WHEN A CRISIS OCCURRED

Marion Franck’s article from the summer 2005 issue titled “When a Crisis Occurs” brought some stored emotions to the surface for me. My crisis came one day before the 1999 spring quarter began. My mother and I were notified in the early evening hours that my father and brother were involved in a vehicle rollover and had been admitted to a Reno, Nev., hospital’s intensive care unit. As I drove us through snow and Easter Sunday traffic, I wondered two things: Will they still be alive when we get there and how will I finish my last quarter at UC Davis?

I immediately dropped all but the two classes I needed to graduate and asked a friend to talk to my professors on the first day of class. When I went to each professor in person the next day of class, I did not ask for any special treatment with regard to assignments or tests; I simply requested forgiveness for any lack of attendance. One professor was understanding, despite what I suspect was doubt in his eyes about my truthfulness. To my utter shock, my other professor, one who was to later give class lectures on the importance of being in tune with students’ individual needs and struggles, told me that I should consider dropping the class. Her hypocrisy and insensitivity infuriated me, but I went on quietly with the quarter against her advice.

I know crises come up often in the lives of college students, and I only hope that my experience was a rare one and that Ms. Franck is right in her claim that “most instructors will be sympathetic.”

Andrea Mapes ’99
San Juan Bautista

VALUED DEGREE

I read with great dismay the letter from Joseph Roeper (history 1996) in the summer 2005 edition of UC Davis Magazine (“Dream Deferred”). I, too, am a history graduate of UC Davis (history 1975), and while I have never used my history degree, that was my choice. I have found that the lessons learned at Davis (personal responsibility, study habits, setting and completing goals, communications skills and on and on) have served me well in almost 30 years of public service.

I am sorry that Joseph is dissatisfied with his degree. I have found that wherever I go and to whomever I speak of Davis, they are impressed with the quality of the education that is provided there.

Joseph, I am hoping that soon you will find a new path that will allow you to fully use the good lessons that I am sure you learned at Davis.

Jeff McCoy ’75
Las Vegas, Nev.

Editor’s note: Mr. Roeper’s letter expressing his dissatisfaction with his UC Davis education clearly struck a nerve with our readers. We received a record number of letters in response, with the majority of the writers sharing their positive experiences and offering words sometimes harsh, sometimes encouraging for Mr. Roeper.

MISSING MAJORS

While I found the article “Talkin’ Bout Their Generation” [summer 2005] an engaging read, I also found myself wondering whether another thing that the Millennial Generation has in common is a lack of interest in science and engineering. Not one of the students interviewed for this article had a science or engineering major. In fact, the only mention of science and engineering comes in the second-to-last paragraph of the article, in a throwaway comment that “many students, particularly science and engineering majors, have clear ideas about what they want to do after graduating and succeed in finding jobs or getting into graduate school.”

My assumption is that this omission does not reflect the composition of the 2005 graduating class, but rather reflects a myopic editorial slant or a problem in the way contacts were ferreted out for this story. I chose to attend UC Davis in 1985 because of its clear commitment to science education and the diversity of science disciplines available to study on campus. I doubt that UC Davis’ focus has changed, but articles like this give me pause.

Deborah (Williams) Ausman ’90

Editor’s note: Science and engineering students were interviewed for the story and their comments informed the piece, but they were not directly quoted or named. The students who were featured were picked primarily for their comments and characteristics related to the millennial attributes we were discussing and for a diversity of attributes unrelated to majors. But, you’re right. Ideally we should have balanced our student selection according to academic interests as well.

UNREWARDED LOYALTY

I read (and re-read) your recent UC Davis Magazine article on page 23 “Where’s My Job?” [summer ’05]. How true that companies aren’t looking to make long-term commitments with their employees anymore.

Graduating from UC Davis in 1976 with my BSEE, I’d set my career goals to get a job with HP. I was thrilled to get my job offer during that last year at school and fully expected to work for HP my entire career.

In the ’70s, HP was just an amazing place to work. They treated their employees like family, helped groom me in the “HP Way” to become a contributing member of the company. About two years ago, after 27 years of service with HP and Agilent, I found myself in a new job, with an out-of-state manager who couldn’t fund the work he’d asked me to do two months earlier. I was a “participant” in the sixth round of layoffs in Sonoma County and among the two-thirds of 6,000 people who’d lost their jobs.

Some thoughts have nagged me since: I was too loyal to a company that was no longer loyal to its employees. Since 1998, I’d spent too many M–F hours and weekends working and should have dedicated that extra time to my family. I did, however, exit with a good set of job skills, visions and passion for the product development areas I can contribute to in other companies. I’ve come to believe that college students should start as early as possible to develop a set of interests in their fields of education based on internships or any practical experience they can get, be loyal to their career passion, but be skeptical about committing long-term loyalty to an employer.

Greg Stone ’76