Pacific honors one of its 'greatest' grads

Margee Ensign

My Voice

This weekend at University of the

Pacific, we honored a member of what Tom Brokaw has called "The Greatest Generation."

Born in Brooklyn, David Gerber joined

the Army Air Corps and served in Europe during World War II as a radio gunner

on a B-17. He was shot down and for 13 months was held as a prisoner of war

in Stalag 17 in Krems, Austria, where he met Stan Vaughn of Stockton, a graduate

of UOP, who persuaded him to attend Pacific after the war.

When he returned to the United States,

Gerber made his way across the country to arrive at UOP, where he worked his

way through college.

With his love of drama and journalism,

he found his way into the entertainment industry, where he has had an extremely

successful career in television. He has won every award that the TV industry

has to offer and was chairman and chief executive officer of MGM Worldwide Television

Group. His most recent film, "The Lost Battalion," won the Christopher Award,

which goes to a film that exemplifies the best of humanity, and is currently

being considered for an Emmy.

Although he has spent much of his

life in entertainment, it is to his lasting credit that he never lost sight

of the needy or the need to help them. He could have remained aloof from these

issues, but he chose to act otherwise. In his words, from his speech at the

graduation for the School of International Affairs:

"You are entering an exploding

world with its civil, political, religious and moral structure shaken to its

core, mainly because of a disturbing polarization of the 'have not' nations

and the 'have' nations. The problems erupting today were born centuries ago

-- problems that were suppressed or overlooked or rationalized as positive and

progressive. Some nations have held onto their power in the fast emergence of

the industrial nations of the Western world. Some have dimmed over the years

but are still part of the Western culture and its aggressive market development.

"Yet when you think of progressive

terms of the last century alone -- trains, steamboats, planes, electricity,

space exploration, double helix, not to mention medical advances, computer technology

and the Internet -- it's overwhelming, and a test to the ingenuity and genius

of the industrial nations.

"With it was spawned a double-edged

sword. In our century today, the have-nots are rebelling in many regions of

the world. They have not enjoyed the fruits of these advancements. The poor

nations are tired of not being listened to. In their despair and frustration,

they have become vociferous and violent in their need to be heard. We need a

worldwide plan to ensure that all people have a dignified quality of life. That

doesn't mean people in the free world can't enjoy the luxuries of their hard-earned

work or investments. What it does mean is at the same time, in the developing

world, all families should have a comfortable home, roads to get their goods

to markets, tools to farm or a job to be done, have an education, a future for

their children and the right to choose their chosen profession, to travel freely

and to build toward democratic institutions.

"There is and must be a place

for both of these scenarios in this world."

It is a long way from Brooklyn to

Hollywood, but it is an even longer and more-difficult journey from being a

person who could have been satisfied with the way the world is to one who is

disturbed by much of what he sees. Most importantly, he wishes to be involved

in changing it. David Gerber found out at a very young age that the world is

a dangerous and unpredictable place and decided to do what he could to make

it less so, not only for Americans but also for the rest of the people on this

planet. For this, we honor him.

Ensign is dean of Pacific's School

of International Studies. She can be reached atmensign@uop.edu

INFOBOX:

David Gerber, UOP

Class of 1950

AWARDS: Emmy, Golden

Globe, Peabody.

TV POSITIONS: executive

producer, studio chief.

STUDIOS: Columbia Pictures

and MGM.

PROGRAMS: "Batman,"

"Room 222," "thirtysomething," "Police Story" and "In the Heat of the Night."

INDEPENDENT: In 1972,

Gerber formed his own television company, David Gerber Productions.

UOP CONNECTION: former

regent; named alumnus of the year in 1989; received honorary doctorate during

this year's convocation ceremonies.

PHOTO

of World Companies, Inc.