A U.S. Air Force captain who once served on missile combat crews filed suit Aug. 29 against the Air Force, claiming the military service punished him for requesting accommodation of his religious beliefs.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is defending Capt. Ryan Berry, saying he was suspended from certain duties and later permanently decertified because he had asked for accommodation of his belief that as a married Catholic man he should avoid situations where he had to spend 24-48 hours in a small underground bunker with a woman.

Berry had threatened to file suit some three years ago, saying then that he would do so if all administrative remedies within the Air Force failed him (NCR, Aug. 27, 1999).

The suit, which also names the Department of Defense as a defendant, alleges the Air Force terminated the religious accommodation after previously agreeing to grant it to him. Subsequently, it alleges, the military service suspended him from missile alert duties and permanently decertified him from the Personnel Reliability Program, effectively demoting him.

The suit asks the court to declare that the Air Force's actions were unconstitutional and to order the service to remove false and negative statements about Berry, who is now on active reserve status, from its records.

The winner of this category Leigh House Adolescent Psychiatric Unit has successfully avoided an institutional feeling with mellow red rick and large amounts of timber, giving the complex a contemporary interpretation of the rural buildings in the area. The design has been developed to give a light, airy feeling and maximises the use of natural light and views, with the four buildings on the campus linked by sweeping pathways and spine walls.

Recreational areas are designed to achieve maximum flexibility with activities such as television and music in 'L' shaped lounges, which are part room, part conservatory. The 20-bed campus provides privacy, dignity, comfort and safety without creating a custodial or threatening environment.

Highly commended was Sevenacres Mental Health Unit, designed by Nightingale Associates, for successfully addressing flaws that so often characterise mental health facilities. The new unit is located on sloping ground to the east of the main hospital complex. On entering the unit the immediate impact is of openness and natural light. The atrium is the hub of the unit and artwork features throughout, with a strong theme of local interests. All bedrooms and support accommodation open onto circulation areas with communal sectors in the centre.

Also highly commended was Meadowfield, Worthing (also designed by Nightingale Associates). Designed to provide inpatient care for 48 patients in a modern therapeutic environment, this is another innovative mental health unit.

The clinical accommodation is on one level and each ward features a central area with diffused high-level natural lighting and curved walls of glass blocks.

Privacy and dignity have been carefully considered. Patients have control over their own environment and can control the dimmable lighting and individually set the temperature.

Outdoor spaces are accessible from each patient area with courtyards and secure gardens providing quiet, safe areas.

In February 450 churches celebrated Charles Darwin's birthday with sermons arguing that religion and evolution do not contradict one another.

Called Evolution Sunday, the event grew out of a project organized by Dean Michael Zimmerman and his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh. They wrote an open letter signed by nearly 200 clerics in response to a 2004 resolution by the Grantsburg, Wisconsin, school board requiring that biology classes incorporate "various models or theories" of the origin of life. Later that year, the Grantsburg board backed down a bit, modifying its curriculum resolution to stipulate that "students shall be able to explain the scientific strengths and weaknesses of evolutionary theory."

Noting the ongoing evolution wars in the United States, Zimmerman decided to expand the project beyond the borders of Wisconsin. The result was "An Open Letter Concerning Religion and Science," which has received endorsements from 10,000 clergy members around the country. Most endorsers hail from relatively liberal mainline Protestant denominations. (There were just seven endorsements from Southern Baptists, almost all of whom were associated with hospitals or academic institutions

The open letter declares: "We believe that the theory of evolution is a foundational scientific truth, one that has stood up to rigorous scrutiny and upon which much of human knowledge and achievement rests. To reject this truth or to treat it as 'one theory among others' is to deliberately embrace scientific ignorance and transmit such ignorance to our children." So far, so good.

The letter goes on to draw a distinction between "two very different, but complementary, forms of truth." Religious truth, according to the letter, is "of a different order from scientific truth. Its purpose is not to convey scientific information but to transform hearts." The divines seem to be reaching for the proposed accommodation between science and religion devised by the evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould.

Gould argued that science and religion are two "nonoverlapping magisteria." According to Gould, "if religion can no longer dictate the nature of factual conclusions properly under the magisterium of science, then scientists cannot claim higher insight into moral truth from any superior knowledge of the world's empirical constitution."

But can this formulation survive the continuing scrutiny of religion by science? While it is true that science has nothing to say about whether souls are divinely infused into people, religion is still part of the world's empirical constitution.

I have no doubt about the ability of religion to "transform hearts." Religion motivates the charitable works of the Salvation Army; it helped President George W. Bush stop drinking; and it inspired 19 Muslims to slam airliners into buildings. It is an undeniably powerful force in human lives. Something that has such a far-reaching influence cannot escape the scrutiny of humanity's most powerful techniques for uncovering the facts of the world.

According to Gould, "The net of science covers the empirical universe: what is it made of (fact) and why does it work this way (theory). The net of religion extends over questions of moral meaning and value." Possibly because he despised evolutionary psychology and sociobiology, Gould was comfortable making this distinction. But in a sense, values are facts about human beings and as such can be studied by scientists. Today researchers into evolutionary psychology, neuroeconomics, genetics, and other fields are elucidating the sources of human morality and how it functions.

Dean Hamer, a biologist at the National Cancer Institute, even claims to have found "the God gene," which affects how certain mood-regulating chemicals are transported in people's brains. This variant of the VMAT2 gene seems to make people who have it more susceptible to spiritual beliefs.

Of course, theology is still a long way from being reduced to biochemistry. Scientific research into the sources of religious belief is just beginning, so any of the current findings could be rejected or revised as further evidence becomes available. Nevertheless, the magisterium of science is surrounding and constricting the magisterium of religion. Zimmerman's letter declares, "We believe that among God's good gifts are human minds capable of critical thought and that the failure to fully employ this gift is a rejection of the will of our Creator." It may well be that that same capacity for critical thought eventually leads us to understand how the universe and humanity came to be in such a way that God fades away, and we no longer need to believe in Him.

The United Nations' Division of Social Development estimated that there were more than 500 million people with disabilities in 2000. Of this number, 386 million were estimated to be of working age (U.N. Division of Social Development, n.d.). Countries struggle with the issue of employment of people with disabilities. International conferences such as the World Assembly of Disabled Peoples' International, the General Assembly of Rehabilitation International, and Annual Conference of the World Association of Persons with Disabilities focus on issues pertaining to people with disabilities and employment. When people with disabilities obtain and maintain employment, their contributions help strengthen personal, community, and even national economies. The intent of the present investigation was to gain international perspectives on (a) resources available to facilitate employment, (b) worksite accommodation information-dissemination models, and (c) existing barriers to employment of people with disabilities. These were the topics for the three questions asked of disability experts and individuals with disabilities around the world. What is happening in the global neighborhood?

Requests originating outside the U.S. for accommodation information sparked the present work by the International Center for Disability Information (ICDI). The ICDI has a 30-year history of service and research on issues related to improving employment of people with disabilities. The ICDI serves as the umbrella organization for a variety of funded programs, including the Job Accommodation Network (JAN). JAN is a free consulting service funded by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy. The mission of JAN is to assist in hiring, retraining, retaining, and advancing people with disabilities. This is accomplished by providing free, immediate, up-to-date, and comprehensive information on disability issues, work accommodations, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and other U.S. disability-related legislation. JAN provides information concerning all types of disabilities and functional limitations. Currently, JAN consultants respond to approximately 32,000 cases annually. Inquiries come from employers of all types and business sizes, rehabilitation counselors, legal and educational professionals, and individuals with disabilities and their families.