W. Murcott Mandarin May Need More Babying Than Navel Orange

The mandarin variety ‘W. Murcott’ (also known as ‘Afourer’) is relatively new to San Joaquin Valley citriculture. In fact, other than a relatively long history of growing the Satsuma mandarin, most mandarin varieties are relatively new to the San Joaquin Valley. Unlike the expertise in growing navel and Valencia oranges and lemons, most citrus growers are still on a learning curve in producing mandarins commercially. The W. Murcott mandarin is relatively late maturing variety, with good color, good production, good appearance and good taste. If grown sufficiently far from other pollen-producing citrus, it is mostly seedless. So what’s the problem?

Some of the oldest W. Murcott mandarin trees in the San Joaquin Valley are located in a randomized planting of numerous varieties of mandarins established in the mid-1990s at the UC Lindcove Research and Extension Center. In early December 2007, most of the W. Murcott mandarin trees in this trial had an unthrifty appearance with very thin leaf canopies and branch dieback. These trees had either very low or very high fruit yields regardless of whether on C-35, Carrizo or Trifoliate rootstock. The many other mandarin varieties in this trial on the same rootstocks appear to be growing well. Apparently there are older W. Murcott trees than these trees at Lindcove in the San Joaquin Valley that are not exhibiting the problems seen in this trial.

Experts with far more experience in mandarin production than this author have stated that the reason for the poor appearance of the W. Murcott trees at Lindcove is that they have not been managed as intensively as this variety requires. W. Murcott has a strong, alternate bearing fruit-production pattern. As has been previously observed, especially in hot, dry environments such as the Coachella Valley, alternate bearing mandarins can exhaust carbohydrate resources in producing fruit in the high-yield year. High fruit production can seriously weaken the tree.

Although the reasons for the decline of these trees is not known for sure, W. Murcott growers in the San Joaquin Valley (and there are now thousands of acres of these trees) need to be aware that controlling alternate bearing appears to be advisable. Most growers, currently, manage alternate bearing by limiting the fruit-bearing area of the tree through annual pruning. Less fruit in the high-bearing year translates into more fruit in the off-year. As well, it has been suggested that fruit harvests in heavy bearing years should proceed in a timely fashion, so that fruit does not remain on the tree for excessive time periods. Irrigation and fertilization practices may also need to be more tightly controlled than in other citrus varieties so as not to encourage alternate bearing, yet ensure that water and nutrition is adequate to minimize stress when fruit load is higher. Knowledge of what to do and when to do it to W. Murcott mandarins is lacking. Not in doubt is the observation that California W. Murcott mandarin growers will likely be learning as they grow.

The Lost Trees of Lake Isabella

Local teen to ride in Rose Parade

It's a beautiful day for the Silvius family of Bakersfield working on the Ronald McDonald House float for the upcoming Rose Parade in Pasadena. Their son Eric has been invited to ride on the float in the upcoming Tournament of Roses Parade Tuesday.

Every day is a beautiful day for them because their 14-year-old son is alive and well.

Last year, Eric mysteriously lapsed into a coma and was rushed to Children's Hospital in Los Angeles. Eric was kept alive on a breathing machine as doctors worked feverishly to stabilize him. His parents, Brian and Diane, agonized as they sat helplessly in the intensive care room at the hospital.

A social worker met with the parents and offered them a room at the Ronald McDonald House across the street from the hospital. The family, who had been staying in a hotel, had no idea how long their gravely ill son would be in the hospital. They accepted the offer.

The cost? Seven dollars a day.

The Silvius family stayed at the Ronald McDonald House for three weeks. Three weeks that they could be near their son, three weeks of sharing their struggles with other parents at the house, three weeks of accommodations that eased their financial burden. They never figured out what struck their son. Doctors thought it was meningitis, but could never confirm that.

"Not only was the Ronald McDonald House a huge help financially, the strength we got from the other parents going through their own dilemmas helped us get through our own trying times," said Brian, Eric's father.

Eric, a freshman at Liberty High, has made a full recovery and is happy to be back in school.

"It's great to be back with my friends," Eric said grinning.

Through the generosity of Kern County McDonald's operators and Memorial Hospital, Bakersfield will be getting its own Ronald McDonald Family Room, to be built next to Memorial Hospital in 2008.

According to Golden Empire Co-op President Vic Cinquemani, "As local McDonald's operators, we are excited and proud to be able to help families of children who are patients at Memorial Hospital."

The facility will have three bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchen and a sitting area with an entertainment center. There will be a nominal charge per day to stay. If the families can not afford that, the charges will be waived. Local furniture store Timeless Furnishings has agreed to furnish the building free of charge.

Construction for the project is expected to be completed by mid-2008.

Notes from the Classroom

I am a teacher of English in one of the most illustrious schools in the Kern High School District. During my two year stint at this particular institution of learning, I have encountered three realities in education: 1.) the role of the teacher is to be a healer of social maladies injected into the students’ collective psyche-the elixir at our disposal is the blending of critical thought and passionate discourse; 2.) the true products of the educational experience must be new and thus revolutionary and must not maintain the socio-political status quo; and 3.) all hope in education lies with the students and not with the teachers, administrators, and board members, as the latter seems to usually be manipulated by some sort of extrinsic motivator, specifically the acquisition or retaining of power. Unfortunately, these three realities seem to be ignored on an hourly basis, starting from the top, with our school board’s selfishness manifesting in an deluged of politically opportunistic proposals, through our administration, whose decision-making process seems to be grounded in the fear of having all of their hard work and dedication overhauled by the results of some arbitrary test taken by indifferent students who do not have any stake in the assessment’s outcome, and ending at the teachers, who have been so brow-beaten into believing that they have reached the pinnacle of their instructional experience when they can get their students to sit down and shut up long enough for them to pump state sanctioned and thus legitimized knowledge into their presupposed empty heads.

I observe this tragic phenomenon and become saddened by not only the state of our education system, but at the state of our humanity. In its purest form, the educational experience is a microcosm of the human experience, as it externalizes what is within all of humanity, putting it on the examining table for all to see, deconstruct, and be inspired by the eternity that has been placed within all of us. The result of this practice is a deeper understanding of what it truly means to be human, of who we truly are. Being educated should be a humanizing experience for everyone involved; in other words, students, teachers, administrators, board members, and politicians should leave the experience empathetic to everyone else struggling with the human condition. Instead, the educational experience has become dehumanizing, as the political decision-makers at the top reign down from their ethereal mount mandates that propagate a single conception of the world, the master narrative told to us by wealthy, white men who are deaf to the individual voices of those on the margins of society, and the administrators and teachers can only capitulate to these infallible directives. The biggest loser in this gothic horror tale are the students, who are pelted daily with information that they feel no actual connection to besides it being something their teacher told them to memorize so they can duplicate said information on a quiz later that week.

As an instructor, I am confronted by a perpetual existential crisis where I am asked by my superiors to ignore my students’ humanity, their need to understand who they are as human beings and to toe the company line, to inculcate them with expectations of how to act and what to think. Everyday I play an active role in my kids’ psychological and spiritual dismantling and perspective reconstruction. When a student deviates from the state standards based lesson plan to ask a personal question about a personal issue or just a general concept with which they may be overwhelmed or even worse they are “disruptive” or “out of control,” I am to bring them back, forcefully if necessary, from where they were, immersed in their own lives-the arena in which all their struggles take place, to where they need to be, the world of shallow facts and meaningless names that have been deemed important by some person in a land far, far away.

When I looked into the eyes of each of my students, I see infinite potential, infinite curiosity, the infinite capacity to create something new that would inspire the rest of humanity to look within its collective self and to find and embrace its human spirit, the metaphysical entity that is our true identity and our intimate connection to the rest of humanity as well as to the Divine. This human spirit is a precious resource that must remain unsullied by the disease ridden hands of society. For those of us who are older, we have already sacrificed our spirit, our identity for the purpose of fulfilling social expectations. On the other hand, our youth, although occasionally injured by social injustice and personal traumas, still retain their virtuosity, their ability to find their true selves, their drive to express themselves in ways that are new and innovative, enriching society with this creativity. As a teacher, it is my job to quash that spirit and to force my students into an existence that is unnatural and destructive to their true identities. However, as a human being, it is my obligation to encourage my students in their struggle to discover who they truly are and to express themselves in new, exciting, and enriching ways.

East Bakersfield Photo

First Bank of Kern and Quincy Hotel at the northeast corner of Baker and East 21st Streets, circa 1920.

Photos like these are available for purchase from the Kern County Museum. Check out the Historic Photos section of the museum's website - www.kcmuseum.org

Fishing Photos

RAIN

Have you ever wondered what rain feels about falling? You may think rain is cool, but for the rain think again. Well..... here's the answer. Rain is not happy about falling. I mean, all of the things they hit not to mention the umbrella's. Oh, gosh I just mentioned them, oh well, at least the rain isn't here. Did you know tears are rain drops' cousins? Some tears are tears of joy, so when they're plunging toward their death they are happy. Some tears are tears of sadness. They die sad and alone. (Well not really). Did you know that only ten percent of raindrops and tears survive? ( because of buckets or bowls outside). So remember when it's raining take a moment of silence for those who have perished. Those poor little rain drops. =(

Notre Dame Conference on Cultural Conflict

For the past eight years the University of Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture has been presenting annual conferences to address major issues of our time. This year's conference entitled "The Dialogue of Cultures" focused the intellectual resources of 13 prominent speakers and 130 presenters of papers over three days from Nov. 29 to Dec 1, 2007 on cultural conflict. It included discussion of sensitive issues such as the challenges of multiculturalism, incommensurable beliefs and terrorism.

Richard Poirier, a music industry financial executive, writer and philosopher, was invited to present a paper entitled "Incommensurable Beliefs Facilitate Cultural Dialogue Conflict." His presentation focused on the nature of beliefs with examples of people who justify violence based on beliefs.

Poirier explored how to possibly influence such people by understanding the standards they appeal to in justifying their acts of violence and by evaluating their motives. Thus, through understanding their standards, motives and ends we can construct arguments in dialogue that may penetrate religious and cultural barriers through real communication that affects behavior.

Prominent speakers included the Most Reverend Elias Chacour, Archbishop of Nazareth and Galilee, who as a noted peace advocate gave the keynote address on "The Role of Religion in Promoting Dialogue." Philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre gave a seminal speech to a standing room only audience in his provocative response to the ideas of Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan on integration problems facing Muslims in Europe and their broader implications for modern states including America.

Jude Dougherty, Dean Emeritus of The Catholic University of America's School of Philosophy gave an insightful presentation on American politics in his paper entitled "Red States, Blue States: Cultures in Conflict." He presented the view that contemporary 'politically correct' notions of tolerance associated with multiculturalism were replacing America's founding fathers' traditional values that have historically provided Americans with their self-identity within the context of a constitutionally unified republic.

It is indeed refreshing to know that in an era in which most public debate is conducted not with a focus on solving problems, but rather with a focus of appearing to discuss problems in such a way as to not offend the sensibilities of anyone, that The Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture has convened annual conferences to seriously address openly and honestly any topic that impacts modern ethics and the cultures in which we live.

Richard Poirier's presentation on "Incommensurable Beliefs and Cultural Conflict" is available to readers on his blog and on the post below.

Poirier believes that everyone should participate in the project of understanding one another and argue against the unnecessary use of violence.

Cultural Tradition In The African American Community

How do African Americans express their heritage in a multi-cultural world? Since the 1960s, a countless number of families and communities across the USA have continued to use Kwanzaa, as a vehicle to collectively express an African identity and cultural connection.

Kwanzaa is first and foremost a cultural holiday. It is traditionally celebrated from December 26 – January 1. Founded and framed in the midst of the African American Freedom Movement, Kwanzaa celebrates family, community, and culture, and emphasizes that these three cherished values are indivisible. The Kwanzaa holiday emphasizes respect for the dignity and well being of families and community, and seeks to maintain a profound sense of kinship, one with each other. Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga in Los Angeles, California, as an avenue for African Americans to collectively express their ethnicity as a people of African descent.

Kwanzaa is non-heroic, is neither religious nor political, and is not a substitute for, or supplement to Christmas. Kwanzaa is totally unrelated to the Christmas holiday. The year-end observance of Kwanzaa occurs, because this cultural holiday is derived from the African continent’s traditional year-end agricultural harvest celebrations.

The name Kwanzaa comes from the Swahili phrase, matunda ya Kwanza, where matunda means “fruits”, and ya kwanza means “first”. Dr. Karenga added the extra “a” to the Swahili word kwanza, to distinguish the name of the holiday and convey a distinct African cultural identity. The language of Swahili was chosen for the name Kwanzaa and all of its accompanying phrases, because it is “non-tribal”, and is an official trade language used by multiple African countries.

It is important to note that nowhere on the continent of Africa is there a holiday named Kwanzaa. Nor is there any indigenous holiday celebrated on the African continent with the same symbols, practices, or principles. Kwanzaa is a positive and uplifting African American created cultural expression, intended to address a widespread need to rescue, reconstruct, restore, and reinforce rootedness in African heritage and culture.

Kwanzaa brings the community together from all religious traditions, all classes, all ages, and all generations, to celebrate, build, and strengthen, families, community, and culture. The heart and soul of Kwanzaa is The Seven Principles – one for each day of the cultural holiday observance. The principles in English and in Swahili with a brief explanation are:

        Umoja (Unity) – stresses the importance of togetherness in the family and in the community.

        Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) – stresses that family members work together to define and develop common interests, and make mutually beneficial decisions, that are in the best interest of the family and community.

        Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) – stresses the obligation to always honor esteemed Ancestors, work to improve the present, and forge a plan for the future to expand success.

        Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) – stresses the obligation to pool resources, and share, for collective economic strength to meet common needs.

        Nia (Purpose) – stresses introspect for setting personal goals that are beneficial to the family and to the community.

        Kuumba (Creativity) – stresses consistent use of our creative energies to build and maintain, a strong and vibrant family and community.

        Imani (Faith) – stresses the obligation to honor the best of our traditions, to always strive for higher levels of achievement, to continuously affirm dignity and self-worth, and to always maintain confidence in our unique ability to succeed and triumph, irrespective of surrounding adversity.

Kwanzaa is observed in two basic ways: in family centered activities and in community gatherings. On Saturday, December 29, 2007, there will be a community Kwanzaa Celebration at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Community Center, located at 1000 S. Owens Street, from 6 pm until 8:30 pm. African attire is strongly emphasized to support this event and there is no admission charge. For more information, please telephone (661) 319-7611. Happy Kwanzaa !!

Californian Readers Respond Touching A Soldiers Heart

Thank you everyone who has written my son Matthew, US Army Specialist, 10th Mtn Division, 4th Brigade deployed in Baghdad. Matthew said he had returned from mission and had received over 50 letters. I had not informed Matthew about the article in the Californian. Matthew emailed me this Sunday morning 12/23 and said "I cant believe it so many people have written me and all the other soldiers were coming over and reading them". These were not just letters from anyone, but from where Matthew lives back home. You have made my sons Christmas and most of all touched my sons Heart along with the other soldiers. Thank you, everyone so very much.

Merry Christmas Brian & Laura Wilcox

Fishing Photos

Help identify this photo

This photo was donated to the Kern County Museum. It is identified on the back of the photo as being taken by Ray Geere Photography of Bakersfield. If anyone can identify it, please e-mail Jeff Nickell at jenickell@kern.org.

South vs. West 10/19/07

South vs. Centennial 10/12/07

Recent Posts : Bakersfield.com

W. Murcott Mandarin May Need More Babying Than Navel Orange

The Lost Trees of Lake Isabella

Local teen to ride in Rose Parade

Notes from the Classroom

East Bakersfield Photo

Fishing Photos

RAIN

Notre Dame Conference on Cultural Conflict

Cultural Tradition In The African American Community

Californian Readers Respond Touching A Soldiers Heart

Fishing Photos

Help identify this photo

South vs. West 10/19/07

South vs. Centennial 10/12/07

South vs. Taft 9/14/07