THE MICROBE FILES
REVISED 08/08/07
ANNOUNCEMENTS
12/8/97: This material has been created
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you don't have the proper Helper Applications for your browser. A list of some of the more common sites where you can obtain
these Plugins and Helper Applications is given on the Internet Help Page below. You will
need at least a 486/66 or faster computer, a minimum of 16 MB of memory and a 28.8 modem
(older modems will work, but it will be painfully slow because of the many figures in the
Text). Because the figures are an integral part of the material I have chosen to not offer
a "TEXT ONLY" version of the NetText 101.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Links to Important places
Home Page of Microbiology 101: Fundamentals of Microbiology: This is also the link to Micro 102, the virtual version of this course that will go on line this spring.
I am currently the ripe age of 65.5; as you can see I was more sophisticated when I was younger. I have been at WSU since 1964. I have been married to Iris Hurlbert since 1957 (a women of infinite patience and understanding). We have two children, Scott, 35, who resides in Moscow in Auto Parts, and a daughter Mara, 33, who is married and living in San Diego, CA., where she is the executive secretary to the vice president of a division of the Sund Corp. So far there are no grandchildren.
I am the oldest of four children, one full brother and a half sister and brother. I spent most of my childhood basking in the sun of the Arizona desert in Phoenix, after my parents had the good sense to leave that refrigerator called Nebraska. During my formative years I lost my mother to breast cancer, but my father had the good sense, and luck, to marry the best stepmother on the planet (her canned figs & jams are to die for). As a student I worked at a variety of jobs including dish-washing, milking cows, harvesting grapes, hashing in a sorority house and chopping brush in the Yuma desert of AZ where a cool summer's day was one where the temperature never exceeded 115oF. These jobs had a major influence on my decision to go to college. I also had some great times playing cowboy on a working ranch in southern AZ which included hunting mountain lions in the wilderness of New Mexico.
I received my undergraduate training at Arizona State University (the Sun Devils) in 1955. I obtained my Master and Ph.D. degrees from the Department of Bacteriology at USC. In 1961-2 I spent a year's postdoc at Oxford. During this period we had great fun touring Western Europe, camping in a $2 tent, $15 sleeping bags and tooling around in a very cool MG-Midget. Subsequently I spent two years in the US Commission Corps doing research at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda MD. While there we attended the funeral of President J.F. Kennedy and the "I have a dream..." speech of Dr. Martin L. King. I arrived in Pullman in the Fall of 1964. I have taken two full year sabbaticals; in Freiburg Germany (1973-4) and another in Montreal, Canada (1992-3). My hobbies include wood working, reading, hiking, and gardening. My wife is a trained laboratory technician, but she now works part time in my lab as my research technician.
My current research interest involves an investigation of the pathogenic factors of the insect bacterial pathogen Xenorhabdus. This organism resides in the gut of certain nematodes. The nematodes seek out insect larvae and invade their bodies. When they reach the insect's blood they deposit the Xenorhabdus, which grow rapidly and kill the infected insects within 48 hr. Over 600 species of insects are susceptible to the Xenorhabdus. I employ molecular biology techniques to study the virulence genes of the Xenorhabdus that allow it to kill so many species of insects. The goal is to someday make this system even a more effective biological control agent than it already is.
I will be retiring at the end of the spring 1999 semester, but I will be teaching Micro 101 one more time during the 1999-2000 school year and I will be managing the Micro 102 distant learning course for a while longer depending on the various circumstances.
"A misinformed people is a subjugated people" From a poem by Gloria Anzaldua
Throughout my life, both as a student and as a teacher, I have embraced learning with the passion of a lover. Having taught students since my freshman year in college (1951) my teaching experience spans >40 years. During that time I have gained much knowledge about teaching, but I've also become aware how much more there is to learn about my craft. I view the learning experience as a symbiotic effort in which the teacher and the student share equal responsibility. As a teacher, I strive to present accurate and topical information to students in as interesting and understandable a form as I can, while helping them use the knowledge they have learned to enhance their creative and reasoning abilities. For without the ability to creatively manipulate information, students are little more than biological computers engorged with barren data. Further, I endeavor to be sensitive to student concerns and needs while being scrupulously fair in my dealings with them. Finally, I attempt to pass on to students my respect and passion for knowledge and an appreciation of the power it has to enhance their lives, as well as the lives of others.
I believe that the student/teacher partnership is incomplete unless the student brings a hunger and respect for knowledge to the classroom. Learning is hard work, but the more you enjoy any task the easier it is to do. Therefore, it is necessary that students enthusiastically apply their efforts to the task of learning. I loathe the adversarial attitude that is too often prevalent in our educational system. However, I also accept that it is not necessary to become an expert in every subject so I consider a "C" grade as a suitable level of knowledge for students whose interests and enthusiasm lies elsewhere than in biological science. What I can not tolerate are closed minds that hold knowledge, curiosity and rational thinking in disrespect.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to acknowledge the following individuals and facilities for making this task possible. My greatest personal debt is to Randy Lagier (Center for Teaching and Learning), whose patience, long hours and knowledge provided me the encouragement and support to undertake this arduous task and whose continuing assistance makes my life easier. I also owe a lot to Mr. M. Snoddy at SLIC who has helped me solve numerous computer and software problems. My thanks to J. Watson and his crew at ISS, especially Mr. John Castle, for setting up and training me on their Multimedia system. Without the far-sighted financial support of Dean L. Radziemski of the College of Sciences for the equipment and my time, this task would not have been possible. I would like to thank my former departmental chairperson, Dr. L Mallavia, who supported and encouraged me in this new and uncharted direction and whose lose in the spring of 1998 left a hole of considerable size in the lives of all who knew him. The staff at the Extended University Services has ably assisted me in making this course available to Distant Learning students. Finally, the Department of Information Technology has provided assistance and support facilities at every stage of this project.
Copyright © Dr. R. E. Hurlbert, 1999.
This material may be used for educational purposes only and may not be duplicated for
commercial purposes.
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