University of Texas Austin - Cactus Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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Academics Edited by Piper Rountree Introduction 1 84 Schools and Colleges 1 86 President 210 Vice-Presidents 211 Regents 212 Dean of Students 214 Chancellor 215 Short Takes.. ..216 Academics 183

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182 Academics

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Cooking bacon and eggs is basically a simple matter for the average person. For Dr. Ralph Read, it was not so easy. He could not tell when the bacon or the eggs were browned just by looking at them. He listened to the sizzle. Dr. Ralph Read, associate professor of Germanic languages, lost his sight as a result of dia- Seeing May be Believing, but Sniffing Works too betes, but still cooked for practical rea- sons, for pleasure and of self reliance. As a result of his new hobby, Read wrote a cookbook for the blind, Coping in the Kitchen. Read said that thousands of cookbooks exist, but that no good cookbook for the blind existed. Read used the term food prepara- tions rather than recipes in his book to emphasize that cooking by the blind requires much more effort than putting an assortment of ingredients together in correct proportions. Among Read s list of food preparations were fried eggs, pancakes, bacon, deviled eggs, coleslaw, creamed chicken pie, roast, and quiche. For the blind cook, the ears and the nose took the place of the eyes. For example, if the eggs sizzled too loudly, the heat was too high. Read advised sniffing cautiously over the pan occasion- ally to be sure meat didn ' t burn. His cookbook also told how to arrange dishes, glasses and appliances; how to pour, measure, time, slice, spread, peel and how to open containers. Read explained that setting up the kitchen was important and that no one else should be allowed to clean up the kitchen since moving a box of crackers from one cabi- net to another could be a major crisis. Read suggested marking cans and boxes with raised letters from a plastic tape marker and arranging them in alphabetical order. However, he added, his alter ego as a cooking specialist. With regard to his teaching abilities, to Patsy Chesnutt, a junior English major He really knows his stuff. Chesnutt also remarked that Read was a favorite pro fessor among students, and the only problem was reading messages that he wrote on the class blackboard. Dr. Ralph Read, associate professor of Germanic languages, enjoys perfecting his culinary skill it was not necessary to alphabetize bags of things because you can just pinch them. Peas do not feel like macaroni. Read said that Coping in the Kitchen would not be published in Braille because he intended for family or friends to read it to the blind person. Few of Read s students were aware of As of 1981, Read had been with th Department of Germanic Languages o the University of Texas for 14 years, an planned to continue his cooking an teaching for many years to come at 111 I love it here! Read said emphatically. 184 Dr. Ralph Read