NEWSLETTER

of the

American Scientific Affiliation & Canadian Scientific & Christian Affiliation


Volume 35 Number 5                                                      October/November 1993


The NEWSLETTER of the ASA/CSCA is published bi-monthly for its membership by the American Scientific Affiliation, P.O. Box 668, 55 Market St., Ipswich, MA 019380668. Tel. 508-356-5656, FAX: 508-3564375, Email: asa@junkyard.UUCP. Information for the Newsletter may be sent to the Editor: Dennis Feucht, RD I Box 35A, Townville, PA 16360-9404. Please send Canadian matters to: Dr. W.D. Morrison, CSCA, P.O. Box 386, Fergus, ONT N1M 3E2 Canada

"Christians Ponder Stewardship"

... so the headline read, reporting the ASA 48th Annual Meeting in the Seattle area M~rning News Tribune. This year's "Caring for Creation" theme was keynoted, as the Seattle Times put it, by an "Environmentalist guided by biblical tenets," Dr. Calvin B. DeWitt, of the University of Wisconsin, "an ecologist since the age of three." In the land of the spotted owl and vast forests of Douglas fir, ASAers had an opportunity to visit one of America's wilderness areas, the Olympic National Park, across Puget Sound and next to the Ho Rain Forest.

Dr. DeWitt's keynote addresses established the ecology emphasis of the Meeting. After recounting some divine provisions for creation, such as soil building processes and global air and water circulation as means of natural ventilation, Cal noted that the biblical injunction to "be fruitful and multiply" was spoken not only to people but to the whole creation, and that "it would be arrogant for us to say this fruitfulness should be diminished."

But degradation is taking place in planetary energy exchange, land, water and even cultural knowledge about uses of plants. Mentioned as examples were the labor-intensive but preservational farming practices of the Amish of Lancaster Co. PA, whose goal is not productivity per se (though if Lancaster Co. were a state, it would be 17th in agricultural productivity) but contentment and long-term commitment to the land - While making no appearance in scientific journals, they have "published in me landscape" and have practiced their care of creation out of love for its Creator.

Ecological aphorisms were scattered throughout Cal's talks. He talked, for example, about the Zebra mussel in the Great Lakes, which out-competes other species and clogs vents. Cal noted that 11 you couldn't filter the Great Lakes for a lower price." Also, we dump rain runoff from pavement into storm drains that contribute to river flooding instead of letting the water soak back in and replenish the water tables. These and other examples demonstrated how we often fall short of a stewardship view of creation.

DeWitt's lectures were more than theoretical abstractions or passive lamentations, however. In his last lecture, he told the story of his move to a marsh in the Town of Dunn, south of Madison, where his vision of stewardship caught on, transforming it into a rich ecological attraction in the region. While "it is possible to know a whole lot about the world and not even know our own back yard," Cal's personal examples, given as stories in style and tone not unlike those of Garrison Keillor, blended a biblical creation spirituality with environmental science. We sang the doxology twice during his lectures as a response to the compelling case made for the goodness of the Creator.

While a few of Cal's scientific statements were considered too generalized by some in attendance, his vision and example left no doubt that as Christians, we are called to be stewards of God's creation wherever we are.

This entire issue of the Newsletter could not contain all the stories Cal shared-of encounters with hard-core New Agers and of teaching urbanized students about forest ecology-and are best left for him to tell on audio-tapes, which can be ordered for $15 (set of 3) plus $2 postage (4th class) from: ASA Tape Service, c/o The Sanders Christian Foundation, P.O. Box 2094, South Hamilton, MA 01982-0094. Other taped presentations are also available.


Report from Kenya
by Walt Heam

At the Business Meeting, ASA Coun X_Xcil Member Ken Dormer gave an exciting report on the African Institute for Scientific Research & Development (AISRED). Ken had visited Nairobi in April, saving ASA funds by traveling under other auspices as well. He may be able to continue that in the future, having just become Chairman of a joint African/American Subcommittee of the American Physiological Society.

In 1985, parasitologist George Kinoti addressed ASA and our British counterparts (now called Christians in Science) at a joint meeting in Oxford, England. He and his colleague Wilfred Mlay (both from InterVarsity-type IFES backgrounds) then came to our 1990 meeting at Messiah College to explore what ASA could do to help realize their dream of an R&D institution run by African Christians. In 1992, three ASA members serving on AISRED's board went to Nairobi, and at our Hawaii meeting, Ken Dormer made his initial report.

Impressed by that report, Kenneth Barrows, a Santa Barbara, CA physician attending his first ASA Meeting with friend Wendell Hyde, donated a computer to AISRED. On his April 1993 visit, Ken Dormer was able to set up the computer and teach George Kinoti how to use it, a significant leap forward. Ken had just discovered SatelLife, a nonprofit telecommunications satellite project, initiated by International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, to cut the cost to Third World health professionals of obtaining medical information. The HealthNet system has seven transmitting/receiving stations in Africa, including one in Nairobi, linking that continent to medical libraries and researchers in the U.S. and around the world.

Meanwhile, on its new campus, Daystar, the Christian university under which AISRED operates, assigned AISRED a bushy plot of ground for agricultural research. Martin Price of ECHO had suggested investigating reported anti-tick properties of the serni-arid plant genus Commiphora. Sure enough, at least three species of Conitniphora were already growing on AISRED's plot. Ken helped George Kinoti write a proposal for a small grant On control of tick-borne dis-


What are ASA Annual Meetings Like?

The Annual Meeting has a core of about 50 regular attendees out of typically 100-200 in attendance. This is less than 10% of the ASA membership, and many members have never been to an Annual Meeting. The Big Event rotates across the USA (occasionally going overseas), and will be in your region (East, Midwest, or West) in its regular three-year cycle.

The Annual Meeting is like a church camp and science conference combined: a spiritual fellowship with a rare concentration of scientists who care about wider issues. The mood is both cognitive and warm, spirited yet level-headed. From various projects or activities come initiators who share their stories of adventure at the spiritual and scientific leading edge, where issues of science and faith are making history. ASAers are there! Life within our specialized enclaves is pleasantly interrupted by this extended weekend of expanded horizons and motivational renewal that is the ASA Annual Meeting. If you have yet to participate, mark your itinerary for next summer: 28 JUL through I AUG 1994, at Bethel College in St. Paul, MN. If human beings need new experiences, as Maslow says, this is one to have!



eases, to enable AISRED to screen various species and begin cultivating species with high activity. The grant would put AISRED on the map as a functioning R&D institute.

Speaking of map, at the Nairobi office of Medical Assistance Programs (MAP, Int'l), Ken explored possibilities for collaborative projects between AISRED and MAP, not only in research but also in providing public health information via churches.

Where does this all leave ASA/CSCA? Right in the middle of remarkable opportunities to network with scientifically trained Africans for the glory of God. For example, to submit a grant proposal to a U.S. foundation by mail or facsimile entails delay, risk of loss, or prohibitive costs for AISRED -but a proposal can be transmitted via the Health-Net system almost instantaneously at no cost to African applicants.

It will soon be possible for AISRED to access any ASA/CSCA member who has a computer and modem. Ken suggests that ASA research workers in fields related to AISRED's concerns (human & veterinary medicine, agriculture, public health, economic and community development) should send to Ipswich not only our e-mail addresses but also a statement of research areas in which we can serve AISRED as consultants or literature searchers. Things are beginning to happen.

Another possibility with far-reaching implications is AISRED's potential to offer technical support to other African institutes. Remember Howard Malmstadt, an electronic wizard and our host at YWAM's University of the Nations in Hawaii? At this year's Annual Meeting, Howard said he would be willing to go to YWAM's office in Nairobi to provide top-notch training in instrument maintenance to talented young Africans selected by AISRED. Several ASA members have already offered to help support that highly significant project when everything finally comes together.

Foundations have had such bad experiences with waste and corruption in the past that they are reluctant to give money directly to African institutions. ASA's "sponsorship" of AISRED provides initial credibility and a chance to prove that an African organization run by evangelical Christians can operate with fiscal integrity. It gives ASAers a chance to foster AISRED's work with our skills and our financial support. Stay tuned!


Seattle Meeting Reported in National Press

An Associated Press article spotted in the Santa Barbara News Press (8 Aug 93), entitled "Christian scientists ponder nature," quotes ASA executive director Robert Herrmann: "The idea of being licensed to just use creation as we choose, for our benefit -it's taken us some time to realize that's not what the Bible says. It says we must care for it, and be stewards, and if we don't, there won't be anything to enjoy." The ASA was characterized as conservative, although not fundamentalist, with much debate within the organization.

The nationwide distribution of Teaching Science in a Climate of Controversy to 40,000 biology teachers was also noted, along with reference to the keynote addresses by Calvin DeWitt, and his activist ecology students.

The AP article also appeared in The Morning News Tribune (7 Aug 93) in the Seattle area, in somewhat expanded form, citing talks by program chair Joseph Sheldon on the plight of the South American rain forest, Jack Swearengen's "From Defense of the Nation to Defense of the Environment," (also shared by Carolyn Pura), and David Willis's "The U.S. EPA and the Safe Drinking Water Act: An Example of Capital Regulatory Zeal and Scientific Folly."

ASA Council Meets

Biochemist Kenneth C. Olson of Genentech, in the S.F. Bay Area, and another Ken, physical chemist Kenneth A. Martin of Point Loma College, San Diego, are candidates for election to the Council, as past president Ken Dormer completes his final year. Work continues on an ASA endowment program with the development of an investment committee consisting of Fred S. Hickernell, Ray Brand and David Wilcox. Two Boston investment firms will provide counsel. The TV series project has begun a major funding campaign, with producer-director Geoff Haines-Stiles, narrator Owen Gingerich, and ASA coordinator Bob Herrmann working closely with a New York fund-raising agency. The goal is $3.5 million for production and advertising. (Know any sources? Contact Bob Herrmann.) President Betty Zipf set the tone of the meeting by sharing a personal experience of answered prayer. The Council also announced a timetable for recruting a new Executive Director. Letters of interest are to be sent to Betty Zipf, c/o the Ipswich office, by 15 Oct 1993. Application forms will be sent to all respondents, to be submitted by 15 Nov 1993. The Council will review



Wide Range of Talks

Besides the keynote addresses, papers covered a range of topics mainly dealing with creation care - from nuts-and-bolts engineering ("Pollution Prevention and Waste Minimization" by LiYang Chang) to former editor Walt Hearn's contribution to his "Caring Research" initiative. Taken from his own larger experiment in low-consumption living ("Gathering Manna: An Urban Food Recycling Experiment"), Walt's "dumpster dining" combined quantitative observation with the value of small-scale recycling. With characteristic humor, Walt observed that "gathering manna can be messy and time consuming, but so is gardening."

In contrast, on the large-scale end, the problem of recycling nuclear weapons parts was explained by Jack Swearengen and Carolyn Pura of Livermore, CA, ("'From Defense of the Nation to Defense of the Environment"), who showed a revealing slide of an "exploded view" of a nuclear warhead.

Creation ethics and theology papers dealt with such topics as the Gaia hypothesis (David Swift), education (Stanley A. Rice, Larry W. Martin, John R. Wood) and accounting for death and pain (Keith B. Miller). The symposium, "Can There Be a Scientific Theory of Intelligent Design?" (more on this next issue) was prefigured by a wave of interest, as design in nature was discussed on Steve

Meyer's parents' boat (as it carried ASAers who were dining on Ivar's fish and oysters) or in a late-night dorm discussion with Art Battson and Bill Dembski.

Complementing this atmosphere were Californians J. David Price and John Wiester, contributors to the ASA book, Teaching Science, whose enthusiasm about the demise of Darwinism (as distinguished from evolution) in the scientific community was bolstered by personal accounts of their involvements in events making creation/evolution history.

DeWitt's talks were complemented nicely by addresses Sunday at the local First Free Methodist Church ("The Good Soil") and the next morning, by noted author and medical doctor Paul Brand.

As did DeWitt, he exegeted Gen. 2:15: "till" is rendered to serve, and "keep" (Hebrew shamar) is to care for in a loving, sustaining relationship. Dr. Brand lives in the Seattle area and his latest book, The Forever Feast, is now available in bookstores.


applications and set up interviews for December 1993 and January 1994.


Out of Context

A recent advertisement run in several national publications by Prometheus Books promoted Gospel Fictions, by Randel Helms, an English professor at Arizona State University, by using a quote from Richard Ruble's March 1991 PSCF review. While the review was generally critical of Helms' book, its one gratuitous recognition of the book's "succinctness and lucidity" was used in the ad. In response to PSCF Editor Jack Haas's phone call, Prometheus Books said that they would not use the quote in future ads. Perhaps the use of the PSCF review's text out of context is unwittingly illustrative of the contextual thesis in the book itself, as the review intimates.


Bulletin Board

Newsletter readers will note "Editor Emeritus" Walter Hearn's writing style in several sections of this issue (notably in the following items). His propensity to write has retarded the healing of his editorial "hearnia," though the new editor is eager to publish it "in the original texts." Wait is now undergoing a transformation from WOE (Weary Old Editor, his familiar self-styled term) to "Whoa!"

- Howard Dunlap wants to hear from other amateur radio operators in ASA and CSCA. He recalls earlier Newsletter stories of such folk. Now that he's retired, Howard would like to chat (i.e., a little QSO, now probably called "networking") with other hams. His call letters are W9DPO but he didn't say what band he works. Contact him at 1100 Donegal Court, Woodstock, IL 60098.

- Hugh Ross of Reasons to Believe will be plenary speaker at the 1993 Origins conference at the Founders Inn, Virginia Beach, VA. The conference will be held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Christian Legal Society, to inform lawyers about scientific developments bearing on litigation on such matters as "the creation-evolution debate." At the same conference, Robert C. Newman of the International Biblical Research Institute in Pennsylvania will lead a workshop on "Origins, Science, and Religion."

- This is a year for the triennial Intervarsity Christian Fellowship missionary convention. "Urbana '93" is expected to draw some 20,000 students to the U. of Illinois campus from 27 Dec 1993 to I Jan 1994, including over 1,500 international students from outside of North America. The program will include a special faculty track on opportunities for Christian witness on campus and abroad. Contact: Urbana '93, IVCF, P.O. Box 7895, Madison, WI 53707-7895.

- The Amy Foundation Writing Awards program is designed to "recognize creative, skillful writing that presents in a sensitive, thought-provoking manner the biblical position on issues affecting the world today." To be eligible for the 1993 awards (first prize: $10,000, plus 14 other major cash awards), submitted articles must present the biblical position on an issue as being "relevant, timely, and deserving of thoughtful consideration," but must be published in a 1993 secular, non-religious publication. They must also quote God's word "directly from the Bible." The quotations must be taken from an accepted and popular version (e.g., NIV, TLB, KJV, RSV) and acknowledged as coming from the Bible.

Articles should be in the form of fullpage tear sheets showing the publication's name and date. Contact: the Amy Foundation Writing Awards, P.O. Box 16091, Lansing, MI 48901; tel. (517) 323-6233. Deadline: postmark by 31 Jan 1994. (For a story on the Amy Awards, begun in 1983 by Lansing, MI businessman Jim Russell, see Nancy Sanborn's article, "The Op-Ed Pulpit," Christianity Today, 21 Jun 1993, pp. 3032.)


With the Lord

Anne Whiting, 25-year professor of biology at Houghton College, died July 2 at age 52 after a long fight with cancer. A graduate of Eastern Nazarene College and founding secretary of the ACB (see article on Affiliation of Christian Biologists), her two adopted girls from India were taken in by another family in town, much to Anne's relief . Anne was active in several Christian and local service organizations, including the local Western NY ASA section.

W. Jim Neidhardt, an active ASA member, died unexpectedly at age 59 of a sudden heart attack on July 15, in bed. Jim's recently published book, coauthored by James E. Loder, is The Knight's Move: The Relational Logic of the Spirit in Theology and Science, Helmers & Howard, 1992. He was an influential physics professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ for 31 years and an active member in the local NY ASA section. Jim befriended numerous scientists and theologians from various countries at the Center for Theological Inquiry in Princeton and helped many seminarians and graduate students at several universities. Jim was author of numerous JASA papers and a promoter of Michael Polanyi's ideas. Many of us will remember his frequent use of graphic illustrations to explain various relationships.

G. Michael Gonda, a graduate student in philosophy of science at Tufts University passed away a few months ago. Michael's undergraduate degree in biology was obtained from Kenyon College in 1979. He is survived by his wife, Sally, and children, Lucy and Sarah.


ICR vs. California Department of Education
by Walt Hearn

With its rampant extremes of wealth, I ethnicity, politics and cultural styles, it's sometimes hard even for Californians to figure out what's going on in their state. In Jan 1992, the State Dept. of Education settled out of court with the El Cajon-based Institute for Creation Research. ICR had brought suit in a federal district court two years before over the way its request for approval to grant M.S. degrees in science had been handled. (In 1988 a team of reviewers voted 3 to 2 to approve ICR's licensing, then reversed itself by the same margin. When ICR objected, a second team was sent that recommended against approval.) Friends and foes of ICR seem to agree that the Dept. of Education "caved in" by not going to trial, and many were amazed that ICR not only retained its previous status but received $225,000 from the State of California for legal expenses.

One year later, in Jan 1993, state superintendent of public instruction Bill Honig (regarded as the key official opposing ICR) was convicted of criminal conflict of interest for assigning four federally-paid state employees to do work for his wife's nonprofit Quality Education Project. Eugenie Scott of the National Center for Science Education in Berkeley considered the conviction a setback, because Honig had backed the "California Framework," which declared evolution a central theme in science education. Honig, sentenced to four years probation and 1,000 hours of community service, and fined $10,800, is appealing. The felony status of the conviction meant that he was removed from office and cannot again hold state office. Honig charged that his enemies had been out to get him, but Walt Hearn of Berkeley has seen no reports of political dirty tricks by "scientific creationists," which surely would have come to light.

With Honig out, Governor Pete Wilson appointed a Republican state senator from Orange County, Marian Bergeson, but Democrats rejected her. William D. Dawson, Honig's second in command, remains as acting superintendent. In California, Walt says, nothing is simple and everything is political. The governor and legislators have many other things on their minds these days. A Council on Private Postsecondary & Vocational Education is scheduled to review ICR's status before 1996.

Squibs

. ASA's 1993 Annual Meeting on "Caring for Creation" was listed in the calendar of significant environmental events in the Jul/Aug issue of Earthkeeping News, published by the North American Conference on Christianity & Ecology (NAACE, 1522 Grand Ave, #4C, St. Paul, MN 55105). The same issue reported on a conference on "Theological Education to Meet the Environmental Challenge" held in May at Stony Point, NY, with theologian John Cobb of the Claremont School of Theology as keynoter. Cobb said that denominations might be led to take up environmental concerns if such concerns were first introduced into seminary curricula. NAACE also publishes the quarterly Firmament, "magazine of Christian ecology."

- A certain irony crept into the 28 May 1993 issue of Science, appearing just before the big international AIDS conference in Berlin. A major article on "Slowing the Spread of HIV" (pp. 12668) by Michael Merson, director of WHO's Global Program on AIDS, summed up a depressing worldwide situation: over 13 million people have now been infected with HIV; 2 million HIV-infected adults have developed AIDS; most of them have already died. To slow the spread, a vaccine would be beneficial, but none is in sight.

Two things must be done now, Merson said: one is to intensify treatment of conventional sexually transmitted diseases, which have an "enormous magnifying effect on HIV transmission, ' the other is to intervene to bring about 11 sexual behavior change." In the back of the same issue (p. 1350), however, was a report that the AAAS Board of Directors had voted not to hold the 1999 AAAS meeting in Denver (following passage of Colorado's "Amendment 2") in light of a "Resolution on Discrimination Against Sexual Minorities" passed by the AAAS Council in 1975.

The AAAS is not the first scientific society to cancel plans to meet in Colorado over "the language of Amendment 2." But check the language of its own 1975 resolution: Citing potential contributions to science of persons of various sexual orientations, AAAS deplored "any form of discrimination on the basis of sexual behavior between consenting adults in private." But in the interest of public health, surely some kinds of sexual behavior must be discriminated against. Otherwise, "intervention to change sexual behavior" will hardly slow the spread of HIV, a virus totally dependent on human promiscuity (the "miscing" of body fluids) to keep propagating itself.

In the Spring 1993 issue of NSCE Reports from the National Center for Science Education, science historian Edward B. "Ted" Davis of Messiah College, Grantham, PA, offered "More on Galileo." Responding to an earlier comment by editor John Cole on the Catholic Church's recent apology for its treatment of the l7th-century astronomer, Ted pointed out that in Galileo's time there were good evidentiary grounds for questioning his conclusions. NCSE's attitude toward "scientific creationists," Ted observed, is that "people who don't understand science ought not to pronounce about it from ignorance." Agreeing, he added:

I ask only that you hold yourself to a similar standard with regard to the history of science. What this means is that, if you insist on using the history of science to promote an aggressively secular agenda, at least you should do so with some measure of historical understanding; and this would be hard to do, since one of the signs of historical understanding is the willingness not to allow one's own ideology to distort the actual situation.

- In that same Spring issue of NCSE Reports (see above), zoologist Arthur M. Shapiro of U.C. Davis asked, "Did Michael Ruse Give Away the Store?" He was referring to the philosopher's admission of ideological bias in evolutionary thinking, at the Boston AAAS meeting in February. (See "Wake-Up Calls," Jun/Jul ASA Newsletter, p. 2.) Shapiro downplayed the effect of Ruse's concession, saying that he "merely upset those scientific practitioners who really believed the self-justifying positivistic propaganda about ultimate objectivity." Anti-evolutionists should not conflate the "irreducible core of ideological assumptions underlying science" with the larger sets of assumptions of various scientisms. For scientists, Our necessary assumptions are the minimum set to allow science to be done at all, but they do not outlaw the potential existence of entities beyond the reach of science. To do science does not require an oath of atheism.

- The Summer/Fall 1992 issue of the Pascal Centre Notebook (from Redeemer College, 777 Hwy 53 East, Ancaster, Ontario, Canada L9K IJ4) showed the work of contributing editor Wil1liam A. Durbin, Jr., of Cary, South Carolina. Bill's featured article summed up a Centre seminar on frameworks for reconciling science and religion by philosopher Tom Settle of the U. of Guelph, Ontario. In the Winter/Spring 1993 issue, another contributing editor, Robert VanderVennen, of Toronto, reported on the first Pascal Centre International Conference, held last August just after ASA's meeting in Hawaii.

- Two squibs in the Jun/Jul issue of this Newsletter referred to a Feb 1993 airing on CBS TV of "The Incredible Discovery of Noah's Ark." In the Spring/Summer issue of The News! of the Affiliation of Christian Geologists, new ACG editor David Dathe (Alverno College, Milwaukee, WI) commented that students in his science classes considered the program "premature." They agreed that the most compelling piece of evidence was a piece of wood purportedly brought down from a barren mountain in Turkey.

In the Summer issue of Free Inquiry, however, that artifact was claimed to be a hoax perpetrated by a Long Beach, California actor. The hoaxer was said to have charred a piece of modern pine and treated it in various ways to give it an ancient look, then told the "Discovery" producers that he had found it on Mt. Ararat. The Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion (CSER) of the Council for Democratic & Secular Humanism (CODESH, publisher of Free Inquiry) claimed to have known of the hoax in advance, but said the hoaxer was not associated with CSER.

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New Editor Wants Gatekeepers

William Ouchi of the Stanford University business school (known for Theory Z, a semi-Japanese style of business management) introduced the notion of gatekeeper, after observing that in most - ganizations there are a few peop e who naturally keep up with events and activities of relevance to their organization, and who share this news with their colleagues. They are the information "gates" through which news flows into their groups.

As the new ASA Newsletter (ASAN) editor, I would like to make ASA news reporting more comprehensive than my own experience of relevant events would allow. I read about a dozen trade journals in electronics, industrial and government research, robotics and motion control. I peruse Scientific American at the grocery store. On occasion, I "sweep through" the literature of interest at a local university library. This hardly constitutes broad coverage of science/religion (scilrel) events or ASA members' newsworthy activities. In short, ASAN news coverage will depend on gatekeepers.

If the ASA were not a non-Profit organization and instead had a staff of well-paid editorial advisors, no self-appointed editorial assistants in the major areas of sci/rel: physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology, social sciences, theology, engineering of all kinds, (your field here) - from industry, academia or government - would be sought here. Unlike paying jobs, no major commitment is required to become an ASA Newsletter. editorial assistant, though complete passivity is inadequate. Here is how you become an editorial assistant:

1. Inform me that you intend to keep watch for sci/rel events in your field, and what that field is. In particular, which publications do you scan or read? I will send you an official "postcard plaque" for step #2.

2. Post this "certificate of editorial assistantship" where you read the publications cited in #2 above, so that you are reminded of your new (or now official) role on the ASAN staff.

3. When your sci/rel sensitivity is triggered by a news article or paper or even a local or personal event, send me a copy or inform me of it, by postcard or phone call (voice, facsimile or future ASA electronic mail.) You are not being asked to prepare news reports, verify facts or news details, or even assess whether the event or article is newsworthy or relevant to the ASAN. Simply let me know.

For those who contribute to this necessary and much-appreciated function, creative (that is, nonmonetary) rewards will be devised from time to time to encourage further gatekeeping. Decide now which publications you will scan and inform me of your intentions to help as an ASAN editorial assistant. ASAN quality depends on these simple, seemingly trivial, though essential acts of kindness; "And we thank you for your support.,,

Some publications (besides those enumerated in the last ASAN issue) that I could use scanners for are: Science, Nature, American Scientist, The Scientist, Christianity Today, Moody Monthly, Zygon, Chemical & Engineering News, Acts & Facts, Religion Watch, First Things, Free Inquiry. But don't limit your list to only these!

Former ASA Newsletter editor Walt Hearn now claims to have received a six-page response to the CSER claims from the show's producer, Sun International Pictures, Inc. (2500 South 2300 West, Suite 30, West Valley City, UT 84119). Instead of providing relevant information about the piece of wood claimed to be from the ark, though, Sun grounded its defense on affirmations of Jammal's credibility from Christian psychiatrist Paul Meier. Meier's comments were based on tapes of Sun's interviews with the actor, plus his own experience on another expedition seeking the ark. Ex-editor Hearn ex-claimed that ex-ploring Mt. Ararat is not the only way to get snowed (ex-clamation point).

The Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies is calling for papers for volume 6, nos. I - 2, 1994, on "Religious Resurgence in the Modern World: Social, Economic, and Political Implications." See Oskar Gruenwald under "Personals" for contact information. The deadline for 15 to 25-page double-spaced manuscripts is I Jan 1994. Meanwhile, vol. 5 is out: "The Unity of the Arts & Sciences: Pathways to God's Creation?"

Personals

Richard Ruble, PSCF book review editor, was appointed Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty at John Brown University, Siloam Springs, AR on July 1, 1993. Richard has been a faculty member at JBU for 30 years and will be serving as JBU dean for the second time while he continues to teach psychology.

John Chan, who arrived at the Sultan Qaboos University in Oman in January to teach chemistry, wrote in February, just before the Muslim observance of Ramadan, and again in April after Easter, which seemed to take on a deeper meaning in a culture where Islam is so pervasive. Despite tensions and turmoil in the Middle East, "personal safety is never in doubt;" with the American ambassador and consular staff in attendance at the American Springfest, for example, the whole picnic area was surrounded by Omani security police. Some of the research John did with Kenneth Pitzer at U.C. Berkeley last december has appeared in the Journal of Solution Chemistry. John will bring back data on water analysis and other topics to work on while awaiting word on renewal of his contract from Oman.

Alonzo J. Fairbanks, who once taught physics in Beirut, now serves on the staff of InterVarsity's international student ministry in Minneapolis. This summer, he and wife Dawn and their two daughters have been part of an InterVarsity Global Project in Jordan and Israel. The 15 students and three leaders were slated to spend five weeks working alongside World Vision personnel to help Palestinian refugees in need of medical and social services.

Charles M. Flynn, Jr., an inorganic chemist employed by the Bureau of Mines in Reno, NV, enjoyed the ASA Meeting in Hawaii last summer but has has had some serious health problems since then. His cardiomyopathy, diagnosed some 15 years ago, began giving him trouble after he couldn't shake a winter virus. In April, he had a severe congestive heart failure. He has chosen not to go the heart transplant route. When he called in July, he was arranging for disability retirement.

Putting his affairs in order, Chuck wanted to donate to someone in ASA his 20-year collection, on some 16,000 hand-sort 5x8 cards, of data (with literature citations) on inorganic compounds -primarily on their thermochemistry, crystal structure, and phase equilibria. Today such data are usually stored on computer, but Chuck says they are easily accessible from his cards and he'd like to see the collection used-perhaps overseas in some chemistry lab not fully computerized. Walt Hearn suggested that he contact Stan Anderson at Westmont, a chemist with strong overseas connections. But if you know of a good home for such a reference set, contact Dr. Charles Flynn, 2410 Tripp Drive #13, Reno, NV 89512; tel. (702) 786-7241.

Ann H. Hunt, now back at Eli Lilly in Indianapolis where she is a senior scientist, must have had a great time in her year of study leave at the Scripps Research Institute in LaJolla, CA, It was one of the best years of her life, she says, and she'll probably "be heading west now whenever the opportunity presents itself." She probably learned a lot about macromolecular nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry too.

Clarence Menninga, professor of geology at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI, and his wife Irene spent seven weeks in the summer of 1992 working on an archaeological dig in northwest Jordan. The site was that of Abila, one of the ancient cities of the Decapolis (mentioned in Mark 7:31 and other passages). Clarence and Irene worked independently on their own "squares," four to five meters on a side, keeping records, drawing maps, and generally supervising the excavation of each square.

Although Clarence had been designated as the geology specialist on the staff, it was Irene who was unofficially named "Archaeologist of the Week" after unearthing a nearly intact Umayyad (661-750 AD) pottery jar some five meters down, now in a Jordanian museum. But Clarence also had his day, invited to give a seminar in the Geology Dept. of Yarmouk University in Irbid, about 15 km from the dig site. (From the same issue of the Calvin Geology Department's Geogram, were some of Davis Young's impressions of the 1992 ASA Annual Meeting in Hawaii: "Wonderful experience ... igneous geologist's paradise ... beautiful basaltic pahoehoe lava flows that had overrun the highway in 1990 and wiped out the town of Kalapana.")

William D. Sisterson, executive pastor of Crystal Evangelical Free Church of New Hope, MN, was for a number of years ASA's executive director. A lot of us had lost track of him, but Bill's name turned up in a little squib in the 8 Mar 1993 issue of Christianity Today. His church board had voted to appeal a court ruling that ordered them to pay the creditors of a couple who went bankrupt but kept tithing to the church.

Jack N. Sparks, a former university professor (statistics, economics) and then a missionary to Berkeley as leader of the Christian World Liberation Front, is now archpriest of the Antiochan Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. He is also dean of St. Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology, which in May moved from Goleta (near Santa Barbara) to Ben Lomond, CA near Santa Cruz. The seminary has more than 180 correspondence students on four continents. Jack has been busy writing a three-volume work on Christian spirituality, the first volume due for publication in September. He was general editor of the Orthodox Study


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Bible, recently released by Thomas Nelson publishers.

A. James Wagner of Springfield, VA is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS) of the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the nation's capital. He considers his long-range forecasting a Christian ministry because NWS seeks to ameliorate losses of lives and property. It's the short-range forecasts of dangerous weather that save lives, Jim acknowledges, but his longrange forecasts enable people to plan ahead for unusual or anomalous periods of heat, cold, drought or flooding. Jim did his graduate work at M.I.T. after graduating from Wesleyan U. in Middletown, CT in 1956.

A profile in the Spring 1993 Wesleyan alumni magazine said that when Jim joined what was then the U.S. Weather Bureau, long-range forecasting was the Bureau's weakest link, hence offering the greatest challenge. "It's still a challenge," Jim said, but better understanding of how abnormal sea-surface temperatures over the equatorial Pacific influence the global climate system and better numerical modeling have made a big difference in just the past few years.

Ray Brand, ASA Executive Council secretary-treasurer, became professor emeritus as of 30 Jun 1993 at Wheaton College. Ray plans to continue ecological research and keep up his professional interactions, both on campus and at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL. He is also involved in a volunteer citizen group, Partners for Lincoln Marsh, which is preserving a local wetland for conservational and educational use. Now Ray also has more time to put into ASA projects and activities, with full-time teaching behind him.

John Miller, an electrical engineer in Fairbanks, Alaska, noted from the Jun/Jul Newsletter that he grew up within miles of the new but recently relocated Newsletter editor, near Towriville, PA. He graduated from the University of Alaska with BSEE and MSEM degrees. Last summer, John and his wife nostalgically drove the old back roads near his childhood farm home. Next time, John, stop in at the new editor's place for a visit - and any other ASAers passing through northwest Pennsylvania!

Oskar Gruenwald, editor of the Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research in Santa Monica, CA, was nominated to Delta Tau Kappa, the International Social Science Honor Society, for outstanding scholastic achievement based on a review of the first three volumes of JIS (1989-91). The editor's essay on "Christianity and Science: Toward a New Episteme of Charity" received the John Templeton Foundation's "Theology of Humility" Award for one of the best published papers on science and religion, 1990-92 (as published in JIS 11 (1990: 1-21). JIS was also nominated as an entry for the University of Louisville's 1993 Grawemeyer Award in Education.

Interested in JIS V9 Contact: 0. Gruenwald, JIS Editor, 2828 3rd St. # 11, Santa Monica, CA 90405-4150; (310) 396-0517. JIS is co-sponsored by the International Christian Studies Association.

Positions Looking For People: Biology: Full-time faculty member, Aug 94, Ph.D. in biology, post-doc experience preferred; expertise in several of following areas: botany, conservation of natural resources, ecology, environmental science, allied health professions, occupational safety & health, wildlife management. Contact Dr. Joseph Lechner, Mount Vernon Nazarene College, 800 Martinsburg Road, Mount Vernon, OH 43050; (614) 397-1244. Biology: Fall 1994 tenure-track assistant/associate professor; PhD required; teaching and research experience preferred, with a commitment to Christian liberal arts education and undergrad research. Teach intro. biology and 3 upper-division courses in cell & molecular biology. Letter, cv, res/teach interests to Dr. George Ayoub, Dept. Biology, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA 93108; (805) 565-7019; fax: (805) 565-7035. Review of applications begins 15 Nov 93.