April 2006 - UCR Fiat Lux - University of California, Riverside

FIAT LUX
WINTER 2006
VOLUME XVI, NUMBER 1
UCR’s Natasha Raikhel
– Strong Foundations,
Inspiration and Success
Converging Journeys
to Latin American
Music Center
Unlocking UCR’s
Front Door
CHANCELLOR’S
MESSAGE
D
ear Friends,
Many of you have heard me
speak about my goals and vision
for the campus (available at
www.chancellor.ucr.edu/goals.html).
UCR has embarked on an
exciting new initiative that will
advance our efforts toward each
of these goals. In response to a
March 2005 report to the
Regents on California’s health
care and medical education
needs, we launched a Health
Sciences Initiative (HSI) with
three primary components: 1) A
Health Sciences Research
Institute (HSRI), which will
include biomedicine and healthrelated sciences, as well as the
psychology, delivery and
management of health and
health care policy; 2) A Center
for Medical Education,
providing opportunities for
third- and fourth-year students
to serve rotations as well as
medical residencies; and 3) A
School of Medicine, focusing on
serving the medically underserved in the large and growing
inland Southern California.
Why Here?
The 2005 report to the
Regents specified that any new
medical program should be
located in regions that are
medically underserved.
Currently, the Inland Empire
has the state’s lowest number of
physicians per 100,000, with a
projected shortfall of 1,140
physicians by 2015. Studies
show that 70 percent of physicians stay in the area where they
performed their residencies, and
that those who come from
underserved areas tend to return
there to practice. By offering
rotations and residencies in the
near term and, ultimately, a fullfledged school of medicine,
UCR can help to address this
critical need. Furthermore, our
diverse undergraduate student
population — ranked third in
the nation in diversity among
public doctoral universities —
provides a valuable pipeline to
attract more underrepresented
minorities to medicine. This is a
critical need, as only 6 percent
of California’s physicians are
Hispanic and 4 percent are
African-American.
Why Now?
UCR recognizes the health
care needs of our state and
region and has been planning
for more than two years. We are
building on a considerable base
of assets, including the
UCR/UCLA Thomas Haider
Biomedical Sciences Program,
which provides the first two
years of medical school here at
UCR and the following two at
UCLA. In addition, we have
more than 100 faculty members
conducting research in healthrelated fields, with about 35 new
faculty positions committed by
2010. If successful, a new UCR
School of Medicine would be
the first in the western United
States in the 21st century.
Why Not?
This is a tremendous opportunity for UCR to take the lead
in serving the medically underserved; increasing the number
of physicians; training a highly
skilled workforce, including
underrepresented groups, for
health-related careers; and
partnering with community
medical centers, hospitals and
schools. We can help boost the
economy of the entire region
while addressing diseases that
particularly afflict the area’s
population, helping the transition
to a knowledge-based economy,
and attracting or encouraging
high-tech start-up companies.
As our plans unfold, you will
be hearing much more about
this historic endeavor.
Chancellor France A. Córdova
Winter 2006
Volume XVI, Number 1
FIAT LUX
Publishers
William G. Boldt
Marcia McQuern
Managing Editor
Kim Lane
Writers
Celeste Durant
Ricardo Duran
Ross French
Joan Kite
Kim Lane
Kris Lovekin
Litty Mathew
Iqbal Pittalwala
Laurie Williams
WINTER 2006
VOLUME XVI, NUMBER 1
Fiat Lux, Latin for “Let there be light,” is the motto of the University of California. It is also an ancient biblical reference that
announces the coming of light into the world and, with it, knowledge, the power of perception and the hope for wisdom.
f i a t l u x . u c r. e d u
F e a t u r i n g
Contributors
David Chang
Margene Mastin-Schepps
Olivia Rivera
Denise Stadelbacher
Editorial Assistants
Andrew Karl
Anh Luong
Art Director
Dan Chavez
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Design and Illustration
Brad Rowe
Photographers
Matt Brown
John Coleman
Michael Elderman
Steve Walag
Webmasters
Derk Adams
Dawn Saenz
Distribution
Bonnie Mediano
Fiat Lux is published by the Office of Marketing
and Media Relations, University of California,
Riverside and it is distributed free to the
University community. Editorial offices: A-140
Highlander Hall, University of California,
Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, telephone (951)
827-6397. Unless otherwise indicated, text may
be reprinted without permission. Please credit
Fiat Lux, University of California, Riverside.
Alumni and Constituent Relations,
Kyle D. Hoffman, assistant vice chancellor,
A-110 Highlander Hall, University of California,
Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521,
(951) 827-4511, (800) 426-ALUM, or
e-mail: ucralum@ucr.edu
Web site: www.alumni.ucr.edu
Fiat Lux ISSN (1056-4276) is published four
times a year: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall
by the University of California, Riverside,
Riverside, CA 92521-0155.
10
12
Converging Journeys: Four
faculty take different paths
on their way to the
creation of UCR’s unique
Center for Iberian and
Latin American Music.
After decades of planning,
UCR holds the key to
unlock the campus’s front
door – the Alumi and
Visitor’s Center.
14
19
The Osher Lifelong
Learning Institute provides
the opportunity to take
educational expeditions.
“If You Believe in
Yourself, You Can
Achieve Whatever
You Desire.”
22
Geeks in Love — It was
chemistry for two former
UCR students who fell in
love.
UCR baseball players take
time out from the minor
leagues to finish up their
education.
D e p a r t m e n t s
Periodicals postage rates paid at Riverside, CA.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Fiat Lux,
Subscription Services (0063), A-252 Highlander
Hall, Riverside, CA 92521-0149.
In accordance with applicable federal laws and
University policy, the University of California
does not discriminate in any of its policies,
procedures or practices on the basis of race,
color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation,
age, or handicap. Inquiries regarding the
University’s equal opportunity policies may be
directed to the Affirmative Action Office, (951)
827-5604.
20
Bookshelf
24
Class Notes
30
31
Alumni
Center section:
Calendar – A roundup of
what’s happening at UCR
In Memoriam
During a visit to the Plymouth Tower Retirement
Community in Riverside, Dance Gluck Fellow Sue
Roginski introduced the residents to simple
breathing exercises, movement warm-ups and
meditation. She ended the visit with a performance. Roginski’s project is funded by UCR’s
Gluck Fellows Program of the Arts, which is
designed to bring the arts into the community.
UC Riverside alumnus Richard Schrock, a
co-recipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize in
chemistry, was awarded the UCR
Chancellor’s Medal Jan. 25. Schrock, third
from left, is pictured with Sang-Hee Lee,
assistant professor of anthropology, Sharon
Walker, assistant professor of chemical and
environmental engineering and
Christopher Reed, distinguished professor
of chemistry during the Chancellor’s
Distinguished Lecture Series faculty panel.
Photo by Michael Elderman
The UCR Libraries dedicated the Western Region
Tuskegee Airmen Archive in February. The archive will
serve as a central location for the Tuskegee Airmen
and Airwomen – the first black pilots trained for
combat during World War II – to deposit
photographs, posters, diaries, oral history, petitions,
letters and personal papers, honors and awards to be
preserved and to make the resources accessible to
scholars, researchers and families of the Airmen.
The Physical Sciences I
Building, UCR’s newest
state-of-the-art research
facility, has opened.
Located on the corner
of Big Springs Road and
East Campus Drive, the
$50 million facility
houses the Department
of Chemistry and
contains office space,
research laboratories
and an instrumentation
facility.
CAMPUSWATCH
New Institute Will Offer Policy Makers
Glimpses into the Environmental Future
The Environmental Research Institute distills
information from various sources to allow officials to
preview the results of their decisions.
Policy makers in Southern California have
a new tool to show how their decisions affect
complex and important environmental issues.
UC Riverside has created the
Environmental Research Institute (ERI), an
umbrella organization that brings together
several of the campus’s top research centers to
provide a comprehensive approach to
addressing the nation’s air quality, water
resources, transportation, energy and endangered species issues.
The Environmental Research Institute
merges the expertise of UCR’s Center for
Conservation Biology, the College of
Engineering-Center for Environmental
Research and Technology (CE-CERT), the Air
Pollution Research Center, the Center for
Water Resources and the Edward J. Blakely
Center for Sustainable Suburban Development.
“The research done at these centers represents a unique set of skills in the areas of
technology, energy and applied research that
are unmatched anywhere else in the world,”
said ERI director Joseph Norbeck, who previously directed CE-CERT and is the Yeager
Families Professor of Environmental
Engineering. “We want this institute to serve as
a national model.”
Norbeck is overseeing the efforts to use
computer modeling to offer policy makers
alternative visions of how their decisions will
affect the complex web of environmental
systems in which we live.
The newly formed Integrated Modeling
Center (IMC), which is located at both the
campus in Riverside and at UCR’s satellite
campus in Palm Desert, will serve as the
institute’s hub. The IMC is now beginning to
collect and analyze data from the Center for
Conservation Biology, the Air Pollution
Research Center and CE-CERT.
The IMC is also collecting information from
regional, county, state and federal governments.
Initially, the institute will focus on issues
related to the Coachella Valley, the fastestgrowing area in the state and one of the
fastest-growing in the nation.
“The Coachella Valley provides us with a
unique setting in which to launch this
initiative because it is an area that exemplifies
most of the environmental and growth
problems that are being faced in other rapidly
developing regions in our nation,” said
Norbeck. “It is small enough to allow us to
work on the holistic approach to our research
but big enough to test our modeling capacity.”
A wide array of UCR faculty will provide
guidance to the institute, which will fulfill the
honest broker role that UCR has long played
in the region.
“We are not going to dictate policy but we
hope to provide those who do make the
decisions with the tools and information they
need to understand how one area of environmental policy can affect other areas of
environmental policy,” Norbeck said. “It is a
way to make practical use of existing research
on our air, our water, our energy consumption
and our growth and development.”
UCR Student Reaches Finals in
Prestigious Rhodes Scholarship Selection
Although the triple major failed to win the prestigious scholarship, his
impressive student resume bodes well for his future.
By Ricardo Duran
How do you stand out in a
family of achievers?
Landing a Rhodes
Scholarship might do it.
Sean Kaloostian, a fourthyear triple major in psychology,
sociology and biological
sciences came tantalizingly
close. He reached the final
selection round for one of 32
Rhodes Scholarships offered to
U.S. college students for 2006,
but failed to secure it.
Sean Kaloostian
Recipients of the prestigious
Rhodes scholarship are selected
on the basis of high academic
achievement, personal integrity,
leadership potential and physical
vigor, among other attributes.
The scholarship covers two or
three years of study at the
University of Oxford in England.
Even making the list of finalists
for the highly competitive award
is impressive. As one of the 16
strongest applicants in California,
he was chosen for an interview
with the state’s selection
committee. Nationally, there were 903 applicants from 333 colleges and universities. With
both his parents trained physicians and two
older siblings either graduates of or in the
UCR/UCLA Thomas Haider Program in
Biomedical Sciences, expectations have always
been high.
“I’ve always tried to surpass what my
brother and sister have done and I feel the
pressure to do that,” Kaloostian said. “They’ve
never done this Rhodes thing so maybe that’s
my difference.”
Although disappointed, Kaloostian looks
Continued on the bottom of page 4.
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CAMPUSWATCH
UC Riverside Researchers Publish Groundbreaking Economic
and Political Study of Tribal Government Gaming
Report finds that gaming tribes’ per capita average income increased 55 percent between
1990 and 2000 as opposed to 15 percent on non-gaming reservations.
Tribal government gaming in California
has brought substantial economic benefits to
tribal members and their neighbors, but
there are still considerable differences
between the conditions on Indian reservations in California and those enjoyed by
other Americans.
According to a groundbreaking report by
the Center for California Native Nations at
UC Riverside, tribal governments with
gaming have fared better than non-gaming
tribes, with gaming tribes’ per capita average
income increasing 55 percent between 1990
and 2000 as opposed to 15 percent on nongaming reservations.
Joel Martin, principal investigator for the
study and the director of the Center for
California Native Nations and interim dean
of the College of Humanities, Arts and Social
Sciences, brought a team of researchers
together that married the numbercrunching abilities of economists with the
survey abilities of political scientists and
interview techniques of anthropologists and
historians. The funding came from the
Pechanga Tribal Government.
Project coordinator Kate Spilde Contreras
said the research underlines the wisdom of
the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund (RSTF) –
created in an agreement between the gaming
tribes and the state – to address inequalities
between gaming and non-gaming tribes in
California.
According to surveys conducted by the
center, payments to the RSTF have been
invested in ways that allow tribal governments without casinos to expand their
services to tribal members. But, said Spilde
Contreras, the average income for American
Indians in California remains well below the
national average.
The study is based on U.S. Census Data
from 1990 and 2000, as well as extensive
surveys of tribal governments in California
and interviews with tribal representatives.
Other findings:
• On average there are 5.4 slot machines per
1,000 inhabitants in California counties
with gaming. San Diego and Riverside
counties have 4.4 and 6 slots per 1,000
people, respectively. Colusa County has 41
slots per 1,000 people.
• Between 1990 and 2000, the American
Indian population on California reservations (gaming and non-gaming) has
grown, on average, about 6 percent
annually. That is more than the 2 percent
average growth annually on reservations
in the rest of the United States.
• Tribal governments with gaming in
California saw the number of families in
poverty decrease from 36 percent in 1990
to 26 percent in 2000. The poorest
communities in California in 1990
captured the largest increases in median
family income.
• Overall employment grew about 3.9
percent between 1990 and 2000 in areas
near tribal gaming establishments, even
after adjusting for population growth.
Anthony Miranda, a member of the
Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians in
Temecula and chairman of the California
Nations Indian Gaming Association, said the
study provides an important benchmark for
analyzing change over the term of the
existing tribal-state compacts.
“Now we will have the methodology to
generate a systematic analysis of the impacts
of gaming under those compacts, which
include mitigation and revenue-sharing
provisions for both local governments and
non-gaming tribes,” said Miranda, an
alumnus of UC Riverside.
Continued from page 3.
coursework, Sean is in the top 1 percent of
his class and is the most outstanding student
in his areas of study,” Byus wrote.
Kaloostian was selected to the prestigious
Phi Beta Kappa honors society in his
sophomore year and is a recipient of the UC
Regents Scholarship. He has presented papers
on his research in psychology and works as a
research assistant in Dr. Ruth K. Chao’s
developmental psychology lab.
His Honor’s Program activities include
serving as an academic coordinator, a
teaching assistant and as a peer mentor.
As passionate about sports as he is about
learning and service work, Kaloostian has
participated in several Los Angeles
Marathons and takes leadership roles in
intramural baseball and football teams.
An accomplished guitarist and pianist, he
also speaks fluent Spanish and several dialects
of Armenian, and has remained involved in
campus clubs such as Habitat for Humanity,
American Medical Students Association and
Model United Nations.
He hopes his experience will encourage
others at UCR to pursue the Rhodes scholarship. He says that since he was able to reach
the finals with minimum preparation, then
future applicants – given the right institutional support – could land the award.
“A lot of the people I met at the interviews
had been extensively prepped,” he said. “One
woman, who won, said her questions during
the selection interview were the same ones
asked during her Yale institutional
endorsement interview.”
forward to completing his final year at UCR
and getting into medical school – in the
UCR/UCLA program or at UC San Diego or
UC San Francisco.
“There’s going to be 14 people going back
unhappy,” he told his fellows after their interviews with the selection committee on Nov.
19, 2005. “The simple fact that you’re here
means you’re going to do great things.”
Kaloostian seems to be destined for
success, according to Craig V. Byus, dean of
the UCR/UCLA Biomedical Sciences
program, in his endorsement letter.
“With an overall grade point average of
3.98 and a 4.0 in his upper division
4
WINTER
2006
100 Years of Agricultural Excellence Celebrated
Peel a navel orange. Pop a plump, seedless
segment into your mouth and feel the rich
sweet-sour nectar envelop your taste buds. As
you luxuriate in that momentary explosion
of aroma and flavor, you probably didn’t stop
to think about its history.
Well, there is a lot of history in that
orange, and in the coming year the College of
Natural & Agricultural Sciences will celebrate
the 100th anniversary of the Citrus
Experiment Station – now called the Citrus
Research Center-Agricultural Experiment
Station at UC Riverside.
Forty-seven years before there was a UC
campus in the city of Riverside, citrus
growers, who needed assistance with diseases
and pests, along with local citizens and
community leaders, asked the Board of
Regents of the University of California for
help. In response, the board voted to lease 23
acres of land on the eastern slopes of Mount
Rubidoux in Riverside for an experiment
station. The station moved to the present site
of the UCR campus in 1918.
Over the past 100 years, researchers have
developed cures for pests and blights that
might have wiped out the state’s citrus crops.
Almost from the day it was established, the
station expanded its mission to include
research on other vegetable and fruit crops,
as well as graduate education in the agricultural sciences.
“Today, our faculty, extension specialists
and students address a wide range of agricultural, urban and natural resource problems
that are critical to the future of California,”
said Don Cooksey, executive associate dean
for the Agricultural Experiment Station and
Cooperative Extension.
Researchers working in campus laboratories at the 540-acre experiment station and
field sites away from campus undertake
extensive studies in the plant sciences,
environmental and natural resources, and
pest and disease management. The research
serves as the basis for new, improved plant
varieties – including a newly released type of
asparagus – as well as new, more sustainable
agricultural practices to combat insect and
disease infestations and to enhance crop
productivity. More than 50 different crops are
grown annually for research, including citrus,
turf grass, grapes, avocados, date palms, corn,
small grains, ornamental trees and shrubs,
and cover crops.
The year-long centennial celebration for
the Agricultural Experiment Station and
Cooperative Extension programs will be held
at 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, April 22 with a
100th anniversary kickoff barbecue and open
house, in Lot 30 at the corner of Martin
Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Canyon Crest
Drive. Admission is free and lunch will be
available for purchase.
Activities will include tours of the
experiment station and citrus tasting. There will
also be an exposition area, a kid zone and a
live band. For more information contact Carol
Lerner, (951) 827-5089 or carol.lerner@ucr.edu.
BRIEFLY
Archaeologists at an ancient Maya
ceremonial site in Guatemala have uncovered
the final intact wall of a large mural dating
from 100 B.C. that shows the mythology
surrounding the creation of the world and a
highly developed hieroglyphic script. A team
that includes UCR Professor Karl Taube is in
the midst of a five-year project to uncover the
mural and reveal its story.
Before the excavation of the vividly painted
mural, there was scant evidence of the
existence of early Maya kings or of their use of
elaborate art and writing to establish their
right to rule. The site, known as San Bartolo,
contains a pyramid complex and several
buried rooms. To the west of the pyramid
where the mural room was discovered, archaeologists led by Guatemalan Mónica Pellecer
Alecio found the oldest known Maya royal
burial site, from around 150 B.C.
Alphonso V. Diaz, a former high-ranking
administrator at NASA, has been appointed
Vice Chancellor for Administration. Diaz
brings a wealth of administrative expertise
from a 40-year career at NASA, including
management of multibillion dollar budgets.
At UC Riverside, he will oversee the work of
nearly 600 people, including employees in
physical plant; human resources; financial
services; design and construction; the child
development center; police services; material
management; the bookstore; environmental
health and safety; transportation and parking
services; accounting/payroll; fleet; mail
services; and printing. Diaz succeeds C.
Michael Webster, who resigned in June.
Led by UCR Professor of Biology David
Reznick, aUCR research team found that guppies
living in environments with a large number of
predators adapted to reproduce earlier in life
than guppies from low-predation localities.
Moreover, when reproduction ceases, guppies
from high-predation localities are far older, on
average, than guppies from low-predation
localities, indicating that high-predation
guppies enjoy a long “reproductive period” –
the time between first and last reproduction.
UC Riverside Chancellor France A.
Córdova testified before a joint state SenateAssembly hearing at Pasadena’s Jet Propulsion
Laboratory about the need to attract more
young people to mathematics and science
careers and to improve the preparation of
those who choose to teach those subjects in
public schools.
Córdova told state Sen. Jack Scott, DPasadena, and Assemblywoman Carol Liu, DLa Cañada Flintridge, that a key step is
preparing highly qualified teachers.
To that end, the University of California,
the California State University, community
colleges and K-12 schools, with the Governor’s
office, the state Legislature, and private enterprise, have developed California Teach, a
science and mathematics initiative designed to
quadruple the number of graduates who go
on to teach K-12 science and mathematics, to
more than 1,000 annually by 2010.
More news about UC Riverside is available at www.ucr.edu.
UCR
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“If You Believe in Yourself, You Can Achieve
Whatever You
”
Desire.
That advice inspired plant cell biologist Natasha Raikhel
to overcome obstacles and excel in her field.
The professional heights to which world-class
plant cell biologist Natasha Raikhel has reached
today may have much to do with the inspiration she received as a girl in St. Petersburg,
Russia, from her parents and Relya Yasnaya, a
close friend of her maternal grandmother.
Although they lived in World War II-torn
Leningrad, the parents provided a nurturing
and culturally rich atmosphere at home where
Raikhel thrived. Aunt Relya, meanwhile, sowed
in the young and impressionable girl, the
seeds of personal ambition and high esteem.
Her sage advice went on to shape Raikhel’s
life, forever describing her approach to work.
“If you believe in yourself,” the advice
went, “you can achieve whatever you desire.”
Today, decades later and thousands of
miles from St. Petersburg (formerly
Leningrad), Raikhel is the Ernst and Helen
Leibacher Chair and Distinguished Professor
of Plant Cell Biology and Genetics at UC
Riverside. She also is the founding director of
the Center for Plant Cell Biology (CEPCEB),
which focuses on plant genomics, the study
of plant genes and their function.
Her journey has had its share of difficulties. But Raikhel is known among her
colleagues to be energetic and driven, a
scientist who simply goes where questions in
plant cell biology lead. Stimulated to solve
problems, she finds satisfaction in completing,
to the best of her ability, any task she takes on.
“Natasha has gone from strength to strength
as she has identified important questions and
learned – and in some cases, invented – the novel
techniques needed to answer those questions.
She is creative, experimentally fearless and
intellectually flexible,” said colleague Sharon
Long, dean of Stanford University’s School of
Humanities and Sciences.
Raikhel is the mother of two grown sons,
one of whom is an aspiring anthropologist,
while the other is studying classical music
composition.
The daughter of a surgeon and an X-ray
technician, she is a staunch believer in setting
high standards and recommends that young
people, including her sons, work hard to
achieve their personal goals.
Her advice to the young is to strive for
excellence in their chosen fields at all times
and live up to their personal potential.
“My own working process remains faithful
to the early lessons I learned from my parents
and Aunt Relya,” she said.
Besides the profound impact her family
members have had on her, other crucial
factors influenced Raikhel’s success and rise
to fame in the scientific community, including
her willingness to make sound, life-changing
decisions when necessary, her luck for good
timing and her devotion to hard work.
Recognizing in her teens that, while she
was accomplished at playing the piano, she
likely would not excel in it to the degree she
wished, she steered her career from music to
science, a decision she has never looked back
upon with regret.
Easily, she delved into biology while
continuing to nurture her artistic interests.
With time, her passion for science and her
admiration for the scientific method helped
her become a respected zoologist at the
University of Leningrad, where she
specialized in invertebrate studies. A
friendship with a visiting American scientist,
the late Jerome Paulin of the University of
Georgia, Athens, resulted, eventually, in her
immigrating to the United States in 1979, her
husband and their 4-year-old son in tow, and
just $25 in their pockets.
“We were fortunate to be able to land jobs
as postdoctoral associates at the University of
Georgia,” Raikhel said. “As Jews, we were
allowed to emigrate from the USSR; however,
it was difficult during that time to do this
and even harder to find jobs that would allow
us to continue in our chosen profession in
the United States because nobody knew us or
our previous work.
“But we persevered and found positions.
My husband, Alex, and I wanted our son to
have better opportunities in life, and it was
really his birth that motivated us to leave Russia.”
For Raikhel, it was a stroke of luck that while
Paulin was a visiting scientist in the USSR, he
was at the Institute of Cytology, Academy of
Sciences, where Raikhel worked at that time.
“Moreover, his desk was next to mine,”
Raikhel said. “We became friends. When
Alex, my son and I arrived in the United
States, Jerry was the only person we knew. He
and his wife greatly facilitated our
adjustment to a new country.”
The new country, where her second son
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“She is an inspiring woman who has had an almost unbelievable life,” said
April Agee, a graduate student who works in Raikhel’s lab.
was born, soon brought several other helpful
people into Raikhel’s life – people who were
critical to her survival.
She also entered an academic social
community that differed in several important
ways from the comparatively rigid Soviet
system she left behind.
In America she found a place where her
diligence and scientific successes were rewarded
with prestige and where both intellectual and
economic success were attainable goals.
“I also profited from the freedom for selfdetermination I found here,” she said.
Then, early in her scientific career, Raikhel
made another prescient career choice: she
switched the organisms she studied.
Suspecting that funding for her research
on free-living ciliated protozoa would be
difficult to obtain, she directed her research
efforts toward understanding plant cell
biology – an area of science in which, at the
time, investigation was beginning to gather
momentum, with support for it burgeoning
within the academic, agricultural and
economic communities.
Fairly quickly, plant cell mysteries consumed
Raikhel’s interest. She posed tough questions
to understand plant cell development and
function, especially the role their thick, rigid
cell-walls play in effectively defending the
plant against exposure to the harsher
qualities of its environment.
A cell contains substructures called
organelles, Raikhel explains, each of which is
surrounded by a membrane, allowing the
possibility for spatially ordered function
within the cell where otherwise a sort of
spatial chaos might reign.
“Compartments in cells are necessary to
isolate and secure proteins – large molecules
that play a key role in the structure, function
and regulation of the cell as a whole,” she
said. “To put it simply, the cell can be likened
to a city. Without many services, or functions,
including utilities for power and police for
safety, cities could not function efficiently.”
Similarly, cells have evolved a highly complex
organization of functions to sustain life, she
said. Within this molecular city, some of the
key building blocks are proteins, which first
have to be produced in the correct place and
then delivered to their proper destinations
within the cell. Failure of any of these processes
could poison other dynamic processes
occurring within the intracellular environment
and cause the entire cell’s destruction.
The fundamental knowledge obtained
from Raikhel’s research on plant cells is vital.
Chris Somerville, professor of biological
sciences and director of the Carnegie
Institute of Plant Research at Stanford
University, applauds Raikhel for defining
many of the basic cellular processes that
plants use to direct proteins to various types
of membranes in plant cells.
“Natasha’s work during the past 20 years
has greatly expanded our knowledge of basic
cellular processes in plants,” he said. “Whereas
20 years ago we did not know any protein that
participated in carrying out secretory processes
in plants, today many of the components are
known and their roles understood due to the
work of Natasha and her collaborators.”
In 2002, UCR’s cadre of outstanding plant
scientists and entomologists caught the
attention of the Raikhels. When she learned
of the faculty and administration’s enthusiasm and support for the idea of making
UCR a leading center in the world for
research in plant cell biology, Natasha Raikhel
decided to leave the Plant Research
Laboratory at Michigan State University,
where she held a University Distinguished
Breaking the Glass Petri-dish Ceiling
By Ricardo Duran
The lack of women scientists and engineers in academic
ranks has been chalked up to everything from a suggestion
of innate gender differences by Harvard President Lawrence
H. Summers to child care issues to the way academic promotions are structured, which seems to penalize women for
having spouses and children.
As associate vice provost for faculty equity and diversity
at UCR, Marlene Zuk, a professor of biology, has studied the
issue and sees the cause as a multitude of minor sins,
sometimes unconscious. When added up, she said, they total
a sizeable barrier to women’s advancement.
“By the time women hit their mid- to late careers, you
see the product of an accrual of slight disparities,” Zuk said.
“Fewer of them get invited to symposiums. They’re judged
differently in evaluations for raises and promotions. Letters of
recommendation are different for men and women with
equivalent talents and achievement.”
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Zuk makes the case in a letter to the editors of the
journal Nature, in which she writes: “Research shows that
both men and women tend to overrate men and underrate
women in competence, particularly when women are in a
nontraditional field such as science.”
Awareness, she says, is a key to correcting such a
persistent problem.
“I think that people genuinely want to do the right
thing,” Zuk said. “When you find out otherwise, you try to
figure out how to overcome the biases.”
Faculty recruitment efforts are under way to increase
UCR’s proportion of women in science and engineering
positions. The campus numbers haven’t been encouraging
when compared with national availability data compiled by
the National Opinion Research Center, a commonly used tool
in higher education recruiting.
The Bourns College of Engineering (BCOE) had no
tenured female faculty members, compared with the national
availability of 16.3 percent, as of June 30, 2004 (the most
recent figures available). Women accounted for 16.6 percent
of non-tenured ladder rank faculty at BCOE, 4 percentage
points below the national availability average.
The College of Natural and Agricultural Science (CNAS) has
14.36 percent female tenured faculty, but fell well short of the
national availability index of 31.4 percent. With 25 percent of
its non-tenured ladder rank faculty female, CNAS came closer,
but still short of national availability figures of 38.4 percent.
And, while UCR hasn’t been losing ground over the past five
years, it has remained flat in its hiring of women in the sciences
and engineering, according to Zuk,who is encouraged that such
flagging efforts are being noticed by young female faculty.
“What I’m seeing at research seminars is a lot of young
women who suspect that there’s a problem,” Zuk said. “They
see their cohort at nearly 40 percent and look around the
symposiums and they just don’t see the parity.”
Professor position, to join UCR. Alex Raikhel
graduate student April Agee.
joined the Department of Entomology.
“The foundations we laid during my first
Upon her arrival on campus, Raikhel’s
summer with Dr. Raikhel were invaluable,”
efforts, imagination and vision, along with the Agee said. “She is supportive during successes
help she received from the UCR community,
as well as failures, and she encourages me to
resulted in 2002 in the formation of the
learn from mistakes.”
Center for Plant Cell Biology (CEPCEB) – an
As any elementary textbook on biology
interdisciplinary group of high-caliber
points out, without plants there would be no
engineers, chemists, plant biologists, plant
life on the Earth. We need plants more than
pathologists and computer scientists seeking
they need us, Raikhel informs her students.
to determine the function of proteins within
The only organisms known to create their
living plant cells and the whole plant.
own sustenance from light and basic elements,
“CEPCEB provides an excellent environment
plants play a crucial role in nature and help to
for cutting-edge plant cell biology, genetics
support all forms of life on Earth.
and genomics,” said Thomas Eulgem, a faculty
While genetics has been a major approach
member who joined the center in 2003 and
to understanding plants’ cellular processes, the
works on uncovering gene regulatory mechamethod has limitations, Raikhel concedes.
nisms required for plant immune responses.
To extend the method’s reach, her
“It has a superb core instrumentation facility
laboratory is becoming heavily involved in
as well as highly ambitious and outstanding
chemistry and computational biology, and
staff and faculty. Its strong focus on ‘chemical
generating strong collaborations with other
genomics,’ which is a relatively new area of
scientists around the world.
research, combined with several other areas of
Combining these disciplines with genetics,
excellence, like gene silencing, makes it unique genomics and cell biology, a small pioneering
in the world.”
group of plant scientists at UCR and
Under Raikhel’s direction, CEPCEB has
elsewhere has moved beyond many of the
quickly evolved into a state-of-the-art
limitations of traditional genetics and intro“genomics” plant cell biology group. Its Core
duced chemical genomics, which promises to
Instrumentation Facility, available to scientists uncover novel cellular processes.
throughout the UCR campus and to visiting
“Another of Natasha’s major contributions
scientists from other institutions, is used to
to research is having developed the model
perform highly specialized, state-of-the-art
plant Arabidopsis thaliana as the organism of
choice for plant cell biology,” said Elizabeth
experiments. The center has received several
Lord, a CEPCEB scientist, a professor of
large genomic and training grants, including
botany and vice provost for academic personnel.
two Research Experience for Undergraduates
“Some time ago she understood the imporgrants from the National Science Foundation
tance of the ‘Arabidopsis revolution’ and
and the first NSF Integrative Graduate
incorporated molecular genetics and now
Education and Research Traineeship grant at
genomics into her cell biology research program.”
UCR. Raikhel attributes the center’s success to
Today, Raikhel continues to explore new areas
the interdisciplinary nature of the group of
of the plant cell and make seminal findings.
scientists and support staff who have worked
together to further the center’s scientific goals. Her visibility has added to UCR’s international
recognition, notes Steven Angle, dean of the
“Our work provides benefits that are
College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences.
perhaps not as obvious to nonexperts,” she
“Her stature has helped us recruit several
said. “For example, much of our work involves
other leading plant cell biologists,” he said.
understanding very basic cellular processes of
“We are truly privileged to have the benefit of
protein transport, which is not understood in
her wisdom, hard work and
detail in any organism. We work
experience, as well as her
with the model plant Arabidopsis
thaliana because it is much
profound insights into fundaeasier to manipulate than most
mental plant cell biology. Her
animal models, and yet the
leadership is responsible for
information can be applied to
CEPCEB’s rapid development
more complex systems. The
and prominence in the plant
knowledge we gain may thus
cell biology community.”
have wide applications beyond
Raikhel’s career in plant cell
agriculture including the
biology, her support of women
biomedical sciences.”
in science and her mentorship
Raikhel’s reputation for excelof young scientists were
lence in her field, along with her
applauded when she received
the Women in Cell Biology
encouragement and interest in
Senior Career Recognition
her graduate and postdoctoral
Award in 2002 from the
students, is a major factor in the Relya Yasnaya, a close
American Society for Cell
decision of many students to
friend of Raikhel’s
work in plant cell biology at
grandmother, provided Biology. Two years later, she was
UCR.
inspiration that helped honored with the Stephen Hales
Prize of the American Society of
This was the case with
her to succeed.
Plant Biologists, an award given to only the
most noteworthy of plant biologists. A
member of several national and international
boards, Raikhel also was, until 2005, the editor
in chief of the journal Plant Physiology for
five years.
Somerville is not surprised at Raikhel’s success.
“Natasha usually has clear goals, a high level
of enthusiasm and is highly organized. So
fumbling around is frowned upon. She is also
a consensus builder and makes an effort to
achieve a common view and a common level
of commitment to a project by everyone
involved,” he said.
Raikhel believes that the secret to her
strength and her drive to succeed lies, at least
in part, in loving what she has chosen to do in
her professional life and in her continued
commitment to the tasks at hand.
“I am blessed also by the relationships I
have had, and continue to have,
with the many wonderful people I have met
and learned from,” Raikhel said. “It’s to all of
them, starting with Aunt Relya and my
parents, I owe so much.”
CEPCEB – Growing Strong
Led by Natasha Raikhel, the Center for Plant Cell
Biology synergizes UCR’s existing strengths in botany
and plant sciences in part by bringing together scientists from across the campus to do interdisciplinary
research. At the moment, the center includes 38 faculty.
Those listed below, although young, are already internationally recognized stars. Additional promising
young scientists have recently been hired.
Julia Bailey-Serres, Botany and Plant Sciences
Research focus: Signaling and gene regulation
networks in cells and organs in response to environmental stresses such as submergence.
Kathy Borkovich, Plant Pathology
Research focus: Genes of Neurospora crassa.
Xuemei Chen, Botany and Plant Sciences
Research focus: Cell fate specification and stem cell
regulation in flower development.
Shou-wei Ding, Plant Pathology
Research focus: Role of RNA silencing in virus infection.
Tao Jiang, Computer Science and Engineering
Research focus: Computational molecular biology.
Michael Pirrung, Chemistry
Research focus: Photochemistry, nucleic acids, natural
products and combinatorial chemistry.
Zhenbiao Yang, Botany and Plant Sciences
Research focus: Signal transduction, cell polarity and
morphogenesis.
Jian-Kang Zhu, Botany and Plant Sciences, director
of the Institute for Integrative Genome Biology
Research focus: Plant responses to salt, drought and
cold stress environments.
UCR
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Converging Journeys
The newly established Center for Iberian and
Latin American Music is the only such center
in the University of California system. The
brainchild of department chair and musicologist Walter A. Clark, the center brings
together Clark, composer Paulo Chagas,
ethnomusicologist Jonathan Ritter and
musicologist Leonora Saavedra – four scholars
whose distinct specializations connect them to
Spanish and Latin American music, scholarship and composition. Their very different
journeys converge in the realization of this
unique center.
By Karen Wilson
Walter Clark talks about the new Center
for Iberian and Latin American Music with
an energy that is contagious.
“Arts are a great tool for making people
aware of all the exciting things happening at
UCR,” said Clark, who has written seminal
biographies of the Spanish nationalist
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2006
composers Isaac Albéniz and Enrique
Granados, as well as edited a volume on
Latin American popular music.
The center was created to foster research
and performance in an interdisciplinary setting,
embracing the musical heritage of Spain,
Portugal and Latin America. Activities include
a Web site at www.cilam.ucr.edu; an online
scholarly journal, Diagonal; and Encuentros/
Encounters, annual events featuring a conference
and concerts dealing with a particular aspect
of Iberian or Latin American music.
Clark and the three other faculty
members who make up the center are
relatively new hires for the Department of
Music, but each brings a different facet to
these new developments as well as to the
other fine-arts programs that were in place
before they came.
“The idea of the center is inextricably
linked to the history and culture of the
Latino communities of Southern California,”
The Center for Iberian and Latin
American Music brings together
four scholars who took different
paths that led to the creation of
the new center.
Clark said. “We don’t want to be so preoccupied with being world class that we
forget about the world around us.”
In five years he predicts that UCR will
have the leading program in the world on
Iberian and Latin American music.
Clark
Clark received his doctorate in
musicology from UCLA and holds performance degrees in classical guitar from the
North Carolina School of the Arts and the
University of California, San Diego, where he
was a student of guitar master Pepe Romero.
Clark is an accomplished guitarist who
performs as a soloist as well as with UCR’s
Philippine Rondalla Ensemble.
Clark fell in love with the music of Spain
at the age of 14. He is especially interested in
flamenco, a music that came out of the
oppression of the Roma, also known as Gypsies,
and other downtrodden peoples. With influences from India, North Africa and Spain
itself, flamenco expresses despair, joy and the
will to survive. Clark has studied flamenco in
Spain and has accompanied flamenco dance
groups in various parts of the United States.
His educational DVD on flamenco, shot in
Seville, will be released this year.
The concept of exploring the cultural
links between Spain and Latin America may
not sit well with everyone. The legacy of the
Spanish conquest, Amerindian and African
slavery, and economic appropriation has left
great bitterness among some members of the
Latin American community. However, as
Clark points out, “the links are vital and
must not be ignored.”
Understanding this troubled past and the
challenging present is central
to the mission of the Center
for Iberian and Latin
American Music,” Clark said.
Chagas
For Paulo Chagas, life is
about the interplay of
destruction and creation. He
has held a number of creative
careers, simultaneously.
A Brazilian composer who
has a Ph.D. in music and has
studied in Belgium and
Germany, he was a freelance
composer in Germany for 20
years, writing the music for
more than 100 ballets,
theater pieces, multimedia
works, instrumental and
vocal ensembles, computer
music and operas.
His works have been
performed in international
festivals in Europe such as
the Ars Musica in Brussels,
Musik Triennale in Cologne,
and Russia’s Moscow
Autumn, as well as in the
United States and Latin
America, to public and
critical acclaim.
The realization that he
wanted to be a composer
came to him when he was a
young man in Brazil.
“At 17 or 18, I was
imprisoned for political
activity,” he said. “When I
came out, I was lost – but
music saved me. First, popular
music interested me but
since I always do things very
seriously, I began to develop
a serious interest in music.”
Chagas believes teachers
must help their students
realize the importance of
music to the human
condition and to their lives.
“Many students don’t take music very
seriously, the way they do mathematics or
engineering. So, they don’t work as hard because
they don’t see why they have to work,” Chagas
said. “Art is more than recreation – it is more
than entertainment. Art is a source of values
for the society. As such, it is very important.”
Chagas keeps busy organizing performances and conferences. He is also establishing LEAR, the Laboratory for
Experimental Acoustic Research, at UCR.
Ritter
Jonathan Ritter’s intense interest in the
relations between music and politics led him
to the Andes Mountains and Peru for his
doctoral work.
“Peru went through absolute
horror for 15 years in the ’80s
and ’90s. This wasn’t a civil war.
It was a war between Maoist
zealots and the government.
The people were the victims.”
His work documents how
traditional music emerged as a
site of political commentary
and protest during the war, and
how it continues to shape
memories of the conflict in
Peru today. Ritter’s work in the
political aspects of cultural
practice relates to areas larger
than Latin America.
“Political imperialism and
cultural imperialism walk hand
in hand,” he said. “If you
control a people’s culture, you
control that people.”
On the other hand, he said,
people who control their own
culture – their dance and their
story and their music – have
more control over their own lives.
Ritter, now an acting
assistant professor of music,
came back from the Andes with
the determination to understand the way people’s political
awareness and activism were
embodied in and promoted by
their cultural practice.
His most recent work, based
on extensive fieldwork in
Ayacucho, Peru, examines the
social history of traditional
music from that region during
and after the Shining Path
guerrilla insurrection, a project
that he hopes to expand into a
broader inquiry on the place
and role of music in times of
political violence and terror.
In 2002, he was awarded the
Charles Seeger Prize of the
Top to bottom: Walter
Society for Ethnomusicology.
A. Clark, Paulo Chagas,
He is also a past recipient of
Jonathan Ritter and
research grants from the
Fulbright Institute for International
Education and the Wenner-Gren Foundation
for Anthropological Research.
Saavedra
Similarly, the understanding and presentation of living traditions and their political
and cultural meaning guides the work of
Leonora Saavedra, associate professor of
musicology and a leading authority on 20thcentury Mexican music.
“People here seem to have lives that are
pre-designed – college, graduate school,
university professor, marriage, children,
mortgage, 401K,” said Saavedra, who is from
Mexico but got her Ph.D. from the University
of Pittsburgh. “Where I come from, life is a lot
more haphazard, a lot more improvisational.”
In Mexico, creators, performers, scholars
and audiences do not see themselves as
separate communities, but as one, she said.
“Mexican artists and intellectuals are not
in an ivory tower. This is important – artists
are involved with the larger community.
Intellectuals, and by that I also meant scholars
as well as artists, have a political role to play,
and it is not unlikely that what they say
makes the newspapers’ headlines,” she said.
She sees her role as a bridge – between
national cultures as well as academic and
institutional ones.
With academic discourses on both sides of
the border, Saavedra believes that it’s worth
listening to what Mexicans have to say about
their own culture.
The Center for Iberian and Latin
American Music is also a bridge and it comes
at the perfect time, she said.
“This field of enquiry is growing
exponentially so fast that the American
Musicological Society has had to yield to the
expansion of the job market and community
pressure by acknowledging Latin American
music as a viable field. And Southern
California is the natural place.”
Through the Center for Iberian and Latin
American Music, these four scholars will
work together to bring scholarship and
publications, conferences, as well as cuttingedge digital composition, acoustic research
and opportunities for performance.
A Ph.D. program that will include
musicology, ethnomusicology and digital
composition is being planned for fall 2007.
This spring the department presented its
second annual World Music Concert,
featuring the Javanese Gamelan, Philippine
Rondalla, and Japanese Taiko Ensembles, as
well as Mayupatapi, the new Andean music
ensemble directed by Ritter.
“We have here a musicology program that
has found its voice,” Clark said.
Watch UCR’s Latin American music
ensemble Mayupatapi playing folk music of
the Andes on authentic instruments acquired
in Peru at www.quicktime.ucr.edu/33.
Leonora Saavedra
UCR
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Alumni and Visitor Center: UCR’s
Construction on the new center is about to begin
“Front Door”
and is scheduled to be completed by mid-2007.
By Litty Mathew (’91)
Seventeen years, three redesigns and $6
million later, the UCR Alumni Association is
about to realize its long-held objective: breaking
ground on a center for alumni and visitors.
The 12,000-square-foot, split-level
building designed by local architects HMC
will house a large lobby, meeting rooms, a
library of works by UCR authors, a formal
board room and a dining facility that can
also double as a banquet space for 200.
“Rather than take the approach of
building a memorial to alumni achievement,
the association wanted this facility to serve
the entire UCR community,” notes Assistant
Vice Chancellor for Alumni & Constituent
Relations Kyle Hoffman. “Even in their
earliest considerations, the alumni leaders
recognized the campus was growing quickly
and the facilities weren’t keeping pace.”
Most of all, the UCR Alumni Association,
which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in
2005-06, wanted a “front door” to the
campus –a distinctive arrival point that
showcased alumni achievements while
welcoming friends and visitors.
The Challenge: Time, Money and Vision
Seventeen years is just about the age of an
incoming UCR freshman. During this
period, the scope of the project changed to
incorporate a morphing campus and the
separate visions of three chancellors.
Dr. Fred Bryant, chairman of the alumni
and visitors center design committee,
explains that the process was slowed not only
by the personal expectations of each
chancellor, but also a changing economy.
Major funding came from two donors, Jack
Sweeney and Mark Rubin (the center will be
named after them), support from the UCR
Alumni Association and the UCR
Foundation, and the chancellor’s discretionary fund.
Several weeks ago long-time campus
supporters W. Ronald Redmond (’62) and
Margaret A. Redmond (’62) donated $1
million to the project.
The gift came just in time, Hoffman said.
Construction bids had come in at $1 million
more than was originally estimated.
“The Redmond gift will allow us to move
forward immediately with construction of
the Alumni & Visitors Center project and is
further testimony to the important role that
alumni support plays for our dynamic
campus,” Hoffman said, adding that the
center’s dining room will be named in honor
of the Redmonds.
These and other donations from UCR
alumni and friends have been crucial.
“Achieving the best combination of facilities with the limited financial resources
available has been a difficult exercise,” says
Judge Ron Stovitz, the current Alumni
Association president. “Getting the buy in
from various campus groups including the
student population, faculty, alumni leaders
and the administration was also a priority. ”
“Chancellor Córdova has been instrumental,” said Stovitz. “When she conducted
the east campus master plan, she saw the
importance of such a center to the campus.
That support was critical.”
The Setting: An Arroyo and UCR Brick
The building, across from Bannockburn
Village where Watkins House once stood, will
be simple yet elegant, imparting an
unhurried, natural feeling.
“I remember one alumnus saying, ‘We
want this facility to be elegant but not ostentatious,’” Hoffman said.
During the design process, the architects
carefully assessed the campus, the buildings
and the site. In the final design, “UCR brick,”
the ubiquitous red brick manufactured solely
for the university, is used to tie the building
to the campus.
“The site is unique, with mature
sycamores and the arroyo,” explained Kevin
Wilkeson, project principal and architect.
“We moved the building closer to the street
to preserve the trees and to allow enough
room in the back for a future addition.”
The landscaping will relate to the arroyo,
with the use of native plants that are harmonious
with the environment. The building will also
have multiple views of the carillon tower.
“The carillon tower has a purpose (and
that is) to help people find their way around
campus. It’s an important icon to be
acknowledged and observed,” Wilkeson said.
Construction is slated to be completed by
mid-2007.
“We hope that alumni will be proud of the
building that will welcome and will serve the
entire campus community well,” Stovitz said.
“We hope in that way to really show that
alumni are first and foremost about service
to the university.”
UCR
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Lifelong
Learning is a
Expedition
UCR’s Osher Lifelong Learning
Institute gets a $1 million boost.
Osher member Martha Kish and program director Toni Lawrence (on center
camel, left to right) embark on a sunset camel ride in Alice Springs, Australia.
By Joan Kite
Toni Lawrence, director of the Osher
Lifelong Learning Institute at UC Riverside
Extension, couldn’t have been in a better place
when she found out about the million dollars.
Lawrence was sitting in a room at the Sails
in the Desert Hotel in the Red Centre of the
Australian Outback.
After three years of nose-to-the-grindstone
labor by Lawrence and her staff, the Osher
Lifelong Learning Institute at UCR would
receive a $1 million endowment for the
program from the Bernard Osher Foundation.
Lawrence happened to be with a group of
Osher students on a travel-and-learn trip
through Australia when she heard the news.
The group celebrated that night as they
watched the sun set over Uluru, a sandstone
monolith declared by the aborigines as a
source of sacred power.
“She (Lawrence) was very excited and we
were excited for her,” said Osher student and
Riverside resident Katherine Warren. “The
Osher program has helped me appreciate
retirement more. It gives you activities that
keep your brain going.”
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at
UCR is one of 72 Osher Lifelong Learning
programs established throughout the United
States. Osher programs are designed for
people 50 and older. Osher Institutes are
funded with the philanthropy of Bernard
Osher, San Francisco resident and successful
businessman and community leader.
The Osher program at UCR was created
and established largely through the efforts of
Lawrence, who in the summer of 2002 helped
write the proposal to receive the initial $100,000
grant to create the Extension’s Osher program.
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Three years later, a program initially designed
on paper has transformed into a flourishing
institute that boasts 700 members, 172 classes and
two locations in Riverside and Coachella Valley.
“I believed in what I was doing,” Lawrence
said. “The Oshers’ vision and generosity has
allowed us to enrich the lives of so many who
live in our community.”
With the most recent $1 million endowment,
UCR’s Osher Program now has permanent
funding support from the Osher Foundation.
“Toni has poured her heart and soul into
the program,” said John F. Azzaretto, vice
chancellor of Public Service and International
Programs and dean of UC Riverside Extension
and Summer Sessions. “I was elated when she
shared the good news. The $1 million
endowment for the Osher Lifelong Learning
Institute ensures that we can continue to offer
a wide variety of top quality educational
programs to our senior community, who in
turn share their rich resources with us.”
According to the University of Southern
Maine, which queried memebers in its Osher
program, older adults involved in lifelong
learning programs benefit in four areas: intellectual stimulation, experiencing a nurturing
and supportive community, enhancing selfesteem and having opportunities for spiritual
renewal.
The students’ experiences in UCR’s Osher
program support the study’s results.
“I just love it,” said Nancy Kibrick, an
Osher member who lives in Palm Desert.
Kibrick has taken classes in art, history, music
and writing. “I have a lot of friends who play
mahjong or bridge. It’s just not my thing. This
(Osher) is perfect for me. I just love it.”
Burt DeVries, 74, a resident of Sun City,
also takes Osher classes with his wife. A retired
chemical engineer, DeVries said he started
taking classes in Coachella Valley from the day
Osher started in 2002. Since then, a friendly
community has formed.
“It’s nice to see the same people. There are
very bright people in those classes,” DeVries said.
Interestingly, the students say they are a
source of inspiration to each other, and the
instructors say the students are a source of
inspiration to them.
Warren, 57, went on the trip to Australia
and spoke about her fellow Osher student
Martha Kish, who is 76 and an ideal role
model for her younger classmates. Kish braved
the Sydney Harbor BridgeClimb. She walked
up 1,400 ladder stairs and over the arch of the
Sydney Harbor Bridge, which is 440 feet above
eight lanes of traffic, two railway tracks and
the Tasman Sea.
“She was amazing,” Warren said.
Both students and teachers benefit from the
program.
Tom Tefft, who retired in Idyllwild as a fulltime history teacher from Citrus College, soon
found retirement in the mountains a little too
quiet. In 2004, he moved to the desert and
now teaches several history classes for Osher
in Coachella Valley.
Students give his classes high marks. Tefft
has equal praise for his students.
“That’s the most rewarding part,” Tefft said.
“As a teacher in the public school system, most
students who attend classes are in there for the
grades and the transcripts. The students (in
Osher) are there because they want to be. Many
of them have advanced degrees and bring a
wealth of life experiences to class. It’s refreshing
to see people who are still willing to learn.”
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A Double
Play
Three UCR seniors return to
campus to complete their degrees
as a way to cover their bases.
By Ross French
UCR students Matt Cunningham, Randy
Blood and Brian Hoff returned to UCR last
fall to take some of their final classes
towards their bachelor’s degree.
Once the quarter was over, they returned
to their spring and summer job: playing
professional baseball.
Cunningham, Blood and Hoff are among
nine members of the UCR Highlanders
baseball team selected in the first-year
player draft over the past three years.
What they came to realize was that while
playing baseball for a living may be a dream,
it is an elusive one, even for the most
talented of athletes.
That is why they decided to take time to
come back to UCR and finish their degrees.
“Ever since I was a young kid my parents
have said that education comes first,”
Cunningham said. “I always promised my
mother that I would get my degree no
matter what I did. It is important to me, it is
important to my family and always has
been. As much baseball as I have played in
my life, my parents have always tried to
instill that school is the most important
thing. You can’t depend on baseball to take
you through your whole life. You must have
something to fall back on, because you
never know if baseball is going to work out.”
Cunningham is the most recent draftee.
He was drafted by the Houston Astros in the
27th round and spent the summer in the
New York-Penn League, playing outfield for
the class A Tri-City Valley Cats. When the
season came to an end in early September,
Cunningham had about two weeks off
before he returned to UCR to take two of
his three remaining classes as he finishes his
psychology degree.
Being drafted by a professional baseball
team does not guarantee a big-money
contract or a trip to the big leagues. The
draft features 30 teams picking players in
more than 50 rounds. Each of those teams
has as many as six
minor league affiliates. This results in as
many as 4,500 players
in the minor leagues,
each fighting for a
chance to get one of
the 750 positions in
the major leagues.
Matt Cunningham took time out from the minor leagues
Hoff, a pitcher
to return to complete his degree.
drafted by the Florida
Marlins in the 27th
round in 2004, spent the
2005 season primarily
time and help them get a good off-season
playing with the class A Jupiter (Fla.)
job to pay the bills while they pursue their
Hammerheads. This fall he took three
big league dreams. While the major league
classes at UCR towards his degree in
minimum salary was $316,000 in 2005,
sociology administration with an emphasis
minor leaguers make next to nothing. The
in marketing. He still needs two Spanish
average player is given a handshake, a
classes to finish up studies.
contract and a plane or train ticket to their
“After playing pro ball for the last two
new team.
years, I realize that only a small percentage
Cunningham, for example, made $1,100
of all minor leaguers actually make it to the
a month, with $200 deducted every month
major leagues,” Hoff said. “I am confident
by the team for rent and utilities at the
that one day I will get an opportunity to
team-arranged apartments.
play at that level, yet I am realistic at the
“Minor league baseball doesn’t pay
same time and also realize that if baseball
much,” Cunningham said. “Getting a degree
doesn’t work out, I will have my degree to
means that in the off season you can get a
fall back on.”
decent job to pay the bills.”
Blood, a 2004 draftee of the Colorado
“It is very difficult to make a living on
Rockies who played for the class A Modesto
what they pay us, especially if you have a
Nuts in 2005, said that making the
family,” Hoff said. “This year at the High-A
transition from being a student-athlete to
level I made around $1,500 dollars a month
just a student is relatively easy. Like Hoff, he
before taxes. Not a ton of money by any
is finishing his degree in sociology adminismeans, but then again I still get paid to play
tration and has those two elusive Spanish
a game that I love to play.”
classes left to earn his degree.
Despite the low pay, Hoff summarizes
Cunningham agrees.
what each of the three feel about their
“It is easier,” he said. “I don’t have to go
experience.
to practice at 2 o’clock after class. I have a
“So far my minor league experience has
couple of part-time jobs and I can balance
been amazing. I have made so many
things out. I do miss playing though. I was
amazing friends and have seen beautiful
home for a month and was ready for spring
parts of the nation that I may not have seen
training to start.”
without this opportunity,” Hoff said. “I love
Finishing the degree will come in handy
it, though. At this point in my life I could
in another way, as well. It will free up their
not see myself doing anything else.”
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BOOKSHELF
World Politics in the 21st
Century
by W. Raymond Duncan (’59),
Barbara Jancar Webster and Bob
Switky
Longman
October 2005, 640 pages
This book examines in depth
the 21st-century events that will
continue to shape our lives in the
near and distant future. These
include the Sept. 11 World Trade
Center terrorist attacks, the
massacres in Rwanda that killed
nearly a million people, the everpresent threat of the use of
biological chemical weapons and
the reality that a disease, such as
AIDS, will become a national
and global security issue.
Patriot Trap
by W. Raymond Duncan (’59)
Leisure Books
November 2005, 368 pages
Set in present day, the
political conflicts concerning
real events that erupted in
Havana in 1989 are depicted
through the supercharged
political climate in Cuba,
where individuals fiercely
compete for power under Fidel
Castro’s heavy hand. The
struggle for personal influence
is so pervasive that it has its
own name — politiquería, the
game of politics.
Downtown Boy
by Juan Felipe Herrera
Scholastic
November 2005, 304 pages
Juan Herrera, a professor in
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the creative writing department,
captures one year from his
1950s California childhood in
this first-person free-verse
novel. As a 10-year-old son of
migrant workers, Juanito is
eager to cultivate new friendships and avoid trouble with
the new groups of kids he
encounters. His fears, thoughts,
loneliness and optimistic
dreams are all affected in the
uprooting of a migrant
nomadic lifestyle. Information:
www.scholastic.com
We’re Off to Find the
Witch’s House
by Richard Krieb (’69)
August 2005, 32 pages
Richard Krieb, an
elementary school teacher for
30 years, captures the spirit of
Halloween with this slightly
spooky children’s tale. With
rhythmic text, rhyming and
call-and-response sections, this
book follows a group of
children in their venture to
find the witch’s house. On their
way, they encounter silly,
spooky characters and other
little trick-or-treaters.
Information:
us.penguingroup.com.
Audiotopia: Music, Race
and America
by Josh Kun
University of California Press
November 2005, 292 pages
Josh Kun, assistant professor
of English, introduces popular
music into contemporary
debates over American identity.
Kun covers all ranges of music,
including klezmer, hip hop and
Latin rock, to bring to mind
the ways that popular sounds
have drawn out the idea of
American culture and identity.
Information:
www.ucpress.edu.
Women’s Education in the
United States, 1780-1840
by Margaret Nash
Palgrave Macmillan
April 2005, 224 pages
“Women’s Education in the
United States, 1780-1840”
examines education from the
early national period through
the formation of the institutions
that are widely recognized as the
forerunners of the women’s
college movement. Nash, a UCR
assistant professor of education,
argues that in this period
education was not as strongly
gendered as other historians have
posited. Education was key to
class formation. Nash contends
that class and race were more
salient than gender in the
construction of educational
institutions. Information:
www.palgrave-usa.com.
Transforming Latin
America: the International
and Domestic Origins of
Change
by David Pion-Berlin and Craig
Arceneaux (’97 Ph.D.)
University of Pittsburgh Press
July 2005, 267 pages
This book by Pion-Berlin, a
UCR professor of political
science, and alumnus
Arceneaux, offers a framework
for understanding political
change across Latin America.
Looking broadly across the
Western Hemisphere, with
examples from Brazil, the
Southern Cone, the Andes and
Central America, the authors
identify the general rules.
Information: upress.pitt.edu.
Broken Promises? The
Argentine Crisis and
Argentine Democracy
co-edited by David Pion-Berlin
and Edward Epstein
Lexington Books
February 2006, 306 pages
Co-edited by UCR professor
Pion-Berlin and Edward
Epstein, the volume brings
together some of Argentina’s
foremost scholars to assess the
causes, nature and consequences of the worst economic
and political crisis to afflict
Argentina in its modern
history. Since December 2001,
the country has been through
economic depression and
bankruptcy, the impoverishment of half the population,
a presidency that changed four
times in the span of two weeks
and social protests met by state
repression that left dozens dead
and hundreds injured.
Information: www.lexingtonbooks.com.
The Confederate States
of America: What Might
Have Been
by Roger Ransom
W.W. Norton & Company
May 2005, 352 pages
What if Lee had avoided
defeat at Gettysburg? What if a
military stalemate had
developed, coupled with
growing antiwar sentiment?
What if Lincoln had been
defeated in the 1864 election
and Great Britain had recognized the Confederacy? What
would have been the fate of an
independent Confederate
States of America and a
defeated United States?
Ransom, a UCR professor of
history and economics, follows
the consequences of the “what
if ” scenario over an extended
period of time, showing us the
logical and historically valid
outcomes of his counterfactuals. Information:
www.wwnorton.com.
Backlash Against Welfare
Mothers: Past and Present
by Ellen Reese
University of California Press
July 2005, 372 pages
Recent debates about the
contemporary welfare backlash
are put into a historical perspective
in this book, providing a closer
look at these early antiwelfare
campaigns. Reese, an assistant
professor of sociology, explores
the forces that she says turned
state-level revolts against
welfare in the late 1940s and
1950s into a purposeful unraveling of the nation’s “safety
net” by the late 1990s. She
vividly portrays consequences
of current welfare policies and
calls for a new agenda for
working families. Information:
www.ucpress.edu.
The Greenwood
Encyclopedia of Science
Fiction and Fantasy
by Gary Westfahl
Greenwood Press
September 2005, 1,612 pages
Westfahl, coordinator of
English reading and writing
programs in UCR’s Learning
Center, organizes the combined
effort of some 150 expert
contributors in a 600-entry
comprehensive encyclopedia
discussing pervasive themes in
science fiction and fantasy with
detailed attention to selected
novels, films and television
series. This encyclopedia gives
extensive treatment to the most
important themes and works
of science fiction and fantasy
across a range of media.
Information:
www.greenwood.com.
World Weavers:
Globalization, Science
Fiction and the
Cybernetic Revolution
by Gary Westfahl, Wong Kin
Yuen and Amy Kit-sze Chan
Hong Kong University Press
May 2005, 320 pages
This book is a study on the
relationship between global-
ization and science fiction.
Scientific innovations provide
citizens of different nations
with a unique common
ground and the means to
establish new connections
with distant lands. This study
investigates how our world has
grown more and more interconnected not only due to
technological advances, but
also to a shared interest in
those advances and to what
they might lead to in the
future. Information:
www.hkupress.org.
Ley de Lotka
by Ruben Urbizagastegui
Nuevo Parhadigma
December 2004, 120 pages
The book serves as a guide
to librarians and information
scientists in applying the
generalized inverse GaussianPoisson distribution model to
measure the authors’ contributions to literature in scientific
areas. Ley de Lotka, which
translates into “Lotka’s Law,” is
published in Spanish.
Urbizagastegui is a librarian in
the cataloging department of
the Science Library. Information:
www.nuevoparhadigma.com.ar.
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Geeks in Love
By Laurie Williams
It was UC Riverside freshman
Lance Loomer’s braces and deep
dimples that first caught the
attention of his future bride.
“I met this boy and he had
this big, beautiful smile, and I
just said to myself, ‘Oh, gosh,
I’m in trouble,’” Maureen Raynor
Loomer (’78) remembered.
That smile – and the
reaction it got – launched a
marriage and a partnership in
science, discovery and healing.
More than 30 years later, that
partnership has resulted in a
$25,000 gift to UC Riverside.
It was 1974, and Maureen
and Lance both lived in Maison
Francaise, the section of UC
Riverside’s Aberdeen-Inverness
Residence Hall where students
were expected to speak French
at meals and in common areas.
That might sound like a
romantic setting, Maureen
said, but her first important
conversation with her
husband-to-be took place in
rather awkward English over
the disarticulated bones of a
cat she had checked out from
the biology department and
was studying in her room one
weekend morning.
Her door was open, and he
stopped by and started asking
about the bones – in English,
because they didn’t have to
speak French on weekends. The
bones provided some common
ground for Maureen, a
psychobiology major, and
Lance, who thought he might
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like to become a veterinarian.
“We were so nerdy and geeky
and shy, and we wanted to really
talk, but we just kept going on
and on about the cat bones.”
Eventually, she said, Lance
asked her if she thought she
might go to breakfast. She said
she might. He asked when she
might go, and she said it might
—It was Chemistry
Actually, in the case of Maureen and Lance Loomer,
it was biology that led to a successful marriage and
an in-memoriam endowed prize.
be in about 20 minutes. He said
he was going to his room, but
would likely stop by again in
about 20 minutes. If she was
ready to go then, he said, perhaps
they could walk to breakfast
together. She said she’d like that
– and that’s what they did.
“Geeks in love,” Maureen
said. “What can I tell you?”
They dated all through their
UCR years and got engaged after
graduation, before Lance – who
had changed his mind about
veterinary work– started medical
school in North Carolina.
“The braces were off by then,
but he still had the dimples –
and the smile,” Maureen said.
They married a year later.
Maureen worked and Lance
attended Wake Forest
University School of Medicine
in Winston Salem, N.C. They
took time out for a quick trip
to France – a gift from
Maureen’s parents – after
Lance graduated from medical
school, getting some good use
out of the French they worked
hard to learn at UC Riverside.
Back at home, their careers
focused on cancer research:
Maureen worked in the medical
technology field for many years
and Lance, who had done
research on atmospheric
carcinogens in medical school,
became an oncologist in private
practice. He was also regional
medical director of a fourcounty hospice system, Maureen
said, and instrumental in
founding Kitty Askins Hospice
Center in Goldsboro, N.C.,
where the couple settled in 1988.
Dedicated to science and
medicine, they remained
“nerdy and geeky,” Maureen
said: “My glasses are thicker
now than ever.”
Lance died suddenly in 1996,
and Maureen has established
scholarships in his and her
names at East Carolina
University and at Wayne
Community College in
Goldsboro, where she is now a
faculty member. She recently
also donated a $25,000 gift, to
UCR to create the Lance and
Maureen Loomer Endowed
Prize in Biology. The prize will
be awarded annually to a
graduate student in the
Department of Biology.
“There’s all kinds of money
available to students going into
industry and technology and
nursing, but not so much going
into the straight biology that
gives life to all of that,” she
said. “I do want to support
grad students in biology.”
She also wants to encourage
other UC Riverside alumni to
share, she said. “Everyone
should at least consider it –
Many
Happy
Returns…
• Smart money!
• Security!
• Social events!
• Success!
there aren’t that many people
giving these days.”
Maureen was herself a
graduate student in biology not
too long ago, she said. After her
husband died she quit her job
and earned her master’s degree.
“It was something we used
to talk about,” she said. “We’d
talk about what we wanted to
be doing in 10 years, and Lance
would tell me I should go back
to school. So I did, and ended
up in teaching.”
At Wayne Community
College, Maureen teaches
general biology and human
anatomy and physiology to
students aiming at careers in the
medical professions. She said
biology has changed quite a bit
since her undergraduate years,
both in scientists’ understanding
of how cells work and in the
ways computers and other
technology have affected how
biology finds its expression.
“There’s been just a huge
explosion of information,” she
said. “It’s a very exciting time
in biology.”
Her first hurdle, she said,
was using a computer. She had
used dedicated computers of
various types in her work, but
had never owned a PC.
“I was terrified.”
Classes took care of her fears,
she said, and have made her
something of a computer maven.
She now has four PCs at home
– two desktops and two laptops
– and buys “every computer
gadget I can get my hands on.”
A recent acquisition is a
digital pen that recognizes
handwriting and translates it
into text that can be uploaded
to a computer file.
“I thought I was geeky before,”
she said. “Now I’m really a nerd.”
And with every new project
and computer application, she
said, “I can almost feel Lance
looking over my shoulder,
saying, ‘Ooh – what are you
doing now?’ He would have
loved it. He’s smiling.”
with a UCR
Charitable Gift
Annuity!
Earn up to twice the interest rates of a traditional bank CD
A lifetime stream of income backed by the assets of the UC system
Enjoy exciting UCR events as a member of the Watkins Planned Giving Society
Your investment helps support exceptional UCR students
Age 65+
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University of California, Riverside
Office of Planned Giving
Call or visit us today!
(951) 827-6449 www.ucrgift.org
UCR
F I AT
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’60s
’62 Frank Bidart is a
professor of English at
Wellesley College. His book
“Star Dust” was nominated for
a National Book Award. This
nomination placed him among
the nation’s most influential
poets. He has been teaching
English at Wellesley since 1972.
’64 Susan Gensel Cooper is
the proud mother of two and a
grandmother of seven. She
retired in 2005 as vice president
and director of institutional
advancement at Trudeau
Institute. She is now church
administrator at St. Luke’s
Episcopal Church in Saranac
Lake, N.Y. She established
Cooper Management
Consulting in 2005 to assist
nonprofit organizations.
’65 Faith (Norton) Hunt is a
foreign service officer for the
U.S. Department of State. For
the past 15 years, she has
worked for the State
Department, serving abroad in
Frankfurt, Rome and currently
in Mexico City. Her son, Eric R.
Hunt (’85), and his wife,
Wendy, have two children,
Kristyn, 16, and Kelsey, 12.
’66 David Bateman retired
from his law practice of 35
years and the U.S. Air Force
Reserves JAGC. His wife, Trudy,
has retired from her job as an
emergency room nurse after 36
years. They are both enjoying
retirement farming and selling
coffee from the big island of
Hawaii. Dave still dabbles in
commercial real estate and
geology/mining on occasion …
Claude J. Phene (’70 Ph.D.)
was named Irrigation
Association Person for the Year
for 2005. His research shaped
the evolution of drip irrigation
technology. Claude has worked
more than 30 years in soil and
water management. Most of his
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WINTER
2006
professional career was spent
with the USDA. In 1994, he
retired as director of the Water
Management Research
Laboratory in Fresno. He is best
known for developing the
concept of permanent
subsurface drip irrigation,
making systems perform
successfully for more than 12
years under intense cultivation.
’68 Lawrence Bliss (’71
M.Admin.) is a member of the
Maine Legislature, representing
the 122nd District. He is chair
of the Joint Standing
Committee on Utilities and
Energy.
’70s
’70 Robert Kaplan (M.A.,
’72 Ph.D.) was among 64 new
members named to the prestigious Institute of Medicine of
the National
Academies.
Robert is
professor and
chair of health
services for
UCLA’s School
of Public
Health. He has
authored more
than 400 original scientific
articles and 15 books. He is
also editor in chief of Health
Psychology and immediate
past editor of the Annals of
Behavioral Medicine. Robert is
a two-time recipient of the
annual Outstanding Scientific
Contributions award from the
Division of Health Psychology
of the
American
Psychological
Association ...
Peter Lesnik is
the executive
director of the
Carpenter
Performing
Arts Center at California State
University, Long Beach. He
has been appointed to the Los
Angeles County Arts
Commission and will serve
until 2007. Previously he had
been reader and advisor to the
Eugene O’Neill National
Playwrights Conference;
dramaturge, acting teacher
and director at the Performing
Arts Foundation in
Huntington, N.Y.; resident
director at the 13th Street
Theatre in New York; creator
of the Counterpane Acting
Method; and resident director
of the Odyssey Theatre in Los
Angeles. In addition, Peter has
built a 20-year reputation for
overseeing the revitalization of
multiple performing arts
centers, including the
Herberger Theatre Center in
Phoenix, the Kelsey Theater at
Mercer College in New Jersey
and the Norris Theatre for the
Performing Arts in Palos
Verdes, Calif.
’71 Kenneth E. Imler is
senior vice president of
regulatory affairs and quality
assurance at Arrow
International Inc. Kenneth has
been the lead consultant with
Quintiles Consulting, a
provider of global consulting
services to the medical device,
pharmaceutical and biologics
industry. He will be the
company’s main point of
contact with the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration
(FDA), helping to ensure that
Arrow continues to meet, and
even exceed, FDA and international regulatory requirements
in its products, manufacturing
processes, procedures and
systems. Arrow International
Inc. develops, manufactures
and markets a broad range of
clinically advanced, disposable
catheters and related products
for critical and cardiac care.
’72 Don Barfield is vice
president of educational
products for Harcourt
Assessment Inc. Based in San
Antonio, Texas, Harcourt
Assessment is a leading
provider of high-quality
assessment instruments and
testing programs. As vice
president of educational
products, Don oversees all
development activities related
to the company’s broad range
of educational assessments,
such as achievement, ability,
diagnostic and language proficiency tests … Robert V.
Lindquist Jr. has retired as
general manager of Lake
Hemet Municipal Water
District. He will spend more
time with family and writing
books on local history. Robert
was hired in 1996 as the
district’s assistant general
manager and was promoted to
the top spot later that year. A
nurseryman and businessman,
he previously served as a
Hemet city councilman,
mayor and member of Lake
Hemet’s board of directors.
He said one of his proudest
accomplishments is helping
with efforts to build the $5.8
million district headquarters.
The building is now under
construction and will be
completed this summer … Jay
Reidy is an instructor with the
Mt. Baldy National Ski Patrol
in Southern California. As a
patroller, Jay is part of the
largest winter rescue organization in the world. The patrol
is composed of more than
28,500 members serving more
than 600 ski patrols, including
volunteer, paid, alpine,
snowboard and Nordic
patrollers throughout the
United States and at some
military areas in Europe.
Names printed in red indicate members of the UCR Alumni Association.
To update your membership, see page 32.
Patrollers train throughout
the year in disciplines such
as ski safety,
mountaineering, avalanche
safety, first aid and toboggan
handling. In addition to Mt.
Baldy, Jay has patrolled at
Mt. Waterman and Snow
Valley. Before joining patrol,
he taught skiing to blind
athletes.
’73 Barbara
Brink is the
director of
development at
UCR’s College
of Humanities,
Arts and Social
Sciences. For
the past six
years, Barbara
worked as the
director of major gifts at
UCR’s Development Office.
Previously, she worked in
hospital development for 10
years, where she was responsible for annual giving, major
gifts and fund-raising efforts.
She holds a certificate in
planned giving from CSU
Long Beach … Steven M.
Gorelick left a lengthy career
in September as vice president
for institutional advancement
at the City University of New
York (CUNY) Graduate
Center to follow a long-time
dream. He is now a professor
of media studies in the
Department of Film and
Media Studies at CUNY’s
Hunter College. He will also
devote time and effort to two
“I Just Give My 100 Percent”
UCR alumna Rachel Blackwood’s passion for
life and learning became a lifesaver after she
suffered a debilitating stoke at the age of 28.
Rachel Blackwood
By Kim Lane
UCR alumna Rachel Blackwood is no slacker when it
comes to education.
As a student working toward her bachelor’s degree in
biochemistry, Blackwood, whose maiden name was Doan
Thuan Thi Nguyen, regularly took up to five classes a
quarter, many of them difficult science and math courses.
“Knowledge always tasted so delicious to me,” said
Blackwood, who had 260 academic credits and a 3.7 grade
point average when she graduated cum laude in 1995.
Her passion for knowledge became a life saver when,
at the age of 28, she suffered a life-threatening stroke that
would require her to relearn to walk, read, write, type,
think and drive.
On Oct. 20, 2001, a day after finishing the final draft
of her Ph.D. dissertation at Cornell University, she was
suddenly stricken with a severe headache, blurred vision
and weakness in her arms and legs.
“I knew right away that I needed to call 911,”
Blackwood said.
She was rushed to the emergency room and eventually
learned she had a ruptured arteriovenous malformation, an
often undiagnosed lifelong defect of the circulatory system.
She was initially upbeat about her ICU experience, but
when the pain medication wore off, the intense pain and
the possibility of living with permanent brain damage
turned her thoughts to suicide. Regular visits from her
then-fiance, Van Blackwood, her friends and family brought
her back.
“I realized that there are so many people who love
me,” she said. “My life was not defined just by my achievements but by the love of family and friends.”
Within two months after brain surgery, she went from
complete paralysis on her right side to complete use of her
upper right side and complete independence from the
wheelchair.
“It was an arduous but rewarding training process,”
she said. “Even though it was tiring . . . I was glad at the
same time because I was learning firsthand how my
muscles work. What a thrill it was to have a scientist and a
patient in the same body!”
Her former mentor, UCR’s dean of the College of
Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Steve Angle, was not
surprised at Blackwood’s recovery.
“Rachel was an outstanding, determined student who
always applied herself to the academic challenges she
faced,” said Angle, who continued to communicate with
Blackwood after she left UCR. “These traits have served her
well in achieving her academic goals and meeting the
personal challenges she faced in what would have been a
career-ending illness for many individuals.”
As soon as she was strong enough, Blackwood talked to
Angle about her desire to recover her high-level thinking
skills. He introduced her to Leah Haimo, UCR professor and
vice chair of the Department of Biology, who led a group
that met weekly to discuss scientific papers.
”This discussion group was the stepping stone for my
return to science and the normal world,” she said.
Six months after surgery, she defended her dissertation
“Comparative Biochemistry and Cell Biology of Merlin,
Ezrin, and EBP50” and was awarded her Ph.D. in biochemistry from Cornell University. Her graduate adviser was
Anthony Bretscher.
But defending her dissertation at that point was an
anticlimatic experience.
“Re-reading my thesis was like staring into a looking
glass,” she said. “I saw my past achievements with
nostalgia, but the intellect that produced the work was no
longer in me, and so then it seemed like I was taking credit
for somebody else’s work.”
She and her husband, Van Blackwood, now live in
Rockville, Md. She just finished up her post-doctoral work
at the National Institutes of Health. The aim of her research
there was to define new targets for cancer therapy by
isolating proteins from tumor extract that bind to ezrin, a
protein critical for cancer to spread to other parts of the
body, or metastasize. She is now looking for a faculty or
postdoctoral research position in chemistry or biochemistry.
She hopes to further develop the technology to biochemically define the relevant target for each cancer patient,
case by case, in order to improve treatment decision and
outcome.
Blackwood competed in her first race, the 5K Race for
the Cure in June 2005 and, a few months later, the 8K
Marine Corps Marathon in October 2005. She is now
training to complete her first marathon in June in San
Diego. She is also training to get her lifeguard certification.
“My motto after my sickness is that I just give my 100
percent,” said Blackwood, who recently returned to campus
to make a presentation at the opening ceremonies of UCR’s
new Physical Sciences I building, her first public scientific
presentation after the illness.
UCR
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CLASSNOTES
entities he cares deeply about
– The DART Center on
Journalism and Trauma at the
University of Washington and
the National Center for
Critical Incident Analysis. His
research focuses on how
communities and the mass
media cope with high-profile
acts of violence.
’74 Susan Ball (M.A.) will
leave her position as executive
director of the College Art
Association (CAA) in July. She
joined CAA in January 1986
and oversaw growth of operations, endowment and
membership for the association
during her 20-year tenure.
Susan will become director
emeritus and will continue to
work with the CAA as director
of its Centennial History
Project. Prior to joining CAA,
she was the director of
government and foundation
affairs at the Art Institute of
Chicago, assistant treasurer of
Chase Manhattan Bank and
assistant professor of art
history at the University of
Delaware. Susan has an adjunct
faculty appointment at New
York University’s graduate
program in visual arts administration … Bruce
Freeman (’78
Ph.D.) was named
professor and chair
of the Department
of Pharmacology
at the University of
Pittsburgh School
of Medicine in
January 2006. He joins the
University of Pittsburgh after
a two-decade tenure at the
University of Alabama at
Birmingham, most recently
serving as vice chair for
research in the Department of
Anesthesiology. He is noted
for his research on cell
signaling reactions and
inflammatory processes due to
tissue injury, which has had
implications for the design
and treatment approaches for
26
WINTER
2006
such conditions as acute
inflammation, respiratory
disorders and cardiovascular
diseases. His wife, Margaret
M. Tarpey (’78), will join
Bruce on the School of
Medicine’s faculty as a
professor in the Department
of Anesthesiology.
’76 Arlee Susanne DuffyEmmott has retired from the
insurance industry. Her
husband is vice president of
sales for International Wire
Group … Esperanza Luna
founded an arts program for
juvenile offenders in Los
Angeles, and later the Los
Angeles Visual Artists (LAVA).
Her paintings have won
numerous awards and were
featured in shows throughout
Southern California. She
recently relocated to Oregon
and wants to travel across
Oregon to paint plein air
landscapes and photograph
what Luna calls the state’s
“wild and unrestrained
beauty.”
’77 Laurel Bollen Jew got
married in 1990. She was a
technical writer, but is now
the mother of four children
and is into table tennis and
home schooling in Southern
California.
’79 Mary Figueroa was
honored as an Influential
Latino by Hispanic Lifestyles
magazine at its Hispanic Image
Awards. Mary is a board
member for the Riverside
Community College District.
80s
’81 Michael
A. Sesma
(Ph.D.) is chief
of the research
scientist development
program in the
Office for
Special Populations at the
National Institute of Mental
Health. His major responsibilities are to coordinate initiatives and programs for the
development of mental-health
research scientists who are
from underrepresented
groups. He has been there
since 1994, working first at the
National Institute of General
Medical Sciences (NIGMS) as
a scientific review administrator and a program director
in the Division of Genetics
and Developmental Biology,
where he was responsible for a
research portfolio in neurogenetics and the genetics of
behavior. Michael moved to
the National Institute of
Mental Health in 2002 to
develop the research scientist
development program in the
NIMH-OSP. He is also a
councilman for the city of
Gaithersburg, Md.
’82 Paul Wilkinson received
his Ph.D. in computer science
from the University of
Durham in England in 2004.
He is now teaching computer
science at Pasadena City
College.
’83 Michael Ramos was
honored by Riverside-based
Hispanic Lifestyles magazine
at its Hispanic Image Awards.
Michael is San Bernardino
County’s district attorney and
the first Latino to serve in the
position.
’85 Mark E. Werner, an Air
Force lieutenant colonel, is
currently deployed overseas at
a forward operating location
in support of Operation Iraqi
Freedom.
’86 David A. Brown (M.A.)
is senior director of pharmacovigilance and epidemiology at PPD Inc. David
leads the company’s postmarket pharmacovigilance
offerings, including registries
and risk management tools.
His responsibilities include
oversight of the design,
conduct and interpretation of
registries and post- launch
pharmacoepidemiological
studies used to monitor and
assess pharmaceutical and
medical device products postapproval. Prior to joining
PPD, David held a number of
senior positions in the fields
of epidemiology and global
safety surveillance, including
serving as epidemiology team
leader for oncology and
neurosciences at Wyeth
Research. He was an assistant
professor of epidemiology in
the department of epidemiology and international health
in the School of Public Health
at the University of Alabama
at Birmingham … Dawn
(Franchi) Gamberale (’87
teaching credential) teaches
advance placement chemistry
and has been appointed to the
governing board at Poway
Unified School District. She
has taught of Poway for 18
years and was named the San
Diego County Chemistry
Teacher of the Year and
honored on television as the
San Diego recipient of the
California Exceptional
Educator Award by her local
assemblyman. She and her
husband live in San Diego
with their children Matt and
Mia.
’87 Joel
Blumin is an
assistant
professor of
otolaryngology
and communications sciences at
the Medical
College of
Wisconsin. He
came to the Medical College
from the University of
Pennsylvania, where he served
as assistant professor of
otorhinolaryngolgy. Joel is a
fellowship-trained, boardcertified otolaryngologist and
head and neck surgeon. His
clinical emphasis is in treating
patients with voice and throat
problems. His research interest
is in vocal cord weakness and
spasmodic dysphonia.
’89 Ki-Tak (K.T.) Leung is
principal of Leung
Accountancy Corp. with
offices in the California cities
of San Marino and Irvine …
Peter S. Ohr
was appointed
as deputy
assistant
general counsel
in the division
of operationsmanagement
at the National
Labor Relations Board
(NLRB), which administers
and enforces the National
Labor Relations Act. Peter has
been employed as an attorney
with the NLRB’s Honolulu
Sub-regional office since 1997.
vascular and proteomics
research efforts.
’91 John Paul DeWolfe
married Michelle Lee Ventura
on Aug. 26, 2005, at the Christ
Church Cathedral in
Cincinnati, Ohio. John is a
senior leasing representative
for DLC Management Corp.
in Oak Lawn, Ill. The couple
will make their home in
Chicago.
’92 Robert Caplinger was
one of three educators who
received the National Middle
School Association’s
Distinguished Educator
Award in recognition of his
He’s Still
“ The Business”
Alumnus Kevin Butler gets
the chance to show off the
basketball skills that made
him shine at UCR.
’90s
’90 Daniel Chagnovich is
director of research operations
at Velcura Therapeutics. The
U.S. biotechnology company
focuses on developing drugs
that stimulate bone
formation. Daniel joined
Velcura in 2003 as senior
scientist in bioinformatics. At
Velcura, he has used bioinformatics analyses to characterize
the molecular events underlying human bone formation.
Daniel also has identified
specific molecular targets for
bone formation and expanded
Velcura’s bone growth
technologies. Prior to joining
Velcura, he worked as a
scientist at Pfizer’s Global
Research and Development
Center in Ann Arbor, Mich.,
where he used bioinformatics
tools to evaluate the human
genome and identify novel
genes in support of its cardio-
efforts to
implement
strategies for
increasing
young adolescents’
academic and
developmental
growth. He is
Kevin Butler as a player on the
UCR basketball team.
By Ross French
During his four years on UCR’s men’s basketball team,
Kevin Butler was known as much for his business-like attitude
both on and off the court as he was for his speed, hustle and
leaping ability.
So when Butler, who graduated from UCR in 2004, was
selected to compete in ESPN’s “City Slam” television show, he
became “The Business.” “City Slam” features some of the best
street-ball players from Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta and
Chicago in a dunk contest and three-point contest.
It was Butler’s association with the Young Players Association
(YPA) Street Ball team, which plays in regional tournaments
across the country, along with his skills and athletic prowess
that helped get him chosen for the competition.
During the August 2005 competition, Butler impressed the
All-Star judges, consisting of former NBA stars Dee Brown, Spud
Webb, Michael Cooper and Damon Jones, with 29 out of 30
possible points in the opening. In the “Tribute Dunk,” Butler
performed a windmill dunk made famous by Michael Jordan,
earning 27 points.
During the third round Butler was one of three competitors
to get to the 60-inch barrier in the high-jump dunk.
During the final free-style contest, Butler completed a
reverse dunk and a two-handed 360 degree dunk.
“I was the last dunker and tied for first place entering the
round. As the judges were giving the scores, I was putting my
UCR business education to use, mentally calculating the totals,”
Butler said. “When the final score of nine points was given by
Michael Cooper, I knew I had won.”
He won by a half point and received $5,000 and went on to
compete and finish fourth in the City Slam Finals in Chicago.
With City Slam behind him, Butler is working to establish
himself in real estate and establishing a company to promote
basketball and athletic fitness training.
But he is not walking away from the basketball court just yet.
“My next step is playing professional basketball in the ABA
(American Basketball Association) for the San Francisco Pilots.
From there, only time will tell. I will be working my hardest
and giving my all to make my basketball dreams come true.”
UCR
F I AT
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27
the assistant principal of
Oregon’s Lake Oswego Junior
High School. Robert was
honored for his work as
counselor and dean of
students at Edgewood Middle
School in West Covina, Calif.
Robert previously taught at
Imperial Middle School in La
Habra, Calif., for 10 years and
was also an elementary
summer school administrator
in La Habra. He received
Outstanding Teacher
Recognition and earned the
Sallie Mae First-Class Teacher
Award in 1994 for the La
Habra City School District …
Anita S. Rathi-Joy married
Brian Joy in 2000. Their first
child, Chandra Marie, was
born in June 2005. Anita
continues to work as a
children’s social worker and
has been in the specialized
section, the child abduction
unit, for the past two years …
Steven Weinstein and his
wife, Maria (Pilar), who is
from Mexico City, are
expecting their first child, a
boy, in March. Steven is a
substitute teacher for the Los
Angeles Unified School
District. The couple live in
Garden Grove.
’93 David C. Ellien married
Birgit B. Hansen on Sept. 17,
2005, at the Santa Monica
Beach. The couple will make
their home in Venice Beach.
David and Birgit are the
founding architects of Hansen
and Ellien in Venice Beach.
’94 Fernando Ortiz (M.A.,
’99 Ph.D.) is an associate
professor of psychology at
Santa Ana College. He
received the Excellence in
Community College
Instruction from the Hispanic
Education Endowment Fund
at its 12th annual Apple of
Gold Awards, honoring
educators who support
academic achievement of
Latinos.
’95 Cynthia Clark (M.A.) is
principal of C.K. McClatchy
High School in Sacramento.
She previously served as
principal at Edison High
School in Huntington Beach
… Scott Harshman has joined
the Orange County office of
Greenberg Traurig LLP as Of
Counsel in the trusts and
estates practice group. He is a
certified specialist in estate
planning, trust and probate
law by the State Bar of
California Board of Legal
Specializations. Scott was
formerly a partner in trusts
and estates practice at the
Busch Firm … Christa Stutz
is a first-grade teacher at Park
Hill Elementary School in the
San Jacinto Unified School
District. She has 10 years of
teaching experience from
kindergarten to second grade.
’97 Kathryn Lee Carpenter
married Young Joon Kim
Memorial Fund Keeps
Son’s Memory Alive, Helps
Students in Need
Tranquil Calley, with a photo of her son,
Kalyn Smith-Tranquil’son, who died in 1994.
28
WINTER
2006
By Celeste Durant
Tranquil Calley (’89 M.A.) wanted to give her
late son something that most people rarely think
about: immortality.
Calley’s son, Kalyn Smith-Tranquil’son (’81),
died of AIDS-related complications in 1994 at the
age of 34. The anthropology major, who was
known as Colin Smith while attending UCR, was
an early advocate for gay rights on campus.
At that time, Calley says, gay rights were not
as widely accepted as they are today, and school
administrators didn’t know what to do with her
openly gay son. After his death she felt a
compelling need to commemorate his life.
“Most of us get immortality through our
children,” said Calley, a little wistfully, “but when
you lose a child, especially one that is gay, you
don’t have that.”
Calley decided to establish a fund at the
university so that her son would not be forgotten;
but it took a while to figure out how the money
should be used.
“I dallied as to whether it should be
something in his area — he was a poet and I
was an English major – or should I give it to
someone who had furthered tolerance of gay
people.”
Then she ran into Nancy Tubbs, director of
UCR’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
Resource Center.
“Nancy said that every quarter at least one
student fears losing financial support from their
family because of their sexual orientation.
Immediately the lightening bolts went off. This is
something Kalyn would have wanted.”
To help those students, the Kalyn SmithTranquil’son Memorial Fund provides emergency
financial assistance until the Financial Aid Office
can secure a grant or loan. So far, only one
student has received assistance from the fund, but
Calley is happy it’s there for those who need it.
She believes her son is happy about it, too.
“I am sure Kalyn is giving me a big ‘thumbs
up’ from wherever he is.”
For more information on the fund, visit
www.out.ucr.edu.
(’95) on Oct. 15, 2005, at the
Living Desert Zoo and
Gardens in Palm Desert, Calif.
The couple will make their
home in Union City, N.J.
Kathryn is a child therapist at
the Upper Manhattan Mental
Health Center in Harlem, N.Y.
Young is a lawyer at Thatcher,
Proffitt & Wood in New York
… Christie Anne Gonzalez is
married and has three
children: Zack, born in 2000,
and Gwen and Julia, identical
twins born in 2003. Christie is
a stay-at-home mom ...
Christine Kai is an educator
with the Buena Park Unified
School District … John Zeller
is an engineer with the Marina
Coast Water District. He was
sent with the California
National Guard to help
county and city officials
restructure water and sewage
systems damaged by flooding
and high winds after
Hurricane Katrina. John
served in the Air Force and
was a trained water treatment
operator.
’98 Amir H. Dabirian
(M.S.) is chief
information
technology
officer at
California State
University,
Fullerton
(CSUF). As
chief information technology officer,
Amir is a member of the
president’s administrative
board and oversees a division
of 95 staff members and a
$13.2 million budget. He is a
20-year veteran at CSUF
where he has risen through
the ranks in information
technology. Prior to joining
CSUF, Amir was chief
VisaBuxx architect and chief
information technology
officer for Card Express Inc.,
where he was responsible for
taking the product from
design specifications to launch
… Landon Dean is in Loma
Linda University School of
Pharmacy’s class of 2009 …
Timothy
Reimers is
an associate
attorney at
Quateman &
Zidell LLP,
practicing in
the areas of
municipal
finance, real
estate and commercial
finance. He graduated as a
fellow from the Los Angeles
Chamber of Commerce’s
Leadership L.A. program, a
10-month course that focuses
on issues confronting the Los
Angeles region. Tim also
serves as a deacon in the New
Apostolic Church and resides
in San Gabriel, Calif.
’99 Rina Gonzales began
working as a deputy city
attorney for the city of
Riverside in October. She
serves as a board member for
the Inland Empire Latino
Lawyers Association and
Inland County Legal Services.
During the holidays, she was
active with the Riverside
County Bar Association Elves
Program … Marvelyn
(Herbert) Tapp announces
the birth of her daughter,
Malaya Nicole Tapp, born in
April 2005. Marvelyn married
Greg Tapp after earning her
master’s degree in statistics at
Northern Arizona University.
The family lives in Benton,
Ark.
’00s
’00 Justin Kleiner has
joined the staff of Lord
Leebrick Theatre Company in
Eugene, Ore., as technical
director for the 2005-06
season. … Denise Kornuta
(teaching credential) is a
teacher at Victress Bower
School in Norco, Calif. The
public school serves students
from ages 3 to 22 who are
severely disabled. She started
as an instructional assistant at
Bower in 1994.
’01 Karen Schaffman
(Ph.D.) co-founded San
Diego’s Lower Left
Performance Collective in
1994. The postmodern
performance collective is
committed to artistic
innovation with an emphasis
in dance. Karen developed the
11-month long “Satellite
Project,” a multicity performance collaboration commissioning five renowned artists
in the fields of postmodern
dance and performance from
across the United States to
direct a collaborative piece
with Lower Left artists and
guest performers. She spent
six years studying and
performing postmodern
dance in Europe prior to
founding the collective…
Scott
Silverman
(’04 M.S.) is
the executive
director of
Hillel at
UCR, which
serves the
colleges and
universities of
Riverside, San Bernardino,
Redlands and the desert
communities. Hillel educates
campus communities about
issues related to Judaism and
anti-Semitism, and serves as a
cultural home-away-fromhome for Jewish students.
’02 Kaori
Nagao is the
director of
marketing for a
John Robert
Powers
modeling/acting
school and
talent agency in
Las Vegas.
’03 Geoff Anderson received
his pilot’s wings in the U.S. Air
Force at Columbus Air Force
Base in Mississippi on July 22.
He will be based at Andrews
AFB in Maryland, flying C-21
aircrafts … Maria W.L. Chee
(Ph.D.) is the assistant to the
vice provosts of faculty
advancement and international
affairs at the University of
Virginia. Her book, “Taiwanese
American Transnational
Families: Women and Kin
Work,” was released in May
2005. The book examines
transnational families split in
the United States and Taiwan
in a global political economy,
at the intersection of class,
gender, generation and race
with attention to women’s
experiences.
’04 Liam Corley (Ph.D.)
joined the faculty at Cal Poly
Pomona as an assistant
professor of English and
celebrated the birth of
daughter, Dorothy Michelle,
born in March 2005.
’05 Catherine Gleason
(M.A.) was appointed as
director of exhibitions at the
Oceanside Museum of Art.
In Memoriam…
’ 61 Joseph Behar (M.A., ’69
Ph.D.), January 2005
’64 Melvin J. Brown,
September 2005
’68 Geoffrey Bowmaster,
September 2005
’74 David F. Minner,
November 2005
’77 James Louie Young (M.A.,
’78 Ph.D.), October 2005
’85 Patricia Tolson
Tomlinson (Ph.D.), October
2005
’91 Gino Gaspare La Scala,
November 2005
’92 John Scrum (M.A., ’04
Ph.D.), September 2005
’96 Alison Harrington,
November 2005
’05 Jeremy Harrison, October
2005
UCR
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Take a Trip to the Adriatic Riviera
with the Alumni Association
Discover the hidden treasures of the
Istrian peninsula with the UCR Alumni
Association’s Alumni Campus Abroad on
the Adriatic Riviera.
Plenty of planned events and free time
are included on the itinerary. The
Slovenian town of Piran, a medieval
walled village rendered in Venetian architecture, serves as the base for exploration.
Tour highlights include a cruise along
Portoroz Bay, a walking tour of Piran,
dressage performance and equine
acrobatics performed by the famed
Lipizzan horses, a gondola ride on Lake
Bled, a full-day excursion to the
Croatian towns of Porec and Rovinj
and a hydrofoil ride to Venice.
The tour is Aug. 22-30 and costs
$3,595. The package includes round-trip
air transportation from Los Angeles or
San Francisco, accommodations for seven
nights at the first-class Hotel Tartini, three
full meals per day, informative educational
programs presented by local experts, and all
excursions on the itinerary. A land-only
program for Aug. 23-30 is available for $2,095.
To request a brochure or to be placed
on the association’s travel list, contact the
UCR Alumni Association. Tour participants must be members of the UCR
Alumni Association. Each member may
bring a spouse and children under 18 or
one guest.
2005 UCRAA Life Members
Ann A. Aasen ‘73
Erin K. Adler ‘05
Taryn M. Alba ‘96
Omokhoje O. Amu ‘04
Charles W. Anderson ‘75
Poovaiah M. Appachu ‘04 M.S.
Sameh S. Arsanious ‘05
Alvin Au ‘05
Amy C. Avelar ‘05
Anjali Awasthi ‘05
Christopher G. Ayson ‘01
Kristen A. Baldridge ‘93
Matthew A. Bantillo ‘05
Bertha Barraza ‘96
Dennis M. Bein ‘89, ‘91 M.B.A.
James W. Belden ‘87
Vito L. Bello ‘05
Benjamin G. Benjamin ‘05
Kenneth C. Bernal ‘98
Lauren G. Beyenhof ‘04
Melissa J. Billiter ‘94
Patrick F. Billiter ‘93
Patsy P. Bittmann ‘61
Robert S. Borowski ‘84 Ph.D.
Phillip J. Boskovich ‘77
Sherry A. Brandon ‘02, ‘04
M.F.A.
Caroline S. Branske ‘05
Samantha L. Branske ‘05
Pearl Q. Bravo ‘05
Derick W. Brinkerhoff ‘69, ‘75
M.Adm.
Dericksen M. Brinkerhoff
Mary W. Brinkerhoff
Lauren M. Brody ‘05
Scott A. Brown ‘91
Jennifer A. Burtness ‘05
Adrianna M. Butler ‘05
Mary G. M. Cabasan ‘04
Joanna M. Callaghan ‘90
Lawrence F. Camacho ‘98
Michael L. Campbell ‘80
Abigail G. Cano ‘05
Mary-Ann C. Cantero ‘05
Guadalupe Cardenas ‘83
Laura K. Carson ‘80
Sergio A. Casillas ‘90
Matthew A. Cenzon ‘05
Abba C. Y. Chan ‘05
30
WINTER
2006
Ming-Fai Chan
Steven K. Chang ‘05
Michael P. Chavez ‘74
Maria W. L. Chee ‘03 Ph.D.
Tony Chhuor ‘05
Edward K. Chin ‘05
Kevin H. T. Chu ‘05
Erick Y. Chung ‘05
Jae-Wook Chung ‘05 Ph.D.
Jennifer A. Cisneros ‘99
Carole P. Cleary ‘87
Khristina M. Clous ‘03
Jerry D. Cohen ‘72
Susan D. Cohen ‘72
Miriam F. Cooperband ‘95,‘05
Ph.D.
Heather S. Costa ‘86 M.S.
Megan M. Cotter ‘05
Justin M. Cram ‘05
Diane C. Crow ‘64
Dustin S. Culhan ‘99, ‘01 M.S.,
‘05 Ph.D.
Kelly M. Czechowski ‘05
Michael J. Davidson ‘75
Adrianna S. Davis ‘05
Jennifer M. Davis ‘05
Richmond V. Deasis ‘05
Raisa R. Del Rosario ‘05
Stephen D. Deslauriers ‘05
Crystal M. Dillard ‘05
John S. Diorio ‘01
Lauren J. Docherty ‘04
Karl C. Doering ‘01
Christine C. Domingo ‘05
Robert J. Drury
Edward X. Duong ‘05
Adriana Duran ‘05
Griselda Duran ‘98
Hasan A. El-Hasan ‘05 Ph.D.
Robin W. Erwin ‘69
Vicky J. Farkas ‘75
Jennifer L. Fell ‘05
Pauline S. M. Fernandez ‘05
Sarah S. M. Fernandez ‘03
Sofia S. M. Fernandez ‘05
Jennifer M. Finch ‘02
Roger E. Fisher ‘67 M.S., ‘70
Ph.D.
Andrew Flores ‘82
Taylor A. Fry ‘05
Jennifer L. Gabel ‘05
Alexandra E. Galanti ‘05
Milind M. Gangal ‘99 Ph.D.
Jessica R. Ganser ‘05
Robert A. Garcia ‘00
Jeanette F. Garcia-Balberan
‘05
Andrew J. Garrison ‘05
Amanda B. Geisner ‘05
Colby D. Gergovich ‘05
Rachel N. Ginsberg ‘05
Todd M. Goodson ‘05
Tanya Gorham ‘05
Lisa Gov ‘04
Cody C. Guadagnoli ‘05
Keri N. Gushwa ‘05 M.B.A.
Erika C. Guzman ‘05
Robert J. Habereder ‘05
Dariush Haghighat ‘81, ‘85
M.A., ‘88 Ph.D.
Brent N. Halvonik ‘93
Cristian A. Hamilton ‘96
Hoyt J. Heaton ‘97 M.S.
John W. Hensley ‘66
Ryan P. Hill ‘05
Kimi J. Hiroshima ‘05
Wilfred Ho ‘05
Jason M. Hone ‘00
Kenneth C. Hou ‘05
Bo R. Hyun ‘05
John A. Immaraju ‘85 M.S.,
‘89 Ph.D.
Joel J. Ingram ‘82
Anna D. Ioakimedes ‘05
Mohni Iqbal ‘05
Matthew A. Jackson ‘05
Joss Jeri ‘05
James Jobin ‘03 Ph.D.
Charles G. Johnson ‘05
Debra L. Johnson ‘05
Janelle M. Julagay ‘05
Phyllis Kalberg
Sethvathey Kao ‘05
Shuo-tai Kao-Vassilakos
Rebekah E. Katin ‘05
Pamela L. Kehler ‘05
Victoria E. Keller ‘05
Patty J. Kellison ‘00 M.A.
Kevin M. Kemp ‘05
Margaret E. Kerr
Sharon M. Kidwell ‘00
Johanna M. Kilpatrick ‘80
Christine M. Kim ‘05
Mira M.L Kim ‘05
Paul J. Kim ‘05
William M. Kivinski ‘05
Phillip K. Ko ‘05
Wah-Mei J. Kodimer ‘02
Ronillo E. Lacson ‘05
Stephen C.K. Lam ‘05
Mark A. Langhorne ‘83
Jeffrey Lau ‘05
Kenneth K.Y. Lau ‘05
Wai D. Lau ‘96
Jonathan P. Lazar ‘05
David D. Lee ‘04
Patricia A. Lee ‘91
Vanessa E. Lee ‘05
Michael K. Lerch ‘92 M.A.
Mark A. Levin ‘72
Lloyd E. Levine ‘92
Kristine V. Lim ‘05
Brian Lin ‘05
Christopher L. Lin ‘05
Aaron M.L. Liu ‘05
Anna Lo ‘00
Amy R. Lopez ‘05
Kizzy M. Lucas ‘05
Angela M. Lustrick ‘98
Ngoc D. Luu ‘05 M.F.A.
Arturo Lyles ‘05
Michael J. Madrigal ‘89
Jennifer Mahdavi ‘96 M.A.,
‘00 Ph.D.
Maria-Christina S. Malinao ‘05
Yahya M. Mansour ‘04, ‘05
M.S.
Gabrielle D. Marquez ‘05
Valerie Marquez ‘03
Harue J. Marsden ‘82
Jason W. Martinez ‘00 M.A.,
‘05 Ph.D.
Arin L. Maruna ‘05
Shana J. Masullo ‘05
Edwin M. Matias ‘80
Ernest H. Mattison ‘70
Cynthia V. McArtor ‘88
Michael G. McCandless ‘05
Ashley L. McCord ‘05
Arianna J. McIntyre ‘05
Ardith C. McKim ‘74
James P. McNaboe ‘87, ‘88
M.S.
Annette Medina ‘93
Marci Mendel ‘81
Miriam Mendez ‘05
Kirk-Ken G. Mihara ‘93
Nick A. Milazzo ‘89
Megan M. Miller ‘05
Jacqueline Mimms ‘92 M.A.,
‘96 Ph.D.
Samantha J. Mitchell ‘05
Edward J. Mooney ‘82 M.A.
Rosalia Morales ‘05
Alan D. Moreno ‘04
Elizabeth A. Mosher ‘90
Ken T. Murillo ‘04
Saarah A.Najieb ‘01
Theresa A. Santiago Narvaez
‘05
Golnar Nassiri ‘01
Tiffany L. Nelson ‘05
Bradley E. Neufeld ‘82
Mary E. Newell ‘04
Teresa C. Ng ‘05
Hieu T. Nguyen ‘05
Kimnhon T. Nguyen ‘05
Jamie L. Nichols ‘05
Amanda T. Noble ‘01, ‘05
M.B.A.
Mark R. Noche ‘96
Raul Nunez ‘05
Susan M. O’Reilly ‘05
Don H. Oswald ‘05
Cesar E. Oyervides-Cisneros
‘05
Allen Ozeran ‘05
Paula C. Pabalan ‘91
Robert J. Pacheco ‘02 M.A.
Gilda Paez ‘03, ‘05 M.Ed.
Ivory R. Parnell ‘05
Jignya Patel ‘05
Kunal A. Patel ‘05
Sweta R. Patel ‘05
Thomas C. Patterson ‘60
Russell L. Paulsen ‘89
Elvia Paz ‘05
Jeannette P. Phillips ‘05
Vangelina Pina ‘05
Caleb T. Porter ‘05
Adam J. Powell ‘04
Christopher T. Power ‘05
Travis W. Randel ‘05
Chotirat Ratanamahatana ‘05
Ph.D.
Judyth E. Reed ‘79 M.A.
Robert A. Reed ‘92
Laurel I. Relph ‘05
Christopher J. Rivera ‘05
Wilfrid F. Roberge ‘61
Jeffrey T. Roberts ‘92
Joseph D. Rodriguez ‘05
Stephanie J. Roe ‘04
Alicia A. Romero ‘04
Alicia E. Romero ‘03
Adriana Romo ‘01
Robert P. Sacalas ‘03
Dawn M. Sackson ‘05
Elly L. Sadika ‘05
Georgina G. Salazar ‘05
Ramona Salazar ‘05
Teresa D.J. Sanchez ‘05
Lilian C. Santos ‘05
Adam R. Saperston ‘84
Lewis E. Sasse ‘91
Allan J. Schwartz ‘74
Andra M. Schwartz ‘02 Ph.D.
Cynthia A. Schyling ‘80
Jo S. Coe ‘05 M.F.A.
Alma R.L. Serna ‘01
Emmanuel J.A. Sevilla ‘05
Roderick E. Shaner ‘72
Jeffrey Shu ‘05
Muhammad Shuaib ‘05
Scott S. Sirowy ‘05
Amy K. Smith ‘05
Kipp Smith
Ruthan G. Smith ‘76
Justin M. Solis ‘01
G. Susan Srivatsa ‘82 M.S., ‘85
Ph.D.
Dorothy Stauffer ‘67
Ezekiel G. Stear ‘01
Wei Sun ‘03 M.A., ‘05 Ph.D.
Frederick R. Suppe ‘62
Suzanne C. Sutherland ‘91
Richard N. Sylvester ‘05
Gaurav Taneja ‘05
Brian J. Taylor ‘74
Briauna D. Taylor ‘05
Joseph W. Ternes ‘62
Brian G. Thomas ‘86 Ph.D.
Fernando Thomas
Lena L. Tisdale ‘05
Enrique J. Tobar ‘03
Andrew O. Todd ‘87
Luis G. Torner ‘05
Gigi H. Tran ‘05
Nha-Quang H. Tran ‘05
Xuan-My N. Tran ‘05
Ha M. Trieu ‘04
Brian C. Unitt ‘80
Jim P. Vassilakos ‘89, ‘92
M.B.A.
Ross E. Wallace ‘05
Pinghsun Wang
Simon T.K. Wang ‘05
Monique C. Watson ‘90
Karin E. Westerling ‘78
Jocelyn M. Whitfield
Adam I. Williams ‘01
Melody A. Winston ‘67
Jennifer D. Wisniewski ‘05
M.A.
Reylynn B. Wright ‘05
Michelle I. Wu ‘05
Raef T. Wyatt ‘04
Ester Yanez ‘05
Vincent I.Y. Zabala ‘05
Chrystine C. Zaballero ‘05
Every attempt was made
to ensure that members’
names were spelled
properly and all new life
members were included
for the 2005 calendar
year. If your name was
misspelled or omitted,
please accept our apology.
Thank you for your
lifetime commitment to
the values of the UCR
Alumni Association.
Consolidate Federal
Student Loans
Consolidation is an important aspect
of student loans – one that should be
carefully considered when studies are
complete. With tuition costs rising, many
students are graduating with a substantial
amount of student loan debt.
The UCR Alumni Association has
teamed with Nelnet to help alumni learn
how to best manage and repay those
loans, manage debt and achieve future
How to contact the UCR Alumni
Association
Web site: www.alumni.ucr.edu
E-mail: ucralum@ucr.edu
Phone: (951) UCR-ALUM or (800) 426-ALUM (2586)
financial goals. Nelnet offers convenience
and simplicity in the repayment process,
making the transition to life after college
smoother and more comfortable. Fixed
interest rate loans as low as 4.75 percent
are available.
For more information, contact the
Alumni Association or go online at
www.alumniconsolidation.nelnet.net.
Please note that your name, address, phone number,
e-mail, college and year of graduation may be used by
University of California, Riverside for the development of
invitation lists to university-oriented programs and
events, as well as for university-affiliated marketing
programs and benefit offerings. If you do not wish to
have this information assigned to these purposes, please
notify the Office of Alumni and Constituent Relations at
(951) UCR-ALUM, (800) 426-ALUM or e-mail us at
ucralum@ucr.edu.
IN MEMORIAM
Harry W. Lawton, a self-taught
historian, author and the founder of UCR’s
Writers Week, died Nov. 20, after a long
illness. He was 77.
His book about a desert manhunt was
the basis for the 1969 movie “Tell Them
Willie Boy Is Here,” which starred Robert
Blake, Katharine Ross and Robert Redford.
Lawton was a journalist at Riverside’s
Press-Enterprise before holding a variety of
jobs at UCR between 1965 and 1991. He
earned his bachelor’s degree from UCR in
English in 1969. He served as the chair of
the program in creative writing while it was
still an offshoot of the Department of
English. He also taught creative writing
classes.
In addition to founding UCR’s Writers
Week, Lawton is credited with helping to
establish the Malki Museum on the
Morongo Indian Reservation near Banning
and the nonprofit Malki Museum Press. In
1974, he co-founded what is now the
Journal of California and Great Basin
Anthropology.
Lawton is survived by his wife,
Georgeann Lawton, of Laguna Woods; son
George and daughter-in-law Kerry Lawton,
of Dana Point; son Daniel Lawton, of
Buena Park; son Jonathan and daughter-inlaw Teresa Lawton, of Los Angeles; son
Richard Lawton and daughter-in-law Alana
Cortes, of Los Angeles; daughter Deborah
Golino and son-in-law Richard Hoenisch,
of Davis; a sister, Jean Belle Hamner, of
Visalia; and six grandchildren.
Paul R. Miller, a research plant pathologist from 1966 until he retired in 1998,
died Oct. 12. He was 70.
Dr. Miller received his doctorate in
plant pathology from UC Berkeley, and
bachelor’s and master’s degrees from
Colorado State University.
His pioneering and far-reaching
research proving that ozone was the main
cause of forest dieback in California has
been cited hundreds of times all over the
world. His fieldwork also involved plots of
trees in the San Bernardino Mountains, a
greenhouse in the San Jacinto Mountains,
and, for another study, the Sequoia
National Forest. Some experiments
involved enclosing tree branches in
chambers to expose some to ambient air
and some to air filtered by charcoal that
removes ozone.
His survivors include his wife, Frances;
a son, Chris Miller; a daughter, Allyson;
two grandchildren; and a sister, Muriel
Bennett.
William Bradshaw, a professor emeritus
of art, died Sept. 15. He was 77.
Dr. Bradshaw was born in March 1928
in El Paso, Texas. He received his
bachelor’s and master’s degrees from
UCLA. He was assistant director at the
Chicago Art Institute American Pavilion
in Venice, Italy, in 1956 and served in the
U.S. Army from 1952-54. He received a
Fulbright Grant in 1955. He came to UCR
as an instructor in art in 1957 and was a
founding member of the UCR
Department of Art. He retired from UCR
in 1991 after many years of service.
Dr. Bradshaw is survived by his sons
Tomaso, Bryant and Keenan Bradshaw
and his sisters Betty Jane Knight and Mary
Ann Bradshaw.
Achilles Dugaiczyk, a professor of
biochemistry at UCR since 1982, passed
away on Oct. 31.
Dr. Dugaiczyk conducted research on
the fundamental aspects of molecular
evolution, specifically on the evolution of
specific small DNA inserts in primates.
After completing his master’s degree in
chemistry at Jagiellonian University in
Krakow, Poland, he came to the United
States to earn his doctorate at the
University of California, San Francisco.
He became one of the first molecular
biologists through his postdoctoral
research at UCSF. Dr. Dugaiczyk was on
the editorial board of the journal Gene
and a member of numerous scholarly
organizations, including the American
Society of Biological Chemists, American
Association for the Advancement of
Science, the American Chemical Society
and the Genetics Society of America.
Dr. Dugaiczyk is survived by his wife,
Lila; a son, Lars; and a daughter, Beata
Dugaiczyk.
UCR
F I AT
LUX
31
Alumni Life Members
Kathryn Lynn Davis
Class of 1978 B.A. (English),
’80 M.A. (History)
UCRAA Life Member
Best Selling Author of Historical
Fiction
“My husband, Michael Elderman, and I
met some of our closest friends when they
were students, lecturers or professors at
UCR — in dance, art, photography, history,
English and creative writing. For years, we
never missed a Writers’ Week or a “UCR Is
Dancing.” I have since taught writing for
UCR Extension and received two alumni
awards in fiction.
The most fun I’ve ever had at UCR was
researching a novel based on a dance
choreographed by Fred Strickler. I watched
choreographers and dancers work for an
entire academic year. The same year, I sold
my New York Times bestseller, ”Too Deep
for Tears.”
My lifetime membership in the UCR
Alumni Association has given me opportunities for advancement, recognition and a
personal connection to the people on
campus. Michael, now a professional
photographer who has been documenting
the history of Riverside for 25 years,
including many events at UCR, maintains a
strong relationship with the campus as
well. These threads, which bind us so
closely to the UCR community, have greatly
enriched our lives for the last 31 years and
promise to continue to do so as the
university grows.”
UCRAA – Where UCR
Alumni Belong!
Free access to all 10 UC
campus libraries
Members receive a free
subscription to the Fiat Lux
Discounts on UCR Athletics,
dance and cultural events
Discounts on UC Alumni
Career Conferences and
UC Extension courses
UCRAA Membership Offer:
Single Membership
❏ Annual
$35
Life
❏ Paid in Full (1payment)
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(5 annual payments at $90 each)
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News you would like to share in the Class Notes section of Fiat Lux
Mail to the UCR Alumni Association, 100 A Highlander Hall, Riverside, CA 92521-0110,
e-mail to ucralum@ucr.edu or update online at www.alumni.ucr.edu/involved/update.html. If available,
please include a photo with your update.
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Visit www.alumni.ucr.edu to view the calendar of events, see all the
membership benefits and even join online!
32
WINTER
2006
Signature ________________________
Mail this form and payment to:
UCR Alumni Association
100 A Highlander Hall
Riverside, CA 92521-0110
Order by phone or online
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Excel
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Ambi-Dexter-ous
UCR student Dexter Thomas makes the most of life and learning.
By Ricardo Duran
Dexter Thomas likes to get
outside his comfort zone – way
out. He has wide-ranging
interests in music, a passion for
languages, a bent toward
activism and a resolve to
maximize his learning experiences outside the classroom
during his college years.
His activities include being music
director of the campus radio station,
KUCR-FM, (88.3 FM), freelance
DJ, concert booker for student
activities, campus housing employee,
Web designer and volunteer for
both a Mexican orphanage and
the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
Though he calls himself a jack of
all trades and master of none, those
who listen to his eclectic music show
from 5 to 7 p.m. on Saturdays get
a sense of his mastery of music
appreciation. Each week, he keeps
his listeners guessing what’s next
and what’s new in the worlds of
hip-hop, electronica, house, jungle,
funk and grime.
Ask Thomas, a 21-year-old English
and foreign languages major, to
explain his personality and he says,
“I jump at opportunities without
thinking about the consequences.
“I mean, I was in the
International Baccalaureate
program in high school and was
advised not to do anything else
because the program on its own
is so challenging,” Thomas said.
“But I also wanted to play in the
band, do club soccer and school
sports, you know? Finally, my
mom brought in the AD (athletic
director) to talk some sense to
me. I ended up ignoring
everyone and, well, here I am.”
Thomas’ studies in Japanese
and Spanish will be expanded to
include a third language next
quarter – Chinese. He says he’d
love to get a bit of Korean under
his belt, too.
Thomas has been involved
with the Associated Students
Program Board, lining up
concerts on campus. He was also
a housing residence assistant,
involved in the Honors Program,
and a volunteer at an orphanage
in Baja California. Then, of
course, he is director of
programming for KUCR’s “Soul
on Sunday” lineup as well.
His boss, station manager Louis
Vandenberg, uses terms such as
“thoughtful, highly principled,
smart, hip, aware, positive and
creative,” to describe Thomas.
“He’s very real, very genuine.
He’s also difficult and complex,”
said Vandenberg. “He’s a formidable individual, who likes to
argue, challenge and criticize. I
think he views it as an obligation
of sorts, and he’s very good at it.
Whatever he does is done with
passion and integrity.”
This summer, after watching
the wrenching news footage
from New Orleans, Thomas
volunteered for a three-week stint
as an American Red Cross volunteer
for the Hurricane Katrina relief
efforts in Mississippi and Louisiana.
He was sent in September to
do warehouse work at a dispatch
and distribution center housed in
a shuttered Kmart in Montgomery,
Ala. He ended up as a driver
distributing supplies throughout
the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast.
At the wheel of a 20-foot-long
rental van, Thomas went on 20to 30-hour runs.
Thomas said he encountered
his fair share of frustration-fed
resentment of locals upset with
delays in getting supplies and
assistance to the scores of tiny,
isolated and sometimes
completely erased communities.
“It became apparent that
unless we took matters into our
own hands, we could wait a week
in the HQ and not do anything,”
he said. In many cases they
loaded up their own vans and
distributed the supplies themselves.
“It was, ‘get out there and
fend for yourself,” Thomas said.
“We were paying for gas out of
our own pockets.”
On one trip through the Gulf
Coast, they jotted down the towns
that were in need and the supplies
that were lacking and took that
information back to the distribution
center, because, he said, “it was
obvious that certain, AfricanAmerican areas were being ignored.
“At one point we were getting
gas at about 4 a.m. in Hattiesburg,
Miss., and the station owner told
me not to show up in the
daytime because folks out there
were pretty angry,” he said.
Despite the sour taste the
experience left in his mouth,Thomas
said he had no regrets because it
gave him renewed drive to do
the right thing as he sees it, and
to sometimes work around the
rules to get the right thing done.
Thomas, who hopes to graduate
this spring, said community work
will be part of his career path,
wherever it takes him.
“I don’t see myself picking a
career and sticking to one thing
all my life but switching around,
following one line for a few years,
then another,” he said.
Check out Dexter Thomas’ radio
show at www.kucr.org.