Calendar, November 2007

John Dalton, Scientist

Dalton was born in 1766 on the edge of the Lake District, near Cockermouth, to a family of poor and devout Quaker weavers. (Four years later the poet William Wordsworth would also join the world at Cockermouth.) He was an exceptionally bright student – so very bright, indeed, that he was put in charge of the local Quaker school. This perhaps says as much about the school as about Dalton’s precocity, but perhaps not: we know from his diaries that at about this time he was reading Newton’s Principia – in the original Latin – and other works of a similarly challenging nature. At fifteen, still schoolmastering, he took a job in the nearby town of Kendal, and a decade after that he moved to Manchester, whence he scarcely stirred for the remaining fifty years of his life. In Manchester he became something of an intellectual whirlwind, producing books and papers on subjects ranging from meteorology to grammar. Colour blindness, a condition from which he suffered, was for a long time called Daltonism because of his studies. But it was a plump book called A New System of Chemical Philosophy, published in 1808, that established his reputation.

There, in a short chapter of just five pages (out of the book’s more than nine hundred), people of learning first encountered atoms in something approaching their modern conception. Dalton’s simple insight was that at the root of all matter are tiny, irreducible, particles. ‘We might as well try to introduce a new planet into the solar system or annihilate one already in existence, as to create or destroy an atom of hydrogen,’ he wrote.

Neither the idea of atoms nor the term itself was exactly new. Both had been developed by the ancient Greeks. Dalton’s contribution was to consider the relative sizes and characters of these atoms and how they fit together. He knew, for instance, that hydrogen was the lightest element, so he gave it an atomic weight of 1. He believed also that water consisted of seven parts of oxygen to one of hydrogen, and so he gave oxygen an atomic weight of 7. By such means he was able to arrive at the relative weights of the known elements. He wasn’t always terribly accurate – oxygen’s atomic weight is actually 16, not 7 – but the principle was sound and formed the basis for all of modern chemistry and much of the rest of modern science.

The work made Dalton famous – albeit in a low-key, English Quaker sort of way. In 1826, the French chemist P.J. Pelletier travelled to Manchester to met the atomic hero. Pelletier expected to find him attached to some grand institution, so he was astounded to find him teaching elementary arithmetic to boys in a small school on a back street. According to the scientific historian E.J. Holmyard, a confused Pelletier, upon beholding the great man, stammered:

‘Est’que j’ai l’honneur d’addresser a Monsieur Dalton?’ for he could hardly believe his eyes that this was the chemist of European fame, teaching a boy his first four rules. ‘Yes,’ said the matter-of-fact Quaker, ‘Wilt thou sit down whilst I put this lad right about his arithmetic?’

Although Dalton tried to avoid all honors, he was elected to the Royal Society against his wishes, showered with medals and given a handsome government pension. When he died in 1844, forty thousand people viewed the coffin and the funeral cortege stretched for two miles.

How matter-of-fact and low-key are we and what do we have to be low-key about?

Business Meeting

Ruth Lofgren presented the first reading of the Nominating Committee Report. The committee recommends that a forum time be set aside soon for Meeting to act as a Committee of the Whole to address the chronic issue of too few active members /attenders for the number of committee assignments needing to be filled. The Nominating Committee would like to have Friends consider a major reorganization of the Meeting to solve this problem – a process that the committee estimates would take a minimum of three years to plan and implement. (See the committee’s letter below.) It was agreed that Bill Wilkinson would undertake a survey of members and attenders to learn what may be causing the present difficulties. He would like to receive comments. The clerk asked that the Adult Education Committee set up a forum date for this.

The first reading of the 2008 committee assignments was accepted (see p9 below).

Carol Redfield presented the Peace and Social Concerns Committee report with recommendations for 2008 contributions to outside organizations. The treasurer noted that the general rubric is that these total contributions along with that made to SCYM, approximate ten percent of the Meeting’s budget. It was agreed that contributions to support organizations should not be reduced, if at all possible. Friends expressed the hope that the minimum annual donation to each organization should not be less than $100. Friends Peace Teams – Latin America, has been added for 2008, bringing the total to $1,900. The clerk suggested that an article be placed in the newsletter explaining the considerations for donations. After discussion the report was accepted.

Meetinghouse

Charles Goebel

His quiet dignified manner often did not lead one to guess the full and eventful life that Charles experienced in his 80 years. Born into a well to do family in Manila, Philippines on August 29, 1927, Charles was the son of Carl Hugh Goebel and Lucie Jenny Kyburz. At age 14 Charles became a prisoner of war, along with his father, at the Japanese Internment camp of Santo Tomas outside Manila. His father did not survive the internment and after the liberation in 1945, Charles sailed out of Manila Bay with his mother and sister to join family in the United States. After living shortly in California the family relocated to Syracuse New York.

After attending Germantown Academy in Philadelphia, Charles went on to study music at Colgate and Yale, and became an accomplished pianist, graduating with a degree in Music. In addition to classical music, which was a great source of joy and inspiration throughout his life, Charles also had a great passion for travel and the fine arts. After a tour of duty during the Korean War, Charles traveled to many locations, including India, Thailand, Switzerland and Mexico. His fluency in English, Spanish, French and German served him well throughout his travels, as he enjoyed his life as a theatre patron and an art collector. Charles resided in Mexico for many years before moving to San Antonio in 1996. In the last years of his life, Charles resided at the Granada Homes on N. St. Mary’s Street. He remained active and independent, frequenting the bookstores, libraries and restaurants that he enjoyed. With his gift of a gentle soul, a great listening ear, his deep, quiet chuckle and easy smile, Charles made deep and lasting friendships, not only here in San Antonio, but also around the world. The volume of correspondence that he left behind offered a record of the many lives that he touched with his quiet kindness and deep compassion throughout his life.

Charles joined the Society of Friends in Syracuse, New York, in 1957 and has been a faithful attender at the Friends Meeting in San Antonio. His ability to see the light of God in every person he met exemplified the central value of the Quaker experience that held such importance in his life.

He is survived by his nieces, Rev. Ann Blane and her husband Robert; Debbie Johnson and her husband Steve; nephews, Jim Milne and wife Caroline, and Dan Milne; along with great nieces and nephews, Mikhaila and Dillon Johnson, Michael Milne, Scott, Mason and Sarah Milne, for whom he was their beloved Uncle Bob.

His cremains will be returned to the family burial site in Syracuse New York. A Memorial Service for Charles will be held at the meetinghouse on November 17, 2007 at 2pm.

In his memory, donations may be made to the Friends Meeting of San Antonio.

A Letter from the Nominating Committee

We have been busy building and growing into our meeting house. We may need to remind ourselves that the Meeting is the community and the meeting house is where we meet. It would be helpful for us to renew our vision of the Friends community in San Antonio. The Apostle Paul urged the early churches to strive for "the proper balance between the religious aspirations of the individual and those of the larger Christian community." Such a balance is always dynamic, a challenge!

Prayer and silent worship help us find direction when the way is not clear. We become open to creative ways to meet needs of individuals while nourishing the Meeting community. Perhaps present organizational patterns need to be modified "Keep in mind that most changes take at least 3 years."

Individuals who are in sympathy with Friends’ beliefs but whose personal situation currently makes only limited volunteering for service to the meeting or even being "on sabbatical" necessary, are precious members of our community. The experiences of insights and leadings that come during silent worship may enrich each individual, and as we worship together, we are all enriched in a very special way.

The Committee structure of our Meeting needs to be simplified. The number of members can be reduced in some cases. A smaller committee can communicate more easily. When a specific need/ service is identified, it could be brought to the Meeting with a request for a volunteer for that one task.

"By identifying strengths, we move from a diagnostic model---finding out what's wrong and trying to fix it---to an affirming model--- finding out what's right and building on it." We hope that our concern for each individual's spiritual renewal will be kept in mind as we plan for organizational renewal, and community outreach. "The key is to focus on new life emerging rather than on a program."

As our Meeting for Worship becomes our community outlet for individual leadings, it may radiate the values of peace, justice, human rights, etc., that Friends stand for. What a blessing we could be for San Antonio, Texas, the USA and the world!

High Appreciation

He also sent his daughter to George School in Pennsylvania. She is now 75, affected by Alzheimer’s and decided to “see the money do some good.” So she is donating $128 million, over fifteen years, to George School, perhaps the highest donation ever to a private secondary school.

George School is a Quaker school. It opened in 1893. It was named for John M. George who donated much of the money for the school. It was intended as a school for Hicksite members of the Society of Friends (Quakers) who wanted an alternative to Orthodox Westtown School; Although most of the early boarding students were Quaker, day students have long come from outside the Friends community, and today Quakers represent about one-fifth of students and one-third of faculty.

Ms. Dodd stated that "This gift is meant to honor not only my father, David Dodd, and his legacy, but also all of the teachers at George School who had such an impact on me and are so important to their students today. I want to help George School because of the excellence of its faculty and because it is a school without pretensions, where caring for and learning from each other are as important as academic success."

Quaker influences on the school are apparent in many of the Friends-derived procedures of the school, especially in the consensus format for faculty and other committee meetings, where all present must either agree to proposals or "stand aside" in order for them to be approved. A four-year course of spiritual study begins with a term of peer group meetings in the student's first year, year-long "Health and the Human Spirit" class in the sophomore year, and trimester-long Bible and Quakerism classes during the junior and senior years, respectively. Additionally, all students and faculty gather for a twenty-five minute Meeting for Worship once a week, and all boarding students and resident faculty attend a longer meeting on Sundays. Also in the Quaker spirit, since 1942 every student has a "co-op" job, the equivalent to other schools' work-study jobs, but shared equally among all students regardless of their financial aid status. Finally, in the most apparent difference to outsiders, teachers and students all refer to one another on a first-name basis.

George School offers the two-year International Baccalaureate program, which certifies students to attend colleges and universities around the world.

All George School students are required to complete a sixty-five hour community service project before they graduate. Students work actively in projects and programs which are consistent with Friends' practices and are organized to meet the needs of others through ongoing one-on-one contact.

Each project must take the form of direct interaction with people who are disempowered because of social, racial, economic, or health factors which limit their functioning easily within the mainstream of their own society. These projects vary from intense, two-week experiences in a school-sponsored, domestic or international work camp, to once-a-week experiences that extend throughout the school year, to preapproved independent projects.

By extending themselves to others, students develop a sense of commitment; learn the potential rewards and frustrations involved in service; learn how specific agencies, cultures, and institutions operate; develop an appreciation for complex social support networks; and gain insight into their own values and life goals.

Service projects may be completed during the school year or over the summer. Students can fulfill the service requirement any time after the completion of their sophomore year.

George School has offered recent service trips to India; Nicaragua; Cuba; Costa Rica; Boston, Massachusetts; Coastal Mississippi; Israel and The Palestinian territories; France; South Africa; Arizona; New Orleans, Louisiana; Americus, Georgia; South Carolina, Virginia Beach, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; West Virginia; South Korea; and Vietnam.

Students may also design their own 65-hour service project, as long as it involves sufficient face-to-face contact with the community being helped.

The school's seal is an oil lamp with the inscription "Mind the light."

We hope the school will be able to do a lot more of all those things now. And retain its principles.

Call for Nationwide Moratorium on Executions

An Appeal from the Treasurer

I feel led to share with our wider fellowship the concern I expressed in the Treasurer’s Report during this past Sunday’s Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business.

The Meeting is now 75% of the way through its fiscal year. Without consideration of designated gifts for specific purposes, the Meeting’s General Fund contributions are $7,426 lower than the YTD budget of $31,035 and $7,486 lower than YTD actual expenditures of $31,094. Lower than expected contributions are going to begin creating problems, even if the Meeting curtails optional expenses, which I recommend it do for the remainder of the year. It’s not that the Meeting needs larger donations from individuals that already give, it needs more individuals to contribute if they can.

Please consider what having a Meeting and permanent meeting place available for Friends means to you and determine if you can support our community financially as well as in all other ways in which we all contribute. You can leave contributions in the box inside the front door to the Meetingroom or simply hand it directly to me.

Thanks for your consideration.

Personal

Jeff Hipp writes:”Cambridge is full of neighborhoods with lovely names: Riverside, Fresh Pond, Agassiz, Harvard Square. Mine is named "Area 4." Really. Sandwiched somewhere between MIT and Cambridge City Hall, it's a truly diverse neighborhood, and is full of great food, public transit, and canine friends to Pugsley. If you are interested in becoming acquainted with my new part of town, I took my camera along on a walking tour yesterday, and have uploaded the photos to a photo map, available here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jeffhipp/Area4Tour/photo?authkey=BZljiWwL5wY#map.

The GI Rights Hotline has a new toll-free number for women and men trying to get OUT of the military: 877-447-4487.

Meredith McGuire’s parents, George and Virginia, who live with Meredith and Jim Spickard, are severely ill. They spent much of their lives in voluntary service overseas.

Ten Thousand Villages Store

In 1946 Edna Ruth Byler visited Mennonite Central Committee volunteers teaching sewing in Puerto Rico to those living in poverty. The volunteers were searching for ways to better their program and improve the students’ lives.

Byler brought some of the class’s pieces back to the U.S. to sell to friends and family. She soon found herself selling cross-stitch needlework from Palestinian refugees and Haitian woodenware. In the 1970s, the small project became an official program of the MCC.

Since its founding in February 2004, Ten Thousand Villages of Austin is proud to be part of this network of more than 160 Ten Thousand Villages retail stores across North America.

Its products include:

Go to http://www.villagesofaustin.com/. There are links to the products at this site.

GROUNDS WORKPARTY

Quaker charity sued

The Pennsylvania Attorney General is suing AFSC, saying it misspent Eloesser's bequest. AFSC already paid back more than $1 million to an Eloesser endowment.

AFSC insists that it spent Eloesser's money on worthy health-care causes, albeit not always precisely on medical training. The AG’s Office says there is no suggestion that anyone personally ripped off the fund.

Eloesser was a pioneer in public health in developing countries. John Treat, a spokesman, said he believed the grants went to health care in Latin America - though sometimes directly for medical care instead of training. Treat says he believed Eloesser's executors informally agreed to permit wider latitude in how the money was spent.

Over the years, the Friends committee each year kept up to 20 percent of the fund's disbursements for administrative costs. In 2004, that unaccountably ballooned to 45 percent, Treat said. "We're getting to the bottom of that," he said.

Patrick Manion, a former employee of the charity, complained to the authorities to how the Eloesser funds were being used. Manion said his AFSC bosses wouldn't accommodate him after his feet got painful - and were unhappy when he raised complaints in-house about the use of Eloesser's money.

In response to the lawsuit, the AFSC has pledged to turn over an audit in December of all the spending from the fund. As a precautionary step, the auditors will also scrutinize 13 other endowments worth about $8 million.

But – AFSC Programs

• Advocating preservation of vital public services for human needs here

• Helping shift war funding to support human needs here and in Iraq

• Advocating debt cancellation to more than 60 impoverished countries in the Global South

• Requesting gifts with Heart and Hope to support AFSC's ongoing work for peace, justice, and human dignity.

• Providing aid to neglected immigrant communities after California fires

• A May 2008 STOPMAX conference in Philadelphia to stop abuses in U.S. prisons

• Producing Quaker Action magazine, now online -- our work in the Democratic Republic of Congo and this summer's U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta.

• A website of photos for Friends for Peace campaign

peaceCENTER-listed events:

Throughout November: The San Antonio Food Bank is asking the community to donate a million pounds of canned food.

Starting November 2: The Emergency Food Pantry at Inner City Development is raising $20,000 to stock the pantry.

November 6: Celebrate The Hajj Journal, book by Narjis Pierre, Photos by Ali Moshirsadri. UIW Library.

November 6-7: Christ of the Celts: An Ancient Harmony of Peace, Episcopal Church of Reconciliation.

November 7: Trinity's Lin Speaker series, on interfaith dialog.

November 7, 8, 10, 11. Darfur Calls: A Trial of Conscience, A Trial for Humanity. Performance at Temple Beth-El.

November 8: Conversation on Energy, Conoco Phillips and UTSA. UTSA downtown.

November 8: City Forester Michael Nentwich on The State of Trees in San Antonio. Trinity.

November 10: Viva Bookstore, book signing for the four new peaceCENTER books.

November 10: a political concert event, "Spam the Senate." Ruta Maya Coffeehouse.

November 13: The Rev. Barry Lynn on why the religious right's dream for America is a nightmare. Temple Beth-El.

November 14: Soul of a Citizen., Fr. David Garcia and Judge Nelson Wolff. AT&T Ctr.

November 15: Charles Glass, author and journalist, "Iraq as Emblem of America in the Mideast." Trinity.

November 15: John Bolton, on "Meeting the Challenges of a Perilous World." Policy Maker breakfast, Doubletree Inn, Trinity.

November 18: Viva! Bookstore annual holiday open house.