Fall 2020 Inbox

Editor’s note: In response to the Spring 2020 cover story, “1970: The Year that Shaped PSU,” the magazine received more letters than we had room to print. To read them, see “One Year in PSU’s History, Many Different Points of View.”

HONORING ALL HONORS’ FOUNDERS

I was very pleased to see the article [“50 Years of Honors”]. However, there is one glaring omission. There is no mention of Professor James Hart, English faculty and one of the founders of the program who served as director between Professor Bierman and myself. He acquired the first major National Endowment for the Humanities grant for curricular development and was one of the most outstanding faculty members at PSU.

—Michael Reardon, provost emeritus

VIVID MEMORIES OF ERUPTION

I was on a PSU geology field trip with three or four professors of geology when Mount St. Helens erupted. We were in the John Day Fossil Beds. We had two buses and a state pickup truck. I had just returned to the bus when students started shouting and saying that they’d heard St. Helens erupt. The very excited geology professors ran to the pickup truck. They all squeezed in and headed west in a cloud of dust, leaving us students with the bus drivers. We all understood. It was the opportunity of a lifetime for them. The drivers took us north, then along the Columbia River Gorge. The entire time the enormous eruption was visible and although it was certainly roiling and moving it looked nearly still and stable due to its huge size. Luckily, I had a window seat on the right-hand side of the bus.

—Mike Little MS ’82

Cheerful Tortoise sign — After we shared the story “Campus Trend: Little Cow Pigeon” on social media, LCP’s fans—including the proprietors of the Cheerful Tortoise— began a search to find the wayward bird. At the end of June, the first sighting in seven months was posted to Little Cow Pigeon’s Instagram (@littlecowpigeon). As one commenter put it: “Finally some good news in 2020!”

Read the virtual print edition of the Spring 2020 Portland State Magazine or download a PDF.

THE DIFFERENCE ONE INSTRUCTOR CAN MAKE

I had already flunked out of college in California, attended night school in my hometown in Oregon, and attended a community college in Washington for two quarters before entering PSC the fall of 1963. I was struggling to find a major and my friend thought geology would be a good one, so I enrolled. Miriam “Mim” McKee was the lab instructor. She was incredibly unpretentious, enthusiastic, and treated students as adults. She was 45 and “only” had a bachelor’s degree at that time but was an outstanding instructor. I was hooked and declared geology as my major. She became my adviser and strong supporter throughout my undergraduate years. She was proud that two of her advisees during that era went on to earn doctorates in geology, the second and third graduates of the department to have done so. Without Miriam McKee’s early influence it is doubtful I would have enjoyed the long career in geology that I have had.

—Martin Ross ’69, professor emeritus, Northeastern University

Editor’s note: The John and Miriam McKee Endowment provides financial support for senior geology students. Learn more and make a gift at giving.psuf.org/mckeeendowment.

CORRECTION

The walking tour of 1970 student strike landmarks mentioned in the article “1970” was created by undergraduates in the 2015 course, Activism and the Archives. For more information about the project and resources available for research, contact University Archives.

We want to hear from you! Send your letters and comments by email to psumag@pdx.edu or by mail to Portland State Magazine, University Communications, P.O. Box 751, Portland OR 97207-0751. We reserve the right to determine the suitability of letters for publication and to edit them for clarity, accuracy and length.