Jim Rumsey is not opposed to stooping to cheap theatrics to get students to enroll in his field equipment operation class. He lures them with one line, "I have a $160,000 tractor, and you can drive it." Once students have signed up, Rumsey, a lecturer in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, makes sure they learn. He tailors the class to each person, depending on their experience. To an English major, he will talk about general issues in agriculture, and to someone who grew up on a farm, he will try to teach them something about tractors their parents didn't. The class is open to anyone who wishes to acquire basic skills in tractor driving on a pass/no pass basis. About 100 students take him up on his offer to drive his vehicles every fall and spring quarter, and most come from other departments. In fact, only about 40 percent of the class comes from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, according to Rumsey. He is quick to emphasize that he doesn't care where the students come from, because he is not training tractor drivers. Rather, he is offering a hands-on work experience with the opportunity to learn about agriculture--his primary interest. Rumsey grew up on the 62-acre family farm outside Woodland he now operates. "So I teach here for nine months and farm the other 12 months," Rumsey said. "Certain times of the year, it gets pretty hairy. In the spring, I should be spraying for diseases and insects, and in the fall I'm still harvesting my walnuts." He received a bachelor's degree from UC Davis in 1965 and later a master's degree from the University of Arizona, both in agricultural engineering. After a short stint in the Air Force, Rumsey worked five years for a large food processor, California Canners and Growers. There, he absorbed the bigger picture of California agriculture that he hadn't seen growing up on a farm. Bearing this newfound knowledge, he formed a general agricultural-consulting company to advise a variety of organizations including food processors, utility and farming companies, and the Argentinean government. Then, almost 20 years after graduating from UC Davis, Rumsey was lured back to town by a teaching job he learned about from his twin brother, Tom, a professor of biological and agricultural engineering. The position called for a tractor teacher to teach a 45-year-old class, one Rumsey had never heard of when he was a student at UC Davis. "The last thing I thought I would ever do was come back here and teach," Rumsey said. "I suspect the reason I was hired is that I enjoy teaching very applied, practical, hands-on courses. I teach courses in farm equipment, farm-machinery economics, welding, engines and a course for teachers of vocational agriculture." The opportunity to go out and drive a powerful Caterpillar fully equipped with a heater, air-conditioning and an AM/FM stereo is one reason for the massive turn-outs on the first day of the tractor class, said Rumsey. After 16 years of teaching, Rumsey has made the class widely known. "The class is popular for a number of reasons, all of which I take seriously," he said. "Driving a tractor is ultimately a boring job, but if they want to do it, I want to show them how and why it's important." Another reason for the class's celebrity, according to Rumsey, is the simple fact that UC Davis is an "aggie" school. Many students consider farming classes a rite of passage during their four-year track. He said other students are out for the suntan. Rumsey doesn't expect his students to go into farming, but for a few students the class is an opportunity for résumé-building. "Students have called me up to tell me that they got a job because they could drive a tractor or weld," Rumsey said. Sally Steinhoff, a student majoring in agricultural systems and environment, believes no other teacher would set a group of students loose on tractors on the first day of class. Rumsey's teaching assistant for three years, Steinhoff was raised on a farm and desires a career in agriculture. She has taken all of his classes. She is now one of five assistants in a class where women comprise half the students. "I don't know if having a female teaching assistant makes a difference," Steinhoff said. "It's probably good for morale because they might not feel as stupid asking me some questions." No question is too stupid, Rumsey said. In fact, he encourages discussion. To stimulate thinking, Rumsey writes the lecture notes for each class. "It eliminates the 'I talk, you scribble' mechanism," Rumsey said. "I remember what it was like to be a student and to lose half of what a professor said. This way they can sit back, listen and ask questions." In this way, Rumsey teaches students from a variety of departments about agriculture -- and they like it so much they turn other students on to the class. "I have so much respect for him," Steinhoff said. "Not because he demands it, but because it comes naturally from the lengths he goes for students, his positive attitude toward teaching, and his ability to make us learn and appreciate learning."