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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 11, 2012)
Jîortlanb (Observer I u ly ll. 2 0 1 2 Page 17 School Builds New Veteran Services PCC responds to needs with resource centers In th e M a r in e C o rp s , Z a c h S ch o o n o v er served tw o tours o f A fg h a n istan an d Iraq w here he helped in the nations' rebuilding efforts. A t hom e, how ever, he has contin u ed service to his com m u n ity by helping to build a respected v et erans affairs resource cen ter at his P ortland C om m unity C ollege c a m p u s. A s m ore veterans return hom e and go back to college, the need to assist them in navigating benefits and acclim ating to college life is grow ing. PC C has roughly 1,400 students w ho are m ilitary vets and that n u m b er is increasing. In response to the rising nu m bers, PC C esta b lish e d the R ock C reek C am pus V eterans R esource C e n te r, lo c a te d at 17705 N .W . S pringville R oad, as the first and only, one-stop resource center that provides a space dedicated for stu dent veterans to netw ork and relax. C urrently, the V eterans Services O ffice at the S ylvania C am pus, lo cated at 12000 S.W . 49th A ve. only has an office to certify student e d u cational benefits. The C ascade C am pus on N. K illingsw orth St. has a sm all area outside o f the library, and th e S o u th e a s t C e n te r on 8 2 n d A ve.doesn't yet have an adequate area to serve vets. B ut there are plans to create full- service V eterans R esource C enters across PC C thanks to input from students like S choonover and funds from the college's bond program . Student Streetcar Services Zach Schoonover, who served two tours o f Afghanistan and Iraq where he helped in the nations ' rebuilding efforts, is helping build a veteran’s resource center at Portland Community College campus. Schoonover, a R ock C reek resi dent, said he's a big fan o f colleges estab lish in g reso u rce centers for his peers, w hich can m ake a huge d ifference in the acclim ation p ro c e ss. "It's a fantastic place for v eter ans at R ock C reek to com e in," S ch o o n o v er told the H ouse V eter ans A ffairs C om m ittee back in M ay at the State C apitol, as part o f a presentation w ith Financial Aid and V eteran s S erv ices D irecto r B ert L ogan. "T hey co m e in, hang out, get inform ation they need, find out w here to go to get financial aid on cam pus, learn how to transfer to fo u r-y ear u niversities and get in fo r m ation on oth er V A b enefits.” “W e've pretty m uch set up a sup port group in there, and w e’ve started branching out and doing co m m u our m ission to encourage m odes o f transportation other than driving.” A round 75 percent o f faculty, staff, and students com m ute to cam pus by m eans other than one car with one driver. PSU leaders expect com m ut ing to cam pus on the Portland Street car to increase considerably with the Eastside expansion and the com ple P SU to provide fr e e use o f P ort tion o f the new PSU /O H SU C ollabo land Streetcar to faculty, staff, and rative Life Sciences Building on the stu d en ts South W aterfront in 2013. P o rtland State U niversity and Located in Portland, Oregon, PSU O H SU have negotiated a faculty, staff has about 30,000 undergraduate and and student pass program that will graduate students. P S U ’s m otto is provide unlim ited use o f the Portland “Let K now ledge Serve the C ity,” Streetcar at no additional cost to cam w here they provide students with pus m em bers. opportunities to w ork w ith busi “W ith the Eastside line opening nesses, schools and organizations and the elim ination o f the free-rail on real-w orld projects. zone, we thought it was im portant to “The Streetcar is not ju st for com provide free transit access through m uting,” said Zalkow . “O ur em ploy out the central city,” said Dan Zalkow, ees use it to travel to m eetings and our executive director o f Finance and A d student residents use it as conve m inistration at PSU. “It’s also part o f nient travel throughout the city.” nity service projects that help people in the county," he continued. T he last tw o years, PC C has am ped up the aw areness cam paign for the needs o f veterans. Students and staff organized a V eterans A p preciation W eek in the spring across the district that included specific w orkshops fo r veterans, jo b s and resource fairs, and guest speakers. O n top o f that, students c o o rd i n a te d se rv ic e p ro je c ts su ch as f u n d r a is e r s f o r L a c e y H o u s e (O regon's first and only privately funded, full-service hom e for hom e less v e teran s) and deploym ent care package drives each term . "T h ey h av e a v ery e ffe c tiv e v eteran ’s services program . It's a m ajor transition m oving from the m ilitary back into civilian life and then into school. T he cam araderie that's available through the resource cen ter is very im p o rtan t,” said Rep. B rad W itt, w ho toured the R ock C reek VRC in M ay. “T aking that big leap, m aking that transition ju m p in g into so m e thing that is unknow n; it's easier to m ake that leap o r j um p w hen you are m aking it w ith som ebody else." R o ck C re e k set the stan d ard thanks to R odriguez, w ho identified the need for a staffed V R C after convening a group o f concerned faculty four years ago. "I w anted to ensure that w hen o ur veterans cam e back from w ar that they w ere able to have the ser vices they need provided to them at the com m unity c o lleg e," R odriguez said. "It was also a goal o f the fac ulty w ho w ere really struggling in the classroom in understanding w ho the veterans w ere in class." S c h o o n o v e r is g r a te f u l. H e earned a bachelor's degree in R eli gious Studies o f Islam from San D iego State U niversity in 2000 b e fore serving a five-year stint abroad. He w orked from 2005 to 2011 as a private military contractor until com ing hom e to enrol 1 at PC C to explore how to set up a sm all business. In total. Schoonover was rem oved from civilian life for m ore than a decade and d id n ’t know m any people w hen he returned. He said, the R ock C reek V RC helped him find his way. "It is a huge transition com ing back to school," S ch o o n o v er said. "The big problem that you face is dealing w ith a y o u n g er g eneration w ho doesn't necessarily have the sam e perspective as you. T he re source cen ter has provided a good place for veterans to com e and calm dow n w hen they've had a difficult tim e. T he nice thing about having it on cam pus is that you see those individuals day in and day out that are also using the resource center." For m ore inform ation about PCC's V eterans Services, call (971) 722- 4502. 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