1987_01 The Daily Collegian January 1987

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If a student fails to pick-up his or her
graded test in Dr. Edward EmanuEl's
Drama 62 class, EmanuEl responds by
blowing his nose on the test and sticking it to
the wall of the John Wright Theatre. To some
it may seem like a vulgar gesture, but
EmanuEl has his reasons.
It's to show how much I care. I care that
someone has failed to pick up his or her test,"
EmanuEl said in a recent interview. To me,
attendance is the most important thing you can
do as a student at the university. There are too
many people not allowed to go to college for
people to be missing class."
EmanuEl's concern for attendance is
surprising considering his truancy as a kid.
Bom and raised in San Francisco. EmanuEl
received most of his early education on Turk
Street "I spent a lot of time on die streets. I
had trouble staying in school because I didn't
Hike it You go to a school where no one
cares if you go - so I didn't. I really had as
good a time as a person could have in that
environment - in the center of the city,
citylife. We were not economically secure. My
father eventually did very well, and in high
school, we moved to San Jose."
At the age of 17, EmanuEl left on a
steamer to Central America. For 52 days he
worked as a merchant marine, loading bananas.
That was the biggest hoot of my life. The
guys on the boat were hard drinkers, grizzled
womanizers. I think someone told them not to
beat me up. I should have been. I was a
wiseass. I would have deserved it. The guys
swore every two minutes. If someone on the
boat called you an f—ing S.O.B., it meant
nothing bad. I regretted not getting a tattoo. I
would have liked to have had one on my butt
as a momento of my trip."
Eventually the military came along. "It was
a big choice - volunteer or get drafted. I tried to
get into the Navy but they didn't want me.
The Army did. The Army was the turning
point of my life. It was gruesome. It showed
me that if you had education, you could make
something of yourself. I had an eight year
commitment. I visited Saigon while the war
was on. but I didn't lift a rifle. I didn't hurt
anyone. I was almost the status of a civilian."
Things didn't go well for him in the Army.
"I called a bird-colonel a son-of-a-bitch. It was
raining and he was wearing a pancho. I didn't
know who he was and he got in my way. That
was the most miserable part of my life. After
basic training, the Army said I'd be good at
digging holes>-Hatf the guys in my platoon
couldn't read or write and they scored better on
the Army I.Q. tes/than I did. I have my Ph.d
now.   What   docs   that   say   about   army
intelligence tests?" He we
bachelor's and master's at Si
ultimately, his doctorate at i
Minnesota. He started tead
1970. He has taught Drama
entertainment, for 10 years.
CSUF "Professor of the Yea
asked about the honor he mo
JJFhey had no one to give it i
at CSUF is not complete wit
EmanuEl lecture. He appea
really is. It could be the ct
.sexual jokes spring up here
not overbearing. He contrc
His ability - to hold an audio
his hand - probably comes
experience he had at San F
was asked to lecture a cla:
Halfway through the lecture,
that the people were blind.
SO people in the class and I
was wrong when they didn't
gestures. It really brought h<j
that teaching's got to be for a
"The next few quotes fr<
seem out of place. They ai
quotes expected from a r
"Crowds scare me. They m
have a much different pcrs
class than I do in class. 1
He blows his nose on test papers.
He knows more four letter words
than you do. He may be CSUF's
most popular prof...
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