Currents (Spring 1992; Special issue)

              UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA,   SANTA   CRUZ
CURRENTS
Published by the Office of University Advancement for the UCSC community /Spring 1992
'Interim' title removed as UC Regents appoint
Karl Pister the campus's sixth chancellor
Karl S. Pister became the sixth
chancellor of UCSC on April 1
after serving as interim head
of the campus since last
August. Acting on UC
President David P. Gardner's
recommendation, the university's
Board of Regents approved the
appointment March 20 at the
board's business meeting at UCLA.
Pister, 66, who was asked by
Gardner to administer the campus
on an interim basis after a long and
distinguished career as a faculty
member and administrator at UC
Berkeley, is "eminently qualified to
lead the Santa Cruz campus," UC's
president said. Gardner added that
he based his recommendation on
Pister's "sterling performance
during his tenure as interim
chancellor and the high esteem
with which he is regarded by all
sectors of the campus community,
---
[Photograph] Karl Pister
In Perspective on page 6, Chancellor
Pister discusses his goals for UCSC
and the challenges the campus will
face during this decade.
---
his fellow chancellors, and the Santa
Cruz community."
Meredith J. Khachigian, chair of
the Board of Regents, said: "I have
great respect and admiration for Dr.
Pister, as does the entire Board of
Regents. We have benefitted from
his knowledge and insight these
past eight months and so has the
Santa Cruz campus and its community. We congratulate Chancellor
Pister and welcome the opportunity
to work with him as he continues
his stewardship of UC Santa Cruz."
"I have enjoyed my brief time
as 'interim' and agreed to accept
the appointment in response to
the warm welcome and support
the campus community has given
me," Pister said. "I look forward
with pleasure to continuing the
work we have begun together in
planning for the future of UCSC."
—Rick Malaspina
Passage of Proposition 153 deemed
essential to UCSC's future
A $900 million bond measure
for higher education, crucial
to the building program
planned for the University
of California, will go before
California voters on June 2. The
measure, Proposition 153, is
projected to fund nearly 60 percent
of UC's building projects during
the next two years.
If approved by a majority of
California voters, Proposition 153
would provide the $900 million in
general obligation bonds for UC,
California State University, and
community college projects.
Advocates say that, in addition
to benefitting higher education,
the measure would boost construction industry jobs that have been
hard hit by the recession and help
spur the state's economic recovery.
"Proposition 153 is a strong
commitment to maintaining and
enhancing the preeminence of
California's system of public higher
education," said UC President
David P. Gardner. "The bond-
funded projects will create jobs,
provide much-needed teaching and
research facilities, and contribute
immeasurably to California's
ongoing need for a well-trained,
competitive work force."
Currently in Governor Wilson's
proposed 1992-93 capital budget,
portions of five projects at UCSC
would be funded by Proposition
153 bonds. Some $25,782,000 in
funds are at stake for the following
projects:
College Ten
A total of $12,432,000 in
construction funds is earmarked
for the new college's academic
facilities. The construction would
See Bond on page 8
Ansel Adams exhibit
concludes with local show
It is estimated that Ansel Adams
shot 40,000 photographs during
his life. A selection of those he
considered among his best will
be displayed through May 10
in an exhibit running jointly at the
Mary Porter Sesnon Art Gallery and at
the Octagon in downtown Santa Cruz.
The Octagon exhibit is presented by
the Art Museum of Santa Cruz County.
Two Adams portfolios are being
shown: "Fiat Lux," at the Sesnon;
and "The Museum Set," at the Octagon.
"Fiat Lux" is a collection of
photographs taken on the nine UC
campuses and at UC research field
stations. While "Fiat Lux" ("let there
be light") is the university motto, it is
just as apt a motto for the acclaimed
photographer whose black-and-white
images are famous for their delicate and
stunning balances of light and shadow.
"Fiat Lux" was commissioned in 1963
---
[Photograph] "Barns and Fence Near South Entrance"
by Ansel Adams, 1965
---
by then-UC president Clark Kerr to
create a portrait of the university for its
100th anniversary in 1968.
"Except for his lifetime devotion to
See Adams on page 8
Long-distance call: How to warn
future generations about radioactive waste site
How would you label Pandora's
box so that no one would
mess with it for 10,000 years?
This question was posed
to Frank Drake, a UCSC
professor of astronomy and
astrophysics known for his role
in the Search for Extraterrestrial
Intelligence project.
Drake was a member of a
panel charged by Sandia National
Laboratories to design a marking
system that would warn people
against digging into the Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP),
where radioactive materials from
the nation's nuclear defense
operations will be permanently
entombed. The markers need to
last as long as the danger, and
this garbage will pose a threat to
human health for 300 generations.
WIPP is located in the desolate
---
[Photograph] It's challenging but possible to warn future civilizations about our nuclear trash, says
UCSC astronomer Frank Drake, who served on a panel to devise a warning system for a
waste site in New Mexico.
---
southeastern corner of New Mexico.
The Department of Energy has
mined over ten miles of chambers
into a stable layer of salt 2,100 feet
underground. "It looks like a James
See Warning on page 8
To our readers
This special edition of UC
Santa Cruz's monthly
publication for faculty,
staff, and students comes
to you in place of an issue
of the Review magazine.
Budget reductions during the
past two years at the university
have made it necessary to cut
back publication of the Review
to once a year. This edition of
Currents contains news that we
think may be of interest to our
Review readers. Another special
edition of Currents will be published and mailed to friends
of the university this summer.
Meanwhile, the Review will
return this fall in a combined
publication with the UCSC
Foundation Annual Report—a cost-
cutting move initiated last fall.
We hope you find this special
edition informative.
185
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