The Journal of Dr. Richard L. Sleight

MAY 2005 EDITION 

Weight change in May, 197 to 199 

An Invitation to Join the Gideons

Last month a gentleman I greatly respect, Dr. Irv Nalos, an Elder and “pillar” at First Presbyterian Church, made a direct appeal to me to join the Gideons.  Irv is in the Saturday Morning Men’s Bible Study.  He’s a Czechoslovakian Jewish believer in Jesus Christ and a saint by any measure.  I was honored by his confidence in my faith.  I did some research and gave it some thought. The Gideons say that they are "the oldest Christian business and professional men's association in the United States of America."  Alas, I had to decline his well intended invitation.  I believe the Gideons do good work, God’s work.  But I can not tie myself to this organization for reasons I shared with Irv.

First, they are a men’s organization.  Women may join their “auxiliary” but are not allowed to be directly engaged in their evangelistic Bible distribution.  What army fights with half its troops?  The New Testament speaks of female Prophets (and I like to think that Priscilla wrote the book of Hebrews, not Paul, though the author is the Holy Spirit through an anonymous hand.)  The early evangelists were the women who returned from the Empty Tomb – and from a well at noonday in Samaria.  Women shared the Gospel in many languages at Pentecost.  Don’t get me started. 

Second, only “professional” men are invited to join.  It’s nice to be classed as a professional.  But God is no respecter of persons.  God equips whom He calls.  He does not simply call the equipped.  It is this class segregation which encourages division, not Christian unity.  What of the garbage collector who slaves all week, but is a deacon in his own congregation on Sunday?  Perhaps seven slave names are found in Romans 16.  It was even a slave who penned the book of Romans for Paul!  “I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.”   

I'm not convinced that godly ends justify worldly means.  The Gideons would have admitted Dr. Luke but would have rejected most of God's chosen Apostles.
 

UCLA Study on Friendship Among Women

by Gale Berkowitz
 

[Sometimes I learn something new.  This month, this research changed my thinking about a basic concept in human behavior.]
 

A landmark UCLA study suggests friendships between women are special. They shape who we are and who we are yet to be. They soothe our tumultuous inner world, fill the emotional gaps in our marriage, and help us remember who we really are.

By the way, they may do even more. Scientists now suspect that hanging out with our friends can actually counteract the kind of stomach-quivering stress most of us experience on a daily basis. A landmark UCLA study suggests that women respond to stress with a cascade of brain chemicals that cause us to make and maintain friendships with other women. It's a stunning find that has turned five decades of stress research--most of it on men--upside down. Until this study was published, scientists generally believed that when people experience stress, they trigger a hormonal cascade that revs the body to either stand and fight or flee as fast as possible, explains Laura Cousin Klein, Ph.D., now an Assistant Professor of Bio- behavioral Health at Penn State University and one of the study's authors. It's an ancient survival mechanism left over from the time we were chased across the planet by saber-toothed tigers.

Now the researchers suspect that women have a larger behavioral repertoire than just fight or flight; in fact, says Dr. Klein, it seems that when the hormone oxytocin is released as part of the stress responses in a woman, it buffers the fight or flight response and encourages her to tend children and gather with other women instead.  When she actually engages in this tending or befriending, studies suggest that more oxytocin is released, which further counters stress and produces a calming effect. This calming response does not occur in men, says Dr. Klein, because testosterone---which men produce in high levels when they're under stress---seems to reduce the effects of oxytocin. Estrogen; she adds, seems to enhance it. The discovery that women respond to stress differently than men was made in a classic "aha"

moment shared by two women scientists who were talking one day in a lab at UCLA. There was this joke that when the women who worked in the lab were stressed, they came in, cleaned the lab, had coffee, and bonded, says Dr. Klein. When the men were stressed, they holed up somewhere on their own. I commented one day to fellow researcher Shelley Taylor that nearly 90% of the stress research is on males. I showed her the data from my lab, and the two of us knew instantly that we were onto something.

The women cleared their schedules and started meeting with one scientist after another from various research specialties. Very quickly, Drs. Klein and Taylor discovered that by not including women in stress research, scientists had made a huge mistake: The fact that women respond to stress differently than men has significant implications for our health.

It may take some time for new studies to reveal all the ways that oxytocin encourages us to care for children and hang out with other women, but the "tend and befriend" notion developed by Drs. Klein and Taylor may explain why women consistently outlive men. Study after study has found that social ties reduce our risk of disease by lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol.

There's no doubt, says Dr. Klein, that friends are helping us live

longer. In one study, for example, researchers found that people who had no friends increased their risk of death over a 6-month period. In another study, those who had the most friends over a 9-year period cut their risk of death by more than 60%. Friends are also helping us live better.

The Health Study from Harvard Medical School found that the more friends women had, the less likely they were to develop physical impairments as they aged, and the more likely they were to be leading a joyful life. In fact, the results were so significant, the researchers concluded, that not having close friends or confidantes was as detrimental to your health as smoking or carrying extra weight! And that's not all! When the researchers looked at how well the women functioned after the death of their spouse, they found that even in the face of this biggest stressor of all, those women who had a close friend and confidante were more likely to survive the experience without any new physical impairments or permanent loss of vitality. Those without friends were not always so fortunate. Yet if friends counter the stress that seems to swallow up so much of our life these days, if they keep us healthy and even add years to our life, why is it so hard to find time to be with them?

That's a question that also troubles researcher Ruthellen Josselson, Ph.D., co-author of "Best Friends: The Pleasures and Perils of Girls' and Women's Friendships" (Three Rivers Press, 1998). Every time we get overly busy with work and family, the first thing we do is let go of friendships with other women, explains Dr. Josselson. We push them right to the back burner. That's really a mistake because women are such a source of strength to each other. We nurture one another. And we need to have unpressured space in which we can do the special kind of talk that women do when they're with other women. It's a very healing experience.

Study Looks at Diet in Cutting Cholesterol

By JOANN LOVIGLIO, Associated Press Writer
 
PHILADELPHIA - Eating a low-fat diet packed with vegetables, fruit, beans and whole grains reduces levels of "bad" cholesterol twice as much as eating a low-fat diet that's heavy on processed foods, a small study has found.

Researchers said it suggests that — at least in the short term — there's more to healthy eating than counting fat grams and more to controlling cholesterol than taking drugs.

"The effect of diet on lowering cholesterol has been really minimized and undermined by a lot of clinicians and researchers saying, 'Yes, it has an effect but it's really trivial. It would be better to put you on drugs to control your cholesterol,'" said Christopher Gardner, lead author of the study in a recent issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.

"But we think part of the reason was that we weren't really giving diet a fair shake. We were so focused on the negative — just what to avoid and not what to include," said Gardner, director of nutrition studies at Stanford University's Prevention Research Center.

. . .
After one month, the people who ate the diet that was heavy on plant-based foods saw bigger improvements in levels of LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, than the people who ate processed dinners and snacks.
. . .
In an accompanying editorial, a nutritionist not connected with the research said plant-based diets, which appear to have many benefits like reduced risks of colon and heart disease, should remain a key strategy for improving cholesterol.

Laurie Kleespies visits the Sleight House

the Last Week of May

Sister Laurie flew to Seattle from Maryland (via Dallas) on Tuesday, May 24th.  She's visiting family and friends this last week of May.  (click image)

She brought dad home from Swedish Hospital and visited with mom and dad.  She's staying at our house this visit, and will be showing me how to cook some more healthy meals. 

Laurie seems much the same as ever.  Her personality has changed very little since High School, except she is much less shy.  She and I still communicate very well -- and perhaps except for "religion and politics" we share much the same outlook on most issues.  And in those two areas we probably agree when we get down to specifics.  Our visit went much too quickly.

On Friday the 27th, the four Sleight siblings had a first ever pow wow to discuss parent care and future plans.  We all met at Don's house. It was a cordial, enjoyable meeting.  There was not even a hint of greed or bickering so common in some families when the distribution of parental resources are discussed.  And it was fun to learn what each of us knew (or thought we knew) about our kin.  (click image)

On Memorial Day, Laurie and I visited mom, dad, and Randy in West Seattle.  As usual, I spent much of my time fixing dad's computer.  (That morning I had updated Laurie's deskessentials.com website)  I guess every family can benefit these days by having an in-house guru. I managed to get a list of some of dad's important passwords so that I could help him in the future if he could not function as well as he does now.  He noted that his handwriting has deteriorated and I noticed some shakiness.  But his pacemaker was working fine.  Laurie looked over mom's jewelry with her.

I Think I'll Stop Worrying About My Kids

Each year recently, our kids have taken the national Stanford Achievement Test as a summative check on their home schooling progress. This year both Jeannie and Nate took the test.  Their results were outstanding.

Jeannie scored "PHS" (Post High School) on 12 of the 18 test items.  Only on "Mathematical Procedures" did she score at her "Grade Equivalent" of 6.5.  Her next lowest score was 10.3 in "Language Mechanics."  In two-thirds of the items she was in the 90th percentile or higher.

And Nathanael  (like his dad) scored lowest on Spelling.  But despite this -- every single score on the test was rated "PHS."  Except for Spelling, every other item ranked Nathanael above the 90th percentile -- with a third of his scores above at the 99th percentile.  Polish up his writing and he'll be quite ready for college.

Saturday, May 21st, Grandpa Dick

Returns to Swedish Hospital

I didn't sleep well Saturday night, knowing that my dad was back in the hospital with heart problems.  But his call 7:10AM Sunday morning was a great relief.  Someday that call will not come again. He seemed a bit surprised when I told him I loved him.  I'm glad I did.  So many opportunities to express our love for others go unspoken.  Randy had gone with him to the Fire Station (dad still insisting on driving himself) and Medic 1 drove him across town.  He had taken extra medication that raised his blood pressure and induced an erratic heartbeat.  Randy drove me to visit him on Sunday afternoon.  He was upbeat and only concerned that his lunch was three hours late.  Click his picture for an enlargement.  His friend Mitsuko Hasagawa stayed with Grandma Jean on Monday and Nancy stayed with her on Tuesday. 

I left work early and arrived at Swedish around 2:00PM Monday afternoon.  he was flat on his back and was trying to eat a messy chicken salad sandwich on a plate on his chest which he could not see. I fed it to him in little bites -- a real Erma Bombeck moment.  He was sporting an external pacemaker, with a wire from his groin to his heart -- a heart which had stopped, repeatedly, for as much as eight seconds that day.  I stayed with him three hours and we discussed his childhood, financial matters, and the news.

I returned to Swedish on Tuesday about 3:00PM.  He claimed he was just dozing but that's a pretty loud snore for a doze. I spoke with him and shook his hand when they took him away at 4:00PM to have his pacemaker installed.  I was at his new room in a different wing of the hospital at 6:00PM when he returned from surgery.  He was alert and happy with how things had gone. I called the various family members and let him speak to them, and then said good bye. I got home about 8:30PM, just in time to welcome sister Laurie who had just arrived from Maryland to stay with us for the last week of May.  She was the one who drove dad home on Wednesday morning.

A personal, wonderful, surprise:  Upon leaving the hospital after my final visit, I stumbled across five large serigraphs by my favorite living artist, Haida carver and printmaker Robert Davidson.  Here in an obscure hospital hallway on 3rd Floor South were five beautiful prints, each easily worth many thousands of dollars.  These were from 1983, during the very years when I was doing my art.  Davidson's eagles were the inspiration for my Tenas Chak Chak.  I have copies of two Bill Reid prints on my office wall.  Reid was the great Haida artist who kept the tradition alive, connecting Davidson with his great grandfather Charles Edenshaw's legacy. "In 1966 he (Davidson) met Bill Reid and soon after, began an eighteen month apprenticeship that launched his career as an artist. Through Reid, he met anthropologist Wilson Duff, artist Bill Holm and learned much about the Haida people and their art."   Click on the image for a Davidson print similar to the ones at Swedish.  I wish I'd had my camera. 

The Curious Savage at BCS, May 5, 6, 7
Bravo!  Bravo!  I laughed and I cried.  The Curious Savage began as a seemingly light hearted comedy which included five mental patients, a wealthy senior citizen and her three ruthless step-children, the facility medical staff, and $10 million dollars in negotiable bonds. But it ended with a powerful message about living life and loving people.

Nathanael played Dr. Emmett, the medical head of The Cloisters, a private group home mental institution. His performance was solid as the responsible doctor.  Annie played the oft-married Lily Belle Savage, daughter of the wealthy Mrs. Ethel Savage. Her performance was stellar as usual.  She played the perfect lively and self-centered opposite to her lovely and selfless mother. The two performances I saw were well done, with the closing night performance superb.    Nicole Wallace, fellow Cross Country team mate, played the lead role of Mrs. Savage brilliantly.  (Click the image for more performance photos.)

From the final Act.

MRS. SAVAGE.  Suddenly – I’m weary.  I would like to rest – I would like to be relieved of decision.  I would like to be protected against uncertainty and accident.  I would like to close my eyes at night and know there are walls to guard my sleep.

DR. EMMETT.  But the peace you find here is the moon reflected on a dark lake.  Strike the surface and you destroy it.  Is that the kind of peace you want?

MRS. SAVAGE.  I want what everyone wants – to want nothing.  These people have found contentment.

DR. EMMETT.  How do you know?

MRS. SAVAGE.  I have eyes to see.

DR. EMMETT.  So has Jeffrey – but he sees only what he wants to see – an excuse for not facing the future.  Does Florence see that her child was taken from her?  Does Fairy see what the mirror should tell her?  No. They’ve found refuge in an egg-shell world where you don’t belong.  For you see yourself clearly, I’m sure. 

MRS. SAVAGE.  Then where do I belong?

DR. EMMETT.  (Rises.)  In the world you can best serve.  The impulse to live your life with courage was right.  Go ahead with your Memorial.  And don’t be betrayed by the illusion of contentment. (Walks to and opens the door.)  The door is open for you.  Make your peace with loneliness.

On May 25th the Official Announcement
Can Finally Be Made Public
Annie has moved the final step from National Merit Finalist to National Merit Scholarship winner or "National Merit Scholar".  She was awarded her third scholarship, a $2000 award, renewable annually for four years.  We look forward to honoring her and her classmates on June 7th at FPCB as she participates in her fourth and final BCS Honors Night event. 

Jeannie "Graduates" from Pioneer Girls

This month marked the end of Wednesday nights at UPC for Jeannie Beth.  It perhaps means that Nancy and I will finally not be driving kids to church on that evening -- something we've done since Annie was in first grade!  So it was a graduation of sorts for Nancy and me as well.

As part of the graduation program, Jeannie played two songs on the oboe.  She has made incredible progress in just nine months on that instrument.

Jeannie's friend Crystal Hsu played the piano.  The girls got diplomas and roses and followed that up with an ice cream cake and other treats. 

A Bigger Story Than We Know

I don't consider myself a Christian fundamentalist conspiracy theorist.  But to use the Star Wars vernacular, "I've got a bad feeling about this."  Buried in today's (5/11/05) news was this story.

Senate approves electronic ID card bill  
     "Last-minute attempts by online activists to halt an electronic ID card failed Tuesday when the U.S. Senate unanimously voted to impose a sweeping set of identification requirements on Americans."
     The so-called Real ID Act now heads to President Bush, who is expected to sign the bill into law this month. Its backers, including the Bush administration, say it's needed to stop illegal immigrants from obtaining drivers' licenses.
     If the act's mandates take effect in May 2008, as expected, Americans will be required to obtain federally approved ID cards with "machine readable technology" that abides by Department of Homeland Security specifications. Anyone without such an ID card will be effectively prohibited from traveling by air or Amtrak, opening a bank account, or entering federal buildings.
    After the Real ID Act's sponsors glued it to an Iraq military spending bill, final passage was all but guaranteed. Yet that didn't stop a dedicated cadre of privacy activists from trying to raise the alarm in the last few days. . . .
 

Needed to open a bank account?  This is like using a bazooka to kill a rat.  It probably won't stop illegal immigration, but it will enable every merchant fighting credit card fraud to do a better identity check. And it may be yet another big slide down the slippery slope toward the end of freedom as we know it.
 

Remembering the Poor

In Galatians 2, the Apostle Paul writes about  the first Church council in Jerusalem (described also by Luke in Acts 15)

⁹ James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. ¹⁰ All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

Remembering the poor is one of those "good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Eph 2:10b)  It is a standing order for the army of God.  My brother Randy chooses to work with Habitat for Humanity.  My boss, Jeff Van Duzer is heavily involved with the Salvation Army. Time and family commitments limit some options but the responsibility to "remember the poor" is not one a Christian can dodge with impunity. 

While studying the theology of business a few summers ago here at SPU, I came across Opportunity International.  The poor in the USA, while being my near neighbors, live quite well by Third World standards, and I support them trough my taxes and my church.  Yet I wanted my support to have a lasting impact where my small contributions could make the most difference.

From the Opportunity International website I read:

Our mission is to provide opportunities for people in chronic poverty to transform their lives. Our strategy is to create jobs, stimulate small businesses, and strengthen communities among the poor.  Our method is to work through indigenous partner organizations that provide small business loans, training, and counsel. Our commitment is motivated by Jesus Christ's call to serve the poor. Our core values are respect, commitment to the poor, integrity, and stewardship.

Call me a "trickle down conservative" but I don't believe the poor need their next meal as badly as they need their next job. With meaningful work and opportunity comes a chance to break the cycle of poverty.  I believe that my gifts to the poor through this ministry are no more (and no less) than my duty and a very small part of the answer to their urgent prayers. Still, the words of Oscar Schindler still reverberate, "I could have done more."  We all can.
 

• On May 6th the scale read 199.5.  Had I really fallen so badly off the diet wagon?  I guess so.  Will I change my behavior?   I was still there at the end of the month.
• The weekend of the play, our friends from Bend, Oregon, Connie and Emery Grantier and their kids stayed at our house.
• One more lecture today then I am off for the summer (except for next week's final exams.)  The ceiling projector security alarm went off twice during my lecture today!  Yikes! "It's not my fault!"

And finally, as my last act in May, I am "slated" to give the opening brief welcome and invocation at the SBE Undergraduate Graduation Banquet tonight, May 31st.  Here are my prepared remarks.

When this class of students began here as freshmen, there were serious doubts in some circles, whether or not you would actually make it to graduation.  As the Alan Jackson song asked, “Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?”  Two weeks before you started classes here, Islamic terrorists changed the skyline of New York and, indeed, the skyline of all our lives.

Something else happened in 2001.  That May I was sitting off in the corner of 3^rd Gwinn at a farewell luncheon for a much beloved and successful business school dean, Dr. Alec Hill.  I was talking with one of our adjunct professors, telling him how unsure I was about the future of the School of Business and Economics.  I make no claims to being a prophet, but when this Legal Environment of Business adjunct asked me what kind of Dean, the school of business needed, I said, “Someone like you.”  I was talking with Dr. Jeff Van Duzer, unaware that we would hire him as my boss later that summer.  You were his first freshman class. 

Back in 2001, this graduation event was held at the First Free Methodist Church.  The students decided it would be a good idea to use live goldfish as the centerpieces.  I named mine AUSBE.   In four years we’ve come a long way.  Instead of a jar with a little goldfish in it

– I give you Elliot Bay.

As the advisor of the Associated Undergraduate Students of Business and Economics I am proud to recognize our current and outgoing student officers.  Our new incoming officers are primarily responsible for organizing tonight’s happy event -- many of whom you will see up here tonight. 

(If you would please stand when I call your name.)

Esther Haak    President

Austin Ruhle   Vice President

Chad Knight   VP of Finance

Katie Ralph    VP of Marketing

Phil Bayley     VP of IT

Our outgoing AUSBE officers started their year in office by putting on last years graduation banquet, and finished their year by replacing themselves with this great group I just mentioned.

I have a tradition to uphold, a symbolic “cutting loose” of the gradating class.  On June 10^th you seniors will be cut loose from SPU at Ivy Cutting.  As representatives of the graduating class of 2005, I have a token in that line for each of the graduating officers.

Brian Hansen                    President

Anna Fiedler                      Vice President

Jason Fisk                         Marketing

Caleb Whitmore                IT

BJ Louws                          Finance

And before I give you directions for dinner -- I have one other person to thank for getting us all here tonight.  Will you please pray with me?

Our gracious Heavenly Father,

God of our past, our present and our future. 

How happy we are to know that you,

whom we worship and serve,

showed in your Son, that you love a good party.

Thank you for making tonight’s celebration possible in your care for each of us individually

and as a business school.

Thank you for this food.

Be present in our fellowship.

And we will continue to be your grateful people

because you have given us hearts to love Jesus,

in who’s name we pray.  

Amen.