General Zoology classes, but hehas since decided to include the educatfonmajors from his Science in the Elementary classes as well. The purpose of the field trips was to develop in a student "the eye" for spotting fossils. "We get into the habit of looking, and if we ever start seeing sQmething, all of the sudden it starts cropping up nearly everywhere we go, " Rushton said . "I think it is a wo~derful learning process for us to be able to see things. The more things that we can see helps us out in practically any field that we could get into ... I feel like travel is education in itself, " One of the motivations Rushton provided for his fossil hunters was the po tential of finding 'The Bird," the ancient and extinct archeopterix probably from the late Paleozoic Era. The most recently discovered of the rare fossils sold for $5 million. ''I'd drop my tee th if we really found The Bird," he said, laughing. 'The Lord knew better than to let me have a whole lot of money. I don' t see Him dropping that dude in my lap, and I'm not disappointed; it's still a motivator. " Over the years Rushton has found about 60 good sites for fossil collecting. Having left the Science Building parking lot at 7:30 on a November morning, the fall semester prospectors fulfilled plans to hit six of those selected fossil beds befOredark, Their last stop before going home was an abandoned rock quarry which they called "Trilobite Hill. " Having traveled over 225 miles in northern Arkansas, the students had loaded the trunks of their cars with fossils. They had learned to "play the game," as Rushton called it. As darkness fell on the group at the quarry , they closed the expedition with a traditional devotional. "The devo tional is always a high point for me," commented Rushton. "I look forward to it because the enthusiasm of young people keeps an older person alive. " - Kay Williams fiM Biology education stressed O Hering a new first-semester beginning biology course for biology majors and preprofessional students in the health sciences was a prominent development of the fall semester. During the year, the department reorganized its curriculum into a core of subjects that would give majors a stronger background in biology. Dr . Michael V. Plummer, a herpeto logist , continued hi s research on snakes and turtles. During the summer, assisted by David Farrar, he ca rried out a project on arboreal snakes on grants from the Milwaukee Public Museum and Sigma Xi. He a ttended the annual joint meetings of the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles and the Herpetologists League in Knoxv ille. He also attended meetings of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in Fort Worth and the Southwestern Association of Naturalists in Sherman, Texas. During the year he submitted four research papers for publication. NSF grant evaluation For the third consecu tive year, Dr. George Woodruff was invited by the Na tional Science Foundation to visit Washington , D. C. He served as a member of the panel that reviewed the applications for and selected the recipients of grants for student-oriented science projects. Dr . Bryce Roberson and Ronald Doran participated in Chautauqua-type short courses conducted by the NSF at Christian Brothers College in Memphis. Dr. Plummer and Dr. Jack Wood Sears, chairman of the department, attended the meeting of the Arkansas Academy of Science hosted by Hendrix College in Conway. Encouragement t(' studv, keep up hopes - Many bi ology majors and others were members of the PreMed Club. 'The main purpose of the club, " said president David Collier, "is to help pre-med students make it through their college years, not only by- encouraging them to study, but to keep on working and not lose hope. " In the fall the club viewed two movies. "Man : The Incredible Machine" di scussed different anatomical aspects of the human body . "The Human Brain" examined me thods of cinematography and computer graphics fo r studying the brain and the functions of the brain's different structures Also in the fall , Dr. David Smith, . a cardiologist from Little Rock , spoke abou t struggles the Christian faces in professional school and in practice . Speaking to the club in the spri ng was Dr. Robert Bowl ing, assistan t dean for admissions at the University of Arkansas Col. lege of Medicine . ...... .,.,., III • Asst . Prof . ..... ,....." PId) • Asst. Prof. Iryct ........, PId) • Prof . ............, III • Assoc. Prof . .. w... s..., M • COOirman, Prof . GMrwt W....", ... Prof .
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