Bethany College - Bethanian Yearbook (Bethany, WV)

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FRESHMAN LAB. BACTERIOLOGY BETHANIAN VIEWS THE BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT By George Northnip Biology at Bethany College has a unique history of its own. This particular history dates back to the year 1921 when a new professor faced a freshman class of Biology in w ' hich sat a young man who was to become a professor of Biology at this same college. It was Dr. B. R. Weimer as the professor, and W. J. Sumpstine as the freshman student. Since 1921 these two men have associated togeth- er as teacher and student, and finally as associate profes- sors. Now, in 1941, the Biology department consists of two professors, and five assistants, Betty Murphy, Martin Reiter, Dorothy Reynolds, Esther Mackey, and Raymond Rappaport are the assistants who act as helpers during laboratory periods, and who see that materials and equip- ment are always on hand. These assistants perform valu- able services as they are available during work periods in the various laboratories. The purposes or aims of the department professors arc to acquaint the student with the living world around him, and the fundamental dynamic life processes, to demon- strate scientific methods of approach to problem solution; to provide a training ground for the pre-medical student, and other professional fields. There are many professors of Biology in large universities to whom this department can point with pride as a product of Bethany; in fact the fields of medicine, research, laboratory technicians, and public health service have all drawn from Bethany ' s Bio- logy department. There are at present four rooms in use; one as a confer- ence room, one for an office and research room, and two laboratory rooms. There is a full line of equipment in each room; complete projection machines for lantern slides, and for sound or silent movies, microscopes for each individual to use; and all the supplementary equip- ment and materials for a scientific study of a range of subjects, from General Biology to Theoretical and Ad- vanced Morphological Biology. Almost one half of the present enrollment is taking some course in Biology this year. Of the 200 students taking Biology, the greater percent are freshmen, enrolled in General Biology. There is a special freshman laboratory where microscopic studies are carried on several hours each week. For the advanced students there is a special bacteriological laboratory which is well equipped for the directed studies. Future plans in- clude the addition of a small greenhouse where much more material will be available for use as specimens. As a special point of interest the discovery and excava- tion of a mastodon by the Biology department last year was of enough importance to merit a write-up in the Science magazine. This prehistoric animal was first dis- covered in the form of part of a skull bone by a steam shovel operator, who brought the queer specimen to the Biology professors for identification. After recognizing the bone as a part of some monstrous animal, the profes- sors with an excavating party of students went out and finally located most of the missing parts of the skeleton. The hills of Bethany were apparently part of the range of this particular mastodon. The fine natural environment of all the hills and woods around the college provides the various classes with opportunities for field trips, and makes available all sorts of animal and vegetable life which can be gathered or ob- served by the students themselves. There are regular field PAGE FIVE

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1 BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT The picture above is of the preparation of specimens for the Compara tive Anatomy course offered to upper division students of Biology and Pre-Medica courses.These cats may be purchased from biological supply houses but to keep then fijr the course which is offered in the second semester they must be injected with preservative, and left in formaldehyde until ready for use. The students will dissect an( study these cats and thereby gain an insight into the human anatomy as well as tha of the cat, as the cat and the human are similar. PAGE FOUR

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trips planned when the weather is pcrmissable, and these expeditions are complete with lectures by either Dr. Weimcr or Professor Sumptine. Dr. B. R. Wcimer obtained his degree of Dr. of Philo- sophy from the University of Chicago in 192 8, seven years after he became a professor at Bethany Col- lege. In addition to his duties as head of the de- partment. Dr. Weimer is the Dean of the Faculty ' , and serves on the County School Board. The text- book for General Biology now in use at Bethany, was written by Dr. Weimer in collaboration with P. D. Strausbough, Professor of Botany at Morgantown, Professor W. J. Sump- stine holds a Masters de- gree which was given him in 1930, and since then he has completed most of his work on the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Pitts- burgh under Dr. Jennings. Professor Sumpstine is also kept busy as Mayor of Bethany and as an amateur radio en- thusiast. In the past four years there have been thirty-five stu- dents graduated with majors in Biology. Among the most notable of these is William Montagna who provided most of the drawings in the textbook now used for Gen- eral Biology. Dorothy Reynolds used the micrograph, an instrument for taking pictures of microscopic biological specimens, to take a picture of an amphioxus. The amphioxus is the lowest form of cordate and, if Darwin be correct, may be considered the ancestor of the fish and as such would be the ancestor of birds, reptiles, animals of all types, and, of course, the genus homo. DR. B. R. WEIMER— Head of Department PAGE SIX