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RAPSU

%Senior Adult Learning Center/IOA

PO Box 751

Portland, OR 97207-0751

Phone: 503-725-4739

Fax: 503-725 5100

Email Webmaster: David Sessions


RAPSU NEWSLETTER

RETIRED ASSOCIATES OF PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY

An organization of seniors interested in lifelong learning, in cooperation with the Institute on Aging

Editorial and Production Dwight Wallace

May 2012 NEWSLETTER

PLEASE NOTE: BOARD AND MEMBERSHIP VENUES FOR 2012 HAVE BEEN CHANGED WATCH FOR DATE & VENUE CHANGES

THURSDAY, May 3, 2012 BOARD MEETING
10:30 AM Urban Center Room 410
All members are invited to attend the monthly Board meetings. They usually last 1 – 1 1/2 hours.

THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2012 1:00 PM 
Venue: Smith Hall Cascade Room 236
Dr. Gary S. Hartshorn: Will Tropical Forests Survive the 21st Century?

Tropical forests are a globally important natural resource due to their extraordinary biological diversity and the broad array of critical environmental services they provide.  Though the United Nations reports that tropical deforestation has slowed somewhat over the past decade, we are still losing about 13 million hectares (~32 million acres, about half the size of Oregon) each year!  Mostly in developing countries, tropical forests are under siege from land-use changes, logging, fire, poaching, mining and climate change, inter alia.  National systems of protected areas are improving; however, the vast expanses of unprotected tropical forests in many developing countries are unlikely to survive.  A quantum increase in the number, diversity and geography of sustainable tropical forestry initiatives is urgently needed.  Much stronger enforcement of laws, in conjunction with improved public awareness and education, are essential for these unprotected forests to have a reasonable chance to survive this century.

Dr. Hartshorn is President and Chief Executive Officer of the World Forestry Center (WFC) based in Portland, Oregon.  Prior to joining the WFC in October 2003, Dr. Hartshorn was for seven years the President and CEO of the Organization for Tropical Studies—a consortium of 65 universities based at Duke University.  He continues to be an adjunct professor of the practice of tropical ecology in Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment and holds an adjunct professorship in Oregon State University’s College of Forestry.  Hartshorn also served as Chief Scientist and a Vice President of the World Wildlife Fund US in Washington DC.  He and his family lived in Costa Rica for 20 years.  

Hartshorn has worked throughout the tropics in the fields of forest ecology, forest management, biodiversity conservation, and environmental assessment.  In recognition of his botanical collections, colleagues have named six new species of trees for Hartshorn.  He has given more than 200 invited speeches and served as a professor in over 50 courses; in 1996 he won the best teaching award for the Institute for Shipboard Education’s Semester at Sea.  He maintains long-term research interests in tropical forest dynamics, tree dominancediversity patterns, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable forest management.  Hartshorn is an author of 250 scientific publications and technical reports.   He published important papers on tropical tree demography and the role of gaps in tropical forest dynamics.  Using his research findings on gap dynamics and the regeneration of tropical trees, Hartshorn developed the innovative use of strip-cuts as a management model in species-rich tropical forests.  He is especially interested in the conservation and sustainable use of forests. 

Hartshorn serves on several boards of directors, including the Tropical Forest Foundation (currently honorary; former chairman and member of the executive committee), Institute of Current World Affairs (trustee and former fellow), Hoyt Arboretum, the Ravenholt Fund, Keep Oregon Green, and the World Forestry Center.  He serves on several scientific advisory committees (e.g., TechnoServe, University of Missouri St. Louis International Center for Tropical Ecology).  He was the U.S. Scientific Liaison Officer (1997-2003) to the Center for International Forestry Research, based in Bogor, Indonesia.  He was a three-time White House appointee (1991-2000) on the Joint Commission for the Environment (JCE) and elected chairman for two terms.  He was a Forest & Man Fellow of the Institute of Current World Affairs from 1978 to 1982.  Hartshorn was elected president of the Association for Tropical Biology (1989) and the American Institute of Biological Sciences (2003).  From 1981 to 1985 he served as president of the Tropical Science Center in San José, Costa Rica.  He received the 1993 Comenius Award as the outstanding alumnus of Moravian College.  Hartshorn holds a B.S. from Moravian College, an M.S. from North Carolina State University and the Ph.D. from the University of Washington.  

THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2012 1:00 PM 
Venue: Smith Hall Cascade Room 236
Professor Alex Zakaras: Too Much Self-Reliance? 

Dr. Zakaras will discuss Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay "Self-Reliance" as it pertains to today's society. He recommends that to prepare for this lecture you might wish to: 
1) Read Emerson's "Self-Reliance" http://tinyurl.com/SelfRelianceByEmerson
2) Read an essay by Benjamin Anastas in the NY Times http://tinyurl.com/NYTimesEmersonAnastas
3) Listen to the program: http://tinyurl.com/OnPointEmerson. 
 

Professor Zakaras is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Vermont. He is visiting PSU this year, with a joint appointment in the Political Science Department and the Institute for Sustainable Solutions. He specializes in political philosophy and the history of political thought. His interests include the philosophy of democracy and democratic citizenship, the ideal of autonomy and its place in the liberal tradition, and the political thought of the nineteenth century.
 
Professor Zakaras received his B.A. from Harvard University and his Ph.D. from Princeton University. His book, Individuality and Mass Democracy: Mill, Emerson, and the Burdens of Citizenship, was published by Oxford University Press in 2009. His is also co-editor of J.S. Mill's Political Thought: A Bicentennial Reassessment, published by Cambridge University Press in 2007.

Election of Officers for 2012/13
The election will take place at the May 10th General Membership Meeting.  
The Nominating Committee has chosen: President-elect, Laurie Knightly; Treasurer, Terry Hewitt; Secretary, Trudi Hewitt.  Nominations from the floor will be accepted. 

Spring Luncheon 
Thursday, June 7, 2012 12 noon to 2:00 pm, 
Room 238 Smith Memorial Union 
Build Your Own Sandwich Luncheon: cost $10.00 for members, $12 for guests. 
Mail to Mary Lamb, Attn: RAPSU, 0320 SW Montgomery St #426, Portland, OR 97201-4151.  
The deadline to mail your check is May 23. 

In Memoriam; RAPSU member Jack Hopper, Dec. 21, 1939 to April 01, 2012.
The Hopper family's very special husband, father and grandfather passed away 18 months after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Jack and Laura spent many years together following their dreams - which very often led to water. Always, Jack's favorite place to be was with family. A continuing celebration of Jack's life will be felt by many. To honor Jack, he requests that you do something special for someone you love. 




If you have items for the newsletter please contact David Sessions at:


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What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.

—Bertrand Russell, "Skeptical Essays", 1928


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