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Raps Sheet, January 2010, Retirement Association Of Portland State

RAPS Sheet: Monthly Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Portland State Magazine, Portland State University. Office Of University Communications

Portland State Magazine

PSU’s alumni magazine, published 2-3 times a year. In this issue: Tito Capobianco, internationally renowned state director, returns for the fifth time to direct opera students; Middle East Studies graduate Peter Bechtold '61 brings his expertise back to Portland State; every year senior students work with hundreds of partners to solve—not just to study—community need; and more.

Gaining Ground: Wetlands, Hurricanes, And The Economy: The Value Of Restoring The Mississippi River Delta, David Batker, Isabel De Torre, Robert Costanza, Paula Swedeen, John W. Day, Roelof Boumans, Kenneth Bagstad

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

This report shows conclusively that physical sustainability and delta expansion secures vast economic benefits locally and nationally. Within the context of the current financial crisis, investment in restoration secures short-term benefits of employment, income generation, greater ecosystem services and other economic benefits, and the long term goals of increased storm protection, greater oil and gas supply reliability and other economic benefits. A sustainable restoration of the Mississippi River Delta is a good investment with a high rate of return. Gaining ground is the most successful economic strategy for securing hurricane defenses and economic development.

Climate Change And Freshwater Resources In Oregon, Heejun Chang, Julie Jones

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Climate change will affect various sectors of water resources in Oregon in the 21st century. The observed trends in streamflow show significant declines in September flow and, although not significant, increases in March flow in many transient rain-snow basins. These streamflow trends are associated with rising temperature and coincident declines in snowpack in spring in the latter half of the 20th century. While there are no distinct trends in high precipitation events, such events are associated with climate variability such as ENSO and PDO. Effects of ENSO and PDO are more pronounced at the beginning and end of the wet …

Growing Zenger Farm, Turhan Sonmez, Elizabeth Milner, Stacey Glenewinkel, Kate Carone

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Zenger Farm is a working urban farm in outer southeast Portland, Oregon, that promotes sustainable food systems, environmental stewardship and local economic development. Currently operating on 6 acres of farmland and 10 acres of wetland, the farm has an opportunity to expand onto 4 additional acres of adjacent land, and has asked Ecotone to help maximize the potential of that expansion. Growing Zenger Farm is a unique opportunity to learn how urban agriculture can best address the needs of communities. Food security, community development, education, economic development and environmental stewardship are components of Zenger's stated mission and goals and are …

Harvesting Opportunity: A Strategic Vision For Farmworker Housing And Microenterprise In Washington County, Nadine Appenbrink, Raihana Ansary, Elizabeth Decker, Kate Mcquillan, Karla Nelson, Emily Picha

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Farmworkers in Washington County face stagnant incomes, limited opportunities and a shortage of affordable, quality housing. In this six month workshop project, Tierra Planning explored the connection between quality affordable housing and economic development opportunities for farmworkers in Washington County. We worked with stakeholders, regulators, landowners and farmworkers to identify barriers, opportunities and alternatives. Our final product was a "strategic vision" that included both general recommendations and recommendations specific to Washington County based on extensive research, outreach, and alternatives analysis. Our hope is that our work will spark discourse among local farmers, housing developers, and policy makers in the Portland …

Gateway Ecodistrict Pilot Study, Michael Budds, Erin Reome, Dan Schauer, Aaron Wilson

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Gateway EcoDistrict Pilot Study used site conditions, community priorities, and plans for future growth and development to recommend catalyst projects. The study’s objectives included raising awareness about the EcoDistrict concept, mapping physical and social assets conducive to an EcoDistrict, and identifying organizations interested in management of the pilot EcoDistrict. An assessment of opportunities and constraints to establishing an EcoDistrict in Gateway served as a corollary part of the study. This project was conducted under the supervision of Sumner Sharpe and Ellen Bassett.

Oak Grove Neighborhood Center Plan, Adam Bartini, Åsa Bergman, Alicia Crain, Carley Francis, Kathryn Mcgovern, Nathan Mcneil

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Foothill Planning worked with the Oak Lodge Community Council and Clackamas County Urban Green to create an Oak Grove Neighborhood Center Plan. The plan sought to foster a more livable and sustainable community by strengthening the Oak Grove historic business district and improving its connections with the planned Park Avenue MAX station via two transportation corridors, McLoughlin Boulevard and the Trolley Trail. The project articulated ways that these corridors can serve as gateways into the Oak Grove neighborhood and help to revitalize the community. Cognizant of neighborhood concerns regarding previous planning process, the project relied on community input to shape …

Willamette Park Assessment And Recommendations, Julia Babcock, Bernadette Le, Maren Murphy, Amy Rossa

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The vision of the project was to prioritize park improvements that balance the long-term sustainability and viability of the park with growing user demands. As a hybrid park, Willamette Park has a unique set of challenges related to its operations and management, as it is managed for both recreation and natural areas. The final report documents the process QPG undertook to explore opportunities and constraints in Willamette Park, and provides recommendations to guide the future planning of the park.

This project was conducted under the supervision of Sumner Sharpe and Ellen Bassett.

“Why Are Those Leaves Red?” Making Sense Of The Complex Symbols: Ecosemiotics In Education, Creeping Snowberry, Sean Blenkinsop, Veronica Hotton

University Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Deciphering complex signals of constructed educational systems requires symbolic interpretation; deciphering complex signals that are inherently ignorant of their ecological roots requires a modification of a semiotic approach, which we call ecosemiotics. This paper examines one of many average classrooms through this veil of perception. As part of a larger reevaluation of learning in modern culture, we take apart some of the symbols of the classroom and its contained learning. The paper ends with the positing of several more ecosophically inclined teacher responses.

Decision-Making In Secondary And Tertiary Interventions Of School-Wide Systems Of Positive Behavior Support, Terrance M. Scott, Peter J. Alter, Michael Rosenberg, Christopher Borgmeier

Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although the conceptual foundations of PBS at the universal level have been widely described and presented in the literature, secondary and tertiary interventions have been presented through very limited examples. This paper defines the key features of secondary and tertiary interventions and presents a decision-making process to guide schools through a continuum of strategies at these levels. The continuum is described in terms of a recursive loop, repetitively asking four questions: what is predictable about student failure, what is the simplest effective intervention, how can consistent implementation be achieved, and is it working? With each pass through this set of …

Deaf-Blind Young Adults In Action: Legislative Advocacy And Leadership, Amy T. Parker, Susan M. Bruce, Elizabeth Spiers, Suzanne V. Ressa, Roseanna C. Davidson

Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

In June 2009, six young adults who are deaf-blind traveled to Washington, D.C. for a one-week course on leadership and advocacy. The young adults were briefed on four legislative topics in deaf-blindness: the need for Support Service Providers (SSPs); increased support for the state technical assistance projects; inclusion in the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009; and increased support for the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults (HKNC). Each young adult selected one or two of the legislative topics as the focus of advocacy during Congressional visits. The participants further refined their communication, self-determination, …

Institutional Grey Literature In The University Environment, Gretta E. Siegel

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

Historically, attention to grey literature in the academic library was focused on external collections – documents produced by government agencies or research centers. Little, if any, systematic attention was paid to the grey literature that was produced on university campuses. The advent of the Web, while bringing more interest to grey literature in general did not change this situation much. However, the trend toward the creation of institutional repositories has caused a considerable shift in interest. The formalization of collecting, processing, and integrating academic institutional grey literature should be critical to the mission of the University, regardless of format, and …

Portland State Library Newsletter; Winter 2010, Portland State University Library

Library Newsletters

In this issue: Making the Right Connections...; Navigating the Library; Exhibits & Events; Library’s Map Collection; Publications from the Library; and Donor Honor Roll

Brew To Bikes: Portland's Artisan Economy, Charles H. Heying

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Brew to Bikes: Portland's Artisan Economy explains how post-industrial economic transformations have created a space for artisan enterprises to flourish. Dissatisfied with passive consumption, many residents of Portland, OR take matters into their own hands. Associate Professor of Urban Studies Charles Heying noticed these local artisans prospering all over the city and set out to study their thriving economy. Profiling hundreds of local businesses, and with an eye on Portland's unique penchant for sustainability and urban development, Brew to Bikes is about everything from bike manufacturers to microbreweries, from do-it-yourself to traditional crafts. A treatise to local, ethical business practices, …

Coherence In Stories Told By Adults With Aphasia, Heather Harris Wright, Anthony Koutsoftas, Gerasimos Fergadiotis, Gilson Capilouto

Speech and Hearing Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Discourse coherence is the conceptual organization of discourse and it can be subdivided into two types: global and local. Of interest for the current study is global coherence; that is, how the discourse relates to the overall topic (Glosser & Deser, 1990). Coherence has been measured in persons with aphasia (PWA) using different elicitation tasks (e.g., recounts, story retelling, event-casts) and different scoring methods (ie., rating scales, coherence, violations, total counts) and results have varied across studies (Christianson, 1995; Coelho & Flewellyn, 2003; Glosser & Deser, 1990; Ulatowska, et al., 2004). These differences may reflect differences in how coherence is …

The Multicultural Family Learning Gardens At The Learning Gardens Laboratory: An Investigation Of Community Collaboration, Madelyn Mickelberry Morris

Leadership for Sustainability Education Comprehensive Papers

This project explores the role of the small-scale polyculture garden in promoting a resilient community, its importance in helping meet nutritional and medicinal needs, and its role as a site for civic and place-based transformative development. The pedagogical principles of sustainability education address the importance of ecological systems, biocultural diversity, social & economic justice, and multicultural perspectives. Framing the garden as a sustainable solution, I will address the need for vibrant local food networks, particularly in low-income areas; social, ecological, and community resilience; opportunities for ecological education; and increased meaningful opportunities for civic engagement. Using a conceptual framework of the …

What’S Missing In Theories Of The Residential Energy User, Mithra Moezzi, Loren Lutzenhiser

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

Residential energy use has been envisioned in varied ways, each highlighting different factors and capturing a partial truth. This paper outlines assumptions of core theories about household energy use. It gives an abbreviated list of major empirical findings framed by these theories. It then identifies a new set of "blind spots" created by overly-simple reliance on models and by data shortcomings that in combination may block development of a more sophisticated understanding of energy use. Policies and program strategies, in turn, can become oriented toward simplistic approaches to change. We point to the need for improved interpretation and elaboration of …

A Community Of Scholars Educating For Political Engagement, David M. Donahue, Christine M. Cress

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

California Campus Compact (CACC) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching first conceived the Service Learning for Political Engagement Faculty Fellows Program in the autumn of 2006. The idea was to bring together a diverse group of faculty, eventually 23, from across California representing disciplines from engineering and English to agriculture and Asian American studies, from small and large colleges, as well as public, private, and faith-based institutions. These faculty, starting in the summer of 2007, would participate in a two-year effort to define political engagement, explore what their definitions meant for planning service learning projects, and assess …

A Transnational Comparison Of Leadership Development: Pedagogical Implications, Christine M. Cress, Miki Yamashita, Rebecca Duarte, Heather Burns

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose – This investigation sought to identify learning outcomes for undergraduate students at a US college enrolled in community-based learning courses. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to examine the similarities and differences between American students' and international students' development of leadership skills through senior level service-learning (SL) courses and analyzed the role of teaching methods on those outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – Over 150 SL courses from students representing 30 countries were examined at a major university in the USA. US and non-US student leadership and learning outcomes were cross-tabulated with instructional techniques to analyze for statistically significant differences. Findings …

Learning In A Reggio-Inspired Reuse Center, Lauren Lantz-Helm, William A. Parnell

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

What would children's learning look like in the Child Development Center's Re-Use Center if teachers, parents, and children could collaborate around the learning? This action research collaboration between a professor and a graduate student/teacher, examines the process the graduate student/teacher goes through as she documents the re-use center narratives of a small group of young children. A re-use center is likened to Reggio Emilia, Italy's Remida Center as a repository for found, rescued and repurposed materials. This center finds new meanings for discarded items destined for landfills and incinerators. The findings reveal stories of language, literacy and social development as …

A Mindfulness To Transcend Pre-Service Lip-Service A Call For K-12 Schools To Invest In Social Justice Education, Olivia Jo Murray

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

In her book, "Other People's Children," Lisa Delpit (1995) criticizes the deficits of teacher education programs that avoid and repress the multicultural voices found in American classrooms today. This author supports Delpit's argument to reform teacher preparation programs, but for the purpose of this article she will explore the responsibility of individual schools that presently ignore and deny the multicultural facets of a typically diverse classroom. In doing so, the author plans to expose three main features of promoting social justice that she suggests individual schools be held accountable for in order to move toward the full inclusion of all …

Oregon's Fish And Wildlife In A Changing Climate, Mark A. Hixon, Stanley V. Gregory, W. Douglas Robinson, C. Scott Baker, Harold P. Batchelder, Clinton Epps, Tiffany S. Garcia, Susan M. Haig, Ricardo M. Letelier, David A. Lytle, Bruce A. Menge, Jeffery C. Miller, David L.G. Noakes, William T. Peterson, James M. Rice, Steven S. Rumrill, Carl B. Schreck, Robert M. Suryan, Mark D. Sytsma, Angelicque E. White

Center for Lakes and Reservoirs Publications and Presentations

Chapter 7 in: The Oregon Climate Change Assessment Report

Oregon's fish and wildlife include animals on land, fish and other species in rivers and lakes, and various kinds of sea life in estuaries and coastal ocean. Oregon is one of the most ecologically diverse states in the country. The state’s robust biodiversity, some of which is already threatened or endangered -- inhabits complex and dynamic ecosystems that we have only begun to understand, let alone examine in terms of climate change.It is clear that the abundance and distribution of species are shifting already and will shift more rapidly as habitats …

Clackamas County Alternate Work Week Pilot Project, Masami Nishishiba, Jana Bitton, Dennis Kurtz, Charlene Zil

Center for Public Service Publications and Reports

In November 2008, Clackamas County, Oregon began a one-year pilot program: switching employees to an alternate four-day work week, with 10-hour workdays (typically 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday). About 828 of Clackamas County's 1,800 employees were affected by the program, which does not extend to emergency service providers.

This report summarizes the evaluation of Clackamas County’s alternate work week pilot project based on the data collected between November 2008 and July 2009.

Va Healthcare Costs Of A Collaborative Intervention For Chronic Pain In Primary Care, Kathryn C. Dickinson, Rajiv Sharma, Jonathan P. Duckart, Kathryn Corson, Martha S. Gerrity, Steven K. Dobscha

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Chronic pain is costly to individuals and the healthcare system, and is often undertreated. Collaborative care models show promise for improving treatment of patients with chronic pain. The objectives of this article are to report the incremental benefit and incremental health services costs of a collaborative intervention for chronic pain from a veterans affairs (VA) healthcare perspective.

Methods: Data on VA treatment costs incurred by participants were obtained from the VA's Decision Support System for all utilization except certain intervention activities which were tracked in a separate database. Outcome data were from a cluster-randomized trial of a …

Roadway Not Improved: Exploring Temporary Uses And Community-Based Alternatives For Unimproved Streets, Leah Hyman, Al Klein, Rani Boyle, Katie Lynd, Emily Lieb

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

The Woodstock neighborhood of SE Portland is home to a high concentration of unimproved streets. Through conversations with the Woodstock Neighborhood Association and representatives at City of Portland agencies, LARKE Planning identified a disconnect between City street policies and residents' desires and concerns surrounding unimproved streets. Through Roadway Not Improved, LARKE is exploring temporary uses and community-based alternatives that will provide more flexibility to respond to the variations that exist among streets' physical characteristics and residents' visions for how these streets can or should contribute to neighborhood character and livability. Although the project focuses specifically on the Woodstock neighborhood, LARKE …

Reshaping The Planning Agenda, Heidi Guenin, Bob Kellett, Vivian Siu, Lindsay Walker, Jenny Weinstein

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

Housing Land Advocates and AARP Oregon have identified that the participation of older adults in the planning process in Clackamas County is not leading to outcomes that address their needs. One potential barrier to advocacy is older adults' lack of understanding of the planning process. A better informed population of older adults will lead to more effective participation in planning processes and an increased ability to advocate for their needs. Another potential barrier may be the way in which planners engage older adults in planning. Through better engagement strategies there will be better outcomes. This project was conducted under the …

Local Food And Land-Use In Washington County, Oregon, Joshua James Cousins

Dissertations and Theses

Local food networks are often defined as presenting a variety of alternative food production, consumption, and distribution practices to the conventional food system such as community-supported-agriculture, farmers markets, and community gardens. Local food initiatives are commonly proposed as a model for the future of sustainable agriculture, and in the region of Portland, Oregon the abundance of such alternative venues results from the area's natural surroundings and smart planning. The region is host to 39 farmers markets and Portland is often hailed as one of the country's most sustainable cities. This study examines the role of local food networks in preserving …

Comparison Of In Situ And Columnar Aerosol Spectral Measurements During Texaqs-Gomaccs 2006: Testing Parameterizations For Estimating Aerosol Fine Mode Properties, Dean B. Atkinson, Paola Massoli, Norman T. O'Neill, Patricia K. Quinn, Sarah D. Brooks, Barry Lefer

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

During the 2006 Texas Air Quality Study and Gulf of Mexico Atmospheric Composition and Climate Study (TexAQS-GoMACCS 2006), the optical, chemical and microphysical properties of atmospheric aerosols were measured on multiple mobile platforms and at ground based stations. In situ measurements of the aerosol light extinction coefficient (σep) were performed by two multi-wavelength cavity ring-down (CRD) instruments, one located on board the NOAA R/V Ronald H. Brown (RHB) and the other located at the University of Houston, Moody Tower (UHMT). An AERONET sunphotometer was also located at the UHMT to measure the columnar aerosol optical depth (AOD). The σep data …

Climate And More Sustainable Cities: Climate Information For Improved Planning And Management Of Cities (Producers/Capabilities Perspective), C.S.B. Grimmond, Matthias Roth, Tim R. Oke, Y. C. Au, M. Best, R. Betts, Gregory R. Carmichael, Helen Cleugh, Walter F. Dabberdt, Rohinton Emmanuel, E. Freitas, K. Fortuniak, Steven Hanna, Petra M. Klein, Laurence S. Kalkstein, C. H. Liu, Alex Nickson, David Pearlmutter, David J. Sailor, James Voogt

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the last two decades substantial advances have been made in the understanding of the scientific basis of urban climates. These are reviewed here with attention to sustainability of cities, applications that use climate information, and scientific understanding in relation to measurements and modelling. Consideration is given from street (micro) scale to neighbourhood (local) to city and region (meso) scale. Those areas where improvements are needed in the next decade to ensure more sustainable cities are identified. High-priority recommendations are made in the following six strategic areas: observations, data, understanding, modelling, tools and education. These include the need for more …