Coastlines Winter 2011 | Women in Science by Coastlines Magazine

UC Santa Barbara Alumni Association | Winter 2011

Women In Science Nobel Prize-winner Carol Greider unravels DNA mysteries 6 Angela Belcher harnesses energy from water 9 Edie Widder devises new methods for ocean research 10

Panel Reshapes the University of California 12 Governor Cuts $500 million from UC Budget 13

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Coastlines | Winter 2011

UP FRONT Contents COASTLINES STAFF George Thurlow ’73, Publisher Andrea Huebner ’91, Editor Natalie Wong ’79, Art Director

UC SANTA BARBARA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS Ron Rubenstein ’66, Moraga President Alexandra Sasha Meshkov ’79, M.A.’83, Palm Desert Vice-President Richard L. Breaux ’67, San Mateo Secretary-Treasurer Robert Jupille ’89, Los Angeles Past President/Valhalla Chair Jodi L. Anderson ’94, London, England Arcelia Arce ’98, Los Angeles Keith C. Bishop III ’69, Sacramento David C. Forman ’66, Chula Vista Mark French ’73, Santa Barbara Preston Hensley ’67, M.A.’69, North Stonington, Connecticut John Keever ’67, Camarillo Alfred F. Kenrick ’80, Palo Alto Jack Krouskop ’71, San Mateo Steve Mendell ’63, San Diego Justin Morgan ’07, Reno, Nevada Jennifer Pharaoh ’82, Washington, D.C. Lisa Przekop ’85, M.A.’89, Goleta Wendy Purcell ’84, Manhattan Beach Kim Shizas, ’77, Santa Barbara Rich St.Clair ’66, Santa Barbara Markell Steele ’93, Long Beach Catherine Tonne ’81, Livermore Linda Ulrich ’83, Vienna, Virginia Wenonah Valentine ’77, Pasadena Michael Williams ’86, Santa Barbara Ex Officio Paul Monge-Rodriquez President, Associated Students Gary Greinke Executive Director, The UCSB Foundation Diana T. Dyste Anzures Graduate Student Association Hua Lee, Ph.D. Faculty Representative Fredric E. Steck ’67 UCSB Foundation Board of Trustees

STAFF Sharis Boghossian ’08, Membership Coordinator Maryanne Camitan ’07, Financial Accountant Susan Goodale ’86, Program Director, Director of Alumni Travel Program Andrea Huebner ’91, Publications Director Hazra Abdool Kamal, Chief Financial Officer John Lofthus ’00, Assistant Director Mary MacRae ’94, Office Manager Sandi Quinly ’03, Director, Family Vacation Center Megan Souleles, Assistant Director, Family Vacation Center George Thurlow ’73, Executive Director Rocio Torres ’05, Director of Regional Programs/ Constituent Groups Terry Wimmer, Webmaster Natalie Wong ’79, Senior Artist

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UC Santa Barbara Alumni Association Winter 2011 Vol. 41, No. 2

FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

Carol Greider’s telomerase discovery has been fundamental to the study of aging and cancer

Angela Belcher and a team of MIT researchers have developed a more efficient way to split water molecules

Edith “Edie” Widder will go to all kinds of depths for marine conservation

A UC commission looks at the university’s formula for the future

Governor’s budget slashes $500 million from UC

letters to the Editor

Around Storke Tower: News & Notes From the Campus

SPORTS ROUNDUP

RESEARCH ROUNDUP

Milestones: ’50s to the Present

FIND MORE COASTLINES CONTENT ONLINE Go to www.ucsbalum.com/Coastlines

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A nonprofit and a UCSB institute spread light to children in developing nations UCSB and other campuses ramp up services for veterans Communication scholar examines dysfunctional feedback in organizations

COVER: Nobel Prize–winner Carol Greider began her research career in the laboratories

at UC Santa Barbara. She went on to discover the enzyme telomerase, which maintains the caps on the end of chromosomes. Credit: Matt Roth for The New York Times THIS PAGE: Mark Andrew Smith, ‘02, who won an Eisner Award in 2010 for the comics

anthology Popgun, also created The New Brighton Archeological Society comic. See Page 26 for more on Smith.

Coastlines is published three times a year by the UCSB Alumni Association, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-1120. Inclusion of advertising in Coastlines is not meant to imply endorsement by the UCSB Alumni Association of any company, product, or service being advertised. Information about graduates of the University of California, Santa Barbara and its predecessor institutions, Santa Barbara State College and Santa Barbara State Teachers College, may be addressed to Editor, Coastlines, UCSB Alumni Association, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-1120. To comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the publisher provides this publication in alternative formats. Persons with special needs and who require an alternative format may contact the UCSB Alumni Association at the address given above for assistance. The telephone number is (805) 893-4077, FAX (805) 893-4918. Offices of the Alumni Association are in the Mosher Alumni House.

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UP FRONT Letters to the Editor

More Credit Due to Chalberg As a former member of the UCSB AA Board of Directors (under my earlier name of Bob Wiener), I was at first pleased to see the history that unfolded starting on Page 14 of the latest Coastlines. Then, it struck me: Where’s any mention of “Chally” Chalberg? Is he again getting short shrift from the school? It surely does seem that way, which means that what was printed in “Milestones” just two years ago, as meager as it was, has diminished even more. That piece is shown here: Elmer L. “Chally” Chalberg died May 2, 2008. Chalberg served as the first Alumni Counselor to the University of California - Santa Barbara College Alumni Association from 1954 to 1960. He was instrumental in recruiting the first board of directors, who set up the constitution and bylaws, and began some Association programs, which persist to this day. The Association did not start, in other words, with Dale Lauderdale in 1965, and I have a feeling that lots of other alumni consider themselves slighted by the history. Chally deserves so much more credit than UCSB has ever seen fit to award him. He was a great and good man. With deep frustration, Robert M. Wakefield, ’57 Heady Times in Isla Vista Professor of English Emeritus Ed Loomis wrote a small book immediately after the event, called “Of Bank Burning,” which is pretty accurate in its recounting of events. I was teaching and in the Ph.D. program in English myself at the time, and my wife was an undergraduate English major at the university. I was also standing in that crowd outside the admin building when it was surrounded by police officers, who had put masking tape over their badge numbers. We broke through their lines by simply going under one of the walkways in a 4

Coastlines | Winter 2011

subterranean passageway! There were that year three separate sets of disturbances, and during the second one, along with other faculty members, I helped protect the temporary bank, but a student putting out a fire on the porch there was shot and killed by a deputy sheriff. During the third series of riots, in June, I was among many in my building arrested, but charges were later dropped for lack of evidence. Those were heady times indeed, and when then-Gov. Reagan sent in the National Guard, most of us living in Isla Vista who didn’t already oppose the war in Vietnam changed our minds. Dennis Green, ’64, M.A. ’66 Police Played Role What we need to always remember about the Isla Vista riots and the burning of the bank is that it was also a police riot. Various law enforcement agencies, most notoriously the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, trampled our civil rights with gleeful abandon. This had the effect of radicalizing even me to some extent, a middleclass white kid from suburban Orange County. I admire police officers a lot, but sometimes when I deal with them in everyday life, I feel like I’m in that scene from “The Big Chill,” where the dope-smokin’ long-hairs who decided to become members of their community have a very different relationship with law enforcement than the visiting hippies! Years after the Isla Vista riots, I had the opportunity to work on something totally different with a sergeant in the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department who had been a commander of the deputies during the riots. It was strange how we both had come to the same conclusion . . . how very fragile civilization can be and how unfortunate were the events surrounding the burning of the bank. Erik Disen, ’72 Coppell, Texas

Burning an Anti-War Symbol While I enjoyed the “From the Ashes” article by Taylor Haggerty and her attempt of reopening a “cold case file,” I found a major flaw, if not glaring misconception that she conveyed as fact and probably somewhat promoted by Dr. Flacks. Haggerty stated that the “burning” was more due to “the police (which should have read sheriff’s) presence” and frequent breaches of appropriate conduct, is just plain not true. While I can speak directly to the sheriff’s overreaction, as I was illegally arrested at the GM/Delco demonstration (but pleaded “no lo” when I saw my senior citizen jury), but we “Vets for Peace,” having been there to “police the student demonstrators,” were targeted by the sheriffs to be eliminated as a semblance of credibility for the anti-war movement. But this was only ancillary to the point that the bank burned as a symbol of the war itself. The sheriffs, the B of A, the Union 76 gas station and the Signal gas station were all but symbols of the national corporate profiteers that continually ripped off the students and perpetuated the profits made by Corporate America on the war itself. The burning of the Bank of America was only a slight “payback.” It has to be remembered that the focus of 99.9 percent of the demonstrators and its perceived material violence was the war in Viet Nam, as everything else was peripheral, including Dr. Flacks’ attempt to put a more “ivory tower,” sociological spin on “The Burning.” Steven Schlah, History and Poli-Sci, ’6 Co-coordinator, Viet Nam Veterans Against the War, Tri-Counties Chapter, ’70-’73 Intake Counselor, Viet Nam Vets, Santa Barbara of the Santa Barbara EDD, ‘75 Co-founder, Viet Nam Veterans Clubs, SBCC ’71-’73, UCSB ’73-’76 Manager, Jobs for Veterans Program, National Alliance of Business, Santa

UP FRONT Letters to the Editor

Barbara Metro, ’76-’81 Participant to Dr. Walter Capps Symposium on Viet Nam Veterans, ’76 (Dr. Richard Flacks was also a participant) Consultant to Dr. Walter Capps on his the formulation of his Viet Nam class, ’76 Kevin Moran Remembered Please let the authors of the (“From the Ashes”) article (Taylor Haggerty and Greg Desilet) know that the Gaucho Lightweight Women’s Rowing Team won the 1987 Pacific Coast Rowing Championships in a racing shell named after UCSB Rowing alum Kevin Moran. We were given the opportunity to race the championship in a new boat but choose to stay in the “Moran” which had given us an 11-1 season in ’86-’87 for the big race in May. Kevin Moran was as remembered for his contributions to Gaucho rowing in the late ’80s as he was for the circumstances surrounding his death, and we were very proud to celebrate our win in his honor. Katy Bonnin, ’90 UCSB (Women’s) Rowing Alum Dustan Bonnin, ’91 UCSB (Men’s) Rowing Alum Belmont, Mass.

Check poster was classic I am quite surprised that your article regarding this event in the latest issue of Coastlines did not include a picture of what has to be one of the icons of the event — even the era — the wonderful “Bank of Amerika” faux check poster. It appears in the 1970 yearbook. I have the original on my wall, because I knew the creators! Also, I feel Professor Flack’s closing, “l would take any story about what happened with a grain of salt,” a bit disingenuous. It was real to those who were there on so many levels. Kathryn Karrer, ’70 There Was More to Upheaval For an event like the burning of the bank, there was little real information about what happened when I transferred to UCSB in 1975 so I was very interested in the cover article in the most recent Coastlines. I enjoyed the article but I do have a couple of comments I would like to add. One regards the statement that the cozy little town was changed forever by the event. After my first year at UCSB, I lived on Del Playa for three years and it seemed to me still a pretty cozy town (other than the fact things tended to disappear if they were not nailed down). Later, I used to make the comment that you practically had to shoot someone to really get into trouble in IV. I think the

kid glove treatment us students got at the time was a result of the hostilities between the police and students having been resolved (in the students favor from what I experienced) by 1975. Another thing that was not mentioned in the article was the anger toward the rental companies. I heard their offices were pelted with rocks before students got to the bank. Recalling the condition of our Del Playa rental when we first walked into it, I can certainly understand where they were coming from. Finally, the article contends that there was no real reason behind the act to burn the bank. Well, late one night in an Isla Vista apartment, after many beers, there was a group of us talking, including one who had been a student during 1970. He claimed he was not there but he seemed to have a lot of firsthand knowledge of the events surrounding the bank. His assertion was that after students were in the bank, someone realized that the bank had security cameras. The governor had stated that any students caught rioting would be expelled from the UC system. The students in the bank, realizing that they could not get to the film and thus could all get expelled, torched the bank to cover their tracks. So I think there was a motive and, considering who the person was telling the story, I tended to believe him. Keep the good articles coming. Richard Cobble, ’79

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FEATURE Carol Greider

Researcher Caps Off a Celebrated Career with Nobel Prize

Alumna Carol Greider, ’83, is recognized for her discovery of telomerase in a field where few women thrive BY ANDREA HUEBNER ’91

Coastlines | Winter 2011

n Christmas 1984, graduate student Carol Greider went into the Blackburn lab at UC Berkeley to check on a research experiment, and found signs of an enzyme that is key to maintaining the integrity of DNA. After a year of study, UC Santa Barbara alumna Greider, ’83, and mentor Elizabeth Blackburn published the first paper on telomerase, which builds the telomeres, or caps, at the end of DNA strands.

Twenty-five years later, Greider and Blackburn became 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine winners, and two of only 10 women worldwide to win the prize in that category. They share the prize with Harvard scientist Jack Szostak for work on telomeres and telomerase. Today, the telomerase discovery plays a critical role in aging, cell death and cancer research — more than 50,000 articles with telomerase in the title come up in Google Scholar. Undergraduate Research Although Greider had not dreamed of being a researcher while growing up, despite both her parents having followed that path, she eventually decided to pursue a college degree in the sciences. While looking at UC schools for college as a high school senior, Greider toured the UC Santa Barbara campus with Biology Professor Beatrice Sweeney, who was on the faculty of the College of Creative Studies. Captivated by the campus and Sweeney’s tour as well as the chance to do undergraduate research in an interdisciplinary college, Greider decided to go to UC Santa Barbara to study marine ecology. Greider began working in research labs during her freshman year — first studying sand crabs, circadian cycles in a dinoflagellate, and then microtubule dynamics. The rotation through different research labs helped Greider determine her research interests lay in an area other than marine ecology. “The experience that Beazy (Professor Sweeney) and the CCS program provided me, to try out several different laboratory experiences, was instrumental in my finding how much I loved mechanistic thinking and biochemical experiments,” Greider told the Nobel Foundation. Greider continued working on microtubules in Biology Professor Les Wilson’s lab throughout her sophomore and

senior years, with a break to study abroad in Germany and work at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry during her junior year. In the Wilson lab, she worked with Kevin Sullivan and David Asai on their experiments, developing her research skills and an interest in graduate school. “By the time she was a junior at UCSB, Carol was already able to implement effectively her innate ability to assess and move forward. That’s the something else that sets Carol apart,” said David Asai, who now works at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Graduate School and Beyond Despite her extensive research experience and good grades, Greider was granted graduate interviews at only two schools – UC Berkeley and the California Institute of Technology – due to her poor GRE scores. Greider is dyslexic, which affects her ability to take standardized tests. After interviews in which she discussed science and her interests, and explained her dyslexia, she was accepted to both schools. The deciding factor was her interview with Professor Elizabeth Blackburn in which they discussed Blackburn’s research on telomeres, the caps on the end of chromosomes. homewoodphoto.jhu.edu “I felt her enthusiasm for chromosomes and telomeres was infectious. I wanted to talk to her more after the allotted interview time so I made plans to come back again the next week to talk in more depth about her telomere work. After that interview, I decided I wanted to go to Berkeley and work with Liz,” Greider said in her Nobel laureate autobiography. During her first year at UC Berkeley, Blackburn gave Greider the challenging task of looking for an enzyme that was responsible for building up the telomeres of DNA. Facing Page: Carol Greider receives the Nobel Prize in Medicine from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in December 2009. © POOL/Reuters/Corbis

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“We had to be both rigorous and enterprising, and those are exactly the characteristics that Carol has. The combination is a great strength,” Blackburn told the National Academy of Sciences newsletter. Blackburn is now the Morris Herzstein Professor of Biology and Physiology in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at UC San Francisco. Greider and Blackburn refined the research for a year after the Christmas Day discovery before publishing a paper on telomerase in the December 1985 issue of Cell. Continuing work on telomerase research, Greider finished her doctorate, and, in 1988, became one of the first Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Fellows, an independent position where a researcher can work in her own lab. “I realized there were so many interesting questions I still wanted to ask about telomerase that I would love to keep working on it,” Greider said in her Nobel laureate autobiography. Greider set about trying to find the telomerase RNA template that builds up the telomeres in DNA. With success and a published paper on that research in 1989, Greider was quickly promoted through the ranks of the laboratory. When she garnered a grant from the National Institutes of Health, Greider became a full staff member at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and hired her first graduate student, Lea Harrington. During her time at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Greider worked with Calvin Harley while he was at McMaster University, and found that human telomeres shorten progressively in cells. This finding suggested that telomeres and telomerase may play important roles in cell death and cancer. Coming Full Circle In 1997, Greider joined the faculty at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and now chairs the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics. With telomeres playing such a critical role in so many areas, the Greider Lab has several groups researching stem cells, inherited disorders, and telomere functioning. In addition to the 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine, Greider 8

Coastlines | Winter 2011

has received several awards for her work on telomerase, including the Gairdner Foundation Award in 1998, the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 2006, and the Dickson Prize in Medicine in 2007. She also received the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize and the Pearl Meister Greengard Prize in 2009. At each step of her career, Greider never fails to name key mentors who helped her develop into the research scientist that she is. Now, she is playing the role of mentor. Half of the Greider Lab is staffed with graduate students, whom Greider finds open to new lines of research. “One of the lessons I have learned in the different stages of my career is that science is not done alone. . . . The ideas generated are not always the result of one person’s thoughts but of the interaction between people; new ideas quickly become part of collective consciousness,” Greider told the National Academy of Sciences. “This is how science moves forward and we generate new knowledge.”

Carol Greider is being honored with a 2011 Distinguished Alumni Award by the UC Santa Barbara Alumni Association. She will be giving a free public lecture at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 21 at UC Santa Barbara’s Corwin Pavilion. The presentation is titled “How Chromosome Ends Affect Cancer and Age-Related Disease.” The event is part of the Frontiers in Cancer Research lecture series that brings prominent scientists to campus to meet with students and faculty members to discuss advances in the treatment and prevention of cancer. It is supported by the Cancer Center of Santa Barbara and the Doreen J. Putrah Cancer Research Foundation in partnership with UCSB.

Carol Greider, second from right in first row, worked with other researchers in Professor Les Wilson’s lab when she attended UC Santa Barbara. Photo courtesy of UC Santa Barbara Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology Department Greider is the Daniel Nathans Professor and Director of Molecular Biology and Genetics in the John Hopkins School of Medicine. homewoodphoto.jhu.edu Greider hugs daughter, Gwendolyn Comfort, and her son, Charles Comfort, during a press conference about her 2009 Nobel Prize. © Matthew Cavanaugh/epa/Corbis

FEATURE Angela Belcher

Alum Belcher and team harness viruses to split water In this case, the team used a modified virus as a kind of biological scaffold that can assemble the nanoscale components needed to split a water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen atoms. Splitting water is one way to solve the basic problem of solar energy: It’s only available when the sun shines. By using sunlight to make hydrogen from water, the hydrogen can then be stored and used at any time to generate electricity using a fuel cell, or to make liquid fuels (or be used directly) for cars and trucks. Other researchers have made systems that use electricity, to split water molecules or tried to use the photosynthetic parts of plants directly for harnessing sunlight, but these materials can have structural stability issues. Belcher’s new biologically based system skips the intermediate steps and uses sunlight to power the reaction directly. Belcher, who is the Germeshausen Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Biological Engineering at MIT, decided that instead of borrowing plants’ components, she would borrow their methods. In plant cells, natural pigments are used to absorb sunlight, while catalysts then promote the water-splitting reaction. That’s the process Belcher and her team decided to imitate. Belcher and her team engineered a common, harmless bacterial virus called M13 and encapsulated it in a microgel matrix so that it would attract and bind with molecules of a catalyst and a biological pigment. The viruses became wire-like devices that could very efficiently split the oxygen from water molecules. The viruses simply act as a kind of scaffolding, causing the pigments and catalysts to line up with the right kind of spacing to trigger the water-splitting reaction. The role of the pigments is “to act as an antenna to capture the light,” Belcher explains, “and then transfer the energy down the length of the virus, like a wire.” Using the virus to make the system assemble itself improves the efficiency of the oxygen production fourfold, doctoral student Yoon Sung Nam says. The researchers hope to find a similar biologically based system to perform the other half of the process, the production of hydrogen. Belcher will not even speculate about how long it might take to develop this into a commercial product, but she says that within two years she expects to have a prototype device that can carry out the whole process of splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen, using a self-sustaining and durable system.

Angela Belcher, ’91, Ph.D. ’93, and a team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have found a novel way to mimic the process by which plants use the power of sunlight to split water and make chemical fuel to power their growth.

Left: Professor Angela Belcher and graduate students Yoon Sung Nam (blue lab coat) and Heechul Park (white lab coat). Professor Angela Belcher and her team have created a virus-templated catalyst solution used to harness energy from water. Photos: Dominick Reuter

— David L. Chandler, MIT News Office

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FEATURE Edie Widder

Edie Widder, M.S. ’77, Ph.D. ’82

uring World War II American GIs traversing Europe would scrawl the enigmatic slogan, “Kilroy was here,” on every available open space they could reach. It was meant to signal that the Americans had arrived and were everywhere.

Today it is the dream of Edie Widder, who received her Ph.D. in Neurobiology from UC Santa Barbara in 1982, to take her version of “Kilroy” to every corner of the ocean. “Kilroy” is the nickname for a water quality monitor that Widder developed for ocean water quality research. In early January 2011, Widder was on a research vessel in the Gulf of Mexico, testing Kilroy in areas affected by the British Petroleum oil spill and determining whether it can produce results over a large area of ocean. The device, which is no bigger than a football, monitors water speed, direction, temperature, salinity and the prevalence of microorganisms that indicate the vitality of a particular part of the ocean. In theory, Kilroy networks would be seeded over vast tracts of the ocean to measure changes in water quality and pinpoint where those changes are occurring. Kilroy is not the first piece of scientific hardware that Widder has invented for ocean research. Her HIDEX instrument is used by the U.S. Navy to measure bioluminescence in the ocean, a tactic useful for submarines trying to remain invisible on the ocean floor. She related in a recent interview that her love of the ocean dates back to a trip she took as a child to Fiji at the age of 11 and developed during her years at UC Santa Barbara where she studied both neurobiology of marine organisms and biochemistry. Her career took a turn to

bioluminescence after she took a dive in a submersible. “It completely changed the course of my career,” Widder told the National Oceanographic and Oceans Administration. “I had to learn a lot of new material to change the direction of my research but that’s the wonderful thing about being a research scientist — you are always learning new things.” She went on to become an expert deep-sea diver in submersibles like WASP, DEEP ROVER and DEEP WORKER. In 2005, she was inducted into the Women Divers’ Hall of Fame and in 2006 she received a prestigious MacArthur Foundation “genius grant.” That was after founding the Ocean Research and Conservation Association in Ft. Pierce, Fla. ORCA receives support from the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research and private foundations to develop new technologies to monitor the water quality in the ocean using inexpensive equipment. Besides its deployment in the Gulf of Mexico, ORCA’s Kilroy system is also monitoring water quality in stream systems that empty into the Chesapeake Bay. Recent reports of continued degradation of the world’s ocean should be “a real wake up call,” she warned. “To avert a crisis we need to educate people on how they can be part of a solution.” That’s why we need Kilroy. Above, Widder with Kilroy. Top, Widder in WASP.

Coastlines | Winter 2011

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The UC Future Just Got Commissioned More Out-of-State Students, More Funds for UCSB Initiatives proposed after a year-long study of the University of California’s future are already moving ahead and will almost immediately impact the face and shape of UC Santa Barbara. Perhaps the most controversial proposal from the UC Commission on the Future, a task force of five committees that spent a year hearing from various UC constituencies, is the plan to bring more non-California and non-U.S. students to UC. Already, UC Berkeley has upped its freshmen class to 20 percent out-of-state enrollment. UC Santa Barbara, which currently has 5 percent out-of-state enrollment, plans to increase that to 9 percent. The campus has already begun a more focused recruiting process that is targeting students from the Far East as well as students from around the country. Executive Vice Chancellor Gene Lucas, who served as co-chair of one of the Future committees, is quick to note that UC Santa Barbara does not plan to displace California students with the new recruiting. He pointed out that UC Santa Barbara already has 1,000 more California students than are being funded by the state of California. This overenrollment will give UC Santa Barbara the flexibility to enroll more out-of-state students in the future. The stakes are high. Because of the complicated funding formula currently used in the UC system, campuses are allowed to keep a portion of the extra $23,000 non-resident students pay each year. At UC Santa Barbara, if out-of-state students reach 9 percent of the total enrollment, it would generate an extra $13 million per year the campus could keep. The political fallout from this strategy has already caused the UC Regents to cap overall out-of-state enrollment at 10 percent for the entire system, meaning that popular international campuses like Berkeley and UCLA may have higher percentages than campuses like Santa Cruz and Riverside. But all the attention on the proposal for more out-of-state students has overshadowed what may be even more fundamental changes in the system as a result of the Committee on the Future proposals, 20 of which were endorsed late last year by the UC Regents (see sidebar). Lucas noted that UC Santa Barbara is among the leaders in the effort to wring $500 million out of UC operations by becoming more efficient. The campus is in the initial stages of executing a

Coastlines | Winter 2011

plan to use the UCLA business operations computer system for its own business operations. The new funding mechanism for the campuses, which would allow each campus to keep more of the tuition generated on campus and fund the Office of the President with a flat fee, will help UC Santa Barbara. Currently the campus is a net donor campus, meaning it sends a higher percentage of the tuition it collects locally to the system. Under the new funding mechanism, UC Santa Barbara would get to keep more. That new system of funding has already begun, according to Lucas, with full implementation a least a year away. Besides the clear financial benefits for UC Santa Barbara, Lucas praised the process the University went through. “It was externally good for us because the governor and Legislature saw that we were finding steps to do business more efficiently. I think we received more money in this year’s budget (201011) because of the process.” Whether the new governor and state Legislature maintain that confidence remains to be seen. But already the future of UC is changing.

UC Commission on The Future Proposals Five committees studied every aspect of UC operations and structure, from funding methods to graduation rates. UC Santa Barbara had a major influence on the outcome, with three of the committees co-chaired by campus representatives, including Chancellor Henry Yang. Former UC Santa Barbara alumni regent Phil Bugay served on the Size and Shape committee. Among the commission’s recommendations approved by the Regents were: • Increase out-of-state student enrollment • Create policies to make it easier and quicker for students to obtain a degree • Create new pathway for students to graduate in three years • Fund the Office of the President through campus assessments • Allow campuses to keep more of the educational fees and tuition collected from their students • Investigate the potential for online courses • Find $500 million in savings by eliminating duplication among campuses and coordinating systemwide expenses • Change the name of the education fee to “tuition” • Develop a multi-year advocacy campaign to foster public and political support for UC • Recover more of the operational costs of doing federal research by lobbying to increase the UC overhead charge to federal grants

Governor’s Proposed Budget Cuts $500 Million from UC Funding Gov. Jerry Brown proposed a balanced, deficit-closing 2011-12 state budget on Jan. 10 that relies on painful cuts in state services including a $500 million reduction in support for the University of California. The 16.4 percent drop in state general fund support for UC would result in a historic shift in how California’s public research university is funded: For the first time in UC’s 143-year history, student tuition revenue will surpass what the state contributes to the university’s core operating budget. “The crossing of this threshold transcends mere symbolism and should be profoundly disturbing to all Californians,” said UC President Mark G. Yudof, calling it a sad day for California. Brown’s proposed state general fund budget will return UC to 1998 funding levels when the system enrolled only 161,400 students, 73,600 fewer than today’s enrollment of 235,000 students. The governor proposed a $2.5 billion general fund contribution to UC while the university estimates student tuition will contribute $2.7 billion in revenue. UC’s core operating budget funds instructional costs, including faculty and staff salaries and benefits, energy expenses, campus building and lab maintenance, and financial aid. “Undeniably, the governor’s hand has been forced,” Yudof said. “He has produced, as he calls it, a tough budget for tough times, and the university will stand up and do all it can to help the state through what is a fiscal, structural and political crisis. There can be no business as usual.” The $500 million cut to UC represents a “best case scenario,” said Patrick Lenz, UC’s vice president of budget and capital resources, and is dependent on successful passage of Brown’s tax extension package. Yudof said he will be giving budget reduction targets to the 10 campus chancellors and the Office of the President and asking them to come back in six weeks with plans to meet those targets. His main priority, he said, is to protect as best as possible the quality of the university’s core academic and research missions. “My preference at this point, and my sense of where the Board of Regents stands on this issue, is to not seek an additional fee increase,” Yudof said. “That said, I cannot fully commit to this course until the board and I have assessed the impact of permanent reductions on campuses.” Yudof said he hopes to protect funding for financial aid and to press forward with the systemwide initiative to save $500 million in administrative costs over the next few years. Those savings won’t be enough, he acknowledged. “With the governor’s budget, as proposed, we will be digging deep into bone,” Yudof said. — Donna Hemmila, External Relations Managing Editor, University of California Office of the President

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AROUND STORKE TOWER — Compiled from UCSB Public Affairs

UC Regents Increase Student Fees Faced with a $1 billion budget gap, UC Regents approved an 8 percent tuition and fee increase for 2011-12 and expanded financial aid for low- and middle-income California students. Regents voted 15-5 to raise tuition and fees by $822 for all UC students in the 2011-12 academic year, bringing undergraduate cost to $11,124 (a systemwide average of $12,150 when individual campus fees are included).At the same time, regents also expanded the UC Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan to cover all systemwide fees for financial-aid eligible California undergraduates with family incomes up to $80,000. This year the eligibility ceiling is $70,000. In addition, the university will provide financial aid-eligible California resident students with family incomes below $120,000 grants to cover the 2011 fee increase.

UCSB Among Top Universities in High-Quality Research Citations UC Santa Barbara ranks among the top universities in the country in how frequently the work of its researchers is cited by other top scholars, according to a new analysis of U.S. university research by Thomson Reuters. In a recent issue, the journal Science published the Thomson Reuters list of the top American universities and how they rank in scientific paper citations, which is based on the quality of the research. UC Santa Barbara is fourth in the nation in this category, behind only MIT, Caltech, and Princeton. Trailing UC Santa Barbara were, in order, Stanford, Harvard, and UC Berkeley. 16

Coastlines | Winter 2011

UCSB Reads Picks ‘The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks’ “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” by award-winning author Rebecca Skloot, is the selected book for UCSB Reads 2011. An annual winter quarter event, UCSB Reads engages the campus and the Santa Barbara community in conversations about a key topic while reading the same book. The theme for 2011 is “Our Bodies, Our Cells: Exploring Identity.” Skloot tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, a poor Southern tobacco farmer who, in 1951, became the unwitting donor of the first “immortal” human cell line when doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital took a tissue sample without her knowledge. Even today, the HeLa line is the most widely used cell line in labs worldwide.

Environmental Scholar William Freudenburg Dies William R. Freudenburg, 59, the Dehlsen Professor of Environmental Studies at UC Santa Barbara, died Dec. 28 after a long battle with bile duct cancer, according to an announcement from the Environmental Studies Program. A specialist in natural resource development and its associated human and environmental risks, Freudenburg was also an expert on the impact of environmental disasters. He authored or co-authored three important books on oil exploration and production, including “Blowout in the Gulf –– The BP Oil Spill Disaster and the Future of Energy in America” (The MIT Press, 2010). A Publisher’s Weekly Pick of the Week when it came out in October, the book examines the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil spill, as well as the decisions and policies that made the disaster not only possible, but also inevitable. In addition to his position as a core faculty member in the Environmental Studies Program, Freudenburg also held affiliated positions at UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School of Environmental Science and Management and in the Department of Sociology. Please see story on the Oil Spill on Page 21.

AROUND STORKE TOWER — Compiled from UCSB Public Affairs and staff reports

MESA Program Named Among Nation’s Top Academic Preparation Programs

UCSB’s Carsey-Wolf Center Names Richard Hutton Executive Director Richard Hutton, formerly the vice president of media development at Vulcan Productions and an award-winning documentary filmmaker, has been appointed executive director of the Carsey-Wolf Center at UC Santa Barbara. Named for Emmy Award-winning television producers Marcy Carsey and Dick Wolf in recognition of their generous support, the center brings together UC Santa Barbara faculty members and scholars from film and media studies and communication –– as well as other departments in the arts, humanities, and sciences –– to teach and conduct research on all forms of mass media from a variety of cultural, historical, and social perspectives.

UCSB to Manage Santa Barbara Channel Dedicated to Higher Education The Santa Barbara City Council has voted to officially request an additional education access channel from local cable television provider Cox Communications, and to enter into an agreement with UC Santa Barbara for the management and programming of it. The council’s actions came in response to a request from UC Santa Barbara. The campus said that the additional channel would be used for UCTV and other higher education programming produced by UC Santa Barbara for the benefit of the people of Santa Barbara and the South Coast region. UCTV offers round-the-clock, noncommercial educational, informational, and cultural programs from the University of California system’s 10 campuses, three national laboratories, and other affiliated institutions. Programs include documentaries, lectures, symposia, artistic performances, and other events. They cover a broad range of general interest topics, such as science, health, the humanities, education issues, and public affairs.

For the second consecutive year, UC Santa Barbara’s mentorship program for elementary, high school, and college students interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics has been recognized by the Bayer Foundation as one of the top academic development programs in the country. UC Santa Barbara’s highly successful Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program serves more than 800 students from 15 schools in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, 80 percent of whom go to college. It is part of the University of California’s statewide MESA program, which was recently included in the Bayer Foundation’s compendium of 21 “Best Practice K-12 Education Programs.”

BY THE

NUMBERS

Seven University of California campuses are among Kiplinger’s magazine’s annual list of the top 100 best values in public colleges and universities nationwide. Despite recent fee hikes, Kiplinger’s recognized UC for low average debts and high six-year graduation rates.

12 UC San Diego (in-state)

13 UCLA 16 UC Berkeley 17 UC Irvine 34 UC Santa Barbara 37 UC Davis 69 UC Santa Cruz

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SPORTS — Compiled from ucsbgauchos.com

Men’s Soccer Women’s Basketball

Gauchos Open Big West Play by Throttling Long Beach Not even a week off for a holiday break could cool off the UC Santa Barbara women's basketball team. The Gauchos won for the seventh time in their past nine games, using a 23-7 run to open the second half and cruised to a 70-43 victory over Long Beach State in the Big West opener for both teams at the Walter Pyramid in January. The victory pushed the Gauchos over .500 for the first time this season at 7-6. Emilie Johnson had 14 points to lead four Gauchos in double figures as Mekia Valentine had 13 points, Kelsey Adrian had 11 and Sweets Underwood added 10. The Gauchos hit 6 of 11 threepointers and outrebounded Long Beach 43-30 while also forcing 25 LBSU turnovers.

Men’s Basketball

UCSB Goes on the Road to Stun No. 22 UNLV, 68-62 UC Santa Barbara played a parlay in Las Vegas in December and it paid off. The Gauchos (5-3) parlayed 23 points from James Nunnally, 15 rebounds from Orlando Johnson, clutch plays from just about everyone and stifling defense en route to a 68-62 win over 22nd-ranked UNLV (9-2). The win was UC Santa Barbara 's first over a nationally-ranked team since it defeated the Runnin' Rebels on Feb. 22, 1993. It was Santa Barbara's third straight win.

Coastlines | Winter 2011

Short-Handed Gauchos Fall to No. 6 Seeded Cal, 2-1, in Double Overtime Cal scored with just one second remaining in the first overtime period to defeat UC Santa Barbara, 2-1, in the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship Second Round at the Golden Bears’ Edwards Stadium, ending the Gauchos’ postseason run. With the clock winding down on the first overtime period, Anthony Avalos drew Hayden out of the goal on the left side before passing the ball to Davis Paul, who scored on a wide-open net with one second remaining. The Gauchos played all but 25 minutes of the match a man-down after Luis Silva was red carded in the first half when he collided with Carrasco going for a 50-50 ball. UC Santa Barbara ended the season with a 14-5-3 record, marking its 10th consecutive winning season. UC Santa Barbara won the Big West Championship for the first time in program history this year and had a total of nine players named to All-Big West teams.

NCAA College Cup

Akron Wins Top Prize at Renovated Harder Stadium The Akron men’s soccer team defeated Louisville 1-0 in the NCAA College Cup final, capturing the school’s first championship in any sport in its second consecutive finals appearance. The 9,672 fans at Harder Stadium on the campus of UC Santa Barbara — many backing the Mid-American Conference team from northeast Ohio — constituted the largest crowd since 2004 to witness a championship match. The historic stadium now features the brand new Curtice Gate — which features a new concessions area — a state of the art scoreboard and video board, a resurfaced Meredith Field, and a renovated press box. The Curtice Gate is a new ticket-holder entrance that is situated on the corner of Harder South and Stadium Road and opens up to the expanse of Meredith Field at Harder Stadium with the Santa Ynez Mountains as a backdrop. The gate is named for the legendary former UCSB football coach and Athletics Director “Cactus” Jack Curtice.

Men’s Baseball

Two Former Gauchos Baseball Players Honored Infielder Ryan Cavan, part of the World Series champion San Francisco Giants, and pitcher Joe Gardner, who is in the Cleveland Indians organization, were both ranked among the best in minor league baseball. Cavan batted .283 with 17 home runs and 79 RBI for the Augusta Green Jackets in the Class A South Atlantic League. He was named the Giants organization top second baseman. Gardner went 13-6 with a 2.75 ERA and 142 strikeouts in 147.1 innings between two minor league teams within the Cleveland organization. Last season he was ranked as the No. 54 prospect amongst the Indians and this season Baseball America rated him the Tribe’s No. 9 prospect.

SPORTS

Women and Men’s Cross Country

Women’s and Men’s Swimming

Paredes, Herrera Lead UCSB to Solid 3rd-Place Finish at Big West Championship

Alum Katy Freeman places second in 200 breaststroke

Sophomore Juan Paredes and junior Isadore Herrera each finished in the top-10 to help the UC Santa Barbara men's cross country team to a solid third-place finish at the 2010 Big West Championship meet at the Ag/Ops Course in Riverside, Calif., in October. In an upset, UC Davis won the meet, edging UC Riverside 64-66. UC Santa Barbara was third with 70 points while Long Beach State finished fourth with 76. The UC Santa Barbara women's cross country team placed three runners in the top-20 at the NCAA West Regional Championship in Eugene, Ore., and tied with Cal for fifth-place out of 31 teams with 159 points in November. The Gaucho men's team finished 11th out of 25 teams.

UC Santa Barbara alum Katy Freeman took second in the 200 breaststroke on the third and final day of the 2010 AT&T Short Course National Championships, which was held at the Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatics Pavilion on the campus of Ohio State in December. Katy Freeman took second in the event after being seeded first following her preliminary time of 2:08.93. She finished in 2:0.97 during the evening's final. On the men’s side, junior Kevin Ferguson won the consolation final in the 100 freestyle with his time of 43.92, which is the sixth fastest time in school history. Gaucho freshman Sophia Yamauchi took 22nd in the event, touching the wall in 2:15.20, which was .52 seconds faster than her previous personal best. Sophomore Paige Bradley also competed in the 200 breast and finished 36th with a time of 2:17.82.

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RESEARCH — Compiled from UCSB Public Affairs

UCSB Part of International Research Collaboration Focusing on Age-Related Macular Degeneration Cure An international collaboration between UC Santa Barbara, the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC), and several other research institutions, is bringing together leaders in the fields of stem cell biology, basic science, and ophthalmology to develop a treatment for blindness caused by age-related macular degeneration. The California Project to Cure Blindness (CPCB) was formed with a $16 million California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) "disease team" grant awarded in late 2009 to fund development of a stem cell-based treatment for agerelated macular degeneration.

National Team of Scientists Peers into the Future of Stem Cell Biology Remarkable progress in understanding how stem cell biology works has been reported by a team of leading scientists, directed by experts at UC Santa Barbara. Their research has been published in the journal Cell Stem Cell. Stem cell biology is making waves around the world with great hope for the eventual repair of parts of the body. While many scientists see these breakthroughs as viable, there are hurdles that must be overcome, including the worrisome potential for introducing cancer when making a repair to an organ. Kenneth Kosik, left, professor in UC Santa Barbara’s Department of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology, is senior author of the study.

Coastlines | Winter 2011

E Bacteria Use ‘Toxic Darts’ to Disable acher Oth In nature, it’s a dog-eat-dog world, even in the realm of bacteria. Competing bacteria use “toxic darts” to disable each other, according to a new study by UC Santa Barbara biologists. Their research is published in the journal Nature. The scientists studied many bacterial species, including some important pathogens. They found that bacterial cells have stick-like proteins on their surfaces, with toxic dart tips. These darts are delivered to competing neighbor cells when the bacteria touch. “The discovery of toxic darts could eventually lead to new ways to control disease-causing pathogens,” said Stephanie K. Aoki, first author and postdoctoral fellow in UC Santa Barbara’s Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology.

Clockwise from top: CDI+ E. coli bacteria (green) interacts with target bacteria lacking a CDI system (red). photo: Stephanie K. Aoki Illustration of contact dependent growth inhibition (CDI) photo: Stephanie K. Aoki The team studying the bacteria included, clockwise from front, Stephanie K. Aoki, front, Elie J. Diner, David Low, and Christopher Hayes. photo: George Foulsham, Office of Public Affairs, UCSB

UCSB Anthropologists Examine Relationship Between Social Status and Fertility Two anthropologists at UC Santa Barbara are studying how social status translates into fertility. Their findings appear in an article in the current issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. According to the researchers, the most significant variables connecting a man's social status to his reproductive success are the opportunity it affords him to marry a younger wife, and his ability to recruit allies and cooperative partners. The younger his wife, and the more social support he garners for either conflicts or food production, the more surviving offspring a man will have, the anthropologists conclude. The article, “Why Do Men Seek Status? Fitness Payoffs to Dominance and Prestige,” was co-authored by Michael Gurvan, left, associate professor of anthropology at UCSB; Christopher von Rueden, right, a doctoral student in anthropology at UCSB; and Hilliard Kaplan, professor of anthropology at the University of New Mexico.

RESEARCH

Scientists Find Methane Gas Concentrations Have Returned to Near-Normal Levels in Gulf Calling the results “extremely surprising,” researchers from UC Santa Barbara and Texas A&M University report that methane gas concentrations in the Gulf of Mexico have returned to near normal levels only months after a massive release occurred following the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion. Findings from the research study, led by oceanographers John Kessler of Texas A&M and David Valentine of UC Santa Barbara, were published in Science Xpress, in advance of their publication in the journal Science. The findings show that Mother Nature quickly saw to the removal of more than 200,000 metric tons of dissolved methane through the action of bacteria blooms that completely consumed the immense gas plumes the team had identified in midJune. At that time, the team reported finding methane gas in amounts 100,000 times above normal levels. But, about 120 days after the initial spill, they could find only normal concentrations of methane and clear evidence of complete methane respiration. “What we observed in June was a horizon of deep water laden with methane and other hydrocarbon gases,” Valentine said. “When we returned in September and October and tracked these waters, we found the gases were gone. In their place were residual methane-eating bacteria, and a 1 million ton deficit in dissolved oxygen that we attribute to respiration of methane by these bacteria.” While the scientists’ research documents the changing conditions of the Gulf waters, it also sheds some light on how the planet functions naturally. “This tragedy enabled an impossible experiment,” Valentine said, “one that allowed us to track the fate of a massive methane release in the deep ocean, as has occurred naturally throughout Earth’s history.” The Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling platform exploded on April 20, 2010, about 40 miles off the Louisiana coast. The blast killed 11 workers and injured 17 others. Oil was gushing from the site at the rate of 62,000 barrels per day, eventually spilling an estimated 170 million gallons of oil into the Gulf. The leak was capped on July 15, and the well was permanently sealed on Sept. 19.

Top to bottom: Deployment of the CTD Rosette system for collecting water samples. NOAA Ship Pisces, in the background. UCSB graduate student Stephanie Mendes, left, and postdoctoral researcher Molly Redmond sampling water. Photos courtesy of Texas A&M University and NOAA

Research by Physicists Honored as Science's 2010 Breakthrough of the Year A quantum device designed by a team of physicists led by Andrew Cleland, left, Aaron O'Connell, and John Martinis has been named the 2010 Breakthrough of the Year by the journal Science. Science, the publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), cited the UC Santa Barbara researchers for designing “a gadget that moves in ways that can only be described by quantum mechanics –– the set of rules that governs the behavior of tiny things like molecules, atoms, and subatomic particles. In recognition of the conceptual ground this experiment breaks, the ingenuity behind it, and its many potential applications, Science has called this discovery the most significant scientific advance of 2010.”

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MILESTONES

1950s Pat Mills, ’57, has been inducted into the Bob Elias Kern County Sports Hall of Fame. Mills was a standout at Wasco High, leading the Wasco Tigers football team to the 1952 Valley Championship and an undefeated season. He lettered in three sports at Bakersfield College and two at UC Santa Barbara. He later played pro baseball, coached football and baseball at Wasco and then became a high school administrator at Taft High School.

1960s Mike Warren, ’67, was the recipient of a roast to not only celebrate his 65th birthday and retirement as Santa Barbara City College Associate Dean of Educational Programs, but honor his commitment to athletic coaching excellence throughout the years. In the ’70s and ’80s, Warren was the head football coach at Lompoc and Carpinteria high schools, compiling a record of 128 wins, 34 losses, and 4 ties. His last 13 teams went to the postseason playoffs. At Lompoc, they reached four consecutive CIF championship games. The former Gaucho linebacker, and 1965 Camellia Bowl Team member, was hired in 1985 to resurrect the football program at his alma mater. In 1987, the Gauchos went 8-2, beating several NCAA Division II teams. He retired from the coaching position after 4 seasons. After retiring from

UC Santa Barbara, Warren worked for Computer Motion, a manufacturer of robotic surgical systems and served as executive director for the Elings Park Foundation. In 2006, he returned to the collegiate environment as athletic director for Santa Barbara City College and retired as an associate dean in 2010.

1970s Herbert Brown, ’79, chief of the FBI’s gang and drug section battling gangs across the Americas, has been appointed special agent in charge of the Sacramento FBI office. He led the FBI’s criminal and counterintelligence operations in Iraq in 2005, where his team helped rescue American hostage Roy Hallums, a contractor supplying food to the Iraqi army who was held for 311 days. Brown supervises 160 agents covering more than 7 million people in 34 counties ranging from Bakersfield to the Oregon border. He said he plans to work closely with the region’s diverse ethnic and religious communities, following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Drew Parenti, who retired in October after five years of service.

1980s Steve Pratt, ’89, has been hired to coach the varsity baseball team at Scripps Ranch High School. Last year, Pratt guided the Falcons junior varsity to a 21-4 record. Pratt played college baseball at UC Santa Barbara and also had a brief career as a professional in the minor leagues.

1990s

Kristine Faloon, MESM ’09, finished her California Sea Grant Fellowship at the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and then took a job as a scientist with Seamester, a shipboard study-abroad program. She teaches marine science and oceanography to undergraduate students aboard the 88-foot Tortola-based S/Y Ocean Star, which sails throughout the Caribbean.

Amy Hagen, ’90, a member of the Santa Barbara Symphony, and Andrew (Andy) Radford, a professional bassoonist and music educator at UC Santa Barbara, are the co-founders of the nonprofit Ojai Youth Symphony, which celebrated its 10th anniversary with a concert on Nov. 15, 2010, at Matilija Junior High in Ojai. The symphony is a full orchestra with winds, brass, strings and percussion for advanced high school students, but also includes Sinfonia, a full string orchestra for students in middle school, and Ojai Strings, a string ensemble for elementary school students. Deborah Ellen, ’91, a vocal technician and music writer for television and film (“Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” “High School Musical”) has created an interactive puppet show, “Mr. Blue Oven Mitt,” that she performs for children at afterschool clubs, hospitals, schools and other venues to benefit nonprofits. She also released a corresponding children’s album which is available on iTunes or her website, www. deborahellen.com. www.ucsbalum.com

MILESTONES

Jay Schwartz, ’92, president of award-winning IdeaWork Studios, is finding success marketing branding strategies to major resorts and casinos with campaigns such as the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino’s “Rehab-Sundays at the Pool.” JJ Jones, ’96, is the new vice president of Sales and Marketing at the San Bernardino-based Inland Newspapers. Jones, formerly the retail advertising manager at the Reno Gazette-Journal, brings 14 years of experience in newspaper advertising to her new position. Karen McFarlane Holman, Ph.D. ’96, an associate professor of Chemistry at Willamette University, was named the “2010 Oregon Professor of the Year,” an award sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). She was selected by national panels of educators for her impact on students, scholarly approach to teaching, contribution to undergraduate education and support from both students and colleagues. Adam Fischer, MESM ’99, is now the municipal storm water permit liaison for the Santa Ana Regional Board’s Orange County permit. He previously spent six and a half years as the board’s CWA Section 401 coordinator.

Bob Elias Kern County Sports Hall of As UCSB’s Director of Governmental Fame. Mills was a standout at Wasco High, Relations, Kirsten Deshler represents leading the Wasco Tigers football team the to all levels of government— to thecampus 1952 Valley Championship and an undefeated season. Hefederal—including lettered in three local, state, and sportscoordinating at Bakersfield two at UC Santa theCollege strategicand plans and projects of Barbara. the He later played pro baseball, coached football and baseball at campus, and cultivating relations with elected and Wasco and then became a high school administrator at Taft appointed officials, public agencies, and community High School. groups. This seems like a perfect fit for a political science 1960smajor, and Deshler is excited and enthusiastic about her position. After graduation, she obtained a position with the PHOTO Mike Warren,and ’67,Labor was the recipient of roast to House Education Subcommittee in aWashington, not only celebrate his 65th birthday and retirement as Santa D.C., for one year. Next, she moved to the office of Barbara City College Associate Dean of Educational Programs, California Congressman Rick Lehman, where she spent but honor his commitment to athletic coaching excellence the nextthe fouryears. yearsInasthe his’70s legislative assistant andwas enjoyed throughout and ’80s, Warren the closer to local constituents and workinghigh on issues head being football coach at Lompoc and Carpinteria schools, that affected them directly. After that, she took the position of legislative director in the Washington, D.C., office of the governor of Puerto Rico. She then was promoted to Deputy Director for Policy and Legislative Affairs in the governor’s

2000s

office. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Deshler

Melissa Winn, ’00, was recently highlighted in the San Francisco Chronicle for her design savvy on a tight budget, helping her clients get over their “decorator’s block” and her unusual online design quiz, Sproost, that aids clients in finding their personal design style. Oxnard College has hired former UC Santa Barbara AllAmerican and AVP professional Brooke (Niles) Hanson, ’02, as assistant coach of its women’s volleyball team. During Hanson’s four-year tenure on the Gaucho volleyball team, she played every position except middle blocker. She also served as an assistant coach to the Gaucho team from 2003 - 2007. Andrea (Cohen) Murphy, MESM ’02, celebrated the arrival of her son, Cooper Thomas Murphy, on Nov. 9, 2010. Murphy works in the Corporate Environmental Compliance Department at Verizon Wireless. She and her husband, Michael Murphy, are raising Cooper in Middlesex, N.J. In April, Jota Shohtoku, MESM ’02, left his position as vice president – deputy Regional

Kirsten Zimmer Deshler ’87: interface with government and the Pat Mills, ’57, has been inducted into the community 1950sUCSB’s

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and her family returned to Santa Barbara where she was a stay-at-home mom for six years. She returned to work for the city of Goleta as a management analyst and then as its Public Information Officer before taking the position of Director of Governmental Relations at UCSB in January 2010. Deshler has set two goals that she would like to accomplish: (1) create an advocacy network of supporters to advance the university’s interests at the local, state, and federal level; and (2) create more opportunities for meaningful civic engagement on issues of importance to the University and within our local community. — From the 2010 issue of Political Science at UCSB

Liabilities Group manager (Southeast Asia) at Chartis International and joined Allied World Assurance Company as vice president – head of General Casualty (Asia Pacific). Shohtoku, his wife, Claudia Anticona, MESM ’02, and their 18-month-old son, Kai, live in Hong Kong. Maria Durant, ’03, has opened Dance 4 Wellness, a dance instruction company specializing in ballroom, latin, swing, and nightclub-style dancing in Westlake Village, Calif. Dance 4 Wellness provides weekly group classes, private instruction,

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“Dancing Like the Stars” themed fundraisers and dance field trips, including dance cruises around the world. Allison Turner, MESM ’03, was recently promoted from director to senior director of environmental public affairs at Katz & Associates, a community relations and issuesmanagement consulting firm. Since August 2009, Rajendra (Raj) Bose, Ph.D. ’04, has been manager of Research Computing Services at Columbia University in New York. Previously, Bose was digital initiatives manager for the Center for Digital Research and Scholarship within the Columbia University Libraries. Kristina Perkins, ’04, has become part owner of Pleasant Valley Animal Hospital in Camarillo, Calif., the same practice she worked at as a high school student 10 years ago. Hélène Scalliet, MESM ’04, was married to Steve Graybill in July. They met while whitewater kayaking on the Potomac River in 2007, became engaged while kayaking in the Grand Canyon, and included a rafting trip for nearly 60 guests in the Alleghany Mountains of southwestern Pennsylvania as part of their wedding celebration. Dhruv Verma, ’04, received a medical degree from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago. He has been accepted into the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco. Joshua Levine, MESM

’05, moved his financial advisory practice to Royal Bank of Canada in January 2010 and joined the SRI Wealth Management group. On Valentine’s Day 2010, he became dad to his first child, a son named Skyler. Benjamin Pink, MESM ’05, has been living in Santa Cruz for the past two years. He left his position at Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency to become the waterconservation manager for San Jose Water Company. He and his wife, Shari Lass, had their first child, a son named Jonah, on Aug. 24, 2010. Troy Baker, Ph.D. ‘06, has been hired as a crystal growth engineer by Raleigh, N.C.-based Kyma Technologies, Inc. He will be responsible for advancing the firm’s GaN and AlN crystal growth manufacturing capabilities. Coast Guard Seaman Liesl C. Olson, ’06, recently graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Recruit Training Center in Cape May, N.J.. Olson is a 2002 graduate of Valley Christian High School in San Jose and a 2006 graduate of UC Santa Barbara.

Dave Kaplan, ’81, is riding the wave of success with his Encinitas beach cottaged-based Surfdog Records, although calling it an indie record company is a bit disingenuous. It is more a Surfdog entertainment empire as the company also operates Dave Kaplan Management, Surfdog Java Hut, Surfdog Music Publishing & Licensing and Surfdog Entertainment Marketing. Kaplan graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a degree in business accounting,

and a passion for music and surfing, in 1981. He was employed at a San Diego accounting firm when he was lured by the siren call of the music industry by way of a merchandising company representing both Madonna and Michael Jackson. It was an advantageous opportunity for him to learn every aspect of the business before striking off on his own. After a stint of being co-manager of UB-40, Kaplan opened the doors to Surfdog Records in 1993 and has seen the release of more than 80 albums by such artists as Brian Setzer, Dave Stewart, and Butthole Surfers. His artists’ music has been featured in movies, television and commercials, and successful marketing partnerships were struck up with SurfLine, Surfing Magazine, Billabong, Rip Curl, and MTV. Some of the biggest entertainment names, including Sir Paul McCartney, Pearl Jam, No Doubt and Jimmy Buffet, were assembled by Kaplan for the release of three compilation albums, “MOM: Mothers for Mother Ocean,” benefiting the Surfrider Foundation. Although the recording industry is fighting to stay afloat in the new reality of downloading, Kaplan is confident that he is well positioned to catch the next musical wave.

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Colleen Anne Connors, ’06, and Keith Michael McCallion, ’05, were married on Aug. 6, 2010, at the BR Cohn Winery by the Rev. Chuck Starnes of the Centerpointe Community Church of Eureka. She is currently working on her master’s degree in higher education administration at Santa Clara University and is employed as an undergraduate adviser at Stanford University. He is employed as the director of product management at 2Wire, Inc. Following a reception at the BR Cohn Winery, the couple enjoyed a 10-day wedding trip to Costa Rica. They reside in Mountain View. Brad Hansen, ’06, has launched the Gaucho Loco Line, a new late-night Isla Vista-to-Downtown Santa Barbara bus service. Hansen’s new service offers LED-lighting, solid sound systems and attention to cleanliness and safety for passengers, including hosts to escort female party-goers safely to their destinations. Kyle Kaveny, ’08, a member of the Gaucho’s ‘06 National Championship squad, is moving up the German soccer ranks. Kaveny is currently in his second season in Germany, being a defender in the lineup for TSG Neustrelitz. He recently scored the winning goal against the team’s rival, Torgelower. Amy Locke, MESM ’08, became engaged to Chris Noddings, MESM ‘09, in spring 2010; they plan to marry in May. Locke is currently working as an environmental scientist-biologist at Tetra Tech in Santa Barbara. Air National Guard Airman 1st Class Oswaldo G. LopezMatadamas, ’08, graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. Jessica Spence, MESM ’08, left her contracting position with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C., in June 2010, after 18 months at the agency. She spent the summer working on a shorebird ecology project with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and in August 2010 traveled to New Delhi, India, to study ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change through a Fulbright Research Fellowship. Leslie Abramson, MESM ’09, is currently a NOAA Sea Grant fellow in the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and

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American Idol is known for launching the careers of unknown vocal performers, but perhaps it was also tangentially instrumental in aiding the career of award-winning graphic novelist and publisher

Mark Andrew Smith, ’02. His first job out of UC Santa Barbara was as a production assistant on Season One of American Idol. Possibly his time spent around aspiring young singers had some influence on his first graphic novel, The Amazing Joy Buzzards, a rock ’n ’ roll adventure band that battles evil in all forms. The comic piqued the interest of Image Comics in 2004, which published it, and the rest, they say, is history. Smith has gone on to create the books Aqua Leung, Kill All Buzzards! and The New Brighton Archeological Society; the latter selected as Best All-Ages Comic of 2009 by MTV Splash Page. He also co-created and edits the popular Popgun, a comics anthology, that is referred to as “the ultimate graphic mixtape,” highlighting the talents of up-and-coming artists. Popgun has been awarded both the Harvey Award in 2008 and Eisner Award in 2010 in the Best Anthology categories. For those who think graphic novels are a closed and fading genre, think again. Smith believes his future is wide open and that “...more and more people are realizing that comic books are not a genre but a medium capable of telling any range of stories under the sun, with almost limitless potential. There are comic books in broad ranges of genres now from adventure, to wine tasting, and cooking.”

Coast Guard. She has been working on such issues as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, ocean acidification, fisheries management, and marine-mammal protection. She received a Switzer Professional Development Grant to travel with the U.S. delegation to the International Whaling Commission in Agadir, Morocco. Kristian Beadle, MESM ’09, spent three months studying the impacts of climate change on Pacific communities during

How two UC Santa Barbara alumni met their retirement goals while simultaneously giving back to their alma mater: ➢ We wanted to fund our retirement while at the same time diversifying our investment portfolio. ➢ We wanted to ensure that we had sufficient income for the remainder of our lives. ➢ We wanted a plan with significant tax benefits to allow us to utilize greatly appreciated stock. ➢ We wanted a plan that ultimately benefited UC Santa Barbara and our other charitable interests.

Kent Vining BA ’70 and Julie Ann Mock MA ’75 met these goals by creating a specific plan that: • Took advantage of available tax benefits while diversifying their investment portfolio in retirement. • Provided a platform for a long-term retirement income stream. • Made a generous provision for planned gifts that will ultimately benefit the campus as well as other charitable interests. How was all this accomplished? Kent and Julie, over the years, had amassed a number of highly appreciated shares of stock from his employer. Kent and Julie each decided to fund individual charitable remainder unitrusts with that stock to provide income for their lifetimes. As trustees of their trusts, Kent and Julie were free to diversify their portfolios in order to ensure their retirement nest egg. Additionally, they set up life insurance policies to replace the value of their unitrusts for their heirs. Upon each of their deaths, their trusts will provide a generous gift to those charitable interests closest to them, including the Alumni Association, the Mosher Alumni House and Intercollegiate Athletics. “Julie and I were able share our success with the University and our other charitable interests during our lifetime, insure that our retirement years were well-funded, and allow for our estate to be kept whole for our heirs. Why wouldn’t anyone want to do that?” If you have some similar ideas and are interested in a gift plan to meet your financial planning and charitable giving objectives, please call: Victoria Wing, Director of Major Gift Planning at (805) 893-5556, toll-free (800) 641-1204 or email victoria.wing@ia.ucsb.edu. For more gift ideas and examples, please visit www.giftplanning.ucsb.edu. www.ucsbalum.com

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Jim Barber, ’67, a former member

Chris Salcedo, ’09, is now a regular contributor at the weekly Santa Barbara Independent.

of the UC Santa Barbara Alumni Association board of directors and founding member of the Gaucho Athletics Association, was honored with the prestigious 2010 Iron Horse Award at the ALS Association Greater Los Angeles Chapter’s A Time to Care Gala. The award is given to a person with ALS that exemplifies Lou Gehrig’s “never give up” spirit. Having lived with the progressive neurodegenerative muscular disease

2010s Joseph P. Feinberg, ’10, has been hired as an actuarial analyst for WellPoint, Inc. Dan Eller, JDP, ’10, has been promoted to the position of head of the Public Relations (PR) Concentration in Cal Poly’s Journalism department. Eller had previously worked as communications director at Hearst Castle for the past 17 years.

ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, since 2006, Barber, a retired attorney, put his legal acumen to use by collaborating closely with California Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg in championing two historic pieces of legislation. This work resulted in the State of California recognizing the needs of ALS patients and the importance of ALS research. The bills, SB 1502 and SB 1503, were signed into law in September 2008 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. SB 1502, the California state tax check-off bill, allows each state taxpayer the option to direct a portion of any tax refund to ALS research. SB 1503, the standard of care bill, acknowledges the ALS Association’s Centers of Excellence as the gold standard for ALS care and treatment. It also gives these centers the designation of a “specialty care center” in the Health and Safety Code which ensures physician referrals to the centers will be seamless. an overland trip to southern Mexico (www.voyageofkiri. com). In late July 2010, he arrived in Huatulco, Oaxaca, to continue his Bren Group Project. Prior to departing, he completed a year as project manager at Mesa Lane Partners in Santa Barbara. After graduating, Heather Coleman, Ph.D. ’09, moved to Victoria, British Columbia, where she is the science advisor for the Pacific Marine Analysis and Research Association, a small NGO promoting the learning and practice of tools for systematic conservation planning and ecosystem-based management. This past summer, Chris Noddings, MESM ’09, started a new position as an associate in the San Diego-based Energy Group of Environmental Science Associates. Noddings also proposed to Amy Locke, MESM ’08, in spring 2010; they plan to marry in May. 28

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IN MEMORIAM Janice W. Wilbanks, ’59, died Sept. 13, 2010. She was 72. Wilbanks was born in Van Nuys, Calif., and attended UC Santa Barbara. As a teacher at Willow Glen High School, in San Jose, for almost 40 years, she shared her love of knowledge with the thousands of students that passed through her classrooms. She was preceded in death by her husband, Malon Wilbanks, in 2004. She leaves behind her brother, Thomas Kramer; sons Gary, Ron, and Dennis; and four grandchildren Jon, Erick, Allison, and Samantha. Jeffrey Douglas White, ’61, died Dec. 10, 2010, after a lengthy battle with multiple sclerosis. He was 72. Possessed with a deep love of the ocean, White made sure he spent most of his life either around it, or on it. His formative years were in Hermosa Beach, but when his family moved inland to Pasadena, he made sure he spent summers with his grandmother on the coast in Palos Verdes Estates. He chose to attend UC Santa Barbara because it was near the water. During that time, he served as a lifeguard in Carpinteria. White was a mainstay in the surfing scene since the early ’60s, whether it be in his backyard blowing foam for his surfboard creations, selling his friend Jack O’Neil’s wetsuits or giving the surf forecast, “State of the Sea,” on the airwaves at KTYD. He was the founder of White Owl Surfboards and the Surf-N-Wear chain of surf shops, the driving force behind the creation of the Rincon Surf Classic and a champion dory competitor with his rowing partner, Paul Hodgert. He is survived by son Jed Jeffrey White, daughter-in-law Erica, grandsons Cannon and Hayden, and sister Nancy Ashbridge White. Barbara Susan O’Leary, ’63, died Nov. 6, 2010. She was 69. O’Leary was born in Long Beach, Calif., in 1941 and moved to Altadena in 1949. She graduated from John Muir High School in 1959, then attended UC Santa Barbara, graduating in 1963. She had a love of travel and went to work with TWA as a flight

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attendant in the early ‘60s. She assisted in the management of two O’Leary family-owned restaurants through the ‘70s. In the early ‘80s, she and her husband, Fred, settled in Cupertino. She began working in the packaging industry and continued as a salesperson until retiring in 2009, after an almost three decade-long career. In 2003, she was elected as “Woman of the Year” by the American Business Women’s Association and served as chapter president. She is survived by her husband; son Colin; daughter Meighan; sisters Judy and Muriel; several nieces and nephews; and grandchildren Alex and Georgia. James ‘Jim’ Bernard Gerton, ’65, died Dec. 10, 2010. He was 67. Gerton was born on Dec. 10, 1943, in San Francisco, and grew up in Pleasanton. He earned bachelor’s degrees in French from UC Santa Barbara in 1965 and in Civil Engineering from Kansas University in 1987, where he graduated with honors and was named the “Civil Engineering Student of the Year.” Gerton worked as a buyer at the Popular Department Store in El Paso, Texas, while married to Lee Schwartz, and during this time had his only two children. After a divorce, he met Sara Ellett with whom he spent the next 28+ years, living and learning in Texas, Kansas and eventually North Carolina. Gerton worked for the city of Charlotte’s Water Department for 20 years and retired in 2008. After retirement he spent his last years at Sun City Carolina Lakes, S.C. He is survived by his son, Jordan Gerton; daughter Heidi Gerton; three grandchildren Marina and Kai Gerton and Juaquin Gerton-Henderson; sister Charlene Henshaw; and three brothers, Donald “Rusty” Gerton, Mark Gerton and Ron Smith. Roger Williams, ’67, died Oct. 11, 2010. He was 65. Williams grew up in Dos Palos, Calif., a place, he claimed, “where football and cotton were king.” As a sophomore at Coalinga Junior College, Williams was a member of a Hall of Fame team in football and earned all-league honors in baseball. He played another two years at UC Santa Barbara on a baseball scholarship, graduating in 1967 with a degree in History. He would go on to earn a teaching credential and a master’s in Educational Management. In 1968, the same year he married Nancy Stoops, Williams began teaching math and coaching baseball at Dos Palos High School. In 1976, he and Nancy and their two young daughters moved to Chico, where he took an administrative job as curriculum coordinator for both Chico Junior and Chico Senior high schools. He became Chico High’s interim principal in January 1981 and was named principal in June and remained at that position until his retirement in 2003. Williams received many awards, including the Chico Community Peacemaker Award, the state CIF Distinguished Service Award, Rotary’s Paul Harris Fellow award and the Association of California School Administrators high school Principal of the Year award. He is survived by his wife;

two daughters Ashley and Jenny; two grandsons; and two brothers. Donald Michael McCormack, ’71, died Dec. 12, 2010. He was 69. McCormack was born to Irish immigrant parents Mary Vaughan and Martin McCormack and raised in New York City. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1959 to 1962. He earned a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley in 1969 and a master’s in History from UC Santa Barbara in 1971. He was a reporter for the Contra Costa Times and the Richmond Independent. He also had a feature column in the San Francisco Chronicle called “Hang Your Hat” (He was rarely seen in public without a hat). In 1984, he created McCormack’s Guides, a popular series of relocation guides covering 16 California counties. He was preceded in death by parents Mary and Martin and brother Martin Jr. Survivors include brother John McCormack; his wife of 44 years, Nancy; sons Brendan and Dan; daughter Meghan; and granddaughters Grace and Ruth. John Herbert Ward, ’78, died Sept. 29, 2010. He was 55. Ward grew up in Long Beach, Calif. He graduated from Wilson High School in 1973 and UC Santa Barbara in 1978. Ward was known as the dean of high school boys basketball coaches on the South Coast. He started coaching in the Santa Barbara area in 1982 at Bishop Garcia Diego High, where he guided the Cardinals to league championships. He then was hired in 2005 as the boys basketball coach at Carpinteria High School before becoming the school’s athletic director in 2009. He also taught math at both schools. Stanley Miles Anderson, ’81, died Sept. 12, 2010. He was 63. Anderson was born in Gilroy, Calif., but spent his early years in Morgan Hill, Paso Robles, and Ghana, West Africa. He returned to the U.S. at age 14. Anderson received his associate’s degree in Electronics at Cabrillo College in 1973 and continued his education at UC Santa Cruz receiving a bachelor’s in Biology as an honors graduate in 1976. Being fascinated by Monterey Bay’s marine life, he completed his graduate studies with highest honors from the Marine Science Institute at UC Santa Barbara in 1981. He then embarked on a second master’s in Scientific Instrumentation. Anderson targeted work to assist in the process of sustainable marine resource management. He contributed extensively to marine ecosystem management and conservation efforts, and has been recognized for developing the protocol that NOAA now uses exclusively for coral ecosystem mapping throughout the U.S. Pacific, Caribbean and Florida Keys. He is survived by his wife Katharine; daughters Nicole and Giulia Anderson, and Jennifer D. Arnzen; two grandchildren, Ryan and Zachary; brother Kenneth; and sisters Ardyth Martin and Judyth Hall.

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Lt. Colonel Lawrence Akira Washington, ’94, died Nov. 4, 2010. He was 38. Washington was born in 1971 in Japan and traveled the world as a child to numerous naval bases. He graduated from Channel Islands High School in 1989, and went on to UC Santa Barbara, where he met his wife, Michelle. After graduation, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and was stationed in Yuma, Ariz., in 1995 as a 2nd lieutenant supply officer. He obtained his master’s degree from Webster University in 1998. While stationed in Yuma, he decided to become a pilot, and was selected for flight school. He went on to Corpus Christi and Pensacola for training. He then trained to become a V-22 Osprey pilot, becoming the second-ever African-American Marine Osprey pilot. During his military career, he served in Djibouti in 2002 and in Iraq twice, in 2003 and 2009. Among his military awards: 2 Navy and Marine Corps Commendations medals, 8 Air MedalStrike/ Flight, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, 2 Navy Meritorious Unit Commendations, 4 Iraq Campaign Medals, Certificate of Commendation (individual Award), 3 Sea Service Deployment Ribbons, 2 National Defense Service Medals, and a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal. He is survived by his wife, Michelle; children Kaitlyn and Kyle; parents Lawrence and Terri

Washington; sister Demetria Williams; nephews Logan and Sutton; brother Daryl; and nieces Eve and Ella. Kian Shaun Harvey, ’99, died Sept. 15, 2010. He was 33. Kian Shaun Harvey was born in Martinez, Calif., and attended Palmer School, Walnut Creek, and graduated from De La Salle High School, Concord, in 1995. He attended UC Santa Barbara where he studied Chemistry and Economics and graduated in 1999. In 2003, he married Tammie Beth Wilson and in 2005 they had daughter Amber Lynn Harvey. He is survived by his wife; daughter; mother Suzanne Harvey; and his grandmother Marilyn Harvey. Lucas McKaine Ransom died Oct. 22, 2010. He was 19. Ransom was born in Santa Ana. He grew up in Romoland, Calif., attended Romoland Elementary, and graduated with honors from Perris High, where he excelled in swimming and water polo. He also swam for the Club Elite swim team in Lake Elsinore. He was a third-year student at UC Santa Barbara, majoring in Chemistry. He was killed in a shark attack while body boarding in extremely large swells at Surf Beach in Lompoc, Calif. He is survived by his parents, Matt and Candace; brother Travis; stepbrother Joshua; and grandparents Charles and Joan Cram.

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