Pauline
Murillo remembers as a child camping with her grandmother and picking
grapes from vines growing on land where Cal State San Bernardino
now sits.
"We
would listen to Indian tales about the stars and the universe and
stuff like that," says the 75-year-old San Manuel Indian band
elder. "The things we have been telling our children are now
going to be reality."
The
university announced Monday that Murillo and her husband, George,
have made a "major philanthropic gift" that will be used
to help build a $2 million teaching observatory on the university
campus. The observatory will be named for the Murillo family.
"It's
just a good thing for our children, learning about educational stuff
like that," Pauline Murillo said by phone. "It's something
we never had before. Now we can help people."
She
said university officials have told her that ground will be broken
next month for the 1,700-square-foot observatory and that it will
take about a year to build.
Astronomy
teachers at Cal State San Bernardino said two years ago that they
want to install a 20-inch Ritchie Chretien telescope. A second telescope
also is planned.
Pauline
Murillo said when she was about 11 years old her grandmother would
stretch canvas and blankets between trees and camp out during the
August grape harvest. She said she continued to pick grapes on the
land in succeeding years.
She
declined to say specifically how much money she and her husband
donated, but described it as "a substantial amount."
The
university said in a news release that it had received six other
major contributions, including $600,000 from the Keck Foundation
and $200,000 worth of concrete from California Portland Cement Co.
The cement company will have naming rights to the telescopes.
Reach Darrell R. Santschi at 951-368-9484 or dsantschi@PE.com
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