Posted on 10/05/2005 3:53:39 AM PDT by PatrickHenry
HARRISBURG, Pa. - A philosophy professor and two science teachers were expected to testify Wednesday in a landmark trial over a school board's decision to include a reference to "intelligent design" in its biology curriculum.
Barbara Forrest, a philosophy professor at Southeastern Louisiana University, is being called as an expert witness on behalf of eight families who are trying to have intelligent design removed from the Dover Area School District's biology curriculum. The families contend that it effectively promotes the Bible's view of creation, violating the constitutional separation of church and state.
Forrest's testimony was expected to address what opponents allege is the religious nature of intelligent design, as well as the history and development of the concept, according to court papers filed by the plaintiffs before the trial.
U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III was also expected to hear testimony from Bertha Spahr, chairman of Dover High School's science department, and biology teacher Jennifer Miller.
Under the policy approved by Dover's school board in October 2004, students must hear a brief statement about intelligent design before classes on evolution. It says Charles Darwin's theory is "not a fact," has inexplicable "gaps," and refers students to an intelligent-design textbook for more information.
Intelligent-design supporters argue that life on Earth was the product of an unidentified intelligent force, and that natural selection cannot fully explain the origin of life or the emergence of highly complex life forms.
The plaintiffs are represented by a team put together by the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The school district is being defended by the Thomas More Law Center, a public-interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Mich., that says its mission is to defend the religious freedom of Christians.
The trial began Sept. 26 and is expected to last as long as five weeks.
It was long thought that there was an endangered wolf species, the "Southern Red Wolf" in the Southeastern US, mostly Georgia. I believe genetic testing has settled it that this population was the result of wolf-coyote hybridization, probably occuring after European settlers thinned the populations of both to where breeding partners became scarce.
Wow. Someone wrote a book about it ten years ago so it must be true! Thanks for clearing that up.
Real men use 'C' not C++
Anti science AND anti capitalism.
You SURE this is the right website for you fella?
C is horrible
Nonsense.
I agree.
forced to declare variables at the start of a function? that hurts me
It figures.
Science appeals to the conservative mind for the same reasons that free enterprise does. It's reality-based, it focuses on what works, it rejects failed concepts, and it produces results. Science is one of the precious few examples of rationality in human experience.
It's a good reminder. However, my issues are with virtual memory usage, and keeping track of it. You can easily loose track with C++. You've got to be real sloppy to loose track of it with C.
how low level are you coding?? Surely anything that can be done in C can be done in c++, its just c with objects. and I thought of another reason to dislike c - malloc sucks.
how low level are you coding??
Not currently, but in the past, coding at the level where VM usage matters. Real men manage their own VM ;)
Surely anything that can be done in C can be done in c++, its just c with objects.
And vice versa. C++ is great at higher levels of abstraction. But when you need performance, optimization, and efficiency, you can't beat C. And I've found less experienced C++ users who are unfamiliar with C to be sloppy with VM usage.
and I thought of another reason to dislike c - malloc sucks.
I love malloc (and calloc).
Microcoding is basically assembly coding. Not many do that these days, but they are around.
Use smaller words. Many will not understand 'high-taxa saltation'. (Putting salt on the tail of the local tax collector?)
For lurkers:
Saltation is an extreme change in morphology (observable physical attributes) based on large (generally multi-gene) mutation.
High-taxa (plural)[High-taxon (singular)] Standard taxonomic classes above the species level.
Back channel info I'm getting indicates he voluntarily resigned for personal reasons.
nawp... I *want* them to have to look stuff up. good for strong, builds good bones and moral fibre.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.