NEWSLETTER
of
THE
AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC AFFILIATION
VOLUME 15, NUMBER
5
October 1973
HOW ARE WE DOING?
We have until November 30 to raise $10,000 to be matched dollar-for-dollar by
a foundation. If we raise it all, the American Scientific Affiliation will
have $20,000 to finance an intensive program -of adding new members and journal
subscribers. Doubling our present
number will
not only reach new
people.
It
will also provide a stable financial base for important
new projects.
How are we doing? An advance letter to 100 past and present officers, plus an
appeal to members at the annual meeting brought us up to $5,000.
On
September 17
a letter from the Executive Council went out to the entire membership.
Responses
are still coming in at press time. Praise the Lord! Latest tally
shows
a grand
total of $8,000 received, in cash ($6,323) or pledges.
We're sure every member or friend of ASA wants to be part of this
"double-your money" opportunity. If you haven't contributed yet, NOW is the time. (If we
go over $10,000, we have just that much more to work with!)
In Canada, make your check out to Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation,
Inc., and mail it to Dr. John F. H.
Stewart, P. 0. Box 234, Perth, Ontario,
K7H 3E4.
In the USA or countries other than Canada, make your check out to American Scientific Affiliation, and mail it to ASA, 5 Douglas Ave., Elgin, IL 0.
MORE THAN WE CAN SAY
The ASA News editor came back from the 1973 Annual Meeting thanking God for the
existence and maturity of our Affiliation, excited about the future, and with
enough news and gossip for more than one issue. We'll have more comments in
the December issue and we'd be glad to include yours if you were there.
Bill Sisterson discovered how many details a general chairman, has to take care
of. We hope he also discovered how much we appreciate his doing the job. Program chairman
Dick Wright's duties were essentially complete by the opening
session. But local arrangements chairman George Jennings was kept so busy he
had to ask people what was going on at the meeting. George did a marvelous job
of transporting us (via a maze of picturesque back roads) to and from the
Pittsburgh airport. Russ Heddendorf. Dave Carson. John Cruzan. and Martin Price were other Geneva College folk who
made us feel at home. To these in particular,
and to others who worked to make the meeting a success, we say "thank you." But
toward all with whom we talked and listened and prayed and lived during the
meeting, we feel more warmth than we can express.
THE 1973 ANNUAL METING: HAPPINESS WAS
...Outstanding papers! Many you'll see eventually in JASA. One day devoted to
scientific findings, another to Christian interpretations, the third to implications for education. Fine lead-off paper by
Dave Willis, Oregon State
biologist. Vigorous evening address by Herman Eckelmann, pastor and physics
research 'associate at Cornell. Banquet sermon on "The Future of Hope" by
Fdmund Clowney, president of Westminster Seminary. And an illustrated lecture
on "The Origin of the Solar System" by Bob Newman, physicist/theologian from
Biblical School of Theology, New York, for lagniappe after the banquet.
... Specialists bringing their fields down to our level: biochemist Bob
Herrmann,
biologist Wayne Frair, geologist Frank Roberts, and paleontologist Roger Cuffey,
for example. And the magnificent inside story of the California controversy by Bob
Fischer of the committee that actually evaluated the textbooks. How expert can, you get?
...More ASA speakers "bi-lingual" in both theology and science, to help us put the two together: Dan
Wonderly of Grace College, Jack Haas of Gordon College, Hugh Paine and Don Munro
of Houghton, Al Smith of Wheaton, Calvin Freeman of Cleveland State University,
for example.
... Respect for different points of view. Lively, intellectually stimulating
disagreements without "put-downs." All of us, from the "young earth" types to
theistic evolutionists, acknowledging God as our Creator and seeking the way to
serve Him in our scientific careers.
... Morning devotions to bring us together before God's throne. Harold Hartzler,
Bill Sisterson, and Walt Hearn leading them. Bob Knudsen's moving-testimony of
the faith
of
his son Tim, who passed into the presence of Christ in May just
eight months after his pulmonary hypertension was diagnosed. Harold's memorial
tribute to Hazel Fetherhuff, ASA's Faithful office secretary, taken from us by
a stroke only' three weeks before the meeting.
... "Christian women of science" as well as men. Marie Berg definitely no
longer our token female, with chemists ' Phyllis Chamberlain and Linda
Wanaselja, biochemist Ann Hunt, biologist Anne Whiting, and others finding places of service in ASA.
THE 1973 ANNUAL MEETING: DID YOU KNOW...
... That for only $37 you could have had an air-conditioned room at the "Geneva
Arms" apartments (with free parking, elevators, swimming pool, the works) PLUS
delicious meals at the college cafeteria and a banquet at Holiday Inn, PLUS
registration for a superbly organized symposium on "Creation, Evolution, and Molecular Biology"? (Of course, you can spend $46.70 a year to subscribe to the Journal of X-4ecular Evolution
and learn something about the topic, but you miss
the applications to Christian faith and a lot of fellowship that way!)
...That annual meetings are always great times for family vacations? (Ask
Ruth Ault,'Rosemary Biedebach, Evelyn Brace, Grace Fielding, Irene Howell,
Maree Klingensmith, Ruby Loomis, Anne Lubansky, Mary Jane Mills, Olive Moore,
Gwen Riegen, Pat Sisterson, Ann Smits, Earline Willis, Ann Wright, or any of
the other wives who came with their husbands.) Local wives Ellie Heddendorf
and Margaret Carson organized
baby-sitting and
a
Pittsburgh sightseeing/shopping
trip. The whole Mark Biedebach family drove all the way from California.
Bill Sisterson's toddler David was the youngest tad present, unless you also
count the "as yet unnamed" Sisterson Scion. Chemist Bob ' Ziegler's son David,
a chemistry major, and neurosurgeon Charles Taylor's son Gary, a geology student, were taking in the papers with their dads. All enjoyed the field trips,
one to the Shippingport Atomic Power Station, the other to Old Economy, 19th
Century utopian community of the Harmony Society.
...That this was probably the most satisfying ASA meeting ever held? Everybody seemed to sense it. Council member Jack Haas commented that members kept
coming up to him to volunteer to work for ASA in new ways. Venerable John
Howitt said he felt a warmer spirit of love at this meeting than at any of the
many others he has attended over the years. Fred Moore, retired teacher from
Owosso, Michigan, expressed appreciation for ASA and joy over at last meeting
so many people held read about in ASA News. We were all touched by president Jack McIntyre's
challenge at the annual business meeting, and later by his
report at the banquet that $2,500 had been given or pledges toward the
matching
grant fund during the meeting. You should've been there!
WELL, IF YOU MISSED IT...
... Start planning ahead for the next one. On AUGUST 19-24, 1974, the 29th ASA
ANNUAL MEETING will be held at BETHANY COLLEGE, BETHANY, OKLAHOMA, a suburb of
Oklahoma City. Among topics being considered for the program are "Our Planet
Earth" (papers on geology, geography, the energy crisis, continental drift, age
of the earth, etc.) and "The Scientist in Industry" (papers on witnessing, ethical problems, "whistle-blowing," etc.).
U.C. San Diego will be the site of the 1975 Annual Meeting. "Medical Ethics"
is one of the topics being considered for that one.
AN EXPRESSION OF APPRECIATION
When Bob Fischer, dean of natural sciences and mathematics at California State
College, Dominguez Hills, gave us his blow-by-blow account of the hassle over
science textbooks in his state, it was obvious that a lot of blows (from both
sides) had fallen on Vernon Grose. Vern authored the famous compromise wording in the 1969 science textbook "framework." Then in 1972 as a member of the
advisory commission on curriculum development, he helped set up the "criteria"
by which textbooks were eventually judged. Vern, a physicist and management
specialist, thus seemed to "be there" at critical times, courageously offering
a sane solution that couldn't possibly please everybody.
So, on the last day after Bob Fischer's chronicling of California cacophony,
the following motion was passed:
"Be it resolved that we, the members present in the concluding session of the 1973 Annual Meeting of the American Scientific Affiliation., do hereby express our appreciation for the thoughtful effort expended by Mr. Vernon Grose in the recent California textbook controversy."
DR CLOSE IS: MALE/FEMALE; /NEITHER/BOTH
We flunked. We sent Bonnidell Clause, associate professor of educational
psyIchology at Indiana
State.University, Terre Haute, a postcard . addressed to "Mr." Almost anything else would
have been OK. "Mrs.," Ms.,"
or "Dr." We figured she
must be tho Clouse at Indiana. State who co-authored The Cross and the Flag.
Nope, but she and history professor Robert G. Clouse are wife and
husband, have been
for 18 Years, and have two sons to add credence to
the fact.
"Psychological Theories of Child Development: Implications
for the Christian Family" appeared in the April Journal of Psychology and
Theology, and "Achievement Motivation and the Prostant Ethic," in Fides e
Historia. Her study of "Attitudes of College Students as a Function of Sex,
Folitics. and Religion" in the May Journal of College Student Personnel has some
findings of
interest. Bonnidell ran a 2X2X2 analysis of
variance using sex (M or F), politics (liberal or conservative), and religion (liberal or conservative) on each of six issues: demonstrations against the establishment, drug
legislation, cheating on exams, premarital sex, freedom to wear long hair or short
skirts, and academic freedom. The sample consisted of 2-18 males and 225 females
in teacher education.
To categorize religious faith, "statements on the questionnaire dealt with such
matters as belief in the inspiration of Scripture the deity of Jesus
Christ, life
after death, and the importance of a religious experience. The statements were
chosen from an original list of 33 sent to the 79 ministers of Terre Haute
churches; "The " statements chosen were those for which there was 70 percent or
more agreement that a person conservative in his religious beliefs would agree
with the statement or that a person . liberal in his religious beliefs would disagree with the statement." As we understand the results,
religion made more
,difference than either politics or sex in attitude toward premarital sex, although sex made a difference, also significant at the .001 level, with males being
more permissive than females. in fact, religious belief made a difference in
attitudes on all questions except demonstrations.
HOW TO RECYCLE SOMETHING. No. 6.
Weeds. Our comments on eating dandelion greens reminded Floy Wilcox of Central
Wesleyan College, Central, South Carolina, of home- "Being raised on a farm, my
mother used everything available to her during the depression of the thirties.
She found that most garden weeds such as lambs quarters, dock red root, pigweed,
and milkweed, if picked young enough, made very delicious greens. With the modern trend of a small garden in every yard, the use of weed greens may be one
way to get the most from a small amount of land available."
We think you're right, Floyd. Other readers (weeders?) who want to explore this
subject (and neighborhood vacant lots?) might begin with the paperback Field
Guide Edition of Euell Gibbons' Stalking the Wild Asparagus (1970, David McKay
Co., Inc., N.Y.). It and Gibbons' other field guide for foraging. Stalking the
Healthful Herbs and Stalking the Blue-eyed Scallop, sell for $2.95 new but are
beginning to show up in, second-hand bookstores. We're still foraging for a cheap
copy of his Beachcomber's Handbook.
Books, etc. Ken Van Dellen of Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, passes on a rumor
about income and eductibility for ASAVers contributing their recyclable science
books and other materials to needy libraries and schools. It's Ken's understanding that items received free, such as examination copies of textbooks, may not be
used for a tax deduction if donated to a nonprofit organization; the deduction
applies only to items for which the donor actually paid.
PEOPLE LOOKING FOR POSITIONS
Bryan L. Duncan (Central Philippine University, Iloilo city, Philippines) Would
like to find a college teaching position beginning in
summer or
fall 1974. Since
August 1972 he has served in the Peace Corps as a fish pathologist, Bryan's
wife is from the Philippines, so his service there gave them a chance to be near
her family. Bryan is 31. Before the Peace Corps duty, he taught two years at
Houghton College right after graduate school. His PhD in parasitology and microbiology was awarded in August 1972. Bryan also has teaching experience and interest in general biology, histology, and invertebrate zoology-
Calvin D. Freeman (20213 Shakerwood Road, Warrensville Heights, Ohio 44122) would
like a change of both climate and atmosphere from his tenured position in the
Biology Department of Cleveland State University. He would consider either a
small college or a university, enjoys research but hasn't had time for much of it.
He has had 14 years' experience teaching (general and developmental biology,
comparative anatomy, vertebrate physiology,
neuroanatomy, human gross anatomy,
microbiology, histology, history of biology) and counseling (as pre-med advisor).
Strong points are developmental biology, neuro- and gross anatomy, and histology.
Cal has a B.S. from Calvin College, M.S. in medical microbiology from U. of
Pennsylvania, PhD in anatomical sciences from Case Western Reserve, and B.D. from
Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia.
Cal's annual meeting paper, "Evolution--A Legitimate Model," ~as itself something
of a model, we thougbt--of clarity, philosophical insight, and forceful presentation. We seem to be running a "special" this issue
for professors
for Christian colleges to choose from. Read
on. --Ed.
Daniel E. Wonderly (Route 3, Packerton
Road,
Warsaw, Indiana 46580) seeks employment as a teacher of biology in a Christian college or university. He will be
available at the end of this year, possibly at the end of this semester at Grace
College, where he has taught general biology, vertebrate zoology, and parasitology since 1966. Before that he taught five years at Wingate Junior College. He
has an A. B. in anthropology from Wheaton College, a ThM. from Central Baptist
Seminary of Kansas City, and an M.S. in zoology and botany from Ohio University
(1961). Since 1963, most of Dan's summers have been spent in courses and institutes in various specialties: radiation biology, embryology,
parasitology, comparative anatomy, paleontology. For the past three years he has supplemented
10
biological studies with study of the evidence for the age of the earth, and in
1973 spent two weeks at the Bermuda Biological Station studying environments of
carbonate deposition.
(After hearing Dan's fine paper on "The Use of Non-radiometric Evidences for Age"
at the annual meeting, we'd certainly expect him to be an outstanding and vigorous classroom teacher. We gather be has specialized in improving biology lab
instruction on limited budgets, writing most of his own laboratory exercises and
other study helps. He's been an ASA member since 1961.--Ed.)
POSITIONS LOOKING FOR PEOPLE
.q_eattle Pacific College has had difficulty filling vacancies in the areas of educational psychology, special education, early childhood, and reading. of many
applicants, few seem to be Christians. Established scholars interested in devoting their talents to upgrading the quality of Christian education at SPC should
apply to: Dr. Max Jerman, Director, School of Educatlon, Seattle Pacific College,
Seattle, WA 9C1_19._____
Taylor University has one or two openings for faculty in a 2-year program in systems analysis beginning June 1974 (See separate story in this issue). Taylor also
has an opening for a faculty member with a strong background in botany and an interest in ecology and conservation. This person "should have the doctorate or be
close to the completion of his program. Taylor is an independent Christian liberal arts college with a student body of approximately 1400. It has a strong program in the natural sciences and enjoys very adequate science teaching facilities.
For further information please contact George W. Harrison, Acting Head, Biology
Department, Taylor University, Upland,'IN 46989."
CHRISTMAS IN EUROPE THIS YEAR
It can happen to you. Go with John W. Montgomery behind the Iron Curtain to the
birthplaces of the Reformation -;n-dw-ors'bip with East German Christians on New
Year's Eve in Bach's church in Leipzig. This 8-day tour to Wittenberg, the
Wartburg castle, Erfurt, Eisleben, Weimar, Buchenwald, Berlin, Paris, etc. with
inspiring lectures throughout, will take place Dec. 26-Jan.2. All-expense paid
trip for $674 - only a little more than Chicago - Berlin Airfare alone. For complete details on the trip write: Dept. of Church History, Trinity Seminary,
Deerfield, Illinois 60015, or call collect 312/537-3986. Registration deadline is
November 15.
LOCAL SECTION ACTIVITIES
San Francisco Bay
The July 26 meeting, held
in conji-tuction
with a Thursday evening fellowship supper
at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, drew about 75 persons to a public lecture on
"The Christian and Public Education." The speaker, Vernon L. Grose, vice president of Tustin Institute of Technology and a teacher of systems management, was
well qualified to speak on the subject. He has been at the epicenter of the
California science textbook controversy, having provided the wording for the muchdiscussed amendment to the Science Framework adopted by the State Board of Education back in 1969.
11
In his lecture, Vern addressed himself particularly to this question: "if we
view ours as a pluralistic society, should the Christian seek or expect to have a
significant voice in shaping public education policy in such subjects as physical science, social science, and student behavioral norms?" His first comment
on the theme was to the effect that since this
is
a God-directed world, in the
deepest sense we do not have a pluralistic society. He believes that Christians
should probably not make a determined effort to get a school board to influence
policy unless directly led to do so by God. But he does feel that the public
school is about the only area for the development of values where influence can
be exercised. The fruits, gifts, and signs of the Holy Spirit are needed badly
in the minds and hearts of pupils in our public education,isystem. (Our thanks
to ROY Gritter for a report of the meeting. --Ed.)
NOTES FROM THE NATIONAL OFFICE
My apologies to any who have written to the office for information and not
received a reply yet. The loss of our secretary has been severe
and catised
Eeveytll linfcrtunate delays.
I am happy to report that relief is on the way. After much looking I found a
person
almost exactly
suited for the job. I marvel at the way our Lord makes
things happen. I placed a large ad in the local paper and let it run for a week.
At the end of the week there was only one response worth following up and I must
say I was Pessimistic about much success with only one prospect. However, I had
only asked the Lord for one secretary so I guess He wanted to be efficient with
our time and sent us the right person without delay. After a lengthy intelview.
some checking and a little prayer I offered the job to Doris Parker.
the
only
qualified prospect. She accepted the job and will start Nov,-mber-1.
Doris attended both Bob Jones University and Moody Bible Institute before serving as a missionary in France. While in France she attended the University of
Paris and received a certificate in French language. She returned to the Chicago area in 1955 and has worked in the headquarters of The Evangelical Alliance
Mission in Wheaton since then with a variety of responsibilities. She has good
secretarial skills and is enthusiastic about working for the ASA. I am looking
forward to a long and pleasant working relationship.
In His Service,
6W
Dear Fellow Member of.the,ASA:
I have
just returned from our annual meeting at Geneva College and want to report to,
you about the significance of this particular meeting. I have chosen the topic
of significance for this report because I am convinced
for many reasons that this meeting
marked the
attainment of a unity and a sense of Christian brotherhood in the ASA that is
deeper and more
pervasive than ever before. Many people
at the meeting remarked about this; one veteran of 25 annual meetings stated
that this was the most congenial and rewarding ASA meeting that he had-ever attended.
It is not
immediately obvious why this meeting should have been so different from our
others. Certainly, the setting and the accomodations
of Geneva
College as administered by George Jennings and Russ Heddendorf would have added
greatly toward the success of any meeting. Also, the excellent program prepared
by Dick Wright on Creation, Evolution, and Molecular Biology
kept the lecture hall and corridors humming with discussion. Furthermore, the
contributions of our new Executive Secretary Bill Sisterson were evident in the
coordination of the various parts of the meeting. And finally, there was the
presentation of the astounding events in the California textbook controversy by
Bob Fischer which captured the imagination and emotional support of the
audience.
Yet these factors, as numerous and important as they are, do not, for me at
least, completely account for the new feeling that I mentioned above. We have
been at other pleasant campuses and have had other good programs and, indeed,
the 25-year veteran had already made his comment to me about the meeting before
Bob Fischer gave his talk. Furthermore, the subject of Creation and Evolution
has usually had a divisive rather than a unifying effect on our members.
So, what happened? Have the liberals or the conservatives taken over so that
peace reigns by default? The answer, I believe, is-that neither group has taken
over. Rather if anyone has taken over it is the Holy Spirit and we now have the
lions and the lambs of the ASA lying together in peace. For, it is still a fact
that there is great diversification of opinion in the ASA. At the meeting there
was a hard-nosed paleontologist presenting evidence for evolution and an officer
of the Creation Research Society presenting evidence against evolution.
intellectually, there were no holds barred. Yet all discussion proceeded in the
spirit of Christian brotherhood.
How can we account for this new spirit in the ASA? I believe that during our
first 28 years, the ASA was, perhaps subconsciously, psychologically insecure.
It was only too easy to doubt a person's Christian commitment if one disagreed
with his interpretation of scripture. Those were difficult years in that the
members in the ASA were a small minority defending a supposedly hopeless cause:
the intellectual respectability of the Bible. The cause appeared hopeless to
most people because the attacks on the Bible were strong. Thus, for 28 years the
ASA has struggled with the intellectually demanding task of building a new
foundation for intellectual trust in the Bible without giving away the message
of the Bible as did the liberals, while at the same time accepting, but also
critically evaluating, the conclusions of science. Naturally, during the
construction of this foundation (for which there were few blueprints) many
things were tried and many differences-of opinion were expressed. Now, however,
while we all do not agree on the exact form of the foundation, most of us do
agree that such a foundation has been constructed. Thus, we are now freed from
the worst doubts and uncertainties of the past and we can discuss the form of
the foundation with intellectual enjoyment.
I feel, therefore, that this new spirit among our membership is a permanent
addition to the ASA. Naturally, it was sensed first by those in Christian
fellowship at the meeting. I pray that this spirit will be recognized throughout
our membership while we continue our work of strengthening those in the faith.
Sincerely in Him,
JOHN A McINTYRE
President