Category Archives: Education

University of Portland to host Reading Fair on Sunday, April 15

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University of Portland to host 18th annual Reading Fair on Sunday, April 15

University of Portland’s 18th annual Reading Fair is set for Sunday, April 15 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Chiles Center. The event is free and open to the public, and hosted by Kappa Delta Pi, the education honor society. Every child attending will receive a free, new book of their choice.

The fair’s theme, “A Reader Can Weather Any Season,” is designed to be an integrated approach to literacy that will engage students from pre-kindergarten to middle school. Kid-friendly events throughout the day include arts, crafts and games that focus on reading, as well as an obstacle course.

New to the Reading Fair this year is the Wordstock reading area, where author Carmen “T” Bernier Grand will read from some of her popular and recently published children’s books such as Diego: Bigger than Life and Juan Bobo: Four Folktales from Puerto Rico. Wordstock will also be doing a drawing for two $25 Powell’s Books gift cards and tickets for free adult admission to the Wordstock festival.

Sponsors and community partners for the event include Wordstock, Saturday Academy, Learning Palace, Starbucks, Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), Bon Appétit, Associated Students of the University of Portland (ASUP), the University of Portland Bookstore, Kappa Delta Pi (KDP), and the University’s School of Education.

For more information, contact the School of Education at 503-943-7135 or Kathleen Staten at staten@up.edu.

Linux Workshop to Free You from Microsoft

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FREE Workshop: Rebuild Your Computer or Laptop
Tuesday, February 21 from 7-9 pm
Got a slow or infected laptop or desktop computer? Save your money and the earth by buying less. Bring in a laptop or desktop computer that you want to rebuild. We will install a fresh clean desktop and windows alternative operating system called Unbutu. It’s very secure, nearly virus proof, and used all over the world. Be-prepared to wipe windows and all data. Saving your documents and photos may be possible but takes a long time. Please RSVP as the class is small to Joe Rowe, ojoe22 (at) gmail.com or (503) 282-769x where x=3

Joe has worked with computers and other cool, geeky things for a long, long time. He’s also a teacher. And, for the topper, he has volunteered at Free Geek. Questions? Feel free to shoot him an e-mail.

At Redeemer Lutheran Church
5431 NE 20th Ave at Killingsworth
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Class will be held in our “sun room;” doors are right off of Killingsworth St., next to the Redeemer Lutheran Church sign.

Black History Month–Day 10

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In honor of Black History Month, here are few profiles of contributors to history of African descent:

Marc Hannah

Anyone awed by the special effects in the films Jurassic Park, Terminator 2 and The Abyss should thank Hannah. The computer scientist is one of the founders, in 1982, of the software firm Silicon Graphics (now SGI), where the special-effects genius developed 3-D graphics technology that would be used in many Hollywood movies. Donkey Kong fans also owe a debt of gratitude to Hannah: He was instrumental in designing the Nintendo 64 gaming system.

Kenneth J. Dunkley

3-D Viewing Glasses and Holography

Kenneth J. Dunkley is currently the president of the Holospace Laboratories Inc. in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. He is best known for inventing Three Dimensional Viewing Glasses (3-DVG) – his patented invention that displays 3-D effects from regular 2-D photos without any type of lenses, mirrors or optical elements. By studying human vision, Dunkley discovered that blocking two points in a person’s peripheral vision will cause an ordinary picture to appear 3-Dimensional, so he developed his 3-DVG to block out these points.
In addition to his 3-DVG invention, Kenneth Dunkley also receives attention for his efforts as a visual pioneer. In Harrisburg, PA, at the Museum of Scientific Discovery, he has conducted visual effects workshops for four years. Dunkley is also a leader in the field of holography.

Thanks to Tanisha and Bryan Jones and their daughter Sinai for compiling these profiles from the following sources:

1) The Encyclopedia of African-American Heritage, by Susan Altman
2) The Roots website, theroots.com
3) Famous Black Inventors website, black-inventor.com

Portland Seeks Input on Earthquake Plan

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The Portland Bureau of Emergency Management (PBEM) wants to hear your thoughts about our city’s newly proposed earthquake response document.

Having grown into a major city long before scientists discovered its unique seismic vulnerabilities, Portland is now expected to experience a potentially devastating earthquake of magnitude 9.0 or greater. Work is underway to identify those vulnerabilities and make Portland a more earthquake-resilient city. This work–now embodied in the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management’s new Earthquake Response Appendix–will help lessen the severity of an earthquake’s impact on residents.  See pp. 53-54 on how to prepare your household.

The Earthquake Response Appendix is a supplement to the City’s Basic Emergency Operations Plan and a framework for Portland’s ever-evolving approach to earthquake response. Soon, this document will reach Portland City Council for consideration. In the meantime, PBEM is asking the public to thoroughly examine the appendix and provide feedback.

To learn more about the threats facing Portland’s energy, water, sewer, transportation, communication and building infrastructures; to understand the roles elected leaders, city officials, emergency responders, the private sector and community-based organizations play in the context of earthquake response; and to understand the partnerships established among public and private agencies to help support this response, please read the appendix by clicking here.

To provide insight and comments about the document, click here and fill out the feedback form.