Friday, January 15, 2010

“Christian universities must examine trends, philosophy of their ... - Christian Chronicle” plus 4 more

“Christian universities must examine trends, philosophy of their ... - Christian Chronicle” plus 4 more

Christian universities must examine trends, philosophy of their ... - Christian Chronicle

Posted: 15 Jan 2010 12:33 PM PST

At the heart of the Restoration Movement is a commitment to education focused on Bible and the traditional liberal arts. Alexander Campbell, a key thinker in the movement, founded Bethany College in West Virginia.

In the 19th century, many Christian schools were started, but few had the financial support to sustain operations. Lipscomb and Freed-Hardeman universities both developed from schools started in the last quarter of the 19th century.

The first quarter of the 20th century saw the beginning of Abilene Christian and Harding. In the 1930s, George Pepperdine devoted his fortune to founding a college that has become a premier university with a Christian identity.

After World War II, when churches grew rapidly and the GI Bill made college education a goal for more Christian families, colleges were founded in various places to provide Bible training, career preparation and guidance for Christian living. Those that have survived include Faulkner, Florida College, Heritage Christian, Lubbock Christian, Ohio Valley, Oklahoma Christian, Rochester College, Southwestern Christian and York College.

All these institutions rest on the principle that God is the creator of all and that any education worth having begins with knowing God. All these schools have taken responsibility for guiding students to mature Christian values, or in the words of Don Morris, longtime ACU president, "completing the work of the Christian family."

In the history of American higher education, most private schools began with a foundation in Christian principles and a connection to a religious group.
Chapel, regular Bible study in the curriculum and close supervision of social life were characteristic of Harvard, Yale, Princeton and many of the older, prestigious universities. But time and worldviews radically altered the mission and curriculum of these schools.

Almost no institution of higher education is still true to its founding principles or it founding organization after 100 years. That sobering fact must prompt every institution related to Churches of Christ to examine more closely the trends and philosophy of its work.

Having studied trends in Christian education for most of my professional life, I am firmly convinced that no institution can be true to its founding principles if the trustees are not committed and resolute in nurturing the faith and understanding of students. Trustees must have the vision of transforming lives through Bible study and Christian virtues. Whenever academic excellence, national reputation or athletics begin to be the principal concerns of trustees, institutions will gradually slip away from founding principles.

I also believe that an institution's Christian principles are no stronger than the Christian commitment of the faculty. Faculty members who are mere churchgoers will directly or indirectly weaken the institution's faith efforts. Church members who are cynical about any core values will effectively erode those values. On the other hand, professors who are firmly convicted about the lordship of Jesus, the Christ, will be models of faith and service for students who are seeking direction and guidance.

For at least 20 years, most of the faculty and administration at our higher education institutions have been engaged in an ongoing dialogue about the relationship between faith and learning. Faculties have wrestled with showing the relationship of their disciplines to a Christian view of this world. Professors are not ashamed that they profess Christ as clearly as they profess a philosophy regarding their discipline. Professors are leaders in their congregations, and they take an active interest in mission efforts around the world.

I believe that Christian higher education fills a vital role in preparing our best and brightest young women and men for productive lives of faith and service. The culture of Christian colleges helps young people experience genuine transformation. They gain vision of a fallen world desperately in need of Christ.

The continuing challenge of Christian higher education is to nurture faith, service and holiness in the lives of students even as the students study to work and live in a secular, materialistic world. Christian education must not lose the focus on strengthening the relationship of young people to their creator.

Contact bailey.mcbride@christianchronicle.org.


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Possum Philosophy: Loss of a rare woman - Southwest Virginia Today

Posted: 15 Jan 2010 11:00 AM PST

By ROBERT CAHILL/Columnist

Sometimes I really struggle in finding a topic for this column. Occasionally this is due to "writer's block," a very real malady as anyone who writes regularly will tell you. You want to write, you have a topic in mind, but the words just will not come. You sit and stare at the keyboard as if just by willing it to begin, it will come. But it won't.
Sometimes it is because you just can't think of anything interesting enough about which to do a column. Nothing interesting, sad, funny or otherwise comes to mind. Again you sit staring at the monitor screen, hoping something, anything will appear there. Just enough to inspire you. Doesn't work that way though.
Then there are the times, perhaps the rarest of these situations, when there are so many things about which you want to write that you get brain lock. You simply do not know which one of the subjects to tackle first. Then, there are the times when something happens that supersedes the other topics. For me, this is one of those times.
I had several things about which to write. I thought about the cold spell our region and much of the country has been enduring. I was thinking of a column about the Virginia Department of Transportation, two actually. One in defense of the agency, hoping to get people in this area to contact their Virginia elected officials in protest of closing the Residency Office in Abingdon, transferring the care of our roads to an office over in Lebanon (not a good move in my opinion).
I also considered a second one on VDOT and their less than stellar efforts in clearing the roadways during this recent unpleasantness. Yes, I know there were extraordinary circumstances, but I learned some of the policies in place need changing to assure roads in the country get as much attention as the "Primary" roadways. For example, the road where we live is not a country lane with a farmhouse or two and a few barns. It is a well-populated road; most of the residents living here use it to commute to work. Many Washington County residents also take as a short-cut to work, shop and such in Bristol and the other areas of the Tri-Cities. And on Race Weekends at Bristol Motor Speedway, the traffic is practically non-stop. Yet it is at the bottom end of the list to be cleared during bad weather and only a minimal effort made then. (And yes, a couple of my neighbors brought up the fact that they pay the same taxes as residents anywhere else in the county.)
However, just a couple of days ago, I received news that changed my plans entirely. You see, my family and I lost another dear friend. Sadly, Helen Johnson, a dear family friend for many, many years, passed away late last Saturday night.
Helen, better known as "Shorty" (hey, she was a Saltville girl and all or almost all Saltville folks have a nickname), was a very dear friend to our mother's side of the family. She and my aunt Dot Smith were very close. Helen had played on the same Saltville High School girls basketball team as my Mom. She spent lots of time at my Grandmother Bessie Smith's.
I knew Helen all my life. She was "family" before I was, so to speak. I remember her from my early childhood as do my siblings from theirs. We all considered her as another aunt on that side of the family. My sister Lynn thought the world of Helen.
But we were not her only kids. Although Helen never married, she was a "second Mom" to her numerous nieces and nephews, all of whom loved her dearly. When you factor in my siblings and me, as well as our numerous cousins, most of who knew Helen well and also loved her dearly, she had a huge number of "kids."
Sadly, as we all do, Helen and her family aged. For many years she lived in the old family home with her brother Bob. Eventually, her brother Fletcher and his wife, with whom she was very close (and who were also close family friends of ours), passed away. A short time later so did her brother Bob. Finally, Shorty, as most of us called her, began to experience health problems of her own. Her sister Dot Weaver and Dot's children insisted on Shorty moving to Marion to live with them so they could take care of her. Though used to her independence, in time she acquiesced.
She still kept in touch with my sister and many of her other friends. However, as her health continued to decline, the calls and notes came less frequently. I remember my sister being so pleased when she received a Christmas card from Helen this year, since it had been a good while since she had heard from her.
Unfortunately, this past Sunday, Lynn received a call from one of Helen's nephews. Helen had been in the hospital with among other things, advancing kidney problems. Sadly, during the late hours of Saturday night Helen had gone into severe renal failure and had passed away.
I have no doubt this fine lady has joined my Mom, my Aunt Dot and her many relatives and friends in heaven. The loss is ours, not hers. However, we are not the only ones. Not only did we lose our close friend and beloved "Aunt" Shorty, the world lost a wonderfully, kind, sweet, gentle lady and you don't find folks like that just everywhere any more.

A freelance journalist, Robert "Rocky" Cahill writes regularly for the News & Messenger. His Possum Philosophy column appears in each Saturday edition. 

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Honda’s design philosophy stresses function - KRDO

Posted: 15 Jan 2010 10:17 AM PST

Honda isn't typically singled out for its design expertise. Instead, it is the fun-to-drive and rock-solid aspects of Honda vehicles that usually get top billing. But quietly, Honda has been capturing more and more international kudos for its leading-edge design work, and we were pleased to have the opportunity to meet with Nobuki Ebisawa, the corporate managing director and general manager of styling and design development, to talk about it.

Ebisawa stressed two simple and overarching themes for Honda design: dynamism and functionality. He said the company's designers still draw inspiration from the functional designs of the first-generation Civic and first-generation Accord that were drawn in the same nondescript design studio in which Ebisawa and his crew work today. And at the same time, they look back all the way to the 1963 S500 sports car to channel the dynamism that helps set the brand apart. 

Ebisawa is proud of what he calls "an unbroken chain of dynamism and functionality" that stretches from those earliest models through the legendary Acura NSX sports coupe of the '90s to the Honda Odyssey minivan that transformed its segment. He expects that the upcoming hybrid Honda CR-Z, which was shown in concept form at the recent Tokyo Motor Show, will draw on both aspects of the Honda personality. Functionality will be characterized by the fuel-efficient hybrid drivetrain, and dynamism will be expressed by the car's style and fun-to-drive nature.

While the exterior design of Honda vehicles has not always been highly praised, the interior of its vehicles -- and especially their instruments and controls -- have routinely been lauded around the globe. Ebisawa cites his group's intense study of the "man-machine interface" for this, noting that Honda has long relied on the philosophy "Man maximum, machine minimum" in its designs. This means that Honda's controls are intended to be intuitive, not intrusive: to help the driver, not to challenge the driver or to make a design statement for design's sake.

An example of this effort is the bi-level instrument panel seen on the current Honda Civic. Intuitive operation and instant recognition were keys in the design, and Ebisawa said that in the "layered construction," perceived space is enhanced and line of sight movement minimized to prioritize information. Special effort goes into achieving natural hand position and create buttons that are easily understood. Ebisawa believes that voice support is the next frontier in making things simpler and more functional.

Since 2000, said Ebisawa, Honda design execs made the conscious decision to add emotional appeal to the company's vehicles without compromising functionality. In keeping with the "man maximum, machine minimum" philosophy, space has been intentionally reduced for mechanical components, and interior space with long rooflines has been increased to maximize usable roominess.

The Honda CR-Z, which will be launched next year, will encapsulate all these ideas in a vehicle that is functional and emotional, dynamic yet pragmatic. It draws on Honda's long heritage while at the same time presenting a new face and a new heart. The CR-Z will also be the harbinger of even more fascinating products from the carmaker that was once best known for its motorcycles.

Tom Ripley Driving Today Contributing Editor Tom Ripley writes frequently about the auto industry and the human condition from his home in Villeperce, France. He is a big fan of the art world. 

Copyright (c) 2009 Studio One Networks. All rights reserved.

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Follow That Trade! - Street.Com

Posted: 15 Jan 2010 12:12 PM PST

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Have you ever wanted to follow a professional technical trader's every move from the origination of ideas and the establishment of trades to the active management of the position until liquidation? In Follow that Trade , you can do just that. It lets ...

A NEW ROUNDTABLE FOR CAMELOT - Salon

Posted: 15 Jan 2010 01:02 PM PST

This was written by my husband as he was contemplating the amazing review of history offered on television during the funeral days of Ted Kennedy. As I was watching too, I remember thinking that those tv essays would make interesting supplements in history classes.

A NEW ROUNDTABLE FOR CAMELOT

By Sheldon Stoff

They are talking of making a museum of the Kennedy family compound at Hyannis Port.

What if…what if…instead of a museum, there could be a new Camelot…with a new Roundtable…a new roundtable for international dialogue….

Martin Buber's philosophy of dialogue, of the I-Thou encounter, saw a world flowering of true understanding within the heart of humankind, of relationship with life, with the natural world, and with spiritual beings.

Maurice Friedman writes in his introduction to Professor Buber's Between Man and Man:

When Dag Hammarskjold's plane crashed in Northern Rhodesia, the Secretary General of the United Nations had with him the manuscript of a translation that he was making of Martin Buber's classic work I and Thou. It is because of this book and the philosophy of dialogue that it presents that Dag Hammarskjold repeatedly nominated Martin Buber for a Nobel Prize in Literature. I and Thou is recognized today as among the handful of writings that the twentieth century will bequeath to the centuries to come…

One of Secretary General Hammarskjold's last acts was the writing of a letter to Dr. Georg Svensson to recommend that Dr. Buber, philosopher and theologian, receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1938, when Professor Buber spoke in Germany about the menace of Hitlerism, two hundred Nazi Storm Troopers stood surrounding the audience in an attempt to intimidate him. His friends knew that he was to be arrested the next morning, so they flew him out of Germany that night. They brought him to Palestine, and there he established himself in the Arab quarter of Jerusalem. He believed in brotherhood, and he practiced brotherhood. In 1967, when the Egyptian troops briefly took over that section of Jerusalem during "The Six Day War" they ordered a special guard to surround and protect his house. He was a "holy man" and they honored him.

During my university years, I carried on a long correspondence with Dr. Buber. He became one of my mentors. His seminal work, I and Thou, had been a best seller on college campuses in the United States for fifty years. In this book, Dr. Buber describes two kinds of relationships. The relationship of "I-Thou" is a relationship of caring, empathy, respect, cohesion, and even love. The other kind—"I-It"—is a relationship characterized by distance, coldness, analysis, manipulation, and even hatred.

In The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics, Riane Eisler, a pioneer in the study of complex systems, boldly suggests a new formulation, a "caring economics" that transcends traditional categories like "capitalist" and "socialist" and offers enormous economic and social benefits. She provides a blueprint for putting this more humane and effective economic system to work.

It is incumbent upon us all today to mediate the current urgencies of political and economic agendas in order to actualize that common denominator, that "I-Thou" principle which must define humankind. Martin Buber put this very clearly and simply. We need to listen to him:

And in all the seriousness of truth, hear this: without It man cannot live. But he who lives with It alone is not a man.(Martin Buber)

In a war between such divergent ideals, only the finest ideals will have a possibility of long-term success.

Ervin Laszlo, often known as the father of systems science, says that as we now face a choice between "collapsing into chaos and evolving into a sustainable, ethical global community" the voices of the few—even the individual—can have a powerful effect for change. He says, in The Chaos Point: The World at the Crossroads:

Scientists would say we are living in a 'decision window'—a transitory period in the evolution of a system during which any input or influence, however small, can 'blow up' to transform existing trends and bring new patterns and processes into existence. This is similar to the often-discussed 'butterfly effect' discovered by U.S. meteorologist Edward Lorenz in the 1960s….In periods of relative stability, the consciousness of individuals does not play a decisive role in the behavior of society. But when a society reaches the limits of its stability and turns chaotic, it becomes super-sensitive—responsive to even small fluctuations such as changes in some people's values, beliefs, world views and aspirations. Many signs point to the fact that we are entering a new period of ecological and social instability, a time rife with chaos but also a window of exceptional freedom to decide our destiny.

**** Note: Now Professor Emeritus at Adelphi University, Sheldon Stoff taught a course on the philosophy of Martin Buber while he was studying for his doctorate at Cornell University. During in his long career as an educator and spokesperson for Humanistic Education, with inspiration from Dr. Buber, he established the International Center for Studies in Dialogue. He also received the Outstanding Educator of America Award in 1974. He is author of The Two Way Street, The Human Encounter, The Pumpkin Quest, Universal Kabbalah: Dawn of a New Consciousness, and The Western Book of Crossing Over: Conversations with the Other Side. As well, he is co-author, with Barbara Smith Stoff, of the forthcoming Partnership Community: Listen to the Gathering Voices.

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