The Banner, Vol. 28 No. 10 - November 5, 1982

              The
BANNER
Vol. XXVI, Issue 10
California Baptist College
Nov. 5,1982
CBC Explores
Death Valley
The Ecology class has once
again embarked and returned
on their twice annual field trip
to Death Valley. '
Under the leadership of
Robert Roth, Director of the
Life Science Dept., the class
was treated to the natural
wonders cf the area, which
bear names such as The
Devil's Cornfield, The Devil's
Golf Course, Ubehebe Crater,
and Mustard Canyon. They
were also exposed to the not-
so-natural wonder of Scotty's
Castle and the city of Furnace
Springs.
The trip actually began two
weeks before the Oct. 15
departure date, with the advent of intense study of the
area. During the two weeks the
class learned the Geology,
Geography, Ecology, and
History of Death Valley. Roth
feels this is an important part
of the trip adding, "Otherwise
it's just a desert."
However, even a momentary glance proves Death
Valley to be much more than
just a desert. For instance,
Devil's Golf Course, 200
square miles of wind blown,
razor sharp salt formations
1000 fet thick. For those not
interested in a 120 degree game
of satanic golf there is the
Devil's Corn Field, an area
where the wind has blown the
soil away from clumps of
weeds leaving eerily twisted
stands of vegetation.
Then there is Ubehebe
Crater, lovingly nicknamed
"The Eebegebee Crater," the
result   of  a   3000   year   old
volcanic blast. The 500 foot
deep half mile wide crater has
presented a challenge to all the
ten Ecology groups which
have traveled to Death Valley.
Contrasting the natural
wonder is Scotty's Castle, the
work of a flimflam man. Scot-
ty was a con man who went to
Chicago sporting stories of a
vast gold mine and gold to
boot. He obtained financial
backing from a banker for his
fictitious mine, which he
poured into a vast castle in the
desert. By the time the banker
caught on the massive house
was nice enough to become a
home for he and his wife.
Other unnatural beauty
awaited the group in Furnace
Springs where they were forced to shell out two dollars for
a can of oil.
All is not alluvial fans
however, such- as the 25
pounds of beef stew the group
of eighteen students managed
to devour in one sitting. Nor
the five dozen eggs, scrambled, eaten for one breakfast on
the three days two night trip.
The cooking was done on Coleman stoves by volunteers as
were the dishes.
Also on the menu was "a
ton" of other goodies with
which Roth had conveniently
stalked the three CBC vans
needed to carry the group and
their gear. "I have no idea
what kids today like," complains Roth, "so I take several
students to the store and stock
up."
Another bright spot in the
trips has been the attendance
of Math Professor, Cal Whorton, who drives the supply van
and amazes all with his
photographic expertise.
In a school plagued with
reports of student apathy and
low morale amongst professors, Robert Roth and his
Ecology Field Trips are truly a
breath of fresh aiir. Or as
Roth puts it, "It was a lot of
fun, we learned a lot, did a lot,
and saw a lot."
Next spring, the Ecology
Class will once again load into
vans and head for Death
Valley.
"■■'■■■'   ," ' <   '
Professor Roth prepares to tee off for a relaxing game of golf.
Argow Speaks on Disarmament
"Disarmament at the
JJ.N." was the subject discuss-
ed by Professor Dorothy
Argow in the Victorian Room
of the Library, at its monthly
series on October 28th.
Mrs. Argow, as President of
the United Nations Association Citrus Belt Chapter
(Inland Empire) and as Vice
President of the Southern
California Division of the
U.N.A., was chosen to represent those organizations as a
delegate at a unique event: the
gathering of the leaders of
most of the countries of the
world at the United Nations in
New York City for the Special
Session of the General
Assembly on Disarmament,
from June 7th to July 1st.
The conference afforded
Mrs. Argow an opportunity to
hear and meet many of the
world's leaders. In her talk she
described some of the leaders
and briefed their remarks.
Among the Presidents and
Prime Ministers who addressed the General Assembly were
Margaret Thatcher, Prime
Minister of Britain, who had
just experienced the British
victory in the Falklands Wars
and who felt the need for a
commitment to international
law; Chancellor Helmut
Schmidt of West Germany,
who favored a balanced reduction of missiles in Europe.
Prime Minister Suzuki of
Japan who urged the abolition,
of nuclear weapons to be
achieved through a series of
disarmament conferences;
Huang Hua, Foreign Minister
of  China,   who   stated   that
China would agree to aboli-
-tion-o£jiuelear- weapons if-tfeg
nuclear powers would reduce
their stockpiles by one-half;
Prime Minister Trudeau of
Canada, who expressed alarm
at the militarization of space,
and urged a freeze on the fur-
ther development of
technology in weaspons
related to biological and other
scientific developments that
threatened life on this planet.
President Sanchez of
Panama, who reacted to
Prime Minister Thatcher's
comments by seeking a summit meeting of Latin
American nations; Foreign
Minister Gromyko of USSR,
who made a dramatic pledge
that his country would never
be the first to use atomic
weapons,  and the heads of
government of the Scandinavian countires, who sought a
Europe, and many others.
Mrs. Argow was entertained
at the home of the Danish ambassador and at a luncheon
given by the head of UNICEF.
She described the reactions of
some delegations while
speeches were being given,
such as the lack of applause
mutually by the USSR and
U.S. delegations for President
Reagan's talk and Mr.
Gromyko's address, and the
walk-out of the Arab delegations when Prime Minister
Begin of Israel spoke, advocating a nuclear free zone in
the Middle East.
However, on the whole,
most of the nations seemed to
want to move ahead quickly
on the reduction and eventual
elimination of nuclear arms.
S
m
i
Obviously, reading is not a requirement for using a
blow torch.