FROM THE EDITOR 



Special Gifts 



As this is the holiday season, I want to share 

 the story of a special gift I recently received. 



Frank Thomas, chairman of our North 

 Carolina Sea Grant Outreach Advisory Board, 

 pulled me aside at a meeting to say he had 

 something for me. He and his wife, Rachel, had 

 recently moved from their Raleigh home to a much 

 smaller apartment and no longer had room for all 

 their "treasures." 



He offered a well-worn box chock full of 

 wooden blocks. Each provided the heading for a 

 section of the first seafood cookbooks published by 

 the North Carolina State University Seafood Lab in 

 the 1960s. 



Each block has raised type identifying the 

 category — such as shrimp, fish or oysters — and a 

 simple illustration. Of course, the letters and art are 

 set in reverse, to accommodate the printing process at the time. 



Frank had been wise enough to save the blocks — from those 

 "hot type" days — which otherwise may have wound up in a landfill. 



I brought the box back to the gathering of Sea Grant staff and 

 other advisory board members. My gift immediately became the 

 center of attention. 



Several folks kindly offered to keep the treasures if I did not have 

 room. I politely declined their offers, planning instead to find a display 

 box, leaving open the opportunity to use them again. I couldn't help 

 but wonder if the zip disks containing our master version of this issue 

 of Coastwatch will be as coveted in the year 2040? 



While I enjoy the advanced communications available today — 

 and look forward to new technologies in the future — I hope there 

 always will be a place for the printed page that can be passed from 

 generation to generation, without worry about changing technology. 



I think that many Coastwatch readers would agree, based on 

 comments that I have received while staffing various Sea Grant 

 displays. 



Some truly devoted readers have kept the past issues, back to the 

 newsletter days in the 1980s, pulling one out from time to time to 

 recall favorite stories. Such archives chronicle the changes along our 

 coast — scientific, ecological and demographic, just to name a few. 



Many readers whiz through each issue — 

 from cover to cover, they tell me — then hand it off 

 to friends, family or neighbors. Others bring past 

 issues on their annual beach vacations and leave 

 them in the cottage or condo for future visitors to 

 enjoy. 



While some folks may want to sit on the deck 

 with a laptop, others don't mind the gentle ocean 

 breeze rustling the pages of the magazine as they 

 learn more about coastal resources. 



So, as we cruise into the new millennium, we 

 at Sea Grant often find ourselves using multiple 

 formats — print, video and electronic — to present 

 important information about the coast. 



As the Internet — and now the wireless 

 Internet — gains in importance, we continue to 

 update our site on the World Wide Web — 

 www.ncsu.edu/seagrant. 



For example, Barbara Doll, our water quality expert, developed a 

 guide to recreational water quality that first was posted on the Web as 

 the most immediate way to reach a large audience. We have printed 

 35,000 copies of our brochure on rip currents for distribution around 

 the country — but a version of the brochure also can be downloaded 

 and printed in your home or office. 



At the same time, we must keep in mind our advisory board's 

 caution not to limit our focus to one format. 



Frank Thomas, founder of the seafood lab, received some of the 

 initial Sea Grant funding in North Carolina. As we approach our 25th 

 anniversary as a Sea Grant College Program, he and others on the 

 advisory board will help us to recognize our heritage and target our 

 future efforts. Check back here — and on our Web site — for updates 

 on the anniversary celebration. 



In the meantime, if you have memories of Sea Grant's past 

 efforts, or suggestions for future directions, please drop me a note. We 

 now have a comment card along with the subscription cards in the 

 center of the magazine — or you can zip off an e-mail to 

 kniosher@unity.ncsu.edu. 



Thanks in advance for your memories and musings. They are 

 gifts indeed. 



Katie Mosher, Managing Editor 



CONTRIBUTORS 

 Writers: 



David Cecelski Q Ann Green Q Katie Mosher ° Pam Smith B Cynthia Henderson Vega 



Photographers: 



C.R. Edgerton B Walker Golder B Michael Halminski B Herman Lankford 

 Katie Mosher B Chris Seward B LundieSpence B Scott D. Taylor 



