UC Davis Magazine, Winter 2002: Letters

COUGAR CONCERNS

I read, with some trepidation, Sylvia Wright’s article “In Lion Country” (fall 2001). Since 1994, this was the first time I’ve been able to get through even a writing about mountain lions.

Ms. Wright listed the dramatic event of Iris Kenna’s death by a cougar attack in December of 1994. She also stated this was the first person killed in California by a cougar in 80 years. Sadly, that distinction is Barbara Barsalou Schoener’s.

Barb was mentioned in the article only in passing. She was killed while running in the foothills near Sacramento nearly eight months before Iris Kenna was attacked. Perhaps, more interesting to some of your readers, Barb was a UCD alumna, class of 1975. She was a sociology major and worked for the state of California, both before and after she graduated. She made significant contributions to people’s lives and eventually projected that service into her own business in Sacramento.

Sometimes in your life you meet people who are “large souls,” a privilege to know. Barbara Barsalou was one of those people. The incredible waste of her passing in this way still staggers my mind. The rippling effects of her death still go through me, her parents, brother and sister. I never knew her husband or children. I can’t imagine the devastation to them. It was so horrific and, at the same time, ludicrous to think of her being killed in a way that would have never been anticipated. It angers me in a way that is impossible to describe.

I consider myself a conservationist. I have always been in favor of the natural balance of predator and prey. The lion studies alluded to in this article just reinforce what I have observed over the last seven years. The deer population is out of control in this state. With that comes the lion population increase we’ve seen. I have even started to see lions here in the hills of the East Bay area. There is a huge deer population here as well. The residents feed the deer and do nothing to control their numbers. They can’t be hunted so near the city. As the deer population naturally cycles into decline, it is only a matter of time before people will be attacked and killed once again by lions. I predict it will be a short time.

I’m not a deer hunter, nor a lion hunter. This situation continues to be mismanaged by the Department of Fish and Game. The population of both deer and lions needs to be reduced and managed at a level that allows people to safely recreate. It is way out of balance. If they can’t get it back under control, more of our best people will die.

Ric Boyd ’80
Lafayette

ENGINEERING ADVOCATE

As a UCD graduate, I still care a lot about the Davis campus where I spent my best time. UC Davis Magazine is a very important source for me to get updated information.

Our campus is proud of its diverse academic and cultural background, and I think this should be reflected in UC Davis Magazine. However, I found that most of the articles are about bioscience and nature while very few are about engineering. I know that Davis has a tradition of agriculture and bioscience, but the engineering college is expanding fast in Davis and engineering is playing a more and more important role in people’s lives. Engineering also has a great potential for the future growth of Davis, which is close to the Silicon Valley. I would like to see more reports about our engineering programs.

Xiaodong Wang ’99
San Jose

AFROCENTRICITY—ANOTHER VIEW

I read with interest the commentary by Clarence Walker on “Afrocentrism: A Ruptured Reality” (fall 2001). Two years ago I gave a lecture at the UC Davis campus on afrocentricity, attended by an overflow crowd, but alas, Clarence Walker must not have been in the house. My three books on afrocentricity, The Afrocentric Theory (Temple University Press) Kemet, Afrocentricity and Knowledge (Africa World Press) and Malcolm X as Cultural Hero and Other Afrocentric Essays (Africa World Press), have clearly defined afrocentricity, and nowhere is it stated that it seeks to build black “self esteem.” Nor is afrocentricity to be understood as a black version of eurocentricity. Whenever you have a particularism parading as a universal, you have the quest for hegemony; that may be eurocentricity but it has nothing to do with afrocentric ideas. Afrocentricity is about African agency and centeredness in our own historical processes and contexts, not even about specific data sets. Indeed, it is unfortunate that Professor Walker misses the principal contention of afrocentricity: that Africans have been taken off of our own terms culturally, politically, economically and psychologically. This was a historical process. There is no way to regain a sense of centeredness, to have a sense of the present, without understanding the past. Indeed the “usable present” is predicated upon a usable past. Furthermore, the study of ancient Egypt as an African civilization, something I was taught in history at UCLA, is a legitimate subject in African studies. Truly, Egypt is to Africa as Greece is to Europe.

Molefi Kete Asante
Professor, Temple University

ECONOMIC GAP

I was surprised and frustrated with the recent musings of Dr. Lindert in UC Davis Magazine (summer 2001). I think the obvious is often overlooked.

The middle class as well as family farms are disappearing, creating a growing economic gap, but not because of what he thinks. There are many contributing factors, but the two basic reasons for our troubles are taxes and regulations. From my experience as a part-time family farmer trying to stay financially solvent, let alone to get ahead, I would suggest the following: 1) Technology is not a cause for an economic gap—more often the biggest benefits are to the poor, in lower costs and items not even in existence just a few years ago, now available to everyone. When technology is not readily available, usually taxes and regulations are involved. 2) Union weakening is due to more independent workers, less manufacturing (taxes and regulations) and a history of corruption. 3) Immigration is not a problem or a cause, but illegal immigration is. 4) Competition of imports may be a problem, but not for his reasons. Again, imports are very competitive due to less regulation and taxes in other countries for comparable industries (or outright subsidies in many countries). 5) A very significant part of today’s untrained work force is the poorly educated (and increasing) majority of our K–12 students, who can’t read, write or compute basic math and lack civic and historical literacy (again regulations of the “Education” Code).

I have experienced these problems first hand as a government employee, a small farmer, a parent, a taxpayer and a consumer.

Paul S. Verdegaal ’76, M.S. ’91
Farm Advisor
UC Cooperative Extension

PEACE TREE

I was surprised, and pleased, to read the [article] in your summer 2001 magazine by Teri Bachman “Place of Peace.” I was surprised because it has been many years since I was involved with the planting of the “Tree of Peace,” and I wasn’t sure if current UCD students knew of its significance or even its existence.

In 1984, the Native American Student Union (NASU) worked with the professors of the Native American studies department and the UCD administration to organize the planting and blessing of the tree. We had as our honored guest Chief Jake Swamp and his wife, Judy, from Six Nations, New York, to offer the blessing for the “Tree of Peace.” The professors involved were Dave Risling, Jack Forbes, Sara Hutchinson and George Longfish. This event would not have been accomplished without their great support and guidance. Also involved was a tight-knit group of students, from a variety of backgrounds, all brought together through the NASU. The unity of these students helped greatly in making this tree-planting a success.

I was very fortunate to be a part of the NASU and Native American studies department, and my university experience was strongly enriched through this relationship. It was the unique blend of the professors and students that created this extended family. I am proud to see the Native American studies department still thriving today, better than ever.

Yvonne Becerra Tello ’85

LIVING HISTORY

In three short articles you made me feel ancient. One of my best memories was attending Dean Bainer’s talk about Cuba (“Namesakes,” fall 2001) at Hammersjold House hosted by Monty Reynolds (“In Memoriam”) in 1969 (the middle kingdom of Davis history). Of course all the mountain biking couples in the letters section didn’t help either.

Bryan Lawver ’69, Ph.D. ’82

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	Volume 19 Number 2 Winter 2002