Science group boycotts
Darwin Day, celebrating the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin, may be over, but controversy over the naturalist’s theory of evolution continues.
The Religion News Service recently reported that the executive committee for the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology has chosen Salt Lake City instead of New Orleans for its 2011 convention ”in large part” because of the science standards. The RNS said the letter from society president Richard Satterlie is posted on the group’s Web site under the headline: “No Thanks, New Orleans.”
“That’s too bad,” Kyle Plotkin, a spokesman for Louisiana Gov. Bob Jindal told the RNS.
“New Orleans is a first-class city for a convention.”
Apparently the group of scientists are unhappy with recently adopted science curriculum standards in Louisiana.
Jindal signed the law last year, agreeing with its supporters that science teachers need wider latitude to use supplemental materials for lessons on topics such as evolution, global warming and cloning.
The RNS reported that state teachers unions have said educators already are free to use materials other than textbooks, though a handful of students testified before lawmakers that teachers are sometimes unsure of how to handle questions that challenge established scientific theories, particularly evolution.
The governor was encouraged to veto the bill, with vocal opposition coming from many science groups in Louisiana and nationally.
They described the law as a back-door attempt to allow Judeo-Christian creation theology or “intelligent design” — the concept that biological life forms are the result of an intelligent being — to be taught as part of science class.
“It is the firm opinion of SICB’s leadership that this law undermines the integrity of science and science education in Louisiana,” Satterlie wrote to Jindal.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment