The North Carolina Mason

November/December 2015 The North Carolina Mason Page 15 Education goblets Our back pages From the Medical Committee ...the windows be darkened RALEIGH — On August 21, 1888, the North Carolina Teach- ers' Assembly (now the NC As- sociation of Educators) gave our Grand Lodge a set of goblets (corn, oil, and wine) for cornerstone cer- emonies. We had, a few months before, performed such a ceremony for their headquarters in Morehead City. e timing of the gift could hardly have been coincidental as we used the vessels the very next day to set the cornerstone of Holladay Hall, the first building of the new NC College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts. Now known as NC State University, it is the larg- est university in the Carolinas. e goblets are on display at the Grand Lodge office. By David M Dickman Benjamin Franklin stated "in this world nothing can be said to be cer- tain, except death and taxes." If one is able to elude the former for long enough, a third inevitability must be added: cataracts. e word "cataract" has several pos- sible derivations. e Latin "cataracta" means either "waterfall" or "portcullis." "Masons Can" Food Drive 10 10 Feed the Needy Each Mason should bring ten dollars or ten cans of food for admission to Annual Communication in September 2016. e Romans associated the white ap- pearance of a mature cataract with the water of a waterfall. Alternatively, as a portcullis obstructs a castle entrance, so the cataract obstructs our vision. What- ever the derivation, a cataract is simply the natural lens in our eyes becoming opaque over time. Cataracts have been treated surgi- cally since ancient times. Records of the procedure date back to the ancient Egyptians around 2700 BCE. When a patient's cataracts matured, a needle was inserted into the eye and used to push the cataract out of the visual axis. is results in much brighter but unfocused vision. Modern surgery is performed under a microscope, with self sealing incisions and an ultrasound device. A clear lens made of acrylic is injected into the eye where the cataract had been. Careful measurement and advanced mathemat- ics allow selection of lens power to re- duce the need for glasses. Cataract surgery is one of the most common and safest procedures in all of medicine, and its history is more an- cient than Freemasonry itself. David M Dickman is a member of J. J. Crowder 743, Raleigh. FUQUAY-VARINA — On July 21, Fuquay 258 presented Meredith College bound Megan Tarpey (left photo) a $1,000 check as the winner of the annual scholarship award. Also awarded that evening was a second scholarship to Brandon Mendez (right) for $500 to help with his second year at the University of North Carolina. Both of the recipients, friends, and family dined with the lodge that night. The scholarship is given each year to a senior from Fuquay-Varina High School. Scholarship Commit- teeman Tim Allen is seen here presenting both the scholarships. — Frank A. Bowles Michael Harding photo

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