Volume 20
Number 2
Winter 2003
Number 2
Winter 2003
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Volume 20
Number 2 Winter 2003 |
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Departments: Campus Views | Letters | News & Notes | Parents | Class Notes | Aggies Remember | End Notes
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FRESHMAN GOODBYEIn our community of friends and associates we know of at least two dozen students who headed off, with great fanfare, to their freshman year at a UC school, USC or some East Coast school, yet at Christmas they had moved back home. Yes, it’s a small sample but the phenomenon can’t be limited to just our town. We wonder what is the percentage of UC freshmen who experience the same scenario? At the birth of our children, we strongly suspected that we would be unable to afford four years of college; a more attractive alternative would be two years at a junior college—we had followed the same path—and the final two years at UC (as UC Davis grads no other campus was ever considered). Yes, this is a plug for California’s junior colleges because of all those failed freshmen, plus our children were well prepared both academically and socially when they enrolled as transfer students at UC. Geoff and Marilyn Godfrey ’71 The freshman year away from home is not an easy one—and not for everyone. Starting out at a community college might be the answer for some. Recognizing that, UC Davis has implemented a transfer admission agreement program with more than 80 community colleges in the state. Community college students who participate—sign and fulfill a contract by completing specified courses with the required grade-point average—are guaranteed a spot at UC Davis in the major they want for the term they’ve chosen. Transfer students—nearly a third of UC Davis’ entering undergraduate class this fall—are an important part of our student body.
[Re: “Parents as Partners,” fall ’02 issue, page 14.] The article is full of pejorative adjectives and descriptions of the role of parents in the education of their adult children. If accurate, which I question, it is clear that the UC Davis administration and staff do not value the role of parents in the higher education of their children. My children set the boundaries of our relationship, admittedly letting us know when they can function just fine without us. Hopefully UC Davis will value the role of parents in their children’s lives as much as they value receiving our annual endowment check. Richard Simpson “Parents As Partners” discussed a very real increase in the level of involvement of parents in the lives of their college-age children and noted that inappropriate involvement can prevent students from learning to solve their own problems. But the majority of the article discussed the benefits of that involvement and a number of new initiatives the campus has launched to help parents stay informed and connected to their UC Davis students. Thanks for the wonderful article about parental involvement in the life of college students. I have often contrasted my own parents’ “hands off” attitude to the approach that my husband and I have taken; we have been much more involved all along the way. I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that my parents had three of us to worry about and we only have one child! We dropped our daughter off last week and tore ourselves away from her. Without a doubt, I am having a harder time than she is! But I am working hard to achieve the right balance of concern and involvement. Your article helped by acknowledging that I am not alone in my struggle! Melissa Janssen
INCOMPLETE STORYNews & Notes (fall 2002) states: “a study shows no conclusive evidence that [welfare] reform actually helped in one intended area. . . . Cooperative Extension specialists found that the average difference in [school] attendance of students receiving welfare compared with other students was less than 1 percent.” But surely success must be determined by comparing welfare recipient attendance before and after the reform, not merely by comparing welfare recipient attendance to others. Indeed, ensuring welfare recipients’ attendance matches that of others is a good start to welfare reform/elimination. Craig Erb ’64 Our item about that study was too brief to fully report on its findings, and the percentage we noted was a better indicator of another of the study’s findings: that students from welfare families, as a group, do not have excessive absences. The study went on to state that there was no conclusive evidence that the reform program improved attendance rates of those students, noting the few tests that found a statistically significant increase in attendance showed “very marginal” gains at best. The complete report is on the Web at www.ccp.ucdavis.edu under “Publications.”
CORRECTIONThe story on page 43 of the fall 2002 issue that mentions the fellowship being named for veterinary medicine professor Peter C. Kennedy should have said the endowment is being created “in his honor” rather than “in his memory,” and Bill Spangler, Ph.D. ’75, was misquoted. He actually said: “Peter Kennedy is a true pioneer in veterinary pathology.” Our sincere apologies for any confusion or concern these mistakes may have caused.
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