UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

05-27-2013

New “University Report” Tool

UPrept-1A new online portal designed for faculty use in recording their scholarly activity was launched on Monday, May 20, according to John Orr, assistant to the provost. The goal of the tool is to provide members of the University community with one site that can be used to record and save their scholarly activity during the year. The data captured there will be used to populate the new and improved Provost’s University of Portland Report, which will now be published at the beginning of the fall semester.

Faculty should start loading scholarly activity for the past academic year as soon as possible in order to see their information appear in the fall report. Data will be sent to the marketing and communications office on Saturday, June 15, so please load materials before then.

Faculty members will find their personal, secure access to the portal on PilotsUP (https://pilots.up.edu) under the “Academic” tab. Hover over the Academic tab with your mouse and then click on “Scholarly Activity.” Instructions on how to use the portal appear in the left side bar. For assistance contact Orr at orr@up.edu or 7857, or Michele Leasor at leasor@up.edu or 7857.

TIAA-CREF Counseling Sessions

University employees have a new TIAA CREF investment counselor, Yasemin Under, and there will be an increased number of dates and times for individual financial counseling sessions on campus. The summer 2013 dates will be Tuesday, June 4, Wednesday, June 5, and Thursday, June 6. To see available times and sign up, go to the HR website (http://www.up.edu/hr/) or go to www.tiaa-cref.org/ScheduleNow, or call TIAA CREF at 866-928-4221 (press 0) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Appointment times are going quickly. Be sure to sign-up today. For more information contact Andy Sherwood, human resources, at 8981 or sherwood@up.edu.

“Die Fledermaus” Set To Open

Mock's Crest Die Fledermaus @ University of Portland. Summer 201The University of Portland will host Johann Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus,” produced by Mock’s Crest Productions, a summer professional theater company supported by the University. Performances will take place on June 7-9, 14-16, 20-23, and 27-30 in Mago Hunt Center Theater. All performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. except for Sunday matinees, which begin at 2 p.m. Theater fans are invited to join Mock’s Crest for an evening of white lies, mistaken identities, and revenge set in the roaring 20s of New York City.

Tickets are available through the Hunt Center box office at 7287 or magohuntboxoffice@up.edu. Adult tickets are $30; seniors, students, and groups of 10 or more are $25. Dinners are available starting 90 minutes before evening shows for $14.50 and include farm fresh green salad, local vegetables, grilled chicken breast, fingerling potatoes, and a dessert station with fresh berries. Brunch is served 90 minutes before Sunday matinees for $13.50 and includes local vegetable frittata, ham and smoked salmon, fingerling potatoes, fresh fruit, and pastries. Company members will be in attendance to provide introductory remarks at the dinners and brunches.

Nationally recognized Kristine McIntyre, formerly of the Metropolitan Opera in New York as well as opera companies in Kentucky, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, and Portland Opera, will direct. McIntyre also directed “The Mikado” at the University of Portland in 2010 and 2002. Resident UP faculty member Larry Larsen designed the sets and lighting and Darrin Pufall designed the costumes. Returning cast members include Catherine Olsen and Brian Tierney, both last seen in the 2011 Mock’s Crest production of “The Yeoman of the Guard,” and Stacey Murdock, who was in the 2009 production of “A Little Night Music.”

Mock’s Crest Productions theater company was created in 1990 to produce high quality comic opera, employing some of the Pacific Northwest’s finest actors, singers, directors, and designers. It was founded to enhance the cultural fabric of the North Portland community and to perpetuate the University’s long tradition of support for the arts.

For more information contact the performing and arts department at 503-943-7228 or pfa@up.edu.

Howard Vollum’s 100th Birthday

vollum_howard_1The Donald P. Shiley School of Engineering will celebrate the 100th birthday of Charles Howard Vollum, co-founder of Tektronix, on Friday, May 31, from 3 to 5 p.m., in Shiley Hall, according to Aziz Inan, engineering. The celebration will include an invocation by Rev. David Sherrer, C.S.C., welcoming remarks by engineering dean Sharon Jones followed by presentations by former and current Tektronix employees and Vollum’s sons, Don and James Vollum, and the unveiling of an extremely rare, vintage Tektronix 511 oscilloscope found recently in storage in Shiley Hall. All faculty and staff are invited; please RSVP to Jamie Strohecker, engineering, at 7292 or stroheck@up.edu by Tuesday, May 28.

Charles Howard Vollum was born in Portland, Oregon, on May 31, 1913 and died on February 5, 1986, at age 72. He enrolled at the University of Portland (then named Columbia University) in 1931 and completed a two-year program in engineering in 1933. He then transferred to Reed College where he majored in physics, graduating in 1936. Following his graduation, in the midst of the Great Depression, Vollum worked as a radio technician before he was inducted into U.S. Army in 1941. Vollum’s wartime experience gave him the opportunity to study state-of-the-art technology on Cathode-Ray-Tube (CRT) displays and to collaborate with other experts in this field.

In 1946, Vollum co-founded a company to design, manufacture, and market laboratory oscilloscopes. The company was first named Tekrad, but then a month later changed its name to Tektronix (drawn from “technology” and “electronics”), due to a trademark conflict. Tektronix built its first high-performance, low-cost oscilloscope, the 511, using electronic parts purchased from government surplus. When released in 1947, the 511 was superior to any oscilloscope on the market. Over a period of forty years, Tektronix turned into a $1.5 billion-per-year, 20,000 plus employee electronics company. Tektronix engineers built many different types of electronic test and measurement instruments as well as other products such as television monitors and computers. By many, Vollum is considered to be the “father” of Oregon’s electronics industry (Silicon Forest). He was a major donor and contributor to the University of Portland and served on its board of trustees from 1955 until his death in 1986. The Vollum Study Room, located in the Donald P. Shiley School of Engineering, is named in his honor.

Chapel Closure Through June 7

baptismal_font_at_the_university_of_portlandThe Chapel of Christ the Teacher will be undergoing renovations to the floor and sanctuary and will be closed from Monday, May 6 through Friday, June 7, according to Theresa McCreary, campus ministry. Sunday 10:30 a.m. Masses and weekday 12:05 p.m. Masses will be celebrated in the Moreau Chapel in Christie Hall during this time. In addition, the parking lot behind the Chapel of Christ the Teacher will be closed to all non-construction traffic throughout the project. Construction questions may be directed to André Hutchinson, physical plant, at 7306 or hutchina@up.edu. For information about Masses contact campus ministry at 7131 or mccreary@up.edu.

Rowers Finish Third In WCC

NCAA Rowing: WCC ChampionshipsThe Pilots rowing team wrapped up their season at Lake Natoma, California, competing in the 2013 West Coast Conference Championships over the weekend of May 18-19. The team, who are in just their second season competing as a NCAA Division I program, finished behind only conference champion Gonzaga and runner-up San Diego. For more information contact athletics at 7117 or go to www.portlandpilots.com.

Fiesta Fun For Faculty, Staff

reunion2012Faculty and staff members are encouraged to join the hundreds of alumni who return to campus to participate in the annual Alumni Reunion. Special faculty and staff RSVP cards are being sent via campus mail, and those who would like to attend are asked to fill out the card and return it to the alumni office by Friday, June 21.Reunion will take place on campus June 27-30.

Reunion is the largest alumni event of the year, annually drawing over a thousand alumni, faculty, staff, and friends to campus for a weekend of reconnection and reminiscing. This year, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the School of Education, as well as the milestone classes of 1963 and 1988. With more than 40 events spread over four days, there are a wide range of activities for everyone. The School of Education 50th Anniversary Gala dinner kicks off the weekend’s festivities on Thursday night, followed by Friday’s National Alumni Board Golf Tournament, a bus tour along the Hood River Fruit Loop, the Purple Flamingo Happy Hour reception, and the Late Night Talent Pub. Saturday features the Old Stomping Grounds 5K run, the 50 Year Club Mass and Lunch, a Men’s Basketball Alumni game, Saturday Academy classes for school-age kids, a bike tour of North Portland, a story session with Brian Doyle, receptions for the classes observing quinquennial anniversaries, and the signature event of the weekend, the Fiesta Forever Dinner and Dance. The weekend concludes on Sunday with the All-Alumni Mass and Brunch. For more information contact the alumni office at 7328 or alumni@up.edu.

Student Ensembles At Your Service

ensembleThe performing and fine arts department has a number of student performers who are ready to provide music for campus events during the school year, according to Michael Connolly, performing and fine arts. Ensembles include quartets of strings, saxophones, brass, woodwinds, and flutes; a jazz combo; solo pianists; and vocal ensembles. There is also a student-led a cappella group named Call Our Bluff. The ensembles can serve in a variety of situations, including background music for social events or featured performances, such as after a dinner. Intersted parties can contact Connolly or any music faculty member for more information. Connolly can be reached at 7297 or connolly@up.edu.

From Our Past

Fr DumMay 26, 1994 marks the death of Rev. George L. Dum, C.S.C., at Holy Cross House, Notre Dame, Indiana, at age 87. Fr. Dum came to the University in 1934 and for more than fifty years he was an important figure in campus life. Although he was assigned to teach philosophy, music was an avocation that nearly became a profession. He conducted the men’s glee club, and, after the nursing school at St. Vincent Hospital became a part of the University, he conducted a chorus of women students as well. His musical compositions included an early version of the alma mater as well as the University’s fight song. He conducted other musical groups in the city and became well known in Portland’s music community. He was for many years a nearly legendary rector of Christie Hall. In 1989 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University that noted that his “love of singing and cabinet making were combined in a life that left time for daily trips to Blanchet House with food left over from the Commons for the homeless and hungry poor.” A deep-voiced, barrel-chested man, Fr. Dum also became somewhat of a legend for his ability to easily consume the 72-ounce steak meal offered for free by Sayler’s Country Kitchen restaurant to anyone who can do so in under one hour, a feat he performed so handily he was politely disqualified from further attempts.

For more history from this week see the University Almanac at www.up.edu/almanac.