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September 1988 "BASIS", newsletter of the Bay Area Skeptics
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         Bay Area Skeptics Information Sheet
                   Vol. 7, No. 9
                Editor:  Kent Harker



HEALTHFUL `HEALTH FOODS'?

Most skeptics are a little wrankled when we see the abuse of the
term "natural," and "health food" bandied about. Do the claims
match up to the reality? This article first appeared in the
July issue of "Diet Nutrition Newsletter" of Tufts University.

Health food stores rang up close to $2 billion in sales last
year, which is somewhat surprising considering that more and
more busy families have come to depend on large supermarkets that
stock everything from fresh baked items to paper goods, thereby
allowing them to do all their shopping at once. Why is it that
an increasing number of people appear to be going out of their
way to patronize the health food market? Do they know something
supermarket shoppers don't?

To find out, we walked up and down the aisles of three of the
Boston area's most popular health food stores and compared the
foods on their shelves with those in regular supermarkets. At
first glance, some of the eye-catching claims on many of the
health food store products -- "all natural," "no refined
sugar," and "no preservatives," for instance -- made it appear as
if those items are different if not better for you than similar
items in more typical grocery stores.

But alas, the fine print revealed a different story.

                PORING OVER PRODUCT CLAIMS

The label on a bottle of "natural catsup" in one health food
emporium we visited, for example, boasts that the product
contains "no preservatives or MSG," It sounded impressive
enough, but a close look at the label on a bottle of Heinz
ketchup revealed that it doesn't contain any preservatives or
MSG either. In fact, the two products are made with the same
ingredients: tomato paste, vinegar, salt, onion powder, spices,
and natural flavoring.

The only difference is in the sweetener used. Heinz adds corn
syrup, while the "natural" brand is sweetened with honey. Both
honey and corn syrup are sugars, however, and the nutritional
difference between them is too little to mention.

The big trade-off between the two is price. A 14-ounce bottle of
Heinz sold for 79 cents; the same size bottle of the brand in
the health food store was going for $2.29.

It was the same with cereals. One brand at the health food store
had "no refined sugar" according to the label, just "the pure
goodness of real honey." What the label neglected to point out
is that honey is no better for you. When it is the second
ingredient on the list, as happens with the cereal in question,
there is a good chance plenty of it is in the product.

In the dairy section, the producers of a so-called natural yogurt
(what's unnatural yogurt?) cite on the package label their
"effort to provide the most healthful . . . product." But their
product contains 10 grams of fat in an 8-ounce, 230-calorie
serving, or almost 40 percent fat calories. That's more fat than
you'll find in some of the supermarket yogurts that make no
health claims whatever.

Baby foods aren't immune from questionable claims, either. One
brand of baby food in a health food store touts a "nutritious
difference your baby can taste and you can trust," but it
doesn't disclose just what that difference is. Indeed, that
product and a comparable one put out by Gerber are made from the
same two ingredients: carrots and water. That the carrots in the
"healthful" brand are "lab tested for purity" does not
necessarily make them any better than Gerber's because Gerber's,
too, tests its baby products for pureness according to that
company's consumer information spokesperson. As to price, the
4.5 ounce jar of Gerber's costs less than half the amount of the
same size jar of the brand in the health food store.

               DOUBTS IN THE SNACK AISLE

Health food stores offer plenty of "goodies," including "natural"
potato chips and "sugarless" candy bars. But upon close
inspection, the potato chips are fried in fat and ladened with
salt, just like the brands sold in supermarkets. Granted, the
potatoes in the "natural" brand may be fried in sunflower oil, a
less-saturated and therefore potentially less artery-clogging
fat than the partially hydrogenated oils most supermarket brands
contain. But saturated or not, the one-ounce, 150-calorie bag of
potato chips still contains 60 percent fat calories, which
certainly doesn't qualify it as a "health food."

A high-fiber candy bar described on the packaging as a "low-fat,
nutritious" snack is equally misleading. While the little bar
does contain 5 grams of dietary fiber, fat makes up more than 35
percent of its calories.

Ounce for ounce, that's more fat than you'll find in a Milky Way
bar.

Worse still, the candy's "nectar vanilla yogurt coating" is made
with palm kernel oil, which is almost twice as saturated as lard.

The candy bar also contains less than 7 percent of the U.S.
recommended daily allowances for all the vitamins and minerals
listed on its label. Therefore, why the word nutritious appears
on the package is anybody's guess.

None of this is to say that foods in supermarkets never contain
less-than-helpful health claims, or that health food stores do
not have some products that might be difficult to find in a large

grocery chain. To be sure, most health food emporia stock a wide
variety of whole-grain breads and pastas that are sadly missing
in many ordinary shopping marts as well as several different
kinds of dried legumes. Still, the message is clear: Just
because the sign over the door says "health food" is no
assurance that the food in truly healthful. You still need to
check labels -- and price stickers -- just as you would anywhere
else.



CREATIONISM AND THE CURRICULUM
by David Spieker

Opponents of creationism rightly insist that our public schools
be resolute in teaching true science. Creationists must not be
allowed to force their doctrines into the curriculum. The
treatment of biology and geology should reflect what those
disciplines contain. To prepare our children well for our
technology-dominated world it is vital that their education
include a grounding in science. To represent beliefs like
creationism as coequal to science would seriously weaken that
grounding. Scientific instruction must be both vigorous and
genuine if it is to be useful. Children must not simply learn the
content of theories like evolution and plate tectonics, but also
the process of questioning and experiment by which they were put
together. We must not teach that science has no controversies or
uncertainties; we should be as guilty of dogmatism as the
creationists were we to take that tack. But we must never use
open-mindedness as an excuse for not teaching our children the
difference between a scientific theory and religious doctrine to
which one clings regardless of the evidence.

As a teacher, these are more than just principles to me. They are
guides as indispensable as compass and landmarks to an explorer.
Our children will never truly understand science and the
rational, inquisitive outlook on which it is based if
creationism and similar beliefs, such as astrology, are
permitted to compromise the scientific curriculum. I do not
necessarily object to the teaching of creationism, astrology,
etc.; I object only to teachers being required to teach them as
SCIENCE. Moreover, by teaching children to distinguish between
ideas based on evidence and those that are not we make it much
less likely that any of them will succumb to a Von Daniken or
Velikovsky fantasy. To teach children science is, in effect, to
inoculate them for life against the virus of pseudoscience.
Science can have this value even for first grade and
kindergarten-age children. Indeed, the earlier children are
exposed to science, the more lasting will be the benefit. I am
an excellent example of this: I came of age in the 1970s, when
belief in such things as ancient astronauts, Bigfoot, the Bermuda
Triangle and, above all, creationism, flourished with a hype
seldom known before. Yet an early acquaintance with science
saved me from one or another of these enthusiasms.

Although I read much creationist literature throughout the 1970s
and 1980s and gave their ideas a fair chance, their whole
approach to investigating the physical world seemed to me
fundamentally unscientific. My early exposure to science had
gotten through to me that the most truly scientific activity is
the testing of explanations against data. No explanation should
be retained if it has been so tested and been found wanting. All
scientific theories have flaws; our job is to find the theories
with the fewest flaws. Science can never give us absolute truth
but only an approximation of it, just as the quotient of a
number divided repeatedly by a larger and larger number (greater
than 1) approaches zero. But the creationists do not conduct
themselves in this way. On the contrary, they STARTED with their
explanation set in stone and ignored or distorted the evidence
that did not suit them. One has only to think of the "canopy"
theory for explaining the origin of Noah's Flood to understand
the creationists' willingness to swallow any absurdity necessary
to retain their dogma.

I think it is a fair bet that most of the public that has not
been taken in by creationism has had some rather early exposure
to science. This is common sense; the more one knows of
scientific ideas and methods, the less likely one is to confuse
science with pseudoscience -- further reason to push for a
forthright science curriculum in our schools.

Mr. Spieker is a graduate of Seattle U. He is teaching in Belmont
and doing some free-lance writing (fiction and non-fiction) on
the side.



[BAS welcomes John Lattanzio to the Board of Directors. Dr.
Lattanzio is an astrophysicist working at Lawrence Berkeley, and
he brings to us a wide range of experience -- we will be pleased
to learn more of his background next month.]

"EXTRA SENSORY DECEPTION", BY HENRY GORDON
Reviewed by John Lattanzio

Reading this book brings back some fond memories. Henry Gordon
and I served together on the Executive Committee of the Ontario
Skeptics. One of the highlights of the committee meetings was
hearing Henry tell anecdotes from his colorful career as an arch-
skeptic. This book consists of 118 short articles (most are
under 2 pages) excerpted from Henry's writings for the "Toronto
Star" newspaper in Toronto, Canada. The articles are written in
Henry's conversational style, but are nevertheless very
informative.

Henry has been contributing to the "Toronto Star" since 1981, and
for three years had a weekly column entitled "Debunking" in the
Sunday edition. It was quite an achievement to get a regular
skeptical column in a major newspaper. (If only all newspapers
were so receptive to our message.) Over the years Henry has
dealt with many topics, here arranged by broad subject: The
Paranormal, Prophecy, Spirits, Superstition, Science, Higher
Life, Healing, and Truth. Each collection has its own
introduction. In the individual pieces he touches briefly, but
authoritatively, on most topics familiar to skeptics. Some
relate stories from TV appearances he has made, and these give
information and insights not always available from simply
watching the program. The section on Superstition is an
unexpected treat. Here Henry provides a fascinating history of
various beliefs, and explains where many have originated.

You will read about Henry's masquerade as the supposed psychic
"Elchonen," and learn how to bend keys a la Uri Geller. You will
learn how to improve your aura, and how to be born rich (in a
future life, unfortunately). Henry discusses paramnesia, or deja
vu, and even gives a personality evaluation of the reader! There
is also an article on California, providing us with some local
fare. As if all this weren't enough, Henry tells us how to beat a
lie detector and explains how he discovered that spirits cannot
see through brown wrapping paper.

Henry Gordon is well qualified to write on so many subjects. A
respected professional magician, he has been involved in both
investigating paranormal phenomena and public education for many
years. As Randi is to the U.S., so Henry Gordon is to Canada
(although both are Canadian-born). He is a Fellow of CSICOP, and
recently joined in investigations of both Popoff and R. Roberts
alleged healing abilities. This experience makes the section on
faith healers in his book particularly interesting.

My criticisms of the book number only two, which is remarkable
given the over 200 pages it contains. The main fault is the lack
of an index. This is really inexcusable in a book dealing with
so many subjects. I hope that future editions will correct this
omission, because the utility of the book as a resource would be
greatly enhanced. As it stands it can be quite tiresome
searching through the book for a favorite article to share with
someone (and you will do this, I guarantee!).

In the section dealing with the Nazca lines in Peru, Henry argues
that they cannot be landing strips for spacecraft because
advanced space vehicles would land vertically, as even our (less
advanced) technology has made possible. Well, this is not clear
to me. One could argue that we have advanced from vertical
descent to the Space Shuttle, and that this system allows for
more controlled movement. But this is a very minor quibble.

In summary, this is a very entertaining book. The writing is
informal and friendly; this book should be read slowly and
savored little by little. And watch for Henry's next book,
"Channelling into the New Age", due out in September.



RAMPARTS

(Ramparts is a regular feature of "BASIS", and your participation
is urged. Clip, snip and tear bits of irrationality from your
local scene and send them to the Editor. If you want to add some
comment with the submission, please do so.)

Hang on to your portfolio, fire your investment broker, and check
out Arch Crawford, a stock soothsayer who up until eleven years
ago had his ticket with Merrill Lynch. Back then, Arch noticed
the "correlation since 1897 of planetary movements and those of
the Dow Jones industrials," according to the article in the
"Buffalo News". Of course he discovered the 1:1 correlation and
promptly started his own consulting firm, "Crawford Perspectives"
-- better than "Planetary Perspectives" so as not to tip his
hand to others who might want to muscle in on his information
source. Consider if you will the number of combinations of
"influences" produced by the position of the eight planets and
the sun and moon in the twelve constellations. A little
combinatorial arithmetic will show there are billions of
possibilities, any number of which could be patched together ad
hoc to produce almost any "pattern" one desires.

So what's the big deal about another newspaper article on
another astrologer? Well, Arch got special notice when "he
correctly called the bull market's August apogee and issued a
post-crash buy signal in late November." Post-crash buy signal?
One wonders what is so stunning about ANY broker's forecast that
the market is at a particular high. Where is the forecast (well
in advance of the event) of Black Monday?

Of course his overall track record is not listed for the gullible
press corps.

                      **************

Take a standard substance, dissolve it, remove one drop, put that
drop in ten gallons of distilled water and swish it around.
Extract one drop of this solution and put it in another ten
gallons of water and what do you have? Homeopathy. Ten gallons
of it. Take a drop of this last solution and put it in the ocean
and what do you have? Better homeopathy. Less is better.

This foolishness may have arisen from medieval times when the
cure was more dangerous than the affliction: blood-letting,
scourging, leeching, and prescribing arsenic.

Popular actress Lindsay Wagner is a strong supporter of
homeopathy -- she joins hands with millions who claim to have
found relief from cronic conditions with the miracles of
vanishingly-small dosages.

The fundamental premise of homeopathy is "like cures like," i.e.,
the use of extracts of substances which, in higher doseages to
otherwise healthy people, would induce symptoms similar to those
of the illness being treated. The miniscule dose is supposed to
stimulate the body's natural defense mechanisms to fight
whatever is causing the symptoms -- a sort of vaccine.

Perhaps the most telling feature of the practice of homeopathy is
the diagnostic routine. It revolves around the patient's
"perceptions, dreams, recurring thoughts, childhood experiences,
habits, aversions, and obsessions." This sounds as much like
psychiatric medicine as anything.

What about a mechanism for homeopathy? The practitioners say
their remedies work by effecting the "energy" that animates and
integrates the body, mind and soul.

While the AMA has been officially silent with regard to
homeopathy, CSICOP advisor, Dr. William Jarvis, head of the
National Council Against Health Fraud in Loma Linda, makes no
bones about it: "Homeopathy is quackery," he said in a press
release in the "Buffalo News."

The response of homeopathic physician Dr. Ron Davey: "At least
I'm not harming anyone."

The great harm done by ommission is as weighty as that done by
commission, and the timidity evinced by Dr. Davey's statement is
perhaps the reason that many "regular" physicians turn to the
practice of hemeopathy: their lack of self confidence to
prescribe powerful, often invasive procedures in an agressive
campaign against a medical condition. If we come to do battle
armed with marshmallows we may feel a sense of security that no
one is going to be harmed, but this overlooks the reality that
the other side may be packing an Uzi.

                       **************

The drought is major headlines. And with it comes those intrepid
folkloreists, the dowsers and their magic wands in the form of
crystal shards dangling from gold chains, plastic "Y" rods, "L"
rods, sticks, and "darned near anything else," reports the "San
Jose Mercury". The annual dowsing course, taught on the grounds
of UC Santa Cruz, revealed the New Age influence on the dowsers:
increased use of crystals and "harmonically-tuned" metals.

Many in the assembly expressed the notion that dowsing "is just
an extension of intuition." There is talk of "alpha states" and
"altered consciousness." This contrasts sharply with the old age
conjecture that the water "vein" gave off some sort of energy
that moves the dowsers' implements. (Recent "BASIS" articles
have reported some water witchers specifically asserting that
the "force" has nothing to do with the dowser.)

The venue of the dowsing domain has shown an extension of its
borders. There's a lot of money to be made in the health care
area, and there seems to be an increase in the hostility toward
the medical profession. For example, J. Blassingame, of San Jose
area, dowses "to see what vitamins [he] needs to take." He holds
his dowsing pendulum over various vitamin bottles and waits for
the device to guide his nutritional supplement choice for the
day.

Blassingame assures us that, "if they would only turn dowsers
loose they could show farmers where to drill. There is plenty of
water down there. There's no need for drought."



CSICOP ON THE MOVE

CSICOP has just announced the formation of a Legal and Consumer
Protection Sub-committee, an all-volunteer group of concerned
attorneys throughout the country.

The significance of this group cannot be overestimated for the
recognition it will afford the skeptical community. There are, to
be sure, many consumer advocacy organizations, but this will be
the first under the aegis of rationality.

As our confrontation with paranormal pandering sharpens, legal
issues are becoming increasingly important. Indeed, it may be
argued that taking a legal direction is far and away the most
effective method for change. We can rail through the media, but
precious little changes unless the bankroll may be threatened
through litigation. When a local group challenges a promoter of
the paranormal to put up, scoffing is usually all we hear.
Threats of litigation for false and/or misleading claims surely
will make some hair stand on end.

Some of the sub-areas under study are: A. Consumer Protection
(Civil Redress, Protection Laws, Trade Practice Laws); B.
Prosecution (Criminal law, Common law); C. Government
legislative initiatives; D. Defense; E. Use of libel law to
silence critics; F. Paranormal involvement in legal system
(psychics used as expert witnesses and as aids in finding
victims/perpetrators, creation science); G. Patent law (e.g.,
perpetual motion machines).

If you are in the legal professions, CSICOP would like to have
your help. Of course they want our ideas regardless of
profession.



CHANNELING - BELIEVE IT OR NOT
by Hans Sebald, Ph.D.

How does a skeptic probe the verity, hoax or self-deception of a
channeler? With this question in mind I attended an interview
with the medium Jeannine Caloni who visited the [Phoenix] Valley
in Nov. 1987 to star in a psychic jamboree. This still is the
question after I listened and observed for nearly two hours.
Perhaps it is impossible to test a medium, real, pretended, or
honestly-imagined channeling.

Anyway, with skepticism about a "skeptic" success at achieving a
definite answer, I joined Kieran Richardson, reporting for the
"Arizona Republic," to interview Jeannine Caloni from St. Louis,
Missouri. Kieran did most of the talking and questioning. I
mostly listened.

Mrs. Caloni is channeling two spirits, St. Thomas, the skeptical
Apostle, and Ezekiel. The medium mentioned that there is a
virtual waiting line of additional spirits who would like to use
her body as a channel. Caloni, however, decided to surrender her
body to only the above-named spirits. While her body is
temporarily transmuted into a reincarnation of the spirits, her
own spirit leaves her body and, as she puts it, "stands beside
her body looking on." This means, while the spirit is occupying
her, she experiences an out-of-body existence. Apparently two
spirits are too big a crowd for one body.

Caloni is a new arrival on the channeling market. She discovered
her gift when another medium she had called to her Missouri home
to help exorcize spirits haunting the house (all the houses she
has ever lived in have been haunted) recognized a most elaborate
crown halo around Caloni's head -- a sign of extraordinary
psychic abilities. I am not certain whether the bothersome
poltergeists were ever banned, but in any case Caloni's career
as a medium soared henceforth. Ultimately she "went public,"
i.e., entered the business of psychic readings, made her name in
the psychic circles, and apparently acquired a wide clientele
who are mostly interested in getting in touch with deceased
relatives. To establish the spirit connection, Caloni has to call
the name of the deceased long enough for the spirit to hear and
respond. Before the spirit is accepted as the right one,
"confirmation" is needed, i.e., Caloni asks the client about
various and sundry characteristics of the deceased so that she
can "verify" the identity of the responding spirit. This, she
feels, is necessary, because sometimes a prankster spirit will
respond to try to confuse the medium. Moreover, it is possible
that many spirits lived under the same name -- think, for
example, so she reminded us, of the many Smiths that have lived
and are living. Sometimes she has to go through a dozen or more
spirits to arrive at the correct one. Names like Smith and Jones
can be very confusing to the spirit world. Once the confirmation
is completed and the client has described the deceased
sufficiently, Caloni begins to surrender her faculties to the
spirit. She reports that dramatic scenes often develop: the
client more often that not will break out in tears of joy (or
sorrow) when conversing with a dear departed.

Kieran and I tried to be tactful about the issue of remuneration
for the readings. In response to our timid inquiry in that
direction, we were told that monies earned from psychic activity
are given away to needy people, must be given away lest the
spirits abandon the medium. Jeannine and husband Frank (who was
present throughout the interview) assured me of their
magnanimity by once in a while giving two or five dollars to
"starving bums on the street."

I was just about to ask about her family background and how her
(very Catholic) family accepted her psychic activities, when
Frank warned me that Jeannine was momentarily going into a
trance. Ezekiel was announcing himself. (Incidentally, this
Ezekiel was not the prophet of the Old Testament, but a nomadic
shepherd who lived 2,000 years ago in the Sinai desert.)

Caloni's face hardened into a masculine visage and her voice
sounded guttural as Ezekiel began to speak out of her body. His
first utterance was, "Where am I?" Frank's information that he
was being channeled in Arizona seemed perfectly plausible to the
spirit. I wondered how a 2,000-year-old nomad from the Middle
East could make sense of that information, since at that time
New World geography was unknown to his people. After making
small talk with Kieran, Ezekiel turned to me and volunteered a
formidable prophecy. Apparently this is the type of service that
spirits think people expect of them. He predicted that during
the next two to three months I would make a trip to the east and
in the process forget a certain item, unless I would first go to
a store and purchase it. No specification was made about the
distance of the trip, hence it could include a hike into the
Superstition Mountains on the east side of my house. The more
baffling aspect, however, was that the forecast is
unfalsifiable, since I might forget something or buy the would-
be-forgotten article. Then Ezekiel waxed clairvoyant and asked
about the welfare of my toe. After my puzzled assurance that all
were in good health, he dropped the subject. I couldn't help
thinking that someone must have observed my limping walk earlier
when I entered the room. I had strained my knee a few days
earlier. Ezekiel continued to ruminate and remarked that he finds
me exceptionally quiet, but that he "knows" that underneath there
is an active, actually overactive, mind. This seemed to worry
him, because he suggested that I go on a regimen of Vitamin B12
to calm down. Again I found it astounding that an illiterate
nomad of 2,000 years ago would know about vitamins, a recent
bio-chemical discovery. What astounded me most, however, was
that the old nomad spoke modern American English perfectly -- if
we charitably disregard grammatical quirks and dictional
limitations, which smacked of Missouri countryside.

Finally, Ezekiel announced his departure and Jeannine's spirit
reentered her vacated body. She relaxed, regained her normal
voice, continued to chain-smoke (something Ezekiel abhors), and
amiably expected us to be impressed. Also, had we any further
questions? Not really. By then I fully understood the difficulty
of determining verity, hoax, or innocuous self-deception of a
medium. It becomes an issue of believing or disbelieving. To
some of us it may also become an issue of absurdity.

In any case, I shall make a careful shopping list before going on
a trip in an easterly direction.

(Dr. Sebald, Professor of Sociology at ASU first wrote this
article for the Phoenix Skeptics, whom we thank for reprint
permission.)



1988 CSICOP CONFERENCE
PLAN FOR NOVEMBER!

If you are thinking about a vacation in the East, postpone your
plans and make them for early November. The formal agenda has
been released for the 1988 CSICOP conference to take place in
Chicago on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 4 - 6 at the
Hyatt Regency O'Hare. The annual event is co-sponsored this year
by the Department of Behavioral Sciences, University of Chicago.

The theme is very germane: The New Age. Channeling, crystal
healing, graphology, and the latest rage, UFO abductions, will
fill the menu for the most part. The keynote address will be by
Dr. Douglas Hofstadter, Professor of Psychology at the
University of Michigan, entitled "Musings on the Elusive Nature
of Common Sense and Evidence."

Important names in the scientific and academic community will be
among the speakers: Paul Kurtz (CSICOP Chairman), James Alcock,
Ray Hyman, Maureen O'Hara, to name a few.

The CSICOP team that did the investigations in China will report
their experiences with talks and slides.

Skeptics are not all serious, so of course James Randi will do
some of what he does best in the Saturday night awards banquet.
His stage will be shared with other performers in a presentation
called "Skeptical Magicians from Around the World." Since Randi
is Canadian-born, guess who will be representing the USA? Our
own Bob Steiner!

The annual conference is a significant event whose importance is
growing as it includes more and more professionals and laypersons
banded together in an attempt to increase rationality in this
world. The growth of CSICOP is something of a phenomenon; but in
a real sense it had to come. One of the recurring comments made
by those who come to BAS meetings or subscribe to "BASIS" is,
"It just feels so wonderful to know that I am not alone in
thinking the world is off balance with some of the crazy
nonsense there is around me."

Take "BASIS" to your copy machine, copy the registration form on
page 4, and reserve your place for this exciting meeting.



SCOTT VS. GISH
by John Taube

By invitation, anthropologist and BAS advisor Dr. Eugenie Scott
faced Dr. Duane Gish, the foremost creationist debater from the
Institute for Creation Research, in a debate on Jan Black's KCBS
radio show. The topic: Should creationism be taught in the public
schools?

Gish, a polished debater of literally hundreds of encounters,
immediately went off the subject of the debate and launched into
the gaps in the fossil record and asserted that thermodynamics
precludes evolution. His tactic is standard fare -- attack
evolution and don't talk about creationism. The debate, not the
scientific evidence, is what counts.

Many from academia have fallen into and badly lost debates
because they have approached the confrontation from a scientific
basis. They swamp the audience in the technical matters of the
latest research that unfortunately is over the heads of most.
All who consent to debates with creationists must keep in mind
that debates are only about winning and losing, turning on
forensic skill, not scientific matters.

Eugenie finally interrupted to remind Gish that the topic was if
creationism should be taught in the public school. She told the
audience that the Supreme Court had overturned the ruling in the
Louisiana case which mandated the teaching of creationism. Gish
became rattled whenScott kept insisting on (1) a definition of
creationism and (2) an explanation of creationist's preposterous
positions on the 6,000-year-old universe and a global flood.

The strongest creationist appeal is the democratic one: "The
people WANT both taught. (Over 80% of the respondents to surveys
think creation should be taught.) Why can't our students hear
this evidence for creation? Why deny our children the evidence
that changed Sir Fred Hoyle's mind? What are evolutionists
afraid of?" Gish challenged.

The most important point to be learned from this Gish-Scott
debate is that what is said is of almost no importance. It is how
one comes across to the public that matters. Most of the
listeners will not remember the technical points, but will
remember the general tenor of the debate and what personality
seemed more genuine. From this perspective, Eugenie came out on
top. She was so smooth, that her calm insistence that Gish
answer questions about his side rattled him as he has seldom
been rattled before.



PAT ROBERTSON UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

Gerard Straub, author of "Salvation for Sale: An Insider's View
of Pat Robertson" (Prometheus Books) will speak on "Religion and
Politics" with an update on the significance of Robertson's
presidential campaign.

Straub, former producer of Robertson's "700 Club," reveals in his
book previously unpublished evidence that Pat Robertson believes
he is in direct contact with God and that he has been personally
appointed by the Almighty to be the chief usher at Jesus'
imminent Second Coming.

Straub's conversion to fundamentalism and his media credentials
brought him to the "700 Club" where he worked closely with
Robertson until his disillusionment with fundamentalism.

This important address will take place in Oakland at the
Montclair Woman's Club, corner of Thornhill and Mountain Blvd. on
Sunday, October 16 at 1 p.m. Suggested donation is $4 prepaid,
or $5 at the door; reservations are strongly suggested. The
event is sponsored by the Secular Humanists of the East Bay, to
whom you should make your checks payable. Mail reservations to
SHEB, Box 5313, Berkeley, CA 94705 before October 8.

Directions: Take Highway 13 east to Montclair exit. Take the
Thornhill off ramp, go two blocks to Mountain Blvd. Montclair
Woman's Club is on the corner. There is off-street parking
behind the building (entrance from Mountain Blvd.).



                     *** RETRACTION ***

In the August issue of "BASIS" we announced the meeting for the
month, giving it thr title "The Mars Hoax." This was an
irresponsible choice, and I, as editor, accept responsibility for
publishing it.

While one may think that Mr. Hewitt, speaker at the August
meeting, presents a good case for rejecting some conclusions of
the Mars Project, this could hardly lead us to believe that
Richard Hoagland or any of the staff at the Project "perpetrated
a hoax," unless one could believe they faked the photographs or
went to the Red Planet to construct what some have called the
face on Mars. Of course, no rational person seriously entertains
either notion.

There are very serious people at the Project: Dr. R. Pozos
(anthropology), Dr. M. Vousden (physics), and Dr. B. O'Leary
(planetary sciences) to name a few. I regret this mistake and
apologize to the members and the Board of The Mars Project.



THE FACE ON MARS

Is the now famous "face on Mars" a natural land formation, or an
artifact? NASA and the astronomical establishment answered that
question twelve years ago by dismissing it as "a trick of
heightened shadows," a position they still hold.

Not everyone is so sure. Using state-of-the-art enhancement
techniques -- and methods of analyses unknown until 1976 -- the
Mars Project has made the limited original data yield new
information . . . information which, while not conclusive, is
intriguing enough that it cries out for further research,
including a return mission to Mars. This, at least, is the
position of the Mars Project.

In response to John Hewitt's pre-sentation at our August meeting,
The Mars Project (a non-profit research and educational
organization comprised of scientists and laypersons interested
in the "face" and other Martian anomalies) will be represented
at our September meeting by Roger Keeling, a member of its Board
of Directors. His talk will include photographic enlargements
and handouts. This controversial subject is sure to arouse your
interest.



BASIS
Editor:           Kent Harker
Assoc. Editor:    Sharon Crawford
Distribution:     Yves Barbero
Circulation:      Rick Moen

                             -----

Opinions expressed in "BASIS" are those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect those of BAS, its board or its advisors.

The above are selected articles from the September, 1988 issue of
"BASIS", the monthly publication of Bay Area Skeptics. You can
obtain a free sample copy by sending your name and address to BAY
AREA SKEPTICS, 4030 Moraga, San Francisco, CA 94122-3928 or by
leaving a message on "The Skeptic's Board" BBS (415-648-8944) or
on the 415-LA-TRUTH (voice) hotline.

Copyright (C) 1988 BAY AREA SKEPTICS.  Reprints must credit "BASIS,
newsletter of the Bay Area Skeptics, 4030 Moraga, San Francisco,
CA 94122-3928."

                             -END-