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The Torch Magazine.  The Journal and Magazine of the
International Association of Torch Clubs
for 94 Years
A Peer-Reviewed,
Quality-Controlled
Publication


ISSN  Print 0040-9440
ISSN Online 2330-9261


  Fall 2019
Volume 93, Issue 1


Reflection

The Noble Eightfold Path of Siddhārtha Gautama, the Buddha
1. Right understanding (Samma ditthi)
2. Right thought (Samma sankappa)
3. Right speech (Samma vaca)
4. Right action (Samma kammanta)
5. Right livelihood (Samma ajiva)
6. Right effort (Samma vayama)
7. Right mindfulness (Samma sati)
8. Right concentration (Samma samadhi)
   Articles for the Fall 2019 Issue
  1. Right Speech:  The 2019 Paxton Award Paper
    by Leland W. Robinson
      Given the coarse nature of current political speech, the author explores the power of the Buddhist ideal of Right Speech: no lying; no divisive speech, no abusive speech and no idle chatter.   A pdf file of this article can be found here.
  2. The Carbon Climate Crisis and Its Role in Species Extinction
    by Marshall Marcus
      World-wide, human-caused extinction has folowed the spread of Homo sapiens. These extinctions have continued up to the present.  Human-caused global warming, the driver of climate change, may be contributing to what has been described as Earth's sixth mass species extinction.  A pdf file of this article can be found here.
  3. Poorhouses in America
    by Judith Landes
      What to do with the poor is explored in its historical context.  The poorhouse illustrates that the past did not have a good solution to the issue of poverty, just as today.  A pdf file of this article can be found here.
  4. Relationship Crucibles:  Why Everyone Should Sail
     by John Falconer
      Sailing is a difficult and dangerous undertaking, where there has to be carefully defined roles. The author describes how sailing has helped defined the roles of husband and wife in his marriage.A pdf file of this article can be found here.
  5. Seig High!  Psychostimulants and Opioids in World Ward II
     by John Elrick
      The German chemical industry invented drugs used by the German army.  One was called Pervitin. We know it as crystal meth.  Eukodol today is called  Oxycodone.  Adolf Hitler may have died a ruined junkie.  The German army's greatest successes were fueled by stimulants.  While these claims are controversial and stand out from earlier observations concerning the war, they hve the advantage of explaining some of the gaps in our understanding of the rise and fall of the Third Reich.  A pdf file of this article can be found here.
  6. Is Higher Education Too Important to Fail?
     by Dan Lundquist
      Lundquist believes higher education must change to survive, but does point out that a great cause of the rise in price of higher education is administrative bloat.    Over the past thirty years, spending on administration has ballooned nationally, going from $13 billion in 1981 to $122 billion in 2015 (cost of instruction is still the largest expense and it grew as well, but was outpaced by the rate of growth in administrative spending).  A pdf file of this article can be found here.
  7. Some Like It Hot:  The Discovery of Thermus Aquaticas 
    by James Coppinger
      The upper temperature limit for organisms was long considered 50˚C (122˚F)—the point at which proteins denature. Today, the boundary is far exceeded by simple thermophiles (50˚C–64˚C) to hyperthermophiles, who can live at temperatures from 80˚C (176˚F) up to 122˚C.  Scientist Thomas Brock is portrayed in this article as the person who discovered this fact after viewing distinct color patterns in outflows from hot springs in Yellowstone National Park.  A pdf file of this article can be found here.

An EBSCO Publication

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