In case you missed it, on Wednesday July 9th the Oregonian printed a very intriguing editorial on their interpretation of the proposed Life Sciences Collaborative on the Schnitzer Campus. Here is an excerpt:

Signs of life (sciences) on the waterfront

Public universities must go beyond a group hug to keep alive the dream of a Portland riverfront campus.

Last year, an anonymous donor gave $40 million to Orego Health & Science University to jump-start development on the downtown side of its South Waterfront campus.

Nothing happened.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

Just noticed a great article in today’s Tribune unveiling OHSU’s development plans for the north part of South Waterfront and their Schnitzer campus.

Read the whole article here: “Healthy Ambitions.”

Join the Dundee Hills Winegrowers Association this Thursday June 12th for an outstanding wine tasting event in the South Waterfront. This event will feature over 30 different wineries from the Dundee Hills, including Argyle Winery, The Four Graces, Stoller Vineyards, and Sokol Blosser to name a few. As well as food from the Dundee Bistro.

The event will begin at 6pm in the OHSU Center for Health and Healing Atrium. Tickets for the event are $65, which includes a Riedel Oregon Pinot Noir glass and a Tram ride. Proceeds from this event will benefit Salud!, which provides access to healthcare services for Oregon’s seasonal vineyard workers and their families.

For more information please visit the Dundee Hills Winegrowers Association website.

Thursday, June 12, 2008 ~ 6PM - 8:30PM

OHSU Center for Health and Healing

3303 SW Bond Avenue, Portland

Hello Neighbors - here is the latest update from March Wellness - we just received this email yesterday:

Dear March Wellness members,

We are writing to update you on the future of March Wellness. As you recall, the center was recently placed in jeopardy by a recent Oregon Supreme Court Ruling which created a large budget shortfall for OHSU. This shortfall resulted in our announcement early this year that March would likely be restructured or sold.

We are pleased to tell you that a decision has been reached about our future. March Wellness will remain open, but some of our space and functions will be consolidated. Here is a summary of the changes you will witness:

>The center will be consolidated and occupy the second floor of the Center for Health and Healing. In the future, March Wellness will occupy 32,000 square feet of space. Currently the center occupies 47,000 square feet of space.

> The gymnasium will be renovated and exercise equipment will now reside in this space. The gymnasium was previously under-utilized by members, which is the reason for this decision.
The first floor of March will be converted into clinical space.

> The next phase of the decision is to determine whether OHSU will remain the operator of March Wellness or whether an outside fitness operator will run the center. This decision will take greater analysis and will likely occur in a matter of months. We will of course inform you of this decision when it is made.

> As part of the consolidation, some of the spa services provided by March will likely be discontinued. However many of these decisions have yet to be made.

An extensive cost analysis study and input from several parties – including the public - informed the decision about March Wellness. The cost analysis reviewed several specific issues including monthly revenues, the square footage occupied by March Wellness and the costs associated with renting this space. Because March Wellness will remain open, we will continue promotions for the center aimed at obtaining new members and keeping old members.

We want to thank you for your patience during this difficult time and we hope that you are relieved and pleased with the decision that has been made. As always, if you have questions, we invite you to contact our Executive Director Amber Webster at websteam@ohsu.edu or 503 494-8198.

Thank You,

The March Wellness Management Team

Who’da thought? INTERNATIONAL / EUROPE   |  Motivated by a Tax, Irish Spurn Plastic Bags By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL The Irish have embraced the use of cloth bags to carry groceries, encouraged by a 33-cent tax on plastic ones. Maybe we need such a tax in Oregon. I was stunned by another story about the garbage dump in the Pacific that now reaches from Hawaii almost to Japan. It’s in an area that does not have much current so it just sits there, a big ugly in the ocean that consists largely of plastic in one form or another. Shopping at several grocery stores here, I have noticed that plastic is now banned in New Seasons (although there are still bags in produce) and Whole Foods, Fred Meyers is not far behind.  We got “points” with the checkout folks when we pulled out our cloth bags. And while we are at it, why do we have to have bottled water? That is another huge contribution to the Pacific dump. All that stuff we are throwing away has to go somewhere and plastic just moves to another part of the world.  Those bags can be recycled; collect them and take them to a recycle bin near you.

Save the date and support Neighborhood House by attending their annual fund raiser. This is the adopted charity for South Waterfront and so we invite you to be part of their excitement and use this opportunity to support their amazing programs.nh-animation-2008-save-the-date.pdf