NEWSLETTER

of the

American Scientific Affiliation & Canadian Scientific Christian Affiliation


VOLUME 31 NUMBER 4                                                               AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1989


NEWSLETTER of the ASA/CSCA is published bi-monthly for its membership by the American Scientific Affiliation, 55 Market St., Ipswich, MA 01938. Tel. 508-356-5656. Information for the Newsletter may be sent to the Editor: Dr. Walter R. Hearn, 762 Arlington Ave., Berkeley, CA 94707. 01989 American Scientific Affiliation (except previously published material). All Rights Reserved.
[Editor: Walter R. Heam / production: Nancy C. Hanger]



ASA HEADLINES AND FOOTNOTES


0n June 19 the "3rd Printing, Revised" of Teaching Science in a Clitnate of Controversy came off the press in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. Science Press (printers of ASA's journal, Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith) did an amazing job of beating their own deadline on the 40,000-copy press run, after re-shooting the pages be cause of changes on two-thirds of them. Science Press is still orchestrating several mailings, but immediately shipped boxes of the booklet to the ASA office in Ipswich so back-orders could be processed.

Members of ASA's Committee for Integrity in Science Education (responsible for all those changes) received copies in time to stock ASA's booth at the Christian Congress for Excellence in Public Education and 20th National Convention of the Christian Educators Association International beginning June 28. Committee chair David Price reports that ASA's quiet presence at the Anaheim (CA) congress served to balance the "young-earth creationist" influence (well represented by ICR, Creation Science Research Center, Creation Research Society, and Caleb Campaign). CEAI officials said ASA would be welcome at their future conventions, not only in the exhibit area but also on the program.

Another news flash: the Constitutional Amendment revising ASA's Statement of Faith has passed. At presstime a total of 783 ballots had been received, assuring a quorum (of at least one-third of the voting membership). Of those ballots, 650 were in favor of the amendment. The change expands and clarifies the three previous statements of each member's commitment (to the Bible, to Jesus Christ, and to scientific investigation), adding a new fourth statement of commitment to stewardship of God's creation.

Meanwhile, ASA operations manager Ruth Hardy has left the Ipswich office to move with her husband to Newton, New Hampshire, where Alan will pastor the First Christian Church congregation. Ruth will be hard to replace, but Cynthia Macaulay is already taking a shot at it. She is a niece of ASA member Sid Macaulay, editor of the prize-winning Journal of the Christian Medical Dental Society. Cynthia is working on an M.A. in theological studies at Gordon-Conwell Seminary, with emphasis on missions. She and fellow seminarian Toby Larson plan to marry in August.

GET IN ON IT IN IN

That cryptic headline is a last minute reminder that the 1989 ASA ANNUAL MEETING is being held in Marion, IN, August 4-7.
Our 44th Annual Meeting, at Indiana Wesleyan University, has been organized by ASA's Commission on Biomedical Ethics. Keynoter Howard
W. Jones of Eastern Virginia School of Medicine will focus on "Assisted Reproduction"; a plenary panel will treat broader issues of "Human Engineering."

The theme, with all its ethical implications, could hardly be more timely. In May of this year clinicians at the National Institutes of Health infused a terminal cancer patient with some of the patient's own white blood cells containing a foreign gene. The historic procedure was previewed at the 1988 "Itnago Dei" conference cosponsored by ASA and CMDS by a representative of French Anderson's NIH research group. Although not quite 1. gene therapy," it is definitely a first step in that direction; the foreign gene was inserted as a marker to trace the lymphocytes attacking the patient's cancer cells.

"IN" WILL GO ON & ON

A SA Annual Meetings allow participants to get "in" on matters that continue to make news. Take our 1988 Annual Meeting, for example. The importance of its "Arms Control" theme is underscored almost every day, in the scientific press as well as the popular press. The AAAS has an ongoing Program on Science, Arms Control, and National Security (PSACNS) established in 1981. It sponsors an annual Colloquium in Washington, D.C., attracting about 500 concerned citizens, scientists, lawmakers, and journalists. (Date for the 1989 Colloquium: Nov 16-17.) The AAAS Program also holds Congressional Seminars in the nation's capital, where a half-dozen PSACNS Fellows work year 'round.

An annual Symposium on Arms Control is now a feature of AAAS meetings. From the colloquia, seminars, and symposia has come a balanced series of publications (which we saw for the first time at the San Francisco AAAS meeting in January-Ed.). To receive a list of publications or to get on the mailing list, write AAAS Program on Science, Arms Control, and National Security, 1333 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005.

Consider our 1987 ASA Annual Meeting on "Environmental Stewardship." Almost every day an echo of that meeting comes to our attention. (See "Getting Serious", ASAICSCA Newsletter, Feb/Mar 1989, p. 2). An article on "Christian Ecology" in Mother Earth News (No. 115, Jan/Feb 1988, pp. 58-61), described differences between advocates of "scriptural ecology" and those backing "creation spirituality" (such as Matthew Fox, the Roman Catholic priest in Oakland, California, "silenced" last fall by the Vatican). Author Pat Stone noted those tensions at the initial meeting of the North American Conference on Christianity & Ecology (NACCE). Stressing positive accomplishments of NACCE, Stone added thumbnail descriptions and addresses of six other Christian ecological organizations.

Somehow omitted from the
MEN piece was the AuSable Institute for Environmental Studies (7526 Sunset Trail N.E., Mancelona, MI 49659), affiliated with the Christian College Coalition. ASA member Ghillean Prance, now director of England's Royal Botanical Gardens, has been an AuSable Trustee for the past five years. In February, John Wood of Simpson College in San Francisco brought us a fresh report from AuSable. He had just returned from teaching a 3-week course in stream ecology to a dozen of the 45 students in the January interterm session there. John was quoted in a story by Charles Honey in the Grand Rapids Press ("Probing Nature's Grand Design," 19 Jan 1989) about AuSable's Christian emphasis on environmental stewardship. "Creation spirituality" has its positive aspects, but ASA biologists like John are clearly in the "scriptural ecology" camp. They keep reminding us that "the clear and repeated testimony of Scripture is that humans are trustees of the earth, not owners."

Less clear to us was how John could teach an outdoor course in "stream ecology" in Michigan temperatures down to -20* Fahrenheit. He explained that only 'in extreme conditions like those in Alaska last winter does everything freeze up. Otherwise, small headwater streams fed by springs are kept liquid by their tumbling action. (On really cold days, his students warmed their hands by digging crawdads and other critters out of the icy streams.-Ed.)

CONCERN FOR CHINA

During the massive demonstrations in China this spring, the Newsletter editor happened to be reading Beijing Review, "A Chinese Weekly of News and Views" published under Chinese government auspices in San Francisco, sampling the magazine under a "no obligation" offer. The tone of its stories changed noticeably as the government moved to crush the demonstrations.

We also kept in touch-with former ASA president Chi-Hang Lee, the research chemist who led ASA's tour of the People's Republic in the summer of 1987. Chi-Hang was greatly saddened and dismayed by the Chinese government's response. He thinks it would strengthen the movement for freedom and democracy if the student demonstrators, or one of their leaders, were to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their courageous efforts. He discovered that, in contrast to Nobel Prizes in other fields, the Peace Prize is awarded by a Committee appointed by the Norwegian Parliament, and that only certain categories of persons can make nominations.

Nominations for the Peace Prize may be made only by members of the Nobel Committee, members of any country's national assembly or government, members of certain international groups such as the Institut de Droit International, previous Peace Prize winners-and "present university professors of law, political science, history, and philosophy." (That last category takes in a number of ASA members.--Ed.)

Chi-Hang Lee has been writing various people to suggest that they, too, encourage appropriate individuals to make a formal nomination. In one of his own letters, Chi urged a U.S. Senator to do everything possible to foster the democratic movement in China "in the long run":

"May I suggest that you recommend through proper channels that the next Nobel Peace Prize be awarded to the student movement in China, or symbolically to certain representatives or leaders of that movement, such as Chai Ling, assuming she is still alive. Despite the Communists' effort to control the news media, some day the truth will reach most of the Chinese people. The Nobel Prize as an international. award will greatly encourage the Chinese in their ongoing struggle for a free and democratic society. Chi has since told us that Chai Ling, the student leader featured in a recent Ted Koppel televison report on the situation in China, is known to be afive and in- hidingFurther, the two Chinese high officials contacted by ASA before the China tour about possibly setting up a symposium on science and faith during the tour are both known to have made statements sympathetic to the student movement. Neither has been reported to have repudiated his statement. One was a church leader, the other a social scientist who had expressed interest in religion as a positive force. The social scientist, a government official, is known to be out of China, and is now rumored to have defected."

To inquire about the Peace Prize nomination or discuss other ways of supporting the democratic movement in China, contact Chi-Hang Lee, 120 Brandywine Way, Walnut Creek, CA 94598. Tel. 415- 9447273 (H) or 415-939-8155 (W).

WHEREVER GOD WANTS US: 8.

Another Asian country we' heard from recently, with a perennially active dissident student movement, is South Korea. Actually it was Wesley Wentworth we heard from, calling from the Los Angeles area. But he had just flown from Seoul to participate in the 4th North American Conference of Korean Students in America (KOSTA), being held for the first time on the west coast, at Biola University in La Mirada.

KOSTA was begun several years ago by some Korean pastors in the United States. Aimed at evangelizing graduate students and helping them develop a Christian worldview, its conferences in the eastern part of the U.S. have drawn as many as 500 registrants. Wes was hoping for 200 at Biola. The theme of "KOSTA 189" was "Christian Ethics in the Post-Christianity Era." Wes was scheduled to lead a seminar on academic work as a Christian calling.

Since that phone call we've received copies of the KOSTA '89 announcement and program, and of a news story in L.A.'s Korean Times. We'd tell you more, but it's all in Korean and Wes added only a few lines of translation. We did recognize him in a photograph acompanying the Times story. Seminars covered such topics as "Faith & Scholarship," "Christian Ethics," and "Non-professional 1~fissions."

All this is right down Wes Wentworth's alley. An engineer who has made his home in South Korea for years, he sees his calling as encouraging Christian students and scholars to think deeply about the implications of Christian faith for their own disciplines. That is particularly important in a country like South Korea, where the evangelical church has tended to take a relatively narrow view on many topics. Physics professor Seung-Hun Yang of Kyungpook National University in Taegu, for example, was evidently quite surprised at the range of positions on many issues he found among evangelicals when he attended the ASA Annual Meeting at Pepperdine last summer.

Wes has always made effective use of Christian literature (including ASA publications) in his work. Currently he works for Korean InterVarsity Press in Seoul. He would like to find an engineering job in Korea. He comes back to the U.S. from time to time, and keeps in touch with KOSTA-West (c/o SaRang Korean Church of Southern California, 1105 Foster Rd., Norwalk, CA 90650).

The two major speakers at the Biola Conference were Korean university professors who are also leaders in a "Movement for Christian Ethical Practice." Wes sent an English translation of a manifesto issued by the Movement in 1987, analyzing conflicts and problems "based to a large extent on the moral corruption of our society." The document charges that the Korean church has emphasized rapid growth without stressing righteous living, and has welcomed material blessing to such an extent that many Christians have succumbed to materialism. Repenting of such practices, the Movement seeks to "encourage Christians to obey Christ in our life-style and to take greater social responsibility." Specific guidelines are suggested for functioning as individuals, in families and churches, and in national and international life.

It is interesting to compare this response to corruption in national life with that of the Chinese students in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. The politics of the two countries differ widely, of course, and so does the status of the church in each. Yet there seem to be openings for the Holy Spirit to influence both situations. Many Christians have gone to China to teach English. Before the demonstrations began, many churches and individual Christians had befriended Chinese students and scholars in the U.S. Now they have been able to offer emotional and other forms of support for their new friends as the crisis engulfed the Chinese universities. Who knows where that will lead?

ANOTHER COUNTRY HEARD FROM

Members of ASA's sister organization, the Canadian Scientific & Christian Affiliation, must get tired of searching through this "foreign" publication for news of their activities.  Weary Old Editor (WOE is me!-Ed.) is to blame, not CSCA's efficient secretary-treasurer Steve
Scadding of Guelph, Ontario. It's not that what he sends us is written in a foreign language or anything like that. Sometimes we just slip up in reporting it, that's all.

CSCA has far fewer members than ASA, scattered unevenly over an even bigger country, as is evident from the geographic index in the ASA/CSCA directory. Much of the CSCA action takes place in Ontario, particularly in Toronto, Guelph, Ottawa, and Waterloo. Smaller groups of members are clustered around Winnipeg in Manitoba, Calgary and Edmonton in Alberta, and Vancouver in British Columbia.

The CSCA Annual Meeting is a one-day affair held in the fall, frequently missed by this Newsletter because we're still reporting what happened at the August ASA Annual Meeting. Last year there were tentative plans to focus on human sexuality as a theme, but, instead (if we got the story straight), the meeting was coordinated with an international meeting of the Neuroscience Society in November. That enabled CSCA to import physiologist Ken Dormer of the U. of Oklahoma Medical School as visiting speaker. Maurice Lee, Ph.D. candidate in Computational NeuroSystems ("CNS") at Cal Tech, who gave a poster session at the Toronto Neuroscience meeting, reported that some 30-40 people attended the CSCA breakfast at which Ken spoke. CSCA president Bob Vander Vennen and Council member Dan Osmond also spoke. For the 1989 Annual Meeting, plans are underway to adopt the biomedical ethics theme featured at the ASA Meeting.

At its June 1989 meeting, the CSCA Council heard reports of local section activities held during the academic year. Recent meetings not yet reported in this Newsletter included Toronto meetings in February, with Eric Moore of Upper Canada College speaking on "The Christian in the Environment: Master or Steward?" and in March, with Peter Webster of Sunnybrook Medical Centre on "The Limits of Human Freedom: Pleasure and Pain"; plus a March meeting in Vancouver with David Myers of Hope College (USA) on "A New Look at Pride and Self-Esteem," which drew about 50 people.

As in ASA's experience, local sections wax and wane, and several poorly attended meetings in a row can discourage a local executive council. Some sections experiment with smaller, less formal gatherings of core members, others become inactive-as the Ottawa section has been for several years. A major disappointment a year ago was not being able to support Don McNally adequately as an official CSCA campus minister.

Canadians have a lot of spunk, however, and CSCA refuses to write off the campus ministry project. As reported in a previous issue, Don McNally has been establishing the Pascal Centre for Studies in Faith and Science at Redeemer College in Hamilton, Ontario, very much akin to CSCA interests. CSCA has both an Executive Director, Doug Morrison of Fergus, Ontario, and an Executive Secretary, Norman McLeod of Willowdale, Ontario. Norm handles most of the correspondence, sending out CSCA literature and responding to about 50 inquiries last year.

BULLETIN BOARD

 ssor of philosophy at Central College in Iowa, has a suggestion for restructuring ASA's present Commission on Social Ethics, now headed by Lars Granberg. With Lars wanting to retire from that post, Bob Herrmann approached Bill, a visiting fellow at Princeton Seminary last year, as a potential replacement. Bill proposes changing the name to the Commission on Ethics and the Social Sciences to make it a forum for ASA social scientists to deal with topics of broad concern. He hopes to discuss his proposal with others at the ASA ANNUAL MEETING at INDIANA WESLEYAN, AUGUST 47. One topic of concern to Bill Paul is whether a "Near Eastern" (i.e., Judeo-Christian) approach to value questions provides a third alternative to the oft-cited distinction between a Western (dualistic, individualistic, analytic) approach and an Eastern (holistic, aesthetic, meditative) approach. In his sabbatical exploration of a philosophical and theological perspective for environmental ethics, he has found the Judeo-Christian approach able to capture what is most valuable in both Eastern and Western forms of understanding. The Commission on Ethics and the Social Sciences could work on setting forth a contemporary formulation of the proper relationship between the natural order and the moral order. Bill asks, "Shouldn't our professional work as well as our personal witness make a clear difference in a morally disordered cultural world?" He welcomes feedback on these matters by correspondence (c/o Dept. of Philosophy, Central College, Pella, IA 50219) or at the ASA ANNUAL MEETING.

(2) Ken Van Dellen of Macomb College in Michigan sent an update on Kabba Jalloh, the stude-n-t-Frarn Sierra Leone he has been trying to help (BULLETIN BOARD, Item 3, Dec '88/Jan '89). The courses Kabba has taken at Dordt College in Iowa qualified him for an A.A. degree in agriculture in May, after which he planned to spend the summer with a student friend in Washington state where he could earn some money. Kabba will return to Dordt in the fall, then spend the summer of 1990 with Martin Price at ECHO, Inc. in Florida. Credit from Dordt for his work at ECHO should enable Kabba to complete requirements for a bachelor's degree from Dordt before returning home to help his people. Ken Van Dellen thanks the ASA members who responded to his earlier notice with contributions for Kabba, and asks for additional help for his final year (ECHO has no scholarship funds for students). Ken sees such contributions, large or small, as significant people-to people investments in economic development and Christian witness in Africa. Checks made out to Third World Assistance Fund or Dordt College (mentioning Kabba Jal-loh), should go to: Office of College Advancement, Dordt College, Sioux Center, IA 51250. (Ken's Kabba Newsletter adds that in 1988 Dordt was rated by U.S. News & World Report as 21st among 11 regional liberal arts colleges" and 19th among them for its tuition costs.-Ed.)

(3) The Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization (ECHO, Inc., see item above) is a "subsistence farmers' ag experiment station" on a few acres in Florida. Its work of supplying practical information (and seeds) to missionaries, Peace Corps volunteers, and other development workers is known to Newsletter readers because it was founded by our own Martin Price, who has Ph.D.s in both biochemistry and agronomy. Receiving no government assistance and only an occasional foundation grant, Martin's remarkably lean operation is consciously "leaning on the everlasting arms" and also on ECHO's friends. The ECHO board met in May to allocate scarce resources, praying and planning for the future. Gifts in any amount to the general operating fund are always needed, but many special projects also need underwriting. Internships for recent college graduates with a Christian commitment to the Third World cost ECHO $18 a day each but pay big dividends in current work at ECHO and in the future. ECHO also seeks funds to reprint some valuable outof-print handbooks of tropical agriculture, and to build a modest climate-controlled building in which to thresh, clean, treat, dry, test, package, and store the seeds it sends out free for field testing overseas (cost: $30,000). For information, or to send contributions, contact: ECHO, Inc., 17430 Durrance Rd., North Ft. Myers, Fl, 33917. Tel. 813-543-3246.

(4) Names of ASA members are showing up in interesting places these days. In PERSONALS last time we mentioned Joe Palen's letter on science and faith published in the April 17 issue of The Scientist. In the very next issue (May 1) we spotted another good letter on the same topic from pysiologist Tom Hoshiko of Case Western Reserve.

(5) The names of several ASA members also appeared in a single issue of ICR's Acts & Facts (June 1989). At a symposium on "Models of Special Creation" held at the Tuscarora Resource Center, Mt. Bethel, Pennsylvania, in April, Bob Newman and Perry Phillips of IBRI took the "progressive-creation, old earth" view, in opposition to ICR's Duane Gish and James Stambaugh's "six-solar-day, recent-creation" view. According to Acts & Facts, the entire symposium was characterized by ti a feeling of mutual respect and Christian love by all participants." Yet in another article ("Don't Be Afraid of Giants") in the same issue, Wheaton College biologist and progressive creationist Pattie Pun was chided for taking the word of secular scientists on such subjects as the Flood and "reinterpreting the Bible to fit their theories." Author Ken Ham depicted ICR as a David disdained by both 11 non-Christian giants" and "Christian giants," but didn't make clear which kind of giant he consders Pattle. He did say, "Let God's enemies rant and rave, but let us give glory to God. Let us not be afraid of giants."'

NEW JOURNAL ANNOUNCED

We noted in the Jun/Jul 1989 BULLETIN BOARD that "Christians in Science" (CIS) is the new name of what used to be the Research Scientists' Christian Fellowship, one of the professional groups associated with UCCF (which used to be the IVF). In 1985, when ASA met with RSCF in Oxford, we saw how much our British counterparts admired what used to be JASA (now Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith). This
spring they have started their own journal, called Science and Christian Belief.

The new journal, which sounds similar in forniat and content to Perspectives, is really a merger of Faith and Thought, long-standing journal of The Victoria Institute (VI) and Science and Faith, the more recent CIS newsletter. CIS Secretary and ASA Fellow Oliver R. Barclay, editor of the CIS newsletter, will edit Science and Christian Belief. A distinguished panel of senior scientists (plus biblical scholars F. F. Bruce and D. J. Wiseman) has been assembled as advisors and referees.

Science and Christian Belief will initially appear twice a year. Members of CIS or VI will receive it as part of their memberships. For others, a 1-year subscription costs UK f-9 or USA $27 (2 yrs, $51; 3 yrs, $75), made payable to Paternoster Press, Paternoster House, 3 Mount Radford Crescent, Exeter, EX2 QW, England.

ACROSS OUR DESK

A stream of important "books and rumors of books" has been flowing across the Newsletter desk. Although we leave reviewing to Perspectives book review editor Richard Ruble, some of these new resources deserve notice.

The Christian Frame of Mind (Colorado Springs: Helmers & Howard, 1989) by well-known theologian and ASA Associate Thomas F. Torrance is subtitled "Reason, Order, and Openness 'in Theology and Natural Science, " An introduction contributed by New Jersey Inst. of Technology physicist Jim Neidhardt (excerpted in Perspectives June 1989) sums up the key themes in Tom Torrance's lifelong work of integrating science and theology. A reception for the author was held on April 30 at the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton to mark publication of this important book.

Another fine book out this spring (though not quite in time to be cited in the revised Appendix of Teaching Science) is Biology Through the Eyes of Faith (Harper & Row, 1989) by Gordon College professor Richard T. Wright. It's the latest addition to the series of supplementary texts in academic subjects sponsored by the Christian College Coalition.

The New Biology: Discovering the Wisdom of Nature (New Science Library, 1988) goes beyond criticism of the neo-Darwinian synthesis to make some interesting suggestions for modifying evolutionary theory. The Roman Catholic authors, philosopher Robert Augros and physicist George Stanciu, were speakers at the June 1988 Tacoma "DNA Conference" sponsored by ASA's Committee for Integrity in Science Education. (At that conference they graciously refrained from punching out the Newsletter editor for his rather negative review of their 1984 book, The New Story of Science.-Ed.)

A book we've seen but not yet had a chance to read is Physics, Philosophy and Theology: A Common Quest for Understanding (U. of Notre Dame Press, 1988), edited by R.J. Russell, W.R. Stoeger, and G.V. Coyne. After hearing Jesuit astrophysicist Bill Stoeger at a 1988 symposium at Berkeley's Center for Theology & the Natural Sciences (directed by Bob Russell), we feel confident in recommending this relatively inexpensive paperback collection of scholarly essays.

A book we've seen advertised but haven't even seen yet is The God Who Would Be Known: Divine Revelations in Contemporary Science (Harper & Row, 1988), by none other than John M. Templeton and Robert L. Herrmann. We've been sampling this one in excerpts appearing in recent issues of Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith. [Note: an author's copy arrived in the Ipswich office at press time!Managing Ed.]

A series of published symposia called Science as a Way of Knowing is sponsored by the Committee on Education of the American Society of Zoologists. A grant from the Camegie Corporation supports the free distribution of these highquality materials designed to improve the teaching of introductory biology courses in high schools and colleges. Issued so far are I. Evolutionary Biology; H. Human Ecology; Iff. Genetics; IV. Developmental Biology; V. Form and Function. All are available free on request from Dr. John A. Moore, Dept. of Biology, U. of California, Riverside, CA 92521. (We saw a notice in American Biology Teacher, wrote for them as a member of AIBS.Ed.)

Another freebie symposium, the March/June 1989 issue of Pro Rege (announced in the Apr/May BULLETIN BOARD), features a whole spectrum of Reformational positions on the origins debate, including those of chemist Russell Mdatman and engineer Charles Adams of Dordt College and physicist Howard Van Till of Calvin College. If you're not already on the mailing list, ask for your free subscription to begin with this significant issue. Write to: Editor, Pro Rege, Dordt College, 498 4th Ave, NE, Sioux Center, IA 51250.

Not quite free is a "Response to D. James Kennedy's Presentation on Creationism and Evolution on 'The John Ankerberg Show"' (April 1989). Kennedy, pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church of Coral Gables, Florida, has frequently "preached against evolution" on his daily radio and weekly TV programs. We know of several ASA members who have written to Kennedy in the past to point out shortcomings of his "young-earth" approach to biblical interpretation, which seems to be based largely on materials from the Institute for Creation Research. Now, a biochemist at the U. of Louisville has produced a detailed refutation of what he considers egregious errors in Kennedy's scholarship made in a telecast series on origins in fall 1987. The author says, "Kennedy's presentation is not an exception, but rather is typical of the creationist presentations which I have seen. If there is an honest, scientifically valid case for creationism, I have yet to see it." Copies of his 86-page "Response" are available from the author, Dr. Thomas J. Wheeler, 426 Deerfield Lane, Louisville, KY 40207, for $3.50 each to cover copying and postage.

THE EDITOR'S LAST WORDS: 4.

Qu: How come there was no SEARCH in the June issue of Perspectives?

An: Because the SEARCH editor was busy revising Teaching Science in a Climate of Controversy for its 3rd printing.

Qu: What happened to the items I sent in for publication in the Newsletter?

An: They're probably in one of these piles in the Newsletter office.

Qu: Why isn't the ASA book on science in the public schools finished yet?

An: See answers to above questions.

LOCAL SECTION ACTIVITIES

NORTH CENTRAL

On June 7 more than a hundred people paid for a buffet breakfast at the Holiday Inn adjacent to the 3M campus in Minneapolis, then heard physicist Bill Monsma of the MacLaurin Institute speak on "The Origin of the Universe." Bill pointed to the evidence for the Big Bang and also to efforts of some scientists to avoid the implications of a beginning, "down to current speculations about inflation of the early universe and to Steven Hawking's imaginary time." Both Bill and 3M chemist Bob Bohon made pitches for ASA, and everyone present got ASA literature. Bob made the arrangements and sent announcements to 3M technical employees on a prayer-breakfast mailing list.

Enough interest was shown in future meetings, and in the ASA, to suggest "taking the show on the road" to other industrial employment centers. The problem is that even the largest companies, such as Honeywell, tend to be more spread out than 3M. Everyone agrees that ASA membership should expand into industrial labs, but we haven't had a red-hot idea of how to orchestrate such an effort. Maybe at last we're getting warm.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN

A note from co-chair John Vayhinger says that Ken Touryan, energy entrepreneur and "tentmaker to the world," will be the morning speaker at the section's mid-year conference, to be held Saturday, February 3, at the U. of Colorado in Boulder. The section invites ASAers exploring Colorado on skis or other means of transportation to drop in, and invites ASA members in the region to submit papers to be read in the afternoon session. Contact secy-treas. Ken Olson, 2515 17th Ave, Greeley, CO 80631; tel. 303-352-1590.

SAN FRANCISCO BAY

The June 24 informal breakfast in Berkeley with Owen Gingerich of Harvard drew about 25 people, perhaps half of them new to ASA. Several UCB grad students expressed interest in both national and local ASA activities. Owen was in good form despite a foul-up in flight arrangements that had forced him to fly standby the night before. He outlined the history and current status of what is now planned as a six-segment TV series under ASA auspices. The series will present science in an instructive but entertaining way, show the "tent to which human judgment enters into the building of a coherent scientific picture, and present a theistic framework as a legitimate alternative to materialism. Beginning with a segment on the nature of scientific proof, the series will end with a segment asking if the cosmos is really all there is, was, or ever will be. Some very competent specialists in various aspects of television production are advising Owen, who says he has learned a lot about presenting science--and a Christian view of it---to the general public.

This was president John Wood's last meeting with the section. After teaching at AuSable in Michigan this summer, John will join the faculty of The King's College in Edmonton, Alberta, in the fall.

PERSONALS

Gregory S. Bennett recently accepted a position at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, as assistant director of International Programs. His job is to advise international students, develop exchange programs with foreign universities, and build the international scope of university activities. Greg's background includes a dozen years growing up in East Africa and the India subcontinent, three years as a petroleum geologist for a major oil company, and three years teaching earth science at the junior high level.

Lee E. Branscombe, who has a Ph.D. and was formerly on the faculty of the U. of Miami, Florida, has started a research company called Environmental Dynamics Research, Inc. EDR's primary activity is basic research in dynamic meteorology and climate theory. Lee is an active member of the Miami chapter of the Christian Business Men's Committee. He invites others with similar interests in science and faith to contact him at EDR, 104 Crandon Blvd, Suite 327, Miami, FL 33149; tel. 305-361-1027 or 3617457. (If enough local ASAers get in touch with Lee, maybe they'll start a Florida section.-Ed.)

Douglas A. Bulthuis is an estuarine scientist at the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve located in Mt. Vernon, Washington. Doug recently moved to Washington from Australia, where he was research manager at the Marine Science Laboratories of the state of Victoria.

Howard Claassen and wife Esther have moved to Tacoma, Washington. Howard retired from teaching physics at Wheaton College ten years or so ago and moved to a little mountain community in Oregon on state highway 66 east of Ashland. Howard designed and built a solar-heated home adjacent to the "Oregon Extension," a woodsy campus in an old logging camp where students from Christian colleges come for a semester of integrated studies. This year, when the Claassens decided it was time to move closer to children and grandchildren, they got a surprise send-off. On May 14, their last Sunday, Howard was scheduled to speak in the community's Lincoln Christian Church. Known for his practical skills, he had already told folks that he would start working with Habitat for Humanity in Tacoma by doing the plumbing on a house for a refugee family, and that he would build his Sunday sermon around Habitat's ministry. (The Claassens' daughter, Eileen Seeley, is on the Habitat board in Tacoma.) The Oregon Extension faculty secretly sent out letters to many of Howard's friends. At the close of his remarks, he joked that if anyone wanted to write a check for Habitat, he would be glad to deliver it. In one of the fastest responses on record, he was handed an envelope stuffed with checks made out to Habitat totaling some $2,000, plus many letters "pressing affection for Howard & Esther. Bowled over, Howard admitted that he had been puzzled to see the church packed out and folks bringing food when nobody had told him about a potluck. We hear it was a great farewell party.

Harold Hartzler, beloved ASA patriarch and former physics professor at both Goshen College and Mankato State in Minnesota, has informed the Ipswich office of the death of his equally beloved wife Dorothy in April. Not long ago it was Dorothy who was worried about Harold's health. Harold was visiting relatives and friends in Pennsylvania when he wrote to Ipswich. Typically, he added, "I hope to be able to see you at ASA in August." Harold has attended more Annual Meetings than any other member.

David Hitchcock has begun postdoctoral research in the Materials Science Dept. of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He is trying to make high-temperature superconductors that will carry more current. Last fall David returned from the University of Electronic Science & Technology of China in Chengdu, Sichuan province, where he had taught and done research in the Dept. of Electronic Materials & Devices. He says, "I enjoyed working with my Chinese colleagues and students, learning about the culture, and learning to depend more on God. In the U.S., I tend to think things are under my control. In China, it was easier to see that they are not."

Thomas Key has moved to Laurel, Mississippi, where he manages to keep busy despite being semi-retired. He teaches one biology class at Wesley College in Florence, about 75 miles away, and is doing research on the control of fire ants. He also does some part-time preaching.

James W. Sire, senior editor and campus lecturer for InterVarsity Press in Downers Grove, Illinois, recently tallied up his year of academic itineration. Jim made some 156 presentations (14 to faculty groups) at 34 secular institutions and 4 Christian colleges. Instead of resting up this summer, though, he is off to the Lausanne 11 Congress in Manila, where he will lead a workshop on the rise of New Age spirituality in a section on the forces of modernization organized by Os Guinness. (We've mentioned several other ASAers invited to participate at the Manila Congress, but we've probably missed at least that many more.-Ed.)

Kenell Touryan investigates alternative energy sources and serves on the board of Issachar Frontier Missions Strategies (P.O. Box 30727, Seattle, WA 98103). Our account of his stay in Soviet Armenia (WHEREVER GOD WANTS US, Apr/May 1989) said Ken encourages "tentmaking" but failed to name Issachar as one of his ways of supporting that concept. Issachar's president, George Otis, wrote the cover story on "Turmoil, Tragedy, and Hope in the Soviet Caucasus" in the March 1989 issue of Mission Frontiers, Bulletin of the U.S. Center for World Mission (1605 Elizabeth St, Pasadena, CA 91104).

Drawing on Ken's recent experience in Armenia, the story described a church-based relief committee serving spiritual leaders of various Christian groups in Armenia, for which contributions can be sent to: Dr. Ken Touryan, Operation Caucasus Earthquake Aid, Evergreen Fellowship, 31347 Tamarisk Lane, Evergreen, CO 80439.

Edward R. Urban, Jr., of Gaithersburg, Maryland, has been working under one-year Sea Grant Fellowship for the Ocean Studies Board of the National Academy of Sciences. He hopes to continue working in the nation's capital for a few more years before moving into a science administrative position. Ed has been preparing himself for that at the U. of Delaware, where he has earned an M.S. in marine studies, a Ph.D. in applied ocean science/marine studies, and an MBA to top it off.

Melvin Westwood is professor emeritus of horticulture at Oregon State University in Corvallis, where he taught from 1960 to 1983. This spring he received the Hartman Cup Award of the Oregon Horticultural Society for his outstanding contributions. In 1986 he received the National Career Research Award of the American Society for Horticultural Science. As early as 1974 he helped plan national clonal germplasm repositories for many varieties of fruits and nuts, for which Congress appropriated funds in 1979. In 1983 he became the National Technical Advisor for Clonal Germ Plasm, advising on the establishment of eight regional repositories, the first being at Oregon State. Pears were his special interest, but he traveled throughout Asia and returned with some 300 samples of wild root stocks from 27 different plant genera. (Our thanks to retired OSU engineering prof Hendrik Oorthuys for the background of this story.-Ed.) 

PEOPLE LOOKING FOR POSITIONS: Animal blochemisty: Abraham Verna (c/o 62, Hemant Hostel, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India. Tel. 587836) seeks a position in the U.S. His Ph.D. is from Kurukshetra University (1986). Experience includes: 1) postdoctoral research fellow, Dublin, food science; 2) senior research fellow, U.N. Development Programme, biochemistry of cheddar cheese made from buffalo milk; 3) junior research fellow, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, India, biochemistry. Available for the 1989-90 academic year. Prof Lewis Hodge calls Verna 'a well credentialed Christian brother seeking postdoctoral work in the U.S. who finds himself at a disadvantage in the marketplace of India, where preference is given to those with U.S. education and experience." Lew Hodge says interested parties can call him at the U. of Tennessee (615-974-5037) for more current information about Abraham Verna's situation.