Volume 36, Number 4 July/August 1994

 

Intro. to Munro

Donald William Munro is ASA's new Executive Director. While Don has been a long-time ASAer, this brief introduction to ASXs new leader begins with his early background. He was born in Philadelphia, PA. To get started, Don attended Wheaton C. where he achieved: a B.S. cum laude in biology. His M.S. in zoology is from Pennsylvania State U. He received his Ph,D. in zoology with an emphasis in physiology, also from Penn State, in 1966.

Don's early summer work experiences while a student included employment at the Cameo Waffle Shop, the Corner Store, the A&P Super Market, and Shriver's Salt Water Taffy Shop on the boardwalk, all in. Ocean City, NJ. Following this mercantile milieu, he was a teaching assistant while at Penn State, and a NIH Predoctoral Fellow, 1964-1966. Since 1966 Don has been a zoology professor at Houghton College (in up-state New York near Letchworth Park), quickly moving up to department head in 1969 and Chair of the Health Professions Committee in 1974. Among courses he has recently taught are cell and molecular biology, comparative animal physiology, genetics and bioethics.

Don has been involved in numerous committee and council memberships, took a 1978 sabbatical in Kenya, Africa and a 1987 research sabbatical at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, collects stamps (a charter member of the Allegany Stamp Club. and life member of.. ft. American Philatelic Society), and. is a member of the AAAS, AEBS (biological sciences), APS (physiology), FASEB (experimental biology), Hastings Center (bioethics), NEAAHP and. NAAHP, (advisers to the health professions), and Sigma Xi. He was President of the ASA in1984.

What are some of the things Don thinks the ASA should be doing?

Don sees the strategic importance of the ASA as a leader in showing Christians and the world that  we can. do good, science and have orthodox. Christian faith at the same time. Don says he also finds pleasure in proposing new ideas, testing them out, and seeing them, through to fruition. Welcome to the directorship, Don!

ASA in USA Today

Science and religion made news in the nationally distributed newspaper USA Today. A cover story entitled "Connecting science and spirituality" (24 Mar. 94, "Life" section, 1D) by Leslie Miller is subtitled, "Reconciling research to our `desire to know where we stand in the universe." It cites the discussion among medical people of mind-body-spirit as breaking the ice for talk about science and spirituality among the USA's half-million physical scientists. Evidences are: religious language like "the God particle," "the mind of God," and "science's search for the soul" are being used in books by Nobel laureates and others, if only metaphorically; an updated Who's Who in Theology and Science, put out by the John Templeton Foundation, is expected to double its 1992 number of 800 entries; and the fact that...

" ...Thousands of scientists have joined organizations created since the 1940s to bridge the religion gap, including the American Scientific Affiliation, an evangelical Christian group with 2,500 members, and the non-denominational Institute on Religion in an Age of Science, with a few hundred."

The belief that scientists do think about the implications of their findings is shared by John Templeton, who is mentioned in the article as the Wall Street financier who established the million-dollar Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion in 1972 "to influence educated people to wake up to religion." Several scientists have received the prize and John sees an increasing number of scientists "coming around to the view that what they are studying are the creations of the Creator."

Another ASA member, Harvard astronomer Owen Gingerich, was also mentioned as recognizing the wider implications of science. The USA's investment of billions of research dollars is, according to Owen, "not because we want Teflon frying pans or better golf clubs." Owen concurs with those who find that the "astonishing coincidences" in origins of life studies discount accidentalist conclusions. Gingerich is identified as an evangelical Christian who believes that religion has its place in addressing the "basic wonder and desire to know where we stand in the universe."

Discounting the extent to which religious conclusions can be drawn from science per se is Eugenie Scott of the National Center for Science Education. Her view is that seeing God in the universe's complexity goes beyond the data; to use astronomical observations to talk about God, she says, is done as human beings, not scientists. Gingerich notes too that religious tenets cannot be "proven" by science, quoting Galileo: "The Bible tells us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go."

Paul R. Gross, co-author of the recently published Higher Superstition: The Academic Left and its Quarrels with Science (Johns Hopkins U. Press), sees abuses when science and religion are joined into a whole. For example, "metaphor miners" use partial or poor understandings of science to form conclusions having nothing to do with science. Gross does not think that linking science to a new value system is the answer, but rather, recommends teaching scientists how to clearly explain science to avoid misinterpretation and improve science education, he said.

Scott agrees: "You do a disservice to science if you try to expand it to provide a philosophical center for existence." Incidentally, the ASA resolution ("A Voice for Evolution As Science") also agrees, calling for greater care among science teachers not to stretch "the term evolution beyond its range of scientific usefulness," thus promoting "the establishment of evolutionary naturalism." Douglas B. Cameron

ASAers Skeptical

In the early 1970s, Walter R. Hearn gave a talk in Portland, Oregon on "Science and Pseudo-Science," giving examples of various incredible claims made in the name of science. With commitments to both science and Christianity, ASAers are also often aware of outlandish assertions which qualify as pseudo-religion. Michael Epstein of Mt. Airy, MD has been involved with various groups such as the National Capital Area Skeptics. Usually, "skeptic" brings to mind those skeptical of Christianity, but Mike clarifies this popular assumption in an article he wrote, "The Skeptical Perspective," published in the Journal of Scientific Exploration (Vol. 7, No. 3; 1993) of the Society for Scientific Exploration, a scientific society dedicated to the study of anomalous phenomena.

Mike opens the article by saying that "I don't have to tell the readers of JSE that the term `skeptic' has become a derogatory label," noting that even among skeptics there are extreme positions, and that "Skepticism has long been labeled as `anti-religion,' perhaps because for most of the last two millennia, truths about every facet of life were defined by religious authority." Later, Mike cites Hearn and the ASA:

Walter Hearn, long-time editor of the newsletter of the American Scientific Affiliation (an organization of scientists of Christian belief) has pointed out that just as atheists sometimes make a pseudoreligion out of scientism, some Christians see scientific skepticism as an enemy of faith. However, gullibility should not be considered a measure of spirituality (Hearn, 1992). Those who are scientifically literate realize that what skeptics have tried to lay to rest is not a biblical but a medieval view of the world ó which for many centuries was taken to be the biblical view (Hearn, 1980).

Mike reviews the role of skeptics organizations as being both skeptical (seeking evidence, offering refutations of evidence, and offering "a reasonable alternative explanation that does not appeal to the paranormal"), and of inquiring. Adducing a non-paranormal explanation (no matter how implausible) is not sufficient to reject an extraordinary claim. Mike points out that

We are all skeptics at one time or another, since we have doubts or suspend judgment about something. The scientific method requires skepticism, whether it involves physics, chemistry, or parapsychology. And certainly, there is no hard and fast rule that the skeptic must propose an alternative explanation that is in agreement with conventional scientific thought ... if he has sufficient evidence and expertise to back up the proposal. Evaluation of that is what peer review and scientific criticism is all about. In the end, there is nothing bad or ugly about being a skeptic ... but whether believer or skeptic, there is nothing good in being a provocateur.

When the object of skepticism includes itself, a give-and-take exercise in critical thinking seems to go on within skeptics' circles. In the Georgia Skeptic (5/6, Nov./Dec. 92), an article by Rick Moen entitled, "So You're a Skeptic? Some Answers to Frequently Asked Questions," posed the question, "Are skeptics atheists?" The answer? Not necessarily. Religious beliefs of skeptics "are all over the map," and skeptics are curious as skeptics about claims on the fringes of science for which evidence can be checked. This rules out starting-point assertions ("morals or pure faith"). Another response also gave religion a not-relevant-to-skepticism status except where empirical claims are made, such as weeping Madonnas, faith healers using tricks or people who say they can fly. "Non-interference with religion and faith are more or less standard policy for skeptic organizations," Moen noted.

Topics involving religion frequent skeptics' publications however. The latest issue of Skeptical Inquirer (Vol. 18, No. 2) covers CBS and ark pseudoscience (see related ASAN article, "Ark-Eology Follow-Up"), the appeal of Norman Vincent Peale, and some kinds of biblical prophecy. A succinct description of variations in skepticism is given in Paul Kurtz's article, "The New Skepticism" in the same issue. Skeptical Inquirer is published by The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) at Box 703, Buffalo, NY 14226-0703. The ASAN Editor recognized names of Fellows of the Committee such as Francis Crick, Stephen Jay Gould, Anthony Flew, Martin Gardner, Murray Gell-Mann, Eugenie Scott and a former Oregon Local Section ASA member, psychologist Loren Pankratz.

Academic Freedom Update

The Dean Kenyon saga (see Jan./Feb. 1994 ASAN) was reported in The Real Issue (Vol. 13, No. 1; Jan./Feb. 1994), a publication of Christian Leadership Ministries (13612 Midway Road, Suite 500, Dallas, TX 75244; (214) 490-7770). The article, "A Scopes Trial in Reverse," recounts the censorship of Kenyon, a major figure in evolutionary biology, teaching about difficulties with neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory in biology class at San Francisco State U. Erroneously pegged as a young-earther by the Dean, the article develops the story by bringing in U. C. Berkeley law professor Phil Johnson, who has worked closely with Kenyon since he was barred from teaching introductory biology. Stephen Meyer's Wall Street Journal article (see "Wall St. Windup," Mar./Apr. 94 ASAN) is quoted at some length, and the last word went to another ASA professor, Walter Bradley, in mechanical engineering at Texas A&M U. and co-author of The Mystery of Life's Origins:

" Some people refuse to allow any kind of compelling evidence to ever point to an intelligent cause, no matter what, as a philosophical commitment. While some will say this is a methodological necessity, I think it's more an excuse than a reason to force everyone to acquiesce to naturalism as a philosophical underpinning for science, which is certainly unnecessary, and in the case of origins, is counterproductive."

In a related incident involving academic freedom of a Christian, professor of physiology at the U. of Alabama, Phillip Bishop, was taken all the way to the Supreme Court for speaking five minutes per semester in his class about intelligent design. Bishop refused to knuckle under his chairman's order to stop and the university took him to court. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals "pushed back academic freedom by granting administrations more power to control class content," the Issue reported. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case. Bishop declared that:

" When I speak to faculty, they ask how they can stay out of the kind of circumstance I was in. My message is not how to stay out of it, but how we all ought to be involved in it."

"Officially I lost my case, but I will say that in losing it, next to salvation itself it was the most important spiritual experience I've ever had."

"I've had opportunities to share Christ with many colleagues because of the court case. I've had a chance to speak in some very hostile environments, and that was a great challenge. I have been able to carry the message of Christ into places I would never have had the opportunity to do so otherwise."

Bishop's own interpretation of John 12:42 relates to the academic situation: "Even some of the faculty believed in Him, but, because of the administration, were not confessing Him, lest they be put out of the university." And the following verse doesn't need a paraphrase: "For they loved the approval of men more than the approval of God." Bishops's advice is to contact Christian Leadership Ministries if you find your faith challenged at your university. Scott Luley is director of CLM's Free Speech Project and can be reached via email at: sluley@iclnet.org or (by voice) at (214) 490-7770.

Continuing the theme, the Issue's front-cover article, "Academic Freedom and the Rights of Religious Faculty" was written by Christian lawyer John Whitehead, who founded the Rutherford Institute in 1982. The Institute initiates and participates in lawsuits and educational programs concerning free speech and free exercise issues. The article is excerpted from Whitehead's book, The Rights of Religious Persons in Public Education (Crossway Books, 1991), and preceded by a quote of former Supreme Court justice Abe Fortas, "It can hardly be argued either that students or teachers shed their constitutional rights ... at the schoolhouse gate." The article is a content-rich primer on the legal basis for academic freedom, citing legal precedent to illustrate the intent and bounds of the law.

Ark-Eology Rejoinders

In Feb. 1993, CBS aired "The Incredible Discovery of Noah's Ark." Offered as an entertainment special, the ark story had the appearance of a documentary, and according to CBS, only two percent of those calling about the program questioned the claim that the ark had been discovered at the 14,000 foot level on Mount Ararat. The ASA Newsletter reported briefly on the program (Jun./Jul. 93, p. 5), and since that report, others have also responded to it. The American Geological Institute's Geotimes (Sep. 1993, p. 4) ran a commentary by Robert S. Dietz of the Arizona State U. geology department citing it as a "frightening example of pseudo-science" and describing the geological evidence against a worldwide flood. "Geologists know a flood when they see one," Dietz stated, mentioning the ancient Spokane-Lake Missoula flood in Washington state as an example. Eighty such floods would be required to explain the 80 coal seams in the mid-continent Carboniferous strata, in contrast with the show's claim that a single flood buried all non-ark life, thereby producing from them coal and oil deposits. And three oceans of water would be needed to cover the 17,000 foot mountain, Dietz wrote.

Dietz's amazement at "creationist young-Earth and flood scenario" accounts turned a bit rhapsodic when he considered the geologic rates at which earth's present structures would have had to be formed:"

"... in 375 days all Phanerozoic strata were laid down by the raging deluge, then Ararat [a calc-alkaline, probably extinct, stratovolcano] erupted, and this was followed by the docking of the ark. Whew! Elsewhere in the world, the ocean basins catastrophically opened, mountains were folded, volcanoes erupted, continents drifted apart at 45 mph, and in the final days the Grand Canyon was cut. It was a good year for geology! The ice ages then waxed and waned in the century or so following the flood."

Dietz regards the biblical account of Noah's ark as a "legend in the heroic tradition" and to add some spice to the quest to find the ark, offers to contribute $1,000 each to two institutes in the names of Walter T. Brown, head of the Creation Research Center in Phoenix, AZ and John Morris, of the Institute for Creation Research in California, both of whom have searched for the ark. Dietz only requires general acceptance by mainstream archaeologists that a substantial fragment of the ark has been found on Mount Ararat by the year 2,000.

Geology was not the only questionable aspect of "Incredible Discovery." An out-of-work actor, George Jammal, presented for the program what he claimed was an ancient piece of wood from inside the ark that he discovered on Mt. Ararat. Jammal's ruse was first revealed to the press by a friend who possibly was in on the hoax, Gerald Larue. Larue is a USC professor emeritus of biblical history and archaeology and senior editor of Free Inquiry, a magazine published by the U.S. Council for Democratic and Secular Humanism. At first, the program's producer, Sun International Pictures, Inc. of West Valley City, Utah, defended Jammal against Larue as the hoaxer, though Jammal contends that Sun knew all along of the hoax.

After the broadcast, numerous critics of creation science, including Larue, wrote to CBS. Jammal also admitted to hoaxing the hoaxers by having made the wood scrap from a railroad tie, hardened by heating it with his home stove. CBS has cut off further work with Sun, and Sun also finally admitted to being duped. Jammal began talking, he claims, when he heard that CBS was going forward with more programs of this kind. (Source: LA Times article, "Long Beach Man Admits Ark Hoax," by Daniel Cerone, transcribed to USENET by Brett Vickers (bvickers@net5.ics.uci.edu), 30 Oct. 93.)

After the February airing, a Sun Pictures follow-up, "Ancient Secrets of the Bible, Part II" appeared on CBS in May. During its production, several ASAers received letters from David W. Balsiger, Chief Researcher for Sun Pictures, asking if we had done research on any of their proposed topics for this program. Topics included Joshua's long-day battle, Jonah and the whale, "evolution vs. Adam and Eve," and "science proves an Adam and Eve." In "The REALL News" (Sep. 1993), the newsletter of the Rational Examination Association of Lincoln Land, a skeptics organization, David Bloomberg reports on the Sun Pictures/CBS incident and this new form of TV entertainment, "reality TV." He concludes with:

"The line between news and entertainment is getting dangerously blurred. When a narrator calls a show a "scientific investigation" but the viewer is expected to somehow realize that it is just "entertainment," that line has been removed altogether."Barry Passmore, Mike Epstein

ASAers in Action

Dave Fisher has had a long history of bringing the gospel to Eastern Europe, preparing science/faith broadcasts for the Slavic Gospel Association. Now that the Iron Curtain has rusted through, Dave is writing science broadcasts for students in Russia and Trans World Radio's studio in Kursk is producing them. Dave's trip to Russia in April was highlighted by his visit one evening with ten university and medical-school students in St. Petersburg-all Christians for less than two years-who gave him helpful feedback on his "Truth in the Test Tube" (T3) broadcasts, including suggestions for future topics. They told him that testimonies of educated people are very credible with students and that creation/evolution and argument-from-design evidence for God's existence are as important as ever.

On the dark side, many of their student friends are swallowing the idea that they can be reincarnated into higher life forms. If an amoeba evolved into man, they reason, then man ought to be able to continue to evolve into God. Also, Russian newspapers carry horoscopes, confusing many people. Several students expressed interest in recording their testimonies for future broadcasts, and requested cassettes of all T3 programs to use in witnessing to their classmates. In addition to Russian, Dave's scripts will soon be used in Arabic, Ukrainian and Romanian.

In May, Aleksandr Solzhenitysn returned to his Russian homeland and observed his country as "tortured and stunned, ... with no clear future." Dave and fellow travelers got that same impression in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and returned home more resolved than ever to help nurture Russia's hope, found in that small roomful of students and others like them. Dave's effort is in need of sponsorship for 1995 and beyond. He is presently working on a two-stage answer to the horoscope confusion, showing differences between astrology and astronomy, and drawing from Mary Irwin's experience with astrology and the near-disaster it caused her before she and her astronaut husband, Jim Irwin, accepted Christ. Trans World Radio's headquarters address is: P.O. Box 8700, Cary, NC 27512. Dave is at 1260 E. Evergreen St., Wheaton, IL 60187-5964; (708) 690-7745, fax: (708) 690-2976.

Robert C. Newman directs the Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Institute at Biblical Theological Seminary (IBRI, P.O. Box 423, Hatfield, PA 19440) He talked about "Presenting the Gospel to Those Who Reject Scripture" on 11 Jan. Also speaking at this Fall 1993 IRBI colloquium were Philip Rudolph on "God, Science, and Creation: A Scientist's View," and Glen Penfield on "Craters, Dinosaurs and Earth-Crossing Asteroids." Bob is working with Perry Phillips on a book on the age of the earth, and will also be getting started on a cartoon book on evolution with John Wiester.

The IBRI Newsletter (Vol. 14, No. 1, Fall 1993) also reports on the Ad-Hoc Origins Committee, which was present at last year's ASA Annual Meeting in Seattle. Bob was video-interviewed on origins by Art Battson at that meeting for the Access Research Network. The Committee held a seminar at the Christian Legal Society meeting (see Jan./Feb. 94 ASAN, p. 2) where further discussion of origins involved Hugh Ross, R.C. Sproul, Wendell Bird, and Bob Newman. Last November, Bob and philosopher of science J.P. Moreland gave papers at the joint meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Evangelical Philosophical Society near Washington, DC. IBRI has a 1994 catalog offering new items, including videos by Bob ("Evangelizing Today") and John Studenroth ("Changed Lives"), available from Dark Horse Publications: (800) 422-9660. Also Dan Wonderly's book, Neglect of Geologic Data, has been reprinted with reworked figures and typesetting (order # W3, $8.95 + P&H). Audio cassettes of talks given at the "Evidence for Faith" workshop are $4.00 per talk, plus P&H (the audio tracks of the above videos), and also a talk by Newman and Phillips to public school teachers ("Origins Survey to Christian Educators Association," IPN-01).

In mid-May, three ASAers led a workshop to help prepare faculty to teach courses in the "Science, Technology and the World" portion of the new curriculum at Messiah C. (Grantham, PA), stressing ways in which science and technology relate to other kinds of learning and to society in general. These courses have a science/technology content, but a humanities, arts and social sciences perspective. Workshop participants included Sara Miles, Art Leegwater and Edward B. Davis, who would consider running these types of workshops at other colleges that have similar curricular needs. Interested parties should contact Edward Davis, Associate Professor of Science and H<M>istory, at (717) 766-2511, ext. 6840; fax, (717) 691-6002; Internet: tdavis@mcis.messiah.edu<F255P255>. Ted Davis

James E. Loder, professor of the philosophy of Christian education, presented the first annual W. Jim Neidhardt Memorial Lecture at Princeton Theological Seminary on 21 May as featured speaker of the ASA Metropolitan NY/NJ Section spring meeting. The title of his talk was: "Christian Faith and Scientific Creativity: The Case of Jean Piaget." Loder co-authored the book The Knight's Move: The Relational Logic of the Spirit in Science and Theology with the late Jim Neidhardt, an ASA stalwart who died last year. This annual lectureship honors his memory by presenting prominent scholars whose work integrates scientific, philosophical and religious perspectives.

The Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation (CSCA), the ASA's Canadian counterpart will hold its annual meeting at the U. of Toronto on 29 Oct. The theme, "Encounters Between Christian Faith and Science," allows for a broad range of paper topics relating Christian faith and science. For more information, contact Esther Martin, Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry, U. of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1; fax: (519) 766-1499.

The CSCA also plans to generate and promote a list of CSCA speakers with topics who would be willing to give one or two talks to Christian student groups at colleges or universities within an hour's drive. They hope to offer this list to InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF).

Guillermo Gonzalez got his Ph.D. in astronomy from the U. of Washington in Seattle last fall and is now doing post-doc work in the astronomy dept. at the U. of Texas in Austin.

Nearby, at Texas A&M U., Walter Bradley, prof. of mechanical engineering, has given his presentation on "Scientific Evidence for the Existence of God" at Princeton, Vanderbilt, U. of Michigan, Michigan State, Rutgers, Ohio State, Texas A&M and Montana State universities to about 4000 students this academic year. In this presentation, he argues that "cosmological coincidences," the big-bang cosmology and the complexity (information) necessary for even the simplest living systems point to an intelligent creator having made a purposeful universe. Audiences have generally included a large fraction of non-Christians. The presentation includes one hour of well-received questions and answers.

Cowpoke Hearn Rides Southwest

In March, Walt Hearn and wife Ginny flew to Phoenix, AZ, for a biennial reunion of friends Walt knew in grad school at the U. of Illinois (1948-51). Now a scattered bunch of mostly retired grandparents, they still call themselves "The Young Adult Fellowship" (from "Uni Baptist"). To be with such mature and joyful Christians, Walt says, gives him a spiritual boost.

Attending the reunion were retired chemists Bob Bohon of 3M (MN) and Larry Brown of Dow Corning (MI), with wives Lois and Marivene. What makes this an ASA story, though, is that before the reunion, the Hearns rented a car in Phoenix and set out across southern AZ and NM with an ASA Membership Directory. Later, Walt wrote to members they missed in those two states to see what they're up to. Some (e.g., retirees from the Midwest) praise the Southwest for its warm sunshine; others (e.g., astronomers) for its clear night skies. There are university faculty and students, high-tech engineers on the mesa at Los Alamos, and low-tech ranchers on the rangelands. Most ASAers who've left scientific employment stay active, continuing to serve Christ in various ways. Walt gave us a run-down on those he contacted or has heard from so far.

Right off the bat, the Hearns found current ASA president Fred Hickernell (& wife Thresa) of Phoenix and son Tom Hickernell (& wife Brenda) of nearby Mesa; both are physicists working for Motorola. Living in Sun City in the greater Phoenix area is retired psychologist Paul Merrill (& wife Jean). Paul is a 40-year member of ASA whose daughter, Becky Groothuis, has a book, Women Caught in the Conflict, hot off the presses from Baker Books. Sun City West is home to retired biochemist Fred Hafner (wife Dolores), formerly active in the Twin Cities (MN) local section. Retired philosopher Dave Siemens (& wife Esther) are in Mesa. Dave keeps writing; for a recent article on values in education he collaborated with Bill Cobern, associate prof of science education at the West Campus of Arizona State U. in Phoenix (the main campus is in nearby Tempe). In Scottsdale, systems engineer Brian Fraser is working to get a fresh start in the business world after being laid off from a high-tech corporation.

A hundred miles SE of Phoenix, Tucson is the home of the U. of Arizona and of another cluster of ASA members. Paul Bartels has retired from the Dept. of Plant Science to grow his own plants in Tucson's Sun City retirement community. Still on campus (since 1979) is astronomer John Hill, director of the Large Binocular Telescope Project at ASU's Steward Observatory. Brent Toland, IVCF campus staff worker, was at the IVCF/IFACS conference on science and faith at Mundelein, IL, when the Hearns passed through; this fall Brent begins work toward a Ph.D. in the history & philosophy of science at Notre Dame. Alan Kruse (& wife Rita) are also in Tucson. Alan was completing his 20th year of teaching chemistry at Pima Community College; at Christmas each year Alan coordinates the Angel Tree Ministry associated with Chuck Colson's Prison Fellowship, presenting gifts to 2,000 children of inmates in the Tucson area.

After touching the Mexican border at Nogales and Douglas, the Hearns headed into NM for the real purpose of their trip, to try to find where Walt worked one summer as a ranchhand over half a century ago. At a U.S. Forest Service office in Magdalena, Walt actually located the Adobe Ranch on a wall map of the Gila National Forest. The Hearns drove to the ranch, some thirty miles SW of town. Walt found that the 200,000-acre ranch now has electricity, and that the old stuccoed adobe ranch house is still in use. None of the other buildings were recognizable, and the dirt road from U.S. 60 to the ranch gate now runs right through the nation's Very Large Array (VLA) of huge radio-telescope antennas. But the sky and the mountains still cast their spell; to a surprised Ginny, ol' cowpoke Walt allowed as to how "them [branded] cows and their dogies look mighty purty, too."

In NM, as in AZ, most ASAers are concentrated in a few areas. Las Cruces is the home of New Mexico State U., where Jason Pinkney is writing his Ph.D. dissertation on "The Dynamics of Clusters Containing Wide-Angle Tailed Radio Galaxies" while hunting for a job in astronomy for next year. Anthropologist Bob Taylor (& wife Floris) are also in Las Cruces. Bob, an emeritus professor from Kansas State, spends part of his time revising his 1989 book on the ethnology of Mexico and Central America.

Biochemist Dennis Vik (& wife Linda) are in Albuquerque, where Dennis is settling in as an assistant prof in the Dept. of Microbiology at the U. of New Mexico School of Medicine, where he studies gene regulation of complement proteins. Also in Albuquerque are physicist Arthur ("Chip") Mansure (& wife Jan) and chemist George Perkins (& wife Barbara). Chip and George are both at the Sandia National Labs, where Chip works on ways to keep old oil wells pumping and George is a task leader evaluating Yucca Mountain, NV, as a potential site for a nuclear-waste depository. Both Chip and George are also engaged in special ministries to "the down and out" in Christ's name.

Nuclear engineer Bob Bartholomew (& wife Jackie) are in Los Alamos, where Bob retired from the Los Alamos National Lab a few years ago, founded Bartholomew Engineering, Inc., and now consults at LANL; he has been active with both the Gideons and Boy Scouts. Bob and several other ASAers in northern New Mexico have been able to attend some meetings of the new Rocky Mountain ASA section in Colorado. Physicist John Davis, working at LANL on simulation software tools for urban transportation planning, told Walt of a small group on the mesa that has discussed such books as Portraits of Creation and Christian Belief in a Postmodern World.

Passing close to the tiny town of Quemado, the Hearns tried to find a phone number for missionary member James Jensen, but Jim & wife Darlene were spending the winter in San Angelo, TX. When Walt heard from them he knew they must share his love for that big open country, since they live in a canyon at an altitude of 8,000 ft. on a 123-acre ranch and seldom go to town for groceries (a 150-mile round-trip). Thinking that the Jensens might serve the local Navajo or Apaches, Walt learned that they've been "free-lance" missionaries in Asia and Latin America-and hope to go to the People's Republic of China.

Walt offers two suggestions for traveling ASAers: first, stay off the Interstates as much as possible to savor the beautiful land; and use your ASA Membership Directory to seek out fellowship with wonderful people along the way. Walt Hearn

Long-Time ASAer Remembers Ramm

An ASA member of 41 years, Douglas Babcock of Bellevue, WA (near Seattle) "enjoyed meeting with our kind of creationists" at last year's ASA Annual Meeting. Bernard Ramm was his pastor for several months while he was at the U. of Washington in 1938, and Doug talked with Bernie by phone about those days a few weeks before he died. Doug enclosed Bernie's vitae, which included his extensive teaching career at 11 schools, including Biola, Bethel, Fuller and four Baptist seminaries. A cosmopolitan, Ramm attended school, taught, and participated in events in the Mideast, Asia and Europe, and was a prolific author of part or all of 23 books (available in various languages) and numerous articles, which have been the subject of two doctoral dissertations. Ramm was a major contributor to the science/religion discussion, with his "classic" '50s publication of The Christian View of Science and Scripture, and was well-known in ASA circles. The Editor remembers him from the 1979 Annual Meeting at Stanford U. as a quiet and unassuming person, despite his notoriety in sci/rel-down-to-earth and thoughtful. Doug also sent evidence of fellow Baptist Bernie's sharp memory in a note to him, following their phone conversation, about Bernie's Sunday commute as pastor from Seattle to Bellevue. Bernie said:

"..although the time was short that I spent with the church I have very happy memories. Up at 6 am in Seattle; bus to streetcar; street car to cable car; cable car to ferry; ferry to church. And reverse arriving home at about 3 p.m.. I think the pay was $3 a week plus carfare!"

Doug added to this note that "Bernie forgot to mention being driven two miles by car from the ferry to the church."

Included with Doug's letter on Bernie was a squib from the Baptist Bulletin (Feb. 94) about visiting minister Tom Hoyle (Sunday, Nov. 21, 1993) at First Baptist Church of Eastgate in Bellevue, whose ministry focuses on issues of science and the Bible. His messages dealt with "Creation and Evolution," and a multimedia presentation called "Dinosaurs, Cavemen, the Ark and Flood."

Doug also included another BB article (Feb. 94, p. 36) on research intending to determine the presence of 14C in dinosaur collagen, a substance unique to vertebrate bone material and not likely to be the result of contamination by ground water. Because of wide agreement that 14C disappears from fossilized bones after about 65,000 years, its presence would, according to researcher John Whitmore of the Creation Research Science Education Foundation (CRSEF) of Columbus, OH, indicate a young age for dinosaurs. The actual tests will be performed by Russian biochemist and president of the 300-member Moscow Creation Science Fellowship, Dmitri Kouznetsov, and his colleague Andre Ivanoff. Kouznetsov is an adjunct professor at the Institute of Creation Research (ICR) in San Diego, CA. The CRSEF expects to test dinosaur bones from Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Alaska, Alberta (Canada) and samples obtained from Kazakhstan, which has a rich deposit of dinosaur fossils, and to publish findings within the next year in professional journals.

Squibs

ASA's Annual Meeting theme ("Bioethics: Promise & Perils") which relates to ethics in science, appears to be on target in its relevancy. Mike Epstein caught an article in the 22 Nov. 93 issue of Chemical & Engineering News' (C&EN), "Survey Finds Researchers Often Encounter Scientific Misconduct." The article chronicles a new study by the NSF (see American Scientist, 81, 542, 1993) that reveals significant numbers of faculty and doctoral students in four disciplines (including chemistry) have encountered ethically questionable behavior within science, but states that responsibility for misconduct is seldom exercised for fear of retaliation. The Dept. of Health and Human Services' Office of Research Integrity (ORI) is the NIH watchdog, but has a second mission to foster integrity in scientific research, the C&EN article notes. It adds: "Enmeshed in high-profile misconduct investigations, however, ORI's prevention efforts have been modest to date." Alan Campion, chemistry department chairman at the U. of Texas, Austin is quoted in the article as saying:

"It's very important that young scientists be inculcated with the right values from the start....From my own experience, that is usually done by example of the research adviser, rather than through lectures or written policies. Perhaps it's something we should pay more attention to."

Well, the ASA is paying attention. Besides the theme of this year's Annual Meeting, the ASA's On Being a Christian in Science, is a book now being written to encourage Christian graduate students in the sciences. Mike's passing comment to the Editor on Campion's comments was that by college it "is a bit late to be indoctrinating kids with ethics." Mike Epstein

A recent PSCF author, Raymond E. Grizzle, has contributed elsewhere, as spotted by Ray Brand in the April 1994 issue of Bioscience. His article there asserted that environmentalism should include human ecological needs, and it appeared in the "Thinking of Biology" section (Vol. 44 (4), pp. 263-268). Included were several paragraphs of Judeo-Christian environmental ethics, with at least four references to ASA's journal, PSCF. ASA members receiving mention were Fred Van Dyke, Joe Sheldon, the late Jim Neidhardt, and last year's Annual Meeting keynoter, Cal DeWitt. Other familiar Christian names were Susan Bratton and Loren Wilkinson. Ray Brand notes that it is not often that this perspective is included in secular scientific publications, and that Bioscience is one of the largest biological publications to college and university professors. Ray Brand

Religion Watch, a newsletter monitoring trends in contemporary religion, reports in its March 1994 issue (Vol. 9, No. 5) that religious believers are increasingly being accepted by psychiatrists "on their own terms rather than being viewed as having dysfunctional or deviant views and lifestyles." This shift is indicated by the American Psychiatric Association's forthcoming edition of "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" which presents "a highly revised stance towards religious experiences," according to Erling Jorstad, an RW contributing editor and professor of history at St. Olaf College. Historically, psychiatry has tended to regard religious belief as a delusion or evidence of immaturity, but in the last two decades psychiatry has been drawn into controversies over cults, brainwashing and alternative religious behavior. The manual now states that alternative states of consciousness, "peak experiences" and meditation may well have religious or spiritual origins rather than being evidence of mental illness. Religion Watch is published monthly with mailing address: P.O. Box 652, North Bellmore, NY 11710; (516) 785-6765.