NEWSLETTER

American Scientific Affiliation & Canadian Scientific Christian Affiliation

VOLUME 34 NUMBER 5                     OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 1992


NEWSLETTER of the ASA/CSCA is published bi-monthly for its membership by the American Scientific Affiliation, P.O. Box 668, 55  Mar ket
St., Ipswich, MA 01938. Tel. 508-356-5656, FAX: 508-356-4375. Information for the Newsletter may be sent to the Editor: Dr. Walter R.
Hearn, 762 Arlington Ave., Berkeley, CA 94707. 0 1992 American Scientific Affiliation (except previously published material). All fights reserved.

THINKING AHEAD

We know you want to hear about the 1992 ASA Annual Meeting in Hawaii. Something about the setting, theme, and program of that meeting, though, has us thinking already of the 1993 ANNUAL MEETING, to be held AUGUST 6-9 at SEAT`TLE PACIFIC UNIVERSITY in Seattle, Washington, with a focus on ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES.

From the outse-, much of die Hawaii meeting was devoted to thinking about ASA's future role. On Friday night we were welcomed by a chemist known since the 1950s for his contributions to electronic *instrumentation, Howard Malmstadt, Provost of our host institution. He described University of the Nations as a very experimental place. The University (known to Youth With a Mission folks as "the Kona base") has a modular, "hands-on" curriculum born of YWAM's efforts to channel the energies of Christians from around the world into active outreach projects, from evangelism and performing arts to disaster relief and appropriate technology.

Malmstadt's talk set the stage which was quickly filled with young Pacific island dancers of the "Island Breeze" company, one of YWAM's performing groups. Their rousing "Aloha" program raised the rafters and drummed out any stuffiness not left behind on the mainland.

The "formal" program began Saturday morning with one parallel session devoted primarily to science education, another on Christian responses to human needs. In the latter, ASA president Ken Dormer reported on ASA's ongoing efforts to help Christian colleagues in East Africa. Martin Price described hunger-related projects at ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization) in Florida.

After professional meteorologist Donna Tucker's Christian prospective on global warming, amateur meteorologist Jack Swearengen presented data on regional climate changes in his northern California area. Meanwhile, speakers in the other session were not only analyzing science education but some were describing their own approaches to doing a better job of it.

On Sunday afternoon there was no doubt about the excitement engendered by guest speaker Forrest Mims. Telling the tale of his rejection by Scientiftc American, Mims sincerely thanked ASA members for writing letters and offering encouragement at a critical time when he was being discriminated against because of his beliefs. Mims, who now edits Science Probe!, is a science writer, an instrument designer, and an "amateur scientist" whose unbounded enthusiasm for scientific experimentation proved infectious.

On Monday afternoon a panel from the four Saturday night discussion groups laid out a few "doable" projects ASA could undertake. By then, something seemed to gela feeling, perhaps, that ASA has devoted much attention to the philosophy of science/religion but too little to doing science as a Christian calling. For the next two days, small groups fanned out over the Big Island for field trips in rented cars and vans. They saw exciting things, which we'll tell you about later. Some of their car-pool conversations led to the next three stories.

LET'S DO IT!

Endiusiasm for "doing science" instead of merely talking about it ran high in Hawaii. The theme of "LOOKING TO THE FUTURE AND ACROSS THE GLOBE" got people to thinking about what form future meetings should take: Should we plan Annual Meeting programs more than a year ahead, structuring them for greater local impact and better press coverage? Could more "data-driven" empirical papers be included? Shouldn't ASA encourage certain types of research, in particular small-scale, labor-intensive, applied projects?

One argument seemed to go like this: Our Affiliation began 51 years ago with a stated purpose of "studying the relationship between science and theology and publishing the sults of such studies." Today all sorts of science/religion "think tanks" that didn't exist back in 1941 have sprung up. Without in any sense yielding ASA's philosophical territory to others, we could now add a more empirical focus.

Many speakers pointed to public disillusionment with science. Reporting on a current project of ASA's Committee for Integrity in Science Education, Walt Hearn argued that "authentic science" could use more visible support from "authentic Christians"; he hoped that On Being a Christian in Science would be a step in that direction. John Kuhne of University of the Nations, back from the environmental summit in Rio de Janeiro, said that in the light of both local and global environmental deterioration, evangelical Christians should not be passive but become "radically green."

One action-oriented ASA member pushed things in that direction by offering a $100 prize for the best environmental research done in the Lord's name and reported at next year's Seattle meeting. He persuaded your Weary Old Editor to announce immediately a sort of prize competition. By press time the Committee for Integrity in Science Education had taken up the idea, broadened the research areas to be covered, and upped the ante. The Committee's hastily drawn Contest Rules in the following story are set out to get people started on an appropriate investigation without delay.

The ASA Executive Council, which meets in Ipswich Nov 20-22, may want to modify things a bit. We're barging ahead because action taken then wouldn't be reported until the Feb/Mar issue. Research takes time to plan and carry out. The Committee sees the prize offer as itsetf an experiment. If it works, research reports could become a fixture of ASA meetings.

Nobel Prizes honor important research. We could call ours the No-grant Prizes, honoring "small research" that also contributes to useftil knowledge. For now we'll call them "Caring Research" Awards.

RESEARCH WITH A HEART

Announcement: The Committee for Integrity in Science Education of the American Scientific Affiliation hereby introduces the ASA AWARDS FOR CARING RE-

SEARCH for 1993, in three categories:

A. Caring for the Earth

B. Caring for People

C. Caring for Science

Each award, consisting of at least $100 in cash, will be given for the best empirical paper in that category presented at the 1993 ASA Annual Meeting at Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, Washington, 6-9 August 1993. Basic contest rules are as follows:

1. Papers must report a study based on experimentation or observation, using a format acceptable for scientific papers (e.g., an Introduction outlining the problem to be solved, followed by sections on Methods, Results, Conclusions, and References Cited). To be eligible, papers must be either unpublished or have appeared in print within the twelve months prior to the August 1993 Annual Meeting.

2. Research eligible for an award may be either "professional science" (i.e., work done on a problem in an investigator's own area of expertise) or "amateur science" (i.e., work in an area in which the investigator has an interest but no professional credentials such as an advanced degree). The awards are intended to stimulate both good amateur science and professional work by caring Christians.

3. Authors or coauthors need not be members of ASA or CSCA, but the individual presenting the paper must register for the 1993 ASA Annual Meeting. Christian motivation for vying to solve the specified problem must be implicit, yet need not be explicitly expressed in the paper. That is, research done with care for the needs of the Earth, of people, or of science may be reported in a form acceptable to an appropriate secular journal. Submission to such journals is encouraged.

4. Papers will be judged on the basis of creativity of the investigator(s); significance of the problem chosen; suitability of quantitative methods used; usefulness of data obtained; appropriateness of conclusions; and presentation of the paper as a talk or poster at the Annual Meeting as well as in manuscript form.

5. A copy of the manuscript, complete with graphs, tables, and any other illustrations, must be in the hands of the Awards Committee at the Annual Meeting by the time the paper is actually presented in a program session. A paragraph of biographical information on each author and coauthor must be appended to the paper (for press release purposes).

6. If possible, the 1993 Caring Research Awards will be presented at the close of the Sea?& meeting; otherwise, checks will be mailed by the Awards Committee soon afterward and the winners announced in the Newsletter.

GET QUANTITATIVE

1. Caring for the Earth. The environmentalist's motto is "think globally but act locally." Several papers in Hawaii showed that even amateurs can make useful atmospheric measurements or calculations based on local or regional variations. Quantitative studies could be made of local sources of pollution; of community waste disposal problems; of ecological diversity; of recycling effectiveness; of educational efforts, legal constraints, political controversies, or technical alternatives. Read the local papers as well as the technical literature, and use your imagination. If you teach, put a class to work gathering data. Or enlist the help of your family or church group, educating them about science in the process. Even young kids could learn a lot about experimental design, quantitative measurement, record keeping, sampling error, and so on from simply cataloguing the "waste stream" of your own household, their school, or a local factory.

2. Caring for People. For millions of people, even the most basic human needs are not being met. Research to meet the needs of the poor is seldom done because it is not "profitable." If you can't think of a feasible research project to do on behalf of needy people, write to Martin Price (ECHO, 17430 Durrance Rd, N. Ft. Myers,
FL 33917) for a set of Academic Opportunity Sheets. They outline clear-cut technical problems needing immediate work to benefit the poorest of the world's poor, who have few if any advocates. (Chemist Rolf Myhrman of Judson College is already working on how to cope with high levels of DOPA in protein-rich velvet beans now grown 'in Belize, a problem Martin mentioned in Hawaii.) Do public or private agencies need technical assistance to facilitate their services to the poor? Could a "gleaning" operation be set up to help feed the hungry? Would some form of "appropriate technology" benefit local poor people? What are the dimensions of the problems of hunger, homelessness, or health in your area? What about a cost-benefit analysis of various ways of coping with such problems, or a study of what churches or other organizations are actually doing about such problems? Which youth programs achieve results? How serious a problem to children is lead pollution in your area? If your family offered hospitality to poor people, would it make any measurable difference in their lives?

3. Caring for Science. Why not experiment with teaching a new kind of course and try to measure its effectiveness? What about making a study of science-related curriculum materials used in your district? What science-related books are in school and church libraries? What innovative local section programs work? A "science camp" for kids? If you prepared a good bibliography on science/faith issues, how could you get it distributed? Through Christian bookstores? As church bulletin inserts? What would it take to get ASA members on the air on radio or television in your area? If you began writing letters to your local newspaper on scientific subjects, what fraction would be published? What would help science teachers in your local schools do a better job? Could you help them obtain used scientific equipment? How well trained are they? Would they be interested in cumiculum materials that teach critical thinking skills? What resources in your community (such as museums, factories, artists, etc.) could be used more effectively in teaching science? What are the best ways to encourage Christian students to go into science? To mentor graduate students? To meet the personal needs of scientific colleagues? To promote the goals of ASA in your area? What
works? What doesn't work?

These ideas for feasible quantitative studies fell out in a few minutes when the Weary Old Editor stormed his own brain. Any bright young scientist worth his or her sodium chloride could do better (WOE is me.-Ed.). Like Christianity, though, science is easier to talk about than to do. One purpose of the Caring Research Awards is to remind us that doing science should be a joyful, creative activity. As grants get harder to come by, that's good to remember. Another thing to remember: ASA members are in scientific work to glorify God and to care for his Creation. Let's inspire each other in 1993.

COMING SOON ...

From an enchanted island. Tales X of the mid-Pacific. Revealing photos (if they come out). Lava. Coral reefs. Surf. Sea turtles. Orchids, anthuria, coconut palms. Geckos, mongooses, myna birds. Flora, fauna, passion fruit More lava. Predictions of the future of physical, biological, and medical science. Great papers, discussions, ideas. Good news and bad from our friends in Kenya. ASAers from "Across the Globe" gather, then scatter. Great hospitality at "Kona base." Lots of sun. Lots of fun. Lotsa lava-and more!

Worship, fellowship, exploration. Christian geologists and biologists meet, trip out. Peak experiences on Mauna Kea. New ASA Fellows elected. Council gets counsel on endowment fund. ASA gets recognition in Spanish, in a publication from Spain. More recognition in Chinese, in a new book from Taiwan. Steve Gould & Co. take aim at Phil Johnson; Johnson returns fire. Strange happenings in California science education. Help for Christian grad students coming up. Caring for the Earth, for people, for science. This year the Earth Summit in Rio.
Next year the ASA Annual Meeting in Seattle!  All these stories, and more, in coming issues.

BULLETIN BOARD

- David K. Larsen (5412 S. Ingleside Ave Apt 3, Chicago, IL 60615), 1 Phb. student at the U. of Chicago Divinity School, plans a dissertation on Christian responses to environmental problems. He has requested information on ASA and would probably welcome correspondence from ASA members who have 'addressed such issues.

- The Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Institute (IBRI, P.O. Box 423, Hatfield, PA 19440-0423), will hold its 6th annual seminar on origins held at Biblical Seminary in Hatfield on Friday evening through Saturday, 22-23 Oct 1992. A 9-volume video set of a previous "Dice or Deity" seminar is available, as are some new publications: IBRI Research Report #40, "Are the Days of Genesis Longer than 24 Hours? The Bible Says, 'Yes!"' by Perry Phillips costs $2 plus p&h (p&h: 10% of total order or $1.50 minimum). A request plus a self-addressed stamped envelope will get you a free copy of IBRI's 4-page bibliography, "Some Helpful Resources for Home-Schoolers on Origins and Christian Evidences."

- A "Ministry in Daily Life  Consultation will be held in the Washington, D.C., area the weekend of 13 Nov 1992, The event will begin on Friday night with the annual Mark Gibbs Laity Lecture at Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia. For information, write to Editor Henry Sholar, Laity
Exchange, 311 MacArthur Blvd, San Leandro, CA 94577. Laity Exchange is published by the Vesper Society Group in partnership with denominations and institutions concerned about stirring up and supporting the day-to-day ministry of all Christians. At a similar Consultation in Sept 1991 at Daylesford Abbey in Paoli, Pennsylvania, Princeton sociologist Robert Wuthnow described various models of the church and the implications of each for activating lay ministry. (That's lay, not lei; it includes all Christians in science and technology, not just Hawaiians who put garlands of fresh flowers around visitors' necks-Ed.)

- At the American Academy of Religion meeting in San Francisco, 21-24 Nov 1992, the Religion & Science Group will host a reception. (Contact: AAR Meeting Manager, Scholars Press, P.O. Box 15299, Atlanta, GA 30333-0399.)

- The meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Boston, 11-16 Feb 1993, will feature three "Science and Religion" symposia among many others of ASA interest. An AAAS affiliate society, the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS, 65 Hoit Rd, Concord, NH 03301) has proposed such symposia in the past, sometimes with success. In Jan 1992 Kevin Sharpe, editor of the IRAS-sponsored Science & Religion News, asked for proposals for the IRAS Council to consider at the 1992 AAAS meeting in Chicago. IRAS also publishes Zygon. Check future issues of Science for program details or contact AAAS (1333 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005).

Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, will hold a forum on "Ethics, Values, and the Promise of Science" in San Francisco, 25-26 Feb 1993. The forum will focus on "the ethical framework in which research should be conducted, and will include the new challenges raised by pursuit of the frontiers of science." The Society hopes to disseminate the results to its more than 100,000 members in the research community and to update its booklet of guidelines for young scientists, Honor in Science. For registration information, contact Linda Ray, Sigma Xi, P.O. Box 13975, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. (Should ASA have a presence there?-Ed.)

- C. Gordon Winder is organizing a session on "What Is Life?" for the July 1993 biennial meeting of the international Society for the History, Philosophy, & Social Studies of Biology at Brandeis U. in Waltham, Massachusetts. His session will precede a session on "History of the Origins of Life Problem." He is requesting submissions of "dictionary-type" definitions of life in about 200 words, understandable by the general public, by 28 Feb 1993. (Address: Dept of Geology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada; Fax: 519-661-3198.) To those who submit, Winder will circulate the definitions without identifying the submissions, before the meeting.

- The North American Conference on Christianity & Ecology (NACCE) will hold a 2nd touring ecological conference in Russia, 7-24 July 1993. From Moscow the tour will travel into the agricultural heartland to explore the traditional (pre-communist) Russian ethic of the land. At the initial 1991 conference, the Zelenyi Krist ("Green Cross") of Russia invited NACCE to organize a loosely affiliated earth-restoration organization in the West. The proposed Green Cross would care for the earth's needs just as the international Red Cross cares for human needs. NACCE hopes to build the Green Cross into the first church-oriented earth restoration effort in North America, linking it to international efforts as the movement grows. Recognizing that ecumenical efforts are not very effective in enlisting local church participation, NACCE is now developing denomination-specific materials for environmental education. Handbooks tailored for Baptists, Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Orthodox, Pentecostal-Assembly of God, and a general Protestant version will contain similar lesson plans, programs, and resources. These two projects, plus another plan for providing environmental education through a summer camping program for inner-city youth, will go forward as funds become available. A good way to stay in touch is to read the quarterly Firmament: The Magazine of Christian Ecology by joining NACCE (P.O. Box 14305, San Francisco, CA 94114) for $25/yr, which also brings you the new bimonthly Earthkeeping
Newsletter.
(Shouldn't NACCE have a presence at the 1993 ASA ANNUAL MEETING in Seattle?-Ed.)


SQUIBS

- Educatonal Concerns for Hunger Organization (ECHO, 17430 Durrance Rd, North Ft. Myers, FL 33917-2200) is a "nonprofit interdenominational Christian organization dedicated to the fight against world hunger." It provides agricultural information and seeds to people working in the Third World with peasant farmers or urban gardeners. The May-July issue of ECHO News summarized articles from the latest quarterly agricultural bulletin, ECHO Development Notes (EDN), on such topics as farming in volcanic ash, keeping monkeys out of gardens, and a new tomato variety that tolerates tropical heat. EDN goes to some 2,700 people in over 100 countries, and to U.S. residents interested in Third World development ($10/yr; $5/yr for students). ECHO News, sent free on request, also outlines ECHO's particular needs for financial support and for dedicated volunteers. (In August, ECHO suffered little or no damage from Hurricane Andrew, whose 140-mph winds passed about 60 miles to the south.-Ed.)

- The Institute for Christian Studies (ICS, 229 College St, Toronto, Ontario M5T IR4, Canada), a graduate school devoted to "the integration of Christianity and academics," celebrates its 25th anniversary this fall. Since 1967, hundreds of full-time students have spent time at ICS and over 90 have graduated from its Masters-level degree programs.

- Since 1978, the Center of "Ibeological Inquiry (CTI, 50 Stockton St, Princeton, NJ 08540) has sought to provide new contexts for discussing what CTI director Daniel W. Hardy has called "the largest issue confronting thoughtful people in the world today: what relationship does faith have to the modem understanding of life?" This year Thomas W. Gillespie became chair of the Center's board of trustees, replacing Roland M. Frye ed., Is God a Creationist?, Scribners, 1983). According to the semi-annual CTI Centerings (Summer 1992), Gillespie has been on the CTI board since 1983, when he became, president of Princeton Theological Seminary.


- Not to be confused with CTI (above) is CTi (with a small i), the Christianity Today Institute, a panel of evangelical scholars assembled by Christianity Today
from time to time to discuss issues pertinent to the magazine's readership. The 17 Aug issue of CT welcomed Miami (OH) University history professor Edwin
Yamauchi as a new senior editor. Other ASA members among CT fellows and research scholars have been Elving Anderson, Carl F. H. Henry, Armand Nkholi, Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen, Charles Hummel, David Moberg, Stephen Monsma, and W. Stanford Reid.

- The Creation Research Society (CRS) has received a major grant to build and operate a research facility near Chino Valley, Arizona. Founded in 1963, CRS is composed of "more thaii 700 scientists who are committed to a Biblical view of origins." The CRS Quarterly is described as "the world's foremost scholarly technical publication in creation science." The new CRS facility, funded by the Jay & Betty Van Andel Foundation, will be named The Van Andel Research Center. John R. Meyer, chair of the CRS Research Committee (1306 Fairview Road, Clarks Summit, PA 18411), will direct the new center, which will be staffed by visiting scientists from throughout North America. Initial research projects will include re-evaluation of the geology and origin of the Grand Canyon, limits in the variation of animal and plant populations, re-evaluation of the fossil record, and a complete study of geological dating procedures. The Van Andel Center will house several laboratories, support shops, and a technical research library.

- David Willis of Oregon State University has alerted us to the existence of an M.S. thesis on "History and Analysis of the Creation Research Society" (I Mar

1990) by William E. Elliott (4136 Cranston SE, Salem, OR 97301). Elliott came to OSU as a faculty member of Western Baptist College in Salem, with a background in science and a theological degree from Grace Theological Seminary. While working on his graduate degree in the history of science, Elliott served as a TA in physical science in Dave's department. Since Dave Willis was phasing into full retirement by 1989, he didn't serve on Elliott's committee. When Dave came across the completed thesis this June, he was impressed with its thoroughness and objectivity on such issues as the relationship of CRS to ASA, for example. The thesis can be obtained from the OSU Library on interlibrary loan, or perhaps Bill Elliott would lend you a copy.

- A timely book by medieval historian Jeffrey Burton Russell, Inventing the Flat Earth: Columbus and Modern Historians (Praeger, 1992), was reviewed in First Things (Mar 1992, pp. 45- 46) by Robert Royal of the Ethics & Public Policy Center. The review says that by 1492 essentially all educated Europeans already knew that the world wasn't flat. For various reasons, later historians invented the myth that Columbus's voyage revolutionized thought on the subject, some wanting to demonstrate the superiority of the modem world or to portray Christianity as "a reactionary force and an opponent of enlightenment. Cosmas Indicopleustes (writing around 547-549), one of only two ancient writers of any importance to put forth a flat-Earth theory, was unknown to Western Europe until 1706. In his Divine Comedy (written about 1300), Dante took a spherical Earth for granted. After 1870, certain defenders of Darwin wanted to make ideas that seemed "biblical" look foolish; by ignoring the evidence from medieval scholarship then available, Andrew Dickson White and others created "a body of false knowledge" about "the Flat Error." (Thanks to Dave Fisher of Wheaton, Illinois, for spotting this review. If beliefs about progress influence the writing of human history, might they also influence views of the history of other life-forms?-Ed.)

- The 20 Jul 1992 issue of Christianity Today (p. 53) contained a brief squib condensed from "A Whale of a Tale," Edward Davis's paper in Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith (Dec 1991) on a fictitious "fish story" that has often found its way into sermons on the book of Jonah. (CT used the old name, Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, but who cares? This way ASA actually got mentioned by name.-Ed.)

- "The Puzzle of Perfection," Chapter 14 of Michael Denton's Evolution: A Theory in Crisis is available in Russian translation for 75 cents/copy, postpaid, according to Dave Fisher. The 32- page booklet can be ordered from Dave at the Slavic Gospel Association, P.O. Box 1122, Wheaton, IL 60189-1122. (Tom Woodward of the C. S. Lewis Fellowship was able to distribute 9,000 of these in Russian universities this spring.-Ed.)

- The International Association for the Promotion of Christian Higher Education (IAPCHE) has undergone a number of changes in the past two years. After being housed temporarily at Dordt and Calvin colleges, it has an office at 2017 Eastern Ave SE, Suite 203, Grand Rapids, MI 49507. Its periodical,. Contact, now in newsletter rather than journal format, is edited by Paul G. Schrotenboer. Contact continues to link Christian institutions and scholars together under a worldwide Reformational banner. In the 1980s, what to do about the racial policies of Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education in South Africa was a cause of concern to IAPCHE. An IAPCHE conference at the U. of Zimbabwe in Harare, Zimbabwe, was postponed from Aug 1990 to Mar 1991, when it was held despite organizational problems caused by the Gulf War. A conference on Christian Higher Education in Eastern Europe is being planned for Hungary in 1993. Groups from Asia and Latin America have also asked for help. IAPCBE hopes to double its membership in 1992
.

WHEREVER GOD WANTS US: 24.

- Dorothy Woodside has spent the past year at Chitokoloki Hospital in the bush of Zambia, Africa, delivering babies, learning the language(s) and culture(s), and encountering diseases she never saw in the States. She has enjoyed watching Zambian birds and sharing her faith with hospital workers and villagers. As an amateur astronomer she appreciates the clear skies. When we heard from her in the spring she had decided to stay on, after a trip to California
this summer to do something about her mobile home, car, and other possessions. If she qualified for a free "frequent flyer" ticket, she even hoped to attend the ASA Annual Meeting in Hawaii.

Evidently the Hawaii part didn't work out, though she would definitely have contributed to our "Across the Globe" theme. Speaking of contributions, her hospital can always use good clothing, shoes, bedding, baby blankets, and knitted baby things, sent to her at P.O. Box 25, Chitokoloki, Zambezi, Zambia, Africa (marked "Gift for missionary"). Checks for Dorothy's financial support should be sent to CMML (Christian Missions in Many Lands), P.O. Box 13, Spring Lake, NJ 07762, with a separate note indicating that the funds are for Dorothy Woodside in Zambia. As a child Dorothy wanted to be a "missionary nurse in Africa." The Lord has given her the desire of her heart, but she asks for our prayers in an area ridden with bacterial diseases and parasites.

- Besides Zambezi, about the farthest-out place we can think of is "outer" Mongolia, where two former ASAers have been at work this year in the name of Christ. Warren Willis, once a Campus Crusade staffer in Berkeley and then in Guam, has been leading a team showing the "Jesus" filin in the Mongolian language. Frank Tichy spent the first three months of 1992 in follow-up ministry in places like Ulan Bator (the capital), Darkhan (the second largest city), and provincial centers like

Mandelgobi. The film was shown to 50,000 people, each of whom received a Gospel of Luke in Mongolian. Frank then returned to California, where the Tichys, who served 21 years in West Africa, represent the U.S. Center for World Mission. Frank headed back to Mongolia in September. He and Nancy may both go tn April 1993, if they can find financial support. (Checks made payable to Bible Fellowship Church without further notation will be cftted to the Tichys' account if sent to them at 1600 S. San Jacinto Ave, #44, San Jacinto, CA 92583.)

"Bud" Tichy says the gospel is taking an amazing hold in Mongolia, one of the strictest Buddhist nations on earth until it became the first communist country in Asia in 1921. In 1990 it declared itself free of Soviet domination, and in 1992 it adopted a constitution guaranteeing religious freedom. Though only a handful of Christims were known to be in Mongolia in 1990, since that time three churches have emerged and the number of Christians, mostly under age 25, is growing. Economic life is in turmoil in what amounts to a brand new country twice the size of Texas with a population of over two million. In June the communist party won some 95 percent of the seats in parliament. Pray for Mongolia and for our brothers and sisters serving there.

- If you have a Ph.D. in religion, theology, education, psychology, sociology, economics, history, political science, or literature, plus experience in articulating a Christian worldview in an academic setting, the International Institute for Christian Studies (IICS) is looking for you. IICS is an evangelical organization that tries to place Christian professors in "Christian studies" slots in secular universities. IICS has signed contracts with universities throughout the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. To find out more about this strategic opportunity, contact: IICS, P.O. Box 12147, Overland Park, KS 66282-2147; tel. 1-800-776-IICS. (Source: The News of the Christian College Coalition.)


WITH THE LORD

Bernard Ramm of Irvine, California, died in his sleep on 11 Aug 1992, after a lifetime of theological scholarship. Although he wrote many books on many subjects, it was The Christian View of Science and Scripture (Eerdmans, 1954) for which he was best known within ASA, and which led to his election as an Honorary Fellow of ASA in 1963.

"Bernie" Ramm grew up in the northwest, thought about majoring in chemistry but switched to speech at the U. of Washington. To his A.B. from Washington he added a B.D. at Eastern Baptist Seminary, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in philosophy at the U. of Southern California. While studying at USC he taught a course in science and religion at Biola College. He later served on the faculties of Bethel College and Seminary, Baylor University, American Baptist Seminary of the West (Covina), Eastern Baptist Seminary, and American Baptist Seminary of the West (Berkeley), and taught at a number of other schools, including Haigazian College in Beirut, Lebanon.

For other details of Bernie's life, and the impact of his writing on others, see the Dec 1979 issue of Journal of ASA, a Festschrift marking the 25th anniversary of publication of The Christian View of Science and Scripture. (For that issue, I had the privilege of interviewing Bernie and his wife Alta, who survives him. I knew I was in the presence of a true scholar and a dear brother and sister. After Parkinson's disease forced his retirement and move to southern California, he complained that nobody else in the retirement home where they lived ever read a book. "They just want to play bridge or golf," he said.--Ed.)

On learning of his death, the ASA Executive Council sent Alta Ramm a message of sympathy and made a donation in Bernie's memory to a designated benevolent fund through Geneva Presbyterian Church at Laguna Hills, California. Bernard Ramm will be included in the memorial resolution read at the 1993 Annual Meeting in Seattle.

THE EDITOR'S LAST WORDS: 23.

0ops. Room for only a few short words. How about: wua ffwu ke ea o ka aina i ka pono? (Hawaiian state motto, "Me life of the land is preserved in righteousness.")

PERSONALS

Arnold Claassen of Newton, Kansas, is a medical technologist who has retired after working in a hospital laboratory for over 35 years. He earned his B.S. in biology from Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas, and in 1961 completed the hours but not the thesis required for an M.S. at the U. of Minnesota. Retirement has given Arnold more time to be active with the Gideons and to catch up on his reading. Impressed with Denton's Evolution: A Theory in Crisis and Johnson's Darwin on Trial, he worries that some of the "textbook dogma" taught to science students is "being less than honest with our youth." As a new ASA member this year, Arnold enjoys both the journal and Newsletter.

William H. Cliff has become assistant professor of biology at Niagara University (Niagara, NY 14109), after doing postdoctoral work in the Dept of Physiology & Biophysics at the U. of Alabama in Birmingham. For four years Bill has studied the function of chloride channels in normal human epithelial cells and how dysfunction of those channels leads to symptoms of the genetic disease cystic fibrosis. He has enjoyed a productive collaboration with Francis Collins's cystic fibrosis lab at the U. of Michigan. At Niagara Bill will continue his research on chloride channels, supervise undergraduate research, and teach human and cell physiology. Bill and wife Nancy have two daughters, Abigail and Hannah.

Norman Geisler has become dean and CEO of a new graduate school of theology, Southern Evangelical Seminary, which will offer Master of Divinity and Master of Theological Studies degrees. According to a news note in Christianity Today (17 Aug 1992), the seminary will be housed at Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Norm has a B.A. and M.A. from Wheaton, a Th.B. from William Tyndale College, and a Ph.D. from Loyola U. in Chicago. He has taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Dallas Theological Seminary, and other institutions. After the initial announcement, nearly 200 people expressed interest in taking courses at the new seminary. Dean Geisler was scheduled to teach a course in Christian apologetics as classes began this fall.

Eldon Hitchcock retired in June 1992 after 35 years of teaching chemistry at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. He will remain at the college as pre-med advisor and continue to work with local school districts and the Colorado Alliance for Science as a guest scientist in elementary and junior high classrooms. An analytical chemist, Eldon has had great fun delivering chemical lecture-demonstrations in local schools for the past 20 years. Many ASAers will remember him as the busy local arrangements chair for our 1987 Annual Meeting at Colorado College. After that meeting, he and others in the area organized a Rocky Mountain ASA Section, with Eldon serving as co-chair until last year. He joined ASA in the early 1950s. Eldon expressed appreciation for the "encouragement and inspiration I have received from the journal, Newsletter, and the national and local section meetings I've attended.

Ann Hunt, chemist and former ASA president, is on a year's study leave at the Scripps Research Institute in LaJolla, California. She is learning the ins and outs of macromolecular nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometry, so when she gets back to Eli Lilly in Indianapolis she will switch from using NMR for elucidating structures of small molecules to using it to study protein structures. Living in Solana Beach by the ocean, Ann has found the ground a bit shakier than in Indiana and the climate more like that of Louisiana, where she once did postdoctoral work. She has been delighted to discover Solana Beach Presbyterian church.

William B. Monsma, director of the MacLaurin Institute at the U. of Minnesota, has been teaching physics for Augsburg College in their extension program at 3M Company in Minneapolis. During the academic year he taught electromagnetic theory and this summer he taught quantum physics. Bill says that a debate on "Jesus: Myth or History?" at U.M. this spring drew 500 people, mostly students. U.M. classics prof Gerald Erickson argued that Jesus was a typical mythic hero; Bethel College theology prof Gregory Boyd argued for the historicity of the resurrection.

Chris G. Palacas and his wife Jane are missionaries seconded to the Ugandan Church in East Affrica. They help the national church establish community clinics as outreach ministries of local churches. Chris says that in the 2040 age group in Uganda, over 45 percent of the population is HIV positive. According to some estimates, by the year 2000 more than 10 million children in East Africa will be homeless because their parents will have died of AIDS.

Hugh Ross of Reasons to Believe (RTB) is excited about the recent confirmation of big bang cosmology by instruments on NASA's COBE satellite. Believing that the big bang was not a random explosion but "a carefully controlled burst of matter, energy, space, and time from a reality that exists beyond," Hugh is convinced that "the more we learn about that burst, the more we see the hand of the transcendent Creator in it." RTB would like to assemble an international symposium of scientists to express what the new astronomical findings mean, and is working on several new publications. Meanwhile Hugh has produced an audiotape, "Big Bang Ripples," explaining in down-to-earth language how the new evidence points to the God of the Bible. The tape is available for $5.00 postpaid from Reasons to Believe (P.O. Box 5978, Pasadena, CA 91117). Hugh would welcome contributions toward RTB's ministry of apologetics and evangelism.

Henry F. Schaefer, Graham Perdue Professor of Chemistry at the University of Georgia, lectured on quantum chemistry and gave his Christian testimony in St. Petersburg, Russia, this spring. "Fritz" also ranked 3rd in a list of "the world's 50 most cited chemists ranked by total citations, 1984-1991." His 142 papers published in 1984-1990 were cited 2,504 times (an average of 17.63 times per paper, compared to about 5 for the average chemistry paper). The list appeared in Science Watch (May 1992), a publication of the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) tracking "trends and performance in basic research." The citation data were derived from a set of 377,790 articles, reviews, and notes published in the 339 chemistry journals indexed by ISI worldwide. Four Nobel Prize winners appeared in the list: E. J. Corey, Harvard (9th); R. R. Ernst, Switzerland (10th); R. Hoffmann, Cornell (13th); and J. M. Lehn, France (21st). Fritz Schaefer topped the list for total number of papers published.

Ken W. Smith is assoc. professor of mathematics at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant. Listening to the "Art of Family Living" broadcast on WUGN radio this summer, Ken took exception to its promotion of a "young-earth" position as the only legitimate Christian interpretation of Genesis. He wrote to the speaker, with copies to the program manager and the station, calling attention to the many evangelical Christians working in science who take a different view. He praised the more balanced treatment by "Focus on the Family," which aired conversations with both young earther Duane Gish of Institute for Creation Research and old-earther Hugh Ross of Reasons to Believe in August. Ken enclosed copies of John McIntyre's call for Christian participation in science and Dan Wonderly's call for honesty in Bible/science matters from the June 1992 Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith. He suggested that the speaker could get a broader view by conversing "with practically any of the 2,300 members of the American Scientific Affiliation." 

Thomas E. Woodward of Florida has been traveling so much for the C. S. Lewis Fellowship that his wife Normandy could go with him to the ASA Meeting in Hawaii on a free "frequent flyer" ticket. The CSL Fellowship is devoted to evangelism among academics, particularly overseas. In Vienna, Austria, and Budapest, Hungary, this summer Tom led seminars on science and apologetics, gave Christian books to key professors, and planned strategy for future contacts. Then he traveled with philosopher Alvin Plantinga, who lectured at universities in Hungary, Romania, Moscow, Siberia, and Germany on evidence for the existence of God. (C. S. Lewis Fellowship, P.O. Box 9000, Holiday, FL 34690).