Don't Forget the Clovers
A recent Pomona College Magazine featured the Skyspace—the metal canopy that frames the sky in the new Draper Courtyard of the Lincoln-Edmunds buildings. Built by James Turrell ’65, the canopy is lit with LED lights that transition from one vivid shade to the next, constantly giving the viewer a different perspective on the otherwise still sky. As the article states, people are traveling from all over Southern California to be “given permission and encouraged to just sit back and watch the sky for a while.” I respect the Skyspace as a work of art, but not the mindset that this article implies it evokes—that the sky deserves reverence in a suburban setting only when it is shown to us through an artificial lens.

It is important to be aware that the sky and nature still deserve admiration even if seen from the vantage of an office window. Our perception of our surroundings doesn’t need to support the “either humanity or nature” dichotomy; why can’t we appreciate both at once? In this sense, the Skyspace succeeds by demonstrating how an artificial construct can complement a natural occurrence (and vice versa). But this sentiment is lost if the person watching the display is not compelled to look at the sky in between shows.

Due to the “reverse-culture shock” I experienced upon returning home from study abroad, I’ve learned to appreciate nature amongst the paved sidewalks of suburbia by being aware of my ecological surroundings. In Costa Rica, I was accustomed to hiking through the forest understory and constantly being aware of biological and ecological interactions. These are harder to perceive in Claremont, the “City of Trees.” But over time and with conscious effort, I’m able to walk through campus and be thrilled by watching two squirrels playing ring-around-a-tree, a California Towhee kicking around in the underbrush or even a patch of clovers rising above a sea of manicured green lawn. The squirrels, towhees and clovers bring me back to a place where life does not grow because it is aesthetically pleasing, but because ecological interactions deem it worthy to take root.

The challenging part of living at Pomona is keeping our eyes open to natural processes. So while I encourage everyone to visit the Skyspace, don’t leave it with your head down; the sun, moon and stars are reason enough to look up.
—Sadie Barr ’09
Pomona College

Compassionate Coach
Reading your notice about the passing of Les Nagler brought great sadness but also wonderful memories of a caring and and inspiring role model. Basketball Coach Nagler also was responsible for the men’s tennis team when I played (1964 to 1968), and, as I expect you will hear from Al Zetterberg, Rich Daubin and my other teammates, it was a learning experience for all of us.

Coach Nagler learned about our sport from several team members with long tournament experience, but he taught us about diet and physical conditioning and how (even in an individual sport) teammates can care for and take care of each other. I will never forget the day he personally patched me up after a serious foot injury and got me back on the court for a tournament victory. I have many great memories of Coach Nagler, but the fondest is of the first time he coached our freshman team at Pepperdine’s campus in Los Angeles. I played against a former Davis Cup reserve player, and, athough I lost, probably played the best match of my life. This was Coach Nagler’s first day with the team, and, after my loss, he took me aside to console me. He told me that many people struggle in their first college competition, and I started to protest but realized how special it was to have a coach who cared about me personally.

Forty years later, I remember my experiences with Coach Nagler vividly and exactly. I only hope that I have remembered what he showed us and taught us about hard but fair competition and about the importance of compassion for others. I hope his family takes great comfort in the thought that he shaped the lives of scores of students who benefited from his teaching and his personal example.
—Steven N. Wilson ’68
Westminster, Calif.

47 Sighting
I have been living in Dublin attending medical school at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland since I graduated from Pomona in 2005. One of my best friends, fellow sponsees and suitemates, Jessica Dillon, had been on an around-the-world trip and decided to lay down roots in Dublin for three months as part of her adventure. We went to the Guinness brewery together and lo and behold—47! This was the first brewery to use these little steam trains to get around and of course, look at the number on the side!
—Kristl Vidya Dorschner ’05
Dublin, Ireland

You can send us your letter or 47 sighting at the address at left or via e-mail. We welcome letters from alumni and friends. Letters may be edited for length, style and clarity. For a full list of magazine policies about letters to the editor, see PCM Online at www.pomona.edu/magazine.