EDITOR'S NOTE Skeptical Inquirer THE MACAZINI FOR SCIfNCC AND MASON Inquiry and Exuberance EDITOR Kendrick Frazier aul Kurtz, in the article beginning on the next page, describes the found­ EDITORIAL BOARD James E. Alcock ing of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Barry Beyerstein Paranormal twenty years ago, some of the highs and lows of our first two Susan J. Blackmore P Martin Gardner decades, concerns that motivated us, and principles that have guided us. Ray Hyman During much of that time CSICOP has been under various kinds of Philip J. Klass attack, often from those whose appreciation for scientific, skeptical examination Paul Kurtz of claims and the value of informing the public about scientific inquiry is some­ Joe Nickell Lee Nisbet what less enthusiastic than ours. But, as Paul says, CSICOP has engendered Bela Scheiber broad, worldwide support, the preponderance of scientific opinion generally CONSULTING EDITORS supports our positions, and all efforts to undermine the committee have failed. Robert A. Baker As he puts it, "CSICOP is alive and well and stronger than ever; and it is now a John R. Cole Kenneth L. Feder well-established part of the contemporary intellectual and scientific landscape." C. E. M. Hansel A large part of that success is due to Paul himself. "Heading CSICOP as E. C. Krupp chairman these twenty years has been exhilarating for me," he says. It's an David F. Marks Andrew Neher appropriate word, for in addition to his obvious intellectual and readership James E. Oberg attributes, Paul has always brought to the task a perhaps more surprising qual­ Robert Sheaffer ity about which he once devoted an entire book: Exuberance. That zest for life, Steven N. Shore that positive attitude, that optimism is, happily, contagious, and it has helped ASSISTANT IDrtOnS Thomas C. Genoni, Jr. carry us all through many difficult times. It has been a fun twenty years. Alice Loweecey CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Lys Ann Shore PRODUCTION Traditional Chinese medicine has provoked widespread interest in America and. Paul Loynes CAITOONIST Europe. It's part of the newfound, often uncritical "acceptability" in many cir­ Rob Pudim cles of alternative medicine. Following up on our first CSICOP visit to China in 1988, CSICOP last year was invited to send another delegation to China—a PUBUSHERS REPRESENTATIVE physician, a neuropsychologist, and a medical journalist. They saw firsthand Barry Karr some of the practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine, visited leading labo­ BUSINESS MANAGER ratories, and assessed their studies. The first part of their two-part report, which Mary Rose Hays draws upon not only their own observations and their understanding of the cul­ ASSISTANT BUSINESS MANAOU Sandra Lesniak ture, but their examination of the published literature, appears in this issue. cwf F DATA orncu Richard Seymour FULFILLMENT MANAGES Michael Cione STAFF Elizabeth Begley Diana Picciano Alfreda Pidgeon Etienne C Rios Ranjit Sandhu Sharon Sikora Vance Vigrass Dana Walpole COHPORATE COUNSEL Brenton N. VerPloeg INQUIRY MEOIA PRODUCTIONS Thomas Flynn The SKEPTICAL INQUIRER is the official journal of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, an international organization. 4 July/Augus! 1996 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER .