Page 14, Portland Observer, January 13, 1988, Section II
living tfie
p
MESA, now in its third year,
l o lortlond
rtlc
is a program sponsored by Portland
Public Scnools and the School of
Engineering and Applied Science at
Portland State University. Project
Coordinator is Renee Wilkerson-
Anderson.
The program is open to all students
at participating scnools but its mission
is to encourage minority students to
enter careers in math, science, and
engineering.
The 1987-88 MESA program has
410 students, two-thirds of which are
minority. Participating middle schools
are Beaumont, Fernwood, Whitaker,
Tubman, Ockley Green, Binnsmead
ML Tabor, Kellogg, and Portsmouth;
high schools are Jefferson, Grant
and Benson.
Ken Krause. Tubman MESA Advisor,
works with Emiro Gonzales and
Eddie Broeth on the terminal.
MESA students
participate in a rich
variety of activities
including: study groups,
science labs, technical
site visits with hands-on
activities, speakers,
design contests, math
and science competitions,
college visitations,
college preparatory
activities— such as SAT study groups,
and mentorship and internship
opportunities.
"MESA activities are done on the
students own time," noted Wilkerson-
Anderson, "after school and on
weekends."
EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS
"We have received significant
contributions from both the private
and public sector," states Penny
Fukui, Career Coordinator.
During the summer of 1987,
Tektronix employed six MESA interns.
Minimum wage was $4.95 per hour.
Tektronix will increase the number of
interns from six to twelve this year.
In addition, the Tektronix Foundation
has initiated a college scholarship
fund of $25,000 for MESA students.
NATIONAL AND LOCAL NEED
"There is a urgent need for MESA
type programs, stated Gory Potter,
Assistant Director for the Oregon
Department of Transportation,
referring to Bureau of Labor statistics
showing that nationally Blacks
comprise only 3.7% of all engineers,
3.2% of architects. 2.5% of natural
scientists, 3.3% of physicians and
dentists, and 3.0% of lawyers and
judges.
PO R TLAN D
Camille Greenidge
Stephanie Bell
Potter continued, "As a major
employer of civil engineers in the
state it’s part of our responsibility to
take leadership in developing
Oregon's minority youth."
Three of last year’s Tek interns are
now freshman engineering students;
Stephanie Bell at the University of
Washington, Heidi Durrow Stanford,
and Camille Greenidge, Portland
State. Pamela Clegg, Leila Aziz, and
Byron O’Brien, the remaining interns,
are 10th, 11th, and 12th graders
respectively, at Jefferson High.
"Mentorship and internship
opportunities for students from
programs like MESA will be an
integral part of our affirmative action
effort," said Potter, "they can be a
bridge into our Engineer Trainee
program."
The Army Corps of Engineers initiated
a "loaned professional program with
MESA. Russell Smith, a mechanical
engineer with the Corps, has
functioned as a technical advisor and
MESA/Industry) liaison for the
program.
The Engineer Trainee program
provides summer employment for
students enrolled in a college civil
engineering program, and pays from
$1194 to $1313 per month. In a
given year, 10 to 20 Trainee
positions are available.
PARENT SUPPORT GROUP
Mathematics. Engineering. Science Achievement
Jon Ibanez, a student at ML Tabor,
wrote of his mentorship with Larry
Olson and Lamj Christianson of the
State Highway Division-.
Another accomplishment that has
pleased the MESA staff is the
development of the Portland MESA
Parent Support Group. Approximately
50 parents belong to the volunteer
group.
„Before they extend or build 9 road,
they need to measure everything
and list what’s around the area.
They need to know how many trees,
light poles, telephone poles, etc are
in the area.
But before they can do anything
about the roads there has to be an
idea of what needs to be done.
QJhat design will the road look like?
How much will the project cost?
Then there is contract plans and bid
letting, low bid will be the one to
build the road.
Emphasis is on sharing information
among parents— "what seems to
work and what doesn’t, as we
attempt to raise our kids," stated
Don Warfield, one of the group
leaders.
Panel discussions at the last meeting
included effective communications with
your school and student opportunities
in MESA, coping with parental
anxieties, developing good study
habits, and productive communication
about grades.
Then construction starts. The last step
is final acceptance.
Mr. Christianson showed us a
computer used to design roads or
bridges. Ben and I played around
with this computer and put trees
between the freeways. That was fun.
After our visit Larry gave Ben and
me M&M’s for a small snack. I hope
to do the trip again.
This position of engineer will only fit
men and women wno are patient
and like to work with many details.
They also have to know math
because if there’s a wrong ,
measurement, the whole project will
be a disaster.
r
The Oregon Department of Transportation
CIVIL RIGHTS SECTION
4 1 2 Transportation Building
Salem, Oregon 9 7 3 1 0
3 7 8 -8 0 7 /
Beaumont students present trophies they
competition to Principal Thomas Marmeau. MESA Advisor, Sterling
Eltagonde is at back
, AWARD WINNERS
1986-87
MESA AWARD WINNERS
Sixty-eight students received
incentive awards last year. To
receive an incentive award a student
must receive A’s and B’s in their
math and science classes and
participate in a minimum number of
MESA activities. Award winners were:
BEAUMONT
BENSON
FERNWOOD
GRANT
Christine Allen
Aaron Ashford
Robert Ingram
Britt Jura
James McKenzie
Nicol Olds
Meredith Rainey
Jonathan Stokes
Heidi Whitcomb
Alisa Benjamin
Volanda Blume
Burnadetta Mallisham
Sheila Randall
Julia Alexander
Lyla Bradley
Duane Burton
Bill Campbell
Chirstopner Dawson
Elizabeth Laws
Adrienne Livingston
Alex Montgomery
Stacey Pernell
Todd West
Stephanie Bell
Ester Colbert
Mary Client Colbert
Traci Fantz
Sharon Kenney
BINNSMEAD
Anthony Fischer
Tony Fung
Dwayne Lewis
Stanley Mar
Joshua McCleary
Hendrik Somodi
Min Sung
JEFFERSON
Leila Aziz
Pamela Clegg
Nilesh Dayal
Linh Hong
Sonia Huit
Jodi Lewison
Michelle Robertson
Trisa Watson
KELLOGG
Tina Dunn
Deanna Gillespie
MT. TABOR
Melyssa Ching
Jonathan Ibanez
Dang Tran
Peter Vue
OCKLEY GREEN
Rochelle Watson
TUBMAN
Edward Broeth
Marilyn Ceaser
Sandra Ceaser
Emiro Gonzales
Stephanie Jenkins
Nicole McCray
Heather O'Brien
Tanya Shiffer
Bun Tan
Kwame Warfield
Shannon Wilson
Sarah Wood
WHITAKER
LuJuane Brown
James Fenceroy
Malaina Guzman
Dominic Hall