USD President's Report and Honor Roll of Donors 1993

WENDY WERNER AND STACIE HATHAWAY, TWO MEMBERS OF SIMOVICH'S TEAM

Ano ther big draw at A lcala Park is USD's thriving arts and culture scene. A t any given time on campus, an art exh ib ition is on display in Founders Gallery, the USD Symph ony is tuning up fo r a concert in Shiley Theatre, the USD Choral Scholars are preparing for a noontime French Parlor rec ital, and actors in the undergraduate theater arts program are reh ears ing a new one-act play in the theater in Sacred Heart Hall. Two ongo ing arts programs have won special acclaim from critics and audi- ences. The master of fine arts in dramatic arts program, operated jointly by USD and the O ld Globe Theatre, is one of only 10 programs in the nation that give young actors class ical tra ining and profess ion.al experience. And Nota Bene, a new San Diego profess ional ensemble that perfo rms Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music on period instruments, h as fo und a home in the acoustically perfec t Founders Ch apel. Those wh o assoc iate USD with young people might be surprised to find h ow many lifelong learners take advantage of the university's educational offerings. The University of the Third Age, now in its 15th year, is a three-week lecture series for older adults held each January and July on the USD campus. N ot all learning programs take place on campus. The Invisible University, also in its 15th year, offers free educational seminars by USD professors in commu- nity settings. There are no books, no grades and no attendance records - just a mee ting of the minds between people who want to keep growing and discovering. THE GIFT OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY In 1991, wh en USD employees were asked for ways to improve communica- tion be tween people of diverse cultures, they responded with a common-sense solution : Offer Spanish language instruction fo r English -speaking employees wh o want to be bilingual. Within a few months, the human resources depart- ment organized a low-cos t introductory Spanish program, and the classes filled up quickly. New interest in new languages is just one small manifes tation of "Institution- alizing Cultura l Diversity," a fo ur-year, campus-wide $1.6 million project made poss ible by a $1 million grant from The James Irvine Foundation. The Irvine Project has enabled USD to uphold one of its bedrock va lues: respect fo r the dignity of eve ry human be ing. The project also means that USD graduates will leave A lcala Park ready to contribute to an increas ingly diverse world. "Cultural diversity is not an add-on h ere - it cuts to the heart of the nature of this institution ," S ister Furay says. "Here in Southern Califo rnia, we're see- ing larger and larger numbers of culturally diverse people. We want to educate generations of students, and also raise awareness among our employees, about the importance of that diversity. " As a reg ion.al leader in Catholic high er education., USD is compelled to recog- nize and serve a new pluralism. But exactly how does an institution achieve plu ra lism?The Irvine Project prov ides a blueprint fo r incorporating multicul- turalism in to the life of an institution..

"If we are going to save what's left of the vernal pools, we have to save the entire system," explains Simovich, who also is a member of the mayor's wet- lands advisory board and a fellow of the natural history museum. "Just saving one lit- tle piece or one little organ- ism is not going to do it. The whole thing can collapse if we don't have an under- standing of the whole system to try to preserve it." While surveying the com- plex system of vernal pool fauna, Simovich and the USO group are studying two crustaceans within her specialty - the Riverside Fairy Shrimp, which has been listed as an endangered species, and the San Diego Fairy Shrimp, which is being considered for listing. The students are learning some important lessons, Simovich says. Not only are they learning hnw to be good stewards of the envi- ronment, but they are seeing firsthand how research can contribute to saving the environment. Getting students involved in the research also is a great way to introduce them to the mainstream scientific community, Simovich adds. In fact, six of the students working on the Miramar project worked on another project last winter at Edwards Air Force Base. In December, they are present- ing portions of their work on the Edwards AFB project at the annual meeting of the American Society nf Zoologists, a prestigious con- ference with an internation- al draw. And, if all goes as planned with the year-long Miramar study, the students will have valuable research to present at next year's conference as well.

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San Diego has lost 97 per- cent of its vernal pools, the depressions on coastal mesas that fill with water in the late winter and early spring. Of the sparse collection of pools remaining, 80 percent are at Miramar Naval Air Station, home of the famed "Top Gun" squadron. The U.S. Navy is determined to help these pools survive and USD's Marie Simovich is on the front lines to help. "The pools are very impor- tant, not just because they are wetlands," says Simovich, associate professor of biolo- gy, "but they are important food sources for other ani- mals like amphibians and migratory birds, such as shore birds and ducks. Saving them is essentially mandated by the federal gov- ernment, both from the per-

spective of saving wetlands and from the perspective that there are several endan- gered species involved." With a grant from the Navy, Simovich and Rick Gonzalez, USO assistant professor of biology, are working with eight students to survey the vernal pool fauna. A number of plants and animals have adapted specifically to the vernal pools, surviving much of the year in a dehydrated, dormant state while the pools are dry and going through an entire life cycle in the short time that the pools hold water. As vernal pools disappear, the plants and animals that thrive within these ecosystems are becoming endangered. The group's findings will guide the Navy in the proper man- agement of these fragile habitats.