The faculty of Salem College yielded to the
forces of change and voted by an overwhelm
ing majority to adopt the 4-1-4 curriculum pro
posal. After hearing the proposal presented at
Tuesday night's dinner meeting, approximately
80% of the faculty cast ballots on Wednesday.
Of these, 94.5% favored the plan.
After years of study, months of meetings,
and thousands of words, 4-1-4 will go into
effect in September, 1971.
The faculty met Tuesday night,
May 12, to hear a report of the
findings of the Curriculum Commit
tee on the 4-1-4 proposal. Basically,
the program is planned as follows:
32 courses, four Physical Educa
tion courses, and four January
programs are required for gradu
ation. A minimum of six courses
are required to complete a major.
A minimum of six courses are re
quired in electives.
Basic Distribution requirements
are a maximum of 15 courses. The
Basic Distribution requirements
have been re-grouped in English,
History, Foreign Language, So
cial Sciences, Mathematics, and
Fine Arts - Religion - Philosophy
categories. Proficiency standards
exams will be given to incoming
freshmen. Any student who can
pass the exam satisfactorily will
not be required to take the maxi
mum number of basic courses.
Faculty members will teach three
courses in each semester. A
January Director will be chosen
who will be in charge of all the
January programs. He will teach
two courses per semester.
Students in Elementary Education
will be given the opportunity to
take Children’s Literature and
Fine and Practical Arts, two re
quired courses, in the January
program. This will give them the
opportunity to take elective
courses in the regular sessions.
However, no one can be required
to take any specific course in the
January session.
LH
Column XLXI
RIDES AGAIN
FOR THE LAST TIME THIS SEMESTER.
Salem College, Winston-Salem, N. C., Friday, May 15, 1970
Number 4
NS-610 On Campus
Will Weed Warfare
Bring Silent Spring?
This songbird, an adult male Towhee, was found dead on the
Salem campus the day following a heavy application of weed
killer NS-610.
By Catharine Cooper
Approximately two weeks ago on
Tuesday, April 22, the Salem cam
pus lay under what smelled to be
a form of gas warfare. However,
this was not the case. It happened
to be the day -when weedkiller is
put out along the walks to keep
weeds from growing up between the
bricks. Practically all discomfort
caused by the withering smell lasted
only one or two days, but can we
be sure that this was the full ex
tent of the chemical’s side effects?
Penny Mitchell, a senior day stu
dent, was upset to find a dead song
bird, a male Towhee, lying on the
edge of the sidewalk the day after
the spraying. Her conclusion was
that the bird could have possibly
eaten an insect on which the
spray had fallen. A dead squirrel
was also reported. Mr. Holder,
If You Want It, Here It Is,
Come And Get It!
The assembly set-up for next year
has been reconstructed. An attempt
has been made to form a coherent
program rather than a program
made up of a variety of speakers
with nothing in common and no
follow up. The year has been di
vided into four parts with a special
area of interest for each section.
Each area should be of contem
porary interest to students, and
should prove to be a new way of
looking at something so that every
student will be interested.
The first division covers Septem
ber and October. Its theme is con
temporary mediums of expression.
Assemblies during this time will in
clude classical, electronic, and pop
ular music; art; and dance. These
assemblies will explain how these
art forms are expressed in con
temporary mediums.
The second division goes from
November until just before exams.
This assembly section will deal with
fantasy. They will cover the new
psychology, ESP, dreams, drug
trips, and perhaps, science fiction.
There will be discussions on What
is fantasy? What is reality?; on
the differences of each to different
people and different societies; and
on the idea of fantasy as reality
and reality as fantasy.
The third division covers from
the beginning of second semester
to spring break. During this time
the theme of the assembly will be
comedy. The contrast between
comedy and drama will be treated
along with the relationship of the
two. A theatre group will perform
and it is hoped that Pierrettes will
do a reading theater. The Dietz’
have been asked to return. Old
comedy films such as Charlie Chap
lin will probably be shown.
An application has been made to
the S & H Green Stamp Company
for a grant of $2,000. If the grant
is given, the fourth section of as
semblies will deal with the Women’s
Liberation Movement. Topics will
include such things as abortion, the
role of women in education, the role
of women in a business society, the
legal implications of women’s liber
ation, and the formation of new
groups of women’s liberation on
college campuses. It is hoped that
Roxanne Dunbar will come speak.
In addition to this new set-up, the
idea of fewer required assemblies
will be on a trial basis next fall.
It is hoped that if the assemblies
are interesting enough and if there
is enough publicity, students will
want to come whether or not the
assemblies are required.
whose job it is to put out the
chemical, said that always within
half an hour of the time he starts
spraying, he has a headache.
The compound that was used be
longs to a family of chlorinated
hydrocarbons recently made notori
ous by one of its other members—
the insecticide DDT. The poten
tial danger of this group of com
pounds lies in the fact that chlori
nated hydrocarbons are difficult to
degrade. They do not readily break
down to be harmlessly dispersed in
tissues, but are retained and built
up in their original toxic form. The
specific compound used here, NS-
610, consists of a substance called
2, 4-D and an even larger percent
age of another substance very simi
lar to DDT.
While the NS-610 container lists
warnings against contamination of
irrigation and domestic water sup
plies and drift onto croplands, it
gives practically no instructions as
to safe mixing. “Dilute one to two
gallons of NS-610 with sufficient
water to give good coverage.” The
ratio of mixture to water used at
Salem was one to twelve, according
to Mr. Holder.
Whether the dilution was suf
ficient and whether the compound
is harmful to animal life are ques
tions largely up to speculation and
varying opinions have been ex
pressed. An employee at Stratford
Garden Center stated that to his
knowledge, the compound 2, 4-D is
not in any way harmful to animal
life and that its generic relationship
to the harmful chlorinated hydro
carbon family does not necessarily
mean that it too is dangerous. Mr.
Jack White, Administrative Assis
tant to the President, indicated
essentially the same thing and
added that the same chemical has
been used for years with no bad
effects.
On the other hand. Dr. James
Buchanan of the Chemistry Depart
ment feels that the known difficul
ties m degrading these particular
compounds, added to the unusually
strong odor, justify at least investi
gation and possibly a change in
chemicals altogether.
Supporting this stand is Dr.
Samuel S. Epstein in the April is
sue of Chemical Engineering and
News. Although he says that in
criminating data on 2, 4-D is “far
less conclusive” than that for some
other related chemicals. Dr. Ep
stein suggested suspending sucli
herbicides ‘under any circumstances
in the environment.”
It seems that such expressed
doubts would substantiate a change
in tactics in the weed war, especi
ally here on our beautiful campus
where there is so much to lose.
Board Approves Plan
For Pres. Committee
The Executive Committee of the
Board of Trustees approved on May
6 the forming of a committee to
nominate a new president for Salem
College.
The Presidential Nominating
Committee will be composed of nine
members: one Salem College stu
dent, two members of the Salem
College faculty elected by the fac
ulty, one Salem College Alumna
Trustee, one Salem Academy
Alumna Trustee, and three other
trustees. Mrs. Laura Nicholson and
Mr. James Bray will represent the
faculty, and Legislative Board ap
pointed Fran Hicks as student
representative.
As soon as the other members
are selected, the Nominating Com
mittee will meet. First they will
determine the qualities they will
seek in a new president for Salem.
Later they will submit their nomi
nation.