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Page 10 • Portland Observer • January 12. 1989
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At The Oregon Department of
Transportation We Share The Dream
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When M artin Luther King gave his infamous
"I Have A D re a m " speech, he invoked a
vision of what America could become and his
vision inspired m illions of Americans to w ork
together to produce positive, constructive
change in our society.
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M artin Luther King's voice awoke the con
science of our nation. The speech he so e lo
quently delivered on that August day in 1963,
will be an enduring legacy fo r generations to
come because it expressed the heart and soul
of the American dream as a land offering
opportunity for prosperity to all its citizens.
We at O D O T are pleased to join w ith others
in honoring the birthday of this great A m eri
can leader w ith a Special Edition of this pub
lication. We feel an even greater honor to his
legacy are the program s and activities at
ODOT that are helping to give young m in o r
ities an o pp ortu nity to pursue their dreams,
and in doing so bring the American dream
closer to reality. Below we describe a few of
those programs.
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Khvong Vihh Ho, Mario Rodriquez, Jorae Hernandez, Alteha Moroene & Joe Ball.
Minority
Student
Summer
Engineering
Institute
Mathematics
Engineering
Science
Achievement
Program
For the last tw o years, O D O T has supported a
program, together w ith the Am erican Society
of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and Portland State
University in support of a program that ta r
gets m in o rity stu d e n ts in te re s te d in an
engineering career.
Rochelle, Chau, and Toi were all participants
of the MESA Program. O D O T has w orked
w ith the MESA program fo r several years.
MESA is a program designed to attract m inor-
ity m iddle and
school youth into careers
id high
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in sciences, e ng ine ering , m ath and te c h
nology.
The M in o rity Student Summer Engineering
Institute is entering its third year of operation.
Seventeen m inority high school students par
ticipated in a five-day w orkshop at Portland
State University during the summer of 1988.
An expanded tw o week program fo r 35 ju n io r
and senior students is being planned in 1989.
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MESA students p a rticip a te in a variety o f
activities in clu d in g : study groups, science
labs, technical site visits w ith hands-on activi
ties, speakers, design contests, math and sci
ence c o m p e titio n s , and m e n to rs h ip and
internship opportunities.
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Portland MESA is a jo in t venture between the
Portland State University School of Engineer
ing and Applied Science and Portland Public
Schools. The MESA program is open to all
students at participating schools, but its mis
sions is to encourage m in o rity students to
enter careers in math, science and engineer
ing.
The program exposes students to a variety of
engineering fields and includes form al pre
sentation, laboratory tours w ith "hands o n "
work, site visits, and group project activities.
T he s tu d e n ts h a ve b e e n p a r t ic u la r ly
impressed w ith being able to meet w ith prac
ticing engineers in a w ork environm ent.
used a com puter drafting system to lay-out
various locations and designs of road co n
struction projects, perform ed math calcula
tio ns to help d e te rm in e th e costs o f her
designs, and spent tim e in the field perform
ing survey w ork and seeing first-hand how
her designs w ou ld be built.
In 1988, six high school students thro u gh ou t
the State were em ployed on engineering,
surveying, and m aintenance crews. Three
students w orked in Portland. The response
from both students, and supervisors was
overw helm ingly "th u m b s u p ", "le t's do it
again next year".
Larry Olson, U tility Specialist, to ld Chau, " If
you tackle your studies w ith the same e n th u
siastic challenge you showed in w orking for
th e H ig h w a y D iv is io n y o u w i l l d o
w e ll".... "Y ou are talented, hardw orking, and
courteous, you have a bright fu tu re ."
Rochelle Watson, a Benson High School stu
dent, w orked on Paul Hailey's Design crew.
Rochelle worked in an office setting that p ro
vided her a good learning experience. She
assisted w ith the coloring of maps, perform
ing survey work, checking m athematical cal
culations on projects, and provided basic
engineering and o ffice su pp ort. R ochelle
stated she enjoyed w orking w ith the survey
crew and designing her " o w n " parking lot.
R o ch e lle plans to fo llo w h e r d re a m o f
becoming an engineer. "The self-esteem she
has gained from a job well done w ill help her
achieve that dream ," said Hailey.
Bob Schalk hired Chau Pham, another stu
dent at Benson High School, to w ork in his
Design office. She was responsible fo r exam
ining location of road improvements. Chau
D is tr ic t M a in te n a n c e S u p e rv is o r D ave
W illhite, em ployed Toi Lim of Franklin High
School, on M aintenance crew in the Portland
area. Toi w orked w ith construction plans and
permits. She assisted w ith inspection, review
ing of construction plans, and rem oving of
traffic signal heads. Toi was also given the
resp on sibility o f answ ering the te le p h o n e
and fie ld in g questions w henever possible.
Toi has a better understanding of road w ork
the Highway Division operations regarding
permits and plans. Dave stated Toi was an
added plus to the office.
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High School Summer Intern Program
The Oregon Departm ent of Transportation
continues to assist m inority and female high
school students th ro u gh summer e m p loy
m ent program s. These program s p ro vide
opportunities to gain skills and experiences
that can lead to a successful career in the field
of transportation.
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Toi was able to "c o n tin u e her d re a m " by
learning to expand her horizons. Toi stated,
"I can do anything I want to d o ." Toi in d i
cated the most challenging experience faced
was learning to read maps. She indicated the
hands-on experiences required her mental
abilities as well as physical abilities.
The Oregon Department of Transportation
CIVIL RIGHTS SECTION
4 1 2 Transportation Building
Salem, Oregon 9 7 3 1 0
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