NEWS

American Scientific Affiliation

VOLUME 13, NUMBER 4 August 1971

26th ANNUAL CONVENTION: MAN, WHAT AN ENVIRONMENT!

Convening at Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington, August 17 will be several hundred ASA members, many making it a family vacation and camping along the way in the beautiful Northwest. The theme MAN AND THE ENVIRONMENT will be on their mind$ during three days of vigorous discussion and one day of field trips. We hope a number of you attending will jot down your most memorable impressions of the convention and send them to ASA News. We also hope somebody else came through on the generation-bridging coffee-house for whole families proposed after last year's convention. But the final program looked like a great environment for thought even without it.

VITA-LIZED IN 1972?

VITA (Volunteers for International Technical Assistance), Schenectady, New York, "turned the corner" as an organization this year with the appointment of its first full-time (paid) president. The new president is Lloyd J. Hughlett, formerly director of planning and development for the American Management Association, Hamilton, New York.

VITA is "an international association of scientists, businessmen, engineers, educators, and other professionals who volunteer their skills and time to help those working to raise living standards in the development world and in the United States." Begun only a few years ago by a handful of volunteers with a $300 contributed budget, VITA has now handled more than 20,000 requests from all over the world.

Will our American Scientific Affiliation be able to "turn the corner" in 1972? Have you replied to president Boardman's June 8 letter? Your contributions and investment "seed money" will enable to employ a full-time Executive Secretary NEXT YEAR!

AN ASA LOCAL SECTION IN SENDAI?

Helmut E. Schrank is an advisory engineer for the Aerospace Division of Westinghouse Corporation, Baltimore, Maryland. He has just had a paper on "Theoretical Aspects of Spherical Phased Arrays" accepted for presentation at the 1971 International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation. While he's at the meeting on September 1-3 he'd like to have fellowship with other ASA electrical engineers or local residents. The hitch is that the symposium takes place at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan.

This will be Helmut's first visit to Japan and he would seriously like to know: ('a) whether any other ASA members plan to attend the symposium, (b) whether ASA has any members in Tokyo or Sendai, and (c) what Christian organizations he might make contact with in or near Sendai.

If you plan to attend the symposium or can answer the other questions, get in touch with him at his home address, Box 171 Cuba Road, Cockeysville, Maryland 21030.

THEOLOGIAN ADDRESSES BIOCHEMISTS

Quentin Rogers of the University of California, Davis, arranged an interesting program for the Federation Christian Fellowship June 16. The FCF held its usual evening get-together during the San Francisco meeting of the American Society of Biological Chemists. Quentin asked Marvin Chaney, assistant professor of Old Testament at the San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Anselmo, to speak to the group. His topic illustrated the importance of Old Testament texts for our current socio-economic-moral problems. That must have been a stimulating break, in a week devoted to biochemical-financial-unemployment problems.

RUSSELL E. OWEN DIES

ASA has been informed by his Widow that Russell E. Owen of Cortland, New York, succumbed to a massive heart attack on May 10, 1971. He was chairman of the science department and a teacher of earth science at Groton Central School, Groton, New York, at the time of his death. He had received a B.S. from Cornell in 1942 and had taken further work in earth science at the New York State College in Cortland. He was a member of the National Association of Geology Teachers. He had also served in various offices in the First Baptist Church of Homer, New York. He had been a member of the American Scientific Affiliation since 1969.

HOW TO START SOMETHING NO. 7. H. HAROLD HARTZLER

This series describes innovations by ASA members whose intellectual and spiritual resources have been used to meet some human need. Sometimes the needs are urgent, the experimental solutions dramatic. But the day-to-day contacts of each of us also provide opportunities. God whom we worship manages to be both creative and redemptive over a fantastic dimensional scale. He who flung galaxies into space also cares for sparrows, lilies, and people.

School terms will be starting up soon and many of us are connected with education at one level or another. How might we make some difference to people on our campus this year because we are Christians? To remind us of possibilities for direct spiritual ministry, this issue features two projects of H. Harold Hartzler, professor of mathematics at Mankato State College in Mankato, Minnesota. All who have attended ASA Annual Conventions know Harold personally, since he serves as Executive Secretary of the Affiliation. Before moving to Mankato State, Harold had taught physics at Goshen College in Indiana. His enthusiasm there led so many students to join ASA that for a number of years the percentage of Mennonites in our ASA membership was far higher than their percentage in U. S. population statistics. The enthusiasm of "H-cubed" for ASA, and his ministry on campus, have continued at Mankato State.

"This year I started a Bible study class at one of the campus ministry houses, engaging in a serious study of the Bible at 5 p.m. on Sunday evening throughout the academic year. It was known simply as the Bible-class meeting at 'the Joint' (the building owned by the Joint Campus Ministry). It grew out of eight years' experience with college students in a Bible study conducted at the local YWCA on Sunday mornings. Last fall I personally contacted a number of students, put notices in the dormitories and college buildings, and told a number of faculty members. The study was primarily for students but occasionally we bad faculty members present.

"Each session lasted for one hour. We didn't sing, and no one lectured. It was simply an inductive group study. I made the decisions as to the books we studied. We started with I, II, and III John and then went on to the Gospel of Mark. The interesting thing to me was that a number were from foreign countries. Among others, Iran, Korea, Taiwan, and Ghana have been represented. Those attending the class were from a wide variety of religious backgrounds, but they all seemed interested in studying the Bible.

"I believe the Bible study attracted international students primarily because they want to learn more of the habits and characteristics of Americans. Since we are known as a Christian country, they are interested in finding out about the Bible. At any rate they seem to ask questions about the fundamentals of Christianity. Some of their questions have been searching and sometimes embarrassing for those of us who are known as Christians. For instance, what about Viet Nam?

"Last year I was also instrumental in starting a special prayer meeting held every Monday morning at 6:30 in the Missouri Synod Lutheran Chapel adjacent to the campus. The need for this was expressed by an international faculty member from Greek Orthodox Church, who felt that students needed opportunity to meditate and pray early in the morning. We met for an hour, beginning with a short Scripture reading and exposition. We then had silent prayer which sometimes lasted for as long as 40 minutes before closing with audible prayers. This proved a splendid opportunity for faculty and students to get together seriously for prayer.

"The number attending varied, from three to 25, with some tendency for a few regulars to come repeatedly. We had no difficulty in finding places for these meetings convenient to campus. I would say that no particular part of the campus community came more than any other; IVCF members did participate but not in predominant numbers."

Undoubtedly other ASA members have found ways to minister to spiritual needs of students and faculty. We offer Harold's experience as one example to encourage others. And we're sending a dozen copies of the "Scientist's Psalm" greeting cards in appreciation to Dr. H. H. Hartzler, 1311 Warren St., Mankato, Minnesota 56001. We'll send a dozen free to you, too, if you contribute to HOW TO START SOMETHING. For next time we have a story from a scientist in industry who has also found a way to minister to young people.

FOR CHRISTIAN FACULTY MEMBERS

Those of you listed in Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship's faculty directory have probably received gratis IVCF's multilithed "Guidelines for a Christian Faculty Member", written by John W. Alexander. This material is the first of ten sections of a Faculty Handbook being compiled to encourage and help Christian faculty members at colleges and universities. other sections are now in manuscript form and will be mailed out as they are printed. To request copies, faculty members should address requests to Mr. Peter Northrup, IVCF, 233 Langdon St., Madison, Wisconsin 53703.

Section 2, "The Secular University", has just become available. It was written by Jack McIntyre, professor of physics at Texas A. & M. University. Included are a number of helpful appendices on academic freedom and politicizing, and an outline on the legality of campus evangelism. The full text of "Evangelism on the University Campus--Is It Constitutional?" by Thomas 0. Kotouc appeared in The Christian Lawyer Vol. 1, No. 4 (1969), and is available by contacting the Christian Legal Society, Box 363, Chicago, Illinois 60690.
HOT ON THE PRESS

Merville 0. Vincent is author of God, Sex, and You ($4.95, J. B. Lippincott, Philadelphia), latest book in the Evangelical Perspective series edited by John Warwick Montgomery. Merv has managed to turn out this book, two chapters in the Christian Medical Society's Birth Control and the Christian, and a chapter in ASA's Our Society in Turmoil while serving as Assistant Medical Superintendent of the Homewood Sanitarium of Guelph, Ontario. God, Sex, and You is a Christian psychiatrist's view of sex and society as it is on the current scene, and as it should be (due off the press in September).

Richard H. Bube of Stanford University has a new book due off the press in October: The Human Quest; A New Look at Science and Christian Faith ($5.95, Word Books, Waco, Texas). Each of the ten chapters concludes with topics for discussion, which the publisher's blurb says are "mind stretchers about Christian faith and science that make the book ideal for group study." This is Dick's fourth book. (The Human Quest must be one of the two he wrote on alternate days of the week during his sabbatical last year. The other was in his field of materials science.)

MONTGOMERY EDITS INTERNATIONAL DIRECTORY

John W. Montgomery of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, is general editor of the International Scholars Directory being published in English in 1972 by International Scholarly Publishers of Strasbourg, France. This firstto-be-published international directory of academicians in all fields-of study will run to more than 1700 pages. We doubt that John will have to do all that editorial work by himself. Included on the Board of Reference for the project, by the way, are Herman J. Eckelmann of Cornell University and G. Douglas Young of the American Institute of Holy Land Studies in Jerusalem, Israel.

ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS

Frank Cassel's paper from the October 1970 Dordt College Symposium has been reprinted in a paperback edited by Donald R. Scoby, one of Frank's colleagues in biology at North Dakota State University in Fargo. Reading this book, Environmental Ethics ($2.95, Burgess Publishing Co., Minneapolis), would be a good way to mak p for missing the 1971 ASA Annual Convention--or to follow it up, if you were fortunate to be there.

A PHYSICIST IN CONTACT WITH THE ULTIMATE

We like newsletters. Wefve been receiving a fascinating one from Lambert Dolphin, Jr., 945 Old Trace Road, Palo Alto, California 94306. We knew something of Lambert's story from Jim Hefley's account in Lift Off! Lambert did graduate work in physics at Stanford and worked at Stanford Research Institute a total of twelve years. He became a Christian about eight years ago, and in 1968 joined Overseas Crusades Inc. in Palo Alto. Here's an up-to-date progress report:

"I joined Overseas Crusades so I could give my full time to speaking in high school assemblies, on college campuses, to churches, etc. The house I live in is called 'The Mesa.' It's a kind of Christian commune. That is, I have half a dozen young people staying with me much of the time, and an odd assortment of visitors, including runaways, hippies, college students, local high school students, and searchers after truth in general. So my ministry is quite diversified.

"I am closely associated with Ray Stedman and Peninsula Bible Church, and in our local area thousands of young people have come to know Jesus Christ in the past year or so. I do some writing and speaking on Biblical and scientific subjects related to Christian faith, so I am most enthusiastic about ASA. If I had a bit more time, I'd like to contribute an article now and then, or at least get to some of the meetings more regularly. I don't have much to complain about with all the excitement God has put me in the midst of in the past few years."

Lambert told his own story in My Search for the Ultimate, a little evangelistic pamphlet (15~ per copy from Stonecroft Book & Supply Center, P. 0. Box 9612, Kansas City, Missouri 64134). Good News Publishers has just released his new book, The Church is Alive, in both paperback and hardcover, available from Newton's Christian Bookstore, 320 California Ave., Palo Alto, California 94306. It contains "Notes on Christian Communes", "Spiritual Gifts and Body Dynamics", and other chapters coming right out of Lambert's current experience among "Jesus people." (See Time magazine cover story for June 21, 1971, on "The Jesus Revolution" for background. It's a remarkably sensitive and positive account.)

THE ACTION IS EVERYWHERE

Mack Goldsmith received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Now he is associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Stanislaus State College in Turlock, California. He and his wife Joan and their three little girls live in nearby Modesto. A few years ago a number of hippie kids in Modesto were converted to faith in Jesus Christ through the ministry of a traveling evangelist. That was the origin of "The Church in the Park" in Modesto. It isn't really a church, and usually it doesn't meet in the park anymore, but the name stuck for this Christian ministry for young people alienated from families and "the establishment."

The Biblical title "elder" begins to make sense again with such a group. "Elder Mack" and Joan have been among perhaps half a dozen adults who have worked with the kids and given continuity to the ministry. But it is the testimony of the kids themselves that draws other drop-out kids to Christ and helps them escape from mind-rotting effects of drug abuse.

Last summer Mack moved the family to Milwaukee (his home town) for three months of research in perception with a former colleague now in the Department of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Mack and Joan both felt God's leading to go, but hated to be away from the struggling Church in the Park. To their surprise they discovered a rapidly growing ministry to "street people" in Milwaukee, for which their experience in Modesto seemed to fit them perfectly.

When their three months were up, Mack's experimental work had barely begun. Now after another academic year in Modesto, they have returned to Milwaukee on a six-month leave to complete the lab experiments and to help nurture many new believers among the "Jesus people." Mack, who became a Christian in high school from a Jewish background, has been able to help young people particularly through Bible studies in the Goldsmith home. But listening and accepting and caring are of course the major ingredients in this kind of ministry--or in any kind.

The Goldsmiths' current address is 4477 North Prospect Ave., Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53211. (We've had marvelous visits with Mack and Joan and lots of other travelers through the center of Iowa this year. Lots of Jesus people on the move. Maybe it's a movement!)

WHERE WILL IT ALL END?

In May, Walt Hearn's department (Biochemistry and Biophysics) at Iowa State University in Ames threw a party in honor of its chairman, Dexter French, who was to step down after eight years on July 1. It was a fancy shindig of a dinner party, with dessert and entertainment at Walt and Ginny's house. The entertainment was a musicale put on in the style of ISU's "Musica Antigua", a performing group much admired by the Frenches. For accompaniment, the Hearns recruited all the recorder players they could find in the department, used a guitar as a lute, a piano as a harpsichord, and son Russ's bongo drums for "nakers."

To get the group in the mood, Walt first played a record of authentic ancient music. The words in Latin or old French weren't understandable anyway, so he wrote spurious program notes describing the message of each song (e.g., "Making love is more fun than a staff meeting"--which was a lot less ribald then the actual words, he says.) Then the whole department sang four parodies by Walt about departmental administration, to such tunes as "Barbara Allen" and "Greensleeves." The whole program was called "Musica Biochymics."

Somehow Chemical and Engineering News got wind of it and printed an excerpt from one of songs in its "Newscripts" column for July 12, 1971. The song described was sung to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." The third stanza gives the
gist of it:

"On my Third day as chairman, My duty brought to me: Three office girls, Two doleful deans, And a portent of parsimony."

LOCAL SECTION ACTIVITIES

Vol. 1: Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6. Vol. 7: Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 5 Vol. S: Nos. 4 and 5.

Vol. 5: No. 2
Vol. 7: No. I
Vol. 9 No. I

Dues and Subscriptions. Some members are confused about the rates and some even forget that their own subscription to the Journal is included in their dues. An ASA member (of any of the three classes of membership) gets all ASA mailings including ASA News. A subscriber receives only the four issues per year of the
Journal of ASA.

Dues: Associate $8.00
Member 12.00
Fellow 15.00

Dues notices go out in October for the following year. Second and third notices are sent to those who do not reply.

Subscription I year $5.00 Gift subscriptions: First year . $3.00
to JASA: 2 years 9.00 Any year after first year 5.00
3 years 12.00

"There are no discounts for 2-and 3-year subscriptions when a person or library goes through a subscription agency; then it is a straight $5 per year. Subscription notices go out every quarter as we start subscriptions of the Journal in any quarter. Most subscriptions are on a year-end basis. Some libraries prefer it that way." (from Hazel Fetherhuff, ASA Office Secretary)

3. August Agenda. The Executive Council will hold its next meeting at the ASA Annual Convention at Whitworth College, Spokane, Washington, August 16-20. Many important items are on the agenda but the Council will probably be most interested in the response to their proposal to employ a full-time Executive Secretary next year.

PERSONALS

California