Photos for June 23, 2009

San Diego Unified’s newest school trustees Richard Barrera (left) and John Evans (right) say the district’s budget process was an “eye-opening” experience.

Published on June 23, 2009

Frank Burger is a World War II veteran. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and went to boot camp at Camp Callan which was located in La Jolla, Calif. He was transferred to a base in the Pacific Northwest after the attack on Pearl Harbor, in December 1941, and later joined the Army Air Corps. As part of the 15th Air Force, he flew combat missions from Italy into Germany during the war. On his ninth mission, Burger's plane was shot down over Vienna and he suffered shrapnel wounds in his legs. He escaped capture for three days, was jailed by the local authorities, and later turned over to members of an underground group who opposed the Axis. The Gestapo caught up to Burger in Budapest, Hungary, interrogated him and later sent him to a prisoner-of-war camp in Poland. He was later moved to a second camp because of his injuries. After eight months as a POW he was liberated by Russian troops on May 1, 1945. After retiring to San Diego, Burger became a National Service Officer for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, working with other former POWs. He has served more than 500 former POWs obtaining compensation and providing counseling for them.

Published on June 23, 2009

Ramón Ruiz graduated from San Diego State College (now University), received his master’s degree from Claremont Graduate School, and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. He served in the Pacific as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. Ruiz began his teaching career in 1955 at the University of Oregon at Eugene and has also taught at Southern Methodist University and Smith College. In 1970, he joined the University of California, San Diego and in 1991 became professor emeritus. There, he has worked to build a strong Hispanic studies program. Ruiz has held visiting professorships at numerous colleges and universities in the United States and Mexico and is a National Humanities Medalist.

Published on June 23, 2009

San Diego's North City Water Reclamation Plant (NCWRP) is the first large-scale water reclamation plant in San Diego's history and part of the single largest sewerage system expansion in the area. This facility can treat up to 30 million gallons of wastewater per day, which is generated by northern San Diego communities.

Published on June 23, 2009

Jacobs says people don't realize that you can irrigate slopes, ground covers, and their whole yard with a drip system.

Published on June 23, 2009

Jacobs says this landscaping requires no mowing, no edging and no weekly maintenance, just a little weeding and trimming about once per month.

Published on June 23, 2009

Murray Lee is a World War II veteran. He enlisted in the Merchant Marines in 1945 after graduating from high school in Virginia. He served on the SS Thomas Sumter, a Liberty ship, as an able-bodied seamen. Since retiring to San Diego in 1983 he became a board member for the Chinese Historical Society which later became the San Diego Chinese Historical Society and Museum. Lee serves as the curator for the museum. In 1996 he began collecting the stories of San Diego County Chinese-American veterans from World War I through the first Gulf War. Since then, Lee has registered more than 50 veterans, most of whom served during World War II.

Published on June 23, 2009

It only took a few water bills last summer to change the attitudes of Scripps Ranch homeowners Meg Kaufman and Norm Bornstein. They pulled out their lawn and replaced it with water conservation landscaping.

Published on June 23, 2009

Jacobs converted a steep slope on the south side of the home from ice plant to a drought-tolerant bedding plant. He added burlap under the new bedding to prevent water from flowing down the slope onto the sidewalk and street below.

Published on June 23, 2009

Kafman and Bornstein use a smart irrigation controller and drip system to increase the efficiency of their water.

Published on June 23, 2009

Xeriscape uses drought-tolerant and native plants which require much less water than lawns. Grass once dominated most of the 1500 square foot backyard instead of the drought-tolerant plants, flowers and pathways filling the space.

Published on June 23, 2009

Steve Jacobs is the president and project manager for Nature Designs Landscaping in Vista. Jacobs says Xeriscape can be green and full of beautiful plants.

Published on June 23, 2009

Jacobs and his crew transformed the Scripps Ranch backyard into a series of pathways with brightly-colored flowers with patches of green ground covering which will eventually spread to create a carpet-like appearance around the pathways.

Published on June 23, 2009

High water bills last summer convinced Scripps Ranch homeowners Meg Kaufman and Norm Bornstein to pull out their lawn.

Published on June 23, 2009

Protesters hold up signs and figures they made objecting to Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposed state budget cuts.

Published on June 23, 2009

Filmmaker Bruce McDonald

Published on June 23, 2009

In "Pontypool," language becomes dangerous

Published on June 23, 2009

Wallace Peck is a second-generation Army veteran. His father, a Sergeant in the Army Air Corps and World War I veteran, was stationed at Rockwell Field which occupied half of North Island (now Naval Air Station North Island) when Peck was born in 1930. Sergeant Peck made an prediction for his son which was recorded in an article in the San Diego Union, a week after his birth. The article said, "Twenty years hence, Wallace Russell will appear at Kelly Field, Texas, for instruction as an Army pilot." According to Peck, he wasn't interested in joining the military and was about to begin law school at the University of California, Berkeley when he said, "along came the Korean War and the Congress reinstated the draft, and I didn't want to get drafted so I immediately signed up for the air cadet program and as the article says it was exactly 20 years later that I appeared in Texas for flight training." Peck flew for the U.S. Air Force, enlisting in 1950 just two months after his father retired after 30 years of service.

Published on June 23, 2009

This is my favorite guy in the flash mob. The headband is a nice touch.

Published on June 23, 2009

Vicente Rodriguez was born in the Philippines and after graduating from college in Manila, he was recruited by the United States Navy. He came to San Diego 1974 and went through boot camp at the Naval Training Center. Rodriguez's experience in the Navy took him to the Middle East during the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979 and back ten years later during the Persian Gulf War. His enlistment expired on January 21, 1991, the first day of the ground war but he said he felt it was his duty to re-enlist during a wartime condition, "[My enlistment] expired at midnight, so I was discharged by my commanding officer, but after breakfast I re-enlisted," he said. Rodriguez retired in 1996 after attaining the rank of chief petty officer and 22 years of service.

Published on June 23, 2009