Page A3 Fcbruaiy 27. 2008 Concordia EXPANDS continued from Front Jefferson High School gradu­ ate, to be dedicated at the li­ brary groundbreaking April 10. Community participation not only benefits public relations and the hundreds of neighbors that work with the school, ac­ cording toCharles Schlimpert, C oncordia’s president for 25 years. Over the period that has made him the longest-sit­ ting college president in O r­ egon, Schlimpert has refined the school's mission to recog­ nize that local engagement is required to instill in students the ability, mindset and cul­ ture they need to transform the comm unities they love. “ It really isn ’t just change for change sake,” Schlimpert told the Portland Observer. “It’s part of a strategy, a vi­ sion that says w e’re going to be part o f creating a great community, and the rest is his­ tory. as they say,because man, all of a sudden, it just took off.” The university had its share of financial difficulties that forced staff layoffs less than a decade ago. Now the school is riding a golden wave that has seen the addition o f sev­ eral new programs, including a nursing graduate program a couple years ago to be housed by the new library building. Schlim pert maintains that hard-won progress is achieved through negotiation, and it’s easier and safer in the end to break down any walls, con­ struct buildings to face the neighborhood and welcome advice every step of the way. “The first thing you have to do is listen,” he says. “We could easily become an ivory tow er...but that doesn’t build community.” The school takes pride in having increased minority rep­ resentation in its student body exceeding 1,600 to 20 percent and plans to increase that per­ centage as the enrollm ent reaches a final goal of 2,000. Calling northeast Portland “the one quadrant in the city th at's still fairly ripe for eco­ nom ic and social develop­ m ent,” Schlimpert sees expan­ sion as much more than just going across the street and buying a bunch of homes, al­ te r n a tiv e ly h o p in g the com m unity’s ability to use the library and its built-in coffee shop will create m ore vi­ brancy. piioin m K v iv io m i K i m h ixns/Tiii P o k ii Concordia University holds a plaza displaying the cornerstone of one o f its first educational facilities built in 1907. The view to the north will change in the spring with the construction of a library and sports field. The addition of lights and synthetic surface to the new sports field could have cre­ ated conflict in planning meet­ ings, but the selling point was the potential forexpandingthe hours the facility can be used for all types of activities. The developments have won o v e r in flu e n tia l A fric a n - American community mem­ bers like Ron Williams of the Black Parent Initiative and former state Sen. Bob Boyer, who served on the college’s Meat Safety Concerns Raised Oregon Parks and Recreation Department staff removed a pair of historic cannons Feb. 19 from the beach near Arch Cape, just south of Cannon Beach. The cannons were discovered a few days earlier, revealed by extreme low tides and the natural loss of beach sand due to w inter storms. Each of the 800- to I .(M)O-pound cannons were trucked to a nearby park office, and with guidance from historic cannon restoration experts from Texas A&M University, staff sub­ merged the artifacts in tanks of fresh water and covered them with layers of wet burlap. The fresh water bath, refreshed weekly, will draw salt from the objects and protect them from further corrosion. The cannon are fragile out of their protective env ironm ent. Two historic canons were found last week on the sands near Arch Cape, ju st south of Cannon Beach. GET M O R E ...w ith an education from Heald! from Front Wyden said. fie summed up a short speech that outlined his Healthy Ameri­ cans Act. a proposal that would eliminate the traditional em­ ployer-based. health-insurance system and replace it with pri­ vate but government-adminis­ tered insurance. He addressed worries that emerging plans wouldn't con­ tain provisions for other basic needs, like prescription cover­ age. costly insurance premiums, f