NEWSLETTER

AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC AFFILIATION - CANADIAN SCIENTIFIC & CHRISTIAN AFFILIATION

Volume 22 Number 4                                                                             August/September 1980

THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE ANNUAL

"First, the bad news," said president Kurt Weiss at the Friday  evening opening session of the 35th Annual Meeting of the American Scientific Affiliation, drawing an initial laugh from more than 200 registrants assembled at Taylor University. But Kurt's announcement  that executive director Bill Sister son had submitted his resignation as of September 1, left everyone stunned.

At first the "good news" was too feeble to balance the bad. The executive council, which had received the news only a few weeks before, had met most of Friday to consider some emergency proposals for dealing with the crisis. Harold Hartzler, executive officer before Bill, had agreed to take charge again if the national office could be moved back to Mankato, Minnesota. Walt Hearn had arranged to rent office space from New College in Berkeley, California. Bill reported that his secretary acquainted with all our office procedures, Martha Wildes, was willing to stay on and even move with the office if necessary. After much discussion it was agreed to keep the office in the Elgin (IL) area for at least the coming year, retaining the same post office box number.

Thus the only good news that could be announced on Friday was that the ASA national office would carry on at the same address and with a competent full-time secretary taking care of routine business. President Weiss asked the membership to pray that we could find (1) an ASA member in the area to supervise the Elgin office for an interim period until May or June 1981, and (2) a person of some scientific as well as spiritual stature to become full-time executive director after the interim period.

By the Annual Business Meeting on Saturday afternoon, no one had been found able to serve as interim executive secretary, but a number of possibilities had been eliminated. Then through a remarkable series of circumstances the council discovered just the right person for the job-someone who had arrived after the Business Meeting and didn't know he was being sought. After hurried negotiations on Sunday, Kurt was able to announce on Monday morning that the immediate crisis had been averted. Then he led the assembly in a resounding doxology, praising God "from whom all blessings come."

So there is good news after all, along with a lot of regular news from the 1980 Annual Meeting. Such news always overflows a single Newsletter and keeps coming to you in subsequent issues. The news that the Elgin office remains intact seemed to be the most important story for this issue. It means that the Newsletter will keep coming with all the news-good, bad, and remarkable.

Winding down that work as funds dwindled, Harry had agreed to teach chemistry as a one-year replacement at Judson College, beginning in December. Where is Judson College? Yessir, right thar in Elgin, Illinois. The Lubanskys already live in an adjoining suburb only a few minutes from our present office. They were planning to supplement Harry's smaller Judson income by having him commute back to his old lab several days a week to continue as an NMR consultant-but hoping for a part-time job nearer home. Now it was ASA to the rescue, with the whole council in pow-wow shouting "Quid pro quo!" (You've heard of the Quo Indians, ain'tcha, sonny?)

For the next eight or nine months, Harry will devote at least ten hours a week to ASA affairs, supervising Martha Wildes' work and consulting regularly (via telephone or smoke signal to Oklahoma) with chief Kurt Weiss and (wholeperson) medicine-man Bob Herrmann. Harry will be paid something resembling a half-time salary as "interim executive secretary."

What's neat is not merely the timing and geography but also the fact that Harry has been wanting to put more effort into ASA than his graduate studies and postdoc yearswould allow. Further, he's even a second-generation ASAer, his father being long-time member Harry Lubansky of Somerville, New Jersey, an industrial pharmaceutical chemist. Harry Junior's wife Marian will continue to teach school, having found a perfect baby-sitter for young Michael John, Lubansky candidate for third-generation membership.

(... and so, in the nick of time, the fort was saved, the only loss of life being maybe a few years off each council member's allotted span.)

It's possible that Bill got somewhat lonely working for ASA, separated geographically both from peers and from his "bosses," whom he saw only a few times a year. (The Newsletter editor probably had the most regular contact with Bill. We'll miss him mightily, and Pat and the kids, too.) At any rate he's looking forward to working with church boards and committees right there on the spot. He also wants to test some ideas for expanding ASA's witness and service in local churches. But here's Bill's own "Farewell Statement":

"During the last eight years the number of members has doubled. Attendance at Annual Meetings has grown from less than 100 registrants to well over 200, with even greater growth in the number of papers given. The Journal is now50 percent larger than it was in 1972. Such growth has broadened the base and made the Affiliation more stable financially.

"It is my hope that the stage has been set for a new era of development. I think it is time now to fulfill the vision of our founders in providing a truly effective ministry to both the church and the scientific community. To accomplish this I believe we need an executive director with significant scientific credentials, spiritual maturity, and good public communication skills. I am happy to report that the executive council is looking for such a person and already has at least one excellent prospect in view. Even with such an individual, of course, the full support of each of us members is essential to accomplish ASA's objectives.

"I plan to continue my activity in ASA (I became a life member several-year ago) and plan to assist every way possible during the coming months of transition. I pray that you will continue to support ASA with your membership and participation in the exciting years ahead.

"I want to give my special thanks and appreciation to so many of you who gave me support and encouragement during any dark moments I may have had on the job. I leave ASA's employ with many warm memories and friendships that I hope will continue. Thank you for the privilege of working for you, and with you, during these eight years."

Cordially in Christ,
Bill Sisterson, executive director, 1972-80.

The salary is such that a person in mid-career may have to make some financial sacrifice to accept the post, but persons in any stage of a scientific or technical career will be considered, from relatively young postdoctoral people to those approaching or having passed retirement age. Practical experience in administration will be valuable, since responsibilities include all business and financial matters of the Affiliation, including management of memberships and subscriptions to publications. Communication skills will also be valuable for the recruitment and public relations aspects of the job. The executive director represents the Affiliation to scientists, church people, other organizations, and the general public.

To nominate a candidate, make application, or inquire about the position, write to either member of the search committee:

The elected President of ASA, Dr.-A. Kurt Weiss, -Dept. of Physiology & Biophysics, 653 BMSB, U. of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, P.O. Box 26901, Oklahoma City, OK 73190; or former ASA president Dr. John A. McIntyre, 2316 Bristol St., Bryan, TX 77801. Or simply write to ASA Executive Council, P.O. Box 862, Elgin, IL 60120.

The executive council would like to have all papers in hand for each applicant at the time of its next meeting, 5-6 December 1980.

Science has clearly been recognized as important at Taylor Tewrent enrollment about-1,500), perhaps-n-rorecon-siste-ntly than at many other Christian schools. Back in the 1960s, when even secular schools were having Religious Emphasis Weeks, Taylor held an annual Science Emphasis Week.

Taylor faculty members played an important part in the 1980 ASA Annual Meeting. The Saturday plenary session on "The Environmental Crisis: The Ethical Dilemma," put together by Taylor biologist Richard Squiers, included papers by Taylor chemist LeRoy Kroll and Taylor systems analyst Leon Adkinson (along with philosopher Stanley Kane of Miami U. in Ohio). That session was a sampling of what went on at the June 1980 AuSable Forum held at the blossoming AuSable Trails Institute of Environmental Studies. AuSable Trails was a sleepy Christian summer camp in the wilds of upper Michigan until oil was discovered under it. Now the Institute is being developed rapidly because facilities are ideal for environmental studies-and because the IRS insists that the oil income be spent as it comes in! (For more information, write to Dr. Edwin R. Squiers, Coordinatorof Advanced Studies Division, AuSable Trails Institute, c/o Taylor University, Upland, IN 46989.)

A lot of Taylor people must have been working behind the scenes. In view was computer scientist Wally Roth, chair of the local arrangements committee, who also gave a paper on Taylor's fascinating new Computing Assistance Program; the CAP helps mission and church-related organizations put data-processing systems to work in direct Christian service.

LeRoy Kroll was also frequently in evidence, making many necessary announcements. After a scrumptious "ice cream social" on Friday night, LeRoy showed a film following the Taylor "Wandering Wheels" students on a cycling trip from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. On Sunday afternoon a sizable group of ASAers temporarily joined the Wandering Wheels for a biking field trip, one of several "firsts" at this year's Annual Meeting.

Chemist Vickie Hess and biologist Elisabeth Poe, along with other Taylor faculty, showed off their l abs in the Science Center in various ways throughout the meeting. Leon Adkinson M.C.'d the Saturday night banquet, which featured not only president Weiss's stirring address but two local preliminary attractions, one of which came through the courtesy of Maurice Burns, vice-president for academic affairs at nearby Marion College. Performing on trumpet (and concert funnel) was virtuoso Jerry Franks, newly appointed professor of music at Marion, whose recent blindness has dimmed neither his trust in Christ nor his sense of humor.

The other banquet attraction, another "first" for 1980, was a visit from a president of the United States! President Lincoln, stovepipe hat and all, was "Abe-ly" impersonated by Taylor mathematician David Neuhouser, long-time student and collector of Lincolniana. The president presented certain facts, distorted by his biographers, about the women in his life, then held an impromptu "press conference" to clear up any other questions about his life. When asked how he had been able to bear such great burdens, President Lincoln replied that his two greatest sources of strength were his sense of humor and the words of Scripture.

Asked to respond to Thorson's thesis and to his skepticism toward Gordon Clark's philosophical approach was J. C. Keister, a physicist teaching mathematics at Covenant College in Tennessee and a personal friend of Clark. Keister clarified the differences between Thorson and Clark, arguing that Scripture is true in a much more ultimate sense than scientific descriptions of the world can be. Scripture has an eternal quality which scientific knowledge can never possess.

In spite of Thorson's personal warmth, that was heavy stuff. Many contributed papers dealt with equally weighty matters, often eliciting equally strong differences of opinion. In one session devoted to a critical review of nuclear energy, Frank Anders and Kenneth Olson of the U. of Northern Colorado in Greeley spelled out the physical and biological effects of nuclear radiation. Ethical concerns cropped up everywhere, from discussions of how to help the world's poor in Christ's name to coping with abortion and mental illness. The heady blend of physical science, social science, philosophy, theology, and what-have-you was typical of ASA Annual Meetings, although this year set a new record for the number of papers presented.

Kurt Weiss delivered the goods both as presiding officer and banquet speaker. In his address on "What I Wish for Every Member of the ASA," Kurt reminded us all to (1) keep our New Birth in Christ central in our lives and work; (2) be intellectually honest enough to "shut up" when we're out of our own sphere of competence; and (3) make the effort to "disciple" at least one or two younger members to help them gain spiritual and professional maturity.

What a treat to participate in that open exchange of information, impression, opinion, and conviction! Our fundamental unity in Christ was expressed in different styles even in the morning devotions. On Saturday, chemist Marie Berg led in reflections on James 3 and its significance for our deliberations. On Sunday, biologist Wayne Frair shared moving personal experiences as part of his devotions. On Monday, psychiatrist Markham Berry reminded us of our privilege to be both witnesses of and participants in God's grace.

Local churches of various denominations had asked for ASA speakers, so on Sunday morning we were represented by Harold Hartzler, Bob Herrmann, Stan Lindquist, Jack McIntyre, David Moberg, and Don Munro in congregations in Upland and nearby towns.

The Marion Chronicle- Tribune sent a reporter to Upland to do a story on the ASA meeting. The resulting story ("Science Not Enemy of Christianity," Aug. 9, p. 10) was not only one of the best ever written about the Affiliation by an outsider, but the reporter, Christina Ravashiere, spent most of the interview eagerly listening to what Christ could mean in her own life. Pray that her present concept of God as "something like the cosmic hum" will grow into recognition of God as both Creator of the cosmos and her heavenly Father, whom she may encounter person-to-person in Jesus Christ.

Those cafeteria meals were cool, man, with abundant salad bar and a choice of seductive desserts which (so we were told) tasted as delicious as they looked. In spite of its capacity to seat some 250 ASA folks plus swarms of youngsters, first from a basketball training camp and then a marching band school, the Commons had a quiet ambiance well suited to serious discussions.

Ed Yamauchi, whose work as program chair helped make the 1980 Annual Meeting such a success, almost missed a Friday noon executive council meeting in the Dining Commons. Arriving from Ohio in shorts and tank top, Ed was mistaken for one of the basketball campers and got stuck in their long chow line.

Ed and young son Brian Yamauchi, by the way, made at least one other two-generation pair beside the already mentioned Lubansky duo. Brian is now old enough to go on his own to technical sessions on computers, artificial intelligence, and other things his dad probably wouldn't understand. Ed's wife Kimie was attending sessions also, as were many spouses this year. Maybe having as many as three parallel sessions (another "first") guaranteed that at least one paper would be of interest of almost anyone. Of course, that made it even harder for one reporter to "cover" the Annual Meeting.

Yet the field trips did a booming business. Appreciative comments came from those who spent Friday afternoon touring the Eli Lilly Laboratories, where Ann Hunt and a number of other ASAers are employed. A popular Saturday trip included a visit to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Many who brought children along for a family vacation praised the baby-sitting arrangements, by now an important Annual Meeting feature.

Dozens of Canadians seemed to be in attendance, although the registrant who had traveled farthest was Gareth Jones, on his way from his home base in Perth, Australia, to an International Anatomical Congress in Mexico. Members came to give and hear papers from all parts of the U.S., from the ol' woodchopper Jack Haas of Massachusetts' Gordon College to Jim Rynd of southern California's Biola College.

The honorable H. Harold Hartzler added another notch to his perfect attendance record and gave a paper on world peace to show he isn't slowing down. Venerable John Howitt and redoubtable John Stewart attended together from Ontario. In the light of her busy schedule (and maybe of the crisis confronting the council), Marie Berg was thanking everyone for not voting her onto the executive council. With such senior citizens interacting with younger members, including many at their first Annual Meeting, the ASA seems to be in no danger of losing either its vigor or its heritage.

In other executive council action, the 1982 Annual Meeting in the midwest was set at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The 1983 meeting will be set in a western state at a site still being negotiated-barring volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, or the Lord's return before then. Incidentally, Dennis Feucht was passing out samples of volcanic dust from Mt. St. Helens at the meeting; if you missed yours you might request one from Dennis at 2015 S.E. 51st Ave, Portland, OR 97215. (If you need a lot more for analytical work it might be thoughtful to enclose a stamped, self-addressed 55-gallon drum when you write.)

While the council was sweating out a replacement for Bill Sisterson, Bill was sweating our returns from a slightly delayed mailing to some 230,000 potential subscribers to the ASA Journal, not wanting to leave with bills unpaid. If smaller test mailings were accurate predictors, an expected 4,000 new subscriptions will pay for the huge mailing, bring in additional income, and make ASA more widely known. If not, gulp ... (At press time, results are encouraging but still incomplete.) Everyone in ASA is probably on enough mailing lists to receive at least one of the advertising pieces, which Bill hopes members as well as strangers will like.

Here's the scoop on nominating students to receive gift memberships: You may send in the names or write to Elgin for "Paid" application forms to give to the students yourself. Contributions to the student scholarship fund are a great way to boost ASA and are tax-deductible if made out to ASA and the funds are actually under ASA control. The IRS does not object to a donor making nominations of students to be awarded scholarships as long as the donor does not control the choice.

Coming up: Among the challenges to Harry Lubansky, Jr., in his new ASA position will be an audit of our finances (messed up by loss of records in the 1979 office fire), and publication of an alphabetical membership directory in some form or other (Hooray!).

Beside the full documentation in each paper (just as it originally appeared in JASA), Making Whole Persons recommends for further reading Modifying Man: Implications & Ethics edited by Craig Ellison (Univ. Press of America, 1977), Whole-Person Medicine: An International Symposium edited by D. Allen, L. Bird, & R. Herrmann (IVP, 1980), and half a dozen other related books, all available from ASA headquarters, P.O. Box 862, Elgin, IL 60120. Making Whole Persons can be ordered from ASA at $4.00 per copy, postpaid.

Still available at $3.00 each are copies of the first JASA reprint collection, Origins and Change edited by David L. Willis (1978). That collection has proved useful as as a supplementary text in a variety of college courses from biology to the philosophy of science. The new collection should be useful in some of the same courses but especially in those focusing on bioethical issues. Write the Elgin office for bulk rates.

1. Second annual Symposium of the International Association for the Advancement of Appropriate Technology for Developing Countries will be held 10-12 October at the University of Denver in Colorado. Focus of the 1980 Symposium will be "Agriculture, Rural Energy, and Development." AAATDC is a nonprofit, international, interdisciplinary association of scholars and students interested in problems of development and technology transfer in developing countries. Current president is Dr. Ikewelugo Oyeka of the U. of Michigan.

2. For those preparing to serve overseas, in appropriate technology transfer or any other technical capacity, IVCF's Overseas Counseling Service (OCS) has a helpful new brochure, "Non-Traditional Avenues for Serving Jesus Christ Abroad," available free on request from Overseas Counseling Service, 1594 North Allen #23, Pasadena, CA 91104. Ruth Siemens, OCS director, has received a $40,000 grant from a Christian foundation. She has hired three fulltime assistants to help with the huge volume of work as Christians discover overseas opportunities for technically trained people.

A session on "Religion in the Age of Darwin" will be held on Monday evening, 29 December 1980, at the annual meeting of the American Society of Church History in Washington, DC. Ted Davis, graduate student in the history & philosophy of science at Indiana U. picked that up from the History of Science Society Newsletter.

The two-paper session was organized by Ronald L. Numbers, professor of the history of medicine at the U. of Wisconsin and a contributor to our Journal (see March 1975 JASA). One paper, on "Darwinism and the Religion of Science," will be given by A. Hunter Dupree, distinguished historian of science at Brown and author of a well-known biography of Asa Gray. The other paper, on "The Legend of Darwin's Death-Bed Conversion," will be given by ASA member James R. Moore, author of The Post-Darwinian Controversy. Commenting on the papers will be Neal Gillespie, author of the recent Charles Darwin and the Problem of Creation.

According to Ben's press release, the ruling "makes the teaching of both theories voluntary, not mandatory, and requires that such presentations be made on the basis of scientific evidences and principles; religious presentations are not intended, though the moral implications of both theories may be discussed."

A story in the Lexington Herald ("School Systems to Get State Money For Texts on'Scientif ic Creation ism,'" 6 August 1980) credits Ben's committee for making the presentations to state and local educators that led to the new ruling. The Herald quotes Ben as saying that "scientific creationism" is based on scientific evidence and "can be taught without mentioning the Bible."

2. David L. Willis of Oregon State sent us a copy of an article from the Features section of the British journal Nature that takes an opposite view of pressures to change the teaching of evolution in American public schools. David Dickson, in "Let There Be Light!" Nature Vol. 284, pp. 588-9 (17 April 1980), reports on a legislative fight in Georgia that ended in defeat of a bill to force "scientific creationism" to be taught along with evolution.

Dickson describes the controversy over a resolution (requiring evolution and creation to be given balanced treatment) passed by the school board of Cobb County (adjacent to Atlanta) in 1978, and over the role of the Institute for Creation Research, which had circulated an almost identical model resolution. The American Scientific Affiliation even rates a minor mention in Dickson's account, as being "more liberal" than ICR or Christian Heritage College, which is (erroneously) said to have "split" from ASA in the 1950s.

3. Meanwhile, one of the best sources for keeping up with the "two-model" approach advocated by "scientific creationists" is Origins Research, published by Students for Origins Research, P.O. Box 203, Goleta, CA 93017). OR is in its third year as a "means for students to analyze the theory of evolution and explore the alternative theory of special creation" and still seems genuinely open to those who would rather explore a middle ground. David Johannsen of Goleta, technical editor of OR, has a long review of "Radiocarbon Dating" in the current (Spring 1980) issue. Origins Research is sent free to students and educators who request it but asks $2 a year from others. It is published "3-5 times annually as finances and student papers are available."

4. An ad for a new $14.95 book from Doubleday has come to our attention: The Origin is a biographical novel of Charles Darwin by Irving Stone. Stone is famous for his two bestselling biographical novels of artists, Lust for Life (Vincent Van Gogh; 1934) and The Agony and the Ecstasy (Michelangelo, 1961).

A recent spinoff from the 1977 meeting was publication of Claude E. Stipe's article, "Anthropologists versus Missionaries: The Influence of Presuppositions," published along with 18 responses and Claude's reply to those responses in Current Anthropology Vol . 21, No. 2, pp. 165-179 (April 1980). Claude, associate professor of anthropology at Marquette University in Milwaukee (Wl 53233), told us at Taylor that his paper had been sent to 50 anthropologists for response, but that most of the worst critics of Christian missionaries "chickened out," refusing to respond to his balanced assessment.

Jim Buswell asks if anyone in the Washington, DC area wants to organize a meeting of Christians at the AAA meetings to be held at the Washington Hilton, 3-7 December 1980. Any takers? Jim also notes, sadly, that sinceWheaton College dropped its anthropology major at the end of last year, only two of the 135 Christian institutions of higher learning in a 1980 Moody Monthly survey still list anthropology as a major-Bethel College in St. Paul, MN, and Messiah College in Grantham, PA.

Ian Johnston (Dental Research Institute, U.C.L.A., Los Angeles, CA 90024) seeks a position in cell biology, physiology (especially invertebrate), or immunology. Ian is currently doing postdoctoral work at UCLA. He called us in June when he discovered that the grant funds supporting his research run out in September 1980.

Michael V. McCabe (5710 S.W. 54th St, Davie, FL 33314) is looking for a position in college administration. A West Point graduate, Mike recently received his Ed.D. in higher education from the U. of Virginia. He has several publications to his credit and is particularly interested in faculty evaluation, program evaluation, and institutional research. He is open to possibilities elsewhere but would prefer the northeastern U.S.

Robert Seevers (Wit's End, 1619 S. University, Ann Arbor, MI 48104) will soon complete his Ph.D. in the Interdepartmental Program in Medicinal Chemistry at the U. of Michigan. He would like to teach organic chemistry somewhere or possibly do some postdoctoral research in organic. Bob has been preparing radioiodinated steroid derivatives for organ imaging and biochemical studies.

Westmont College in California is looking for an assistant or associate professor of chemistry. Superior candidates in the areas of analytical/organic/physical or combinations of these will be considered. Candidates should be committed to liberal arts education in a Christian college and have experience teaching both a specialty and general chemistry. An active experimenter is sought, as evidenced by grant support and publications, able to direct undergraduates in publishable research and willing to collaborate with chemistry faculty at other institutions on projects. In particular, a candidate willing to serve as a "nonprofessional missionary," rotating with the present staff in and out of teaching positions overseas, would be most desirable. Position opens September 1981. Send resumes to: Dr. Stanley E. Anderson, Chair, Dept. of Chemistry, Westmont College, 955 LaPaz Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. (Received 23 July 1980.)

Richard S. Barnett of Missouri City, Texas, is a geologist with a journalistic bent. Dick's latest project is editorship of the monthly Houston Audubon Society Bulletin, a fine looking popular newsletter. ("Publication TX"?)

Marie H. Berg returned to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in June after months in Germany, England, Belgium, and Switzerland, visiting family and European fire schools and squeezing in a marvelous two-week study trip to Greece. Marie has since been on an assignment for the Minnesota State Fire School, meanwhile distributing Bibles imprinted with the insignia of the Fellowship of Christian Fire-Fighters to fire stations she visits.

Kenton R. Brubaker, professor of biology and coordinator of the International Agricultural Development Program of Eastern Mennonite College, Harrisonburg, Virginia, reports that the Transcultural Seminar held in June at EMC attracted over 100 participants. The next such seminar for missions and development workers will be offered at Goshen College in June 1981 and will be open to anyone interested in Third World development. (For info, write Transcultural Seminar, Goshen College, Goshen, IN 46526.)

James 0. Buswell,III, has a new position with the graduate studies program of the William Carey International University, affiliated with Ralph Winter's U.S. Center for World Mission in Pasadena, California. For the next few months Jim will be carrying on correspondence about the program from his present home (1017 Eddy Court, Wheaton, IL 60187), then will move to Pasadena. Jim and Ralph are also talking about starting a journal on "anthropology and development." (Guess where Ralph heard that Jim was a PEOPLE SEEKING A POSITION.)

Howard H. Claassen, just-retired Wheaton College physics professor and a member of the ASA executive council, left the 1980 Annual Meeting early because he had already rented a U-Haul truck to move all his goods to a mountain outside of Ashland, Oregon. Howard plans to build his own earth-sheltered, solar-heated home on property adjacent to the Oregon Extension campus of Trinity College (of Deerfield, Illinois) and throw in his lot with the half-dozen other faculty at "Lincoln Common," an old lumber camp on State Highway 66. He and Esther have a mobile home lined up to live in while their home's abuildin'.

Donald G . Davis, Jr., associate professor of library science at the U. of Texas in Austin, is participating in a teaching exchange in 1980-81 with the head of the Dept. of Librarianship of the City of Birmingham Polytechnic in England. Because his university has no real sabbatical leave program, Donald arranged to swap teaching duties with the English professor, arguing that "the general lack of faculty mobility, with the exception of a few superstars, increases the appeal of exploring domestic and international teaching exchanges more seriously." He has been on the U. of T. faculty since 1971.

Edward R . Dayton has been vice-president for mission and evangelism in World Vision International since a reorganization aimed at internationalization in May 1980. Missions Advanced Research & Communication Center (MARC) continues as a ministry of World Vision International reporting to Ed. Ed has been all over the place recently, from Kenya to the Consultation on World Evangelization in Thailand, at which hundreds of study groups used Ed's book, That Everyone May Hear, and saw the MARC-produced audiovisual on the same subject.

Donald V. Gaffney of Monaca, Pennsylvania, is a senior geologist with Michael Baker, Jr., Inc., a consulting engineering firm. When Don gave a paper at Taylor on the ambiguities of the Office of Surface Mining regulations, he impressed everybody with his tale of how he discovered ASA. It seems he was in a Laundromat and picked up a stray copy of Christianity Today carrying our ASA advertisement.

Gary B. Gates of Berkeley, California, is leaving the staff of the Spiritual Counterfeits Project to give full time to ministry with international students on the U.C. Berkeley campus, more or less taking up where Gary Allen left off to work at the U.N. in New York.

William L. Kath has finished his second year of graduate study in applied mathematics at Caltech in Pasadena, California. He says he has been growing much through association with other Christians in the Lake Avenue Congregational Church and the U.S. Center for World Mission in Pasadena. Bill is impressed with what is already going on at the Center and urges Christians everywhere to help it reach the "hidden peoples" of the world, those that have no church in their own culture. (We did a story on the Center about a year ago, Bill, but we'll do another one soon. Jim Buswell showed a film on the Center's history and goals at the 1980 Annual Meeting.)

Chi-Hang Lee, food chemist and a member of the ASA executive council, has just moved to Walnut Creek, California. His company, RJR Foods, merged with Del Monte Foods, which operates a research laboratory in Walnut Creek. Lee says he enjoys owning a small piece of "the Promised Land" but not the fact that his mortgage payment quadrupled in the process.

Paul Leiffer lives in Longview, Texas, where he has completed his first year on the engineering faculty at Letourneau College. Letourneau's electrical engineering option has been E.C.P.D. accredited, and they have "microprocessors and the whole works." Paul enjoys fellowship with Tom Compton at Letourneau. "Tom and his wife Penni continue to expand their science camp program in the Rockies. Tom's top three students in the Science Division were awarded scholarship memberships in ASA."

Gordon R. Lewthwaite is on sabbatical leave from Cal. State Northridge as visiting professor of geography at his old Alma Mater, the U. of Auckland in New Zealand. Along with teaching he is updating his research on the geography of Maori New Zealand in the early European contact era, and has participated in a conference of the N.Z. Archaeological Association. Wife Lydia is translating an early German account of New Zealand. They hope to visit Gordon's parents on the South Island between terms but hate to miss the International Conference of Biblical Geography to be held in Jerusalem, 28-30 December 1980, with accompanying field trips. (For info on the Jerusalem conference, Gordon says to write to: Dr. Jonathan J. Lu, Dept. of Geography, U. of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA 50613.)

Michael V. McCabe, who has his Ed.D. from the U. of Virginia, says he would like to contribute something positive to the "creation/evolution" dialog by editing a book (tentatively titled Origins-The Scientist Speaks). He would like to include a wide range of articles by scientific specialists, some from each of the opposing viewpoints. Mike welcomes suggestions for articles or authors. (Address: 5710 S.W. 54th St., Davie, FIL 33314.)

G. Arthur Mihram argued for control of electronic communications media in his paper at Taylor on "Telecybernetics: Today's Challenge." Arthur is a systems thinker and ,.world modeler" who has put many of his ideas into a book entitled An Epistle to Dr. Benjamin Franklin, Hicksville, N.Y.: Exposition-University Press, 1975, $4.75 (available from the author at P.O. Box 234, Haverford, PA 19041).

Rebecca Probst is leaving Ohio University this fall to teach in the Dept. of Counseling Psychology at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. Although Becky is also marrying art historian Douglas Campbell who will be teaching at the same school, she'll be keeping her own name. She and Doug are enthusiastic backpackers and concerned about simplified lifestyle and issues of justice such as racism and sexism. Becky's research on religious values as an active ingredient in psychotherapy has resulted in several papers in psychological journals and reports to professional meetings lately.

Charles Thaxton of Probe Ministries International is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, but travels with Probe teams speaking at Christian Update Forums on university campuses. In March a very successful Forum at the U. of Kentucky in Lexington drew many separate Christian student groups together, with 94 presentations in classrooms and 125 students attending an Institute of Christian Academics the following week. Later Charlie gave several lectures at Harvard and was impressed with the positive response of students to his Christian viewpoint. In August, at the time of the ASA Annual Meeting, Charlie was scheduled to be in Seoul, Korea, to give lectures to government and scientific representatives. (Charles and Carole need additional financial support; for info write c/o Probe, 12011 Coit Road, Suite 107, Dallas, TX 75251.)

Frank ("Bud") Tichy, Jr., called us some months ago to say that he and Nancy would soon be on their way back to Liberia, where both teach at the American Cooperative School in Monrovia. Bud teaches biology and chemistry, Nancy English and social studies, to kids from 35 nations, many of them the children of ambassadors or other representatives of foreign governments. About 40% are Americans. Bud is still connected with Scripture Union in Africa, though now on an honorary basis. The Tichys were living in Hemet, California, this past year, missing the coup in which indigenous Liberians overthrew a regime dominated by "Amero-Liberians." (According to a news story in the8August Christianity Today, the revolution revealed much hypocrisy among nominally Christian leaders, exposing a need for strengthening of evangelicals to bear a proper witness in Liberia.) The Tichys feel very close to the family of the late Walter Trobisch of Austria, by the way, since their daughter Betty is married to the Trobisch's son.

Robert E . VanderVennen, chemist and executive director of the Association for the Advancement of Christian Scholarship in Toronto, Ontario, has put together a two-page annotated bibliography on a Christian approach to the natural sciences, published in the May/June AACS newsletter Perspective. Before we could write this up, the July/Aug issue arrived, with a similar biography for Christians in the social sciences by Bernard Zy1stra, political scientist and principal of the AASC Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto. (Bernie's bibliography is even more restricted than Bob's to authors with a reformed orientation. For copies of either write to AACS, 229 College St., Toronto, Canada M5T 1 R4,