editor@yourmonthlypaper.com
July 2011
Serving Alamo and Diablo A Fold a Crease, a Tuck, a Pleat
By Fran Miller
Discovering one’s passion in life can take many years. Alamo’s Robert Lang found his at age six, and it was the simple act of folding paper. Following instructions that he found in a book, he creased, tucked and pleated his way to a small origami figure, and he was hooked. At first, origami was just a hobby. But after successfully folding a replica German Black Forest cuckoo clock (three months of design and six hours of folding), he found himself on the origami map. Eventually, the art became his vocation; he has been a full-time origami artist and consultant for the past ten years. Lang’s introduction to origami was through an elementary school teacher who had exhausted all methods of keeping the keenly intelligent six-year old entertained in the classroom. By his early teens, Lang was designing his own origami patterns. In college, he turned to origami as a stress-reliever. Educated as a physicist with a professional background in laser and optoelectronics research and development, Lang is perhaps one of the most scientifically educated artists in the creative world. He attended California Institute of Technology for undergraduate work in electrical engineering, and later he earned a Master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford, after which he returned to Caltech to pursue a Ph.D. in Applied Physics with a dissertation titled Semiconductor Lasers: New Geometries and Spectral Properties. He began work for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and worked as a research scientist for Spectra Diode Labs and JDS Uniphase, both in San Jose. He has authored or co-authored over 80 technical publications, and he has 50 patents awarded and pending on semiconductor lasers, optics, and integrated optoelectronics. It is this technical background that perhaps lends itself to the true intricacies of origami design. His work combines aspects of the Western school of mathematical origami design with the Eastern emphasis upon line and form to yield models that are distinctive, elegant, and challenging to fold. Lang is now recognized as one of the world’s leading masters of the art, with hundreds of designs catalogued and diagrammed. He is known for designs of great detail and realism, and he includes in his repertoire some of the most complex origami designs ever created. They have been exhibited in at the Museum of Modern Art in New Robert Lang creates “Stars and Stripes” from one uncut York, at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris, and at the Nippon Museum of Origami in Kaga, Japan, among others. square of paper. Over the past 35 years, Lang has developed over 480 original origami compositions, a quarter of which have been published with folding instructions. “In origami, these folding instructions serve the same purpose that a musical score does,” says Lang. “It provides a guide to the performer (in origami, the folder) while allowing the performer to express his or her own personality through interpretation and variation. “Modern origami is a unique sculptural art,” he continues. “Each origami design must be individually folded; there is no mass-production process. My designs are folded from selected papers, some of which I have made myself, each paper chosen to complement the design and composition. All of the art pieces displayed in galleries are my own compositions.”
See Origami continued on page 10
Alamo Says Yes! to Parks
Alamo’s Whalen to Play in the NFL
By Sharon Burke
Alamo citizens gave Measure F on the June 7 ballot a resounding Yes vote, with 81% voting yes, and 19% no. Voter turnout was 29%, with 2,652 voters casting ballots, 86% by mail and only 14% at the polls. Measure F gives the Alamo MAC, which serves as the Citizens’ Advisory Committee for the R-7A Park Families and children enjoy the play structure at Hap Magee park District, the authority to advise the Board of Supervisors to appropriate up to $1,650,000 annually for park development, construction, maintenance, improvements and recreation services. The vote was required because R-7A property tax income grows faster than Alamo population, and state law requires a vote of the taxpayers every four years for any jurisdiction in this envious position, to authorize expenditures beyond the jurisdiction’s spending limit, which is tied to population growth and cost of living. Current annual property tax income for Alamo’s Park and Recreation District
See Parks continued on page 22 PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Permit 263 Alamo CA
By Sharon Burke
Ryan Whalen, a 2007 graduate of Monte Vista High School, was drafted in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. He is the son of John and Jennifer Whalen of Alamo. Whalen was a walk-on his freshman year at Stanford but that quickly changed as he played all 12 games his freshman season and by his sophomore and junior years, he became Stanford’s leading receiver. His senior season was marred by an elbow injury, but he was named All PAC-10 honorable mention and finished his college career Ryan Whalen with 140 receptions for 1,184 yards and seven touchdowns. He was a dual threat at Monte Vista, a standout at both football and basketball, where he earned numerous honors, including Scholar Athlete of the Year. He is a native of Alamo and Volume XI - Number 7 also attended Rancho Romero and 3000F Danville Blvd. #117, Alamo, CA 94507 Stone Valley Middle School. Telephone (925) 405-NEWS, 405-6397 All of us who watched Ryan Fax (925) 406-0547 grow up, play Little League baseAlisa Corstorphine ~ Publisher ball and CYO basketball, wish Editor@yourmonthlypaper.com him the best in his NFL career. It Sharon Burke ~ Writer sure will make football season a sburke@yourmonthlypaper.com lot more fun this year, as we hope The opinions expressed herein belong to the writers, and do necessarily reflect that of Alamo Today. Alamo Today is not for great achievements from this not responsible for the content of any of the advertising herein, nor does publication imply endorsement. outstanding young man.