Volume XWII, Issue 10
Educating Women To Excel
April 7» 2004
Meredith professor supports consortium in Kenya
to form new biology course
KRISTA KEARNEY
Features Editor
John Mecham, professor
of biology at Meredith,
spent a portion of winter
break in Kenya working
with faculty from four
other colleges to support a
consortium aiming to build
a new biology course at
each school.
Mecham worked with
professors from Bennett
College, North Carolina
Wesleyan, University of
South Carolina-Sumter
and Kenyatta University,
located in Kenya. The
course, "Life Science in
Context: Sub-Saharan
Africa," will be an intro
ductory biology course
designed to attract women
and minorities to the field.
The course will adapt to
Meredith’s
Weekly
Weather
WEDNESDAY APRIl 7
Mostly Sunny
High 76/ Low 55
THURSDAY april 8
Showers
High 71/Low 47
FRIDAY
Mostly Sunny
High 691 Low 42
SATURDAY APRll to
partly Cloudy
High 64/Low 47
SUNDAY APRil II
Showers
High Low SS
MONDAY APRIL 12
Rainy
66/ Low 4S
TUESDAY APRIL 13
Showers
High 63/ Low 44
and implement the
Science Education for
New Civic Engagements
and Responsibilities
(SENCER) model.
Mecham has applied for
a grant from the National
Science Foundation to aid
in funding for the project.
If the grant is accepted, the
course could be on the
schedule at Meredith as
soon as fall 2005.
"This course will help
reach this goal by provid
ing experiential, inquiry-
based learning and mean
ingful opportunities for
civic engagement that pro
mote cultural and gender-
based sensitivity and
understanding," Mecham
reported.
photo courtesy John Mecham
Professor Mecham works alongside Benson Njoroge in Kenya
KICK HW/ATC
OUT OF
KENYA
i
photo courtesy John Mecham
Owino and Mecham outside AIDS control unit
at Kenyatta University.
While in Kenya,
Mecham was able to speak
with people affected by
parasitic infections such as
filariasis and schistosomia
sis, which affect a large
percentage of the popula
tion in Kenya. Mecham has
studied tropical parasitic
diseases for many years
and was excited to see the
effects in person.
Interpreters aided in inter
views with Kenyan natives
suffering from tropical dis
eases.
Mecham worked closely
with Dr. Phillip Owino, a
plant pathologist at
Kenyatta University during
the trip. Owino and
Mecham met in 2002 and
again in 2003 in California
at the SENCER Institute.
Owino directs the
HIV/AIDS control imit at
Kenyatta University. While
at the xmiversity, Mecham
conducted a workshop on
the application of a test for
counting human white
blood cells that are target
ed by the HIV virus.
Owino visited Meredith,
as well as Duke University
and several area high
schools, last week with the
Talanta Puppetry Troupe
from the AIDS Control
Unit at Kenyatta
University. The troupe
consists of Gilbert Asoka,
Jack Omondi, and Joab
Onyango. The group visit
ed four classes on campus,
performing their educa
tional puppet show. The
group conducted work
shops on using puppetry
for social change, and
hosted forums on the AIDS
epidemic in sub-Saharan
Africa.