News

The American Scientific Affiliation

VOL 1 NUMBER 1        13 February 1959

FIRST ISSUE

This is the first issue of ASA NEWS. Its purpose is to supplement the ASA JOURNAL by carrying local section news and other information which gets too cold by the time it appears in the quarterly JOURNAL. Further, ASA NEWS will carry those items of lighter vein of importance to the work, but which are somewhat out of place in the more scholarly JOURNAL, The Executive Council have given full approval to this venture and expect much from ASA NEWS in binding our members closer together in effective Christian Service.

The general idea is that the NEWS shall appear at approximately monthly intervals. However, we shall approach this matter of deadlines in a relaxed manner and the reader should not be too much surprised at an occasional hiatus. As it has taken four or five months to "get the show on the road" a number of newsworthy items have accumulated. These are herewith offered to clear the hook for the items you will be sending in.

REACTIVATED CHICAGO SECTION MEETS

Under the leadership of Dr. Wallace A. Erickson3 the Chicago ASA section (which has been dormant for several years) met in the Marco Polo Room of the Oak Park Arms Hotel on October 24th, 1958. About 25 persons heard Dr. Arnold C. Schultz, Professor of Archaeology and Old Testament, Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, speak on the subject "The Relationship Between God's Works and His Word". A lively discussion followed.

ASA MEN MEET DURING CHICAGO ACS MEETING

Dr. Walter R. Hearn circulated ASA chemists and all ASA members within a 50-mile radius of Chicago about an ASA get-together during the Chicago meeting of the American Chemical Society. Although better attended by out-of-towners than by local members, the meeting was a rousing success as reports of the ASA annual convention and council meeting were given by Walt Hearn and a talk was presented by Delbert Eggenberger, editor of the ASA JOURNAL. A roster at the ACS registration desk brought several curious non-members. The local arrangements were made by Wallace Erickson.

GOOD BOOK FOR LOCAL SECTIONS TO REV=VT AND DISCUSS

Creation and Evolution by Jan Lever, Grand Rapids International Publications, Distributed by Kregel's, Grand Rapids,  Michigan, 244 pages, $3.95.

The author of this book is a zoologist and a member of the faculty of the Free University of Amsterdam. The book has been translated from the Dutch by Peter G, Berkhout, a practicing physician of Paterson, New Jersey and has been the object of considerable discussion in Europe. It promises to evoke considerable controversy in the United States as well. The author shows himself to be a keen and penetrating thinker, not only in his chosen field of zoology, but also in the relationship of science and the Scriptures. Chapters of the book include:

The origin of Life
The Origin of the Types of Organisms
The Concept of Species and the Problem of Origin
The Origin of Man
Creation and Evolution

5. To improve section-to-section communications for mutual encouragement and the spreading of useful ideas.

NORTH CENTRAL GROUP LAUNCHED

One of the finest regional meetings yet reported is that held at St. Paul on November 22, 1958  and it was the first for this area. A hundred people gathered on Saturday afternoon to hear Dr. Charles Hatfield present a paper on "Relationship Between Scientific Disciplines and the Christian Faith" in which he treated the difficulties of the argument for God from design in nature. Prof. Linwood Barney of St. Paul Bible College spoke on the subject, "Anthropology", treating the transcultural and the cultural aspects of the Gospel in a most effective way. Dr. Hearn considered the ever-narrowing gap between the living and the non-living in his paper, "The Origin of Life". About 35 persons stayed for the dinner after which Dr, He Harold Hartzler, President of the ASA~ spoke briefly on the history, purpose, and program of the ASA. Each member of the Executive Council gave testimony to the significance of the ASA in his life. Members attended from as far as St. Cloud, Ames and Dr. Frank Cassel came all the way from Fargo. Another such session is planned for the Spring of 1959.

This meeting was one of the finest local efforts ever held under ASA auspices and it can be duplicated by any local group willing to invest what these organizers did. On September 30 a meeting was hold in the home of Dr. V. Elving Anderson in St. Paul which was organized by Drs. Anderson, David O. Moberg and Lawrence H. Starkey, all of Bethel College. These men, with Charles Tueek, took upon themselves the task of building up their paltry mailing list of a dozen or so ASA members in the area. By telephoning these, the list of prospects was eventually enlarged to 140 persons. Lawrence Starkey put it this way, "There seems to be no end to what can be done in this way merely by persistence." It was smart to schedule this meeting to coincide with a meeting of the Executive Council, and Dr. Hartzler would give serious consideration to calling future Council meetings at a time and place to coincide with a local meeting,

COMING EVENTS ----- WATCH FOR THESE

American Chemical Society, April 1959 (Irving Cowperthwaite in charge of ASA get-together)

The annual convention of the ASA will be held jointly with the Evangelical Theological Society June 9-12, inclusive. The theme of the joint ASA-ETS sessions will be "An Evangelical Philosophy of Science". The convention will be held at Trinity College aid Seminary, Chicago.

MEET A SECTION CHAIRMAN

Edgar C. Smith, ire received his BS and MS degrees from Stanford University and his Ph.D. in mathematics from Brown University. He is associated with the Western Data Processing Center at the University of California at Los Angeles as liaison between IBM and UCLA. He is also a specialist in university computer problems, representing IBM in the eight Western states. He was elected Chairman of the Los Angeles section of the ASA in October, 1957.

LOS ANGELES SECTION MEETS

On January 19th the Los Angeles section of the ASA met at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. Dr. Lars Granberg of Fuller Theological Seminary spoke on the contributions of modern psychology to Christian thinking.

ASA NEWS NEEDS 750 REPORTERS

If this sheet is to perform its intended function, the cooperation of all ASA members will be required. Please assist by keeping your eyes and ears peeled for:

1) National ASA news. We shall look to members of the Executive Council as the fountainhead of all knowledge on this subject.

2) Local ASA section news. Each section chairman should see that someone is designated to keep I&SA NEWS informed on local activities and items of interest.

3) Personal items. Each individual member should feel obligated to share personal items with the rest of us. If you do not want to tell on yourself, tell on someone else.

4) Books and papers of significance to ASA members. Book reviews will appeal in the JOURNAL as before, but this sheet can serve to call attention of the members to important publications in the technical$ theological or secular press.