IT'S OFFICIAL: SCALLOP IS STATE FOSSIL

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 6, 1993                   TAG: 9303060326
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium
IT'S OFFICIAL: SCALLOP IS STATE FOSSIL
Thomas Jefferson mentioned the fossil in his writings on natural history. In 1824, the shell was named Chesapecten jeffersonius in honor of Jefferson. And now the Virginia General Assembly has voted to bestow a special honor on the remains of the sea creature: state fossil.
If Gov. Douglas Wilder signs the bill, the Chesapecten jeffersonius will take its place alongside other things deemed especially Virginian, such as the foxhound (state dog) and the oyster (state shell).
Gerald Johnson, a geology professor at the College of William and Mary, thought pushing for designation of a state fossil would be a good student project. To him, the Chesapecten jeffersonius seemed an obvious choice.
"It is easily extractable. It is abundant. And it is easily identified," he said.
The Chesapecten jeffersonius was the first North American fossil written about and illustrated. The fossil is plentiful around the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries but is not found elsewhere in the state. The shell has been around for 4 1/2 million years and looks like the logo used by the Shell Oil Co.
Molly Schaefer, a 17-year-old Williamsburg high school student, decided to work on behalf of the fossil. Schaefer attended the Governor's School last summer and took a geology class from Johnson.
She wrote her delegate proposing that Chesapecten jeffersonius be named the state fossil. Several of Schaefer's classmates joined in the writing campaign.
Del. George Grayson, D-Williamsburg, agreed to sponsor the bill. Johnson and his students collected enough fossils from the banks of the James River to give one to each legislator.
The fossil legislation had to compete against 2,835 other bills vying for legislators' attention during this year's 46-day session.
"I really don't understand why we are spending time on a fossil," said Del. John Reid, R-Henrico, during debate on the House floor. "I hate to be a curmudgeon, but I just don't understand."
One lawmaker proposed an amendment that would have made the 54-year-old Grayson the state fossil.
Grayson argued the fossil bill was, in fact, a civics lesson for concerned teen-agers.
"It is an example of kids getting interested in the political process. Our kids don't ask much from their representatives . . . we shouldn't deny them," he said.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB