COBB AT 95

John Cobb will celebrate his 95th birthday this week with friends and neighbors at Pilgrim Place. Unfortunately, a ticketed Tuesday evening celebration is sold out. But after interviewing Mr. Cobb this week at his home, it comes as no surprise.

A Claremont resident since the 1950s, Mr. Cobb is the founder of process studies, a school of thought that, in the most general terms, rejects the notion that anything happens from just one cause and that problem solving (and progress) only take place when you view the world as fully integrated—science, the arts, theology, the ecosystem, people, events and experiences are all interrelated and dependent on one another. Essentially, nothing exists or occurs in a vacuum.

The tendency for people to become hyper focused on a single cause and effect is largely the fault of early education, he says, with its long history of teaching to the test and rote memorization practices.

“Schools shape the way people feel,” Mr. Cobb related. “But schools want to be value free. The educational system is set up to tell them what they know isn’t true.”

Changing the ethos of a country is an enormous undertaking, he admits. So he’s identified small-scale things he can do to begin this process of change. The first is the launch of the Claremont Institute for Process Studies. Its mission statement in part aims to “foster creative transformation” to “advance wisdom, harmony and the common good.”

We’ll talk more with Mr. Cobb at his birthday party, and I’ll share some of his big plans for the institute in next week’s edition.

CLOTHING DROP

If you have business clothes you are no longer using, the COURIER is currently hosting a drop box for Clothes Closet, a free service offered by the career center at Cal Poly Pomona.

Drop by our offices at 114 Olive St. from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, or 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, and leave gently used men’s or women’s business attire for students in need of professional clothing for job interviews and career fairs or to wear during their first weeks of work before that first paycheck rolls in.

We’re looking for business wear, without stains, odors, tears or missing buttons. Accessories like ties, scarves, purses, shoes and jewelry are also needed.

Donation receipts are available. For information go to www.cpp.edu/career/student/clothes-closet, call (909) 869-2342, or email career@cpp.edu.

by Kathryn Dunn

editor@claremont-courier.com