A New Beginning to The Walk

by David L. Zellmer
March 15, 2009

After several years of construction, the spectacular new wing of the Henry Madden Library is now completed. This radically changes the appearance of the beginning of The Walk. (click to see a full-size image)

The little inset picture here shows the start of the Walk in the year 2000.

Sy Mack, wearing sunglasses in the center of the picture, is looking back to see if I am coming. Howard Latimer, walking away on the right, has made the traditional start to The Walk. It is early March, with still a bit of chill in the air, and the trees in the area in front of the Student Union have not yet begun to bloom, even though most other flowering trees on campus are in full blossom.

The new library grounds immediately presented us with a decision of some importance. In the past we walked to the left alongside the library; during construction of the new library we took the path to the right to avoid the chain-link fence. With the new grounds now open, there is a Middle Way.

After a valiant attempt by your author to convince Sy and Howard that the Middle Way is both philosophically and scenically the better way, habit prevailed, and the rightmost path was chosen. This seems out of step with our New Beginning in 2009, but some things are hard to change.

The new library and its grounds are truly the centerpiece of our campus now. The library provides a dramatic backdrop to the Free Speech area, with the wall of glass reflecting the trees of the newly landscaped Peace Garden.

The group is now continuing down the direction of The Walk that would have avoided the chain-link fence surrounding the construction area. There are psychological studies that explain this kind of learned behavior. As the summer approaches, however, the North-facing wall of glass of the Madden Library will offer welcome shade, and will force The Walk back to its traditional paths, showing that physics can trump psychology.

The group pauses to discuss some of the architectural and design features of the new library. There was some speculation that the open look of the top of the building showed that the State ran out of money before finishing it. In fact, this is part of the Native American basket work design motif that is seen throughout the building. We can also see the red LED's of a multicolor electronic display that will provide images in the future.

Our thanks to the friendly Fresno State student who took this picture of the three remaining regular Walk members. From left to right: Dr. Howard Latimer, Professor Emeritus of Biology; Dr. Sy Mack, Professor Emeritus of Geology; and Dr. David Zellmer, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry. All three of us are now retired; only Dr. Zellmer is still teaching in the Spring under the FERP program.

We now walk three times per week, weather permitting. If we can continue the tradition during 2010, we will have reached the 50th anniversary of The Walk, assuming it began in 1960. This beginning date is still somewhat uncertain. We do still have other members of the Fresno State community walk with us from time to time, so the tradition continues.

March 15, 2009