March 27, 1980
The Pendulum
Page 3
You can learn physics
Chemistry made simple
by Prof. Frank Harris
About 10 years ago while
attending a professional
meeting, I overheard a faculty
member from another institu
tion say that the first course
in college physics is taught at
three levels: physics with
calculus, physics without cal
culus, and physics without
physics. The implication of
his remark was that students
for whom the third type of
course is desinged do not
have sufficient mathematical
skills to understand physics.
I did not agree with his
contention at the time and
now disagree to a greater
extent. We were then design
ing a course in college physics
for students whose main
interests lie outside the fields
of physics, chemistry, and
biology, and we were not
about to be discouraged by
anyone.
Our experience over most
of the last decade with our
course in physics (PHYSICS
101), as well as with its
sometimes volatile cousin in
chemistry (CHEMISTRY
101), is that physics and
chemistry can be understood
without reliance on a strong
math background.
Our basic objective has
been to present these subjects
in an interesting, understand
able, and enjoyable manner
to students with a bit of
Angyal speaks
Tri-Beta
by Janet Spoon
Fifteen students were in
ducted into Beta Beta Beta,
the biological honors society
last Wednesday. The pro
gram included the induction,
a dinner held on the second
floor of the Long Student
Center and a lecture pre
sented by Dr. Andrew Ang
yal.
Four active members in
ducted into Tri-Beta include
David Osborn, Hydu Bymer,
Bob James, and Julie Ble-
vens. Associate member in
ductees are Roger Bryant,
Lisa Foster, Glenda Fowler,
Brad Hearn, Julie Jones,
Cindy Koger, Nathan Pulk-
ingham, Kenneth Roach, Jan
curiosity, but requiring little
or no background in science.
Our approach stresses ther
ideas, or concepts, or physics
and chemistry rather than the
mathematical rigor of the
courses for science majors.
In Physics 101, we explore
topics such as celestial mo
tion, mechanics, energy,
heat, wave motion and musi
cal sounds, light (LASERS
and holography), electricity,
magnetism, atoms, and the
atomic nucleus. We do solve
problems in this course.
However, the solutions rarely
involve more than the sim
plest mathemtaics, but rather
require an understanding of
the concepts.
A typical problem goes
something like this: Suppose
you find yourself teetering on
the edge of a cliff, or on the
roof of a tall building with a
heavy history book in your
hands. As you are about to
fall, you remember how
physics can save you.
What law did you remem
ber, and how did you apply
it? We try to emphasize that
science, in general, and phy
sics, in particular, represent
creative human endeavors
whose practice is actually
based on the unprovable
assumption that a real phy
sical world exists indepen
dently of humans.
In Chemistry 101, we exa
mine the structure of matter
and the properties of matter,
also in a fairly non-mathe-
matical way. We have come
to realize that the natural
•world is a chemical world.
This means that chemistry is
very much part of daily
living.
An understanding of the
fundamental concepts of
chemistry enhances our abil
ity to comprehend important
issues relating to such areas as
energy and the enviroment.
f We hope that such under-
‘ standing can aid us in solving
some of our problems in these
areas.
In addition to Physics 101
and Chemistry 101, the De
partment of Physical Sciences
offers several other courses
designed primarily with the
non-science major in mind.
Astronomy (PHYSICS 102)
and basic photography (PHY
SICS 103) are taught in
physics on occasion, while
geology (CHEMISTRY 103)
and chemistry and society
(CHEMISTRY 201) are of
fered in chemistry. This sem
ester for the first time, a joint
offering entitled Energy and
the Way We Live (CHEM/
PHYS 271) is being offered in
the evening program. Of
these courses, only Physics
101, Chemistry 101, and
Chemistry 103 may be taken
to satisfy the portion of the
inducts new members
Suiter, William Tippett, and
Keith WeUs.
To be an active member, a
student must first serve as an
associate member. Associate
members must have a 2.0
average. Active members
must have a 3.0 overall
average and a 3.3 in biology.
Dr. Andrew Angyal, pro
fessor of English, addressed
the group on “Evolution and
Fossil Record.” He presented
a showcase of vertebrate
fossil remains which were
collected last summer while
he and his wife were on a
seminar trip to Nebraska.
Dr. Angyal is currently
writing a biography of Loren
Eiseley, an American scientist
and naturalist. Eiseley did his
first field work while he was
an undergraduate at the
University of Nebraska in the
early thirties. Dr. Angyal
spoke of the fossil record and
its part in collecting informa
tion on evolution.
This was the third annual
induction Tri Beta has held at
Elon. Beta Beta Beta honor
society is a national organiza
tion founded in 1922.
; .i
Dr. Martha Smitk, aaM>datc profeasor of Eglish, has been
promoted to full professor effective with the fall term 1980. Dr.
John Sullivan, philosophy, was also made professor. Dr. Smith
will be the second woman with the rank of professor now at
Elon College. Photo by Whitmore
10 sem. hr. math-science
requirement referred to as “a
four-hour laboratory science. ’
However, any of the other
courses listed above can be
used to satisfy any portion of
the remainder of the 10
semester hours required.
Faculty promoted
Six members of the Elon
faculty received promotions,
to begin with the next acade
mic year, in action taken by
the Board of Trustees at its
March 5 meeting.
Dr. Martha Smith, En
glish, and Dr. John Sullivan,
philosophy, were appointed
full professors. Promoted to
the rank of associate pro
fessor were Dr. Janie Brown,
physical education; Dr. David
Crowe, history; Dr. Carole
Troxler, history; and Dr.
Rudolf Zarzar, political
science.
The board granted tenure
to five members of the
faculty: Dr. Howard Higgs,
human services; Dr. Herbert
House, biology; Dr. James
Pace, religion, Dr. William
Rich, religion, and Dr. Law
rence Simon, education.
Carlysle Isley has been
appointed special assistant to
the president of the college.
He is moving from the
development office to respon-
siblity tor Alamance County
public relations, solicitation
of gifts from large corpora
tions, and other duties as
signed by President Fred
Young.
Dr. Jo Williams as director
of development will assume
full responsibility for that
office. Martha Stephenson
has resigned as grants coordi
nator to resume work toward
a doctor’s degree.
Journalists cont. from p. 1.
The second annual Mount
Airy News 10,000-meter run
and one mile fun run are
scheduled for Sunday, April
13, with Sunday, April 20, set
as the rain date.
Proceeds from the races will
go to the work of the Reeves
Y.M.C.A. Community Cen
ter in Mount Airy.
Requests for entry forms
should be mailed to:
RON
c/o The Mount Airy News
P.O. Box 808
Mount Airy, N.C. 27030
their own individual organi
zations to compete for office.
Barber said.
Role of Jonmalists
Thus, it falls to journalists
to perform the functions that
parties once did— evaluate
and recommend alternative
candidates and policies.
Journalists now decide
what issues and persons are
important on the national
political agenda, the political
scientist added.
“They affect judgements,
and by estimating the proba
bilities of success and failure,
they shape the public’s per
ception of the future.”
Barber said journalists in
the 1980 “stand out as better
educated than any previous
generation of newspeople, yet
their education is typically in
some standard academic dis
cipline such as English liter
ature, which did not always
prepare them adequately for
the variety of assignments
they would encounter.”
Barber said the social jour
nalism program will attempt
to counter such shortcomings
by using advanced social
science courses, as well as
some in the law, economics
and perhaps some scientific
disciplines “tailored to the
student’s anticipated areas of
journalistic concentration.”