Weber State Comment, se i IN cic 3 alc ‘I was very young and naive then and I let them go on,” she said. Portia left Weber State to work with the King Sisters, and when she got to California someone characterized her after a thenprominent soap opera star, Portia. The name stuck. ‘As I got older I began to realize that anyone under 30 thought I was a car,” she Portia Nelson, as Sister Berthe in “The Sound of Music.” Portia Nelson: | Portia Nelson, formerly Bette Mae, with her brother, Starr. Ms. Nelson, who was honored by the WSC Alumni Association with the Distinguished Alumni Award, returned to campus last November for the first time in 50 years. X-ray too often improperly done, clinician says X-rays and ultrasounds can be harmful if done incorrectly, and while most such images are properly made, the few done improperly are too still too many. Besides the obvious risk of excessive doses of radiation, there are other dangers of poorly done ultrasounds and x-rays, said Dr. Jane Van Valkenburg, chair of the Weber State radiological technology program. “Ultrasounds, if not done by a trained technician, can sometimes give a false positive. I know of people who have gone into surgery when the baby was perfectly healthy because of a ultrasound improperly done,” she said. Education is the principal factor in reducing poor x-rays and ultrasounds, she said. Certified radiological technicians know how to correctly operate the machinery, and how to make the least amount of exposures for the best results. “One doctor called me and said his ‘girls’ could take the pictures as well as an\ technician, and if his girls didn’t get 1 right the first time he had them do it again until they got it right,” she said. As a result, patients receive multiple exposures to x-rays, exposure that is unnecessary and potentially harmful, she said. But though the problem still exists, Dr. Van Valkenburg said attitudes are changing. The WSC radiological technician program has increasing received regional and nationwide attention for technician preparation in what professionals call imaging. (“The field of using very sophisticated equipment to take pictures of people’s innards,” she said.) Recently the president of Valencia Community College, the director of that Florida institution’s School of Medicine and other top officials spent two days at Weber State, studying the college’s radiological program, said Dr. Van Valkenburg. ‘Valencia contacted our national professional society and the American Medical Association accreditation agency and they referred them here,” she said. The reason the WSC program is recog- nized as the place for study of x-rays, nuclear medicine, radiology and the like has to do with the quality and manner of instruction, sne said. Students who graduate from the WSC program must first complete a rigorous twoyear degree in radiology characterized by extensive in-hospital experiences and oneon-one faculty instruction. “Our emphasis is to teach students how to use equipment safely to get the optimal image with the minimal exposure. We pound that into their heads,” said Dr. Van Valkenburg. “There is a high demand for our graduates. Even students in the two-year program are in high demand. Recruiters are here all the time driving us crazy,” she said. The end result is a better trained group of technicians providing a higher quality of service at all levels of health caré, she said. ‘Our graduates have no problem getting jobs. In fact, some start at salaries that are higher than our faculty make,” she said. eR | “The book helps others see themselves,” she said. Portia recently received the Distinguished Alumni award from the WSC Alumni Association— “The closest I'll ever get to an academy award’—and returned to Ogden for the first time in 50 years. ‘What a wonderful way to come home,” she said. “T have three incredible brothers who were Weberites. Without them I never would have ended up at Weber, daring to do whatever I wanted,” she added. For the immediate future Ms. Nelson said she hopes to have a “big publisher” take over her book, and she is thinking about a lecture tour. “I’m not ever going to stop, if I can help it,” she said. Gere | knew then that Julie Andrews would be as immense a star as she has become,” Ms. Nelson said. For the last eight years she has appeared in a number of television commercials— Fruit of the Loom, Skippy peanut butter and Canon cameras “if you look quick.” “Commercials are fast, and you make a complete fool of yourself and then move on. Commercials also make the best living,” she said. She also appears in the soap opera, “All My Children” as Mrs. Gurney. “I feel very lucky. I’ve been in the right place at the right time.” But acting has not been her only forte. During the 1950’s Portia’s singing was the toast of Cafe Society in New York City and in other cities. She has introduced such songs as “Tenderly” and “Fly Me to t he Moon,” and has composed countless others for the likes of Marlene Dietrich, Lena Horne, Mabel Mercer, Carol Burnett and Julie Andrews. But though she wrote for others, her own voice was well known. When she sang critics pleaded: “Run, walk or crawl to hear this penultimate vocal miracle for yourself.” “I love to sing, but I’ve always had great stage fright. I don’t sing much now because getting past that nervousness is not worth the effort,” Ms. Nelson said. Before nervousness overcame the urge to sing, Portia recorded five show albums for Columbia Records and three solo albums. centers and others, she said. e | | Bette Mae Nelson, best known for he role in “The Sound of Music,” left Weber College for Hollywood in 1939, a naive, small-town girl from Brigham City. Now, four movies, a book, countless musical performances and a new name later, Portia Nelson has lost her naivete, but not her love of life. “You don’t regret the things you do. You regret what you don’t do,” she said. And there’s not much that Portia has to regret. When she first came to Weber College she brought with her a love of composing and singing. “I was very much into music in high school. I was arranging three, four and five part harmony when everyone else was thinking two,” she said. “When I came to Weber, Arlene Osmond pounced on me the first day,” she added. Together Arlene and Portia wrote the first WSC variety show which toured a number of universities. That first show included a song called “Three Little Fishes,” better known as the “Boop, Boop, Dittum, Dattim, Wattim, Bo” song. An orchestra touring Utah heard the song and began playing it as their own composition. trip out of it as well. Of course, nobody She was also a regular at night clubs in New York. Most recently she has formed a unique musical of her book, ““There’s a Hole in My Sidewalk,” which played at the York Theatre in Manhattan. “T think the thing I’m proudest of is that book of self-observances. I never thought it would make the impression that it has,” she said. The book, which starts, “My life has been a series of wonderful experiences. It’s a pity I wasn’t there for most of them,” has been used by Alcoholics Anonymous, drug Diag teeta <a Seer i ncoisiisiiabiidtumiattaas From WSC to Hollywood Her name is not be a big-screen familiar to most people, but people recognize her as Sister Berthe in the “Sound of Music,” as Sister Elizabeth in “The Trouble With Angels,” Sarah Dolittle in “Doctor Dolittle” and as Mrs. Rowe in “The Others.” “The ‘Sound of Music’ was probably my ‘most enjoyable, because we got a wonderful 1990 at = sleds said. Spring