MUSIC IN MONTANA

I saw in the winter 2006 issue a small report about the UC Davis band giving up its airplane seats so the football team could fly to a game at North Dakota State [“End Notes,” page 45].

There was one other nice effect of the band’s sacrifice. Some band members en route to Fargo stopped off for lunch at the Subway here in Dillon, Mont. My son, Alex, was there with other members of our high school football team, and he recognized the Aggie logo. He went over, introduced himself and said his dad (me) was a UC Davis alumnus. The band responded with a rendition of the Aggie fight song, using the tables for percussion. Alex told me he thought that was “really cool.”

There are at least three UC Davis alumni in Dillon, and while we don’t have enough for a chapter, it was “really cool” to know the Aggie band had passed by!

And it must have been good luck, too, because our high school football team (whose colors are also blue and gold) went on to win the Montana state championship! Thanks to the band for the good energy.

Jack de Golia ’74

Cycad garden honoring Ernest Gifford. (Photo by Tony Novelozo/Axiom)

WRONG GIFFORD

On page 10 [winter ’06 issue] in the caption for “Botanist Honored” (right), the name you gave was “Frank Gifford,” and instead it should have been “Ernest M. Gifford.” Frank Gifford was well known as a professional football player and announcer. Ernest M. Gifford did, however, have a football background as a high school football player and was offered a chance for a football scholarship. He, however, turned it down for an academic scholarship.

Roman Gankin, M.A. ’57

Mr. Gankin was the first, but certainly not the last, to spot our embarrassing slipup. Our apologies to Professor Gifford and our readers.

SPECIAL K BUILDING

Talk about deja vu. I was reading the Aggies Remember section of the fall 2005 issue (“Up a Wall”), and I realized that I was a resident of that same room the year before. When I moved into K Building it was one of the last all-male dorms on campus—it had an almost fraternity-like feel to it. There were juniors and seniors and even a few super seniors who had returned year after year to K Building, and it was known for being rowdy. That last year, there were many of us coming back for the next, but over the summer (when it was difficult to dispute) the Housing Authority sent a letter to our parents stating that we were not allowed to return—they were making the building co-ed.

It was good to hear that some of that rowdiness was carried on by our successors. I learned a lot living in K Building, about team building and group living and some things that I haven’t needed as much, like how to penny-lock a door or how to shoot a water balloon over 100 yards. It was also time well spent as a release from all the pressures that school was putting on us my sophomore year.

Matthew Ellis ’76
Ellisville, Mo.

HISTORIC HARVESTER

I’m surprised that a larger story wasn’t included for the naming of the UC-Blackwelder Tomato Harvester as a national American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers historical landmark [winter ’06 issue, page 11]. UC Davis has strong programs in agriculture, engineering and especially agricultural and biological systems engineering, and they should be highlighted! The development of the UC-Blackwelder by ag engineers in concert with UC Davis’ development of a mechanically harvestable tomato was a huge stride for the university, the society (ASABE) and our local tomato growers. Additionally, the Western Center for Ag Equipment was finally dedicated in front of a large group of appreciative folks from the ag equipment industry who have used the facility for trainings and meetings.

Carolyn Jones ’01

KATRINA AID

I am one of the 454 alumni of UC Davis who live in the Louisiana- Mississippi area (Alexandria, La., in my case). I was delighted to learn that 38 Katrina-displaced students found a temporary home at UC Davis [winter ’06 issue, page 6]. For years I have donated a small amount to the university, knowing full well that my own sons, who have all been raised in Louisiana, could never hope to attend my undergraduate alma mater. Like the proverbial bread cast upon the waters, it now becomes apparent that my contributions were not in vain. My thanks to UC Davis for the hospitality shown to the student evacuees from this area.

David J. Holcombe ’71

I enjoyed the story about UC Davis alumni and staff who responded to the needs after Katrina [winter ’06, page 6]. As one of those who volunteered with the American Red Cross, I was very pleased to work with Mr. Roy Pitts, a current UC Davis staffer and volunteer kitchen supervisor in the Biloxi, Miss., area. Roy’s organizational skills and tireless work helped his kitchen feed 7,500 meals a day to victims of the massive and widespread destruction. UC Davis alumni and staff can be proud of the many UC Davis volunteers who answered our nation’s needs. And those of us who went feel humbled and honored by the people we met.

Mark Parsons ’73
Berthoud, Colo.

CREATIONISM SUIT

I was outraged to see that a group of creationist extremists is now suing UC [winter ’06 issue, page 10]. It has always been my understanding that colleges and universities offer their program (which includes course requirements) and that potential students “shop around” to find a school they like. Many of my peers attended schools across the country at great expense because the schools closer to home didn’t suit their needs. These creationists can surely attend a religious college—many names come to mind—where the classes they took will be accepted. Nobody is denying them anything, and their lawsuits cause a waste of taxpayers’ dollars as schools spend their budget money to defend themselves.

Lindy Tillement ’79, M.A. ’99

ASIAN SMOKERS

In the winter UC Davis Magazine [page 7], Dr. Moon Chen states: “California’s new immigrants are targeted by the tobacco industry with the image that tobacco use is the essence of the ‘Western lifestyle.’” While there is no question tobacco companies spend billions advertising, the targeting of immigrants is a weighty accusation. I have yet to see any ads that might look like they target people of Asian heritage.

It would be worthwhile for Dr. Chen to state which companies do this targeting and what the ads look like. While there is little to recommend smoking cigarettes, it is my experience that smoking is a feature of many Asian cultures, just as it is very popular in Europe. In this light, it is not clear at all what, if any, effect advertising would have on these groups.

Curt Miller
Davis

Dr. Chen responds: While I could cite articles from the tobacco industry’s own papers that document their targeting the Asian community, I shall instead share data from a California Department of Health Services study comparing the relative number of billboards in various California racial/ethnic communities. In that study by Elder, Edwards and Conway, the largest proportion of billboards devoted to promoting tobacco is in Asian neighborhoods (13 percent), followed by those in African American neighborhoods (9.6 percent), next in Hispanic neighborhoods (4.7 percent) with the lowest proportion of billboards in white neighborhoods (1.1 percent).

GOVERNANCE GAP

[re: “Headed for a Bad Break,” winter 2006] The critical question raised by recognition of the condition of the Delta levees is, what structure of governance is currently in place for their administration?

The answer: There is none.

Management of resources requires long-term planning, adequate and continued funding, establishment of basic objectives and competent authority powered by the mandate to serve only the broad public interests and welfare.

Present water resource administration meets none of these criteria.

Governance is, and has been, provided by appointed officials without qualifications for office, whose brief tenure is limited to the tenure of the appointing authority, and termination may be made without cause.

The State Water Resources Control Board was subjected to judicial interference, lack of adequate funding, vetoes by the governor of critical decisions promulgated after years of preparation, subservience to private interests, lack of or ineffective enforcement of regulations and the miasma of staff unable to find any satisfaction in its achievements.

Recognizing the consequent vacuum of power, the export agencies, whose activities were the principal intended purpose of regulation, incredibly and without intervention, established resource regulation through agreements among themselves. Later, to facilitate regulation, an agency, CalFed, the membership of which is appointed officials of the export agencies, was established.

The people must recognize that their future lies in the quality of management of resources and act, through the initiative process, to secure governance that serves only the general public benefit. A governance needs to be established that will replace the ad hoc responses to the inevitable enormous costs of continuing levee failures and the inappropriate expenditure of public funds for improvements to private property.

Former State Sen. John A. Nejedly
Walnut Creek

FARM VS. FARM

Photo by Wayne Tilcock

When I saw the table of contents in the winter 2006 issue with the sub-line “…biggest upset in college football history, the Aggies beat Stanford,” I turned directly to page 21. I was so energized. This was for me the proof that the Aggies belong in Division I. While at UC Davis in the mid-late ’80s, I often wondered why the Aggies weren’t Division I. I wanted so much to get enthused about football and support my college team, but I just couldn’t get excited when there was no real drama to share with my football loving PAC-10 and Ivy League peers. But the drama is here now, and the Division I opportunity is really happening. It is about time! I enjoyed the concise, well-written article and the close chosen by Mike Robles—a wonderful reflection of Biggs’ character in the close, and perhaps it is true, the Aggies are not definitively the better team, but that night, they were clearly better, and this deserves to be recognized.

Simone Ramel

CORRECTION

Information included in Class Notes for Adam Barr ’05 in our winter ’06 edition was incorrect. Barr is currently working as the assistant program director at the Institute for Responsible Citizenship in Washington, D.C. The program is intended to foster principled leadership in 10 carefully selected minority male college students each summer. He will remain in this capacity before returning to academia to attend business school.