FRIENDS OF THE OVIATT LIBRARY Summer 2009 OOviattviatt FrFriieennddss Oviatt Exhibit Marks CSUN’s 50-year Celebration ifty years ago it was farmland. Today it is a also found some unexpected historical gems that top-tier regional university with a multi- collectively highlight the institution’s triumphs and ethnic student population and thrills, trials and tumults, as it matured F global reach. In celebration of over the past half-century. Here I’ll focus its remarkable metamorphosis from on items that most caught my attention. agriculture to academe, CSUN on My first surprise was a photo of leg- September 22 kicked off a yearlong endary anthropologist, Margaret Mead. observance of its 50th anniversary with Although a member of the University’s the first-ever Founders Day celebration. faculty for more than 45 years, I was As part of the festivities, returning alum- unaware that in 1957 this remarkable, ni, former faculty and staff heard much-in-demand woman had expound- Professor Emeritus John Broesamle, ed on “Changing ideas of discipline” in author of the institution’s history, a temporary classroom on the Suddenly a Giant, expound on near-barren campus of a fledgling the campus’s coming-of-age, and San Fernando Valley State afterwards joined in dedicating College, the institution’s original the James and Mary Cleary Walk, name. But, I discovered she was named in honor of the institu- just one among many luminaries tion’s longest serving president to grace the young institution’s and his wife. At day’s end the halls of learning. I also found returnees were treated to a visual photographic affirmation of visits rerun of the campus’s bygone by: Pulitzer prize-winning poet times at the launch of the Oviatt Gwendolyn Brooks, who in 1972 Library’s exhibition, “Fifty and Images from the Fifty and Fabulous Exhibition enchanted a class with a poetry Fabulous,” in the Tseng Family recitation; actor Jon Voight, who Gallery. played Hamlet As I roamed in a campus among the production; exhibition’s world- cases seeking renowned information for composer/con- this article, I ductor Aaron found the to- Copland, who be-expected in 1975 historical docu- demonstrated ments establish- his skills in ing the institu- Professor David tion and the Whitwell’s mandatory pho- class; tos and paeans renowned gui- of praise for its tarist Andrés founders, lead- Segovia, who ers, and bene- in 1978 factors. But I lectured to Professor Ron Purcell’s guitar class and in 1983 nation and models for similar entities at other uni- returned to receive an honorary degree; and sci- versities throughout the nation. I also was drawn to ence-fiction giant Ray Bradbury, who on the occa- a display about a contentious 1964 Civil Rights sion of the University’s 20th anniversary celebration debate between conservative William F. Buckley, Jr. read from his works. Remembrances of the visits of and Louis Lomax, reporter for the Baltimore Afro- the last two distinguished guests were also on American and Chicago American, an exchange both exhibit: signed copies of Bradbury’s classics, The emblematic of the times and a harbinger of the civil Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451, and a score turmoil to follow. Adjacent to photos of the debate of Macarena arranged by Segovia. were books authored by the debaters: Buckley’s As I wandered about the gallery I was stopped God and Man at Yale and Lomax’s The Negro short by the sight of several photographs and arti- Revolt. facts from the 1960s, a time of great political and For a relatively young institution, CSUN has social turmoil both on this campus and throughout scored more than its share of “firsts,” but in my the nation that I remember only too well. mind two stand out: the fostering of strategic Prominently displayed was an image of presidential alliances with a host of universities in the People’s candidate Robert F. Kennedy, the first national polit- Republic of China and the formation of the highly ical figure to visit the campus, addressing an ador- acclaimed Center on Deafness. I was delighted that ing crowd of more than ten thousand near the both received appropriate recognition in the historic bookstore in spring 1968. Not far from this display. In a showcase devoted to the China con- poignant reminder of the tragedy that was to follow nection, former University President Cleary’s role in were graphic images of the traumatic skirmishes spearheading the educational exchanges is rightly between police and students protesting the Vietnam touted, for without his forward-looking attitude and War, and of the 1968 takeover of the Administration ardent support the Sino-American program might Building by Black ath- not be, as many letes and activists, a believe it is, the best seminal event in the in the nation. Also University’s youthful showcased was an years; though destabiliz- array of unique and ing at the time, the stu- beautiful gifts from dent revolt proved a cat- our Chinese sister alyst in the formation of institutions, tokens the University’s ethnic of the value they studies departments, place on the recip- among the first such rocal relationships, academic units in the among them a white porcelain vase deli- cately decorated with birds and flow- ers, a set of 56 porcelain figurines, a highly polished black lacquer plate, several medallions, even a bone fragment. I also found the Deaf Center’s history nicely laid out with appropriate recognition paid to principal players and events: The planting of the idea for a center in 1958; a National Leadership Training Program for the deaf in 1962; the admission of the first two deaf students in 1964, with interpreters, note-takers and full access to University classes; and in 1972 the culminating achievement, the founding of the Center, the first post-secondary program in the nation to provide paid inter- 2 preters for deaf students. How could one not be the “…most efficient and effective disaster opera- proud of what has become the largest center of its tion in American history.” type in the western U.S.? Much else about the exhibit is worthy of men- As representative of the thousands of University tion, but I leave it to you to find the treasures that alumni who have succeeded far beyond expecta- pique your interest, jog your memory, or put a smile tions the exhibit’s curators singled out just three, all on your face. For you it might be a look back at stu- clearly worthy of special recognition: Lyric soprano, dent life, a recollection of the snaking registration Carol Vaness, who launched her career with the lines of early years, a reminder of the University’s Opera and went on to star in diverse early athletic accomplishments, or a photo of a operas in myriad venues worldwide; reporter, 1970’s streaker. If you’ve been around for a while, columnist, and editor of The Times, you might even discover your own visage peering Frank del Olmo, whose illustrious career, begun as back at you a student reporter for The Daily Sundial, spanned from a photo decades; and astronaut Scott J. Horowitz, pilot for from yester- NASA’s February 1997 Discovery flight and its year, as I did. Atlantis flight of May Though I 2000. A banner enjoyed all flown on the Atlantis that was on flight and a sweat- display, for shirt taken on the me that Discovery flight, both find presented to the alone University and on made the view were physical visit indicators of the worth- potential of our while! alumni to do great things! No exhibit purporting to cover this institution’s history would be complete without a mention of January 17, 1994, the day the earth shuddered, laying waste to the University’s Note from the Editor: facilities and shattering, at least The Fifty and Fabulous exhibit is no temporarily, the campus’s psy- longer on display in the Library, but che. Because that cataclysmic you can see it online at event is indelibly etched in my mind I was gratified http://library.csun.edu/50/exhibition.html. Also avail- that the quake and its aftermath had been given a able are many voices from the University’s past at prominent place in the exhibit. There were photos http://library.csun.edu/CSUNStories/. of devastated buildings, a collapsed parking struc- ture, mobile classrooms, disheveled library stacks, The exhibition drew largely from historical records and a temporary tent that for years afterward served and memorabilia in the Library’s University as the “Lindley Library Dome.” But the chaos was Archives, but it also included items on loan from nicely balanced by indicators of the pluck and alumni and friends. Robert Marshall, the Library’s determination demonstrated by the University’s head archivist, curated the exhibit. populace in the weeks that followed: A sign at a campus entrance declaring “Cal State Northridge Special thanks go to Gus and Erika Manders who Stands,” and another proclaiming the campus was provided monetary support for both the exhibit and “Not just back” but “Better.” And who could forget the opening reception. —jd the day just one year after the quake when then- President William Jefferson Clinton stopped by to extol the unprecedented cooperation of state, local and University officials who together accomplished 3 The Original “” Visits Northridge, Tells All he was a diminutive 15-year-old when she first ents, convinced that beach-life was healthy, made rode the Malibu waves in the company of a regular pilgrimages to Malibu, a beach with Sbeach bum named Kahuna and surfer dudes “…cachet among the Hollywood crowd.” Finding with monikers such as , Misto George, her parents’ activities at the coast unexciting, she Scooterboy, the Fencer and Meatloaf. “Everyone,” gravitated towards the few beach-goers, most of she said, “had a nickname,” and one day she was them young males, at the forefront of the emerging anointed with hers: Gidget. “What does that surf riding phenomenon. A 1956 diary entry chroni- mean?” she asked, and was told, “You’re a girl and cles her first forays among the breakers: “I (went) to a midget. You’re Gidget.” With that, she became the beach. I didn’t think I’d have fun, but I met Matt “one of the guys.” and he took me on his surfboard… let me catch the So said Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, daughter of waves by myself… (and) rode the waves with me. I , the author of the 1957 hit novel then rode the board in alone…I hope Matt will take Gidget, the Girl with Big Ideas in a September talk me surfing again.” at CSUN’s University Club sponsored by the Friends The real-life Gidget was among the first of her of the Oviatt Library. Though fictional, the book had gender to become ensconced in the surfing subcul- a real-life basis: Diaries that Zuckerman kept of her ture in California. “I was one of just three surfing adventures as a member of the then-nascent Malibu girls,” said Zuckerman. “It was not something that surfing culture. “They call me Gidget,” she told her young women did. There weren’t too many surfers father as a girl, “and all they think about is their to begin with, but very few girl surfers. I was just so surfboards, riding the waves and waxing their happy to be accepted.” And accepted she was, as boards.” At her suggestion, and using his daughter’s evidenced by the fact that in 1999 at the age of 58, diaries as his entrée to the sport, Kohner quickly decades after she had last toted a board into the penned the hugely successful story. “Whatever fic- water, Surfer Magazine listed tion my father created, the truth is in my Zuckerman at number seven among diaries,” exclaimed the the century’s 25 most influential indi- authentic Gidget, pro- viduals of the surfing world! totype of the book’s Though the book was a com- fictional protagonist. mercial blockbuster, not everyone in The best-selling America was thrilled with Gidget. Gidget was more than a Said one reviewer, it is “A vulgar lit- literary sensation that tle book about a nice little girl who spawned many movies tries to be hard. In language, at and TV shows, for it also least, she succeeds… Any parents generated widespread who allow their teenagers to talk interest in a new aquatic as Gidget does should be soundly sport that in turn kick start- spanked.” The language found so ed a billion dollar industry. offensive, said Zuckerman, Though the art of guiding a included such words and phras- board along cresting waves es as “bitchen,” “stoked,” “I’m while standing upright is so jazzed,” “a giant fiasco,” deeply rooted in Hawaiian “the cuzzies,” “the kooks,” and tradition, in the 1950s surfing “barfy,” but not the widely was just making its way to the used surfing term, “cowabun- mainland. Evidence of the ga.” Robert Hersh of The Los sport’s Hawaiian connection is Angeles Times also panned clear from the nickname of the book saying, “If Mr. Kohner Gidget’s beach bum friend, was attempting satire, the summer is over.” Even Kahuna, a Hawaiian name for an eleven-year-old sixth-grader condemned the an expert surfer whose chants and rituals christen book, writing: “Dear Sir, … I just wanted to tell you new boards and give courage to challengers of big that any book as dirty as your book should not be waves. on sale.” A more appreciative reader wrote to Zuckerman discovered surfing because her par- inquire of the female protagonist’s authenticity. 4 “Dear Sir,” she penned , “I enjoyed reading all your book of an international star. Wow! Good luck Gidget books but … one thing bugs me … I know Kathy Gidget.… Just keep on water skiing and mak- Gidget is patterned after a real person and you ing those sexy covers for books.” The confusion of show great insight into her character … Could surfing with water skiing was not unusual, she Gidget be a close friend or a relative?” Could be! noted, for few of her acquaintances were familiar In view of the book’s immense popularity, it is with the up-and-coming pastime. not surprising that the Gidget story was quickly Though she remained part of the surfing scene snapped up by the film industry. “I remember when into the late ‘50s, in 1960 Zuckerman quit the the phone rang,” said Zuckerman, “and the agent waves. “I went to Oregon where no one had heard said ‘Mr. Kohner, you’ve hit the jackpot. This is of Gidget or a surfboard.” At Oregon State going to be a movie, a TV show, and a comic University she discovered foreign films and poetry book.’ I wrote in my diary, ‘How stupid is this? reading and “fell in love with every English profes- They’re making a movie about life in Malibu.’” The sor I had.” Transferring to Cal State Northridge, the original Gidget movie, one of the first of institution from which she earned her BA degree in the “beach movie” genre, was released English and a teaching credential, she again in 1959 starring as Gidget found herself “…in love with and Cliff Robertson as the Big Kahuna. all my professors.” Indeed, Two sequels quickly followed: Gidget she ultimately married an Goes Hawaiian in 1961, the most pop- English professor, Marvin ular of the three, and in 1963 Gidget Zuckerman, of L.A. Valley Goes to Rome. Deborah Walley and College. “I was always in love Cindy Carol, respectively, played the with English professors. part of Gidget in the latter movies. Maybe Marvin reminded me of Over the ensuing years several tele- my dad, a little bit older, a little movies were also produced, among bit wiser, better read, very them Gidget Grows Up in 1969; patient. We’ve been married for Gidget Gets Married (to 44 years.” Her degree in hand, Moondoggie) in 1972; and the prototypical Gidget pursued Gidget’s Summer Reunion in careers first in teaching, then as a 1985. travel agent and finally as a Success of the Gidget books restaurant hostess, most recently at and movies proved grist for a Duke’s Malibu, where she can be television series. was found every Sunday with an array the ersatz Gidget in a 32- of Gidget books at the ready. episode ABC series that ran Though unconnected with the just a single season, 1965-66, surfing scene for decades, an issue of its demise perhaps triggered Wahine magazine in the late ‘90s by stiff competition from The bearing her photo on its cover caused Beverly Hillbillies. “It was Kathy (Gidget) a Zuckerman to dive back in. Upon see- (CSUN) student in fr Sally Field’s first role for tele- s a alleyV State ing her visage, a friend called saying, ont f Sierra Hall. vision, and she actually learned how to o “You’ve got to get back into the water; surf,” said Zuckerman. In contrast, a 1986-88 TV you’ve got to get wet, girl!” Taking her sitcom titled starring Caryn friend’s suggestion to heart, she took the occasion Richman was “…hugely successful.” of a Legends of Surfing fundraiser for cancer at La For the talk, Zuckerman brought along an origi- Jolla to plunge back in, plying the breakers in tan- nal copy of Gidget plus copies of many of its dem with Mike Doyle, the man from whom she had sequels written by her father, all now collector’s purchased her first surfboard as a teenager. She now items, among them four original novels—Gidget rides the waves regularly at Malibu and is a mem- Goes New York, Gidget in Love, Gidget Goes ber of the Malibu Surfing Association. All this recent Parisienne, and The Affairs of Gidget—and two nov- activity, she said, “gives me a great sense of com- elizations of movies: and munity. I feel very much at home, just as when I . She also read an entry from was younger. The surfing community was hugging her University High School annual penned in 1958 me. And when someone gives you a hug, you’ve by a male friend: “Boy, I feel like I’m writing in the just got to hug back!” —jd 5 Irving and Rita Streimer Fund Library Study Room oincident with the dedication of a study received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in art room named in their honor, on April 10, and art education from Brooklyn College, her artis- C2008, Irving and Rita Streimer were feted tic media mainly paints, collage and fiber art. While with a wine and cheese reception at the Oviatt raising the couple’s children, she taught art and Library. Both are long-time craft classes, as well as ESL, in the LAUSD’s Adult members of the CSUN family; Education program. Along the Irving joined the Psychology way she introduced her artistic Department faculty in 1964, love, quilt making, to the cur- and Rita has for many years riculum, and even now, though been on the Friends of the retired, continues to teach her Oviatt Library board. The ded- craft for the LAUSD and for ication of the study room, one Glendale Community College. of a dozen available for facul- A member of the Friends of the ty and graduate student use in Oviatt Library for more than a academic research, recog- decade, Rita was instrumental nizes a significant contribu- in establishing and running the tion made by the Streimers to group’s bookstore and has served as the organization’s the Library’s endowment fund. Rita and Irving Streimer A plaque on the study room president. door acknowledges their much-appreciated dona- The reception was well attended, with more than tion. 70 friends, colleagues and former students honoring Decorations adorning the room’s walls reflect the Streimers. As the evening progressed, many Irving and Rita’s life-long interests: Quilts hand- attendees offered effusive praise of and thanks to sewn by Rita, an accomplished quilter and teacher both Rita and Irving. A former student, now a pro- of the craft; plaques documenting patents that Irving fessor himself, commented that Irving “…had a way received for his inventions—a metabolator, a of making complex things simple…and had an respirometer, a sphygmomanometric device, and a appreciation of the efforts people put in.” Another “six degrees of freedom” simulator used to study said, “My entire career is based on things I learned work done in the absence of gravity—and a in his class.” But perhaps the best evidence of University Founder’s Day Award and Ph.D. diploma Irving’s impact is the naming of the Psychology from New York University. “All study rooms are dec- Department’s graduate student award in his honor. orated by their donors,” says Cindy Ventuleth, Rita’s influence on her students was also amply Library Development Officer, “so as to create a displayed at the get-together, as evidenced by such homey feel that is very much appreciated by the comments as: “She is probably the most prepared, rooms’ users.” best teacher I have ever had”; “She is just a marvel After earning his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees of an instructor”; and “The most important thing I in chemistry and then psychology at Brooklyn learned from her is, if you make a mistake, repeat it College and City College, New York, Irving pursued and it becomes part of the design; that has become his doctoral work at NYU in psychology. Difficulties a rule in my life!” he encountered while working in the dark as chief Said Rita, “The Library is the heart of any univer- film chemist for Pathe Laboratories sparked an inter- sity, and this study room seemed to us to be an est in the then-emerging field of human factors, or ideal way to give back just a little to the University ergonomics, the study of how humans relate to the that has given us so very, very much.” In acknowl- world around them with the aim of improving per- edging their donation, Library Dean Sue Curzon formance, efficiency and safety. After several years said she was both grateful for the contribution and in industry directing human factors research, first at “delighted that Irving and Rita’s names will be Boeing in and then at North American linked to the Library forever.” Rockwell, he joined the University’s Psychology Department where he developed courses and was Sadly, on October 1, 2008, just a few months after instrumental in establishing a graduate program in the room’s dedication, Irving Streimer passed away. human factors. He retired in 1991. A memorial celebration of his life was held at the Rita, an accomplished artist and teacher, University Club in November. 6 Library Celebrates Darwin’s Birthday ebruary 2009 simultaneous- nowhere more dramatically than ideas to justify enforced steriliza- ly marked the bicentennial into our understanding of human tion of humans deemed to have Fof Charles Darwin’s birth origins. Reflecting this, the “undesirable traits,” and provided and the 150th anniversary of the Anthropology Department provid- Hitler with his justification for the publication of his seminal opus, ed an exhibit of primate skulls mass murder of Jews. On the Origin of Species. that collectively track our human In addition to the exhibit, the Triggered by the confluence of heritage: Skulls of our extant dis- Library hosted an Evolutionary these dates, on February 9, CSUN tant relatives, the apes, and of our Film Festival on Darwin Week’s joined universities worldwide in a opening day. Four of the films weeklong celebration of this influ- dealt with aspects of biological ential scientist’s life and works. As evolution, including: Great a part of the celebration, the Transformations, a depiction of Oviatt Library hosted an eclectic the journey of animal life from exhibit commemorating the water to land; Beyond Genesis, a momentous impact the gifted nat- portrayal of Darwin’s voyage on uralist’s ideas have had, and con- the Beagle; Accidents of Creation, tinue to have, on science and an exploration of how mistakes in society. The exhibit continued DNA lead to changes in life itself; through mid-March. and Why Sex? an investigation Though best known for his into the powerful influence sex then-revolutionary idea that exerts over all living things. organisms change gradually over Rounding out the program were time by means of natural selec- three films that illustrated the tion, Darwin’s lifework also extensive impact that Darwin’s included myriad less-well-known ideas have had on education, the contributions to biology and geol- humanities and the arts: Inherit ogy. On display were samples of the Wind, a re-creation of the his investigations—on the ecologi- predecessors from the distant past, Scopes Trial, the 1925 titanic cal significance of earthworms, among them Australopithecus courtroom battle about the teach- the morphology of climbing africanus, possibly our earliest ing of evolution in the classroom; plants, the life history of barna- bipedal relative, and Homo erec- Clay: Origin of Species, an artsy cles, the formation of coral reefs tus and H. neanderthalensis, the film offering a whimsical view of and atolls, the nature of adapta- latter at one time a contemporary evolution using clay models; and tion, and artificial selection in of modern humans. Also on view Gattaca, a science fiction drama pigeons—as well as specimens of were tools used by early humans, exploring possible consequences the beetles Darwin so enjoyed among them projectile points, of reproductive technologies and collecting, and a Patagonian hand axes, and scraping, cutting genetic engineering on society. All lizard, Diplolaemus darwinii, one and chopping tools, evidence of were from the Media Library and of 120 species and nine genera social evolution. are available for viewing by any named to honor the prolific scien- Other exhibits made the criti- interested individual. tist. Alongside the book that cal point that occasionally Dean Arnold, the Library’s sparked a still-smoldering debate Darwin’s theory has been misap- Music and Media Supervisor, and between science and religion, On plied or misinterpreted, some- Christina Mayberry, Science and the Origin of Species, were two times with devastating results. In a Engineering Librarian, coordinated recent treatises devoted to the display subtitled “Inspirations and both the exhibit and the film festi- issue: Science, Evolution and Mistakes that Haunt,” the influ- val. Objects and specimens on Creationism, a modern look at the ence, both positive and negative, exhibit were provided by James controversy from the National that Darwinian theory exacted on Hogue, Biology Department; Academy of Sciences; and the field of developmental psy- Christina Campbell, Helene Michael Ruse’s The Evolution chology was made evident. But Rougiers and Matthew Des Wars from the Controversy of most gut wrenching was a Lauriers, Anthropology Science series. description of the manner in Department; and Janet Fish, Darwin’s influence extended which the now-discredited eugen- Educational Psychology far beyond the natural sciences, ics movement twisted Darwin’s Department. —jd 7 Oviatt Friends Oviatt Library California State University, Northridge 18111 Nordhofff Street Northridge, CA 91330-8326

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This newsletter is supported by the Friends of the Oviatt Library. Contributing writer: Dr. Jim Dole Photography: Lee Choo, John Dubois, Joyclyn Dunham Layout: Joyclyn Dunham

Printed on recycled paper. Coming in the Fall “Now Give Three Cheers” The Timeless Magic of Gilbert and Sullivan September 8, 2009 - July 16, 2010

Expect your postcard announcing the exhibit in August.