Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / April 26, 1995, edition 1 / Page 5
Part of Meredith College Student Newspaper / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
April 26,1995 Campus News 5 Biology professor shares love of natural world compiled by Addie Tschamler Officials reported Mon day that 120 people remain unaccounted ,for after a bomb blew up outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The death toll rose to 83 as well, as rescue workers re covered the crushed remains of victims trapped in the day care center and Social Secu rity offices of the federal building. Officials said the number of dead could sur pass 200. While rescue workers contiue their search for vic tims within the federal build ing, the FBI continues to search for those who planned and carried out the bombing. There was a re port that a man resmbling “John Doe No. 2" and driv ing a car with Oklahoma plates had been seen at a drug store in Kannapolis, N.C. But just before midnight Monday, the FBI said the man was no longer a suspect. The search for John Doe No. 2 remains investigators’ top focus. Baylee Alman, known to the world from a photograph as the baby girl passed into the arms of a firefighter, was buried Monday. She died Wednesday after the bomb that blew up outside the fed eral building that housed the day care center in which she was kept. The day before the blast, she and her family had celebrated her first birth day. contributed by Melissa Mitchell like a mother duck with all her ducklings in tow, Dr. Janice Swab leads her botany students on a walk across campus. They look up; they look down. The flow of fascinating information about each new plant is continuous in Swab’s running commentary. Her en ergy comes from the total love of the natural world around her and espe cially the plant word. Swab’s love of science blossomed in high school in Lenoir, NC. For the twenty-two seniors who graduated with her, every science class had been taught by the principal. Swab says, “He really knew how to teach science.” This teacher’s influence led to her decision to major in some area of science in college. At Appalachian State Univer sity, she found that botany allowed her to work outside. Since there was no botany major, the choice was biology. She did her graduate work at the Uni versity of South Carolina and post doc toral work at the University of Texas. Flowering plants are her favorite area of study, and the study of rushes is her specialty. Swab has a passion for learning. She says, “I was a dedicated student in col lege. My father was paying my tuition, and I owed it to him to do my best.” However, she also says, “ 1 loved school! I loved learning! I still love learning!” Because of all this dedication, Swab finished all her degrees in seven years. She sees this love of learning as a common trait among all professors: “Our love of learning is the reason expectations are often unrealistic.” Swab has traveled to so many coun tries she can’t count them all. She knows it’s over thirty, with extended says in thirteen to fifteen countries. Although the natural world is the rea son for her travels, she sees her travels as an extension of her love of learning. She studies every aspect of each coun try she visits. Says Swab, “As long as 1 am learning, I do not care about the subject. It can be art, people, or poli tics.” The next country she and her husband hope to visit again is New Zealand. Swab says of New Zealand, “It’s one of the best countries in the world for all-around scientific study because of its unusual plants, birds, and geology.” Swab’s husband, Ed, is also a bota nist. They woric as a team — she is the scientist and he is the naturalist. She declares, “We are dangerous together! We go out to look around and don’t know when to come back.” Swab’s choice of leisure activities is an extension of her love of learning about the world around her. She says, “I love reading. I can never read enough!” In addition to reading, she enjoys running. She and Ed run two to four miles on weekdays and five to seven on weekends. Although many Meredith science majors see the need for a new facility. Swab can’t predict what will be done. She feels that “if this was a school with males, the science department would not suffer the indignities science re ceives at Meredith.” As for women is science, she sees some obstacles but does not feel that “society” limits women. She states, “Women can do it. ” She feels it’s about the “individual” and her dedication rather than a “societal problem.” When asked about the best and worst experiences she has had in other countries. Swab says she does not like to put it in those terms. Because of her knowledge of each country she visits. Swab views each experience dilfer- ently. She says, “Russia was easy. ” When she woriced in Russia, it was still the U.S.S.R. and she reports, “All the bota nists were women. The men were in charge, but the women did the work. ” On the other hand, for her the Muslim countries presented the greatest chal lenge. In this culture, the women are so protected that as a single woman traveling alone, she was considered “the worst sort of western woman.” see SWAB page seven Meredith alumni receive teaching awards by Clarky Lucas The Department of Education is celebrating because five recent Meredith graduates are nominated for the Sallie Mae First Class Teaching Award. Gaynelle Pratt, Anne Kelly Wood, Maria Napier, Donna Vulkelich and Amy Prairie work in the Wake County School System. These teachers are among 17 from Wake County to be nominated for this award. They will be honored by being presented to the Wake County ^ard of Education in May. The two nominees who will represent Wake County Pub lic Schools on the national level of the competition will be announced at this meeting. Superintendents of public school districts and officials from private schools can nominate one first year teacher for this award. The American Association of School Administration chooses the judges of the First Class Teacher Award. Nomi- Five Meredith graduates "perform outstandingly" in the field of education and receive the Sallie Mae First Class Teaching Award. nees for the award are evaluated on the basis of their instructional skills and interaction with students, faculty, staff parents and community. To be eligible for this award a can didate must be a classroom teacher for a grade K-12. The teacher must have began her teaching career after the start of January 1994, and be nomi nated by the superintendent. The nomi nee must have "performed outstand ingly" throughout her first year of teaching. Pratt graduated in the spring of 1994 as a biology major with K-6 certification. Wood majored in sociology and received K-6 certification. She gradu ated in the spring of 1993. Napier, a psychology major, par ticipated in the Cooperating Raleigh Colleges Program to receive her K-6 certification and graduated in the spring of 1993. Vukelich received certification in math.
Meredith College Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 26, 1995, edition 1
5
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75