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The Torch Magazine,  The Journal and Magazine of the
International Association of Torch Clubs
For 83 Years
A Peer-Reviewed
Quality Controlled
Publication


ISSN  Print 0040-9440
ISSN Online 2330-9261


  Fall 2014
Volume 88, Issue 1



  Articles in the Fall 2014 Issue
  1. Whose Life is it Anyway?
    by Henry R. Ticknor
      This the 2014 Paxton Award Paper.  The author debates the legal and moral issues associated with the taking of a person's life by means of active or passive suicide.  Both physician-assisted suicide and voluntary, active euthanasia, it is argued, are moral acts that ought to be legal, making it permissible for physicians to provide the knowledge and the means by which  a patient may end his or her life.  A .pdf version available here.
  2. The Economics of Inequality
    by J. Michael Harrison
      The economists who studied the causes of the Great Depression of the 1930s never seriously considered the effects of inequality in causing or prolonging the crisis.  This was true of both Keynes on the left and the Austrian school on the right.  One distinguished economist, Simon Kuznets, however, argues that economic distribution is the key determinant of growth.  Recent data Thomas Piketty and others have shown that high economic inequality suppresses economic growth.  Rent seekers seem to have taken over the economy.  A .pdf version available here.
  3. Willa Cather: Virginia Girl to Literary Classic
    by Anne LeHew Legge
      Willa Cather was a major American writer who produced a whole shelf of varied and uniquely American works: twelve novels, one book of poems, and dozens of stories and essays.  In 1923 show won the Pulitzer Prize, and many others followed.  Although her family left Virginia when she was just nine-years-old, Virginia culture was present in her later writings, especially in the novel Sapphira and the Slave Girl.  Her writing remains popular.  A .pdf version available here.
  4. The ABC's of E-learning
    by Larry Zaleski
      The introduction of affordable computes and high-speed electronic networks has made distance learning practical.  Strictly speaking, distance learning includes books and other instructional texts, which have been used for centuries, since both means allow for separation in space between instructor and student.  When most people think of "distance learning" today, however, they picture instruction delivered electronically.  In general E-learning is as effective as the traditional classroom.  The author discusses the various electronic systems in use today to deliver educational materials.  A .pdf version available here.
  5. The World War that Started in Pennsylvania
    by Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo
      Known  by various names---In Europe, "The Seven Years' War," in India, "The Third Carnatic War," in North America, "The French and Indian War----it was the first war fought simultaneously in four continents around the globe.  Its spark was struck in Pennsylvania.  To understand this world war, it is not enough to talk of the French, the Indians, the English, and the colonists; you have to grasp the role played in Pennsylvania as a place, its geography of rivers, mountains, and forests.  A .pdf version available here.
  6. My Impressions of Working in a Foreign Country:  Brooklyn, New York
    by Marcella Ade
      Brooklyn is a city of neighborhoods.  Walk a few blocks in Brooklyn and you cross not only streets, but county borders.  Brooklyn is like a mini-Europe.  It is made up of over 50 neighborhoods with dozens of ethnicities and backgrounds.  You can walk from one cobblestone street to the next exploring goods, cuisine, and entertainment experience rather like traveling from one country to another in Europe.  A .pdf available here.
  7. How Did We Let It Happen?  The Syrian Refugee Crisis: A Logistic and Human Disaster
    by Joellyn Sheehy
      In 2011, the first trickle of stories of Syrian refugees fleeing the country's civil upheaval emerged.  As the reports turned into a flood, concern increased for both the refugees' welfare and their new hosting countries' resources.  Probably some four million people have fled the Syrian Arab Republic.  The dead number more than 170,000.  This paper focuses on the impact of the Syrian refugee crisis on the displaced persons themselves and their host nations, highlighting the importance of the international community initiating long-term planning to help individuals recover their livelihoods after the disaster.   A .pdf version available here.
  8. The State of Torch
    by Charles Carlson
      Torch is in a state of transition. We have a new website and Executive Secretary. The Torch magazine has become increasingly affordable and member friendly. Many initiatives have been introduced, with more planned for the future.   I believe that all of our officers and directors would agree that we have had a good year and that the International Association of Torch Clubs (IATC) is on a roll.  My term as your President ends in June, and I am pleased with our new officers and directors as well as with our new Executive Secretary, Jim Coppinger.  Our board members have a spirit that will ensure a bright future for our association of Torch clubs.  A .pdf version available here.


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