Readers of this Blog realize that many of my
formative years as a university student were dominated by both the conflict in
Southeast Asia and the Civil Rights movement in the United States. In the meantime, I was just trying to be a
good student, complete my degrees and move on with my life--wherever that was
leading. I had a great time in graduate
school at the University of South Dakota (USD), met many nice fellow students,
had some interesting thesis field work in the “badlands,” and married a few
days after graduation in August 1967.
One item that stands out in my mind is the great abundance of ROTC
students on campus. Several officer
candidates were in my geology labs over the two years and many/most wanted to
head to Southeast Asia since that was the best route to promotion.
My next stop was at the University of Utah, a school
I picked since it was “close to the mountains.”
It was so near, in fact, that some classes walked to the exposures in
the western flank of the Wasatch Mountains.
It was a much larger institution than USD and a complete change for a
small town kid like me! Although in the
late 1960s Utah was almost a theocracy, the general attitude of the University
students was changing toward the war in Southeast Asia---from one of partial
support to one demanding withdrawal of troops.
In early 1968 the Tet Offensive was a series of attacks by the
Democratic Republic of North Vietnam against numerous cities and communities in
South Vietnam. The death of so many
people sort of stunned the US citizens and massive demonstrations occurred
across country. This sort of activity continued
during the years and months at Utah until I left in summer 1970. It seemed especially disturbing in May 1970
when four students were killed at Kent State University. At any rate, I had tried to remain a
conscientious student and immersed myself in research and studies---all the
while sending my grades and enrollment details to the local Draft Board in
Kansas.
I finished my field research in summer 1970 and
accepted a position teaching geology at Fort Hays State University in western
Kansas. The students at Fort Hays were
not as active politically, or so it seemed, as those in Utah but students were
greatly concerned about their future.
There was an underground sort of whispering among the faculty about
keeping students from receiving a failing grade. If they failed a single class their GPA
usually was not high enough to satisfy Draft Boards and they entered the
service of the United States. I had
nothing but respect for those who served, and tried to help assimilate
returning veterans into the University community. It was a tough time as the war lasted until
1975 although US troops had withdrawn earlier.
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| Google Earth image showing proximity of the Utah campus to the Wasatch Mountains. |
What does all this banter mean? Mostly that 1970-71 was somewhat of a
tumultuous time in my life. I started my
new job in August, although the first paycheck did not arrive until October 1
and it was tough to make expenses. I was
assigned to teach four courses: Invertebrate Paleontology, Sedimentary Geology,
Introduction to Geology, and Ground Water Resources of Western Kansas. The first three were reasonable; however, I
had never experienced a ground water course in my life! I spent tens of hours trying to keep ahead of
the students. In addition, I started
writing my dissertation as I came to Fort Hays ABD, an acronym hated by Ph.D.
students as it meant “all but dissertation.”
It was not the best situation but my fellowship had expired at Utah and
I badly needed a job---$9000 a year.
After rent, car payments, taxes, retirement investments, and health care
there was not much left. On February 9,
1971, my spouse finished typing the first draft of my dissertation (I never
learned to type although today I am a pretty speedy two-fingered word
processor) and the next day my son was born. But, we all survived.
Upon arriving at Fort Hays I knew little about
teaching as the Ph.D. is a research degree.
I had taught Intro to Geology at Utah but was just sort of thrown into
the class at the last moment when a faculty member received a big grant and
“purchased” his classroom release.
New faculty members at that time usually “taught as
they were taught.” Luckily I had some
great mentors at Utah where the geologists were pretty much field geologists
and took their students on many field trips.
So, about the first thing that I did at Fort Hays
was to plan for a field trip to eastern Kansas with the Invertebrate Paleo
class—Road Trip. Why this part of the
state? Well, I wanted to go in October
when the trees and grasses in the Flint Hills were at their finest colors, and
because the Permian and Pennsylvanian rocks provided world-class collecting of
invertebrate fossils.
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Piece of Biel Limestone showing weathered shells of
fusulinids. Width of rock ~10 cm.
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Photomicrographs showing internal structures of
fusulinids. Both circular (~4 mm) and
longitudinal (~6 mm) cross sections are shown.
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What are these ubiquitous Paleozoic fossils? They are single celled organisms that create
calcareous shells but lack tissues and organs and belong to the Phylum
Retaria. I usually shy away from fossil
classification schemes but believe it important that readers know the Retaria
contains the Radiolarians (siliceous shell) and the Foraminifera (mostly
calcareous shells). These single cell
organisms occur in all sorts of marine environments. The fusulinids are large (compared to most
other foraminifera) and generally shaped like grains of wheat. In fact, over the years I received many
visits from the general public wanting to know about their “fossilized wheat!” The fusulinids range from the Silurian to the
end of the Permian when they succumbed to the great Permian-Triassic extinction
event. But, during their “heyday” in the
Mississippian to Permian fusulinids often were excellent index fossils (age
indicators), were extremely common, and occurred in unbelievable numbers of
individuals. In some limestones found in
Kansas the shells compose most of the rock! My specimen is a part of the Biel
Limestone (Pennsylvanian).
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Productid
brachiopod ventral valve; Permian; Glass Mountains, Texas. Public Domain photo.
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The other rock that I want to emphasize in this
small Post is an extremely fossiliferous bed in the Matfield Shale (Permian).
Unlike the Biel Limestone specimen where a single species dominates, the densely
populated shale contains an impressive number of species. The Biel and Matfield are remnants of warm
tropical-subtropical waters associated with the late Paleozoic continental
marine waters. When these waters
retreated from North America, probably as the result of continental collision,
many of the invertebrate and single-celled animals that had existed for large
parts of the Paleozoic Era became extinct.
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Part of a large slab of shale collected from Matfield
Shale. D is large brachiopod named Derybia. Bry is a partial bryozoan colony. Productid brachiopods anchored their shells
in “mud” by large spines protruding from the shell. These broken spines make up much of the “fossil
hash” on the slab. Brachiopods are
bivalve animals and two valves articulate along a hinge line. Notice the projection labeled tooth along the
straight hinge line. The tooth fit into a socket on the other valve and helped
with articulation. That labeled valve
also has an arrow pointing to small knobs on which spines once attached. The upper photo shows a complete, although “smashed,”
specimen on a brachiopod named Composita. Most of Paleozoic brachiopods and bryozoans
became extinct at the Permian-Triassic extinction event.
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As for my comments about the troubles in both
Southeast Asia and various American universities, well they just automatically
pop up in my mind when I think about those early days. As I tell my children, it was a different
time!
When
you're weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
I'm on your side. When times get rough
And friends just can't be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
I'm on your side. When times get rough
And friends just can't be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Simon
and Garfunkel 1970
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