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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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