May 8, 2002 3 min read

Dear Editor: The end of the school year, the 10th of Armenti’s reign at Cal U, warrants a few comments.

I have watched with some interest the events concerning the fatuous decision by the Armenti/Student Activities, Inc., corporate managers to have Cal’s baseball team play its games at the new minor league field – 25 miles away in Washington, Pa. What a stupendous joke. A 30-year contract with an annual rental fee of $48,569 per year “for the first fifteen years.”

The much-heralded new season at the distant location has not materialized; games were repeatedly postponed and the season has progressed, quite successfully, at Lilley Field. All this despite reductions in the state’s allocations and increases in the Student Association Inc. fees. Unlike the outcry concerning Armenti’s efforts to change Cal’s name, this decision has caused little public opposition. Why? Very few spectators attend the games. It will be interesting to see a few dozen folk at the large park. What an irony – he abolished wrestling, one of the most popular sports in the state, and cheapest, early in his reign.

It seems that Old Main’s twin towers might be making a slight comeback. After being the schools’ logo for decades, it was dropped early in Armenti’s reign for the single “exploding tower” symbol. Ingenious PR shots followed of rear and side views of the towers, as in the current summer catalog, with no frontal photos. Now, with the new Grand Garden, including a fence one-third higher than the old one, Old Main cannot be totally ignored. It was on Armenti’s Christmas card, for the second year in a row and it is on the Ermeriti Faculty newsletter’s letterhead.

Over half a decade ago Armenti insisted, in error, that Job Johnson was the “founder” of Cal U. He had Job’s marker dug up at the old town cemetery and a replica of it was the focal part of the memorial built on campus, next to his office, at a cost of $37,000.

On Jan. 14, 2002 (one-half year late) an annotated, official “sesquicentennial” calendar was handed out at the faculty convocation. On page 50, in a brief description of the Normal Schools’ beginnings in 1865 (not 1852) are the words: “Job Johnson, one of the founders of the school….” At last, the historical truth. Now, the other gentlemen’s names should be added to the marker. Perhaps the money saved by not transporting the baseball players back and forth to Washington this season could be used for this effort. Highly unlikely.

Armenti will not receive any awards, soon, from the Arbor Society. He plans to remove 26 very old and beautiful trees from the school’s original grassy quad and the current sidewalks, to replace them with 60,000 square feet of sidewalks and new trees. An arch will be thrown in. The reason? Diseased trees (only two or three red maples are) and “pedestrian congestion.” The tree “expert” is not even a plant pathologist.

Rumor is that the money, more than $1 million, for this project is being borrowed. A large segment of Roadman Park is being leveled – again, with hundreds of trees gone to be replaced by a huge soccer complex. Wonder what Cal’s former wrestling champions will think when they hear about his one.

Dr. J.K. Folmar, emeritus professor of history

California