duke univcusity ma6icM ccntau
On Valentine's Day, the staff cafeteria was the scene
of the Third Annual Employee-of-the-year awards and
what has become a significant and cherished tradition
in the Department of Dietetics here at the Medical
Center. The nominees for the awards were selected by
a committee of co-workers representing all areas of
Dietetics. After many weeks of study and discussion,
the committee prepared a slate with two categories of
nominees - the employee category and the supervisory-
off ice-cashier category. Then all full time employees
voted for one nominee in each category whom they felt
was the ideal employee. This year's nominees, shown
above, were: top row, left to right, Mrs. Gaynelle
Washington (Staff Cafeteria), Mrs. Lola Gilchrist (Pa
tient Food Service), and Mrs. Bertha McRae (Staff Cafe
teria); bottom row, Mrs. Carrie Johnson (Main Kitchen),
Mrs. Janie Butler (Patient Food Service), Mrs. Ruth
Suitt (Unit Services), and Mrs. Minnie Petty (Bake
Shop).
Before announcing the names of the winners. Miss
Dorothy Tate, Director of Dietetics told the assembled
employees and invited guests "people produce quality,
and in order to produce quality, these people must
possess certain necessary attributes,namely: a high
level of work proficiency; a positive attitude, and
an ability to work together with fellow employees in
a courteous,..friendly manner. It is to salute those
Dietetics employees who best display these five attri
butes that we are meeting here today." The winners
for this year were Mrs. Gaynelle Washington (left,
above) in the Employee Category and Mrs. Bertha McRae
(right) in the Supervisory-office-cashier category,
and each one was presented with a gold, engraved cup.
Mrs. Washington, a familiar face behind the cafeteria
serving line, is known to many of us for her sense of
humor and her uncanny memory of the names of the throngs
of other hospital staff members who file past her daily.
She is the mother of two sons; one is attending Hillside
High School, and the other is presently serving in the
U.S. Army. She has been a Dietetics employee for 15
years.
Mrs. McRae came to the Dietetics Department 10 years
ago and began working in the cafeteria coffee line.
She was later promoted to Relief Supervisor, and more
recently elevated to the position of Food Production
Supervisor. Her quiet, pleasant manner and her effect
iveness as a Supervisor have won for her the plaudits
of her co-workers. Mrs. McRae has one daughter who is
attending elementary school.
And what is it that has kept you happy at Duke for so
many years, INTERCOM asked? And both Gaynelle and
Bertha agreed that they have enjoyed their work, liked
the people they work with and that learning to work
with each person on an individual basis has been impor
tant to them. We, on the INTERCOM staff, salute the
nominees, as well as the winners, for their hard work
in providing quality dietary services to our patients,
visitors, and staff;
Trent Society Holds Meeting
On February 22, the Trent Society held its fourth
meeting of this academic year. The guest speaker
was Dr. Chester R. Bums of the Institute of the
History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins. His subject
was "Historical Aspects of American Medical Ethics."
The Trent Society is an informal club made up of stu
dents and staff members interested in the history of
medicine; the society is named for Dr. Josiah C. Trent,
whose collection of rare medical books is the basis
of the Historical Collection of the Medical Center
Library.
"In the past," Mr. Terence Cavanagh, Director of
the Medical Center Library, told INTERCOM, "Trent
Society guests have spoken on topics ranging from the
history of blood transfusions, all the way to a dis
cussion of Unicorns. One that created a lot of in
terest was called 'Politics § Pathology,' which was
about instances in which the illnesses of presidents
and emperors have affected the course of history...
And certainly the evening Dr. Genevieve Miller talked
about Unicorns was memorable. Unicom horns were
believed to betray the presence of poisons and it was
said that they could even combat poisonous effects.
"Queen Elizabeth, for instance, had a cup of unicorn
horn and when a wine was poured into it, if beads of
moisture appeared on it, the wine was poisoned. Uni
corn horns were naturally a very scarce commodity,
but in the Middle Ages there was considerable trade in
them. The fact is that the horns were actually from
the narwhal, a small Arctic whale, which had a long,
spiral pointed tooth. These syntHetic unicorn horns
were so rare and sought after that people became rich
by selling just two or three narwhal teeth in their
lifetime." For additional information on unicorn
horns or Trent Society lectures, contact Mr. Cavanagh
or Miss Susan Smith in the Medical Center Library.