Page 4
Squirrel Controversy
To The Trappers:
We of the Squirrel's
Coalition have some questions
about your practice of
imprisoning, mutilating, and
causing the probable death of
squirrels on campus. Whijt
we saw the public notice of
your intent, w§ says, no
attempt to justify the probably
death of trapped squirrels due
to harassment by dogs. W.bilc
we have no information that
would indicate you own the
dogs, we find that you deprive
the squirrels of a fighting
chance for survival. We have
also heard horror stories of
your trapping efforts in the
woods around Guilford.
To save the lives of the
squirrels who might die in
your traps, we have collected
these traps. They will be
released when you publish a
statement in the "Guilfor
dian" that would include the
following:
A - A statement of all
trapping done while any of the
present members of the
Biology Dept. have been
members of the Biology Dept.
B - A significant statement
concerning the considerations
behind these trappings, in
cluding consideration of the
probable death of the squirrels
involved.
We would not attempt to
determine the significance of
Part B of this statement, but
we will accept its significance
when Part B is endorsed by Ed
Burrows, Ted Benfcy, Don
Millholland, Bill Fulcher. and
the President of the Biophile
Club.
As a final note, the
Squirrel's Coalition has been
asked by the squirrels on
campus to consider a study of
the population of biologists on
campus. We may be erecting
large traps on campus to aid
us in this study. Please do not
disturb these traps...
Squirrel's Coaliton
Grill
Congratulations to Jean and
Michael Yarborough who are
the winners of the "Name the
Grill Room" contest. The
judging committee, consisting
of four Grill Room wage
slavers, plus Steve Martini,
and Douglas Mac Arthur,
would also like to thank all the
contestants for participating.
We had alot of fun going
through the entries, some of
which produced plenty of
chuckles, howls, and groans.
The loudest groan of all was
Dear Squirrel's Coalition:
The following letter is in
answer to your letter to The
Trappers, but it is not written
as a ransom payment for the
return of the traps. As I
pointed out to the anonymous
person who called nie, theft
and,, kidnapping are legal
matters, and I will not engage
in those matters which make
me as guilty as the offending
party. I would point out,
however, that the traps have
been returning, and I write
this letter to answer the
charges presented in the
letter.
Two trapping studies have
been made on the Guilford
College campus and environs.
The first of these involved the
trapping of small rodents for
the purpose of making an
inventory of the kinds of
rodents that are found in this
vicinity and to give the
students experience in the
identification of the rodents
and in the preparation of study
skins.
The second trapping study
was done for the purpose of
catching live squirrels for
tagging and release. No
squirrels have been killed, an
humane and accepted method
of trapping is used, the
permission of the State of
North Carolina has been
obtained, and only squirrels
arc involved. The purpose of
this effort is to make
population estimates of the
squirrel population by means
of the "trap and retrap"
method. Other information
about the squirrel population
is obtained and recorded as
well.
Both of these activities are
scientific studies and are part
of a course called Vertebrate
Biology. It is primarily a field
course which has as part of its
purpose to teach students how
to work with vertebrates - both
identification and population
dymanics studies. Naturally, it
Room
emitted by Steve Martini
when the final decision was
made. The majority ruled that
the new name would have to
be "Stevie's Wonder".
Before the reader reacts one
way or the other, there are
three reasons why we liked
"Stevie's Wonder" the best.
First of all. for those who
depend on the place for money
in the pocket it was a wonder
Steve finally opened it. Second
of all. Stevie Wonder is
extremely popular among
Guilford students and the
The Guilfordian
is necessary to sample the
population in a quantitative
fashion if population studies
are going to be meaningful.
It is natural to use rodents
to do these studies because
they are chiefly herbivores at
the first food level above the
producers or plants. They are
consequently more numerous
than the carnivores which feed
onthe rodents at the next
higher food level. Scientifi
cally conducted studies take
only a small and insignificant
sample of the population. In
the trapping experience on
small rodents, the majority of
animals taken were mice, rats
and moles together with a few
such of the other kinds of
small rodents.
It has been suggested in
your letter that such studies
should be done with animals
higher in the food chain than
rodents, but I do not believe
that you have considered the
facts carefully in suggesting
this. The higher the level in
the food chain, the fewer
individual there are, and the
experiment could be more
harmful to the population in a
limited area. It was suggested
also that traps might be
constructed for biologists.
This is, however, a needless
task because the total
population of biologists on the
campus will come forth at any
time to be counted; therefore,
sampling of the population is
not necessary as in rodents.
It may be difficult to
understand why animal stu
dies are important, but man
must use these studies to
better understand the animal
world not only for the
scientific knowledge obtained
but also to better understand
the ecology of animal
populations for their protec
tion and propagation in a
world dominated by man. If
the species can be protected
and saved by the sacrifice of a
Renamed
announcers over at WQFS.
Finally, the name would be lot
easier to catch on to than "The
Fleavy, Heavy, Far-Out Thing'
or "Little Milton's Grecian
Lounge."
So what do you say? Why
don't you come to the Wonder
and have a burger? We are
open Monday through Friday
from 9-6 and 7-12, on
Saturdays and Sundays from
7-12 p.m. We are also selling
glasses with Walt Disney
cartoon characters for 30 cents
or 45 cents with a large coke.
Arises
few individuals within the
species, the price is low
indeed.
With respect to dogs being
better able to molest squirrels
because of our trapping
activities, I might point out
that the dogs seem not to have
been bothered the squirrels in
the traps, and no squirrels
have died because they have
been trapped. Dogs, as is the
case with most canine
predators, are very poor
hunters and can usually catch
only the weak, sick, or unwary
squirrels. In nature, the
species which are preyed upon
are made stronger by the loss
of the animals which can be
caught by predators. If, as I
have heard, a squirrel was
caught by a dog because the
squirrel was inquisitive about
a trap, I would suggest that
the squirrel had dropped his
guard in a very unsquirrel-like
manner.
I was happy to note that you
do not believe that we own the
dogs. If I owned the dogs on
the campus, this problem
would never have arisen
because I would keep the dogs
on leashes or penned in an
area in accordance with the
existing leash laws. Thus the
squirrels would not have to
contend with this enemy.
I trust that the above
statement will satisfy the
group who are interested in
this matter. Be assured,
however, of my willingness to
answer any further questions
about these studies. I would
prefer, however, to hold a
public meeting if necessary
instead of answering anony
mous missives.
Sincerely,
Robert R. Bryden, Head
Biology Department
Bell Rung
The N.C. Utilities Commis
sion has turned down a
request from Southern Bell
which would have raised
phone rates. Commission
Chairman Marvin Wooten. in
announcing the September 18
decision, said Southern Bell's
Financial situation did not
warrant an interim rate
increase which would have
added about 65 cents to the
average customer's monthly
phone bill.
The denial came on a
motion from Assistant Attor
ney General 1. Beverly Lake.
December 5, 1974
Gay Thoughts
submitted by the Guilford Gay
Alliance
The hardest aspect of
coming out for a gay person is
probably wondering whether
the straight people of the
world will accept his or her
homosexuality. Hopefully, it
isn't too difficult to accept
oneself, but to be accepted by
others is something else to
think about. We don't want to
be thought of necessarily in
terms of our gayness. I don't
want my friends to look at me
and whisper to others, "Did
you know that he (or she) is
gay?" I want them to say to
me, "Hello, Friend!" How
many gays look at their
straight friends and whisper,
"Did you know that he (or she)
is straight?"
If you are unsure about
accepting homosexuality be
cause you don't think you
understand it, please try to
understand that it is no
different from heterosexuality
except in the sex that is
performed (easily enough
understood). Gays can have as
loving and valuable a
relationship as straights. After
all, we're all loving people,
aren't we?...
...What is "gay"? Gay is
having the best of friends from
both sexes, without the
inhibition of sexual attraction
... more later ...
... let's pull it all together,
and together we can make
such sweet music ...
Jr. who argued that the
Utilities Commission lacked
the legal right to give
Southern Bell an interim
increase. The September 18
decision did not effect Bell's
request for a permanent 32
percent hike in residential
bills along with higher
installation charges. The
Attorney General's office will
contest that $62.5 million rate
increase request when it is
scheduled to come before the
Utilities Commission early
next year.