Biological Science Zoology students, teachers hunt fossils Twenty-two cars followed in close procession, their headlights shining in the morning sun. The drivers passing in the opposite direction on the north Arkansas road slowed, removing hats in respect for the deceased. There was something unusual about that funeral procession, however, and the first clue was the lack of a hearse and a corpse. The second clue could have been obtained a little further J ' down the road when all of the cars pulled onto the shoulder. Climbing out of the vehicles were 85 college-age men and women, dresed not in the black attire of mourning, but clothed in flannel shirts, faded jeans and hiking boots. Armed with hammers, picks and paper bags, they stomped the ground furiously to make snakes sli ther away and climbed onto the sides of the mountain. They began hammering with urgency and determination similar to that of miners in a gold rush. However, they were not miners, but DIGGING fo r fossil remains , biology student Michelle Kersey enjoys the ou tdoors o n a field trip. Harding University students, and they were not prospecting for gold, but for fossils. "We have in this area one of the finest collections of fossil beds practically in the world," claimed William Rushton , associate professor of biology and leader of the fossil-hunting clan. "They may not be as newsworthy as a giant dinosaur fom the American West or something of this sort , but we have our own unique specimens, most of which are invertebrate forms deposited in marine waters back in the days when this area was part of the Gulf of Mexico (although it wasn't called the Gulf of Mexico at that time), We have rocks that range, according to the geologic time scale, from Cambrian up to very recent rocks . " Rushton has been leading the field trips since he came to Harding in 1960. At one time the excursions were a week long, but he has found it inconvenient to do so in recent years, due to the increase in conflicting activities. Originally, the students who participated in the day-long travels were from Rushton's
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