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College
Volume XLVIll, Number 2
November 1988
Curriculum Changes Considered
Did You
Know?
By Jenny Caine
Did you know that some girls at SMC
have taken time out of their schedules to
volunteer at Governor Morehead School
and at Hillhaven?
Hillhaven is a convalescent center on
Wade Avenue. The volunteers go every
Wednesday from 6:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.
They talk to the elderly and share ideas
With them. In turn, the elderly are always
eager to share their stories with the volun
teers. They are very delighted to see the
students come and look forward to seeing
them again.
Governor Morehead is a school for the
blind. The staff emphasizes-theJmportance
of these young adults to get out and enjoy
the world. One way to accomplish this is
through the volunteers. One of the volun
teers, Cathy Thompson, says, “We give
them someone to talk to around their own
age." Meg Tuttle, another volunteer, says,
"Some of them even feel confident about
sharing their stories about becoming hand-
'capped, and they seem to feel better after
talking about it.” The Governor Morehead
students are introduced to others and
therefore learn how to adjust to them. The
'volunteers, also, enjoy spending time with
the handicapped students. Angie Polk ob
serves, “It’s fun helping them out; it's like
having a little sister. I think we need to stay
'onger than just one hour a week.”
Throughout SMC there are a number of
helpful organizations. These two volunteer
Pv^ograms are not only educational for the
SMc students, but also for the blind stu
dents and the elderly.
By Carlyle Herbert
A new proposal regarding changes in the
curriculum for college students here at
Saint Mary’s has been drawn up. This
would allow students to follow one of four
tracks of study for the Associate of Arts
degree. These tracks were designed to
allow the students more flexibility and an
opportunity to begin studying in their prop
osed areas of interest.
The Humanities track was designed for
careers based on majors in English, jour
nalism, history, pre-law, business, foreign
language and communications. A few of
the required courses would be six hours of
Western Civilizations or British History, En
glish Composition, World or British Litera
ture and Art History or other suggested Fine
Arts Courses. In addition to these and other
requirements, the students are allowed
seven to fifteen hours of electives.
The American Studies Track is
suggested for students interested in pursu
ing majors in political science, pre-law, bus
iness, education, history and the social sci
ences. A few of the courses that should
be taken are six hours of American Litera
ture, American History, Religion or
Philosophy, and Math or Science. As well
as these and other courses, there are ten
to twelve hours of Electives.
The next track centers on Math, Science
and Health Careers. In order to complete
this track a student must complete six hours
of Math, English Composition, History and
Religion. In addition the student must have
eight hours of Chemistry, six to eight hours
of additional Math and Science, and twelve
to sixteen hours of electives.
The last track is for students planning to
major in art history, architecture, interior
design, fashion, music, art, education,
drama, music education and music. The
Fine Arts Track requires six hoursof En
glish, Math or Science, History, foreign lan
guage and a social science. In addition to
these and other courses students chose
an area of concentration in one of three
areas. First, the Visual Arts Concentration
requires nine hours of studio art and seven
to nine hours of Electives along with other
courses. The Drama Concentration re
quires two specific Drama courses, one in
art, seven to nine hours of Drama Electives, .
and seven to nine hours of other Electives.
The third concentration centers on Music.
Specific art and music courses, an applied
music each semester, three to seven hours
of Electives, and other courses are required
to concentrate in this area.
At this time none of this information is
definite. It also does not contain all of the
required courses or specific information
about them. Any questions should be di
rected to the Dean of the College, Dr. Wat
son.
Sarah Dawsey Lends A Hand To Sea Turtles
Sarah Dawsey — A helping hand for
sea turtles.
By Michele Baba
Unlike many teenagers who spend their
summers sunbathing and watching soap
operas, Sarah Dawsey, a college freshman
from McClellanville, South Carolina, de
votes her time to the preservation of the
threatened loggerhead sea turtles.
Sarah became involved with the Wildlife
Refuge Program three summers ago.
Working on Cape Remain Island, Sarah
and her colleagues set up hatcheries for
the thousands of eggs which are laid each
year. Along with monitoring the hatcheries,
the work also consists of temperature re
cordings. Since sand temperature deter
mines the sex of the turtles, constant
monitoring gives the workers a rough esti
mate of the percentage of male and female
turtles.
In order to increase the chance of survi
val for this species, the eggs must be pro
tected from ocean water, raccoons, sand
crabs, and human poachers. How neces
sary are the efforts of Sarah and people
like her? Without their help each year, it is
estimated that only one percent of the eggs
would survive. Thus conservational meas
ures are very vital. Even with the help of
Sarah and others, many of the hatchlings
released are killed by seagulls and fish.
But Sarah remains undaunted. She hopes
to become a wildlife biologist who special
izes in endangered species. Without hesti-
tation, Sarah says, “It’s the only job I’ve
found that I feel I’m really making a differ
ence.” Such concern for her work keeps
Sarah going even though the sea turtle
population is still declining.
The pressing question is, “Will the efforts
of today have a positive effect on the fu
ture?” While that question is presently un
answerable, initiative and dedication like
Sarah’s will hopefully give these threatened
turtles a better chance for survival.
Spotlight on Mrs. Bunch
By Sheri Roberson
^^rs. Bunch is a valuable part of almost
®''ery girl’s life at St. Mary’s. She is most
'valuable to high school seniors and college
®°Phomores in selecting their future plans.
has many books, catalogs and com
puter programs to help girls plan their later
®PiJcation and later careers.
^rs. Bunch has been at Saint Mary s for
years. She attended Meredith College
her undergraduate studies. University
North Carolina for her graduate studies.
North Carolina State University for her
Post-graduate studies. Her daughter at-
®Pded Saint Mary’s.
Nirs. Bunch advises all students planning
further their education to have at least
PPe application sent by December 1. Apply-
'Pg to "too many” colleges before shopping
P'^ound can be a “confusing and draining
experience. Students should make their
own decisions based on the information
they have gathered rather than relying on
their parents because the “student ulti
mately has to live with the decision and
therefore it should be their decision.” She
advises all faculty advisors, counselors and
parents to avoid making the final decision
for the student. She adds that it is not
necessary for students to decide their
careers between the ages of 17 and 21.
Students should “keep their options open”
because there are many jobs out there.
The Guidance office has many sources
to help each girl make her decision. The
Dictionary of Occupational Titles is a
book published by the U.S. Department of
Labor which classifies occupations. This
book has many classifications that do not
have titles, which allows the expansion
and creation” of new occupations. For this
reason, students are advised to keep their
options open.
The Occupational Outlook Handbook
is also helpful in selecting a career. This
book tells about the nature of each career,
statistics of employment, earnings, related
occupations, and a prediction about the
career’s future.
Each girl should choose an area that she
enjoys. A job should be selected based on
her interest, not salary alone. It is possible
a salary will change in the future and she
will be stuck in an unhappy job. This is one
of the biggest decisions a girl will make in
her life. This decision should be made care
fully and not hastily. Mrs. Bunch says that
she hopes “every girl will be able to return
a blessing to the world for the blessings
that she has received.”
Mrs. Barbara Bunch is ready to
students make college plans.
help