Contact: Pauline Austin (541) 346-3129 University of Oregon folklorist Daniel Wojcik says beliefs about worldly destruction and transformation are a deeply rooted part of the cultural and religious heritage of the United States. Wojcik, author of "The End of the World As We Know It: Faith, Fatalism and Apocalypse in America," says even Christopher Columbus believed his discovery of the new world would signal the beginning of the `end days' predicted in the Bible. The close of the millennium has heightened the belief that the end is near, Wojcik explains. Believers range from Christian fundamentalists to Catholics to secular millennialists, including those who believe an unnamed entity has sent UFOs to prepare mankind for the end of the world. "At the turn of the millennium, ancient apocalyptic traditions converge with current concerns and popular-culture influences," Wojcik says. Those ideas are spreading even more rapidly today through e-mail and chat groups on the Internet. "Given the dynamic nature of apocalyptic traditions that have emerged at the end of the 20th century, one need not be a prophet to predict that at this moment a multitude of rough beasts, saviors and doomsday scenarios are slouching toward Bethlehem to be born," Wojcik concludes. SOURCE: Daniel Wojcik, UO associate professor of English and Folklore, (541) 346-3946 (work), (541) 344-9156 (home); e-mail, <dwojcik@oregon.uoregon.edu> -30- #T-6040/Daybook