NEWSLETTER

of the

AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC AFFILIATION - CANADIAN SCIENTIFIC & CHRISTIAN AFFILIATION

Volume 24 Number 4                                                                                        August/September 1982

INTERMISSION

When nobody paid much attention to the editor's "sabbatical" we declared a "vacation." That worked better because some people thought we were out of town. But we got so used to goofing off that the Newsletter copy is late once again. Was it watching World Cup soccer matches every night on PBS TV that did us in?  No, it was reading reams of fascinating stuff from another match: the creation/evolution controversy. 

We could fill up two issues with what's on the desk already. For this issue, though, we started elsewhere-with PERSONALS, for example, some going back six months or more, and with other items crowded out of recent issues. That left no room at all for creation/evolution news! By the time you're reading this there'll be plenty more of that, of course, some generated by the 1982 ASA ANNUAL MEETING at Calvin College, August 13-16. We'll also know the outcome of the Louisiana "balanced treatment" trial, unless it's postponed (likely, according to a recent rumor).

We hope you're not disappointed at this intermission. The contestants will be back on the "pitch" battling aggressively "end-to-end" in the next issue. The score at half-time seems to be "nil to nil, and deservedly so," as the PBS soccer announcer would say.

One correspondent says he gets upset "when fellow Christians who adhere to a belief in special creation and a young earth (as I do) are both ridiculed and not given equal time in the Journal as well as the Newsletter." Another says he feels uncomfortable with ASA "coolness toward inerrancy" and "insensitivity to possible conflicts between Genesis and currently popular interpretations of evolutionary science."

On the other hand, an ASA member who serves on one of the state "Committees of Correspondence on Evolution" feels strongly that Norman Geisler's note on the Arkansas trial totally misrepresented the issues. Not wanting such "misrepresentations" to go unchallenged in the ASA, "where scientific credibility has been upheld for years," he sent us a whole file of correspondence between the two of them trying to thrash things out.

We suspect the play will keep going back and forth. Meanwhile we'll respond to a question raised by Dan Wonderly of Oakland, Maryland, who feels that "evangelicals are often given the impression by ASA members that there are only two alternatives for a Christian, viz., theistic evolution and extreme young-earth creationism." Despite claims by the Creation Research Society and others that those are the only two alternatives, ASA should be emphasizing "that there is a further, acceptable, and perfectly dignified choice. Since no additional significant evidence for macroevolution has come to light, either in science or in research on the language of Genesis since the ASA was first organized, the day-age, special creation view which our founders held should be upheld as perfectly acceptable."

It's true that the Newsletter often tries to balance recent creationist arguments with theistic evolutionary arguments, but not because we consider those the only two alternatives. Rather, we see them as the extreme positions. For a Christian concerned about origins, with many variations in between where respect for both the Bible and science can be shown. And although theistic evolution may be as far as a Christian can go in one direction, it may also be as far as many scientists can go in the other direction. In other words it represents a boundary condition from both directions. But the boundaries do overlap. Christians don't have to be macroevolutionists any more than macroevolutionists have to be theists; the point is that they can be. Christians don't have to be recent-creationists, either, or macroevolutionists atheists. They can be, and many are, but the message of our Affiliations is that they don't have to be.

Each position, including those in the middle, has its own problems. We suspect that most people choose their position on the basis of the kinds of problems they're willing to put up with. Each of us has plenty of problems to work on, whatever our position. We certainly agree with the comment of Dave Graham of Milwaukee, who says that in the ASA we"should be ministeringto each other for the edifying of the whole body of Christ, so that we may be unified in the faith (Eph. 4:12-13)."

environmental issues, featuring a number of speakers with Canadian government experience. CSCA president Bob VanderVennen says the most probable date is 6 November (with 23 October as an alternate). A bus will be chartered to run from Guelph to Toronto to Ottawa for the meeting.

Other items in a recent presidential letter to CSCA members included encouragement to attend the 1982 ASA ANNUAL MEETING at Calvin College in Michigan, reports on local section activities for the past year, a list of CSCA audiovisual materials and other resources on science and faith, and several practical suggestions for promoting the work of both our Affiliations. The Canadians want to do their part to turn around the festering financial situation that has kept us from tackling many worthy projects.

Deadline for the October trip was 1 August, so this opportunity will have passed, but ASA/CSCA members interested in China should get in touch with Friends of the Tentmakers about future trips. These trips are not ordinary tour groups handled through China International Travel Service; participants are all official guests of the People's Republic. Cost for the 1982 trips has been kept to less than $3,000, with the total expense considered a tax-deductible contribution to a non-profit organization; services and materials donated to China qualify for U.S. income tax deduction. A presentation plan and four 20-minute presentations related to the scientist's special field must be submitted two months in advance for translation into Chinese.

Cities to be visited on the 1982 trip are Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Wuhan, Taiyuen, Xian, and HangZhou. The trips are intended to enable participants to (1) exchange professional knowledge with Chinese institutions, (2) investigate future possibilities for long-term employment, (3) establish person-to-person relationships with Chinese counterparts, (4) manifest the love and beauty of Christ, and (5) bring back home specific prayer requests.

To see if the 1982 trip still has openings, or to get on the mailing list for future seminar trips, contact: Martha Chan, Friends of the Tentmakers, 2606 Dwight Way, Berkeley, CA -94-7-0-4, te-1. 415-843-T370-(ll a.m. to 3 p.m_.- Berkeley time).

Three organizations devoted to the study of religion will hold their joint annual meeting at the Biltmore Plaza Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island, October 22-24, 1982. The societies are the Religious Research Association (RRA), Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR), and Association for the Sociology of Religion (ASR). Membership of the SSSR and ASIR consists primarily of academicians but the RRA includes many church planners and researchers, administrators, clergy, religious educators, and theologians.

Evangelical Christians play an increasing role in these professional societies alongside people of other religions or of no religion. Sociologist David 0. Moberg of Marquette University is currently president of RRA, for example, and psychologist H. Newton Malony of Fuller Theological Seminary is on the RRA Board of Directors.

Dave Moberg urges evangelical scholars to participate both to sharpen evangelical research and to "reduce the biases or prejudices of other participants against 'Bible-believing Christians' by showing that we are not anti-intellectuals whose eyes are closed to scientific and religious realities."

Newton Malony commends participation in RRA as "a chance for us to be good scholars at the same time that we continue to profess our allegiance to Christ. In the RRA evangelicals will find a fellowship of like-minded believers who nevertheless know how to ask hard questions and think seriously about theoretical matters. We should welcome all such persons who want to combine their faith with their science. Evangelicals are needed in this group if only to bear witness to the validity of that which they study."

Topics to be dealt with at the 1982 meeting include religious influences on healing, conversion rates in different cultures, power distribution in religious organizations, the electronic church, charismatics, new religious movements, and "Praising the Lord and Penetrating the Community." The annual H. Paul Douglass lecture will be delivered by distinguished sociologist of religion Phillip E. Hammond of U.C. Santa Barbara. The ancillary Christian Sociological Society will sponsor a worship service on Sunday morning. Nonmembers are welcome at all sessions.

For a copy of the meeting program, write to Lorraine D'Antonio, Box U-68A, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06268. For information on membership in RRA or subscription to its quarterly journal, Review of Religious Research, write to Religious Research Association, P.O. Box 303, Manhattanville Station, New York, NY 10027.

"One of several critical issues centers on the nature of knowledge and of truth, as encountered in the scientific realm and the biblical theological realm, and as understood by average people, both Christian and non-Christian. Most people have at least a modest respect for scientific observation of nature or for the Bible, or for both, as sources of knowledge. Yet there are wide variations in concepts of the meaning as well as the content of truth in both realms. In brief, the issue is how to improve both biblical literacy and scientific literacy within an integrated worldview that is biblical, and thus to minimize any tendency toward rejecting or ignoring the God of all truth because of a mistaken concept of some part of truth." -Robert B. Fischer (1966)

"One might think immediately, as my wife did, of how our age of computerized controls challenges human personhood. In light of the unprecedented media-airing of creation/ evolution arguments, however, I think I should add a note concerning creationist responsibility to my father's statement of twenty years ago:

"'This relationship' will never be effectively affirmed by creationists asserting a 'scientific' identity while allowing the evolutionist to pose the issue as one of science vs. religion. Rather the church must forthrightly move the argument back to 'the most critical issue,' the respective philosophical propositions. 'Science' doesn't even seem to realize that it poses such a critical issue. Most of its practitioners
seem unable to express it for themselves, much less for their students. Yet the church has remained so defensive concerning the scientific facts that it has failed to accept them and to rise to the more 'critical issue where its alternative interpretation of those facts could be respectably persuasive." -James 0. Buswell, 111 (1978)

THE HOLE IN THE ARGUMENT

Richard J. Stanislaw, Vice-president for Academic Affairs, Taylor University, Upland, IN 46989. (Received 15 May 1982 from George Harrison, head of the Biology Dept. at Taylor.)

Westmont College in California is still seeking two chemistry professors (organic/bio and inorganic/analytical) and one physics professor (solid state/materials science) for fall 1983. See details in June/July Newsletter. Contact: Dr. Stanley E. Anderson, Dept. of Chemistry & Physics, Westmont College, 955 La Paz Rd., Santa Barbara, CA 93108. (Repeat request received 21 June 1982.)

A few issues ago we noted a letter to C&EN News and Natue about the exegesis of Job 26:7, of all things. In a'subsequent issue of C&EN (1 Mar 1982), Gary A. Rends burg, assistant professor of biblical studies at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, argued that the verse made no reference at all to the apparent emptiness of space north of Earth. The verse states that "He (God) stretches out Zaphon over the void. .

Zaphon, according to Renclsburg, "refers to the large mountain in northern Canaan (Greek Mons Casius, present-day Jebel el-Aqra) where the Canaanite gods were believed to dwell. Job is replete with references to Semitic mythology and this is but another example. Because the mountain so dominates northern Canaan, the word Zaphon eventually came to mean 'north' in Hebrew. But to translate it as such in Job 26:7 is to disregard the context. In short, the reference is mythological, not celestial."

Browsing through the earliest issues of JASA recently, we came across a paper by Harold Hartzler on "The Hole in the North" (JASA 2, No. 1, 1950). Harold pointed out several misunderstandings of astronomy he had found in a booklet by William Pettingill called Is Heaven a Place? Harold quoted Pettingill's speculation that "the hole in the north" was alluded to in Job 26:7, the second line of which reads, "He suspends the earth over nothing" (NIV). Hartzler said he believed the verse in Job was "merely an example of Hebrew parallelism which shows that God by his omnipotence was able to firmly fix the earth in empty space. The northern part of the earth and sky was thought in ancient times to be the most important part and is here used as representing the whole world. Therefore I believe that Job 26:7 has no reference to the hole in the north."

How about that? Our quarterly JASA scores a 32-year scoop on the weekly C&EN!

POSITIONS LOOKING FOR PEOPLE

Taylor University in Indiana seeks a professor of biology for September 1983. A Ph.D. with a broad background in biology, specialization in molecular and cell biology, and interest in research is sought. 

professor should be a Ph.D. (or perhaps an M.D.) with strong interests in the theological or philosophical aspects of science. "We are especially interested in someone keen on the creation/evolution controversy, on the limits to the scientific method, and on the myths and realities of scientific technology." Contact: Dr. Herbert Titus, Dean, School of Public Policy, CEIN University, Virginia Beach, VA 23463. (Received 28 June 1982.)

Richard Herd showed the CSCA tape/slide show at the session on origins, a panel stirred up lots of questions at the session on ethics, and for the final session on the environment Alan Cairnie brought along his boss at Environment Canada (the Canadian Dept. of the Environment), Ray Robinson, who showed a film made by the National Film Board of Canada and participated in a discussion on Christian responses to environmental problems. A total of perhaps 50 people were thus exposed to Christians personally engaged in some aspect of the problems discussed, but the audience for each session numbered only about 20.

In spite of that low turnout for such quality programs, new opportunities opened up. The dim view of evolution taken by the Redeemer principal may have kept some parents away who wished to avoid controversy, but the science teacher was impressed by the tape/slide show. So Richard and his Geological Survey colleague Colin McGregor took the show back to the school one morning for the students to see. The students didn't ask many questions-but this time the principal did. The two CSCA scientists discussed with him some of the geological and biological aspects of various views of origins.

At Christmas, Richard Herd, Jim Logan, Even Todd, and about 15 other CSCA friends got together for an informal party and carol sing at the home of Cyril Garner, no doubt reflecting on the seminars just past and thinking of new projects. At any rate, in March Richard found himself scheduled for a talk to the IVCF group at the U. of Ottawa. A reporter from the student newspaper who called him up before the event seemed disappointed that Richard wasn't a recent-creationist. Richard talked to him about the subject and then gave him the phone number of the Redeemer High School principal. The newspaper story on the day of Richard's talk didn't mention the IVCF meeting, CSCA, or anything Richard had said; it was typical "creation vs. evolution" media hype with no mention of a middle ground. At the IVCF meeting though, Richard used the story as an example of the need for healing and the role of ASA/CSCA. He found a lot of positive response.

In May the section participated in a big event billed as the first Canadian Christian Festival, signing up for a table in the "Market of Possibilities" to distribute CSCA brochures, display copies of ASA publications for "shoppers" to browse, and provide booklists recommending books on a balanced treatment of science and faith. We haven't heard how things went but Richard Herd had some misgivings: about having enough CSCA people on hand for the whole five days (over a long holiday weekend, the first of the summer); and about whether the Festival would be "religious sensu lato rather than Christian sensu stricto."

But with 15,000 people expected, what an opportunity to witness ("sensu optimo"-Ed.)!

After an extensive discussion, Mark Hunt of Zondervan publishers distributed complimentary copies of Davis Young's new book, Christianity and the Age of the Earth. Officers of the section have been Dan Anderson, president; Henry Triezenberg, program chair; and John Van Zytveld, secretary. The president appointed Enno Wolthuis and James Sikkema as a nominating committee for new officers to be elected in the fall.

Second speaker was Dr. Yum-tong Siu, professor of mathematics at Stanford on his way to a new position at Harvard. Dr. Siu earned his Ph.D. in math at Princeton and had known ASA president Chi-Hang Lee through Chinese Christian circles in the past.

Dr. King's talk covered many centuries. Up to the 15th century, scientific information flowed from China to the west along with trade goods. Then in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries more of a reciprocal exchange occurred as the Jesuits entered China and served as cultural bridges. After Protestant missionaries entered in the 18th century, the flow of information was mostly from the West to Gnina. The great turbulence of the 19th century caused China to welcome Western science but only out of military necessity, which has influenced the organization of science in China ever since.

Dr. Siu described his trips to China in 1979 and 1981 and his experience helping the Chinese organize an international conference on mathematics. He outlined changes in the political climate, the scientific backgrounds of today's Chinese scientists, types of scientific institutions, China's accomplishments and plans for science, and details of how to get to China. Scientific exchanges are arranged by the Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People's Republic of China (or the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.).

The audience for these superbly informative talks was disappointingly small, even though "Friends of the Tentmakers" had also sent notices of the meeting to their Bay area mailing list. Friends of the Tentmakers is a Berkeley-based organization helping technically trained Christians find employment in China. The meeting was held at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church. In the absence of section president Bob Miller, Carol Lind presided- besides supervising the refreshments and cleanup.

Richard S . Barnett of Missouri City, Texas, frequently puts his geology and his interest in free-lance writing together in the Lord's service. An example of his literary lapidary is "The Stones Cry Out," a short article drawing lessons from such biblical references to stones as Luke 19:40, published in Herald of Holiness (15 March 1982).

James E. Berney has been vacationing with his family in Oregon and California fora few weeks after his first year as general director of the Canadian Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship. Jim has found out what a big country Canada is, with not only some 80 university and college groups and 44 student nursing groups to keep up with, but also 427 Inter-School Christian Fellowship (high school) groups
and a dozen Pioneer Camps under IVCF auspices.

Mark L . Branson of Madison, Wisconsin, is director of the Theological Students Fellowship, associated with IVCF. He's been in Berkeley, California, this summer to direct the fifth annual summer session of New College for Advanced  Christian Studies..For one thing, he wanted to check out the special campus ministries option, which enriches regular New College academic year programs with elective courses plus an internship at U.C. Berkeley or another nearby campus. Mark was able to step in at a critical time, with New
College president Ward Gasque preparing to return to Regent College and dean David Gill in France doing research on Jacques Ellul. Incoming president of New College is William A. Dyrness, who has been president of Asian Theological Seminary in Manila, the Philippines.

Richard H . Bube of Stanford, California, and wife Betty ventured on a speaking tour this spring for the first time since Dick's bad back attack last summer, after which a new approach to therapy began producing some promising results. On 27-28 April, Dick was the Hodson-Fessenden Science Lecturer at Marion College (Wesleyan Methodist) in Marion, Indiana. Robert Werking, chair of the Division
of Natural Science, was the principal host at Marion. Dick's topic was "Being Human and Ethical Issues of Life and Death," but he also spoke at the spring meeting of the Indiana ASA section on "Challenges Facing the ASA" and "Christian Concerns in Energy Use and Conservation" and appeared on a radio talk show. On April 29-30, Dick was Staley Distinguished Christian Scholar Lecturer at Andrews University (Seventh Day Adventist) in Berrien Springs, Michigan. The two days were filled with talks and meetings, ending with Dick leading Vespers at the home of host Clark Fiowiance of the Physics Department. The trip provided a rewarding experience of Christian unity and understanding-and lots of opportunity to mention the work and goals of ASA.

Roger K. Bufford has left the Psychological Studies Institute of Atlanta, Georgia, and is now in the Psychology Department of Western Conservative Baptist Seminary in Portland,Oregon.

James 0. Buswell, ///, dean of graduate studies at William Carey International University in Pasadena, California, reported that nearly 80 graduate students were enrolled in various study programs on the Pasadena campus. A t the university's fourth annual commencement in May a dozen students were awarded M.A. degrees in TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Oral Language).

Arnold Dyck has left the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines after twelve years to become research entomologist at the Agriculture Canada Research Station in Summerland, B.C. He will work on control of coddling moths in apples. Last year Arn spent three weeks traveling across China, talking with entomologists and collecting diseased insect pests for his research at IRRI. In December a trip to the American Entomological Society meeting in San Diego enabled him to visit his parents in Canada and talk to Ag Canada people about the job there.

Craig W. Ellison is professor of psychology and urban studies at Simpson College in San Francisco. This is the third year in which Craig has served as director of Simpson's Summer Institute for Urban Missions, using the city's many ethnic communities as a training ground for cross-cultural urban ministry. Half a dozen upper division courses were offered, plus a two-week course on "Christianity and Urban Society" taught by Craig and cosponsored by Young Life and by New College for Advanced Christian Studies in Berkeley. (Simpson College, we learned from the SIUM brochure, was founded in 1921 in Seattle and moved to its present location in 1955. It was named for A. B. Simpson, a Presbyterian minister who founded the Christian and Missionary Alliance.-Ed.)

Alan Gregory, president of Gregory Geoscience Limited of Ottawa, Ontario, has been elected president of the Canadian Institute of Surveying, which celebrates its centennial year in 1982. The Institute's 3,000 members are active in such areas as land surveys, geodesy and control surveys, photogrammetry, hydrography, cartography, mining and engineering surveys, photo interpretation, and remote sensing. Alan's own company uses Landsat and geophysical data to revise maps and explore for natural resources. In years past he has been a private consultant, a professor at Carleton University, and an explorationist for the mining industry and for the Geological Survey of Canada.

Walter R. Hearn of Berkeley, California, spoke to a group of Christian faculty, staff, and grad students at the U. of Washington in March about integrating science and faith. The meeting announcement, perpetrated by Michael Adeney, husband of anthropologist Miriam Adeney and manager of Seattle's Logos Bookstore (The Alternative), commended Walt's sense of humor but disparaged his tennis game. Walt was in Seattle to talk about ASA to western managers of the Logos Bookstore Association and to recommend good books on science and faith. At similar meetings in the east and midwest this year, ASA executive director Bob Herrmann performed the same function. Walt and Bob are working on a checklist of books on science and faith as a result of that interaction. The Logos Association includes about 70 stores, almost all located in the vicinity of college or university campuses.

Harold A . Henthorn, geology grad student at the U. of Kentucky in Lexington, will marry Lynn Rishell of Potomac, Maryland, on September 11. Harold and Lynn are both graduates of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He has been working part-time as a consulting geologist while completing his master's degree; she has been teaching in a total communication class for multiply handicapped children at Christ Church Child Center in Potomac. After the wedding the Henthorns will move to Denver, Colorado, where Harold will work for Chevron U.S.A., Inc., as a petroleum exploration geologist while Lynn continues part-time study in education.

Richard K. Herd of Ottawa, Ontario, is one of the world's experts on sapphirine, a relatively rare, blue silicate mineral first discovered in west Greenland. A year ago Richard and two other petrologist-mineralogists, one from England and the other from Germany, applied for funds from NATO to do joint research on temperature and pressure conditions for the formation of sapphirine-bearing rocks. The grant, awarded in January, enables the three to get together three times in one year to write papers and compare data. This spring the researchers had their first meeting. in England. followed by a week's holiday for Richard and his wife visiting friends there- The only hitch is that Richard has to use vacation time from his Geological Survey of Canada job for the research project as well, so he has no holiday left this year to attend the ASA ANNUAL MEETING at Calvin College.

Fred J. Hickernell teaches mathematics at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. His wife Elaine researches opportunities overseas for the Overseas Counseling Service in Pasadena. The Hickernells were at Urbana, Illinois, for the 1981 IVCF Missionary Convention, helping Ruth Siemens staff the OCS booth and counseling students, grads, and faculty about serving God overseas with their technical skills. Westmont chemist Stan Anderson was also there, along with a number of others who've "been there."

Glenn Kirkland, physicist at the Navy Research Lab and our ace reporter in the Washington, D.C. area, highly recommends a new Johns Hopkins University Press paperback, The 36-Hour Day, by Nancy Mace and Peter Rabins, to anyone concerned about Alzheimer's disease. Glenn, whose wife Grace suffers from the disease, says the book is an excellent resource for anyone who gives care to persons with dementia. One chapter deals with caring for one's self, others with legal problems, the causes of dementia, the status of research, etc. The book is available at $6.95 through any of the chapters of the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association, Inc., 360 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 601, Chicago, IL 60601. Or contact Glenn at ADAM (Alzheimer's Disease Association of Maryland), P.O. Box 9751, Baltimore, MD 21204. Glenn is thankful that Grace is still able to stay by herself while he is at work.

D. Wayne Linn of Ashland, Oregon, also has a book to recommend. After Wayne described his experience as co-director of a college-wide hunger symposium in HOW TO START SOMETHING (Dec 1980/Jan 1981), he received some inquiries about the symposium proceedings, which still weren't published at the time. They are now, though Wayne says "I just can't imagine how anyone can put together a book on top of a full-time job and participation in any family, church, or community affairs." Having conquered "a seemingly unending series of steps," he now has copies of Hunger: Causes and Cures available, published by the Associated Students of Southern Oregon State College. The 232-page book contains five major addresses by Such notables as Frances Moore Lappe, three panel discussions, and information about the planning, support, and consequences of the symposium. Cost is $5 postpaid (overseas. and S2 for surface or $5 for airmail). Checks payable to Hunger: S.O.S.C. Order from Dr. D. Wayne Linn, Dept. of Biology, Southern Oregon State College, Ashland, OR 97520.

Sidney S . Macauley of Decatur, Georgia, has been a field director for the Christian Medical Society for a number of years. Now he has taken on an added responsibility as coeditor (with Lew Bird, another CIVIS field director) of the CMS Journal. Consulting editors include John R. Brobeck of the U. of Pennsylvania and Merville 0. Vincent of Homewood Sanitarium in Guelph, Ontario. Joseph Bayly had to give up editing the journal and serving as general director because of poor health. The new general director of CIVIS is L. Arden Almquist, M.D., a seminary graduate, former medical missionary to the Belgian Congo (now Zaire), and author of four books, including Missionary, Come Back! (World, 1970).

Eric J. Miller has become director for international development of Twentyonehundred Productions, the multimedia arm of Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, USA. In his new role he will work closely with student movements connected with the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. Eric says, "As young people are increasingly shaped by the ideas they receive through the media it is important that we Christians are there with the truly liberating message of the gospel." This spring Eric was in Japan and the Philippines. Scott Wilson (B.S. in math, Westminster College, 1970, Gordon-Conwell Seminary) has replaced Eric as director of Twentyonehundred. Most of Eric's travel expenses are picked up by other organizations and individuals, but he and Twentyonehundred both need more regular supporters (address: 233 Langdon, Madison, Wl 53703). Besides, says Eric, a backpacker at heart, traveling as cheaply as possible is not only a challenge but puts you in closer contact with people.

Stanley W. Moore of Thousand Oaks, California, spent most of the year on sabbatical from Pepperdine at Cal Tech writing a book. As a political scientist, Stan can analyze the stark possibilities of just about any world situation and leave his audience depressed. Somehow, probably by lightening somebody else's load rather than "cursing the starkness," Stan manages to rise above depression himself. The Moore's Christmas letter was full of joyous examples. The whole family, including five-year-old Beth, went the distance in a local 1981 CROP Walk to raise money to fight world hunger. The Moores not only helped organize the project but raised over $600 of the total $22.000 themselves. Nancy chairs the Hunger Committee of their church, which set up an "Alternative Christmas Market." selling Third World crafts and receiving contributions for World Vision, CROP, The Heifer Project, etc. Another neat idea: Instead of flowers in church on Sundays, the committee supplies a permanent display of grains and dried flowers, noting in the bulletin that "The flour today was given to World Vision in remembrance of Stan is on the board of the Conejo Environmental League, which celebrated its tenth year with over ten million pounds of recycled materials. (Yep, their Christmas letter was on recycled paper!-Ed.)

M. Elizabeth Payne moved to Bethesda, Maryland, earlier this year to become a staff fellow in Dr. Robert Adelstein's lab at the National Institutes of Health. She would like to meet local ASA members and learn of section activities. We hope she's already encountered Glenn Kirkland, Paul Arveson, or other ASA sparkplugs there. If not, she can be found at 7590 Westlake Terrace, Bethesda, MID 20817; or at NHLBI, NIH, Laboratory of Molecular Cardiology, Bldg. 10, Room 713-09, Bethesda, MID 20205.

Bernard J. Piersma has spent a year's sabbatical at the Frank J. Seiler Lab of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado. Now he's back at Houghton College, Houghton, NY 14744. Bernie, who serves as book review editor for JASA, has received a request for new reviewers of books for the Bulletin of the Theological Students Fellowship. ASA or CSCA members interested in reviewing books for that publication should send your name, address, and areas of interest to: John W. Duff, TSF Administrative Assistant, 233 Langdon St., Madison, WI 53703.

Kenneth L. Pike wrote us from Ivory Coast (beautiful stamps!) in February, having already helped translators with linguistic analysis in Togo and Sudan. In Khartoum the government had just closed the university and high school and sent the students home; in Ivory Coast a similar thing happened. Ken asks for prayer that "social problems of the poor, and desire for change, will not keep the Word from being translated and published in many languages still desperately Ken and Evie had papers to write for meetings this spring, including one in Japan, then expected to be at the Summer Institute of Linguistics in Norman, Oklahoma, this summer. They expect to "settle down" for the coming academic year to write before another two-year cycle of travel and consulting.

Bernard L. Ramm, professor of Christian theology at American Baptist Seminary of the West in Berkeley, California, participated in a local symposium on "Suffering-In Search of a Truly Christian Response" in April. The one-day symposium was cosponsored by New College Berkeley, the Christian Medical Society, and Nurses Christian Fellowship. Principal speaker was Paul W. Brand, chief of rehabilitation, National Hansen's Disease Center, Carville, Louisiana, and author of Fearfully and Wonderfully Made (1981). (We hear that Bernie Ramm has a new book of his own coming out, and that he'll be one of four Sunday night speakers in October on "The Doctrine of Creation" at Berkeley's First Presbyterian Church, with Walt Hearn as one of the others.-Ed.)

Henry L. Richter is president of Telecom Consultants in Arcadia, California, and also a field representative for the Christian Business Men's Committee of USA. In the Sept/ Oct 1980 issue of CBMC Contact magazine, Henry's personal story was told under the headline, "A Space Genius Finally Finds Success." Henry got his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Cal Tech in the mid-50s and went to work for the Jet Propulsion Lab in the canyon above Cal Tech. When "Sputnik" was launched by the Russians on 4 October 1957, Henry was "on the ground floor" of the space age, soon in charge of all scientific instrumentation for the Ranger, Mariner, and Surveyor programs. Henry's story tells of his further work for NASA and in private industry. The major theme is his quest for knowledge, which in one sense culminated in 1969 in a personal encounter with Jesus Christ.

John S. Setchell, Jr., is supervising research project physicist for the Kodak Apparatus Division of Eastman Kodak "Rocester, New York. He has recently been elected chair of Committee B-4 on Metallic Materials for Thermostats and for Electrical Resistance, Heating, and Contacts of the American Society for Testing Materials. The 30,000member ASTM, with 137 such standards-writing projects, is a world leader in the development of voluntary consensus standards for materials, products, systems, and services. John will chair his 92-member committee for two years. He received a B.S. in physics from Rensselaer Polytech in 1963 and an M.S. from the U. of Illinois in 1969, the year in which he joined Eastman Kodak.

Nicholas J. Tavani is a professor of sociology at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, where he has taught a course in "Marriage and the Family" for a dozen years. Glenn Kirkland spotted Nick's picture in a March issue of the Montgomery County Journal, accompanying an article in a series on "Singles in Suburbia." The article, headlined "Love and Marriage Is No Longer the American Dream," quotes Nick's sociology colleague Karen Rosenblum as saying that "women don't feel pushed into marriage," and "today it's not such a terrible thing to want to live alone." "But Tavani doesn't believe that putting off marriage is a permanent trend," the article concludes. "Remember," he says, "about 95 percent of all Americans will get married sometime in their lifetimes."

Paul A. Twelker of rural Oregon has found a new way to use his training in educational research, development, and evaluation. A workshop for a problem-ridden church he was asked to conduct last fall was so successful that he developed the idea and has been field-testing it in other churches. He finds "a lot of 'stranded' souls out there in the church world with hardly an inkling of where to turn for help in becoming an effective leader and group member." So Paul offers a 12-hour seminar adaptable to retreat, workshop, or seminar format to help them. For information, write Church Leaders Seminar, P.O. Box 9, Sisters, OR 97759.

David L. Vander Meulen of Bensenville, Illinois, and wife Carol sent us an announcement of the birth of their first child, David Christian Vander Meulen, in February. (David L. is in physics but we don't know what branch of science David C. has chosen to specialize in.-Ed.)

Timothy K. Wagner is professor of physics at East Stroudsburg State College in Pennsylvania. Tim was sorry to miss the 1981 ASA Annual Meeting, so close at hand in St. Davids, but he and wife Barbara and their three daughters had just returned from a wonderful but hectic month in Europe, visiting friends and missionaries there. This spring Tim was teaching a new course on Theoretical Mechanics "for that rare but not yet endangered species, the physics major" and looking forward to publication of his text, Energy and Society, in time for this fall.

Warren Willis, who has served Campus Crusade for Christ for over six years as director of evangelism in Guam and Micronesia, is back home on furlough from August through November. Then Warren and Diane and sons Mike and Bob will move to Japan to work with English-speaking students in Tokyo. Tokyo has 1.5 million students attending 180 colleges and universities, in a total city population of 14 million. Statistically, 1 percent of the Japanese people are Christians, or as Warren points out, "that's 1.2 million 'found sheep' and 118.8 million 'lost sheep."' Since Tokyo is a very expensive city, the Willises are praying that some of their supporters will increase their giving and that the Lord will help them find new supporters. Warren has a U.S. air pass that enables him to fly almost anywhere for two months, so he would be glad to come talk to meetings of interested friends. (Address: 8600 Balboa Rd.. Atascadero. CA 93422; tel. 805-466-0212.)

Kurt Wood taught chemistry this past year at Carleton College in Minnesota. Meanwhile his wife Debby was taking theology courses. In March they wrote that they had become "appointees" of North Africa Mission. Kurt plans to take a secular job in the Arab world so they can help build up the growing national church there, probably in Algeria, Tunisia, or Morocco. First stop will be Montpellier in southern France for training in the Arabic language and North African culture. Before that, though, Kurt and Debby need to raise considerable financial support among friends and churches, including about $8,000 in one-time passage money and their first two months of living expenses. Kurt did his Ph.D. work in chemistry at U.C. Berkeley. The Woods were back in California this summer. Funds designated for their support can be sent to North Africa Mission, 47 Long Lane, Upper Darby, PA 19082.