Walter Goldschmidt

Walter Goldschmidt, an anthropologist and longtime UCLA professor whose studies ranged from California farmers to East African cultures, has died. He was 97. Goldschmidt died Sept. 1 at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena after a short illness, said his son, Mark. He came to UCLA in 1946 and over the years was a prolific author who "was really looking for the motivation for human behavior," his son said. "He said to me something I thought was very profound: 'You know, there's only so many personality types in the world but an infinite number of cultures.

Walter Goldschmidt, an anthropologist and longtime UCLA professor whose studies ranged from California farmers to East African cultures, has died. He was 97. Goldschmidt died Sept. 1 at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena after a short illness, said his son, Mark. He came to UCLA in 1946 and over the years was a prolific author who "was really looking for the motivation for human behavior," his son said. "He said to me something I thought was very profound: 'You know, there's only so many personality types in the world but an infinite number of cultures.

At the ripe old age of 92, Walter Goldschmidt, professor emeritus of anthropology and psychiatry at UCLA, continues to question what makes humans human. He's studied California farming communities, land use in British Columbia and agrarianism in East Africa.

At the ripe old age of 92, Walter Goldschmidt, professor emeritus of anthropology and psychiatry at UCLA, continues to question what makes humans human. He's studied California farming communities, land use in British Columbia and agrarianism in East Africa.

Walter Goldschmidt lives worlds away from the violent streets of South-Central Los Angeles. He has a house and study in an idyllic setting high above Bel-Air--trees and flowering bushes line the lane, goldfish and water lilies float in a brick-lined pool, a waterfall quietly trickles down a rocky hillside.

A memorial honoring Ralph L. Beals will be held Friday at 4 p.m. at the UCLA North Campus facility. Colleagues and friends of the late UCLA professor are invited, according to Dr. Walter Goldschmidt, professor emeritus of anthropology. Beals, who died Feb. 24 at 83, came to UCLA in 1936. In 1940 he established the department of anthropology and sociology and served as chairman during its formative years. Beals specialized in Latin America, studying the cultures and peoples of Mexico and Bolivia.

Gregory Urfrig is just a sophomore in high school, but he has already learned the value of volunteering in the community. For the last month, the dedicated teen-ager has been hard at work organizing a book drive to benefit the Los Angeles Teacher Center in Westchester, a federally funded facility that serves educators throughout the city. "I found out about the center from a friend," the 16-year-old Los Angeles resident said.

Before the holidays, I reported a complaint from Avalee Nicholls of Coronado that she had read the phrase "sounding brass and tinkling symbols" in George Will's column in the San Diego Union. Nicholls said she called the paper to point out that "symbols" should have been "cymbals," and an editor said, "That's George Will who wrote that and I don't presume to correct George Will." A prudent position indeed.

For almost 30 years, it was the one talked about as "the big one," the worst fire in the history of Los Angeles, a devastating inferno that swept through Bel-Air and Brentwood on Nov. 6, 1961, razing 484 residences and leaving even the rich and famous homeless. Richard Nixon, defeated in the presidential race the year before by John F. Kennedy, was living in a leased house at 901 N. Bundy Drive in Brentwood, writing "Six Crises."

In the last 50 years, the federal government, universities, agribusiness and farmers have colluded to drive most small farmers out of business and destroy or impoverish much of rural America at the taxpayer's expense.

Walter Goldschmidt lives worlds away from the violent streets of South-Central Los Angeles. He has a house and study in an idyllic setting high above Bel-Air--trees and flowering bushes line the lane, goldfish and water lilies float in a brick-lined pool, a waterfall quietly trickles down a rocky hillside.