1994-1995 Yearbook

Knowledge of Science Fields Exemplified by Department Faculty Biology For mos t of us. summer b reak is a time to take vaca tion . to earn a little money. o r 10 get ahead in a etas by a tt e ndir~g summer school. I lowever. fo r Dr . Deb Mueller. summer break was an oppor tunity to continue research on tt1e Northern Gosl1awk. a species o f birds on tl1e tl1rea1c ned Ii 1. Mueller . p rofessor of biology. has. for 1l1e pas t six summers . traveled to central Wasl1ingt on to continue tl1i s projec t. Students l1ave also pro fit ed from Mue ller's work. For fi\'e years. a number of tl1em have accompanied Mueller as int rns in fi eld b io logy. While in wasl1ington. they served as volunt eers for one of the ranger stat ions in Gifford Pincho t 1 ational Forest. and w ere g iven a supplemen tal sa lary to pay for li\'ing expenses during the ir nine-w eek s tay. To be consid red fo r the position. students t1 ad to display a strong inte res t in fi eld rcsearc l1 bu t did no t have 10 be biology majo rs. Mueller sa icl. "It rea lt y sl1owed me what research is ... Natllan Mill s. a 1990 intern . sa id . Whe the r it w as learning a bird ca ll. checking on nes t si tes or anal yzing data. s tudents worked wi tll experi enced bio logis ts and received firs t-hand training in researc l1 me thods. Mills sa id the trip helped him 10 decide on a career in wildlife biology. The i111ernsl1ip cou ld not be c lassified as an "easy summer job... how \' r. Tl1e area in whi ch tl1ey worked contained 30 percent s lopes: c limbing up-l1ill became a part o f the dail y routine. One s tudent re fl ected that the only way to prepare for the trip pllysically would be to work out on a s tair macl1ine se\'eral t1ours a day for several weeks. Howe\'er. junior Englis l1 major Kim Little said tl1at the beaut y of the environment made tl1e physica l l1allenge seem less. For Littl e. tl1e time w as one o f re fl ection and g rowtl1 . "It wasn't like work at all . It was a good mental \ 'aca tion ... he sa id. The beaut iful environment was also tl1e backg round against wt1ich s tud nt s ga tt1ered researc l1 data. Tt1e data collected was used by 1t1e fo res t service 10 dec ide w t1e1he r o r no t to lis t a cert ain species as endangered . Mue ll er is now compi ling tl1e data from tile past s ix summers to submi t fo r pul)tication. Next summer. she hopes to lead s tudents on a trek to track a lone wolf in tl1e area. Such int erns t1ips gave s tudents more tl1an c lass credi t o r w o rk experi ence: tl1ey provided unique adven tures into tl1c world of nature. - aro line Clem nts Physical Science After 34 years with the Department of Pl1ys ica l Science. seven of those as department cl1a irman. Dr . Don Eng land announced his plans to re turn to the c lassroom full time. Ke itl1 sct1ramm. an ass istant professor o r c t1emistry. recall ed England teaching him as a student in I 9 78 . "I remember being intimidated by l1im [as a teac l1erJ ... Schramm said. "but s ince I t1avc been on the faculty. I have found tl 1at he is a demanding teac l1er because Ile sees 11is mission as cl ministry from God - 10 furtl1cr 1t1c numbe r o r 01ristian doctors . scientis ts and teacl1e rs ... His studen ts agree. "l le is a model o f a Cl1ris tian man in tl1e c lassroom -always concerned about l1iss tudent s' future. He motivates u because l1e wants us to be p repar d to face new c l1all enges. I Ie expec ts the best ... Vince Hernandez said. Eng land taugl1t in a secular school until he v isited I lard ing in the fall of I 960. "The most st riking 1l1ing 10 me was to discover Chris tian ecluca tion . I quickl y fell in love wirh I larding. I remember saying tl1a1 I t1oped one day to re tire from I lardi ng." l1e said . Since he came. England has been blessed by the ..unbelievable camaraderie" among his colleagues . "The people t1ere l1a\'c led 10 rny g rea te r unde rs tanding o f what g race really is ... lie sa id. St1ortly after moving to Searcy to teacl1 at I larding. Eng land me t l1is wife. Lynn . wl10 had recentl y g raduated from Harding and was the super\ 'isor in Echo Haven . a res idence fo r senior home economics majors . Eng land has written books about Ct1risti C1n it y ancl sc ience. ond l1c dcsignecl tl1c Ct1ri s tian View of Sc ience aml Scripture course required of all pl1ysical science majors . Interests ou ts ide ll1e c lassroom ha\ ·e found llim making an<i playing tlie ciulcirner and building tile miniature I larding swings sold in tl1e bookstore. In llis life. his family and his 1eacl1ing. E.ng land has se t forth a model of dedication to tile worct of God and minis try to o tt1ers . "Regarctless of wl1at tl1ey teach ," England said. "teachers s t1ould ins till Chr istian values and a proper attit ude toward the worct of God. And regardless o f what the ir majors are." t1e sa id ...as s tuden ts walk across tl1e s tage to receive tl1e ir diplomas. the ir a ttitudes toward tl1e word o f God is more impo rt ant than any knowledge tl1ey carry away." - Pt1illip Sllcro Dr. Dd1 .\l tw/i<'r lff1uws 10 u /)Jo/om; c/uss . ,\ l!Wllff u •us unil •e in <'ll l1if(Jllllle111u/ s1udies um l reseurc/1 /'/JOI() l!y )(IS()ll Burr : 'Wriciu Colemun. one I 01/wr s1ucle111s obsen •e pinc'ons I J/oyi1 lfJ pino-poll!J < lurinf) on expenmen1. Tile lliolooy 1 !rof)mm prq ion'< I s1ucle111sfor ml'<lical om/ reseorc/1 coreers . i'l1oro l!y Joson Burr . ;\ C (I cl (' nJ i C S 38 Bio I o O !J

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