Thirty-Five Miles Away, Yet Many Worlds Apart

I taught for more than twenty-five years at San Jose State University (SJSU) and have lived a bit longer here in Santa Cruz, home of the University of California-Santa Cruz (UCSC). Each university’s alumni publication encourages graduates to submit a short, updated biography on what they consider to be the most important, recent achievements in their lives.

SJSU is ensconced in the heart of San Jose and filled with students who are trying to get ahead in their working life, while UCSC has always been an ultra, liberal arts establishment. The relevant accomplishments students are proud of at each school in some areas, are quite contrasting.

James, 1980 UCSC graduate, touts that he began taking feminizing hormones under doctor’s care and has chosen the name Ise Alexandra.

There’s also a web site you can go to where you’ll find that Ise is pronounced “Eez,” and Eez is looking for someone to “step forward and sponsor surgery for a cost of over $20,000.”

Marie, a 1980 SJSU graduate, proudly proclaims, “She was named executive vice president of the world’s largest public relations firm.”

Allison, a 1990 UCSC graduate, was appointed a United States Magistrate Judge. “She lives with her wife and teenaged triplets in the Sacramento area.”

Shelly, a 1990 graduate in journalism and a 200i MPA grad at SJSU, is a lecturer at SJSU’s Department of Health Science.

“And that’s the way it is,” so sayeth Walter.