NEWSLETTER

of the

American Scientific Affiliation & Canadian Scientific & Christian Affiliation

ZIPF UP TO PRES

In the usual succession of ASA officers, Elizabeth ("Betty") Zipf has become president of the Council and of the Affiliation for 1993, replacing Kenneth Dormer, who remains on the Council through 1993 as immediate past president. Betty has a B.A. from Mary Washington College, an M.A. in zoology from the U. of Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. in biology from the U. of Virginia. She did embryological studies in her graduate and postdoc years but has spent most of her scientific career at Biosciences Information Service (BIOSIS, publisher of Biological Abstracts) in Philadelphia, where she is currently employed.

As a technical editor Betty Zipf rose in the ranks, heading the Editorial Dept and serving as technical consultant to the president of BIOSIS. She has held offices in national and international associations of scientific editors, in particular helping third-world countries develop their own scientific infrastructure. She has served Sigma Delta Epsilon (graduate women in science) in many capacities. ASAers also know Betty Zipf for her active Christian witness to scientific colleagues, her lovely singing voice, and her love for her home church, Congregation Beth Messiah in Philadelphia.

On the ASA Council, industrial physicist Fred Hickernell, Sr., of Phoenix, Arizona, has moved from the secretary-treasurer slot to become vice-president. Ecologist Ray Brand of Wheaton College, Illinois, has become secretary-treasurer after completing his first year on the Council.

WILCOX JOINS COUNCIL

David L. Wilcox, professor of biology at Eastern College in St. David's, Pennsylvania, is the newly elected member of ASA's Executive Council. On I Jan 1993, Wilcox replaced Messiah College biology professor Gerald Hess, retiring after a five-year term. Hess served as ASA president in 1991.

As usual, ASAers had to make a choice between two able candidates. Coming in second in the balloting was engineer Robert T. Voss, active for years in the Metropolitan New York ASA local section. Bob was recently sent by Bell Atlantic Mobile Systems to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to be general manager of Network Engineering for cellular and wireless communications systems. He hopes to make contact with others in the Pittsburgh area to stir up some local activity there, so it looks as if ASA will continue to have the benefit of Bob Voss's leadership.

HITTING THE BIG TIME

We made it! Time magazine, that is. And we have a big winner of the ASA Geographic Award: Time associate editor Richard Ostling. Ostling not only mentioned ASA (and described it rather well) but actually located ASA in Ipswich so people can find us.

The cover of the 28 Dec 1992 issue asked in large type, "What Does Science Tell Us About God?" The seven-page cover story ("Science, God and Man") was written by Robert Wright, a senior editor at the New Republic and author of Three Scientists and Their Gods (1988). His Tiffw story tracked possible religious implications of current scientific ideas and discoveries. Do these empirical and theoretical explorations tend to undermine religious faith or reinforce it? According to the author, things could go either way. Though Wright identified himself as "a fairly hard-core scientific materialist," his article was remarkably open to serious religious interpretations.

Accompanying the main story was a piece written by Titme's own Richard Ostling, headlined "Galileo and Other Faithful Scientists." Beginning with Galileo Galilei (and the Oct 1992 speech of Pope John Paul II vindicating the l7th-century Catholic astronomer), Ostling cited scientists who have remained true to their religious faith. After naming several Christian, Jewish, and Muslim scientists, he devoted a paragraph to "America's Protestant creationists" (defined by their insistence "that life on earth was created about 10,000 years ago" among other things). Then came two final paragraphs:

Opposing the creationists is a group of devout, mostly Protestant scientists who are also conservative but willing to consider evidence for evolution. They are organized into the American Scientific Affiliation. based in Ipswich, Massachusetts, which counts nearly 1,000 Ph.D.s among its members. The A.S.A. has distributed 100,000 copies of a booklet urging school-teachers to be aware of the unanswered scientific questions about Darwinism and to avoid slipping in the unwarranted assumption that evolution in effect displaces God. A.S.A. executive director Robert Herrmann, a biochemist, advises fellow Bible believers to remain open to ,.evolution as the process the Creator may have used to bring life and mind into being.". For Harvard astrophysicist Owen Gingerich, an Evangelical Protestant, the real choice is not "creation or evolution" at all, but ,.purpose or accident." Like millions of ordinary folk, he says, "I passionately believe in a universe with purpose, though I cannot prove it." Purpose, like origin, is a point where the wisdom of empirical science ends and the quest for religious faith begins.

By mentioning Ipswich in such a large-circulation magazine, Richard Ostling did a great favor to ASA and to those whom we aim to serve. So many people have called the ASA office to ask for "the booklet mentioned in Time" that we'll soon have to reprint Teaching Science in a Climate of Controversy. And who knows? That cover story and side piece might be what it takes to move some person or foundation to underwrite production of ASA's long-awaited TV series, "Space, Time, and God."

COUNCIL BUSINESS

Specific recommendations made in Hawaii for ASA's future course gave the Council plenty to work on at their December meeting in
Ipswich. An immediate task they face is finding a replacement for Bob Herrmann. They discussed the "job description" for the position of
executive director. Here are some major requirements:

1) Interaction with and encouragement of a scholarly membership require a good background in science, preferably with experience in publishing and directing university research, obtaining grant support, and administering research funds.
2) Personal interaction with a diverse and scattered membership requires major travel commitments (perhaps five months each year), participation in local section programs, and leadership on boards of such projects as the "Space, Time, and God" TV series and the African research institute, AISRED.
3) Financial support of ASA programs requires a great deal of correspondence and persistent personal contact with individuals and foundations.
4) Administration of office staff requires supervision of such tasks as record-keeping, budget control, publication, and meeting arrangements.
5) Ministry to the Christian community requires good public relations and actual liaison with diverse churches, Christian colleges, campus organizations, and other Christian professional societies.
6) Ministry to the scientific community requires appropriate outreach at professional meetings, through university lecture programs such as the Templeton Lectureships, and via publications such as Teaching Science in a Climate of Controversy.

Underlying all, of course, are commitment to Jesus Christ, an evangelical understanding, and spiritual maturity rooted in a life of prayer and Bible study. (If all these requirements seem too stringent for you even to consider applying, we'll boil them down. "Help wanted: One forgiven sinner with good will, common sense, much energy, and at least some. experience in the scientific community." -Ed.)

OUR BUSINESS

To keep the office where it is would be to ASA's advantage. The Council recognized that variations in housing costs could make it difficult for a qualified person to move to Ipswich from certain parts of the country. That problem makes a good subject for prayer by the whole membership. Perhaps a special "grant" could be found to subsidize a new director's move, probably at less cost than moving the office to that person's present location. Another consideration: ASA now has its best office staff ever, none of whom are able to relocate. Besides, New England is a lovely place to live.

The current financial picture isn't grim, but it is serious. This is a good time for members "blessed with employment" to consider increasing our financial support of ASA. The Council wasn't able to settle on a particular Christian investment counseling outfit to run an externally managed endowment program for us. An "in-house" program set up last year is available to receive major gifts, however, so there's no need to wait. Large or small gifts can be made to ASA's Long Range Fund as well as to the general operating budget. We have many things yet to accomplish together in the Lord's name.

SEATTLE WILL BE HOT

We don't mean the weather during the 1993 ASA ANNUAL MEETING August 6-10; we mean the topic, "Caring for Creation: A Christian Perspective on the Environment." Have you noticed the flood of new books trying to awaken the Christian public to environmental stewardship? The "main stream" is catching up with ASA.

Program chair Joe Sheldon of Messiah College has lined up at least one "hot ticket" as keynote speaker: Calvin DeWitt, professor of environmental studies at the U. of Wisconsin and director of the Au Sable Institute in Mancelona, Michigan. He has made major contributions to that flow of books, editing The Christian and the Environment: What Does the New Testament Have to Teach? (Baker, 1991) and co-authoring Earthkeeping in the Nineties: Stewardship of Creation (Eerdmans, 1991).

The entire Dec 1992 issue of Fuller Seminary's Theology, News & Notes was devoted to "A Christian's Ecological Responsibility," with a major paper by Cal DeWitt on "Responding Creatively to Creation and Its Degradation."

The Summer 1992 issue of Firmament: The Journal of Christian Ecology featured a down-to-earth excerpt of DeWitt's Feb 1992 address to religious broadcasters, laying out biblical principles for everyday Christians to follow. (Copies of the full text of "Respecting Creation's Integrity" are available for $3.50 from Au Sable Institute Outreach Office, 731 State St, Madison, WI 53703.)

KENYA/ASA RESPONSE

0ur post-Hawaii update on the Kenya/ASA connection drew a response from Richard Swanson (2655 Rice Creek Rd, Apt 305, New Brighton, MN 55112-5321). An anthropologist with a B.A. from Bethel College and a Ph.D. from Northwestern U. (1976), Richard has spent his professional life in agricultural development, mostly in Africa. Having watched AISRED's development, he wrote to ask how he could be of assistance.

After serving a number of years as a missionary with SIM Intenational, Richard has continued in the development arena, working on various Projects, usually led by a major university and with USAID funding. After eight years in Burkina Faso on applied farming systems and food grain research projects, he worked in Haiti for four years (farming systems, agro-forestry, watershed development, socio-economic surveys), and in Niger for over three years (famine early-warning monitoring, using NDVI satellite data and field station data in nine West African countries). In between, he had short-term assignments in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Burundi, and Rwanda. Now he's back in Minnesota, doing some short-term work (for Algeria, Chad, and Cameroon) while "looking for the Lord's leading concerning another long-term posting."

Richard should definitely get in touch with AISRED (P.O. Box 14872, Nairobi, Kenya), though at this stage we doubt that they have any funds to pay Western workers. How many other ASAers have that kind of African experience, we wonder? And what could they do now to help? AISRED board member Ken Dormer may have some ideas. His address is P.O. Box 26901, Oklahoma City, OK 73190.

One way of checking out the situation in Nairobi is to go for a one-semester or one-year faculty appointment at Daystar University College, under a program administered by Messiah College, which grants the B.A. degree at Daystar. The cooperative program between Daystar and the Christian College Consortium is open to faculty at member institutions of the 70-college Christian College Coalition. Faculty with a sabbatical coming up might want to contact Dr. Harold Heie, Dean, Messiah College, Grantham, PA 17027. At present, AISRED operates under Daystar's aegis.

WHEREVER GOD WANTS US: 26.

A SA members continue to take their skiffs overseas. Brent Friesen finished his Ph.D. in chemistry at the U. of Minnesota last year, specializing in the chemistry of medicinal plants. Now Brent, wife Judy, and two small children are in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad in central Africa, where Brent teaches chemistry (in French) at the U. of Chad under a United Nations program. This is actually the second stint in Africa for the Friesens. After graduating from Bethel College, Brent worked for a year as a lab instructor there, then in 1982 he and Judy left for Zaire with the Mennonite Central Committee. They studied French in Belgium and then taught in a Zairian high school for two years.

When Brent returned to grad school at Minnesota in 1985, he met Bill Monsma of The Maclaurin Institute, who introduced him to ASA and encouraged his vision of going back to Francophone Africa. Bill Monsma is thus one of many ASAers who function in North America but whose influence is felt overseas. We were reminded of such people last September by a phone call from David Moberg in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Here's that story, give or take a few details:

On his 1991 retirement from teaching sociology at Marquette University, Dave Moberg donated thousands of books to an academic institution in China. Many months later, the boxes of Dave's books still sat on a pier in San Francisco, possibly mixed with others awaiting shipment in a cargo container under auspices of Bridge to Asia Foundation. Once everything was mingled together, there was some question about whether Dave's books would go where he had promised them. His "China agent," Derek Chung of the Billy Graham Center in Wheaton, had looked into the matter. Chung would soon be passing through the Bay Area on his way to and from Asia. Could a small ASA work crew be organized on one of those days to help Derek physically move the books to another location?

Dave had already called Bridge to Asia in Oakland without straightening things out. When in doubt, we decided, turn to an expert~or at least to somebody who speaks the language. We called Chi-Hang Lee in nearby Walnut Creek. Chi said he would try to contact Bridge to Asia and would also call Derek Chung, whose work with NAE's World Relief Commission was known to Chi. In no more than four phone calls, Chi unscrewed an inscrutable mess and contacted another Chinese friend in the shipping business. Within a few days, that friend had trucked Moberg's 76 boxes of books to another pier, and the valuable books were on their way to China.

Many ASAers know of the Friday Night International Fellowship that Dave and Helen Moberg hosted weekly in their home for years. Some know that after a diagnosis of cancer in 1989, Helen underwent many surgical and therapeutic procedures with only sporadic relief. When we called Milwaukee to say that the books were at last bound for their destination, Helen was failing. Days later, Dave called to say that she passed away on Oct 16. In over 46 years together, the couple touched the lives of many students and scholars from other countries. We salute the Mobergs, and all others who bear Christ's name "into all the world."

MAUNA LOA FALLOUT

& t the 1992 ASA Annual Meeting, amateur scientist Forrest Mims of Seguin, Texas, was applauded heartily after his plenary talk. He told the story of being rejected as a Scientific American columnist when the editor learned that he was a Christian and not an orthodox believer in Darwinism. He also told of his long career of making observations with homemade scientific instruments. For example, since the fall of 1991 he has made regular measurements of atmospheric ozone concentration with a UV detector he calls TOPS (Total Ozone Portable Spectroradiometer).

Mims was delighted to be on the Big Island last August with so many fellow Christians devoted to science, and to visit the Mauna Loa Observatory run by NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration). There he was able to calibrate his ozonometer against the world standard Dobson-83 instrument. Thereby hangs another tale, revealed in Dec 1992 at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco by scientists from NASA (National Aeronautics & Space Administration).

A Houston Chronicle headline (7 Dec 1992) read: "TEXAN VINDICATED: Amateur scientist proves NASA wrong on size of ozone hole over Antarctica." The good news is that Mims alerted NASA scientists to a 2-percent error in data from their TOMS (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer) ozonometer aboard the Nimbus-7 satellite. Mims credited Dr. Arlin Krueger and Dr. Richard McPeters of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for "demonstrating the self-correcting nature of science at its best." The bad news: this year's largest-ever ozone hole over Antarctica was actually larger than reported, and the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines destroyed more ozone than previously thought.

Mims had noticed a consistent difference between his TOPS data and NASA's TOMS data. Ozone scientists he consulted suggested that his readings were adversely affected by the June 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. In late October he finally obtained the satellite data for that August day on which he had calibrated his instrument at Mauna Loa. In November he notified NASA that their data didn't check out with NOAA's standard. NOAA reprocessed the data before sending it to NASA in December.

Forrest had submitted a paper to a proper scientific journal, but after the San Francisco announcement he called Chronicle reporter Joe Abernathy, who wrote the 7 Dec story. Scientists at both NASA and NOAA have been impressed that an "amateur scientist" could make such a significant contribution. Some of them have asked Mims to build some TOPS instruments for them. He has been invited to address the Goddard Space Flight Center science colloquium in Mar 1993. In June he will head back to Hawaii to teach a scientific module at the University of the Nations, where ASA met last August.

To read about the ozone layer (with good references to the scientific literature) or learn how to build your own TOPS instrument to measure it, check out two major articles by Forrest in the Nov 1992 issue of Science Probe!. That issue could become a collector's item; "The Amateur Scientist's Magazine" is being dropped despite a 50,000copy circulation. In Hawaii last August, founder-editor Forrest Mims said he was looking for another publisher. In Nature (I Oct 1992) James Lovelock of Gaia fame wrote a very favorable review of Science Probe!; he said that one article (by Mark Hartwig) "makes basic statistics so lucid that some professional scientists who read it may be able to distinguish precision from accuracy."

Incidentally, Forrest Mims may lose his amateur standing by beginning to publish in such peer-reviewed journals as Applied Optics and Geophysical Research Letters. In Nature (29 Oct 1992) he responded to a warning that periodicals printed on glossy paper produce minuscule amounts of radiation from clays in the paper coating. Forrest's letter included a graph from his Hawaii lecture, showing radiation measurements he made on a commercial flight; one hour of aircraft travel, he wrote, can subject a person to more radiation than 500 hours spent in a library full of slick magazines.

JOHNSONIANA

UC. Berkeley law professor Phil1ip Johnson, author of Darwin on Trial (IVP, 1991), has continued to make news since our Jun/Jul 1992 issue ("Keeping Track" and other stories, p. 2). After his talk on "Science and Scientism" at ASA's 1992 Annual Meeting, he and Harvard astronomer Owen Gingerich went at it in a stimulating ad hoc discussion group. Gingerich's "Further Reflections" and John Wiester's analysis of their areas of agreement and disagreement published in PSCF (Dec 1992) continued the dialogue.

That public interaction began with Gingerich's review of Darwinon Trial in PSCF (Jun 1992). Biologist Duane Thurman seemed better satisfied with the book in a review published alongside the one by Gingerich. Christian publications have generally tried to present a balanced assessment. CT (19 Aug 1991) started it by adding sidebar opinions from Charles Hummel, J. P. Moreland, and David Wilcox to Tom Woodward's strongly positive review. The Real Issue (Aug 1991) offered side-by-side reviews by Dean-Daniel Truog and Henry F. Schaefer, III. Since then, a review by Princeton physicist Bob Kaita has appeared in The Crucible (Winter 1992), and one by Paul D. MacLean of NIH in Zygon (Dec 1992). William Hasker's review essay in Christian Scholar's Review began a continuing exchange between Johnson and Hasker in CSR.

Nature (Vol. 352, pp. 485-486, 1991) published a caustic review by philosopher David Hull. CTNS Bulletin (Winter 1992) reprinted Hull's review, accompanied by a balancing review by Walter R. Hearn. Scientific American (July 1992) published a long, ill-tempered review by paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, calling Johnson's book "full of errors, badly argued, based on false criteria, and abysmally written." Johnson immediately wrote a reply entitled "The Religion of the Blind Watchmaker." When Scient~fic Anterican editor Jonathan Piel refused to print it, Johnson sent a copy to Gould and suggested that he call Piel and ask him to reconsider. When that didn't work, copies of the response were widely circulated by Johnson and his friends. 'The Religion of the Blind Watchmaker" has since appeared in print in The Real Issue (Oct 1992) from Christian Leadership Ministries (13612 Midway Rd, Suite 500, Dallas, TX 75244) and is scheduled to appear in the Mar 1993 PSCF.

Meanwhile, Johnson has actively challenged "the central dogma" in various venues. His presentation before the Southwestern Andiropological Association was reported by writer Tom Bethell in The Awrican Spectator ("Darwin in the Dock," Jun 1992). Johnson was interviewed in Radix (Vol. 21, No. 1) and in ARN's Currents (Winter 1992). An article based on his 1992 lectures at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School has just appeared in First Things "Creator or Blind Watchmaker?" Jan 1993); we understand that Howard Van Till, a respondent at those lectures, will again respond in the Feb issue. In the Jan 1993 Interterm at New College Berkeley, Johnson taught a oneweek course on "Darwin on Trial."

Audio cassettes and videotapes of Johnson lectures are available from various sources, such as Access Research Network (P.O. Box 38069, Colorado Springs, CO 80937-8069). One of the best is a lecture and interaction with a faculty/student audience at U.C. Irvine. A high-quality 2-hour videotape of that session, professionally produced by Art Battson of U.C. Santa Barbara, is available from Reasons to Believe, P.O. Box 5978, Pasadena, CA 91117, for $30.00 ("Darwinism on Trial," Item V9210). Over 300 copies of that video have been sold.

In the Sep-Dec 1992 Mission Frontiers Bulletin, Johnson's book was one of two on science in a list of a dozen books recommended for students in a new M.A. program at the U.S. Center for World Mission. (The other was Hugh Ross's The Fingerprint of God.) The book's broad appeal gets it advertised both in ICR's "young earth" Master Books catalog and by Hugh Ross's "old-earth" Reasons to Believe. Under "Apologetics," Darwin on Trial is also advertised in the Christian Book Distributors discount list (at $13.95 plus p&h from CBD, Box 6000, Peabody, MA 0 1961-6000).

Johnson's goal, however, was to get secular scholars to reconsider Darwinist claims. In the Fall 1992 Whole Earth Review, his book made it into a bibliography of 18 .1 non-creationist' books critical of Darwinism in a major article by Kevin Kelly: "Deep Evolution: The Emergence of Post-Darwinism." Kelly, a former editor of WER (formed in 1984 from a merger of Whole Earth Software Review and Co-Evolution Quarterly), is expanding his article into a book due from Addison-Wesley in 1993.

Perhaps the most dramatic place Darwin on Trial has turned up is on the required reading list for students in William Provine's introductory evolution class at Cornell University. Evolutionist Provine is notorious for deriding as intellectual cowards any fellow biologists who will not admit publicly that Darwinism is equivalent to -atheism. He met Phil Johnson in 1991 when serving as respondent to a Johnson lecture at Cornell. Provine now has his 450 students read Darwin on Trial, then counters its arguments in class. On a recent trip to Berkeley, he complained to Phil to the effect that "I'm having a hard time converting many students to atheism after they've read your book."

BULLETIN BOARD

For his Ph.D. dissertation at Duke, Bill Durbin hopes to treat 20th-century American science/religion by focusing on the life and thought of Henry Margenau, professor of physics and philosophy at Yale (1929-69). Bill has interviewed Margenau (who still lives in New Haven), a Lutheran who has generally kept his Christian convictions private except for some autobiographical reflections and some hints in other writings. Bill is now looking for reminiscences or correspondence that might give insight into Prof. Margenau's interaction with religious organizations, science/religion groups, or individuals who drew inspiration from his example. Also, how were his writings on science, religion, and ethics received in the Christian community? Bill would appreciate any information ASA members can supply. His address is 308 Oakridge Rd, Cary, NC 27511.

(Me Weary Old Editor just got another lesson in his memory's fallibility. Hoping to help Bill Durbin's project along, the WOE recalled his own election to Sigma Xi and consequent subscription to its journal, American Scientist, then edited at Yale. In his first issue (Vol. 36, No. 1, Jan 1948, celebrating the 1947 centennial of Yale's Sheffield Scientific School), he found several short communications on science/religion plus a stimulating regular feature, "Marginalia." The final installment of that series (Vol. 43, No. 1, Jan 1955) envisioned a robot smart enough to conceal its own origin and thus become "divine." That piece about an .. electronic anti-Christ" was unforgettable. Ever since, the WOE has credited it to Henry Margenau, probably by confusing the title of the column with Margenau's name. In fact "Marginalia" was written by Yale zoology professor G. Evelyn Hutchinson. Not much help, Bill. WOE is me.-Ed.)

- The American Association for the Advancement of Science meets in Boston on 11-16 Feb 1993, with a focus on "Science & Education for the Future." Papers that caught our eye in the program were Howard Van Till's C'Antievolution as a reaction to scientism") in a session on The New Antievolutionism; and two by Owen Gingerich: "The expanded universe: 1493-1698" in a session on the history of cosmology, and another on history of science in a session on improving science education. Four sessions make up a special track on "Science & Religion: Examining Both." ASA executive director Bob Herrmann planned to attend from nearby Ipswich. A lot more of us should probably be there.

- "Scholarship As Sacred Calling," a conference for graduate students in the humanities and social sciences, will be held 12-14 Mar 1993 at the Center for Development in Ministry, U. of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois. The conference is a joint venture of the Institute for Advanced Christian Studies and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Plenary speakers will be sociologist James Hunter of the U. of Virginia and David Jeffrey, prof. of English literature at the U. of Ottawa, with theologian Carl F. H. Henry, EFACS founding father, leading Sunday worship. Total cost is $125. For registration materials, write Dr. Terry Morrison, IVCF Faculty Ministries, P.O. Box 7895, Madison, WI 53707-7895.

- Two books listed as out of print in the current edition of ASA's bibliography, Contemporary Issues in Science and Christian Faith are now back in print and available from the Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Institute. IBRI (P.O. Box 423, Hatfield, PA 19440-0423) sells Robert C. Newman's Genesis One and the Origin of the Earth for $8.45 postpaid and John R. Wiester's Genesis Connection for $16.45 postpaid.

SQUIBS

-Tenemos que disculparnos to Spanish-speaking readers for a foulup in our Dec/Jan story about En el Principio, new Spanish version of Teaching Science in a Climate of Controversy. Instead of adding accent marks indicated by our computer, the Ipswich computer simply deleted all accented letters within words. In the next story, our Chinese must have been legible, though; author Chi-Hang Lee had an order for the book we mentioned (from Linda Jekel of North Haven, Connecticut) even before receiving his copy of the Newsletter.

- Christianity Today got a huge amount of mail after it published (14 Sep 1992) an interview with U.S. Senator Albert Gore, author of Earth in the Balance. Almost all of that mail was negative, despite Gore's stated commitment to Jesus Christ and emphasis on "Preserving God's 'Very Good' Earth." CT noted (9 Nov) that "Some readers missed the environmental discussion entirely in their dismay at the space given the Democratic vice-presidential candidate in an election year. None who accused CT of partisanship appeared to recall the lengthy interview with Vice-president Dan Quayle published in the June 22 issue."

- Although some conservative Christians act like sore losers when elections don't go their way, such behavior isn't limited to the "Reglious Right." For example, the lead article in the Fall 1992 NCSE Reports from the National Center for Science Education in Berkeley decried recent "takeovers" of some secular offices like school boards by "fundamentalist Christians." Editor John Cole called that "Stealth Politics." (If the same candidates had lost, we suspect that NCSE would have applauded "Grass Roots Politics." -Ed.) San Diego Water Dept chemist Jerry Albert sent a clipping from the San Diego UnionTribune (28 Dec) about his county's Vista Unified School District. According to staff writer Lisa Petrillo, election of a "Christian fundamentalist majority" that publicly backed "creationism" drew network TV cameras to the Dec 1992 meeting of the five-person school board. "Creationism" was put on the agenda for the Jan 1993 meeting, but one of the three majority members, John Morris of the Institute for Creation Research, cautioned against making any move that would stir up a backlash or subject the district to expensive lawsuits. (Almost everything that sounds simple in campaign speeches turns out to be more complicated in real life.-Ed.)

- Redeemer College, Ancaster, Ontario, received a specialized collection grant of $2,500 for 1992-93 from the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada to acquire philosophy of science materials in its Pascal Centre collection. The Pascal Centre conference on Science and Belief held in August attracted a number of ASA/CSCA members. Thomas Torrance, Bill Dembski, and Mark Kalthoff were among those who gave papers. Bill Durbin saw Ted Davis and Char. lie Thaxton, plus Dave Wilcox and Jack Haas, who came in from the ASA meeting in Hawaii. Jack's report on the conference appeared in PSCF (Dec 1992).

PEOPLE LOOKING FOR POSITIONS. Computer Science/Math: Paul van Arragon (Dept of Computer Science, U. of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1) seeks academic post to make use of his Ph.D. in artificial intelligence; currently teaching at Redeemer Christian College, and adjunct at Waterloo; willing to work abroad.

POSITIONS LOOKING FOR PEOPLE. Biology: Jun 1993, Ph.D. with emphasis in vertebrate physiol & anatomy, plus commitment to integration of Christian faith with discipline; teaching experience preferable. Teach intro biol & lab plus upper level courses in liberal arts college of Presbyterian heritage on 42-acre campus in state capital. Send letter of intent, cm., transcripts, statement of philosophy of Christian higher ed, and references (ind. senior pastor) to: Dr. Daniel C. Fredericks, Vice-President & Dean, Belhaven College, 1500 Peachtree St, Jackson, MS 39202-1789. Chemistry: Head of Chemistry Department: Open for Fall 1994. Must hold Full Professor rank in current position. Contact ASA member Terry Murphy or current Head, Roger L. DeKock (on leave from Calvin College), Department of Chemistry, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 32486AI-Khod, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. Dean of College of Science: Open Fall of 1993 or 1994 (?). Must hold Full Professor rank in Chemistry, Physics, Biology, or Earth Science, with appropriate administrative experience. Send vita in confidence to His Excellency Yahya Mahfoud Al-Manthery, Vice Chancellor, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 32500AI-Khod, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. More information aJso available from Terry Murphy at address listed for previous postion.