text: Abilene Christian College - Prickly Pear Yearbook (Abilene, TX), Class of 1982, Page 187
  Home Economies 40 major in interior design The traditional picture of the starry- :yed fiancee or the blushing bride taking home economics courses so she may be a better wife and mother is a picture that is fading fast, said Dr. Donice Kelly, chair- man ofthe home economics department. Instead, most ACU home ec majors :hose the discipline to prepare for a career, Kelly said. She attributed the emphasis on career partly to economic necessity. "Students some out of high school having been pretty well alerted to the fact that families will iced two incomes," she said. Home ec majors could choose a degree, ind thus a career, in fashion merchandis- ng, home economics education, interior iesign, or foods, nutrition and dietetics. Interior design, which combined This page: right - Janalee Smith, sophomore home economics major, serves nies prepared by class membersg left - Home economics department faculty. Op- 7osite page: top - At the end ofa cooking rlass, Laura Smith, Johnna West, Sandra Tetrault and Carla Thomas evaluate each Jther's pies,' bottom left - Kristie Jobe, 'unior psychology major, whips ingre- iients during Food Selection and Prepara- 'ion,' bottom right - In Housing and Home Furnishing, Vickey Villanueva, sophomore home economics major, works Jn a house plan. courses from art, industrial education, and home ec, was added this year. Kelly said about 40 students majored in the program. Also new were two courses for students who were not majoring in home ec. In- dependent Living, taught by Pat Varner, was created to help students who lived in apartments for the first time. Gail Crabtree, a senior accounting ma- jor, said she took Independent Living thinking "it might be a blow-off class, but I really learned a lot." She said she benefitted most from the sections on plan- ning a household budget and renting apartments. Gail also took Clothing for Non-majors, a new course taught by Judy Reeves, part- time instructor. About 35 women took the clothing class. "I loved the class," said Carla Ander- son, junior elementary education major. "I went in there and did not know a thing about sewing. Now I feel like I could put something togetherf' Although the classes were designed for non-majors, Kelly said, "everyone can benefit from these courses that cover the daily life things . . .. If we can approach these things with a little more information and knowledge, the better off we are." Kelly also said the department wanted to dispel the image that the discipline was "just cooking and sewing." She explained that home ec involves information from psychology, sociology, biology, chemistry and art, and puts that information together "into one synthesized area and looks at the TRONT ROW - Pat Varner, Judy Reeves, Wanda Montgomery, Lynette Vance. ROW 2 - Marianna lasco, Linda Endsley, Donice Kelly, Debra Hicks, Loreta Kelley. person and the family as a whole. Kay Williams, senior home ec education major, echoed Kelly's philosophy. "Home economics is not just stichin' and stewin,," Kay said, "So many people think itis an easy major, "but it's notf, The senior, who served as president of Sigma Tau Alpha, home ec club, said she was very proud of home ec majors. "They want to increase hope and decrease pover- ty, increase happiness and decrease all the negative things in our world," she explained. Kay finished her term as treasurer of the Texas Home Economics Student Section of the state home economics association in November. Also in November she received the Texas Home Economist of the Year award. Since 1975 at least one ACU home ec major has been elected to a THESS office. Kim Adams, a sophomore from Topeka, Kan., continued that tradition when she was chosen to run for a national office in July. The department's biggest weakness, Kelly said, was the lack of research done by faculty members. "We need desperately to be involved in more,', she said. Although Kelly focused on problems in the department, Jeanette Sessions, junior fashion merchandising major from Yakima, Wash., emphasized the profes- sionalism she found after transferring here. She said she found more emphasis on business and career training and less "Suzy Homemaker stuff." fn. Home Economics 8 3