Alumnus Notes

Jack Thomas, 1948, Animal Husbandry, received the Cal Aggie Alumni Association Career Award at a dinner on October 6. Thomas runs a diversified farming operation in Bakersfield. As an undergraduate student, he lived and worked at the beef facility.

Aggie Spring Classic

The first annual Aggie Spring Classic was held May 19, 2001, in Dixon at the Solano County fairgrounds. Hosted by the UC Davis Young Cattlemen's Association (YCA) and Nutrena Feeds and co-sponsored by many individuals and companies with an interest in youth livestock activities, the event included a show of lambs, swine, beef heifers and steers. The show attracted approximately 300 exhibitors between 9 and 21 years of age from all parts of California. Monetary prizes were awarded to winners, the funds coming from entry fees. Champion and Reserve Champion Awards from generous sponsors included banners, T-shirts, show boxes, belt buckles and cash awards.

Members of UC Davis' YCA, Block & Bridle, Alpha Gamma Rho and Sigma Alpha and staff and faculty from the Animal Science Department helped to run and organize the show but did not compete. Sarah Nesler, 2000-2001 UC Davis YCA Vice President and 2001 Aggie Spring Classic Chair, said, "We hope this event helped to encourage youth to consider UC Davis for their college education. We look forward to seeing many new faces participate and help with the second annual Aggie Spring Classic next year." Next year's chair is Jed Asmus, M.S. student in Animal Science.

Retirements

Reid Borgwardt, staff research associate, retired at the end of August. A graduate of UC Davis with a B.S. in Engineering and M.S. in Agricultural Engineering, Reid worked on campus for Agricultural Engineering and Chemical Engineering and as a Scuba instructor before coming to Animal Science to work for Professor Ed Price in 1988. He assisted Dr. Price with animal behavior studies by working on experimental design, animal observations, data analysis and computer modeling. He is now busy with many projects on the family ranch near Healdsburg where he and his wife Eileen O'Farrell plan to build a new house and move within the next few years.

Raymond Peng retired on July 31. He had been a staff research associate with Professor Kirk Klasing since 1985, studying molecular biology and cytokines (products of macrophages) and other immunocells and their receptors. During the past five years he also worked part time with Professors Anita Oberbauer and Chris Calvert. Before coming to work for Dr. Klasing, Raymond worked for nine years in the Department of Hematology and Oncology in the UC Davis Medical School for Dr. Malcolm MacKenzie. Raymond is planning to manage some rental properties and spend more time listening to classical music, reading and hiking in California and Washington. He and his wife Christina enjoy doing community work such as hiking trail maintenance for the national park service.