Let me begin my first letter as the newly elected
President of the Phi Beta Kappa Association of
Northern California by thanking you for this expression
of confidence and by extending my best wishes to
you and your families for the coming year on behalf
of our Board. At our Annual Meeting in May, the
membership ratified the entire slate of candidates
presented by our Nominating Committee Chair, Narcinda
Lerner. They include Jennifer Jones, First Vice
President,Programs; Joanne Sandstrom, Second Vice
President, Scholarship; Letitia Saunders, Third
Vice President, Membership; Maria Norall, Recording
Secretary, Jean E. James, Corresponding Secretary;
Mary Turner Gilliland, Treasurer; Leon Fisher,
Teaching Excellence Chair; Julia Gustas Antoniades,
Chapter Liaison; Gerald T. Richards, Newsletter
Chair; Mary Hanel, Past President; and Jean E.
James, Asilomar Chair. Jennifer and Joanne are
new to the Board and we warmly welcome them. During
the past year we suddenly lost our Program Chair
to the vagaries of corporate employment, and other
members of the Board stepped in to ensure that
we had a full slate of activities for the enjoyment
of our members and the replenishment of our Scholarship
Fund. For cheerfully shouldering this additional
burden, I would like to thank Mary Hanel, Jean
James (already doing double duty as Corresponding
Secretary and Asilomar Chair), Maria Norall, Mary
Gilliland, and former President, Jacqueline Dever
Celenza.
For the last two years, we have awarded eight
graduate scholarships of $4,000 each to deserving
graduate students at Bay Area universities; information
about this year's winners is below. Indeed, it
was with some reluctance that I surrendered the
position of Scholarship Chair for that of President
because the work of the Scholarship Committee is
so rewarding: each year we get to read in detail
about the accomplishments and often breathtaking
intellectual aspirations of approximately thirty
remarkable men and women, selected by their University
Scholarship Committee to compete for our awards.
For those of you who may fear that the younger
generation is shallow, materialistic, and incapable
of sustained work or hard thinking, I invite you
to read the statements of purpose that accompany
the scholarship applications; these young scholars
are as serious about the pursuit of learning and
the creation of new knowledge, as willing to endure
years of material privation, and as idealistic
about the academic enterprise as any previous generation
of Phi Betes. They represent the future of learning
and teaching, and they fully deserve our modest
efforts to support them at what is in most cases
a critical juncture in their career.
Below, you will find the first of the programs
planned for the fall. We hope you find one that
intrigues you and sign up for it. In doing so,
you will contribute to the Scholarship Fund and
meet other lively and curious Phi Betes. If you
have ideas for other outings that you think members
would enjoy, please let or another member
of the Board know. We would like to hear from
you!
Sincerely,
President
Upcoming Events
Person making a reservation MUST
BE a Phi Beta Kappa Member, but need not be a member
of the Northern California Association.
If you plan to attend any of the PBKNCA
events, please clip or copy the appropriate coupon
in the hard copy of the Newsletter, fill it out
and mail it, with your check, to the appropriate
person at the address indicated. No confirmations
or additional details will be sent; be sure to
save this newsletter!
Second Vice President - Programs
Calling All Olive and Olive
Oil Lovers
Do you long for the taste and beauty of Tuscany?
Then mark your calendars now and plan to join us
on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2004, when PBK NCA will have
the rare opportunity to visit Nan McEvoy's 550-acre
organic olive ranch located at 5935 Red Hill Rd.
(between Novato and Petaluma). The McEvoy
Ranch features 18,000 olive trees thriving in a spectacular
valley near the Marin-Sonoma border.
During the tour, we will visit one of the
orchards and discuss the horticulture of growing
olive trees, McEvoy’s certified organic practices,
and their harvest techniques. (Ours is one of the
last public tours before the harvest, so it should
be quite impressive.) We will then proceed to the
frantoio, or olive milling room, to discuss the
McEvoy process of extracting olive oil. The visit
concludes with a sensory evaluation, tasting, and
discussion of the culinary uses of olive oil.
The tour starts promptly at 10 a.m. and ends
at noon. At the end of the tour, there will
be time available for shopping in the McEvoy
Ranch retail store where you may purchase olive
oil, olive trees, other olive oil related products,
as well as fresh items produced at the ranch.
Bring a picnic lunch to enjoy after the tour
just a few miles south of the McEvoy Ranch at the
Rouge et Noir Cheese Factory (where you may also
buy your picnic items), or travel on to Pt. Reyes
Station which offers a variety of luncheon opportunities.
To reserve a space (the limit is 40), please fill
out the coupon on page 5 of the newsletter or
email
.
(If you
receive your newsletter after the
September 22nd deadline, please call or email me
to see if
space is still available.)
Date: Saturday, October 2, 2004
Time: 10 a.m. until noon
Cost: $30 per person
Deadline: *September 22, 2004
Directions: From the Golden Gate Bridge, take
101 N. to the Atherton-San Marin Drive exit
(the last exit in Novato). Travel west on San
Marin Drive until San Marin High School. (At
this point, San Marin Drive turns into Sutro
Ave.) Turn right on Novato Blvd. Continue on
Novato Blvd. until it dead ends at Point Reyes-Petaluma
Blvd. Turn right on Point Reyes-Petaluma Blvd.
The McEvoy Ranch is on the right, approximately
2.7 miles from the Novato Blvd. – Pt.
Reyes-Petaluma Blvd. intersection. (Pt. Reyes-Petaluma
Blvd. is also known as Red Hill Road, thus the
actual ranch address of 5935 Red Hill Rd) If
you come to San Antonio Rd., you have gone
too far north.
Put on your hiking boots and plan to join us for
a naturalist-led walk to see the beautiful and
regal Tule
Elk at Tomales Point near Pt. Reyes.
The elk, which used to be abundant in Central and
Northern California, were brought to the brink
of extinction by hunting and habitat loss. They
currently live on approximately 22 preserves around
the state. The largest herd of elk can be found
on the grasslands of Tomales Point. They received
their name because they used to graze on Tule,
a kind of sedge or bulrush. They are also known
as dwarf elk or “Wapiti” and are the
smallest of the elk. Their Shawnee name “Wapiti” means
white rump. The Tule Elk have light bodies and
dark heads.
The elk’s mating season (also known as “rutting”)
begins in July and continues through the middle of
October. During this time, the male elk compete with
other males. The winning bull gets the harem. Occasionally,
bugling, a clear whistle, is heard as part of the
mating process.
Dress in layers, as it can be chilly and windy,
or warm and sunny. Don’t forget your binoculars
(if you have them), and a sack lunch or visit Tomales
Bay Foods at 80 Fourth Street. There are also places
to pick up a sandwich in Inverness or Olema. Please
also be prepared for ticks in the area. There is
no restroom at the Tomales Point trailhead. You could
stop at the parking lot for the Abbott’s Lagoon
trailhead, a couple of miles before the end of Pierce
Point Road, and use the facilities there.
After our walk, you may want to stop at one of
the three local oyster companies: Hog Island
Oyster Company (415.663.9218), Johnston’s Oyster Farm (415.669.1149)
and Tomales Bay Oyster Company (415.663.1242). If
you visit one of the local beaches afterwards, please
note that they have strong currents, and there have
been shark sightings.
Our instructor will be the personable and knowledgeable
Wendy
Dreskin, a naturalist who teaches the popular
Meandering in Marin class for adults at College of
Marin, as well as conducting weekly nature education
classes at various elementary schools around Marin
County. She is the winner of the 2003 Terwilliger
Environmental Award.
Date: Saturday, October
16. (We will cancel at 6:30am
in the event of a hard rain, so be sure to include
your e-
mail address and telephone number on the coupon.)
Time: 10:30 am – 2pm
Deadline: October 1, 2004
Price: $20 per person
Directions: From the Golden Gate Bridge heading
north on 101, take the Sir Francis Drake exit
and head west to Olema. Turn right on Rt. 1,
then make an immediate left onto Bear Valley
Rd. Continue past Park Headquarters for about
two miles, and turn left when you hit Sir Francis
Drake again. Continue on Sir Francis Drake about
5.5 miles and go through Inverness. When Sir
Francis Drake turns left, the road should turn
into Pierce Point Road (Please don’t
turn left. Go straight and continue on Pierce Point
Road). Follow the scenic Pierce Point Road about
9 miles to Tomales Point. The trailhead is located
at historic Pierce Point Ranch.
Come join us for a private tour of the Lindsay
Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek. The museum is
dedicated to wildlife rehabilitation and has one
of the oldest and largest wildlife hospitals in
the country, treating more than 6,000 injured and
orphaned animals each year. The museum is also
home to the animals that can not be released back
into the wild. On our private tour, we will meet
many of these animals, and our tour will finish
just in time to see the eagle feeding. After our
tour, feel free to explore the learning theatre,
discovery room, the gardens, and other animal presentations
throughout the day.
Date: Saturday, November 6, 2004
Time: 11 am – 12 noon, Please don’t miss
the eagle
feeding at 12:30pm
Deadline: October 1, 2004
Price: $12.00 per person
Directions: From San Jose and South Bay: Take
680 North past Highway 24 interchange in Walnut
Creek. Take the Treat Blvd./Geary Road exit
and turn left over freeway. Proceed three more
lights and turn left on Buena Vista. Turn right
on First Avenue. The museum is half-way up
the block on the left. From San Francisco and
Oakland: Take Highway 24 East to Walnut Creek.
Take 680 North. Take the Treat Blvd./Geary
Road exit and turn left over freeway. Proceed
three more lights and turn left on Buena Vista.
Turn right on First Avenue. The museum is half-way
up the block on the left. From Concord and
North Bay: Take 680 South to Treat Blvd. Exit.
Turn left at light onto North Main St. Turn
right on Geary Road. Turn left on Buena Vista.
Turn right on First Avenue. The museum is half-way
up the block on the left.
Do you think of Christmas decorations in San Francisco
as Macy's windows and Union Square? Are you suburban
types longing for an adventure? Then you are in
for a treat. Please plan to join us for a guided
tour of the San Francisco holiday scene you have
probably never before experienced. Tom Filcich,
who regularly leads walking tours of San Francisco
for the College of Marin, will be our guide to
places most of us never see - at least not during
the holidays. We plan to meet under the clock tower
at the Ferry Building at 10 a.m. During our three-hour
walking tour, we will explore the new Ferry
Building,
visit hotel lobbies, and see business decorations
that you never dreamed existed. We will end our
tour with lunch, at your own expense, at the San
Francisco center, which offers a variety of choices
and prices - not to mention shopping opportunities.
After that, you are on your own to shop or return
home at your leisure. The cost is $18 per person
and our group is limited to 30 people. Dust off
your comfortable walking shoes and plan to join
us on Friday, December 10, 2004 for a holiday experience
you will not soon forget.
Date: Friday, December 10, 2004
Time: 10:00 am
Deadline: November 15, 2004 (limited to 30 participants)
Price: $18.00 per person
Directions: Ferry Building Clock Tower, Embarcadero
at the foot of Market Street, San Francisco. The
Ferry Building is best reached using public
transportation.
Marinites can take the 9:15 Larkspur
Ferry. Those
with access to BART or MUNI can take either to
the Embarcadero Station. The historic
trolley cars (Line F Market) stop directly in
front of the Ferry Building. If you must drive, there
are parking lots at the north end of the Ferry Building
at Pier ½ and
the Pier 3 Washington at Embarcadero Lot. There is
limited metered parking on area surface streets.
There is also a reasonably priced parking lot at
Bay and Embarcadero near Pier 33 but you will have
a bit of a hike to the Ferry Building.
Scholarship
and teaching go hand in hand. Nearly everyone who
cares about the life of the mind can remember at
least one teacher, and perhaps many more, who made
a special contribution to his or her development.
And experts are never quite sure of their expertise
until they have tried teaching what they know to
others. For these reasons, among others, PBKNCA
vigorously encourages excellence in teaching. In
pursuit of this principle, PBKNCA has for many
years made annual Excellence in Teaching Awards.
Each award consists of a handsome certificate and
a $500 honorarium. Any member of PBK may make
nominations. Eligible nominees are faculty members
of the seven universities and colleges in Northern
California that harbor PBK Chapters.
Please make a nomination for a 2005 Teaching Award.
The application form is available here,
and is printed on page 2 of this newsletter, or
it may be obtained by contacting me. Applications
are due late fall, but please make them now while
memory is fresh. To nominate a teacher, fill out
the form including an account of why you think
a nominee deserves recognition as an outstanding
teacher. Mail the forms to me.
Teaching Excellence Chair
Scholarship Committee
This year, thanks to the generosity and hard
work of our members, the Scholarship Committee
awarded eight $4,000 scholarships to eight talented
young scholars and scientists.
Jeremy Cholfin, Neuroscience , UC San Francisco
Rebecca Fox, Animal Behavior, UC Davis
Eleanory Gilburd, Russian History, UC Berkeley
Lisa Lital Levy**, Comparative Literature, UC
Berkeley
Yamina Ohol, Biochemistry, UC San Francisco
Ellen Samuels, English, UC Berkeley
Jennifer Scappettone*, English, UC Berkeley
Akrit Sodhi Singh, Comparative Pathology, UC
Davis
By the end of the 2003-2004 academic
year, the Northern California Association of Phi
Beta Kappa distributed over 1000 initiation packets
to the seven campuses in our region. These packets
contained a welcome letter of information by our
president, an introductory subscription to our newsletter
and a nomination form for the Teaching
Excellence Award.
Initiations have taken place at Mills College,
University of California at Davis, University
of California at Berkeley, San Francisco State
University, Santa Clara University, and Stanford
University. The PBKNCA is indebted to the
dedication of Ms. Dianne Wright at the University
of California at Santa Cruz for ensuring our
initiation packets reach the initiates and
maintaining a direct connection with our efforts.
Many thanks to Jean James, Letitia Sanders,
Marijane Osborn, Jacqueline Dever Celenza, Mary
Gilliland, and Mary Hanel, who so graciously assisted
me in representing the Northern California Association
of Phi Beta Kappa, and made it possible for PBK
NCA to be in two places at once, since many initiations
are often scheduled on the same date.
Phi Beta Kappa of Northern California representatives
are always enthusiastically received. The time-consuming
efforts of the officers of the campus Phi Beta
Kappa chapters, who work diligently to disseminate
our information to the nominees for initiation,
are greatly appreciated. Meeting the initiates
who represent great hope for the future is inspiring,
and full of intellectual surprises.
Congratulations to all the supporting members
of the Northern California Association of Phi
Beta Kappa who make this role a privilege and
a joy.
PBKNCA Chapter Liaison
Asilomar 2005
Mark your calendars now and plan to spend Presidents'
Day Weekend with Phi Beta Kappa at lovely Asilomar
in Pacific Grove. We start our retreat on Friday,
February 18, and end on Monday, February 21. For
those of you who have never heard of Asilomar,
or have never been there before, Asilomar is a
state conference center in Pacific Grove, a small
enclave between Monterey and Carmel. This year's
Presidents' Day weekend will be PBKNCA's nineteenth
consecutive Asilomar experience. Our retreat /
conference always begins with dinner Friday evening
and ends with lunch on Monday. During the long
weekend, we provide a mix of interesting, thought-provoking
speakers and activities, as well as ample free
time to enjoy the lovely seaside atmosphere. People
who work sometimes come late and leave early. It
is even possible to "skip" some programs,
as no one takes attendance or gives exams. And
because some of you wanted to know: Dress is very
casual.
The main goal of our conference is for us to
enjoy ourselves in a beautiful setting, but our
secondary goal is to raise money for scholarships.
The $100 per person registration fee is used to
cover conference costs (speakers' expenses, a.v.
equipment rental, wine with Sunday dinner, postage,
duplicating, office supplies, etc.). This past
year's profits enabled us to fund almost three
graduate scholarships. (And for those of you who
attended in 2004 and missed this information in
the April newsletter, $83.26 of the 2004 $100 registration
fee is fully tax deductible.)
How much does Asilomar cost besides the $100
registration fee? The 2005 pricing is $324.38 per
adult, double occupancy; single occupancy, $526.70;
youth (ages 3-17), $189.62. This includes three
nights' lodging, and all meals, beginning with
dinner on Friday and ending with lunch on Monday.
Asilomar handles all room reservations.
Although there are still some refinements to
be made for Asilomar 2005, we already have a
strong program lined up, utilizing some of our
own considerable PBKNCA in-house talent. First,
Marijane Osborne, UC Davis professor and recipient
of one of this year’s Teaching Excellence
awards has agreed to make a presentation on Robinson
Jeffers. In addition, Joanne and Don Sandstrom
will talk to us about altering their lives by
sailing around the world with their children.
Next, Calvin Wood will share with us his experiences
as a weapons inspector in Iraq after the first
Gulf War. We even have our members’ children
involved: Betsy Gilliland, daughter of Mary and
Chet Gilliland and a ’95 Brown Phi Bete
herself, will speak about her Peace Corps and
other experiences in Uzbekistan.
New for 2005: A Monterey Movie Tour. Offered to
the first 32 people who sign up and costing approximately
$50, this three-hour tour will travel to many of
the famous movie sites located in Monterey, Pacific
Grove, Pebble Beach, and Carmel. Participants will
be able to watch the scenes that were filmed at
their exact locations on overhead monitors on board
a luxury motor coach while hearing behind-the-scenes
stories about the making of the movies and famous
movie stars. You might even be moved to sing along
to some of your favorite show tunes! This tour
is scheduled for Sunday afternoon, February 20.
If you want more information about this trip, visit
their website.
Those of you who do not wish to participate will
have a free afternoon to shop, hike, visit the Monarch
butterfly sanctuary, the Monterey
Bay Aquarium,
the National
Steinbeck Center or whatever else
captures your interest. (If you do wish to participate
in the bus tour, please fill out the coupon below
and return it to me as soon as possible.)
Tor House: Since Marijane Osborne is talking about
Robinson
Jeffers, some of you might be interested
in a visit to Tor
House, Jeffers’ residence
located on Carmel Point and built by his own hands
from granite boulders collected on the beach. Tor
House conducts docent-led tours only on Fridays
and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Since they
limit the group size to 6, it was impossible for
me to arrange a tour for us. However, I thought
some of you might want to visit this interesting
place (I have done it twice!) before you come to
Asilomar, after the Saturday morning program, or
during the free Saturday afternoon. If so, you
must make your own reservations by calling (831)
624-1813 Monday – Thursday from 9 - 1, or
(831) 624-1840 Friday and Saturday from10 – 4.
Their email address is thf@torhouse.org; their
website is www.torhouse.org. [If you decide to
tour Tor House on Saturday, you might want to request
a box lunch from Asilomar to take with you; be
sure to do this 48 hours in advance.]
The final program for Asilomar 2005 will be published
in the November newsletter. But as those of you
know who have attended Asilomar in the past, it
really does not matter who the speakers are. The
lovely setting and the extremely interesting attendees
are what make our retreat truly special.
Now that you know about Asilomar in general and
this year in particular, we hope that you will
mark your calendars and join us for next year's
conference, which will begin on Friday, February
18. If you attended Asilomar 2004 and enjoyed yourself,
please let your fellow Phi Betes know and encourage
them to join us in 2005. (Guests are also welcome.)
Just fill out the coupon on p.6 of the hardcopy
of the newsletter and send me your registration
fee. As soon as I receive your check, I will send
you the Asilomar housing form. (Again, Asilomar
handles all room reservations.)
For those of you who very generously gave me your
deposit in February, you do not need to fill out
the coupon. (If you wish to participate in the
bus tour, however, you will need to fill out that
coupon.) By the time you receive this newsletter,
you should have already received the Asilomar housing
forms. If you have not (or cannot remember if you
have) given me a deposit, please call or email
me.
Asilomar Chair
Phi Beta
Kappa Northern California Association, Inc.
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Mark your calendars now and plan to spend Presidents'
Day Weekend with Phi Beta Kappa at lovely