NEWSLETTER
of the
THE AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC AFFILIATION
VOLUME 16, Number 2 April 1974
ATTENTION EARTHLINGS!
All members of the American Scientific Affiliation should have received the call for
papers for the next Annual Meeting, to be held August 19-22 at Bethany College near
Oklahoma City. Theme for the meeting is PLANET EARTH: CHANGE AND CHALLENGE.
Under CHANGE, program chairman Ed Olson has in mind such subjects as live, uniformitarianism vs catastrophism, dating techniques in geology and archaeology, plate
tectonics, etc. The CHALLENGE, of course, is to Christian stewardship of planet
Earth.
The chairman wanted abstracts by April 1. We don't know how the program looks by
now, but he might still, be able to work in your paper: Dr. Ed Olson, Whitworth
College, Spokane, WA. 99251. To be sure, call him at the college (509 489-3550, or
at home 509 483-6686).
In addition to the basic theme, there will be significant time spent in other areas
of interest. Several sessions will be devoted to workshops on projects for the ASA
to develop as an organization. Detailed, presentations will be prepared in advance
of the Annual Meeting to serve as working papers for each workshop. The purpose of
the workshops is to refine the proposed projects and to make specific recommendations
on how and when to carry them out. Decisions will be made on these at the Annual
Meeting and work will begin immediately to carry them out. Some projects already in
the works are: course materials for high school level subjects, speaker's bureau,
expanded book service and local section development. This is a rich opportunity to
have an influence on the future of the ASA. If you have suggestions for other projects, write to Bill Sisterson at the Elgin office.
Another secondary theme is being developed by Charles Taber of Milligan College. He
hopes to have several sessions by various individuals exploring the contributions of
linguistics and cultural anthropology to the understanding of the Scriptures. The
idea grew out of some comments made by Mike Chambers, in the December, 1973 Newsletter
If you want to contribute, write to Dr. Charles Taber, 1606 Oakland Avenue, Johnson
City, TN. 37601.
GETTING OFF THE GROUND
We'll let Bill Sisterson fill you in on details of ASA's Growth Plan in his NOTES.
FROM THE NATIONAL OFFICE, but we can't resist sharing our enthusiasm. Did you see
ASA's column-length ad on p. 42 of the March 29 issue of Christianity-Today? At
last, our striking logo is appearing where people unfamiliar with our Affiliation
can see what we have to offer.
You may not yet have seen the new set of reprints available from the national office,
six representative JASA articles that fit easily into an envelope or can be spread
out attractively on a book table. They are a great advertisement for ASA in themselves.
And the new ASA brochure! Beautifully (and expensively) printed in shades of blue
and green, it tells who we are and what we're out to do in a most persuasive way.
All the information is there, with an application blank printed on a business reply
envelope, ready to fill out and mail. It's one of the best advertising pieces we've
ever seen for any organization, and Bill has 10,000 of them (at 15C apiece!) ready
to go.
"WE ARE-ONE IN THE SPIRIT / WE ARE ONE IN THE LORD"
We're almost one in the Affiliation, but not quite. In fact, since last year there
have been two Affiliations, one for the USA and one for Canada. Canadians have long
been sensitive about being treated as second-class citizens by a certain other country in North America. (Who wouldn't be sensitive, if 80 percent of your country's
economy were controlled by "foreigners"9)
Last summer, I found out that even my careless use of the word "American" could rile
normally quite good-natured Canadians. Ambiguity makes for hard feelings. Sometimes "American" is meant to include citizens of both countries, sometimes only U.S.
citizens. I tried, using "North Americans" to include us both, but not very successfully. Canadians have been active members of the "American Scientific Affiliation"
since its founding in 1941. That caused no problems until the Canadian government
changed its tax laws. Canadian ASA members suddenly found restrictions on the
income tax deductions for dues and gifts to such a "foreign organization."
So, after almost $1,000 worth of legal effort, the "Canadian Scientific and Christian
Affiliation, Inc." came into being. Its address is P. 0. Box 234, Perth, Ontario
K7H 3E4, CANADA. Its directors are Doug Morrison, Dan Osmond, and Harry Leith. The
corporate directors are required by law to hold an annual meeting and make a financial report. So now our Canadian brothers and sisters have an organization that
gives them a national identity. We hear rumors that the first CSCA local section
may soon get underway in Toronto, where the 1972 Annual Meeting of the ASA was held.
As our new (joint) brochure states, "the ASA and the CSCA share the same Journal,
Newsletter, and most staff personnel, but have independent governing bodies." If
the CSCA should grow strong enough to do some of these things on its own, we would
rejoice with them. But so far the point is merely to satisfy Canadian statutory
requirements in an ethical way without splitting the er, uh, American Scientific
Affiliation.
Canadians (and citizens of many countries, for that matter) have made major contributions to the Affiliation over the years. Our unity in Christ, and in science,
,certainly knows no national boundaries. ASA News wants to free itself of any "Yankee Imperialist" bias, especially
not that -we're the CSCA's newsletter as well. (After all, "Yankee" was an epithet even in that part of the States where the editor
grew up.)
SENDING OURSELVES OVERSEAS
We're trying to put together an ASA project to recycle scientific books and journals.
The February issue of ASA News had several stories about exporting information useful to Christians in
other countries. But what about sending ourselves overseas?
Here are some ideas:
l. Opportunities 1974 is a directory of the 15,000 current personnel needs at home
and abroad for evangelical mission agencies. The 142 different job titles include
a number of technical and professional categories. A Christian foundation paid the
cost of printing the 72-page brochure, so you can get a copy free simply by requesting one from Short Terms Abroad, P. 0. Box 575, Downers Grove, IL. 60515. Your
skills may be needed by brothers and sisters in Christ somewhere, for a year or more
--or for a summer or less. Find out.
2. Brian Duncan, Central Philippine University, Iloilo City, Philippines, is using
his PhD in parasitology and microbiology as a fish pathologist in the Peace Corps.
He says the Peace Corps pays a minimum but adequate salary, medical expenses, transportation, and miscellaneous. Some higher-paying positions exist for Scientists,
often at the senior advisory level, in such agencies as USAID, UNFAO, UNDP, etc.
And of course there are science teaching jobs at all levels overseas. Bryan would
be glad to participate in a symposium (at an Annual Meeting?) sometime on experiences of ASA members abroad. He hopes to return to the U.S. this summer or fall
if a position materializes. Otherwise, he and his wife (a Philippino with an M.S.
in physical chemistry) with their two small children are content to stay, having
been offered teaching jobs in local universities.
3. Urbana ' 73, the triennial IVCF Missionary Convention held at the U. of Illinois
over Christmas holidays, drew some 14,000 students considering God's call to the
mission field. One speaker, J. Christy Wilson, a pastor in Kabul, Afghanistan,
said: "State Department figures show that for every missionary there are over 100
others from North America living around the world in professional, technical, and
governmental capacities." Shouldn't ASA have a part in encouraging Christians to
go overseas in such capacities, and in helping them when they get there? And if
we figure out how to do that, shouldn't we have a booth at Urbana 76 to introduce
ASA to students getting scientific and technical training?
NOTES FROM THE 140th AAAS MEETING
San Francisco, Feb. 24-Mar. 1. American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Theme: "Science: Challenges of Today--Outlook for the Future."
One challenge not on the program took place outside a session I attended, in the
hall. Students of the Committee Against Racism without AAAS badges tried to get.
into the symposium on "The Social Context of Inquiry: Problems of Forbidden and
Discouraged Knowledge." They finally made it after a scuffle and at least one
arrest. But one of the two speakers they considered racist hadn't showed up. The
other left, refusing to read his paper after they were admitted. Challenges of
Today!
Outlook for the Future: Many symposia on energy, pollution, health care, limited
economic growth, technological innovation, etc. Also some fringe elements. My
PRESS badge (Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation) got me into an interview with speakers on "The Psychology of Consciousness." One of them, Charles Tart,
wants to develop new sciences while in "altered states of consciousness" (read:
11stoned"). And there in the scientific exhibit area was Timothy Leary's wife
Joanna, whose Starseed Information Center booth was passing out copies of Leary
pamphlets. One, Neurologic, claims to be a "highly compressed galactic teletype
designed for those with objective and subjective knowledge of the nervous system."
Some Outlook!
But back ' to science. Or were we? Huge crowd at symposium on "Velikovsky's Challenge
to Science.$' (For a fair and detailed report, see Robert Gillette's story in Science
183, pp. 1059-62, 15 March 1974.) Whatever you think of his ideas, Immanuel
Velikovsky himself is impressive. He's no nut. Has a scholar's memory for the exact
phrase--especially if it was used against him years ago. Duels like an expert wordsman. Can handle his enemies. But some of his friends may do him in. Supporters
cheer and applaud when he puts down an opponent. Some cry "foul" when it goes the
other way. Who are these people? 1) Engineers, scientists, others impressed by
space-probe confirmation of V's predictions about certain planets? 2) Religious
believers convinced that ancient scriptures (including the Old Testament) are vin-.
dicated by V's theories? 3) Freaked-out mystics grooving on "Victory for V over
your scientific-intellectual-academic-establishment-elite, ya-know-what-I-mean?
Velikovsky supporter (Type 3) gets the floor during question period. Tells audience
he knows (inside his head, ya-know-what-I-mean?) that V is right. He has this
friend, see, one of the greatest scientists. Friend keeps telling him to listen to
V, because V is bringing us the truth. Who's his friend? The great Nikola Tesla.
Audience now yelling "Sit down!" He looks around, goes blank, puts his hands together as if in prayer, sits down. Ho hum. I go out for coffee. (Tesla died in
1943.)
Mostly, though, AAAS meetings are marvelous places to learn what's going on in just
about every field of science, and how it may affect us. Also good places to meet
scientists, talk to them about their work about other things. My press badge kept
drawing questions: "What's the American Scientific Affiliation? How come I've
never seen your Journal?" So I had opportunities to describe ASA and to identify
myself clearly as a Christian.
At a session on "Controversy in Science" I met a political scientist writing a book
on the creationist/evolutionist controversy. She had heard of ASA but said our Journal
wasn't in the Cornell University library. I offered to supply her with
enough material to help her describe ASA's role accurately. (Fortunately, she and
I aren't writing exactly the same book.)
So the AAAS is a good place for ASA members to be. About ten of us gathered for
an evening of Christian fellowship during the meetings. Howard Claassen from Wheaton
was there. Owen Gingerich from Harvard (one of the astronomers who arranged the
Velikovsky symposium) and Wilber Sutherland from Toronto, whose Canadian Film Board
camera crew filmed the symposium, were both there. No problem getting conversation
going! Among Bay area members attending were John Amoore of the Albany USDA lab,
Peter Chastain of radio station KGEI, Redwood City, and Mark Porter, engineer with
Nuclepore Corporation in Pleasanton. Several wives and fri s came along, too. Bob Fischer
and probably some others were unable to make it.
The 141st AAAS meeting will be held in New York City, January 27-31, 1975. How
about the ASA local section hosting an evening of fellowship for that one?
HE ANSWERED AN AD...
..And look what happened to Lawrence H. Starkey, now chairman of the Department of
Philosophy at Jamestown College, Jamestown, North Dakota: He became one of ten
major associate editors of perhaps, the most prodigious private publishing project in
history. Larry spent four years (1968-72) helping to create the 15th edition of Encyclopedia
Britannica.
This 30-volume edition, which became available on March 1
and has been described in detailed articles in Time and Newsweek, cost $40 million
to produce. It was started from scratch, the first completely rewritten edition of
Britannica since 1929.
Larry says a tremendous amount of work went into making the articles as readable and
interesting as possible while upholding the encyclopedia's reputation for accuracy.
Mortimer Adler proposed an unusual 3-part format for the new edition. Part one is
an alphabetical outline of all human learning, seen by Adler as "the perfect circle
of knowledge." The second part is a "browser's paradise," with 4,207 long articles,
biographies, and geographical descriptions written as thoughtful essays. Part three,
the final 10 volumes, contains routine, detailed facts.
Larry got into the project when he responded to a blind ad in the Chicago Tribune
for "associate editors in philosophy and mathematics." Two days after sending a
brief letter and resume to the box number, he got a call asking him to fly to
Chicago (from his Alma College teaching job in Michigan) for an interview at Britannica
headquarters. Eventually, he became principal editor in full charge of
philosophy, logic, history and philosophy of science, and a couple of general articles in the humanities. He also edited some articles in religion and mathematics.
He would research the topics, prepare full outlines for articles, search for top
authors, negotiate the outlines with them, edit (and sometimes radically rewrite)
their manuscripts, sometimes translating articles from French, German, or Italian.
At the close of the project, Britannica * was almost back to scratch again, at least
financially. Nearly all the editors were laid off, so Larry says he had to "add
one more step to my life's odyssey," moving to one of the two private colleges in
North Dakota. Jamestown College is Presbyterian. Larry appreciates the way the
trustees, administration, and faculty are restoring the school to a more vitally
Christian stance. He approves of the requirement that all students take at least
one philosophy course (he teaches them all). And he has been given considerable
freedom to engage in his own research studies. (What's more, with that brand new
30-volume set on his shelves, he ought to be pretty well stocked with lecture
material.)
Larry admits he didn't care much for his first Jamestown winter when it was 30
below. And as a philosopher he is puzzled that North Dakota is called the "Peace
Garden State." There are so many ICBM's in its northern parts, Larry says, that
if North Dakota were a separate nation it would be the 3rd most powerful in the
world!
PHYSICIST PROBES PYRAMIDS, PROFUNDITIES
In January, Lambert Dolphin, Jr., was getting ready to travel to Egypt with a team
of other scientists from the Radio Physics Lab of Stanford Research Institute.
Their purpose was to utilize low-frequency electromagnetic pulses to probe the
solid rock of the pyramid of the pharaoh Khefren (son of Cheops). The pattern of
pulses reflected back to their antenna would give evidence of discontinuities in
the rock. This would settle once and for all the question of whether or not a
secret chamber exists in the pyramid.
It would also put them one-up on a U.C. Berkeley team led by Nobel physicist Luis
Alvarez, who moved into Belzoni's Chamber with a cosmic ray counter a few years ago,
hoping to do the same thing. (Belzoni's Chamber is the only known room in
Khefren's
pyramid.) The Berkeley scientists couldn't be sure, even after computer analyzing
3 million cosmic ray hits on their bulky detector. The SRI team expected their
versatile "radar" gear to give definitive results, and right on the spot. If they
located a hidden chamber, the Egyptians were prepared to drill a hole through the
rock into the room and snake a tiny TV camera inside for a look. (Beware! The
Mummy's Curse!)
The pyramids of Khefren and of Cheops are at Giza on the outskirts of Cairo. The
famous Sphinx is there, too. Egyptian scientists have long speculated that there
May
be an underground tunnel between the Sphinx and Khefren's pyramid. Lambert's
team planned to take a look at that with their electronic gadgetry while they're
there. (We picked up this story from the Jan. 1~ Los Angeles Times. Lambert sent
us the clipping himself--but he didn't say what they found!)-
Lambert also thoughtfully sent us a copy of his little 95(- paperback "one evening
book," Lord of Time and Space (Good News Publishers, Westchester, Il., 1974). In it,
Lambert probes profundities of the universe from a Biblical perspective. He explains
how becoming a Christian restored his appreciation of mystery. His education and
experience as a physicist had left him "viewing the universe as purposeless, impersonal and mechanical--a system governed by probability and statistics. Now the
mystery has returned and the frontiers have been reopened." Lambert explores physical ideas like space, time, and energy, showing that none of them is simple, or
likely to be fully understood through a scientific approach alone. (However,
Lambert may make things too simple himself when he asserts that assumptions of the
general theory of evolution are not consistent with the laws of physics. -Beware!
Darwin's Curse!)
The essays in Lord of Time and Space are not exhaustive, as the author admits, but
they are thought-provoking, as he had hoped. They point from physics to the Bible
and to Jesus Christ.
"JOSHINI WITTY PRATTLE OF JERICHO...
... Jericho, Jericho." What came down this time wasn't the walls but a snicker from
Jim Reid, executive director of Associates for Biblical Research, Plymouth Meeting,
Pennsylvania. Referring to Dec. 1973 ASA News, p. 4, Jim wrote: "You must not be
aware that the apparent discrepancy of Jesus healing the blind man as He went in
(or out) of Jericho has been resolved by modern archaeological finds. They have
found that there were essentially two Jerichos. The Roman one Herod built was a
bit away from the old Jewish one. Therefore one could leave Jericho to enter
Jericho. It all depended upon the point of view, but either would be correct."
He said it was so well
known that he hadn't bothered to mention it in his book! But he sent me a Xerox of
P. 295 of J. Free's Archaeology and Bible History. verifying Jim Reid's assertion.
Of course, I picked that example to make the same point Jim makes...More tellingly:
Two observers can give quite different accounts of an event and still both be right-from their particular point of view. But that's what happen$ to an editor for such
an erudite audience. They get him coming and going.
NEAR EAST ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Maybe Ed Yamauchi is hinting that the ASA News editor needs to know more about
Biblical archaeology. When he answered-my question about Jericho (see above) he
enclosed an application blank for membership in the Near East Archaeological Society
(NEAS), on whose board Ed serves.
Other ASA members should also know about this "evangelical archaeological organization formed to
encourage and advance archaeological meetings and conferences, excavations,
surveys, research, and scholarly production in any of the areas of the
Mediterranean and Near East region where Bible history and church history have taken
place."
NEAS publishes a semiannual Newsletter devoted to current information about Near
Eastern archaeology, an annual Bulletin containing articles and conference reports)
and an irregular series of research reports. Interest in the Society, annual subscription to the Statement of Faith, and payment of $5 annual dues are the only
requirements for membership. Those without academic training in archaeology are
invited to join scholars in this field within one Society. NEAS's Statement of
Faith is: "The Bible alone and The Bible in its entirety is the Word of God
written and therefore inerrant in The Autographs."
For an application blank or further information, address Dr. Harold Mare, Secretary,
Near East Archaeological Society, Covenant Theological Seminary, 12330 Conway Road,
St. Louis, Missouri 63141.
HOW TO RECYCLE SONETHING. No. 8.
Walt Hearn discussed the theory and practice of family-scale recycling in the January
Right On (Christian World Liberation Front, P. 0. Box 4307
1
Berkeley, CA. 94707).
Walt's art4cle, "The Whole Creation Groans," ends this way.
"One thing holds a lot of us back. It's a feeling that our puny effort doesn't
amount to much, with industrial pollution and waste rampant. Christians seldom
react that way about evangelism. We witness because we care about individuals,
whatever is happening to the world's population. It's true that the cumulative
effect of man's rebellion against God is awful to contemplate. It has put such scars
on the environment that 'the whole creation groans,' longing to be set free (Romans
8:18-25).
"Well, even if we can't liberate the whole creation, maybe we can clean up some of
the mess. Our Lord seemed to care about small things, children and sparrows and
such. Beginnings are'small.
"Let's begin."
As a matter of fact, our "puny effort" even in this series does seem to amount to
something. We delight to see ASA members recycling materials in ingenicus ways.
Keep it up. And share it with others through HOW TO RECYCLE SOMETHING.
Paper. David Gill's family news/prayer letter was sent to friends this time replicated on the backs of outdated announcements for an evening ethics
course David is
teaching at California College of Biblical Studies in Culver City. Paulette
LeVantine must have had fun going us one better in the calendar recycling department: she wrote us a letter from La Jolla (CA) all across the torn-off January page
of a big reference calendar, then folded it letter-size, fastened it with a half inch
of tape, and addressed it without using an envelope.
Why do we keep pushing for the recycling of paper? Because we like trees, and because paper makes up 55% of municipal garbage in the United States, according to a
study by J. G, Albert, H. Alter, and J. F. Bernheisel of the, National Center for
Resource Recovery, Washington, D. C. In "The Economics of Resource Recovery from
Municipal Solid Waste," Science 183 1052-8 (15 March 1974), they say the expected
range of paper in garbage is 37 to ;0%. The 55% average value includes 12% newsprint, 11% cardboard, and 32% other paper products. Compare this with average values
for other garbage constituents: 14% food, 9% metals, 9% glass, 5% yard, 4% wood,
1% plastic, and 3% other.
PEOPLE LOOKING FOR POSITIONS
Arthur R. Amundsen (228 Westbury Dr., Warminster, PA. 18974) seeks an academic
position after June 1974, preferably in a context permitting expression of a Reformed
world-and life-view. He is interested in supervising teachers, teaching science education courses, an teaching physics and chemistry. Art has a B.S. in chemistry
from Dickinson College, M.S.Ed. (chemistry & physics minors) and Ed.D. (science ed
major, chem. minor) from U. of Pennsylvania. Five years experience in an industrial
lab and 10 in education, primarily Christian secondary but some elementary and
college teaching.
Steve Cassells (15692 E. Eldorado Dr., Aurora, Co. 80013) is interested in teaching
scientific illustration (drawing and photography for publication) and/or archaeology.
Steve is presently a 2nd Lt. in the army (managing a pediatric clinic) but is due to
be discharged around August 1974. Steve has an interesting background. After a
B.S. in education (biology), he taught high school 2 years, then returned to grad
school for an M.A. in anthropology (archaeology) at the U. of Arizona before being
inducted into the army. During grad study, he was trained for a year as a scientific
illustrator by Don Sayner, once a Scripps Institute illustrator and long-time instructor at U. of A. Steve has published papers in stream ecology and archaeology,
and is presently moon-lighting as illustrator for an upcoming textbook of New World
Archaeology. Steve is on the board of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (Denver
chapter) and in summers serves on the FCA staff at their national conference. In a
teaching position he would also enjoy assisting in a basketball program.
Al Fairbanks (Haigazian College, P. 0. Box 1748, Beirut, Lebanon) has resigned his
post and he and Dawn expect to return to the States about the end of July. Details
of his Ph.D. in biophysics and 10 years' experience teaching molecular biology in
Beirut can be found in Aug. 1973 ASA News, p. 8. Al has no regrets that his "one
year of postdoctoral work overseas" begun in 1958 has stretched out so long, but
that "long year" did attenuate his professional contacts in the U.S. Get an airmail
off to Al to encourage him if you know of a job possibility for him.
Vernon J. Peterman (183 Acalones #G, Sunnyvale, CA. 94086) is seeking a position as
surveyor's aid somewhere in the western states. He has an A.A. degree in math and
physical sciences and a land-surveyor-in-training certificate from the State of California. Vern is presently working in electronics testing and assembly but wants
to change fields.
NEW ENGLAND
We don't know if it was an official ASA Local Section function, but an impressive
seminar series at Worcester State College in Massachusetts has had much ASA input.
Marlin Kreider teaches physiology at the college, and obviously has had a lot to do
with the college-wide series entitled "Science and the Human Condition." in
October,
Owen Gingerich, Harvard astronomer and historian of science, spoke on "In the
Foot
steps of Copernicus." Gingerich did the chapter on "Astronomy" in
The Encounter Between Christianity and Science edited by Dick Bube. (In turn, why don't some of
you taciturn New Englanders do Owen a good turn by recruiting him into ASA?)
Later in the fall Marlin organized and chaired a seminar that was almost an instant
replay of the action at the ASA annual meeting at Geneva College. He invited
Wayne Frair, biologist at The King's College in New York, and Robert Herrmann biochemist
at Boston University, to discuss "Conflict Over the Origin and Nature of Man:
Special Creation Versus Natural Selection." The film Darwin's Bulldog: God vs Science
(a dramatization) was first shown to the audience. Then the film and then a presentation of the two viewpoints of the guest speakers.
Marlin reports that "although the speakers differed in their points of view, the
message was made loud and clear by each speaker that regardless of the process, it
was God who initiated and controlled it. This appeared to be a new concept to some
in attendance who have taken the historic viewpoint that evolution and atheism go
together."
The success of these two seminars, Marlin adds, sparked growth from less than 100
to an attendance of over 300, with many from neighboring schools.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
John Fredrickson, professor of physics at Cal State University, Long Beach, reports
that about 60 people attended the February symposium on "Ethics and Eugenics"
jointly sponsored with the Christian Medical Society and Christian Legal
Society.
John says that all speakers took a solid academic approach to these terribly complex
problems, with everyone agreeing at the end that there are no pat solutions.
Meanwhile, ASA sparkplugs down in San Diego analyzed a questionnaire responded to by
two-thirds of the total ASA membership in the county. They found 15 members who
think a new local section should be organized there and who would be willing to take
a turn at helping to arrange meetings. A total of 21 would be interested in participating in local section activities "at least sometimes," including 14 who would participate "most of the time."
Fred Jappe of Mesa Community College offered his living room in La Mesa for a planning
evening on March 26. Jerry Albert's report hadn't
arrived by press time, but Jerry said the agenda would also include advanced planning
for the 1975 ASA national meeting at U.C. San Diego and recruitment of potential
members in the area.
SAN FRANCISCO BAY
When secretary-treasurer Roy Gritter sent out the ballot and dues notice in
January,
he summed up the section's 1973 activities: four public lectures, plus informal
meetings with executive secretary Bill Sisterson during his trip west in May. It's
a good idea for a section to take stock at least once a year. Roy is retiring from
the Board, as is Bill Nesbitt. Nominated to replace them were Dave Sheriff, an
engineer who recently moved to the Bay area from L. A., and Don Stoner, biologist
teaching, at West Valley College.
The way the section works together was superbly demonstrated in the family conference on "Contemporary Christian Lifestyles" jointly sponsored with IVCF alumni in
February. Neil Elsheimer was general chairman and worked with Walt Hearn, and others setting up the adult program. Bob Anderson and Ken
Lincoln took care of the registration and a lot of negotiating with Red
Christian Park near Santa Cruz, where the conference was held. IVCF's Ron EtKaaghan helped get the
brochures
printed. Harold Winters
and Bob Miller arranged three separate programs
for children and youth: they had babysitters available for nursery tots, two workers from Child
Evangelism Fellowship for children in grades 1-6, and IVCF staff and
other Young people to lead activities for grades 7-12. Stanford football center
Bill Reid, active in Christian Athletes Fellowship and Campus Crusade, helped
out
on Sunday. These programs were in operation whenever an adult meeting was being
held, but there was time for family recreation and worship together as well. Hal
and Bob took the older kids on a trip to the beach and on hikes, and set up a Party
for the younger ones and firesides for the teenagers.
Gene Thomas from Boulder, Colorado, spoke to the teenage group once and to the adults
four times. He bore down on taking Jesus seriously, especially in what the Lord of
Life had to say in the Sermon on the Mount, and he and Gerri shared their own experiences in Christian family living.
Walt Hearn's seminars on "Family Ministry" gave
others an opportunity to share experiences, and Jim Berna of IVCF was on hand to
is seminars on "Genetic
help single people work out their own patterns. John Amoore
Engineering" also had a lot of personal impact, with participants exploring the kinds
of ethical decisions they might one day have to make. The seminars were equally
popular, each drawing about half of the 60 adults in attendance. There Were also
about 60 children.
Every family we talked to thought the conference was excellent and the children's
programs outstanding. More vigorous publicity might have brought the 10 adults
whose registrations would have made the conference break even financially, but contributions from grateful families bailed the section out. The only serious goof
was not having a book table with a stack of ASA literature on hand, since half of
the conferees weren't ASA members and some hadn't heard of ASA before. They've
heard of it now. Some saw for the first time (through John Amoore's seminars) how
critical are the issues with which ASA is concerned.
OREGON
The annual Spring meeting is planned for April 27 at the Memorial Union of Oregon
State University, Corvallis. Walt Hearn of Berkeley, ASA News editor, will open the
meeting with a talk on "Science and Pseudo-science. " After a coffee break. Ian Tinsley,
OSU agricultural chemist, ends the morning session with a paper on "Limits in Science--A Personal Observation." At the no-host luncheon, Walt will discuss
"Experiments in Alternative Christian Patterns." There will also be two papers (and coffee) in the afternoon: Dennis Feucht will discuss "Some Essential Characteristics of Science Inherent
in Christian Thought," and John Sanders, "Christ and the World of Thought." John is an associate professor
of
-civil engineering at OSU.
Dennis Feucht, an instrument design engineer with Tektronix, Inc., has begun to serve
as ASA sparkplug in the Portland area. A few months ago Dennis began to circulate a
ditto'd 2-page local newsletter to the approximately 25 ASA members living in Portland. He hopes to expand it to 4pp. and get some dialogues going. The February
issue featured an excellent report on the Oregon section's Winter meeting at George
Fox College, with provocative questions from Roy Morris's talk on "How Do You Interpret Scr4ture?" Dennis also included a quotation from Richard Feynman's The Character of Physical
Law on the necessity to know mathematics before one can understand
nature, with a request for reader reaction. The Spring meeting (above) was announced.
and members were reminded that recruiting materials for the ASA Growth Plan are
available from the national office.
(Do any other local sections--let alone sub-sections--publish a newsletter? Any
.that do, please put the ASA News editor on your mailing list. We like newsletters.
And we think a local one woul d help build up participation in a section or perhaps
be the logical first step in forming a new section. As our Affiliation
grows so
will our need for better communication.)
NOTES FROM THE NATIONAL OFFICE
The Growth Plan is now well underway. As Walt mentioned earlier, we have produced
a number of quality materials for use in recruiting new members, as well as placing
ads in leading Christian magazines. It is still too early to determine the full
impact but we are already 40% ahead of last year in recruiting. Despite these good
initial results we will need a far larger increase in order to attain our goal of
financial stability through dues and subscriptions. Pray and work with us in the
next few weeks that we may see good success. My warmest thanks to those who have
helped so much already.
To give you a little idea of how things are going and in hopes of stirring up a
little healthy competition, I have calculated the following tables of how the leading areas are doing:
Top 10 Areas Total New Members
1. Metropolitan New York 18
2. Illinois-Wisconsin 17
3. Maryland-Virginia 12
Southern California 12
5. Northwest
11
6. Pennsylvania 9
7. Texas
8
8 Ohio
7
Central Plains 7
10. Indiana
.......
5
Michigan........ 5
Northern California 5
% Increase in New Members
1. Louisiana-Mississippi........23.1 %
2. New Mexico-Arizona...........15.8 %
3. Metropolitan New York........13.9 %
4* Ohio, .......................13.5 %
5. Northwest................ 12.6 %
6. Alberta-Sask.-Manitoba....12.5 %
7. Texas.....................12.5 %
8. Maryland-Virginia.........11.1 %
9. Quebec and East Canada....11.1 %
10. Florida-Alabama..........10.5 %
Our goal for the full year is to see a 100% increase in all areas. It would be a
very healthy sign to have most areas over 50% by the end of June, so you can see
we have a lot yet to do. If each member does a little work we will reach our goal.
One problem we are facing right now is a shortage of cash. We have had to spend a
lot of money in advance to get the Growth Plan in gear. This has left our regular
budget a bit "dry" (a subject of some interest to the executive secretary since his
salary is in the regular budget). Any help of a $'s kind would be warmly received
and appreciated in the Elgin office. We have been able to cover the substantial
increases in our budget over the last two years but have been about $5,000 short
every summer for the last five years and can't seem to overcome it.
Some highlights from the recent Executive Council Meeting:
1. Agreed to increase Journal length by 16 pages a year. (Dick Bube has a huge
backlog of articles ready for printing).
2. Approved an increase in the subscription price of the Journal to non-members
from $6 a year to $8 a year. (We feel the pressure of inflation also.)
3. Expressed interest and desire to cooperate with the programs of Inter-VarsitY
Christian Fellowship and Campus Crusade.
4. Approved 14 members to run for election to Fellow grade of membership.
J. Richard Arndt became Coordinator of Tutorial Services at California State
University, Fresno, in October. Recently he spoke to the combined IVCF/Navigator groups
on his campus on Christian dating and marriage. Richard's "Checklist" for people
considering marriage and his review of Elisabeth Elliot's A Slow and Certain Light
appeared in the February issue of HIS magazine.
John Baker has retired from the Physics Department of Grand Valley State College,
Michigan, and appears to be enjoying this time of leisure, reading, and contemplation.
Cliff S. Benton, on sabbatical leave from Westmont College to study advanced organic
chemistry at U.C. Berkeley, traveled zu der Heimat der organischen Chemie over the
Christmas holidays. Cliff and Mary to Germany to visit their youngest son Mike, stationed in Amberg, Bavaria. They had time to see castles and Alps and maybe even
a few laboratories,
Wesly
L.
Duewel of Greenwood, Indiana, asks prayer for a special Easter season
evangelistic effort among OHS Tnternational churches in Korea this year. Some
200,000 Korean Christians will each be praying for and witnessing to five other
persons this month.
Vernon J. Ehlers is back as professor of physics at Calvin College in Grand Rapids,
Michigan, after an enjoyable year at the U. of Colorado Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics. As an NSF Fellow and JILA visiting Fellow, he managed to produce
publications on electron excitation of calcium atoms and on design and construction
of a high-powered laser. Vern's paper on "The Energy Crisis" at a local ASA meeting.
last September has led to many opportunities to speak on this subject and to discuss
the responsibility of Christians in environmental matters.
James C. Ellis is a Salvation Army officer with pastoral, correctional, and social
work responsibilities in Drumheller, Alberta.' Jim's 1968 M.S. thesis (U. of Western
Ontario, London) on development of Trichobilharzia ocellata (Trematoda: Schistosomatidae) parasites in ducks was the basis for a paper in Canadian
J. Lool. 1, 1020
(1973). He has since submitted his PhD thesis and was scheduled to defend it orally
on March 11.
Virgil H.,Freed, director of the Environmental Health Sciences Center at Oregon
State
iF.
in Corvallis, spent two weeks in Russia in November. He and two other
environmental scientists brought back to the U.S. five work agreements with Soviet
scientists to result in eventual joint publication on effects of chemicals on human
health. Virgil says the information exchange was useful and the caviar excellent.
(Ken Olson of Caldwell, N. J., picked up this item from the January Oregon
Stater-)
Calvin D. Freeman has accepted a position as chairman of the Department of Biology
at Geneva Coiie-ge, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Cal has been a professor of biology
at The Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio.
Patricia C. Gisburne is an instructor of sociology at Rockmont College in
Lakevoodv
Colorado. Pat received an M.R.E. in Old Testament from Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary in 1972 and an M.A. in social science from the U. of Northern
Colorado in 1973.
Ronnie J. Hastings is teaching physics and advanced match at Waxahachie High School
in Waxahachie, Texas. It may be unusual for a PhD to be teaching high school
subjects, but Ronnie finds it both challenging and rewarding. He has plenty of
opportunity to witness as well as to clarify issues concerning Christianity and
science. At the high school level in such a community, science and religion are
often thought of as being necessarily in conflict, so an ASA member has lots Of
clarifying to do.
Fred Jappe of La Mesa, California, is teaching a course in "Science and Religion"
to 75 students at Mesa Community College. As texts he uses Barbour's Issues in
Science and Religion, Gilkey's Maker of Heaven and Earth, and Gareth ones'.Teilhard
de Chardin: An
Analysis
and Assessment, plus a reading list of many more. Fred
says his course is lots of fun, lots of work, and in need of a lot of prayer. (Don't
you wonder how many courses like this have been developed by ASA members over the
years?)
0. Carroll Karkalits, dean of the School of Engineering and Technology at McNeese
State U., Lake Charles, Louisiana, is also developing a course to be taught for the
first time next Fall semester. "Technology and Society" will be a "survey of technological developments and their relation to environmental and societal problems
for non-engineering students." Only 15% of the time will be spent on environmental
and ecological problems since other available courses cover these topics* "Corky"
would welcome suggestions for textbooks and references.
John Kremidas is a research engineering assistant in the Mineral Resources Research
Center at the U. of Minnesota in Minneapolis, working on his M.Sc. in metallurgical
and mineral engineering. John received a B.Sc. in geology from Wheaton College in
August 1973.
Lane P. Lester is spending this year at the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study in
Boulder, Colorado, as part of a team developing an introductory biology program using audio-tutorial techniques. Lane is on leave from the U. of Tennessee at
Chattanooga.
Gilbert R. Maple, Jr., is chairman of the Biology Department at Trinity College,
Deerfield, Illinois, and vice-president of the Chicago ASA section. Gil reports
that Trinity's biology program has grown from 4 majors in 1968-69 to more than 30
this year, with the medical technologist training program, begun in 1972, going
strong. Also going strong since October 1973 is the Maples' firstborn son Gregory,
teaching Gil and Mary Ann "the patience of parenthood."
John A.,McIntyre, professor of physics at Texas A&M University and past president
of ASA, spoke on "Theology in the Classroom?" at an informal faculty luncheon in
the Uni6n of the U. of Texas at Austin. The meeting was arranged by Donald G. Davis,
Jr., of U.T.'s Graduate School of Library Science and faculty sponsor of IVCF. Don
Says that Jack's comments were well received by the dozen faculty members who attended. Jack discussed ethical problems facing Christian professors and questions such
as "Should our presuppositions and assumptions be unabashedly explicit or subtly
implicit?"
Robert D. Nix, Jr., is studying for two years at Trinity College, stoke Hill, Bristol,
England. "Chip" was formerly a college missioner with the Coalition for Christian
Outreach at Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania.
Robert G. Olson is on the Electrical Engineering faculty at Washington State U. in
Pullman, currently investigating agricultural applications of microwave technology
(i.e., as non-chemical herbicide and insecticide treatments). He completed his PhD
Tt the U. of Colorado in February. This summer be will report on his thesis work at
the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society in Atlanta and at the URSI Symposium on
Electromagnetic Wave Theory in London. Bob says he enjoyed "talking ASA shop" with
geochemist Ed. Olson during a stopover in Spokane in December.
Thomas D. Parks of Federal Way, Washington, is enjoying his retirement from Proctor
and Gamble research laboratories but seems busier than ever. He spends half his time
representing Wheaton College in the Northwest but still does some consulting in the
area of perfume materials. Tom says he keeps on the lookout for potential ASA members while he's at it. (He's also an unusually modest author, who didn't even tell
us the name of his historical novel published by Good Newsl)
Stanford Reid, professor of history at the U. of Guelph, Ontario, lectured at Regent
College, Vancouver, B. C., recently on "History and All Its Warts: A Christian
Perspective," and "Mechanization of Man: Christian View of Science Since 1500."
George A. Rekers moved to Santa Monica, California, in January to become adjunct
assistant professor of psychology at UCLA and staff psychologist in the Psychology
Clinic. George is project director on a 3-year ($250,000 total) National Institute
of Mental Health grant, studying childhood gender identity problems and experimental
treatment of boys considered to be pre-transexual or pre-homosexual. During a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical psychology at Harvard last year, George also served
as assistant professor of psychology at Gordon College.
Dean Richardson, Pine Mountain, Georgia, took early retirement from Union Carbide on
December 31, 1973. The following day he went to work as a missionary associate for
the Southern Baptists' Foreign Missions Board. After orientation, he and Joyce will
leave about May 13 for West Africa for a 4-year stint. They're looking forward to a
new career as parents for "MK's" at Baptist Youth Hostel, P.O. Box 400, Accra, Ghana.
Michelowx Rosckowff works as a medical microbiologist at St. Joseph's Hospital in
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, while studying for an M.S. in medical technology at U.W.
Eau Claire. Mick's wife is a physician, currently expecting their first child.
David Shotton traveled west from Harvard in March to a protein conference in Banff
sponsored by the Canadian Biochemical Society, then to a membrane conference in Squaw
Valley, California, sponsored
by UCLA.
David zoomed down from the ski slopes for a
brief visit to Berkeley, including an evening with fellow biochemists John Amoore
and Walt Hearn.
Talivaldis I. Smits of the Department of Electrical Eng neering at Catholic University in Washington, D. C., has become an associate editor of the Journal
of the Acoustical Society of America (another JASA!) Tal is in charge of
Random Vibrations and the Statistical Methods'in Structures sections of the journal.
John Stewart's "One Woman's Sexual Revolution," lead article in the February issue
of HIS magazine, is available as a 25p booklet from HIS, 5206 Main Street, Downers
Grove, IL. 60515. Mary is an assistant professor of psychology at York University$
Toronto, Ontario.
Melvin J. Swanson is a postdoctoral research associate at the Springville (New York)
Laboratories Division of Roswell Park Memorial Institute. Mel recently received his
PhD in biochemistry from the State U. of New York at Buffalo.
Ray Tibe of Crestline, California, has become a curriculum developer in the Training
Office of Campus-Crusade for Christ. Ray works with Ted Martin, helping to establish the-content of CCC training programs.
Glen D. Turner has been at Bryan College, Dayton, Tennessee, for the past two years,
teaching English, linguistics, missions, and cultural anthropology. Glen and his
wife have also been checking the manuscript for the Jivaro New Testament, which
Wycliffe Bible Translators hopes to publish by the end of this year. By fall 1974
the Turners hope to be back in Ecuador, with their two youngest children in the C&MA
Academy in Quito and the three oldest enrolled at Bryan.
Howard Van Till of the Department of Physics at Calvin College, Grand Rapidst Michigan, is spending the current year on sabbatical at the U. of Texas at Austin.
Howard is working primarily at the MacDonald Observatory in Texas.
John Van Zytveld, another Calvin College physicist, has received a prestigious grant
from ~h_e Research Council (British equivalent of NSF) to spend next year at the
University of Leicester studying the properties of liquid metals. (Thanks to Vern
Ehlers for a report on the Calvin physics department. Sounds like heavy traffic
with all those moving Vans!)
A WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT .....
Dear Colleague,
Among my Christian colleagues in psychology, I often hear the word "integration"
used to describe the process (and sometimes the goal) of merging the truths of
Scripture and the findings of science. The term implies (to use a cliche) that
God's Word is consistent with God's world and that the Bible, properly understood,
will not contradict or be contradicted by the established body of scientific
knowledge.
Perhaps integration is more of a concern for biological and social scientists
than it is for others. The social scientist for example, when studying such things
as interpersonal relations, war, violence, fear, guilt, child-rearing, marriage,
and religion, is dealing with topics that are all discussed explicitly in the Bible.
The physicist, the research chemist, or the engineer, on the other hand, more often
works with concepts and data that are never even implied -in the Bible; thus one's
scientific work in these fields seems far removed from anything theological.
When it comes to out daily work, therefore, it may be that most of us aren't
much concerned with "integration." This seems like-a largely irrelevant concept
which is fine to talk about in freshman courses, Sunday school classes, and science
and religion (or in the Journal of the ASA) but which otherwise has little to do
with our day to day research efforts or teaching responsibilities. I suspect, however, that our science and our Christianity are not as far removed from each other
as we sometimes think. Consider, for example, the issue of values. Every scientist strives for objectivity in his work but complete objectivity is impossible.
Our prejudices, beliefs, and standards of right and wrong, often influence such
significant issues as how we carry out our research, how we interpret data, the
honesty or dishonesty with which we report our conclusions, the subject matter that
we choose to report to our students, and the ways in which we apply our findings to
the world around us. Insofar as Christianity (or any philosophical system) moulds
our values, it also influences our work as scientists.
Another example of this interaction between science and faith concerns the
related matter of presuppositions. I went through ten years of post high school
education, attended a seminary for another year, and taught for four more years in
a Christian college before I even ran across the idea that my scientific (and personal) observations and conclusions were largely influenced by a set of non-sensory,
philosophical presuppositions about the universe which I had accepted without question and without even giving them any thought. I hesitate to mention this
naivetÈ, but I take slight comfort in the knowledge that I was not alone. Too often, I have
seen colleagues in psychology accept without question such "doctrines" as the irrelevance of religion, order in the universe, the non-existence of God, the superiority of the scientific method.,
the innate goodness of man, or determinism - to name a few. Most of the
scientists that I know avoid philosophy like the plague yet their whole work is
based on the acceptance of philosophical assumptions that they neither perceive
nor care about.
Recently, I received a letter from Wilson Shope commenting on my earlier
suggestion that we must relate to both the scientific and Christian communities.
"Man," he wrote, "must always divide areas into communities or
categories that have characteristics that man can define and cope with.
Obviously, there is nothing wrong with this. We must do it in order to function.
But it seems to me, that in reality one does not 'relate to a scientific
community' or to a Christian community." A person lives as,a total person.
Thus an ASA member does not act as a scientist for a while and then as a
Christian at some other time but as a 'scientific Christian' or as a 'Christian
scientist' (small 's'). I am really suggesting that ASA members can best relate
to all other 'communities' by remembering they are always Christians (and acting
like it) no matter what they are doing."
While I would completely agree with the sentiments expressed in this letter, it
is also relevant, I believe, to quote from a letter which I received a few years
ago from a respected research scientist in England. Commenting on the Research
Scientist Christian Fellowship (which is perhaps the British equivalent of the
ASA) the writer noted that "one of the situations we face in the RSCF is
that quite a few of our people are loyal evangelicals but not very good
theologians and that they can slip across the line theologically a bit
carelessly and without realizing what they are doing and without intending to be
disloyal to the Scripture, I think this is not a problem unique to the British
Isles!"
All of this gets me to what I feel is one of the basic and perhaps most
elementary attitudes for the Christian in science. We must be characterized by
sophistication - not only about scientific methodology and research design, but
about philosophy of science and about theology and about the ways to keep really
Biblical. We must be sophisticated in our knowledge of the strengths and
weaknesses of the scientific ' method, in our familiarity with the
presuppositions (Christian and non-Christian) underlying science in general and
our own disciplines in particular,-in out understanding of the Scriptures, and
in the basics of Biblical hermeneutics. Many of us react negatively to the
criticisms of Christianity put forth by Freud,' Bertrand Russell and others
because we perceive that these men are rejecting a straw man stereotype of
Christianity which fails to fit with the Biblical picture of what it means to be
a believer. We reject the criticisms, in short,~ because the critics are lacking
in sophistication. We must be careful not to make the same error. Perhaps a lack
of sophistication in a area other than our own specialty has caused many of us
to avoid the problems of integration. But it is here that we must look for help
and guidance from each other. 'The ASA provides a unique forum for this mutual
enlightenment.
Certainly we must
always remember that we are Christians 'and we must attempt to act like it. But
we must also know clearly what we believe, why we believe as we do, and how this
can and does affect-our science. To do otherwise is-to-risk not only becoming a
poor witness for Jesus Christ but to fail in providing the link, between the
scientific and the Christian communities that we in the ASA are seeking to
establish.
Respectfully yours,
Gary R. Collins
President