Duke University
Medical Center
Intercom
VOL. 25, NO. 18
MAY 5, 1978
DURHAM, N.C.
Commencement activities to fill weekend
Some 300 new health professionals will
be among the 2,000 men and women
receiving degrees from Duke Sunday.
The academic pageantry of Duke's
126th graduation begins at 3 p.m. Sunday
in Wallace Wade Stadium with President
Terry Sanford presiding. The ceremony
will move into Cameron Indoor Stadium
in case of rain.
Commencement speaker is Dr. Glenn
T. Seaborg, a Nobel Prize-winning
nuclear chemist who headed the old
Atomic Energy Commission from 1961 to
1971. The student speaker is Michele
Miller of Durham, a candidate for a
bachelors degree.
Seaborg's Commencement address will
deal with "Knowledge and Survival."
Seaborg, 66, will receive an honorary
doctor of laws degree from Duke, one of
seven honorary degrees to be presented
this year.
Others receiving degrees are:
—George R. Herbert, president of the
Research Triangle Institute, doctor of
laws.
—Dr. Charles Frankie, Columbia
University educator and president of the
National Humanities Center in Research
Triangle Park, doctor of literature.
—Dr. John Z. Young, British biologist
and researcher in neurophysiology,
doctor of science.
—Dr. Edward O. Wilson, professor of
zoology at Harvard University, doctor of
science.
—Dr. Leonard S. Silk, a member of the
New York Times editorial board, doctor
of laws.
—Eugene C. Patterson, editorof the St.
Petersburg (Fla.) Times, doctor of laws.
Commencement Weekend activities
begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow with the annual
meeting of Duke's Board of Trustees. Bus
tours of the campus will be conducted at
10 a.m. and 11 a.m., leaving from Duke
Chapel.
At 10:30 a.m. the Schoc'l of Medicine
will hold the traditional Hippocratic Oath
Ceremony in Duke Chapel.
The School of Nursing will hold its
Recognition Service in the Chapel at
12:30 p.m.
A baccalaureate service for advanced
degree candidates is scheduled for 3 p.m
in Duke Chapel. Dr. Barney L. lones,
professor of religion at Duke, will deliver
the address.
From 4:30 p.m. to 6 p m., there will be a
reception on East Campus Lawn for
parents and degree candidates. The
reception will be in East Campus Union in
case of rain.
Hoof 'n' Horn will present its annual
stage production at 8:30 p.m. Saturday in
(Continued on page 2)
'Child safety is no accident/ authors say
By David Williamson
More than 30 years ago, a young
woman was killed in an automobile
accident while rushing her injured son to
the emergency room at Duke Hospital.
"It shouldn't have happened," Dr. Jay
Arena, professor of pediatrics, said. "The
child had a nick on his head that she could
have stopped bleeding at home with
simple finger pressure."
That incident as well as his experience,
when just out of medical school, of
treating children who had swallowed lye,
"have always been in the back of my
mind," said Arena, who has since become
a nationally recognized authority on child
safety.
To prevent tragedies
In an effort to help prevent the kinds of
tragedies "that shouldn't have
happened," the pediatrician and Miriam
Bachar, a staff member at the University
of North Carolina's School of Public
Health, have collaborated in writing a
book on the subject.
Their 308-page work, entitled "Child
Safety Is No Accident: A Parent's
iandbook of Emergencies," has just been
ublished by Duke University Press.
Its purpose, the authors write in their
preface, is threefold: to provide parents,
teachers and others who have
responsibility for the growth and
development of children with
—guidance on how to develop a safe
and satisfying family life style for
children,
—information on how to prevent
accidents through sensible precautions
and
—experience-tested, first aid
techniques to use immediately when an
accident or illness requiring emergency
treatment occurs.
Not a 'do-it-yourself' book
"It seems as though everyone is writing
a 'do-it-yourself' book these days, but
that wasn't our intention at all," Arena
said in an interview. "We want parents
and others to be able to distinguish when
professional care is or isn't needed and
also to learn what to do until it becomes
available."
"Child Safety Is No Accident," heavily
illustrated by artist Robert L. Blake Sr., is
divided into five sections and 18 chapters.
Stressing that more children are killed in
this country accidentally than die from
the five leading fatal diseases combined.
Part One deals with safety habits,
education and accident prevention.
"Life would not be possible if all
potentially dangerous events were to
disappear," Arena said. "However, some
families overprotect children while
others unnecessarily expose them to
danger.
"A safe life style does not mean a total
absence of hazards, nor does it- mean
constant restrictions, limitations or
nagging cautions," he said. "A safe life
style exists when you are aware of the
inevitable hazards of life and, through
knowledge and good safety habits, feel
that you can cope with them under
extraordinary circumstances."
"Life would not be possible if all
potentially dangerous events were
to disappear. However, some
families overprotect their
children while others unneces
sarily expose them to danger."
Part Two of the book covers stages of
growth and development in children and
includes the most common dangers for
each group from birth through 14 years.
A cardinal rule that becomes
particularly important after about three
months of life, the authors note, is never
underestimating the rapid rate at which a
baby matures physically.
For example, they say a mother who
has never seen her baby turn over may
think it is safe to leave the child for a
moment on a table or a bassinet while she
reaches for a diaper or a can of talcum
powder.
"At that precise moment the baby may
turn over for the first time and roll off the
table, an accident that kills scores of
infants every year and leaves many more
with permanent disabling injuries."
Pul poisons out of reach
The third section of the handbook
focusses on specific hazards such as
poisoning, fires, motor vehicles,
(Continued on page 31
FOR CHILD SAFETY — Dr. Jay Arena and Miriam Bachar have written a book entitled "Child
Safety Is No Accident; A Parents' Handbook of Emergencies." Arena is a nationally recognized
authority on child safety. (Photo by Thad Sparks)