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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 22, 1970)
PO RTL AN DXC) BSE R VE R O ct. 22, 1970 EDUCATIONAL CENTER GROWING—BUT DIFFERENTLY general equivalency diploma«. We t r y to o ile r a n y th in g th a t |K*ople can use q u ic k ly , subject« w hich are to the point to r them and w ith w hich the y can id e n tify in th e ir jobs and everyday living . O ur program is geared to the people, not to co m puters. T o be geared to th e ir need« and w hat they w a n t o u t o f it — I guess this is the basic purpose o f the Center. We have e x a ctly three paid s ta ff mem bers — m yself, an assistant and a secretary. O th e r staff consists o f the b e a u tifu l vo lu n te e r in s tru c to rs fro m the m ain campus and a lot o f o u ts ta n d in g young students who give th e ir tim e to people a t the E d u ca tio n a l Center. Some o f the stud e nts here have an overload in studies, some d o n 't have jo lw and need them , b u t they are s till here giving th e ir tim e to the E d u ca tio n a l C enter. T h e y are people concerned about the whole c o m m u n ity , concerned about th e ir u n iv e rs ity . T h e y are s tu dents n ot necessarily interested in b lo ckading the P ark Blocks. T h e y are giving th e ir tim e to th is u n iv e rs ity and they are n ot given any c re d it fo r it. H a rve y Rice, a student in business a d m in istra tio n and urb an studies, has been appointed assis ta n t d ire c to r o f the P o rtla n d S ta te U niversity E d u c a tio n a l Center. A 1955 graduate o f Benson H igh School, Ric< has studied co m p ute r program m ing, accou n ting business m a n a g e m e n t a nd u rb a n p ro b le m s ai E le c tr o n ic C o m p u te r P ro g ra m m in g I n s t it u t e P acific Academ y o f A ccou n tan cy, P o rtla n d Com m u n ity College and P o rtla n d S tate U n iv e rs ity . (R eprinted by p erm issio n P e rsp e c tiv e .) of P ortland State (Editors Note: The Portland State University Educational Center uas established in 1968 in a one-time furniture store at 2611 N.E. Union Ave nue. Director Harold Williams has seen the stu dent body of the “Storefront Campus;’ as it is sometimes called, prow from 15 to nearly 600. We asked Williams to report on the propress of the Center which is run by three paid staff members and a host of volunteer instructors, both students and faculty members from the main PSU campus His report follows.) We d id n ’t s ta rt in the norm a l way most in s titu tio n s do, by b u ild in g a b u ild in g and then have some people o f a ll kinds come and be to ld , “ W e’ll redeem y o u r souls.” We did it a lit t le d iffe re n tly . We w ent o u t in to the c o m m u n ity and asked people th e ir ideas. We went to the barber shop, the pool halls, the churches — you name it — and we got them involved w ith the Center. The people gave us the ideas and we ju s t sim p ly executed them . T he purpose o f the C e n te r was to establish so m e th in g re la tiv e to b oth th e U n iv e rs ity and the c o m m u n ity and to become som ething w ith w hich th e c o m m u n ity could id e n tify . O ur hope was th a t the U n iv e rs ity w ould be looked upon as som ething m ore th a n an island to its e lf w ith in the to ta l c o m m u n ity . W e have ju m p e d fro m 15 stud e nts to 550-plus, and when I say plus I mean we are p re tty close to 600 now. I believe the m ain reason we’ve grown so fast is th a t the people can relate to som ething now and th e y d o n ’t have to w o rry about feeling ashamed o r embarrassed because o f th e ir educa tio n a l deficiencies. T h ey can relate to themselves; the y can relate to people in the c o m m u n ity ; they can re la te to the professors and the people who tu to r them ; the y can relate to the students; they can re la te to a whole p a rt o f themselves th a t they d id n ’t kn ow existed w ith in them . T h e o n ly problem I can see now is th a t not enough people outside the c o m m u n ity re a lly know th a t we exist. Beyond th a t, I d on ’t th in k there are any great problem s at a ll, unless there is a c e rta in th in g called “ professional je a lo u s y ” on the p a rt o f the old established pros who d o n ’t p a rtic u la rly w a n t to accept new approaches to educa tio n w h ich are w o rkin g here. H arold W illiam s, D irec to r of Portland State Educational C e n te r. T h e advantage o f m ore people kn ow ing al»out the C enter w ould be th a t people could find o ut the w a y /o r them to cu t the m y th , cut th e ir fears about college and find people in a no the r part o f th e ir c ity who are to ta lly b lin d to them . T h is w ould be a great advantage; it w ould also show the whole legislative c o m m u n ity and the whole state system th a t there is a need fo r this type o f edu ca tion a l s tru c tu re w h ich is more a d v a n ta geous to the people th a n a lot o f thing s going on in the established s tru c tu re now. A lo t o f people in the c ity th in k th a t we set up ju s t fo r the m in o rity ; to make it m ore b lu n t, ju s t fo r the Blacks. T he program w asn't set up ju s t fo r Blacks; it wasn’t set up ju s t fo r th a t c o m m u n ity m islabled as “ A lb in a ” ; it was set up fo r the whole c ity o f P ortlan d . T he ( e n te r is a to ta l o f people, an o rg a n iza tio n o f a people’s program . I t ’s a good o p p o rtu n ity to learn th a t no m a tte r w h a t race y o u ’re in, th a t i f you don t take a bath you stin k. T h e program s have re a lly offered us a lo t o f b e a u tifu l o p p o rtu n itie s in race re la tio n s to let people become aware of one another, o f one a n o th e r’s qua litie s, o f one a n o th e r’s backgrounds, o f th e ir likes and o f th e ir dislikes o f one another. T h e E d u ca tio n a l C enter has helped tear down a lo t o f m yth s a bo u t race re la tio n s th a t were in fe c tin g o u r c ity , o u r state, o u r c o u n try and the w o rld in general. I t ’s an o p p o rtu n ity fo r people to lie free w ith o u t hangups, and ju s t be themselves fo r a few hours and to o b ta in som ething else in the process. T h e C enter happens to be located in the m id- tow n o f P ortla n d , b u t anybody and everybody is welcome to come in and be a part o f the program am i to be accepted in to it. ’I here are no re s tric tio n s on w hat econom ic bracket a stu d e n t is in, o r w hat background he has, o r w hat his social sta tu s is. A ll o f these thing s are irre le v a n t. People can sense th is ju s t by com ing in to the C enter to see fo r themselves th a t people are fieople. E ig h ty -fiv e per cent o f o u r fieople happen to be w hite. The sim ple fa c t th a t the p u b lic needs to understand is th a t the C e n te r is not a “ Black p ro gram ,” b u t a “ fieople p ro gram .” T he m a jo rity o f the fieople who corne to the C e n te r come from o u tly in g areas like G resham , Beaverton, T ig a rd and fro m a ll over the southeast and southw est p arts of the c ity . T h ey do n ot o n ly come from the n o rth and northeast areas. F ro m th e e d u c a tio n a l s ta n d p o in t, we o ffe r courses in p s y c h o lo g y , s o c io lo g y , E n g lis h and m athem atics. We also o ffe r courses w hich w ill help high school d ro p-ou ts pass exams to o bta in T h e y make it possible fo r us to o ffe r day and n ig h t cla sse s, c r e d it c o u rs e s a nd n o n - c r e d it courses. W e have a p p ro x im a te ly seven c r e d it courses and nine n on -cred it courses going on now — in m ath, English, psychology, sociology — the whole background. We have a rt courses w h ich are n on -cre d it; we have various e du ca tion a l courses ju s t fo r general in fo rm a tio n if the stu d e n t plans la te r to take a college cre d it course. O u r classes s ta rt in the m o rn in g at 9:30 and ru n u n til 10 at night. People can w a lk in o ff the street any tim e and sign up fo r classes w ith but one s tip u la tio n : T h e y can’t come in near the end o f a q u a r te r and re g is te r fo r a c o lle g e -c r e d it c o u rs e . I f th e y w a n t to e n r o ll in n o n - c r e d it courses, or want tu to rin g help or ju s t to a tte n d in fo rm a l sessions, th e y can come in a n y tim e o f the year, a n y tim e o f the day we are open. T h ere is no fear o f re g istra tion at the Center. W e w o u ld lik e to e x p a n d th e c u r r ic u lu m offerings at the Center, but th a t depends on the c o m m itm e n t o f the requisite d e p a rtm e n t heads w ith in the u n ive rsity. We w ould like to o ffer as m any courses as there is a dem and for. T h e re are a great nurn 1 s t o f courses we d o n ’t offer, like h is to ry , p o litic a l science and some stages o f urb an studies. We haven't got them because we have n ’t got a co m m itm e n t fro m the d ep a rtm e nt heads We need more courses in business a d m in is tra tio n . People are asking th a t we give courses o f th is type. B ut we are lim ite d in the things we t an o ffe r to the young liecause o f the d ep a rtm e nt heads and th e ir co m m itm e n t to us. T h e U n iv e r s ity could be more d ire ct, in a sense, to what it re a lly w ants o f the E d u ca tio n a l C enter We need more d ire c tio n fro m the to ta l campus, not ju s t from the people who are in o u r corner, b u t from those who are not so fa m ilia r w ith what we are doing at the Center. We can see ourselves grow ing th is com ing year to an e n ro llm e n t o f perha,is 1,500. We have a most d e fin ite need fo r m ore fa cilitie s, more space, more equ ip m e nt, a few m ore paid s ta ff me/nliers, more c o m m itm e n t from the m ain campus, more c o m m itm e n t fro m de p a rtm e n t heads and more c o m m itm e n t fro m the people in general. In th is way we can prove th a t we have som ething very relevant to the to ta l e d u c a tio n a l stru c tu re . T h e vo lunteers now are spending an average o f 15 hours a week at the Center. T h a t's like a c o l lege professor on the mam campus who w ould w ork at least 15 hours o r so over and beyond t he n o rm a l w ork load. He doesn’t get any pay fo r it. T h e o n ly recognition o r reward I can give to the vo lu nte ers is a sim ple thanks. T h is sounds like ve ry little . I t is very little . B ut t h a t ’s a ll we can give now. I wish we had some ty p e o f rew ard to show o u r real appreciation fo r what the y have done fo r us. T h e people who come to the C enter range in age from 16 to 60. Some o f them have jobs and are ju s t b e tte rin g th e ir skills fo r th e ir jobs. Some need a m a th background fo r exam ple, so th e y can a pp ly fo r ce rtain jobs w hich now are out o f th e ir reach. A lo t o f people who have come to the C e n te r have since ve ntured on to college. T h e y mastered ce rtain awarenesses in themselves w h ile a tte n d in g classes a, th e C e n te r; th e y becam e aware o f w h a t’s going on in college and the expe rience in the C enter helped them to break down some o f th e ir fears o f going on to college. Because o u r in s tru c to rs are volunteers, we can give a non-credit course fo r ju s t one d o lla r. A th re e -h o u r credit course costs six dollars. A s tu d en t m ay take o n ly one th re e -h o u r credit course |x*r q u a rte r at th a t rate. T he course allow s fieople to take the three hours they m ight need to g ra d u ate, to get a job, or, fierhaps, a p ro m o tion . M a n y people w ith a b ility have been blocked fin a n c ia lly fro m the U n iv e rs ity . Now, the E duca tio n a l C enter allow s them to a tte n d a few classes, fin d themselves, and, i f n o th in g else, learn some th in g c o n s tru c tiv e fo r th e ir everyday life. People can relate to the C enter - and w ith each o th e r in th e ir own econom ic bracket. We haven’t ventured in to vo c a tio n a l skills, be cause th a t s a to ta lly d iffe re n t area. We s tic k w ith the lib e ra l arts. Training fo r the in d u s tria l area is n ot o u r purpose. We are based fo r people who w a n t to decide fo r themselves where the y want to go. We ju s t tr y to expose them to a d iffe re n t area in th e ir lives and they take it front there. T h e over a ll philosophy o f the C enter is sim ple. I t is to g ive w it h o u t re m e m b e rin g , to re ce ive w ith o u t fo rg e ttin g . A nd th a t, sim p ly, is it.
