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The only way a teacher can endeavor to measure his success or failure in the classroom is by what happens to his students after they have gone on to higher institutions. By this criterion alone, then, Dr. Jaeger is certainly eminently successful, for many of his former students are now famous lawyers, engineers, surgeons, dentists, judges, and teachers. A great number of his students have also followed in his footsteps, into biology itself, and have gone on into research and teaching in all fields of natural history and life science, not only in this country but in widely scattered parts of the world. But Dr. Jaeger's influence on young alert minds has gone far beyond the classroom and has continued unabated ever since he retired from Riverside City College several years ago. Whenever and wherever he meets a young person who shows any interest in the world of nature, Dr. Jaeger invites him over for an informal dinner and chat in his home, and then to one or more field trips into the desert, often overnight for two or more days. Never does Dr. Jaeger ask to be reimbursed for such expenses. He feels that even if only one young man out of a dozen has been inspired by such an outing, then it has been well worth the effort. Usually, however, it is all of the dozen who are affected, not just one. Dr. Jaeger genuinely enjoys the company of the young, especially those who are inquisitive, questioning, and eager to know. He is patient beyond belief in telling and retelling facts and stories about his beloved desert, and with each retelling the stories acquire added freshness and stimulation. Many of the students that he has inspired were met by Dr. Jaeger by pure happenstance: while waiting in line at the post office, or supermarket, or on a corner to cross a stoplight, or while filling his jeep cans at a gas station. Many of these men had never before had any real interest in the desert and most of them had never been camping out in their whole life. The thrill and excitement of sitting around one of Dr. Jaeger's campfires and hearing him reminisce about other camp outs and legendary deserteers he has known can never be forgotten. Let there be a night sound and the eager listeners hear a colorful explanation of what caused it. Yet, in spite of the fact that this master teacher seems to know everything about the desert, the student early learns that he readily admits he does not, and that to him the great lure of the arid lands is that he has yet failed to go out even once and not learn something new, something never before experienced, this in spite of the fact that he has for many years now been going nearly every weekend on long desert treks. In this way students have shared in the many adventures and discoveries with Dr. Jaeger. In his contacts with all young people, he stresses accuracy in spelling and proper pronunciation of words, not just scientific ones, and painstakingly explains word origins if he knows them. To many he has opened a new awareness of the many interesting facets of this fascinating study. All of these latent interests - whether they be in words, stars, rocks, or wild life - will carry on through the lifetime of individuals and they will in turn be communicated in one degree or another to that student's friends and associates and his own family. In this way Dr. Jaeger may be thought of as the great desert catalyst, starting thousands of reactions that never would have occurred without his stimulation. But unlike a chemical catalyst, Dr. Jaeger is himself changed by each encounter: he becomes humble, more appreciative, more enlightened, more stimulated. To many outstanding students in need of financial help he has loaned money to help them continue their education. Some, he has permitted to stay as a guest in his house while they attended the nearby University or City College; others he has taken on long trips with him, to Europe, to Mexico, and Canada. In addition, he has established scholarship funds at Loma Linda University, La Verne College, University of California at Riverside and elsewhere to help young people for years to come. Few persons have carried on as great a daily correspondence as does Dr. Jaeger. Scarcely a day goes by he does not receive at least a dozen or more personal letters. He carefully budgets his time so that these letters are usually all answered before that same afternoon. Much of his correspondence is on postal cards; there are few who can get as much warm news on one card, so small and precise is his meticulous penmanship. With this regular correspondence he not only keeps in touch with several hundred former students and campmates, but learns of new ones, learning of their new researches and doings, then later sharing with them accounts of his recent trips. One of the most valuable contributions, among the many, that Dr. Jaeger has made during his lifetime are the intangible effects upon literally thousands of persons. All of these former campmates have developed an appreciation for and a lasting love of wild places, of conservation, and of wildlife. Many of them are now bringing their children - and even grandchildren - to his well known annual "palavers". It is planned that these educational outings will be continued as a permanent memorial to Dr. Jaeger, so that former friends of this great naturalist will always be able to get together regularly to talk about Dr. Jaeger's nature walks and his inexhaustible knowledge of the desert. There is not one of his countless companions in the wild who has not been "touched" by the Jaeger enthusiasm and vital love of our desert wild lands. Because of this, they have become better persons and better citizens for having known him. |
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