NEWSLETTER
American Scientific Affiliation &
Canadian Scientific Christian Affiliation
VOLUME 32 NUMBER 3
JUNE/JULY 1990
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. 0 1990 American Scientific Affiliation (except previously published material). All rights reserved.
[Editor:
Dr. Walter R. Hearn / Production: Rebecca Petersen]
GOD'S WORLD AS
CREATION
ASA Meetings are different. Take
the 1990 ANNUAL MEETING
at MESSIAH COLLEGE in
Grantham, Pennyslvania, coming up
AUGUST 3-6, for example. Because
its theme is "Viewing the Natural
World as Creation," some people
might confuse this year's ASA
Meeting with the 1990 "International
Conference on Creationism" to be
held at Duquesne University in
Pittsburgh, July 29-Aug 4. The two
meetings are both in Pennsylvania
and the dates overlap slightly, but
that little "-ism" in ICC spells a big difference between ICC and
ASA. ASA takes both creation and
evolution seriously, creation as a
key biblical doctrine and evolution
as an important scientific concept without making "-isms" out of either.
Sponsors of the ICC (The
Creation Science Fellowship, Inc.,
362 Ashland Ave, Pittsburgh, PA
15228; tel. 412-341-4908), on the
other hand, promote creationism as
an "historic and scientific model of
origins." The sponsoring organization
takes the position that "natural
indicators support a much younger
limit to the age of the earth than
what is currently held by the
scientific community" and the most
prominent ICC speakers (e.g., Henry
Morris, Duane Gish, and James
Kennedy) are known as promoters
of that young-earth position.
ASA has always been open to
considering alternatives to widely
held biblical interpretations or
scientific theories. Morris and Gish
used to present their views at our
Annual Meetings, before they
resigned from ASA. Several current
ASA members will give papers at
this year's ICC; the names of
physicist Charles Lucas of The
College of William and Mary and
paleontologist Kurt Wise of Bryan
College appear on the ICC advance
program. In recent years political
opponents of "creation-science" have
been covering meetings like ICC in
NCSE Reports
(formerly
Creationl
Evolution Newsletter).
This might be
a good year for observers to attend
both ICC and ASA and see the
difference.
Polemicists pillory opponents by
limiting options and by conflating
scientific and religious issues. ASA
remains "committed to providing an
open forum where controversies can
be discussed without fear of unjust
condemnation." Yet, as our brochure
also states, "ASA members are firm
in the conviction that God is the
Creator of all things seen and
unseen, firm in our denial that
evolution could ultimately rule out
God or His sustaining activity in
His created world."
ASA Annual Meetings thus
resemble meetings of standard
scientific societies but differ in
certain ways. A shared commitment
to Jesus Christ and, for many, a
kind of "evangelical acculturation"
let ASA members demonstrate and
articulate values not common to the
broader scientific community. We
worship together
as part of our
meeting, for
example-not Science,
Rationality, Mother Earth, the
natural world, or some demiurge,
cosmic energy flux, or divine
magician-but the God and Father
of Jesus Christ, whom we encounter
in the Bible. In Christ's name we
pray for each other and for shared
concerns, including the well-being
of both the Lord's family and the
scientific enterprise. (This year, Larry Martin has offered to plan
the music at our worship, and
would like to hear from other ASA
musicians: contact him at 435
Ridgefield Rd., Chapel Hill, NC
27514, or call
919-942-5207.-Ed.)
In North America in 1990, does
it seem quaint or "otherworldly" for
several hundred scientists to meet
on a Christian college campus,
seeking God's blessing on science
and their fellow scientists? Hardly,
if one reads the cautionary notices
that now show up in the
announcements of many scientific
meetings. "Tips for a Safe Stay" at
a national American Chemical
Society meeting include: "When
walking, stick to main thoroughfares
and well-lit areas. Don't wear your
meeting badge outside the hotels.
Be cognizant and alert to
surroundings. Look alert. Don't
leave valuables in your room. Go
in numbers. Don't be a loner,
particularly in the evening."
Those aren't "creationists" the
ACS is warning its members to be
wary of. Ordinary scientists
gathering to discuss how the world
works are finding the "real world"
an increasingly hostile environment
for doing what scientists do. In the
Apr 16 issue of The Scientist,
writer Jeff Seiken described another worsening problem, especially for grad students, young academics, and
people from Third World countries:
the high cost of attending scientific
meetings in a time of declining
research budgets. Affordable ASA
Annual Meetings are generally
enjoyable vacations for the whole
family-and real scientists have real
families.
Sooner or later, many scientists
realize that, to keep science from
being "part of the problem" rather
than "part of the solution," they
must pay attention to matters other
than science. ASA members have
been gathering for years to think
about serious matters in a joyful
spirit. Meeting as a faith
community, we honor the ultimate
as we explore the proximate.
ALMOST BUT NOT
QUITE
Registration materials for the
1990 ANNUAL MEETING,
AUGUST 3-6, should be in your
hands by now. Many abstracts of
contributed papers arrived after the
preliminary program was printed,
perhaps a record number this year.
REGISTER NOW for a truly
outstanding meeting at MESSIAH
COLLEGE.
Alas, ASA's flying carpet came
unraveled when we failed to reach
the minimum of 20 people for a
post-meeting ASA Tour of the
Middle East. Disappointed but
undaunted world traveler Bob
Herrmann has begun thinking of
proposing a shift of the 1992
(western) Annual Meeting from
Seattle to Hawaii, postponing our
meeting at Seattle Pacific University
to 1993. An appropriate 1992 site
would be the campus of University
of the Nations, new name for
Pacific Asian Christian University.
That's on the big island of Hawaii,
where years ago ASA member Wayne Ault did pioneering
geochemical studies on Kilauea
volcano. (Talk about a red-hot
possibility for a field trip!-Ed.)
OUR GUY IN GENEVA
Participants in the 1988 ASA
Annual Meeting on "Science,
Weapons, & Hope" heard Sandia
Laboratories researcher Jack
Swearengen give a Christian
insider's view of weapons research.
That was just before he moved
deeper inside, from Sandia (in
Livermore, California) to the
Department of Defense in
Washington. Now, after eighteen
months as Scientific Advisor for
Arms Control in the Pentagon, Jack
has moved to the epicenter of arms
control treaties: Geneva, Switzerland.
In March, Jack wrote that he
was on his way to Geneva to
support the Strategic Arms
Reduction Talks (START) during
the "end game." That's what Jack
called efforts of U.S. and Soviet
delegations to wrap up details in
time for Presidents Bush and
Gorbachev to sign a treaty at the
scheduled summit conference.
Meanwhile, the possibility arose that
some harsh action by Gorbachev in
Lithuania might threaten the summit.
Jack's DOD assignment has been
intense, exciting, and exhausting.
The pace of "advising, planning,
and implementing" R&D activities
on arms-control-treaty verification
hasn't let up, with -conventional -andchemical weapons on the agenda as
well as START. Complications in
the multilateral banning of chemical
weapons were discussed at a major
symposium at the February AAAS
meeting in New Orleans.
Jack Swearengen hopes to
present a paper on "Arms Control
and the Kingdom of God" at the
1990 ASA ANNUAL MEETING at
MESSIAH COLLEGE, AUGUST
3-6. (Another good reason to attend
this year. If you weren't invited to
the summit, how about "a
mountain-top experience"?-Ed.)
ROMANIAN
CONNECTIONS
Political upheavals in Eastern
Europe fill the news. They also
fill some educational gaps. Many
Americans must have finally learned
the difference between Baltics and
Balkans. ASAers typically know a
bit of ancient Near East history
and Mediterranean geography from
our acquaintance with the Bible,
then skip fifteen centuries or so to the Reformation and the rise of
science in Western Europe.
When tiny gymnast Nadia
Comaneci burst on the scene in the
1976 Olympic Games, Romania was
almost an unknown country to
many of us. It was hard to believe
that its name lingers from its role
as an outpost of the Roman
Empire, familiar from New
Testament times. (The Danube
River, which flows through
Romania, may have etymological
roots in ancient northward
migrations from Dan, Israel's
northernmost tribe, or so we've
heard.-Ed.)
This winter's bloody civil war
put Romania firmly in our
vocabulary. Many. Christian agencies
in the U.S., Australia, Holland, and
West Germany rushed emergency
supplies and religious literature into
Romania in the wake of that
uprising. Meanwhile stories began
appearing about the role of
Christians in precipitating the
downfall of the Stalinist
government. Joseph Tson, pastor of
Europe's Largest Baptist church (in Oradea, Romania), was exiled in
1981 for speaking out against the
government's interference in church
affairs. As director of the Romanian
Missionary Society (based in
Wheaton, Illinois), Tson returned to
Oreada on 28 Dec 1989, days after
the fall of Nicolae Ceausescu's
regime. There he urged a crowd of
thousands of evangelical believers to
"learn how to take advantage of
freedom." According to Christianity
Today (5 Feb 1990), Tson planned
to stay in Romania and run for a
seat in its newly formed parliament
as a candidate of the hastily
reorganized Christian Democrat party.
Evidently Romanian Christians
have been quietly aided by such
groups as the Navigators and
Campus Crusade since the
mid-1970s, producing a new
generation of young leaders. (A
Campus Crusade staff worker wrote
to us that since January, when
things settled down, hundreds of
university students and some
professors have openly
acknowledged their desire to follow
Jesus. Crusade's "Jesus Film" in
Romanian has made an impact there, as it has in the Georgian
language in the Soviet republic of
Georgia.-Ed.)
It will probably always be hard
for Americans to sort out the
political, ethnic, and religious
conflicts in Eastern Europe, but the
event that triggered the overthrow
of Nicolae Ceausescu seems clear.
Laszlo Tokes, pastor of the
Hungarian Reformed Church in
Timisoara, Romania,,Iong harassed
by the Securitate secret police for
his public criticism of Ceausescu's
regime, was the eye of the storm.
On Dec 16, supporters formed a
human wall to protect the pastor
from eviction and arrest. When the
believers were joined by others and
the crowd grew unruly, Securitate
forces fired only blanks in an effort
to control the protesters. An
enraged Ceausescu threatened to
execute any officers who refused to
"kill troublemakers." A few days
later the Securitate did fire into a
crowd, killing many demonstrators.
Fierce fighting broke out, toppling
the government and leading to the
immediate execution of dictator
Ceausescu and his wife Elena.
The Feb 12 issue of Chemical
& Engineering News carried an
amazing story by C&EN news
editor and ASA member Wil
Lepkowski about Elena Ceausescu,
who was occasionally referred to at
the time of her death as "a
scientist." According to Wil, in
"one of the strangest chapters in
contemporary science diplomacy,"
Elena's scientific career turns out to
have been entirely fraudulent.
Prominent scientists in Western as
well as Eastern bloc countries knew
that she gained her technical
degrees and publications through the
exercise of raw political power, but
never said so. One or two
Romanian professors who protested
the charade lost their grants or
were demoted. Elena's son Nicu
was awarded an equally phony
Ph.D. in physics. Mrs. Ceausescu
appointed herself to the Romanian
Academy of Sciences and took over
direction of the Institute for
Chemical Research. Some scientific
societies in the West, including the
American Institute of Chemists,
made her an honorary member. On
hearing that, one emigre ' chemist
resigned from AIC-but without
giving a reason for fear of
endangering members of his family
still living in Romania.
In February, the Newsletter editor
also came across the book, Misterul
Originii Vietii: Reevaluarea Teoriilor
Actuale, another link in ASA's
Romanian connection. It was
obviously a translation of The
Mystery of Life's Origin
(Philosophical Library, 1984),
coauthored by ASA members Charles Thaxton and Walter
Bradley with Roger Olsen. The
story we heard was that several
years ago, Mystery fan Tom
Woodward showed that book to
Liviu Pup, a Romanian studying
chemistry in the U.S., who eagerly
translated it. Pup said that his
countrymen were tired of "the
official atheistic party line" on how
life began.
The latest link in this connection
was word that author Charlie
Thaxton had been invited to visit
a number of Romanian universities
in April to lecture on the origin of
life. In anticipation, copies of
Misterul Originii Vietii had been
stockpiled in Bucharest. in
mid-March, Charlie was stiff in
need of several thousand dollars to
finance the three-week trip. (That's
a lotta lei; even five years ago the
exchange rate was about 50 U.S. to
one Romanian leu.-Ed.) In
mid-April we called the Thaxton
residence, and learned that "Charles
is lecturing in Romania, due back
home on May 12."
BULLETIN BOARD
(1) A one-week evening course
entitled "Our Place in the World:
The Biblical & the Scientific
Stories" will be offered by ASA
Newsletter editor Walter R. Hearn in the New College Berkeley
summer session this year. NCB
literature describes the 1-unit
graduate course, to meet 7-9:30
p.m., July 16-20, this way: "Are
biblical and scientific understandings
of the world mutually exclusive?
This course will explore the
contributions each perspective brings
to responsible Christian faith and
life." Readings will include Howard
Van Till's The Fourth Day and
ASA's Teaching Science in a
Climate of Controversy. Contact.
New College Berkeley, 2606 Dwight
Way, Berkeley, CA 94704.
(2) The 1990 annual London
conference of the British
counterpart of ASA will be held
on Saturday, Sept 29, at Regent
College, Regent's Park, London
NWI. Christians in Science (CIS) is
the new name of what was known
as the Research Scientists' Christian
Fellowship (RSCF) when ASA met
jointly with them in Oxford in
1985. CIS annual conferences are
one-day discussions of papers
circulated in advance. The topic for
1990 is "The effects of the biblical
fall on the natural world, on
humankind, and on science &
technology." All ASA/CSCA
members and friends are invited to
participate. For details and "booking
forms" (i.e., registration materials),
write to the CIS Secretary, c/o
UCCF, 38 De Montfort St.,
Leicester, LE2 3RJ, England. If
possible, give a British address to
which papers can be sent a
fortnight (i.e., about two weeks)
before the conference. (Thanks to
Perspectives
editor and
internationalist, Jack Haas, for this
notice and the translations into
American.-Ed.)
(3) The biennial meeting of the International Society for the
History, Philosophy, & Social
Studies of Biology will be held at
Northwestern University, Evanston,
Illinois, 11-14 July 1991. A session
on "Science & Religion" will be
organized by geologist Gordon Winder, whose efforts to bring
some resolution to the controversy
over teaching evolution in Canada
have been cited before in this
Newsletter. Winder is inviting
papers from individuals with
expertise in science, religion, or
both, with the goal of broadening
appreciation and understanding and
initiating resolution, however long
that takes. Several other proposed
sessions are related to science/
religion issues. Winder needs an
early response because he must
submit an abstract of the session as
a whole by 31 Oct 1990. Abstracts
of papers are due from authors by
31 Jan 1991, for distribution of a
preliminary program in February
and a final program in May.
Contact: Prof. C. G. Winder, Dept.
of Geology, University of Western
Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
N6A 5137. (NOTE that this meeting
falls close to the 1991 ASA
ANNUAL MEETING at Wheaton
College, both geographically and
chronologically. An unusually early
date has been set for the Annual
Meeting marking ASA's 50th
Anniversary: 26-29 JULY 1991
instead of early
August.-Ed.)
HITS AND MISSES
Occasionally a timely story hits
"our pages, but as a bimonthly
with a month's lead time, we're
more likely to miss. Among events
we missed this spring:
(1) The kickoff, in Feb 1990, of
Year 4688 on the Asian lunar
calendar, a "Year of the Horse."
(And a propitious one, says the
"gallop
poll"-Ed.)
(2) In February, a National
Conference on the Doctrine of
Creation held in Little Rock,
Arkansas, by the Southern Baptist
Convention, followed by several
regional conferences on that theme.
The Institute for Creation Research's
Acts & Facts
(Apr 1990) expressed
regret that for an April study
course set for all SBC churches,
the denomination adopted materials
describing an ancient earth and progressive creation," as opposed
to ICR's "young-earth" position.
(ASA's input to the 14-millionmember Southern Baptist Convention
has been minimal We hope
members with SBC connections will
help ASA recruit fellow scientists
and inform denominational leaders
of helpful ASA materials, such as
Teaching Science in a Climate of
Controversy-Ed.)
(3) The induction, on Apr 8, of Kenneth H. Olsen into the
National Inventors Hall of Fame in
Akron, Ohio. Ken, founder of
Digital Equipment Corp., in
Maynard, Massachusetts, was
honored for his invention of an
improved magnetic core memory
which was a significant factor in
the development of minicomputers.
Inventors have been inducted
annually into the Hall of Fame
since 1973. The National Invention
Center will mark the 200th year of
the U.S. patent system this summer
when it breaks ground in Akron
for a new building to house the
National Inventors Hall of Fame.
(Thanks to Dave Saunders of
Silver Spring, Maryland, for spotting
this one.-Ed.)
(4) The 20th anniversary, on Apr
22, of Earth Day, which in 1970
marked the beginning of the
environmental movement, or at least
brought the movement to political
consciousness in the United States.
In connection with the 1990
celebration, environmental issues
were covered in the media to an
amazing extent. (Maybe this is a
propitious
year-Ed.)
(5) The awarding, on May 8, of
the 1990 Templeton Prize for
Progress in Religion, to an
Australian scientist and an Indian
attorney. Charles K. Birch, 71, a
geneticist retired from the U. of
Sydney in Australia, was honored
for his writings on the
interrelationships among humanity,
nature, and God-and in particular
for his criticism of a strictly
mechanistic view of nature.
Murlidar Devidas Amte, 75, was
honored for reaching across caste
barriers to establish five centers for
the wholistic care of lepers near
Nagpur, India. The Templeton Prize
(now worth $580,000 annually) was
founded in 1972 by financier and
ASA member John Templeton. Winners are selected by an
international panel of judges.
A SWITCH IN IPSWICH
Not long after producing the
1990-91 Directory
of ASA and
CSCA members this spring, Nancy
Hanger resigned from her position
as ASA's managing editor, Your
Weary Old Editor (WOE is
me-Ed.) couldn't imagine how
ASA would get along without her,
but has been assured that Nancy is
phasing out gradually, helping
newly arrived Rebecca Petersen
master Ventura Publishing software
and other ASA arcana. Becky's
previous publishing experience
should smooth the transition.
Nancy contributed much to our
Ipswich operation by orchestrating
the shift to desktop publishing. She
leaves behind a visible legacy in
her design of SEARCH, redesign of
this Newsletter and other ASA
publications, and the implementation
of ASA's first widespread
advertising campaign for
Perspectives.
We needn't worry
about her talents going to waste.
Besides puttering with her husband
on "Windhaven," their rural New Hampshire home, she will carry, on with free-lance writing, editing, and
publishing. She already has a
publishing imprint, Windhaven Press
of Auburn, New Hampshire.
Filling the now vacant position
of Executive Assistant is Karen Brunstrom, a graduate of Lesley
College in Cambridge, MA. Karen
comes to ASA with an interesting
slate of past experiences, ranging
from a job as an elementary school
teacher in Yokohama, Japan, to
assisting the Editor of the
New
England Journal of Medicine.
She
and her husband Steven, a marine surveyor, spend much of their free
time sailing, or with their two
daughters; one will be a freshman
at the University of New
Hampshire in the fall, and the
other a high school sophomore in
their home town of Rowley, MA.
WHEREVER GOD
WANTS US: 12.
This column is usually a pastiche
of postings of service
opportunities around the world plus
bits of news from ASA or CSCA members "out there." Occasionally a
whole column comes from a single
source. Chemist Richard Hendry of
Westminster College in Pennsylvania
sent a clipping from the New
Wilmington
Globe
(Feb 7) with a
great story by reporter Fran Pratt
about Norval & Dorothy Christy, a pair of seasoned "world
Christians."
Norval Christy was first attracted
to overseas Christian service in
1937 at age 15, when challenged
by a speaker from the Sudan at a
missionary conference in New
Wilmington. He earned a B.S. in
chemistry from Westminster College
as a pre-med and entered Harvard
medical school. While interning at
Hartford Hospital in Connecticut,
the young M.D. met Dorothy
Dewar, who had taken her RN.
training at the same hospital. In
1947 they went together to another
missionary conference at New
Wilmington, where they became
engaged.
In the fall of 1947 Dorothy took
a job at Westminster as college
nurse so she could enroll in some
Bible courses, but her preparation
was cut short by world events.
That was the year that India was
divided and Pakistan was carved
out as a new Islamic nation. As
Hindus and Muslims fled from each
other's territories, thousands were
killed or wounded in the fighting.
The two governments asked for
emergency aid, which the churches
tried to provide. Norval and
Dorothy were married in early
November and were in Pakistan by
Thanksgiving.
Conditions at Christian Hospital
Taxila where they began work were
shockingly primitive, but the
Christys were young and healthy
and almost too busy to notice.
With a team of Pakistani assistants,
they treated refugees who had been
marched into Pakistan in groups of
50,000 and settled in camping
areas, where the church provided
dispensaries. The medical team
would move from one settlement
area to another, treating tuberculosis,
malaria, and other problems, noting
much blindness caused by cataracts.
In order to help the blind, Dr.
Christy used a furlough in the U.S.
to take further training and
eventually became an eye surgeon
doing as many as 200 surgeries a
day. On an average day he did
only 45, but on many days he did
over 100. It is that experience that
has now drawn the Christys to
China, where they have already
made six trips to visit hospitals and
share the surgical techniques
developed in their 40 years in
Pakistan. In March they were set to
leave for two and a half months
under auspices of the Amity
Foundation of China. In some
places Dr. Christy's techniques for
dealing with cataracts are considered
unsophisticated, so the couple tries
to spend most of their time at
hospitals where they will be
appreciated. This trip will take them
to Nanjing, Xuzhou, Hefei,
Chengdu, and Lhasa, Tibet.
In Pakistan, the Christys had five
children, whose initial schooling was
in Murree boarding school 55 miles
away. The kids spent "summer
vacation" with their parents in the
winter when there was too much
snow to have school. Two
daughters are now nurses, one a doctor, another in blind rehabilitation; their son is in
industry. All are presently living in
the United States.
When the senior Christys left
Pakistan in 1987, they asked
Christian Blind Mission International,
a German mission which had aided
their work for the past 15 years, if
there was some other place they
could be of service on a short-term
basis of up to six months at a
time. CBMI assists blind people in
97 countries. The Christys are
excited about the project in China
and "glad we can still be useful."
They have to work through
interpreters there, as they will this
fall in Vietnam and Laos, if
present plans work out.
Norval Christy, long-time ASA
member, found a way to use his
technical skills in Christian overseas
service many years ago-and he's
still at it.
(Interested in China? Educational
Resources & Referrals-China is
again offering its seven-week
study/tutorial program in Shanghai,
beginning June 18 with a week of orientation in Berkeley. The
program offers participants a chance
to study Mandarin and help Chinese
students with their English at
Shanghai Second Educational
College, near Fudan and Tongji
Universities. The cost of $2,850,
including round-trip airfare, is
amazingly low, with an option of
an additional week in Beijing for
an additional $350. It may be too
late to apply for 1990. The
program is limited to 32
participants, with preference to
applicants contemplating long-term
future service in China. Inquire
early about the 1991 summer
program: ERRC, 2606 Dwight Way,
Berkeley, CA 94704-3000.-Ed.)
OBITUARY
ASA has been notified of the
death of Stanley H. Wineland of Thornville, Ohio, at age 50.
Stan was an employee of the
Granville Research Center in
Granville, Ohio. He had a B.S. in
physics (1962) from Ohio State and
an M.S. (1968) from the U. of
Toledo.
(Friends and professional
associates are asked to submit to
the Ipswich office any material
appropriate for a Memorial
Resolution to be read during
worship at the Annual Meeting.)
PAUL'S A PISTOL?
April 1 is celebrated in San
Francisco with a St. Stupid's
Day parade and performances by a
group called the Deep Fat Friars.
No joke! Holy Humor Month is
promulgated by the Fellowship of
Merry Christians, based in
Kalamazoo, Michigan. Merry
Christian Cal Samra told reporter
Martin Snapp of the Oakland,
California,
Tribune
that the idea is
to recover the "joy, humor,
celebration, and healing of the early
Christians." After all, Samra said,
"God got the last laugh on the
devil when He raised Jesus from
the dead."
Snapp included in his article a
limerick written by a Merry
Christian in the Bay Area, none
other than Paul McKowen, pastor of Irvington Presbyterian Church in
Fremont and Bay Area ASA local
section council member. Paul said
his limerick was inspired by verse
2:8 from another Paul's epistle to
the Colossians:
There once was a gnostic named
Lyle,
Who lived on the banks of the Nile.
His faith? It was mental,
And his gods transcendental,
Too advanced for the rank and the
file!
THE EDITOR'S LAST
WORDS: 9.
This issue seems quite full
already, so I won't try to detail
the diagnostic procedures I've
experienced since my December
heart attack. Instead I'll make some
general comments about coronary
heart disease (CHD), backed up by
notes on "America's No. I killer"
from a story by writer David Stipp
in the Wall Street Journal (24 Jan
1990). My thanks to Davis
Weyerhaeuser of Tacoma,
Washington, for sending that
clipping, and to all of you who
have expressed concern.
Cardiologist David Anderson examined me three months after the
attack and essentially gave me a
clean bill of health. I could
prudently resume my normal
activities, he said, as long as I
stop whatever I'm doing if I begin
to feel chest pains.
So it looks as if the Lord wants
me to survive, maybe learn some
prudence in the process. On a
broader scale, a good many
Americans seem to be surviving
CHD. A plot of the mortality trend
shows deaths going from about 190
(age-adjusted death rate per 100,000
population) in 1950 to a peak of
about 220 in the mid-'60s, down to
about 110 in 1988. Some 420,000
Americans are alive today who
would have died in 1989 without
that 48% drop-off. Part of the
steady decline is from better
pharmaceutical agents and improved
surgical techniques. The rest is
from prevention.
The three major quantifiable risk
factors are smoking, high blood
pressure, and a high serum cholesterol. Smoking (at least
among white males) is way down,
and people are eating less fat and
less salt in their diets and
exercising more. Genetic and stress
factors also play a role. Half a
million Americans still die from
CHD each year, as they did 20
years ago, but at ever-older ages.
That trend produces an aging
population subject to chronic
degenerative diseases. All in all,
considering other alternatives a
heart attack is not a bad
way
to
enter eternity.
LOCAL SECTIONS
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
The Mar 3 meeting at Stanford
drew some 35 people, including a
number of grad students who stayed
for animated discussion of the
rationing of medical care, effects of
education on sexual behavior, and
the devastating spread of AIDS in
some Third World countries. For a
meeting on Friday, Apr 6, the
section sent out an invitation to a
Berkeley lecture by physicist and
Anglican priest John Polkinghorne,
currently the J. K. Russell Fellow
at the Center for Theology & the
Natural Sciences. CTNS seemed
glad to have the wider publicity
and let the section have a book table at a reception following
the lecture in the Pacific School of
Religion chapel.
In 1965, John Polkinghorne, then
a reader in mathematical physics at
Cambridge, participated in the
Oxford conference on a Christian
philosophy of science cosponsored
by ASA and the British RSCF
(now called Christians in Science).
Since then he has studied theology,
been ordained, and become
president of Queens' College,
Cambridge. (Queens' at Cambridge
is evidently plural, by the way;
Queen's at Oxford honors only a
single English queen.-Ed.)
Polkinghorne's books on science &
faith include The Way the World
Is, One World, Science & Creation,
and Science & Providence. His
CTNS lecture topic was "God's
Action in the World."
More than 30 ASAers attended
the lecture, memorable for its
clarity in outlining the Creator's
role in 1) upholding all that exists,
2) allowing freedom and necessity
to operate, 3) interacting with
physical processes, and 4) "working
wonders" of a physically
unpredictable nature, preeminently in
Christ's resurrection. The lecture
was also memorable for another
reason. Making his second point,
the speaker was trying to illustrate
how God's purpose is not subverted
by "something we might call
chance in physical events." At that
moment a 4.5 earthquake shook the chapel--and the banners hanging from its lofty
ceiling. Jumpy Bay Area natives
made ready to dive under the
pews, but the Rev. Polkinghorne,
experiencing his first earthquake,
glanced calmly skyward and asked
in his crisp British accent, "Shall
we carry on? "
PERSONALS
Edward M. Blight, Jr., M.D.,
left his position in urological
surgery at Oral Roberts University
School of Medicine in Nov 1989
and is now professor of surgery
(urology) at Loma Linda University
School of Medicine. Ed lives in
Redlands, California.
Daniel L. Diaz, grad student in
the School of Medicine at Case
Western Reserve in Cleveland,
Ohio, had some good things to say
about priorities in a letter published
in The Scientist (2 Apr 1990, p.
18). He was reacting to a
professor's comment that such "urgent trivia" as discussions of a
student's personal problems impede
research. Dan argued that for senior investigators to treat personal
matters as "unproductive" is
short-sighted: "It's not just that
people who are well treated do
better work, but that a person's
worth transcends their utility as an
employee. A student, postdoc, or
technician is not a pair of hands,
an entity on the same level as
instruments and equipment." (And
all the grad students, postdocs, and
technicians said "Amen."-Ed.)
John H. Freer, M.D., of
Pikeville, Kentucky, has become
medical director of the psychiatric
unit at Methodist Hospital in
Pikeville.
Luis N. Garcia, M.D., of Santa
Ana, California, is a specialist
maternal and child health who
works in clinics both in the U.S.
and in his native Peru. Last
September, representing the Club
Indo-Americano de Orange, Luis
gave a conference paper on
"Meeting the Needs of the Latino
Youth," a copy of which he sent
to Los Angeles mayor Tom
Bradley. Luis feels strongly that
many churches in Spanish-speaking
communities are part of the youth
problem rather than part of the
solution. Luis has nominated several
medical colleagues from Peru for
membership in ASA. (Muy bien,
sefior. Muchas gracias.-El redactor.)
Richard A. Hendry, chemistry
professor at Westminster College in
New Wilmington, Pennsylvania,
would like to make it to the 1990
ANNUAL MEETING at MESSIAH
COLLEGE, AUG 3-6, since it's in
his state this year. But he and
Joanne may then be in the process
of moving to Michigan State U. for
a half-year sabbatical. Dick will
work in Prof. Charles Sweeley's
laboratory, where he also spent a
1968-69 sabbatical. This spring Dick
checked out the Jubilee conference
of some 1,200 college students in
Pittsburgh and spent a few hours
helping Wesley Wentworth staff an
ASA booktable. (Wes, who reports
that about 50-60 undergrads picked
up brochures, thinks ASA should
focus recruitment efforts on grad
students already committed to
careers in technical fields.-Ed.)
Glen J. Kuban of North
Royalton, Ohio, is known for his
careful examination of dinosaur
tracks in the Paluxy riverbed in
Texas. His brotherly concern helped
the Institute for Creation Research
abandon its claim that the
Cretaceous tracks were human. Glen
is also concerned about certain
other claims made by "young earth"
creationists. NCSE Reports (Nov/Dec
1989) of the National Center for
Science Education published a
revealing exchange between Glen
and Carl E. Baugh concerning the
academic degrees claimed by Baugh
(e.g., a "Ph.D. in anthropology"
from "International Baptist College")
and by Baugh associate Don Patton. (at same issue noted the
appearance of the 1989 edition of
ASA's Teaching Science in a
Climate of Controversy, fairly
describing its intent to be "a middle way' between materialist
evolution and 'scientific'
creationism."-Ed.)
Karl F. Mangels graduated from
Eastern College in 1988 and joined
the National Oceanic &
Atmospheric Administration Corps.
In January 1990 he was
commissioned an Ensign in the
Corps. In June 1990 he will
complete Basic Officer Training
Class and be assigned to one of
NOAA's 23 research vessels for a
2-year sea tour. Karl would
welcome correspondence, at 505
Dartmoor Dr., Apt. 101, Newport
News, VA 23602, at least until 30
June. (After that, should we try
NOAA's Ark?-Ed.)
John Warwick Montgomery has
been appointed distinguished
professor of theology & law and
director of the European Human
Rights Program of the Faith
Evangelical Lutheran Seminary in
Tacoma, Washington. He is also
serving as adjunct professor of law
at the University of Puget Sound
School of Law.
David L. Neuhouser is a math
professor at Taylor University in
Upland, Indiana, where he also
gives seminars on British writers C.
S. Lewis and George MacDonald.
His new book, George MacDonald:
Selections from his Greatest Works
(Victor Books, 1990) is based on
20 years of reading MacDonald's
novels, tales, and sermons. Many people have learned of the Scottish
preacher (born in 1824) through
Lewis's admiration for his writing.
Most of MacDonald's novels were
out of print for several decades,
though some are now available in
edited form. Dave has collected
excerpts from the originals under 11
topics (God, nature, truth, etc.),
added selections of MacDonald's
poetry, and topped it off with a
complete bibliography and subject
index. (As might be expected from
a mathematician, the selections are
numbered; you get 540 of them in
Dave's "Big Mac."-Ed.)
James G. Osborn of Fairfax,
Virginia, is one of three editors in
the natural sciences at The World
& I, an encyclopedic magazine
published in Washington, D.C. Jim
earned a B.S. in zoology at UCLA
in 1974 and spent some time as a
technical editor for an engineering
firm before joining the staff of The
World & I in 1986. In April he
gave a paper on "An Analysis of
Current Models of Teaching
Evolutionary Theory" at the Ohio
Academy of Science meeting at
Wright State University in Dayton.
Jim made use of ASA's Teaching
Science booklet in his attempt to
lay out "a middle ground between
the two extremes."
William W. Paul is emeritus
professor of philosophy at Central
College in Pella, Iowa. In May he
participated in a state-wide
symposium on "Understanding
Science and its Human Impact"
held at the Des Moines Area
Community College in Ankeny,
Iowa. The symposium, basically on
.'creationism" and evolution, was
organized by the Iowa Committee
of Correspondence to "defuse
potential conflict over textbook
adoptions." Invited heavyweight
speakers included Madeleine Nash,
senior science & technology
correspondent for Time magazine,
Francisco Ayala of UC Irvine,
Michael Ruse of Guelph, Michael
Zimmerman of Oberlin-and Davis
Young of Calvin College.
Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen of
Calvin College is author of a new
book on Gender and Grace: Love,
Work, and Parenting in a Changing
World (IVP, 1990). An excerpt appearing in the Sep/Oct 1989 issue
of the Christian feminist publication
Daughters of Sarah was picked up
and published in the Mar/Apr 1990
Utne Reader ("The best of the
alternative press"). A major theme
of that issue was "The Sexual
Politics of Housework"; Mary's
anthropological article discussed
"The View from Other Cultures:
Must Men Fear 'Women's Work?"'
Howard J. Van Till, physics
professor at Calvin College in
Michigan, got his picture on the
"North American Scene" page of
Christianity Today (5 March), with
a short squib about his being
elected 1990 president of ASA,
"founded in 1941 for the purpose
of integrating scientific and Christian world views." Wow. Is that
the very first time election of an
ASA president has been noted in
CT's news section? (CT already had
a photo of Howard on file, of
course, from its stories several
years ago on controversies within
the Christian Reformed Church. If
ASA president-elect Gerald Hess can just do something notorious,
maybe we'll make CT again next
year.-Ed.)
Robert L. Worthington-Kirsch
will finish his residency in
diagnostic radiology in June and
join the staff of The Germantown
Hospital & Medical Center in
Philadelphia.
Frank E. Young, M.D., gave the
Fourth Annual A. Kurt Weiss Lec
ture in Biomedical Ethics at the U.
of Oklahoma Medical Center in Oklahoma City in March. His topic
was "Drugs for the Desperately III:
the Agony & Ecstacy of Public
Policy." Formerly Commissioner of
the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Frank is now Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Health & Human Services for Health/Science & Environment. The annual lecture honors the
late Kurt Weiss, former physiology
professor at Oklahoma and former
ASA president. It is cosponsored by
the Christian Medical Coalition and
U. of O.'s Biomedical & Health
Care Ethics Program.
PEOPLE LOOKING FOR POSITIONS: Ecology or hygiene: Kay Schloe's desire to enter a doctoral program was listed in Oct/Nov 1989.
On completing his M.Sc. at Silsoe, England, he returned to Germany as an engineer for hospital and public hygiene for the U. of Marburg, so correspondence might not have reached him. He is still praying for the right opportunity: Kay Theodor Schloe, Damaschkeweg
11, D-3550 Marburg, West Germany.
POSITIONS LOOKING FOR PEOPLE: Mathematics; Computer science: tenure-track positions for Sept 1990, M.S, required, Ph.D.
preferred, plus experience in & commitment to undergrad teaching. Open until 1 July or until filled. Contact (ASA Member) Dr. Philip
M. Ogden, Chair,. Division of Science & Mathematics, Roberts Wesleyan College, 2301 Westside Dr., Rochester, NY 14624-1997.
Tel.: (716) 594-9471. Clinical Psychology: Tenure-track faculty positions open in clinical psychology doctoral program; areas of particular emphasis include gerontology, program administration, and program evaluation. Women and minorities are especially encouraged to apply.
Contact Archibald D. Hart, Ph.D., Dean, Graduate School of Psychology, Fuller Theological Seminary, 180 N. Oakland Ave., Pasadena,
CA 91101.