based platform.

Oregon State University Purchases the Most Green Power in the Pac-10

Daily Journal of Commerce

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced that Oregon State University is the top purchaser of green power in the Pacific-10 Conference, with 67 million kilowatt-hours.

The EPA’s Green Power Partnership recognizes collegiate athletic conferences with the most combined green power purchases in the U.S. Oregon State will receive the Individual Conference Champion Award for 2008-09, which recognizes the school with the highest green power purchase.

OSU has launched many sustainability initiatives in the past year, including the installation in its gym of 22 retrofitted elliptical machines that transfer energy generated by students into the power grid. Also, the university later this year will open its new $55 million energy center, which will be capable of burning renewable fuels like methane and diesel.

Camp for Stroke Survivors, Caregivers Receives Campus-Community Partnership Award

First lady Rosalynn Carter awarded first place to PSU’s Stroke Camp Northwest at the annual Simon Benson Awards Dinner on April 7, 2009.

The Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences camp for stroke survivors and their caregivers won the first-ever Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Award for Campus-Community Partnerships.

Portland State campus-community partnerships competed exclusively for the awards. The Carter Foundation selected three projects out of 26 applications to receive top awards. Stroke Camp won $10,000 for its program. Second-place winners—receiving $5,000 each—were the Portland Public Schools Migrant Education Program and the Community English as a Second Language Project.

Portland State University One of Five Colleges Honored for Efforts at Internationalization

Five colleges were recognized in March, 2009 by Nafsa: Association of International Educators for their innovative efforts to bring more of an international focus to their campuses.

The association singled out Boston University, Connecticut College, Pacific Lutheran University, Portland State University, and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities as recipients of this year’s Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization. The award, which recognizes a variety of internationalization efforts, is named for the late Democratic senator from Illinois, who was an early advocate of study-abroad programs.

The institutions will be featured in a report published this fall and will be recognized at the annual Nafsa conference, in May. Three additional institutions — Berklee College of Music, Fairleigh Dickinson University, and the University of California at Davis — also will be highlighted in this year’s report.

PCC Rock Creek Construction Students Ramp up the Help with Local Non-profit ReFit

By David Holley, The Beaverton Valley Times

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Sam Taha lays in bed most days watching television, avoiding movement because of the pain he still feels from a stroke he had a year ago. But Taha has to make frequent trips to the doctor, a task nearly impossible for him and his 5-foot-tall wife, Fafi.

Not only is it grueling for her to help Sam Taha into his wheelchair, but they have to negotiate stairs whichever way they leave the house. Guiding a much larger man down stairs in a wheelchair is not easy, Fafi Taha said.

To bring a little respite to the Taha’s lives, a local nonprofit, ReFit, and students from construction classes at Portland Community College’s Rock Creek campus built a ramp in the family’s garage last weekend. It may not solve financial problems caused by the stroke, or rehabilitate Sam Taha so he can walk again, but this ramp will make their lives that much easier, Fafi Taha said.

“I’m thrilled!” she said. About sixteen total students from PCC spent March 6 and 7 at the Taha’s home in Beaverton. They used materials donated by Pacific Lumber to build the ramp, which the students designed themselves. A construction professional, typically a member of ReFit, was with the students at all times, advising them on their work.

Debbie Anderson, a director on ReFit’s board, said the organization’s goal is to keep people with disabilities in their homes by refitting the homes to their needs. She said this project works out perfectly, because the PCC students produce a free, quality product for the family and the students also learn about construction.

“It gives them a learning opportunity, and a way to get involved in the community as well,” Anderson said.

Peter Field, a student in the PCC building construction program, said working on this project has been a great experience. It’s not only gratifying to help a family in need, he said, but he also gains real construction knowledge. “That’s the thing that makes the program so great: We do all hands-on work,” Field said. Stephanie Lugan agreed.

A student in her second quarter of the building construction technology program, she wants to eventually get into design. But on March 6, her only goal was to help build the ramp. “It’s feel-good work and it’s practice,” Lugan said.

ReFit does more than just ramps. The organization, which was founded in 1997, is made up of the heads of various local construction and remodeling companies. They work to raise money so that they can help people in need with various housing remodels, from expanding doorways to revamping entire rooms.

Fafi Taha found ReFit by contacting Washington County during her constant search for help for her husband. The new ramp comes at a time when the Taha’s haven’t had much going their way. When Sam Taha, 58, had the stroke in March 2008, they didn’t have insurance. After being left paralyzed, he couldn’t work and Fafi Taha was forced to quit her job to care for him. Now, when she’s not caring for her husband, Fafi Taha spends most of her time negotiating public health care programs and trying to get her husband into rehabilitation. “I’m just living day by day,” said Fafi Taha.

Campus Profile: University of Oregon / O Heroes

While student-athletes at the University of Oregon have always valued giving back to the community that supports them, their commitment to service has recently been solidified through the creation of a non-profit organization called Oregon Heroes.

O Heroes, which formed in 2008 and operates under the direction of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), serves to enhance student service efforts through developing partnerships with community organizations, building greater awareness and recognition of engaged student-athletes in the community, and providing the ability to donate funds to local organizations and individuals.

With an emphasis on health, education, and service, O Heroes engages the UO campus by hosting Day and Week of Service events, as well as managing previously existing service programs, such as the Duckling program, which raises awareness and funding for local children with serious ailments.

Last October, shortly after the unveiling of the program, the first O Heroes Day of Service saw atheletes from every University of Oregon sport serving in the Eugene/Springfield community. Students painted the Vivian Olum Child Development Center and cleaned up its outdoor play areas, served in the Food for Lane County Churchill Garden, visited children at Sacred Heart's River Bend Hospital, and more.

On March 2-6, 2009, students spent an O Heroes Week of Service serving as positive role models to local youth. In conjunction with the National Education Association's Read Across America Day, students engaged with local K-8 students by playing sports, encouraging physical education, writing and sharing motivational letters, and more.

The next O Heroes Week of Service will take place in May.

Because student-athletes act as role models to local youth (often to their peers, as well), O Heroes is proving to be a powerful way to raise visibility of the service these students provide, and the positive impact that they have on the community.

To learn more about O Heroes click here, or contact James Harris at jharris@uoregon.edu.

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Portland State University Alum Follows King’s Path through Public Service

By Jake Thomas, The Portland Observer

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Fraternities are often associated with chauvinistic, alcohol-fueled would-be alpha males.  But try telling that to Antonio Jackson, who embodies another side of such organizations: public service.

As tributes are paid to Martin Luther King Jr. in honor of the Jan. 20 National Holiday, Jackson is a living example of King's inclusive approach and efforts to build bridges that make stronger communities. Although no longer a student, Jackson is still active in the alumni chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi doing community service throughout the community.

But this is far from the only community-oriented work he does.

Jackson is tireless. Between work, family, and community service he ends up working 10 hour days mentoring teenagers, sparking an interest science and technology among school children, and getting African-American men to take better care of their health, among others.

"The most important thing is giving back to the community and setting that positive example," said Jackson.

Jackson clearly wants to strengthen communities, and one central way he's doing it is by encouraging future generations to step up and take a stake in it. On a recent Saturday, Jackson wasn't lounging about at home, but at a church in northeast Portland hunched over a laptop at a table surrounded by children. He explained an engineering lesson to the kids while goading one to sit up.

One of Kappa Alpha Psi's proudest projects is Lego Robotics. The program gets minority children interested in science and technology at an early age. Kids compete against other schools to build robots out of Legos and program them to perform tasks. "It's going to be something very special," said Jackson, who notes that similar programs tend to be aimed at more affluent children.

Another project Jackson is particularly proud of is the work mentoring young African-American men in the Perspective Gents Club. He and other members of the fraternity take time to meet with young people and discuss the issues they are facing and try to steer them on the right path.

"To see them as a senior going to college, and seeing that it's a reality -- that they can make it -- that drives me," said Jackson.

"He's motivating others to get us to do things we'd like to do," said Sean Murray, a Kappa alum and human resources manager for Portland Police, who has worked with Jackson on a number of initiatives. Murray said that he's been particularly impressed with Jackson's work mentoring young men, having made the extra effort to drop off and pick up a teenager with problems at home.

Jackson is also involved in health issues. He helped create a monthly men's health forum, where African-American men can meet to discuss health issues like eating right, cancer, and can get their blood pressure checked.

Jackson is affable and dapper. The baby-faced 28-year-old wears a neat and thin goatee. He was born and raised in Portland to Filipina mother and African-American father. Jackson attended David Douglas High School and went on attend Portland State University where he majored in business and played football and basketball. He was drawn to the predominantly African-American fraternity because of its emphasis on public service and the expectation that he would continue to serve after college.

"I wanted to be a part of an organization that was about doing positive things in the community," said Jackson.

On a typical day, he rises at 6 a.m. and rouses his 5 and 6 year old children to have a breakfast and talk about school. He then goes to work at the Banfield Pet Hospital. After work he attends to his various projects, getting home at about 8 or 9. But often times, Jackson tries to bring his kids to community service activities, just as his parents did with him. Jackson explained that because he grew up in a multicultural household he is able to immerse himself in a variety of human environments and can build partnerships.

After graduating he became increasingly involved in the local alumni chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi, and was recently elected to the position of polemarch, the equivalent of president. After taking over he's tried to reenergize the organization, which has drawn the praise of previously inactive members.

Ernest Hartzog joined the same fraternity in 1953, but had been inactive in the alumni chapter until Jackson came long.   The 80-year-old retired school administrator said he was impressed by Jackson's infectious drive, and reinvolved himself in the fraternity.

Salem-area Universities Support Community Focus on Service

By Jillian Daley, Statesman Journal

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The new year ushered in another season of giving, and about 30 people with Western Oregon University's Progressive Student Alliance marked that spirit by organizing a garbage cleanup effort Sunday along Highways 99W and 22.

President Clinton in 1994 declared Martin Luther King Jr. Day a national day of service — a day to help the community — and the Sunday cleanup was one of dozens of Mid-Valley events planned this week or last. This year, there will be more than 12,100 events nationwide, more than double last year, according to mlkday.gov. Polk County Democrats secretary and volunteer coordinator Beth Fleisher said there are more than 200 events planned in Oregon.

Sunday's effort along two state byways also is in keeping with the wisdom of President-elect Barack Obama, who will be inaugurated Tuesday, Fleisher said. "Obama has called on everyone in America to look at what we can do to improve the country," she said.

Progressive Student Alliance treasurer Alicia Davis thinks King would have approved of the day of service. "It's a way to get people to take pride in their community and bring the community together," Davis said.

A clothing drive for the Women's Crisis Service Shelter is planned for today. Clothing-drive organizer Gwen Grams said Obama also inspired the women's-shelter event — group members worked on his campaign. "It's just a bunch of Obama volunteers, and we're just trying to keep the energy going," Grams said. She wants to continue doing similar events throughout the year. "We don't want this to be a single-day thing," she said.

Willamette University, in partnership with many area nonprofits and community groups, has 10 events planned throughout the week, said Ben Clanton, a student and coordinator for the college's day of service events. The Willamette volunteers include faculty, students, staffers and alumni, Clanton said. Clanton said community members working together can unite the community, breaking down racial barriers — part of King's dream. "Having the day of service, we're working to keep that dream alive," he said.

Marylhurst University Honors Distinguished Alumni

Marylhurst Online.

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The Alumni Association of Marylhurst University announces three Portland-area residents as recipients of the 2008 Distinguished Alumni Awards.

Sister Rita Rose Vistica, class of 1956, was recognized with the award for Outstanding Service to Society for her distinguished career as a liberal arts professor. Career honors include the French government's Academic Palms, the Ambassador Award from the Portland French School and recognition from the State of Oregon Foreign Language Honor Roll for outstanding contributions to the teaching and study of foreign language.

Diana Hughes Stegner, class of 1960, received the award for Outstanding Service to Marylhurst for her strong support of the university since the early 1970s. She held leadership positions with the alumni association, most notably as past president of the board. She is an active volunteer with the university's annual phonathon, golf tournament and alumni mentor program.

The Distinguished Professional Award was presented to Judith Barrington, class of 1968, for her significant contributions to the world of literature as an internationally recognized writer and poet. She is the co-founder of The Flight of Mind Writing Workshops, the Director of the Soapstone Writing Retreat in Oregon and a faculty member in the University of Alaska Master's in Fine Arts program. She has led writing workshops and conferences throughout the United States and England.

Oregon Students Give Back During the Holidays

Lane Community College Students Get Creative to Fight Hunger

An annual fund raiser for Florence Food Share, which helps almost 600 families a month, proves to be a community favorite as locals shop bowls crafted by students and local artists.

The 13th annual Empty Bowls fund raiser was held recently and the forecast is that it is the biggest yet. Florence Food Share Executive Director Karen Lyn said that they only had 60 bowls left unsold of more than a 1,000. “It went very, very well,” said Lyn. “We definitely raised more than in the past.”

This year the Western Lane Community Foundation awarded a grant for the purchase of more than 3,000 pounds of clay. A workshop, called a “Bowl-In,” had Lane Community College pottery classes teamed with high school art students to create bowls stamped with a design by Vicki Sieber-Benson.

“This truly is a labor of love," said Empty Bowls Committee member, Cindy Wobbe.

There were several changes this year; most noticeable was a change in venue. [Yet] at times, even the Florence Events Center (FEC) appeared to be too small for this popular event. A long line formed inside the FEC lobby and stretched out the front doors as shoppers waited for their chance to buy a unique piece of art for a good cause.

Empty Bowls was started in Michigan in the early 1990s as a way for artists and art students to make a personal difference through their art. Since then, it has become an international fund raiser, raising millions of dollars to fight hunger worldwide.

“It’s a direct link. People relate to buying a bowl to help put food on someone’s table,” said Lyn.

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From Siuslaw News Online. Read the full article here.
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Southern Oregon University Softball Team Celebrates with Local Family

For the Southern Oregon University Softball team, it really is the season of sharing. The 20 college girls who make up the team take great care in selecting presents for a less fortunate Southern Oregon family.

"We started this tradition three years ago when Coach Fritts came, and each year we get assigned a Christmas family," says SOU Softball Senior Utility Player Joelle Riekeman. "The best part is knowing we're doing a good thing. We all plan ahead to save to be able to do this," says Riekeman. For some girls, that includes giving up their weekly Starbucks runs.

While the Raider softball team is gearing up for their regular season, the girls are never too busy to give back to the community they represent.

"Even though we're in college, we can definitely make a difference. Every little bit helps, even if it's just setting aside 10 or 15 dollars. When we combine it all, it makes for everyone else to have a really good Christmas, and I think people just need to realize there is a lot out there you can do," says Riekeman.

"We all know we have a lot of memories throughout our college experiences, but this is one we can go back and say we gave gifts to families in need, we had a feast and had a lot of fun decorating balls," says Fritts.

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From KDRV.com. Read the full article and view video here.
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Concordia Student and Portland Trail Blazer Martell Webster Offer Helping Hand to Motorist

It was icy in the West Hills, and the road was steep. Todd Patterson was driving to the store to buy firewood when he saw an elderly woman in a beat-up maroon sedan, wheels spinning, stuck on the hill.

Patterson, 29, is a student in the Concordia University master's degree program, and someday he wants to teach high school social studies to native Spanish-speaking students. But on Tuesday he just wanted to help. So he pulled his truck to the side of the road, skated to the rear bumper and started pushing along with another man who had stopped to help.

Of course, cars drove past. Lots of them. [But] what's the holiday season without a feel-good surprise?

A black luxury SUV coming down the hill slowed, then pulled to the side and stopped. Its windows were tinted. The driver door opened, and a man with a blue walking boot on his left foot stepped out and tip-toed across the ice to help.

It was Martell Webster.

The Blazers small forward will miss another month of play because of a stress fracture in his left foot. X-rays last week revealed the injury that has kept him out for all but a few minutes of the season isn't improving. So maybe he was acting against medical advice when he stopped to help move that car, but the grandmother who raised Webster with good values and a love for others would tell you he was just doing what he was taught.

"It was the way I was raised," Webster said. "If someone needs help, you stop and help them."

Webster got there, the car got going. The senior floored it, sped up the hill and disappeared over the crest. The other man helping walked off, too. But Patterson just stood there, looking at Webster, wondering how in the world one of the biggest Blazers fans in the city had come face to face on the hill with a player he loves to cheer for.

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From OregonLive.com. Read the full article here.
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Western Oregon University Wolves Help Local Food Bank

Western Oregon University and the Central Lion's Club partnered again in December to help needy families in the Monmouth and Independence area.

Local basketball fans benefitted as well. On Saturday, December 13, those attending Western Oregon women's and men's basketball games at the Physical Education Building can gained free admission with two cans of food or other non-perishable food items.

All food items were donated to the Ella Curran Food Bank, serving Monmouth and Independence.

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From WOUWolves.com. Read the full article here.
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