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Policy resolved on origin of life
Cleveland Plain Dealer ^
| 12/11/2002
| Scott Stephens
Posted on 12/11/2002 3:19:35 PM PST by jennyp
Columbus - The State Board of Education yesterday unanimously adopted a set of science standards that makes Ohio the first state to require students to examine criticisms of biological evolution.
But board members also agreed to a last-minute disclaimer stating that their action should not be construed as support for the controversial concept of intelligent design, the idea that life had to be guided by a higher power.
Without the disclaimer, at least a half-dozen board members had intended to vote against the standards because they feared it would give schools a green light to bring religion and philosophy into science classes.
The compromise effectively ends a tumultuous, yearlong debate on how to best teach the origin and development of life.
That debate made Ohio the flashpoint in a battle between supporters and critics of Charles Darwin's theory that life evolved through natural processes - a battle that has raged since the "monkey trial" of biology teacher John Scopes 77 years ago.
"Clearly, it was being misrepresented by adults fighting their own battles and using these standards to fight their own battles," said board member Joseph Roman of Fairview Park, who introduced the disclaimer the board adopted yesterday.
The state academic standards don't dictate what local school districts teach, but they provide a powerful incentive by outlining what students must know by the time they graduate. While intelligent design will not be on the new 10th-grade graduation tests, evolution will.
Local districts that decide to teach intelligent design also could face a legal challenge, said Christine Link, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio. She said intelligent design is a form of creationism, and courts have ruled that teaching creationism is unconstitutional in public schools.
"If any school district implements the teaching of intelligent design, the ACLU will act swiftly," Link said. "Our concern is this gives local districts a false green light."
Board members traveled here Sunday sharply divided on how to come to grips with the issue. The disclaimer that emerged resulted from an 11th-hour compromise fashioned by board members Martha Wise of Avon - a staunch evolutionist - and Deborah Owens Fink of Richfield, who led the charge to bring evolution alternatives to Ohio classrooms.
"Neither side got what they wanted, totally," Wise said. "But this is a win-win."
Stephen Meyer of the pro-intelligent design Discovery Institute in Seattle, called the board's action "historic." Already, intelligent design organizers have set up shop in New Mexico, which will soon be drafting its own science standards.
"This represents an important milestone in the effort to ensure that students learn the full range of relevent scientific evidence," Meyer said.
But the disclaimer satisfied most evolutionists.
"The board made a clear statement and said 'no' to pseudo-science," said Patricia Princehouse, a Case Western Reserve University professor and a board member of Ohio Citizens for Science.
The new standards will help Ohio recover from the black eye it received two years ago when a national study gave it a failing grade for not even mentioning evolution in its science standards. Retired California physicist Lawrence Lerner, who headed the study, said Ohio would have received an 'A' this time had it not made a point of singling out evolution for critical analysis. Instead, it will get a 'B' or a 'C,' " he said yesterday.
"Ohio has the opportunity of leaping from the bottom of the heap to a par with excellent state standards," Lerner said. "The compromise would place Ohio in the mediocre middle."
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; US: Ohio
KEYWORDS: creationism; crevolist; education; evolution; ohio; schools
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To: Aric2000
To: ImaGraftedBranch
I study history, and by studying history I have found MANY fascinating things.
I also study astronomy, in Which I have discovered MANY fascinating things.
I also study Biology, in which I have discovered MANY amazing things.
I have also studied religion, in which I have discovered MANY, MANY, MANY amazing things.
I study, and what I find continues to show me that Science is indeed on the right track, that our main theories are sound and will be built upon greatly in the years to come.
As we have discovered to religions unmitigated gall, is that the Earth is NOT flat, the universe DOES NOT revolve aound the earth, we are indeed little bits of organic matter in a huge universe that is undoubtedly, to me anyway, packed with life. I do not believe in a god that you believe in, I believe in MUCH more then that, but you would have to have the experiences that my life has given me to even come close to understanding that.
You believe in something very small, whereas my beliefs span the universe itself.
Sad really, but I do not force my beliefs on others, so, please, feel free to take your chances, because I take none. I believe in what I believe, based on fact, science, and intuition based on those facts.
Enjoy your book, please, but I can't, I know FAR too much about it's history. That's the problem with an open mind, sometimes the faith is hurt, or even removed, as in my case.
faith in something written, such as the bible is VERY limiting, as I see with many, many, christians, especially creationist type christians, I refuse to be limited by a book, I wish to learn, not what some claim to be god's word, but by studying the universe around me.
Read stranger in a Strange Land, and you will get a glimpse of it, but just a glimpse.
Do you "Grock"?
154 posted on 12/11/2002 11:04 PM PST by Aric2000
To: nanrod
Anything which is possible doesn't take billions of years. Things that make you go "hmmmmm..."
62
posted on
12/12/2002 1:54:32 PM PST
by
jennyp
To: Aric2000
grock...is that when your chariot loses both wheels and the skids go---GGGGGGGGGROCK!
To: nanrod
No wasps, no ants, no hornets, no spiders, nothing in the world which any honest person would call macroevolutionSorry, but "evolution at the species level" is a standard definition of "macroevolution". The emergence of a new species is macroevolution even if it's "still just a fruit fly". What you prefer to refer to as "macroevolution" would be called "evolution of higher taxa" by most biologists. Granted this is most, and the most important parts of, "macroevolution". Of course creationists are intentionally non-committal or imprecise about what exactly would or would not qualify as "macroevolution" (that is by their arm-waving defintion as opposed to the normal definition).
64
posted on
12/12/2002 1:58:24 PM PST
by
Stultis
To: f.Christian
Not quite sure how you got out of the factory a couple of quarts low... but if I can persuade you to return, we'll get that taken care of.
It's hard to find good inspectors these days.
To: The Man Upstairs
Toys in the attic...looking for storage!
To: f.Christian
Toys in the attic...looking for storage! My diagnosis exactly.
But as I said, if we can get you to come in and get that fixed, you'll be good as new.
My apology for your condition not being noticed at the factory.
To: f.Christian
That some idiots have attempted to shoe-horn a biological theory into a poor politicial ideology is indicative that they do not understand politics, not that evolution is false.
68
posted on
12/12/2002 2:08:27 PM PST
by
Dimensio
To: The Man Upstairs
'free range' science...
To: Aric2000
your ego makes me barf!
'grock'
you need a tether---ROCK!
Main Entry: 1teth·er
Pronunciation: 'te-[th]&r
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English tethir, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse tjOthr tether; akin to Old High German zeotar pole of a wagon
Date: 14th century
1 : something (as a rope or chain) by which an animal is fastened so that it can range only within a set radius
2 : the limit of one's strength or resources < at the end of my tether >
To: f.Christian
Hey, you're the one who posted bogus information regarding B.F. Skinner. It is your fault that you were wrong, not mine. You posted factually incorrect information, now be a man (or woman, as the case may be) and admit your mistake.
70
posted on
12/12/2002 2:10:56 PM PST
by
Dimensio
To: f.Christian
Good Heavens, it's worse than I thought.
Please come in and have this glaring factory defect remedied as soon as possible.
How this wasn't noticed, is beyond my comprehension.
To: Aric2000
a2...
"I study, and what I find continues to show me that Science is indeed on the right track, that our main theories are sound and will be built upon greatly in the years to come."
my version...
You prosyletize, and what You do continues to show everyone that EVOLUTION is indeed on a circular tack, that your main engines are slave driven and people will be leaving greatly in the years to come.
You remind me of the bismark...stuck rudder---SLAUGHTER!
"slide right into it(bottom)"...the sides blew out!
To: Dimensio
big deal...a mistake---I was wrong about bfskinner!
Academic/urban legend...so is evolution!
To: Aric2000
This is too funny...
a2...
You enjoy being a robot, me, I will take advantage of the intelligence and curiosity I have.
And by the way, the real difference between you and me is this. When it is proven that your creation myth is truly that, a myth, your world will come apart around you, whereas with me, if the theory of evolution is replaced with something that explains the facts better, then I will slide right into it.
Your world destroyed, mine, just a bit more explained.
141 posted on 12/11/2002 9:28 PM PST by Aric2000
fc...
"slide(skid) right into it(s***)"...
To: The Man Upstairs
reality is beyond your comprehension!
To: Dimensio
PH is an aynrand 'objectivist'...atheist---definitely!
To: Dimensio
forgot this part...
That some idiots have attempted to shoe-horn a biological theory into a poor politicial ideology is indicative that they do not understand politics, not that evolution is false.
PH is an aynrand 'objectivist'...atheist---definitely!
To: gore3000
Excellent argument. The meanest arguers seem to be Darwinites...defensive maybe?
To: Dimensio
That some idiots have attempted to shoe-horn a biological theory into a poor politicial ideology is indicative that they do not understand politics, not that evolution is false. also...
jp thinks evolution and capitalism are the same dynamics!
To: Dimensio
That some idiots have attempted to shoe-horn a biological theory into a poor politicial ideology is indicative that they do not understand politics, not that evolution is false. jp is an aynrandist too...atheistic/material science---evolution!
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