THE NOME NUGGET
Published Monday, Wednesday and Friday by The
NOME PUBLISHING CO.
Nome. Alaska
Telephone: Main 125 P. O. Box 613
$1.50 PER MONTH $16.00 A YEAR
W. A. and EMILY BOUCHER...Editors
Entered as second class matter October 14, 1943, at the postoffice at
Nome, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Friday, January 25, 1946
RESHAPING HIGHER EDUCATION
(Cincinnati Enquirer)
Throughout the country, university faculties are re
examining their curricula; and going beyond this they
are re-examining their entire approach to education. It
is not merely the sudden stimulus from the war and
the consequent overturning of our colleges which will
be found at the bottom of this re-appraisal of the uni
versitiy’s task. The studies leading to the now familiar
Harvard report on general education was begun several
years ago.
At Wooster College, one of the forward-looking smal
ler institutions of Ohio, a distinctive approach is being
undertaken. Plans for postwar education at Wooster call
for fundamental courses in the first two years and a
great deal for independent work in the last two years.
It is intended that juniors and seniors shall devote more
than half of their time to some major field, and largely
to independent studies within that major field.
In other word?, students are not to take mere
“courses,” but rather are to pursue a subject of primary
interest. They will have guidance and help from their
faculty members, but the work will be their own. On
graduation, the student should be able to tackle a prob
lem, dig into it, master the available material, and pre
pare an orderly, vigorous analysis, written in under
standable English.
This is a long step forward from the concept of a uni
versity as a department store of learning, where the
student could pass through lightly, picking a bit of in
formation off the shelf here and tjhere, and winding up
after four years with a ludicrous combination of unre
lated fragments of knowledge. Too often, the effective
system has led the unwary student into frittering away
his time in too many fiends, without ever mastering
any. The basic idea of the Wooster plan has much to
commend it.
POLIOMYELITIS STRIKES YOUNG
More than 75 per cent of all persons in this country
striken by polio are under 20 years of age. The average
annual expectancy of cases for each 100,000 persons in
the following age groups is:
Under 5 years, 34.4 cases; 5 to 9 years, 54.8 cases; 10
to 14 years, 30.4 cases; 15 to 19 years, 11.5 cases.
Of all persons in this country struck by polio, it is es
timated:
50 percent recover completely; 25 to 30 percent show
slight residual paralysis; 15 to 20 percent show marked
residual paralysis; 5 to 10 per cent die.
For the first time in thirteen years, the March of
Dimes, annual appeal of the National Foundation for
Infantile Paralysis, is being held January 14-31 without
the living presence of the man who inaugurated the
fight against infantile paralysis and became its symbol:
our late President, Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The cause for which he fought so valiantly is be
queathed to the American public. The fight is not yet
won. We must reinforce our strength and increase our
effort until final victory is achieved.
Join the March of Dimes, January 14 to 31.
Half of your contributions to the March of Dimes re
main with your local chapter of the National Founda
tion for Infantile Paralysis to be used for special equip
ment and care of polio patients. The other half goes to
the National Foundation for research, education and
emergency aid during epidemics.
Health is what people are always drinking to before
they fall down.
FRESH MILK THREE MONTHS OLD
A new method of quick-freezing whole milk is now
making it possible to serve wounded soldiers returning
from overseas cn Army hospital ships with brimming
glasses of the beverage as appetizing and as tasty as
any to be had on the farms of America, the War De
partment announced recently.
Although in some instances the milk has been kept in
the frozen state for three months, its taste is as fresh
as if it had just come from the cow and the bacterial
count is lower than that in the average milk supply of
most American homes.
This welcome and important addition to the diets on
i the hospital ships resulted from a series of researches
carried out by the Veterinary Division of the Office of
the Surgeon General.
Research workers found that if milk were frozen
slowly there was a tendency for the fat to be thrown
out of emulsion and precipitated so that the milk was
broken down into its constituent parts and proved un
satisfactory when thawed out.
However, if the milk were frozen with extreme rapid
ity at a temperature of 20 degrees below zero, Fahren
heit, it froze in very tiny crystals. As a result, when
thawed out, it was found to be in its original condition.
—Army Times.
. — ■ ■
PLANKS MADE OF EXCELSIOR |
That new house you are going to build as soon as mate
rial is available, now that the war is over, may be made
of excelsior instead of solid boards and planks sawed
out of big logs. A process for making planks out of ex
celsior and Portland cement has just been patented by
Armin Elmendorf of Winnetka, 111.
The excelsior, which may be made from such cheap,
low-grade timber varieties as cottonwood or aspen, is;
first immersed successively in sodium silicate and cal- j
cium chloride. These chemicals react together to pre
cipitate calcium silicate on the fibers; common salt, the
other product of the reaction is removed by washing.
The excelsior is then mixed with a concrete slurry,
molded to the desired dimensions, cured for a suitable
period in a moist room, and set aside to dry.
Rights in Mr. Elmendorf’s patent, No. 2,377,484, are
assigned to the Celotex Corporation.—Science Service.
BARGAINING BASEMENT
. -
HOLLYWOOD
CHITCHAT
By BOB THOMAS
Joan Fontaine, reclining in her
dressing room between shots of
“All Brides Are Beautiful,” was
looking lovely despite one of the
hottest days of the year.
| I took it personally. “How can
you stand to work on a day like
this?” I demanded.
“Me?” she said. “I love it! I was
born in the Orient, Where this
would be a cool day.”
Joan rises at 6:30 and reports
to work before the heat sets in,
and spends the day on a stage
which is usually pretty cool until
the late afternoon.
“Then I go home get some food
! and drive to the beach. I have din
! ner there. I build a fire and cook
j a steak or something. It’s really
wonderful down there. Then I
i drive home with the top down
and a symphony playing on the
radio. I get to bed about 11, when
it’s cool enough to sleep.”
Which is a nice life if you can
get it. On the week end, however,
things are a little more difficult
for Joan.
‘‘On Sunday I let all the serv
ants go because that’s the day I
want to be alone.”
But things don’t turn out that
way. Take last Sunday . . .
“About nine o’clock they started
coming. They buy those maps
which show all the movie stars’"
homes, and they decide to go call
ing on them. At nine two sailors
started ringing the doorbell. I saw
them through the window, so I
didn’t answer. Finally they went
away.
“A little later two bobby-sox
girls on bicycles showed up. They
rang the bell. Then I heard them
say, ‘I know she’s in there. Let’s
go around to the back and try.’’
So I had to go upstairs. I started
to read a book. I couldn’t even
play a radio because they would
know T was home.”
She sighed.
“I wanted to go out in the back i
yard in the afternoon, but when
I looked out, two soldiers were
reading newspapers on my veran
dah. Finally at six I was making
dinner. I had to go out to the veg
etable garden to get some chive.
I was caught. Two sailors were
there. They asked me: ‘What are
you doing?’
“I told them I was cooking din
ner. They asked if they could
come in and watch me. I managed
to turn them down.
“Then I settled down for a quiet
evening at home. The phone rang.
It was a sailor who had somehow
gotten my telephone number. He
tried to convince me that we had
had a torrid love affair some
where. He kept calling up all eve
ning until finally I had to take the
phone off the hook in order to get
some sleep.”
So you want to be a movie ac
tress, eh?
V
“Miss Susie Slagle’s” is about a
boarding house for young men
studying to be doctors at the near
by medical college.
It stars Veronica Lake as a
nurse. Sonny Tufts as a student
who wonders whether his farmer’s
hands are skillful enough for sur
gery, and Joan Caulfield as a pro
fessor’s pert daughter who pur
sues the willing Tufts.
The picture takes its name from
that of the boarding house and is
based on a novel by Augusta
Tucker. The prim but charming
proprietress is Lillian Gish, who
starred with her sister Dorothy in
silents and more recently per
formed for 77 weeks in the play,
“Life With Father.”
The well-told narrative is rich
in dramatic and humorous touch
es: the boisterous boarder who in
troduces the newcomers to Elsie, a
shapely painting on the bathroom
ceiling . . . The struggles to pass
exams. . . . Tufts’ operation on an
injured dog brought to the hospi
tal by a woeful boy.
For about 25 young players, in
cluding the beauteous Miss Caul
field, this is their first movie. She
played in two Broadway shows,
“Beat the Band” and “Kiss and
| Tell.”