The Key Reporter

reporter volume xxxix number one autumn 1973 NEW OFFICERS AND SENATORS A distinguished historian, Professor John Hope Franklin, is the newly elected president of the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa. President Franklin, who succeeds Dr. Rosemary Park of Univer sity of California at Los Angeles, is the John Manly Distinguished Service Pro fessor of American History at the Uni versity of Chicago. He received his bachelor's degree from Fisk University and his master's and doctoral degrees from Harvard. He is a member of the executive council of the American His torical Association and a past president Howard Mumford Jones (center), historian, educator and author received the second of the Southern Historical Association. Phi Beta Kappa Award for Distinguished Service to the Humanities. With Professor Before joining the Chicago faculty in Jones are Dr. Rosemary Park, outgoing president of the United Chapters and Profes 1964, Professor Franklin taught at sor John Hope Franklin, newly elected president. Brooklyn College, Howard University, North Carolina College at Durham, and St. Augustine's College. COUNCIL HONORS HOWARD MUMFORD JONES The new who has served on president, Vanderbilt University was the setting for the editorial boards of the Journal of the Thirtieth Council meeting of the NEW CHAPTERS Negro History and the Journal of Ameri United Chapters on August 7-10. Over of From can History, is the author two hundred delegates from one hundred ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY, Negro Slavery to Freedom: A History of and thirty-two chapters and thirteen asso Tempe after the Civil Americans; Reconstruction ciations attended. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT War; and The Emancipation Proclama IRVINE A highlight of the Council was the pres tion, and editor of A Fool's Errand; CALIFORNIA STATE XJNrVERSITY entation of the Phi Beta Kappa Award Army Life in a Black Regiment: and AT SAN DIEGO Ayers. for Distinguished Service to the Humani Civt7 War Diary of James T. COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY, ties to Howard Mumford Jones, Law Fort Collins Professor Franklin was one of four Lin rence Lowell Professor of Humanities FURMAN UNIVERSITY, Greenville, coln Lecturers appointed in 1972 to mark emeritus at Harvard University. South Carolina the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Ful In accepting the award, Mr. Jones warned HAMLINE UNIVERSITY, St. Paul, bright international exchange program. that freedom in the classroom or in the Minnesota He travelled to East Asia, the South state must carry with it social, civic and HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY, Hempstead, Pacific and Latin America at lecturing intellectual responsibility. "In western New York universities. the participating During society, from the Nazis to the Nixon ad COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS, President Franklin will be coming year, ministration, ethical deterioration origi Worcester, Massachusetts at Advanced in the the Center for Study nates somewhere. It is fatally easy to IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY, Ames at Cali Behavioral Sciences Stanford, blame our failure of ethical nerve upon KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY, fornia. He will be completing two books, the church, the breakdown of the family, Manhattan one on life in the North as depicted by or lack of patriotism. I urge that these STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK ante bellum southern visitors, the second various breakdowns are really break AT ALBANY downs of and a biography of the Negro historian, traditional values tradi STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK George Washington Williams. tional values are a primary responsibility AT STONY BROOK of humanists. The civic duty of human TEMPLE UNIVERSITY, Philadelphia, ists," In his remarks upon assuming office, Mr. Jones continued, "is to insist Pennsylvania President Franklin noted the attendance with passion upon honesty, morality and TRINITY UNIVERSITY, San Antonio, at the Council of Theodore Currier, the the beauty we are bound to protect and Texas advocate." delegate from Fisk University who had UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSEN MILWAUKEE (continued on back cover) (continued on back cover) www.pbk.org THE SCIENTIST AS SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN by Arthur W. Galston The fruits of science can be bitter or sweet, and the scientist ally the Democratic standard bearer. Ad hoc groups have nurturing their development cannot judge their platability until also formed against the supersonic transport, against chemical after the harvest. But the unpredictability goes further: a and biological warfare, and in support of various ecological fruit sweet when harvested may turn noxious with the passage causes. Medical Aid to Indochina arose to collect funds to of time, and its seeds when planted may yield harmful repair hospitals and medical installations in North Vietnam progeny. What is the cultivator of such an unpredictable damaged by the American bombardment late in 1972. Leftist to crop do? Should he cease his operations because of their scientists organized Science for Vietnam, a series of "collec tives" chancy nature? who supply scientific aid and information to the North Vietnamese. Most scientists have not slackened the pace of their work or engage in because of worries about its social consequences. Rather, they Finally, individual scientists occasionally initiate content themselves with the generalization that the harvests of one-man efforts that have some social consequences. One science have more often benefited than injured man. Further thinks in this connection of Linus Pauling's peace petition Matthew effective behind-the-scenes in more, they see man, whether he wills it or not, as increasingly campaign, Meselson's on struction of Senators on chemical and and dependent new scientific discovery for the solution of biological warfare, the James increasingly pressing social problems. Others argue that sci Shapiro-Jonathan Beckwith pronouncement on science and social ence is an inevitable consequence of man's curiosity and responsibility following their successful isolation of a gene. In own a sense of the need for cannot in any event be shut off. Still others, frequently in my case, involvement led me academic work, maintain that science is an aspect of human first to individual, then organizational action. But as often the events to experience that must be studied and understood by anyone occurs, leading social involvement seemed innocent of such implications. wishing to be liberally educated. But whatever the justification any for their activities, scientists have come to feel increasingly I have always been interested in biology, and in the course that they have a responsibility, because of their special of my university and graduate study, this interest came to knowledge, to society direct the application of their dis help center on plant physiology, the study of the life processes of coveries toward the satisfaction of human needs. the plant. I became fascinated by the fact that higher plants, unlike higher animals, have no germ plasm set The socially concerned scientist may adopt any one of a permanently aside and sequestered from the rest of the organism. number of activist stances, and can usually find an organiza Rather, Scientists' for most of its the plant vegetates and tion to fit his approach. For example, the Institute life, grows, producing scientists' only roots, stems, and leaves. at some regular for Public Information (SIPI) considers it the duty Then, definite, time, the plant point changes its nature and begins to present relevant facts to the public; the public must then growing to produce reproductive the flowers. In addition decide what to do with this information and how to do it. organs, to the showy petals and sepals, the flower contains the male SIPI preserves its tax-exempt status by not endorsing candi and female structures, the stamens and pistils. In these organs dates or particular political actions, although its magazine, are produced, through the process of the haploid Environment, frequently publishes articles that seem to point meiosis, cells that ultimately give rise to the sex the sperms and to a rather limited range of politically acceptable solutions. cells, eggs. The union of these cells produces the which By contrast, the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), zygote, Hill," then goes on to produce the embryo in the seed. which calls itself "the voice of science on Capitol In this way, sexual recombination and the of the plant in time produces carefully reasoned position papers on controversial continuity are made possible. issues involving scientific knowledge. Based on these it then issues news releases, lobbies for its positions in Washington, Obviously, everything depends on the decision, realized in the and advocates the passage of particular pieces of legislation. growing point, to differentiate flower primordia rather than Somewhat similar in approach to FAS are Common Cause, ordinary vegetative organs. What controls this decision? The "citizens' lobby" a that includes scientists, and Council fact that many it occurs at the same time each year, at least in for a Livable World, a Cambridge-based that con wild group plants, indicates the involvement of a precise regulatory centrates on fund to support desired political candi raising mechanism. At first, a chemical time-keeping process, rather dates. The latter two differ in that Common Cause like an frequently egg timer, was envisioned as built into the plant; when polls its members for collective advice on suggested courses "sand" some chemical is depleted from a chamber in the of while the Council operates more a action, inscrutably, timer, the plant changes its growth habit. But this group" theory small "in all decisions for action, which is was making quickly disproved when it was noted that a given lot of then circulated to potential contributors. The Society for when planted at seeds, different latitudes, produces plants Social in Science founded pacifists, at Responsibility (SSRS), by flowering different times. This speaks in favor of some includes scientists who refuse to engage in in many any way environmental control, and about 1920, it was established that research that could lead to the development of weapons of for many plants, daylength is the regulatory trigger.

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