NEWS
The American Scientific Affiliation
VOLUME 12, NUMBER 5
October, 1970
THE 1970 CONVENTION: IF YOU MISSED IT, YOU GOOFED
Most of the papers presented at the 1970 Annual Convention in St. Paul ought to
appear in the Journal eventually, so there's no reason to give more than a collection
of quick impressions here: Like Bernie Ramm talking about the technological shock
ahead for theology while some of his audience underwent theological shock... Dr.
Stanley Jaki ("Yockey") making a strong case for dualism and then having to duel
with Dr. Keith Gunderson over whether or not computers can think... The "Frontiers"
panel describing how to reach college-age kids, only to have a college student in
attendance tell them they were going about it all wrong... Eye-balling the rococo
backdrop Harold Hartzler has had painted for ASA booths at conventions and suddenly
realizing the figures represented Adam and Eve, not Harold and Hazel Fetherhuff,
faithful ASA secretary ... Meeting Hazel herself at the banquet ... Missing Alton
Everest the whole time, not just when the plaque saying so was read... Charles Hatfield
praising God for the gift of mathematics in his Presidential Address. Dick Bube's
appeal at the banquet for rational faith to counteract irrational and
non-rational behavior ... George Jennings and Kurt Weiss summarizing all of anthropology and theology one morning before coffee ...
Lowell Noble's argument that
"shame" with its interpersonal component is more significant Biblically than "guilt"
as a response to religious aberration... Richard Searle's psychological interpretation of the temptations of Christ...
Lawrence Starkey's heroic efforts to reconcile
purposiveness and necessity within the7quirks of the ultimate quarks ... Elving
Anderson's analysis of Arthur Jensen's papers on race and IQ... Jim Neidhardt's exposition of the value of faith, and
Calvin Seerveld's plea for scientists to treat
man as a whole being in whatever field we work.. Devotions by Don Boardman from
Psalm 19, Harold Hartzler from Psalm 23, Berkeley Michelson from Colossians 1:13-20,
and the closing worship session... Good local publicity, with ten column-inches in
the St. Paul Dispatch August 19, and radio and TV interviews with ASA leaders all
during the Convention... The "fellowship of kindred minds", even when our minds
grappled with incongruities ... That's an ASA Convention--and we haven't even mentioned the annual business meeting (see NOTES FROM THE NATIONAL OFFICE).
A FAR-OUT PROPOSAL FOR OUR NEXT CONVENTION
Ideas for improvement always crop up after an ASA Convention, even after the great
one we just had. Take all those people, for example, who watched the taxi disappear
into the night as they stood by their luggage on the old Bethel campus, only to find
out the Convention was being held on the new campus, several miles away. It's only
natural they suggest having future Conventions in only one location at a time.
And Jack McIntyre, from Texas, keeps asking why we always have to meet so near the
arctic circle, with the south full of potential members. It's just that we have
more members in Canada than in Mexico, Jack. And not everybody is aware that Texans
air-condition their whole state for the month of August.
Well, we have a proposal to make. We even volunteer to put our far-out proposal in
operat~ion at the 1971 Convention in far-out Spokane, if we can get a little help
from our friends. We think one evening of the program ought to be set aside for a
'coffee house ...with soft lights, poetry reading, folk singers, the whole creative
bit. We could have a fine program of ASA people reading their own serious poems.
And there were teenagers accompanying parents to the 1970 Convention who play the
guitar and write their own songs: The Ruckarts' daughter Kath, for one, and John
Stewart's son John, for another, The kind of coffee house we're proposing would let
us listen to each other across that generation gap, and give more incentive for
whole families to come.
"I dreaded it", said one youngster about the St. Paul Convention. "But I found out
that you scientists way up there could be, well, human, you know? I mean, you
weren't putting people down at all. That's great, you know? I mean, that's what
the world really needs: more people who like people and don't put them down."
0. K., we sayt See ya at a really cool 1971 Convention. Bring your guitar!
OUR TRIB TO WOHEN'S LIB
ASA Conventions are always more fun because of the ladies present. Besides many
wives who come just for the fellowship and firecrackers, we're seeing a growing number of women scientists, too. This year we had
Marilyne Backlund (nursing) from
Minnesota, Kathy Long (psychology) from Georgia, Helen Martin (math, general science),
Joan Multhauo (chemistry) from New Jersey, and probably some others we missed. Of
course hard-working Marie-Berg (chemistry) was there giving everybody a hand with
everything, and then she even wrote up the Convention press release to send to
Christian periodicals immediately afterward.
We also got to meet a wife or two who is a scientist in her own right, including
Karen Searle (biochemistry), wife of psychologist Richard Searle, and new applicant
for membership Marie Ruckart (medical technology) wife of pharmacologist Robert
Ruckart. There may have been some others, but we're sorts shy, I guess.
In honor of women's long-suffrage in this country, we thought we'd publish a list of
all the husband-wife scientist teams within ASA, but we hit a snag. The list Hazel
sent us from Mankato came with the names listed only as "Mr. and Mrs. So-and-so."
WOW! We wouldn't dare publish such a list these days without giving the wife's very
own first name.
So, why don't more of you gals drop us a line now and then? Not your hem-line,
please!
REPLIES TO QUESTIONNAIRE AID WRITING SEMINAR
Thanks to the nearly 100 of you who responded to the questionnaire on "Frontiers of
the Sciences and Christian Faith" (ASA News, April 1970), the decision-making task
of the ASA Writing Seminar at Green Lake, Wisconsin, August 8-15, was much easier.
Even so, it took a full week of deliberation to reach agreement on the best way to
approach the book-writing task assigned by the Executive Council to Dave Moberg,
organizer of the Seminar. Other ASA participants Wayne Ault, Chuck Hatfield, Walt
Hearn, Jack McIntyre, Roger Shuy, and Kurt Weiss all had ideas, and so d
Melvin Lorentzen, representing the Bedford Center for Creative Study. Bedford
Center generously supported the Seminar, not only by providing housing at the
National Christian Writing Center and meals at the American Baptist Assembly, but
also by contributing Mel Lorentzen's time. As a teacher of creative writing
(Wheaton College) and leader of many writing conferences, Mel had valuable experience
to share.
Bedford takes its name from Bedford Gaol, where John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress.
Sequestering our bunch at Green Lake may not produce such a classic, but it was
worth a try. According to their report at the ASA Convention, more than one book
may come of it. They settled on the goal of writing for a non-Christian audience,
hoping to help college students find satisfying answers to the most serious questions of life. Science has its contribution to make and Christianity quite a different contribution, but can the two be woven together effectively to reach kids often
suspicious of science and contemptuous of Christianity? Maybe not, but the participants agreed it would be better to fail at something important than to succeed at
something irrelevant.
Although some loose ends still need tying up, selected writers are to be at work
this year, with the first manuscript drafts due next summer. Dave Moberg is general
editor of the project. The writers expect to call on you ASA experts in various
fields for assistance in unfamiliar areas, realizing that the issues important to
the "now generation" range across many disciplines. A major decision was to produce
an "issue-oriented" book rather than another "discipline-oriented" book like ASA's
original Modern Science and Christian Faith. That's the direction your questionnaires
pointed.
FROM GREEN LAKE TO WHITE HOUSE
Our reporter at the ASA Writing Seminar says that an exciting moment came when Dave
Moberg received a call asking him to prepare a working paper on "Spiritual Needs of
the Elderly" for the 2nd White House Conference on Aging. The request put Dave on a
spot, since the paper was due early in October and he was already committed both to
give an invited paper at a sociology meeting in Bulgaria and to chair a session on
the Writing Seminar at the ASA Convention. Recognizing the importance of an evangelical's contribution at such a level, the group volunteered to make the Convention
presentation, freeing Dave to do a good job for President Nixon. (Dave preferred to
keep the European engagement himself--but thanked as just the same.)
At one seminar session, sociologist Moberg startled geologist Ault with a remark
about the significance of "rock culture" in our time. And then there was the morning when discussion stopped spontaneously as a lovely fawn meandered out of the
woods in full view of the picture window facing the lake. After a moment of silent
admiration, somebody said, "I wonder where the doe is." A worldly-wise scientist
wearily sighed, "In Washington D. C.--or at least it used to be."
HOW TO START SOMETHING/No. 2. ED YAMAUCHI
"When we came to Oxford, Ohio, we found a town of about 6,000 and a university
(Miami) of 11,000 students. There was a good Inter-Varsity group, about 50-strong,
but no strong evangelical church ministering to the students. on the one hand, the
large denominational churches in town were rather liberal. On the other, the evangelical churches were rather small, located on the outskirts of town, and geared
more to townspeople than students.
"As a result, the evangelicals on the university staff had been going out of town to
attend large evangelical churches, thirty minutes to an hour away in Hamilton or
Cincinnati. The students, who were not allowed to have cars on campus, were without
a satisfactory church. Out of a weekly prayer meeting, with an original nucleus of
three (Dr. William Wilson, a professor of botany; Dan Fulton, a management consultant; and myself in the Department of History) came the decision to establish an evangelical witness geared to university students.
"We began meeting in the town hall, within walking distance for students. The three
of us would take turns speaking. We began with a group of 50 and have at times
reached 80, with about half or more of the congregation consisting of students.
During the summer the congregation has gone down to 20 or 30, but the Lord is still
blessing. Since we are non-denominational we have even been recommended by the local Roman Catholic church.
"We have tried to have a maximum of student participation, in praying, leading the
service, giving testimonies, singing, etc. We have also begun a Sunday school for
various ages. The IVCF already did have a Sunday Bible class for students, taught
for many years by Dr. Wilson. We have continued our Saturday morning prayer meetings, now joined by one or two other men. Ladies have their own prayer meeting on
Tuesday mornings. Dr. Wilson also teaches a Bible study in a home on Saturday
evenings, attended mainly by non-students. During the school year the students,
most of whom are active in IVCF, have their own activities.
"We are very encouraged by what the Lord has done. The students are quite enthusiastic about inviting their friends to the services. We are trusting the Lord to
do great things this coming year."
Many of us who have faced a similar dilemma in a small college town will be interested to know how this experiment continues to work out. We thank Ed for sharing
his experience with us. He already has quite a history of "getting it together",
having helped to organize both a Graduate Students Fellowship and a Faculty Christian Fellowship while he was at Rutgers. If you'd like to correspond with Ed about
this current adventure, write to him at 716 South Oak St., oxford, Ohio 45056.
That's where we're going to send the dozen copies of the "Scientist's Psalm" greeting cards we promised to anyone who contributes to HOW TO START SOMETHING. Now,
how about you?
CATALYTIC REACTION DEPARTMENT
Item 1: Jerry Albert writes from San Diego that in addition to the Scientist's Psalms for his
contibution to HOW TO START SOMETHING in the June issue, he
received four letters requesting outlines from his discussion series on medical
ethics. Who knows what has been set in motion here? The Christian Medical Society
also made contact with Jerry, sending him a brochure on C. M. S. activities.
Item 2: T. H. Leith, director of the Division of Natural Science, Atkinson
College, York University, Downsview, Ontario, responded in a big way to our notice
in the August issue about the A.A.A.S. bibliography called Science for Society. Harry agrees wholeheartedly with the suggestion that ASA should develop and publish
an outstanding bibliography along similar lines. He even said he'd be delighted to
help get it off the ground as soon as he returns from this year's sabbatical leave.
He has already developed an extensive reading list for York students preparing term
papers in natural science courses, with an addendum on science and religion. Maybe
Harry's already done most of the work on which to base a useful ASA publication.
How about it, 0 sagacious Sachems of Mankato tribe?
MAATMAN ON MAANY MAATTERS
The Bible, Natural Science and Evolution is the title of a new book by Russell
Maatman, professor of chemistry and chair of the Division of Natural Science at
Dordt College, Sioux Center, Iowa. The book is a paperback of about 170 pages,
available at $3.50 from the publisher, Reformed Fellowship, Inc., Box 7383, Grand
Rapids, Michigan 49510. (Maybe the ASA office will also have some copies on hand?)
(Note: Yes, we do have copies. Nat. Office.) Fifteen chapters cover such topics as "The Bible and Scientific Investigation", "Natural Law and Miracle", "In Defense
of Science". "The Bible on the Age of the Universe", "Science on the Age of the
Universe", and "Biological Evolution."
Russ also reminds us of the Christian Scientific Symposium to be held at Dordt
College October 22-23, with many speakers on the relationship of the Bible and
science, the origin of life, galactic astronomy, and ecological problems. For
Housing arrangements or other info, write to Russ or Will Alberda at Dordt College,
Sioux Center, Iowa 51250.
A BIOCHEMIST AT AN ACTIVE SITE
In July 1969 Peter L. Tan resigned his position as senior research biochemist at the
Research Foundation of the National Canners Association, Washington, D. C., and he
and his wife joined Ambassadors for Christ as short-term lay missionaries to the
Philippines. Ambassadors for Christ is a mission organization with headquarters in
Washington, D. C., seeking to win Chinese students and intellectuals to Christ. The
Tans are presently self-supporting and working at Grace Christian High school (2,500
students) and the related non-denominational, evangelical Grace Christian Church in
Manila. They both work in the Christian Education Center of the school, directing
and designing programs to build up the spiritual lives of the students and to lead
students to Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord.
This is the 20th anniversary of the school, Peter writes, and he'd be happy to furnish information to anyone interested in knowing more about its ministry. Grace
Christian Church is hoping to build a sanctuary soon, since they are now using the
school auditorium for worship services. Write to Peter at Grace Christian High
School, P. 0. Box 2712, Manila, Philippines. The Tans expect to be there until
January and then spend several months in Taiwan working among college students.
They should be back in the U. S. by the summer of 1971.
Peter's most recent technical paper dealt with "A New Technique for Rapid Purification, Entrapment, and Recovery of Enterotoxin A from a Liquid Chamber by Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis." It appeared in
ApRlied Microbiology 18, No. 6, 1089-90
(December, 1969), after Peter was already in Manila.
FIRST-ORDER REFLECTIONS OF AN X-RAY DIFFRACTIONIST
Some years ago a question came up in these pages about using the dedicatory page of
a science dissertation to make a statement of Christian conviction (or any other
kind of conviction, for that matter). Recently Charles Thaxton managed to reveal
something about himself as a Christian in a rather appropriate way in the Acknowledgment section of his thesis. That section read in part:
"The author wishes at this time to express his sincere indebtedness to a few
people who have been instrumental in developing in him concepts of eternal value.
"To Professor Robert A. Jacobson whose strength of character, sense of fair
play, and warm hospitality have served to teach the author by example the concept
of Biblical grace. His guidance in the author's research is also gratefully
acknowledged.
"Acknowledgments are in order for Drs. A. Schlueter and P. J. Hansen whose
probing and penetrating questions played their part in destroying the author's
naive concept of a 'southern' god, and putting in its place the grand and glorious
one of 'the God who is there', as revealed in His Word."
The acknowledgment is the only part of that thesis most of us could understand. Its
grand and glorious title is "A Technique for Cooling Single Crystals Below 900K for
X-Ray Diffraction, and the Crystal Structures of H2Ta 6Cll8.6H20, and the Photodimer
of 1,1-Dimethyl-2,5-diphenyl-i-silacyclopentadiene." In August it won for Charlie
the Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Iowa State University in Ames.
Walt Hearn, the "outside man" on the faculty review committee, says some committee
members were dumbfounded to hear Charlie's plans for the immediate future: first,
a 3 to 12-month stay in L'Abri Fellowship in Switzerland studying "Twentieth Century
Thought" with Francis Schaeffer; then a part-time job at Texas Instruments in Dallas,
so he can take Greek and Hebrew at Dallas Theological Seminary. Eventually he expects to teach physical chemistry somewhere, but he'll probably be teaching some
other things as well.
Actually, Charlie's major professor and research associates have known all along
about his evening Bible classes and his work with Campus Crusade for Christ. Professor Jacobson says some members of his research group even think Charlie's
heuristic structure solutions came by divine revelation--but they worked, and in
X-ray diffraction that's what counts.
When all this came out in discussion following his thesis defense, it wasn't hard
for members of the committee to guess that the letters "T.L." on the Dedication
page stood for "The Lord"--which Charlie confirmed.
ANOTHER WAY TO SAY IT
When Darrell Clardy submitted the final copy of his thesis in biophysics, also at
ISU, he inserted a page at the beginning with these magnificent lines:
INSIDE MAN AT THE SKUNK WORKS
Our man in the olfactory factory, John Amoore (ASA News, June 1970), has made the
pages of Chemical and Engineering News again. In a story in the August 17 issue,
John is reported as proposing a short-cut to pharmaceutical testing of the 700 or so
artificial flavoring adjuvants that appear in the Federal Register as "Generally
regarded as Safe." Public pressure is growing for such safety testing, which would
be enormously expensive whether or not it revealed any of the compounds to be detrimental to the public health.
John, who works at the USDA Regional Research Lab in Albany, California, argues that
a research program to identify the 25 or 30 "primary odors" (such as the "sweaty"
odor of isovaleric acid) would be a lot cheaper. Stringent pharmacological tests
could be carried out on this smaller number of compounds rather than the whole GRAS
list, and if found to be safe they could be mixed in various proportions to produce
any desired odor. Since the sense of smell plays a dominant role in our appreciation of flavors, we wouldn't need that huge list of flavor additives. Sounds reasonable, but leave those sweaty socks out of the soy sauce, please, even if they give
it more "kick. "
TUNING IN ON THE TURNED OFF
The gutter language of the radical press offends many of us, but it isn't a bad idea
to tune in now and then on what bubbles up from the underground. The Berkeley Barb
or Tribe is pretty rank for our file. But to get a glimpse of some constructive
aspects of the current "cultural revolution", we recommend reading Vocations for
Social Change. It's a bi-monthly newsletter put out by a group of more or less
idealistic but non-Christian young radicals calling themselves the VSC Collective.
"We collect and disseminate information on how basic institutional change can and
has come about and alternatives to dehumanized life-styles that many people have
created."
VSC doesn't maintain a permanent mailing list, but they'll put you on a limited list
for six months if you donate $5 or more (tax exempt). You might not agree with
everything VSC says, but you'll have to admit they're trying to bring something positive out of a movement so predominantly negative as to resemble a "youthquake."
A recent communication says that VSC is about to lose its living/working space in a
small wooded community near Oakland, California, and badly needs financial assistance.
You helped to bail out VITA (I~A Yews, Feb. 1970, p.5), and you've put your piece
in the JASA "stew-pot" (ASA News, Aug. 1970, p. 8). If you have a little cash left
in your cache, you might send it to Vocations for Social Change, Canyon, California
94516--a cup of water in the Lord's name for some hard-working hippies. Even
hippies get thirsty. And even Jesus wore sandals, before the establishment got Him.
BRIDGING THE GAP
If even Vocations for Social Change is too strong for you, try Youth Today, published by Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, 233 Langdon St., Madison, Wisconsin
53703. It's an interpretive newsletter for pastors and youth leaders reporting
what the now generation is doing and why. Youth Today's view of the anti-establishment "counter-culture" is essentially an external, establishment view--but generally
a sensitive and sensible one. James W. Reapsome is editor. Your pastor should be
getting it, free. If not, send IVCF his name and address. Maybe he'll let you
read his copy.
JOHN-OF-ALL-TRADES AVAILABLE
Some college or university somewhere must have a teaching job for versatile John L.
Retrotsky, who recently joined ASA. He majored in metallurgy at M.I.T., got an
M.S. from Brooklyn Poly with major course work in math, and now has a Ph.D. in
solid state physics from Syracuse. He has been employed in the past by the IBM research labs in Yorktown Heights, N. Y., and the General Telephone & Electronics research labs in Bayside, N. Y. He has publications in print or in preparation in
X-ray line broadening studies, single crystal work, and absorption edge analysis
(B.S. thesis); anelastic piezoresistance effect, formation and motion energies of
vacancies, vacancy annealing kinetics, magnetism in iron-gadolinium amorphous thin
film alloys, high temperature calorimetry, electronic density of states, magnetic
critical point determination (Ph.D. thesis); brittle-ductile transition temperatures
(M. S. thesis); and zone-refining tungsten. John would consider teaching opportunities in physics, materials science, mathematics, or metallurgy. Write him at
Building B-30, Apt. 7, New Slocum Heights, Syracuse, N. Y. 13210.
JOHN BROWN IS LOOKING FOR ME
John Brown University has a faculty position in Mechanical Engineering open in
January 1971. A Ph.D. is desired. Send resume to: Dr. Roger F. Cox, Dean of
Academic Affairs, John Brown University, Siloam Springs, Arkansas 72761.
"I was able to make a large number of contacts for the ASA since I had my briefcase with me full of ASA material. Thus I manned the booth Monday through Friday and arrived home Saturday night."