and the RATS, take another one in the...............HA ha!!!
Posted on 12/14/2006 3:15:40 PM PST by Stultis
In an op-ed article published in The Oregonian ("Science a la Joe Camel," Dec. 2), Laurie David writes about the National Science Teachers Association's rejection of an offer of 50,000 copies of Al Gore's global warming film, "An Inconvenient Truth."
The company that produced the film offered to give the copies to the teachers association for distribution to its members and also asked that the association write a cover letter. The association declined the offer, stating that it would violate a policy in place since 2001 that prohibits endorsement of any outside organization, as well as the possibility that it would place "unnecessary risk upon the [association's] capital campaign, especially certain targeted supporters."
Since ExxonMobil has been a supporter of the association for years, David, who was one of the producers of "An Inconvenient Truth," spent the rest of the article skewering the association and ExxonMobil.
The problem is, David is not telling the whole story. In a news release two days after David's article originally ran in The Washington Post, the teachers association provided the other side of the story; namely, it had offered an alternative means of distribution to David. That method was for the film company to purchase the association's mailing list and distribute the 50,000 copies on its own. However, that apparently wasn't good enough for David. The teachers association also explained that even though companies such as ExxonMobil and Shell donate millions of dollars to it, they give with the full knowledge that "the NSTA is solely responsible for developing, directing and implementing the programs we offer to teachers."
Then, two days later, on Nov. 30, Science magazine published an article about the tiff and shed even more light on the subject. First, the teachers association had not completely ignored the movie. In fact, it had done a few things to promote it:
Last month, the association's newsletter for middle-school teachers ran a five-page article on the topic of global warming and mentioned Gore's movie in the first paragraph.
The association also has offered to post a link to the movie on its Web site and to announce the availability of the DVD in a weekly e-mail letter and a monthly publication.
David subsequently admitted that, yes, the teachers group had offered the mailing list as an alternative means of distribution (although she conveniently neglected to mention it in her column). But, as she states, "You don't want to send out a cold letter, and it costs a lot of money." So, in effect, she is upset about two things:
First, the teachers association wouldn't provide a letter endorsing the movie, even though it would be in direct violation of its longstanding policy prohibiting endorsements of any product or message by an outside organization.
Second, the teachers association wouldn't pay for the costs of mailing 50,000 DVDs.
But, then, why should it? It wasn't the association's idea.
After looking at all this, it appears that the inconvenient truth is this case is that Laurie David should stop whining and start telling the whole story.
Steve Edwards lives in Southeast Portland.
| An Inconvenient DVD [Laurie David is very angry] ^ |
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| Posted by aculeus On News/Activism ^ 12/07/2006 7:04:50 PM CST · 38 replies · 1,428+ views Science now.com ^ | 30 November 2006 | By Jeffrey Mervis, ScienceNOW Daily News An offer to distribute Al Gore's movie about the threat of global warming has put the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) on the hot seat. Producer and environmental activist Laurie David—wife of comedian Larry David—assumed that NSTA would be all too happy to send its members free copies of An Inconvenient Truth, the climate change tutorial by the former vice president that was a surprise hit at the box office. All NSTA had to do was write a cover letter. But NSTA declined the offer, citing a 2001 policy prohibiting endorsements of any product or message by an outside organization.... |
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David is a lying lefty? Whoda thunk it.
The Space Shuttle crew is rewiring the Space Station today. I believe Al Gore should follow suit and rewire his brain. It has obviously blown a few too many fuses.
The number of email communications I have received due to the Laurie David Op Ed piece has been phenomenal. I am personally responding to each person who has been in contact with me. Thank you for your comments. As you know, the criticism has been harsh. NSTA is committed to providing quality products and services to our members and the larger science teaching community. We have policies in place that take into account a variety of situations. They have served us well. However, we learn from every experience including recent events. Global climate is a very important science/societal issue. In fact, NSTA has always supported sound environmental science education. You might want to review the NSTA position statement adopted by the Board of Directors in February, 2003, one of many efforts to support quality science teaching. Our web site is www.nsta.org. Your support is very much appreciated. It makes a difference. Linda Froschauer NSTA President 2006-2007/
Her e-mail is fro2@mac.com.
I wonder if that membership is aware that their names can be sold???
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