BLOOMSBURG STATE COLLEGE
Bloomsburg
Pennsylvania
Anthropology Newsletter
Vol. 2, No. 1
September, 1977
Department of Philosophy/Anthropology
Happy Autumn! Enjoy the cool air, the colors of fall, and the first issue
of the Anthropology Newsletter for 1977-78. And meet our student editors:
Steve Styers, Marj Witmer, and Mike Williams. Steve is a senior with a
double major in English and Soc/Anthropology from Mifflinburg RD. He is
a science fiction buff who has seen Star Wars eight times (Watch for his
article on Star Wars as Anthropology!)
Marj is a senior Soc/Anthropology
major from Lancaster. She comes to us from Biology and Theater and is
looking forward to graduate work in anthropology. Mike is interviewed below
in our new feature on Soc/Anthropology majors. Dr. Minderhout will work
with them to produce the newsletter monthly.
We must be doing something right • • • 462 students have registered for
the 12 anthropology courses this fall, an all-time record number at BSC.
(The previous high was around 420.) As might be expected, the 46.100
course is the most popular with 240 students in four sections. This
probably reflects the fact that 46.100 has finally been given general
education status. However, the large number of students is not a cause
for rejoicing, since the services of the three anthropologists can offer
are stretched accordingly. Subsequently, the anthropologists will request
a fourth staff member to meet the needs of expanded enrollment.
Course Offerings - Spring 1978. Please note the course offerings in anthropology found on page 24 of the Master Class Schedule. The courses offered
are:
46.100 General Anthropology - 5 sections
46.200 Principles of Cultural Anthropology - 2 sections
46.320 Contemporary World Cultures
* 46.332 Personality & Culture
46.340 North American Indians
46.440 Language & Culture - 2 sections
Please note that 46.332 is omitted from the Master Class Schedule, However
it will be taught MWF at 2 by Mr. Solenberger. This course is being
offered in the anthropology division for the first time. The course will
deal with cultural determinants of personality as well as anthropological
contributions to cross-cultural psychiatry.
We also highly recommend Dr. Greenwald's Sociology of Science course, (45,476)
TuTh, 11-12:15. This course can be used to meet the 30 credit requirement
for a Soc/Anthro major.

M.A.N. Club News The Man and Nature club after a period of interest in
ecology and social problems seems to have returned to its original purpose
of a decade ago of local archaeology. At present there is a small but
active group working with members of the Field Archaeology course (46.301)
in clearing and excavating the prehistoric Indian site on the banks of the
Susquehanna near Northumberland. Anyone who is interested in archaeology
may join a Saturday excursion to the site by coming to the Boyer Garage
Building (Nursing Dep't) at 8 a.m. Wear old clothes and bring a bag .lunch;
tools will be provided. The group will return to the campus around 3:30
p.m. M.A.N. club members get to keep what they find. In recent weeks
several projectile points and pottery sherds have been uncovered dating
over a thousand year period.
The club meets regularly to compare artifacts, view slides, and work out
plans. If you are interested in the club or the Saturday excavations,
contact the club officers, including Donald R. Beaver, president; Raymond
Tribendis, vice-president; and Marian Durkes, secretary/treasurer.
1977 Summer Archaeology Field Trip 28 students (including 7 anthropology
majors) left BSC Monday May 16 on a field excursion to the American
Southwest. This 3 credit trip (as 46.320) included visitation of 33 points
of interest such as the great archaeological complexes at Canyon deChelly,
Chaco Canyon, Wupatki, and Casa Grande; natural wonders such as the Grand
Canyon, the Painted Desert, and the Petrified Forest; and several Indian
reservations. Tour members also enjoyed the historic surroundings of Tombstone, Arizona (Gunfight at the OK Corral), the serene old charm of Santa
Fe, New Mexico, and a trip into the Mexican border town of Juarez.
Presently, plans are being made to return again to the American Southwest
this coming May with a slightly different itinerary and with prospects of
a somewhat better organized endeavor. See Mr. Reeder if you are interested
in next summer's excursion or if you would like to see slide pictures from
the 1977 tour.
Book Review As a new feature we would like to briefly synopsize a book
each month in the newsletter. Some will be anthropological classics.
Others will be recent books. The feature this month is Ruth Benedict's
Patterns of Culture, originally published in 1934. This book has been
one of the most influential books in anthropology and until recently was
a standard text in an introductory course like 46.200 at most colleges.
The book was remarkable in its time for stating that cultures were not
unorganized conglomerations of isolated traits, but were highly organized
into wholes. Certain themes in cultures served to integrate the behavior
of the group in all aspects of human interaction, a point copiously
illustrated from examples from three cultures: the Pueblo Indians, the
Indians of the NW coast, and the ~eople of the island of Dobu. The book
emphasizes many n~w familiar themes in anthropology, such as the diversity
of cultural behavior, and is highly recommended to anthropology majors.
Anthropologists are people too ••• Anthropologists as a whole are fervently
committed to their science ("Anthropology is a way of life, not an occupation."DJM). The anthropologists at BSC are no exception. However, they do have

outside interests which they are always happy to talk about. Mr. Solenberger
is an active hiker and backpacker. He belongs to the Alpine Club of Williamsport, which conducts hikes within driving distance of_ Bloomsburg and maintains
the Loyalsock Trail, a 57 mile bl~zed trail. Any students interested in
hiKing or overnight back-packing should see Mr. Solenberger. Reeder and
Minderhout are avid pro footbal enthusiasts who ritually meet every Monday
night during the football season to watch games. In addition, Mr. Reeder is
an excellent golfer (he won two tournaments at Frosty Valley Country Club
this summer) and an "enthusiastic" hunter who probably enjoys the ambiance
of being out on a fall day observing animals as much as the actual hunting.
Minderhout has more hobbies than he knows what to do with ("Sometimes I think
I work to support my hobbies.") He is a all-purpose horticulturalist,
growing ornamentals, vegetables and fruit, and greenhouse exotics, He is also
a birdwatcher and an amateur photographer. The anthropologists are alway s
willing to discuss their outside interests - and have been known to do so for
"brief" periods in the Kehr Union.
Join the AAA No, this isn't an ad for insurance. The American Anthropolog ical
Association offers student memberships at $20 per year. For your $20 you
receive the American Anthropologist, the preeminent journal in the field. The
AA is published quarterly and is a collection of articles and reviews. You
will also receive the Anthropology Newsletter which contains current information
on job openings, conferences, research grants and other information. (June's
issue had a long article on anthropologists in non-academic employment).
Through the AAA it is possible to join other specialized societies such as
the Council on Anthropology and Education and the American Association of
Physical Anthropologists. The AAA also sponsors an annual convention; this
year it will be in Houston, November 29-December 4. For more information,
write to the AAA, 1703 New Hampshire Ave., N.W., Washington, D,C. 20009.
Enthnographic Facts Milk is a natural, right? Well this "ideal" food is
viewed by vast numbers of people in East Asia, Africa and South America as a
food unfit for consumption by adults, In many cultures, in fact, this
rejection of milk is accompainied by a definite loathing. The Chinese, for
example, react to the thought of a glass of milk the way we might react to
the thought of a glass of blood, There is a physiological base for this
distaste, Milk contains a complex sugar, lactose, whieh must be converted
to a simple sugar by enzyme action before it can be used by the body, If
this doesn't happen, ingestion of milk leads to flatulence, bloating, and
diarrhea. Infants are born,with the appropriate enzymes, but they ordinarily
lose the ability to produce the enzyme sometime after birth--unless, of
course, they continue to drink milk. Most people in the world do not continue
to drink milk and so are unable to digest it. This is true for 10-20% of
adult white Americans, too. But of course American aid programs always
provide powdered milk as part of food relief programs in the culturally
motivated belief that milk is good for you. But non-Western peoples cope.
For instance, Guatemalans use the milk for whitewash and the Balinese use it
as a laxative.
"
Interview of the Month by Steve Styers . . • Mike Williams is a senior
majoring in anthropology. His hometown is South Hampton, Pa., near
Philadelphia.
SS:
MW:

Why did you come to BSC?
Initially because it is a business school (Mike intended to major in
that fiel~ and because it was inexpensive and the first place where

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I was accepted.
And when did you find anthropology?
My first class with Mr. Reeder in General Anthropology. It was the
first class I really got excited about; the material appealed to me .
what anthropology studied, for instance, evolution . • . seemed more
rational and logical.
So you majored in it because.
Anthropology appeals to me much more than the rest (of BSC's majors).
I wanted to study what I really wanted to learn. And Mr. Reeder said
it was quite possible for anthropology majors to get jobs, so.
What are your outside interests?
Guitar playing, ragtime and bluegrass. Also the fiddle, banjo,
harmonica. And I like to read.
Favorite books?
I'd rather tell you my favorite thinkers: Freud and his Civilization
and its Discontents and The Future of an Illusion; also Konrad Lorenz.
The book in which I gained the most.insight into the 'biologi"cal foundations of behavior is Sociobiology and Behavior by Barash (ID~vid P~)
My main interest is behavior--why do we do what we do; what is the
nature and origin of man? I read anything to help answer that question.
One reason I like anthropology is because it examines man crossculturally and finds universals of behavior.
Plans after graduation?
Graduate school, for anthropology. Possibly I may go to the Southwest
(U. S.)

SS:
MW:

What do you hope to be doing 20 years from now?
I have two goals: either to lead the life of a musician or be a college
professor in anthropology--or both.

Office Hours:
Dr. Minderhout (219 BCH) MWF at 8 & 2
Mr. Reeder (219 BCH) MW at 2, TuTh at 12:30
Mr. Solenberger (Boyer Garage) MF at 11:15; Wat 2 & 3; Th at 11
If you would like to be on the Newsletter mailing list or if you have
news to include or ideas to share please contact any of the anthropologists
or one of the student editors. Steve Styers can be reached at 784-7421;
Marj Witmer at 784-4566.

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