EmeriTimes

Published by the UCD Emeriti Association
Volume 11, Number 2                                                                                     Winter 2001

MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Noon Emeriti/Retiree Luncheons
            Thurs., Feb 8, 2001    (University Club)     Katalin Gothard         "How I Came to Davis"

NOTE: Noon buffet luncheons will no longer be served at the University Club. 
Guests are invited to bring a brown bag lunch (at 11:30). 
 Complimentary coffee, tea, and cookies will be available.  
Programs are 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Reserved parking is located near the entrance of the University Club.  Please display your parking pass.

FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK:
   PAUL STUMPF

I would like to review briefly the results of the fall 2000 meeting of Council of UC Emeriti Association (CUCEA) at UCB, which both John Owens and I attended.  Two important items highlighted the meeting.  The first pertains to a proposal to effect an ad hoc COLA to bring UCRS pensions up to 85% of their original value.  If adopted by The Regents, this change would affect all UCRS annuitants that retired on July 1, 1985 or earlier.  The Regents decided to study this proposal before taking any immediate action but will come to a decision at its January 2001 meeting.

The second item pertains to the possible funding on the Davis campus of a Health Care Facilitator Program, which has been very successful on both the UCB and the UCI campuses for the past two years.  We have vigorously supported this proposal with much support from both Provost Bob Grey and Associate Vice Chancellor Dennis Shimek.  At the fall meeting Judy Boyette, Associate Vice-President of Human Resources and Benefits assured both John and me that this excellent program will be funded in the 2001 University budget request.  Shimek has now affirmed that The Regents have approved this item in the 2001 budget.  As this program develops on the Davis campus, we will keep you informed.

I have again received a request from the Panunzio Committee for nominations for the 2000-2001 Award.  As you know Emmy Werner received this award the previous year.  If you are aware of a noteworthy emeritus/a who has carried out unusually meritorious work since his/her retirement in the humanities or social sciences, please contact me and provide me with detailed reasons for your nomination.  I have already contacted the appropriate Deans for their input.

Finally, the UCD history project is in its final stages of review and search has begun to seek an established publisher for the book.  Roger Romani has revised a brochure, which summarizes much information for emeriti/ae members, and this brochure after careful review should be available this spring.  Incidentally, I met again with the Chancellor and his staff this past November and had a successful opportunity of extolling the importance of UCDEA.

UCDEA NOMINATING COMMITTEE
2001-2002
The members of the nominating committee for UCDEA Officers for the coming year have been appointed prior to the election of officers at the Spring meeting of the Emeriti Association in May. They are Tom Allen, Chair; Ed Costantini; Jim DeVay; William Garrett; Richard Harris; Doug Minnis; Charles Nash and Frances Zeman.   
Association members are urged to make suggestions of names to be considered to any member of this committee.

JOHN OWENS INTRODUCES THE NEW EMERITI WEB PAGE
We now have a UCD Emeriti Association Web page up and running on the Internet. Its URL or Internet address is: http://emeritiassociation.ucdavis.edu (emeritiassociation is one word and it can be written in either upper or lower case.)  Members can access the Web page by first connecting to the Internet through the UCD line or through any other Internet Service Provider to which they may subscribe. Once on the Internet,open whatever browser you choose (e.g. Netscape or Microsoft Explorer) and in address box type the Web page address – emeritiassociation .ucdavis.edu. This will open up the first page of the Web site and from here can explore the rest of the site.

We strongly urge members to log on to the Internet and check out the Web page. We have made every effort to include useful and relevant information about the Emeriti Association on the site, but we need your input on how we might improve it and also any suggestions you might have for additional materials that can be added to the page. A Web page is of little value to the Emeriti Association if our members don’t access it, but usage, of course, depends on whether the site contains information that members find helpful. So we need your help! You can email me at jrowens@ucdavis.edu or phone me at (530) 753-3612 and let me have your suggestions on how we might improve the web site by making it more relevant to the membership.

The Web page is divided into four major sections: Organization, Members, News and Events, and Links. Under Organization we have included the Bylaws of the Association, as revised 3/13/00, members and phone numbers of the Executive Committee, and a list of all members of standing committees. The Members section has a copy of organization’s handbook that contains a statement of organization’s purpose and objectives, a list of privileges and benefits of members, etc. (the handbook is being revised and we will include the new version when it is ready). There is a directory of life and regular members with the date of the latest dues payment (check to see if your dues are paid). News and Events has a calendar of upcoming events with information on the schedule of emeriti luncheons, and the time and place of general meetings. There is also a copy of the latest EmeriTimes, and some back issues.  Finally, the Links sections provides electronic links to other Internet sites, just click and site will open to the local benefits office, the statewide benefits office, Health Rights Hotline etc.

It is a job to keep the Web site current, and we need someone who knows HTML, which is the language used to update and edit the site. Any volunteers can call John Owens.

EMERITI SENATE COMMITTEE REPORT:
  CHARLES NASH
In response to a recent request from a retired faculty member, the Senate Emeriti Committee has invited the Graduate Council to re-examine the set of “Guidelines for Membership in Graduate Groups” which was approved by that body in May, 1998.

These guidelines did not specifically list “Professor Emeritus” or “Research Professor”among the Academic Senate titles qualifying for membership in graduate groups. This has made at least one graduate group on campus reluctant to elect these individuals to membership in the program.

The Research Professor title has been defined in an earlier Senate directive (98-006) as “appropriate for those emeriti who will be conducting extramurally funded research….. (and)  may be used when applying for contracts and grants in lieu of “Professor Emeritus” or “Professor recalled to active duty” titles.

The omission of these titles in the Graduate Group Guidelines may have been an oversight, but the group has now been alerted to these omissions.

HISTORY PROJECT UPDATE:
  DICK GABLE
Ann Scheuring, the author of "Abundant Harvest: The History of the University of California, Davis" completed a draft last September.  Since then a number of persons read the entire manuscript or parts of it.  She has now completed making revisions which she felt were necessary on the basis of the comments of theses reviewers.

Ann and I have identified several possible publishers and have talked to them.  We look forward to receiving their written suggestions about how they would proceed to publish the manuscript, how much that would cost, and how long it would take.  We would like to have the book in print several months before next Christmas.  They all feel that is possible, but we would have to have selected the publisher by the end of January or mid-February.  The manuscript has more than 400 computer-script, double-spaced pages and sidebars.  The book will also contain upwards of 200 pictures.  Publication costs may be higher than we first anticipated.

We are also exploring how we can publicize the completed book in addition to having articles and/or ads in "UC Davis."  Also, we will discuss with the manager of UC Davis Bookstore the possibility of using the Bookstore as the distributor of the book.

IN MEMORIUM
Howard Gregor, professor emeritus, Geography, November, 2000.
George Kagiwada, former director of the Asian American Program, October, 2000.
Ray Krone, professor emeritus, Civil Engineering, December, 2000.
Joseph Lyons, professor emeritus, Psychology, December 2000.
Morgan B. Sherwood, professor emeritus of History, October, 2000.
J. Herbert Snyder, professor emeritus, Agricultural Economics, November, 2000.

SUMMARY REPORT AND UPDATE ON VIDEOTAPING ORAL HISTORIES:
   JOHN GOSS AND VERNE MENDEL
Video taping began in 1993. Since then 134 Master tapes have be produced and are on file in the Reserve Services, Special Collection, UCD Main Library. The entire activity has been and still is a voluntary effort of UCD Emeriti Association members. Each tape is slightly less than an hour. Arranging for the participants, equipment set-up, recording, editing and making copies require, usually, about two days to complete. A yearly count of the tapes is: 1993-9, 1994-14, 1995-25, 1996-20, 1997-5, 1998-17, 1999-24, 2000-20 with 4 more being edited and copied. The Master tapes are shown on alternate  Thursday evenings at 8 PM by local Channel 5. Please consult the Weekly TV Schedule for the Thursday and the interviewee.

Five people are now actively engaged in the project. Alan Stambusky (Professor Emeritus, Dramatic Art) is the Videographer, James DeVay (Professor Emeritus, Plant Pathology) arranges the interviews, Robert Leighton (Professor Emeritus, Veterinary Surgery) operates the camera and sound equipment, Verne Mendel (Professor Emeritus, Animal Physiology) serves as videographer and does all the tape editing and copying, John Goss (Professor Emeritus, Agricultural and Biological Engineering), formats, prints and labels the tapes and is the current chair of the Video Records Committee.

The Video Records volunteers moved into new quarters in October. The newly remodeled room is in the basement of Mrak Hall across the hall from the duplicating facility. The borrowed space and equipment from Environmental Horticulture are no longer needed. All Video Records activities are done in this secure  space.  The room number has not been posted. "Emeriti Center" is on an 8 1/2 X 11 sheet of paper taped to the hall side of the door, which is locked when nobody is in the room. The volunteers are thankful for the Association and Academic Senate Office.

John R Benfield, professor emeritus of Surgery, was the honored guest of the European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery at its meeting in Frankfurt, Germany in October. His lecture was on “The Language of Science”.
Eric Bradford, professor emeritus, Animal Science, was presented the 2000 Fellow Award (At Large Category) by the American Society of Animal Science.
Warren Johnston, professor emeritus, Agriculture and Resource Economics, recently was interviewed on KALW-91.7 (National Public Radio) in San Francisco on the program “City Visions” in a program discussing California farming and how to ensure its sustainability in the future.
Harry Laidlaw, professor emeritus of Entomology (and informally considered the Dean of Apiculture), was honored at a dedication ceremony in November at the renaming of the Bee Biology Facility to the Harry B. Laidlaw, Jr. Honey Bee Research.
John Lofland, professor emeritus of Sociology, has had published his latest book, "Davis California, 1910s to 1940s."
Philip Palmer, professor emeritus of Radiology, received a President's Award at the Radiological Society of North America annual meeting in November.
Calvin Qualset, professor emeritus, Agronomy & Range Science, and Genetic Resources Conservation Program director, was appointed to serve on the U.S. national committee for the International Union of Biological Sciences by the National Academy of Sciences Office of International Affairs.
Emmy Werner, Professor emerita, Human & Community Development, and Harry Walker, lecturer emeritus, LAWR, were among the five retired faculty and staff honored at a ceremony marking completion of The Colleges at LaRue, the newest residential complex on campus.  Each section (or "pod") is named for a faculty or staff who have contributed to the undergraduate life of UC Davis students.

REGENTS SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE REQUESTS HELP FROM EMERITI/AE
The Regents Scholarship Committee is soliciting volunteer help form emeriti/ae for evaluating applications for these scholarships.  The applications come from a pre-selected group of outstanding high school students who are required to submit an essay along with other information to supplement their general application to the University.  The Regents Scholarship Committee reads this material, including essays, and ultimately determines which of the several hundred applicants will be awarded the approximately 70 scholarships.

Reading the application material is rewarding to the reader, and constitutes an important service to the campus.  Offering Regents Scholarships constitutes an important means of recruiting outstanding students to the campus.  This year a particularly large number of applications is anticipated, and the committee is looking for emeriti;/ae who might be willing to assist in evaluating the applications.  This would entail about 30 hours of work during the period of February 22 to March 12.  The applications will be bundled in sets of 25, and can be picked up at the Scholarship office, reviewed in one's home or office, and then returned.  Each volunteer we would be required to read several such packets.

The community would be most grateful for any assistance from the community of emeritus faculty.  Those who volunteer would not need to become members of the Regents Scholarship Committee, and would not be required to attend committee meetings during the year.  However, they would be asked to attend an information meeting shortly before the work begins in February in order to learn more about the evaluation procedures.

For further information or to volunteer, contact Richard Curley at 752-2660 or e-mail rtcurley@ucdavis.edu

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES FOR EMERITI TO SERVE THE CAMPUS
As the number of undergraduates on campus swells each fall for the next several years, the need for experienced faculty wisdom in the units that serve them increases.  From helping them prepare for Education Abroad programs to developing and enhancing residential-college style opportunities, there will continue to be multiple ways emeriti can assist campus efforts to provide this generation of undergraduates with the kind of quality experience long associated with UC Davis.  If you would like to be a part of these efforts or just learn more, please get in touch with Vice-Provost for Undergraduate Studies Patricia A. Turner at 752-6068 or paturner@ucdavis.edu.

(Full account of trip is available on emeriti web page at http:// emeritiassociation.ucdavis.edu/communications.html.)

Paul Stumpf and his wife Ruth visited Cuba this past summer, where they joined a People to People Program entitled “Agriculture and Agribusiness Leaders Delegation to the Republic of Cuba” under the leadership of Ken Farrell, formerly vice president of the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources of UC. Of the group of 52 attendees, 37 were from California. The one-week trip provided a close-up of Cuba: its geography, people and economy, as well as a more in depth view of agricultural related aspects.

An initial briefing at the Ministry of Agriculture gave the history of agriculture in Cuba, where, prior to the revolution in 1960, only 16% of the land was owned by individual farmers, with the rest in large estates (many controlled by US owned sugar companies). After 1960, the lands were organized into a system of centralized state farms, which were viable until the collapse of the Soviet Union and the cessation of importation of machinery, gas and fertilizers. The agricultural “distress” was somewhat relieved  in 1993, when Cuba liberalized opportunities for farmers to own and raise crops, although the farmers were still directed to sell all their production to the state at prices fixed by the state. The major crop remains as sugar cane with only 12% of the land dedicated to food crops most of which are exported . This information was followed during their stay by direct observation of ranches raising sugar cane and citrus, as well as one where water buffalo milk was processed into mozzarella cheese.

In addition to traveling and observing various sites and aspects of current agriculture in the country, the group received a “cultural” tour of Havana and trips to Las Terrazas Complex (a model village surrounded by nature trails and a rural atmosphere); to Cienfuegas (where the early action of the revolution started); to the old city of Trinidad founded in 1514; and  finally to the astounding tourist city of Varadero, where they stayed at the palatial Melia Las Americas Hotel with its superb 18 hole golf course. 

In summary, Paul has stated that “we are very delighted to have participated in the trip. Cuba, geographically, is a lovely country. Its people, so far as we could ascertain, were polite and friendly. All our luncheons were in restaurants that served good food and provided the typical roving Cuban bands to regale us with music. All these establishments were state owned. In traveling by bus we saw many villages that were in need of repair such as paint, etc.  The roads were paved, but the main highways were poorly striped with hardly any traffic for obvious reasons… If one wanted to travel to the countryside, a knowledge of Spanish was mandatory”. He also adds that there is a clear differential between the “haves” who work in the tourist trade and the “have-nots” who work for the state and the farm cooperatives, and there is food rationing. However, the people are 96% literate and their general health is evidenced by a low infant death rate, at 12/1000 births vs. 9/1000 births in the US.

Paul adds that Elderhostel is now offering  several new programs in Cuba, and highly recommends considering them for your own travels.

UCD LIBRARY AIDS VISUALLY IMPAIRED
The main library on campus and several of the branch libraries will have adaptive learning equipment available by February 1, 2001 to aid the visually impaired.

Video magnifiers are, or will be, available in Shields Library in the Main Reading Room behind the information desk; in the Health Sciences Library in the Audio Visual Room next to the circulation desk; and in the Medical Center Library in the Computer Lab.

Text enlargement software (Zoom Text) will be available in Shields Library, in the Health Sciences Library and in the Physical Sciences and Engineering.

EXECUTIVE & STANDING COMMITTEES 2000-01
President                                                 Paul Stumpf
Vice President                                         John Owens
Secretary                                                           Charles Judson
Treasurer                                                                Harry Colvin
Past President                                         Paul Stumpf
Members-at-Large:                               Charles Nash
                                                             Jerry Kaneko

 Committee Chairs:
Committee on Committees                         Tom Allen
Program and Agenda                           Charles Hess
University and Public Relations          Roger Romani
Emeriti Welfare                                   Richard Gable
Video Records                                        John Goss
History                                                Richard Gable
Editor: EmeriTimes                       Ethel Sassenrath 

Ex officio:
Chair Senate Emeriti Committee         Charles Nash
Academic Senate Staff Assistant          Norma Rice
(530) 752-2233 – phone; (530) 752-9690 – fax
nkrice@ucdavis.edu – e-mail 

COUNCIL OF UC EMERITI ASSOCIATIONS (CUCEA) OFFICERS – 2000-2001
Chair:                                       Sheldon Messinger (B)
Chair Elect:                              Julian Feldman (I)
Secretary:                               Charles E. Berst (LA)
Treasurer:                               Leon M. Schwartz (I)
Information Officer:                 Philip Levine (LA)
Historian:                                 Ralph K. Nair (SB)
Honorary Member:                  Moses A. Greenfield (LA)
Archivist:                                 Norah E. Jones (LA)
Past Chair:                               Marjorie Caserio  (SD)

 C/o Academic Senate
  University of California
  One Shields Avenue
  Davis, CA 95616-8502
  I.D. #0037