NEWS
OXFORD COLLFCJH
OF
FMORY LMX FRSITY
Oxford, Georgia
Two years of an Emory education
in a small college atmosphere
“The Best of Both Worlds”
Visitation Days: Oct. 19, Nov. 16, Feb. 1
Contact the Office of
Admission & Financial Aid
for more information
l-404'784'8328 (727-4390 Atlanta area)
Planned
Faierlhood
Clinic
MaurIne ShiElds
What in the Wolid is the Gnomon?
KrIstInE JohNSON
staff writer
As you’re walking around campus
and pass that mysterious modem sculp
ture between Hill House and the PEC,
have you ever wondered why it’s there
and what it means?
Did draids, thousands of years ago,
conduct a long and tortuous journey to
this spot on the North American continent
to erect a monument of religious signifi
cance? Did aliens construct a statue as the
cover for an intelligence base through
which they could observe an unique
society of humans, who often say peculiar
things? Really, no.
Sorry to disappoint you, but the
mysterious sculpture is actually younger
than NCSSM. In 1984, the NC Arts
Council selected NCSSM as the site for a
piece of modem sculpture. NCSSM was
chosen, stated Joe Liles, because “As a
new campus, we were progressive and
open-minded enough that we would
support a piece of innovative sculpture.”
A selection committee including Braughn
Taylor (then a teacher of sculpture at
UNC), and Arts Council members
discussed the proposals submitted by
local professional sculptors.
After interviewing the artists and
viewing their models, the committee
began the difficult process of final
selection. The final three choices included
a giant brass crossbow ajmed at the
heavens to be placed in the traffic circle
before Watts building, a floating geomet
ric sculpture casting colored shadows in
the biological pond, and a miniature
Stonehenge solar/star measuring device to
stand in the courtyard of the auditorium to
be constmcted in the parking lot behind
Bryan Center. The selection committee
chose the miniature Stonehenge, Gnomon,
designed by local sculptor Tom Sayre.
Sayre discussed with students and
faculty the constmction of his proposal,
the design of astronomical angles, and the
design of any markings to be placed on
the sculpture. He thereby completed the
design, a synthesis of his professional
skills, the ideas of students and faculty,
and the individual personality of NCSSM.
On May 22, 1985, a crane lifted and set
into place three concrete slabs that had
been previously poured and left to dry at
the site. Only gravity holds the slabs in
position. While resting upon the ground,
they also lean upon each other, attached
by only one weld at the peak of the
sculpture.
Although Gnomon is a simple
stmcture, it provides NCSSM with a
mathematical link to the heavens. The
two side pieces are exactly the same size.
Sayre derived the angle design of each
piece and its position within Gnomon
from the site’s location relative to the
magnetic north and south poles of the
earth. The middle slab rests in a north-
south position and its top edge always
points to Polaris, the north star. When a
shaft of sunlight enters the slit in the front
of the sculpture (the side facing the pit),
falling directly of the middle piece, the
sun is directly overhead and the time is
exactly noon. The length of the noontime
shadow of the middle piece changes
during the year. The shadow reaches its
greatest length on the winter solstice and
its shortest length on the summer solstice.
The shadow extends to a median length of
these extremes on the autumn and spring
equinoxes. If three markers corresponding
to the three lengths were placed behind
the middle piece, the sculpture could
herald the seasons.
Alt Dept Offers Elements of/ili?
staff writer
During NCSSM’s Sexuality Week,
representatives from Planned Parenthood
led discussions about relationships.
However, birth control never came up as
a topic of conversation. With questions
lingering in students’ minds, it was
obvious that more information was
necessary to make students fully aware.
Planned Parenthood of Orange
County is opening a new clinic at 820
Broad Street. Patients should be seen
starting in mid-December, on weekdays
and Saturday mornings. These are only
tentative plans, so students should call the
clinic at 419-8081 for more definite
information.
The clinic will offer gynecological
examinations, birth cpntrol, pregnancy
testing and counseling, STD screening
and testing, and consultations. Both males
and females will be seen. For services not
available at the clinic, referrals will be
available. All patient information and
services are kept strictly confidential.
Fees for services vary. A sliding
scale based on income determines costs.
Special student rates are offered. The
clinic’s goal is to make it available and
affordable to everyone.
The clinic staff is friendly and open.
Call for arranging appointments and
receiving specific information. Planned
Parenthood is opening this new clinic
with the hopes of providing advice and
medical services to everyone.
AMAiNdA Pearson
staff writer
Elements of Life is the title of this
year’s artistic extravaganza. The project
consists of three stained glass windows.
Elements of Life is broken down into three
regions: a water scene, a sky scene, and
an earth scene.
“So many students, faculty, and staff
feel like they devote most life to school
and yet, most of the time nothing physical
will remain behind. This stained glass
project will allow members of the school
community to make a contribution that
will always be here.”
Joe Liles chose this project because it
would give visual beautification to the
drawing room. The drawing room is the
only room that most visitors see. This
project will aid in making the drawing
room more of a focal point while giving
visitors incentive to look further around
the art studio. The windows will also
provide beautiful, artistic inspiration for
students working in the studio.
The team of people working on the
windows consist of NCSSM art students,
Joe Liles, Elizabeth Moorman, and Arlen
Custer, a local stained glass artist. Once
the windows are finished, the art depart
ment intends to throw a big party with a
guest list consisting of legislators,
members of the N.C. Arts Council, the
arts and educational community,' and all
students of NCSSM.
This project is very expensive. The
art department has already spent three
hundred dollars on a variety of glass for
the windows. Fortunately, the Ntwth
Carolina Arts Council, a state agency, is
sponsoring the project through a grant,
part of which will pay Arlen Custer for
his effort on the project. Also, the SRC
corporation of Research Triangle Park is
providing the money for all the glass and
supplies.
Anyone who is interested in helping
with the windows is invited to come and
contribute to the project.
Air and Water make up two of the three stained glass windows to he built this year.