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TODAY'S NEWS:
Kansas Standards Evolve
by Aaron Atwood, assistant editor
SUMMARY: Students would learn about evolution's controversial side. The Kansas State Board of Education approved a draft of new state science standards Tuesday that would allow teachers to address the controversy surrounding Darwinian evolution.
Dr. Steve Abrams, a veterinarian and president of the board explained that only three pages in the 105page change get noticed. But he understands the importance of those three pages.
"Before these changes NeoDarwinian evolution was taught as dogma," he said. "What we basically said is there is a lot of scientific evidence that evolution is not all it's cracked up to be. We want teachers to show students those evidences from peerreviewed scientific journals."
The debate came to a head in May when the board held hearings to discern the best course of action.
However, those hearings were boycotted by supporters of evolution, who refused to debate their challengers on equal ground.
"This kind of forum is not how you establish science," Jack Krebs, vice president of Kansas Citizens for Science, told CitizenLink in May.
The board disagreed and is now implementing a change in what teachers can teach.
Norris Anderson has been writing and teaching biology curriculum for more than 20 years. He began as a selfproclaimed evolution activist working on the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) in the 1960s a nonprofit organization that develops textbooks and teacher guides.
"One of things that influenced me was when I worked on the BSCS curriculum study textbook," he noted. "We were doing a revision and I had to look up information to support the statements in the book. I realized there was a lot contradictory information out there. I was told 'We just have to have faith that the pieces will all cometogether someday.' That's when I realized I was not working in an objective enterprise."
He has since successfully campaigned to place an insert in Alabama biology texts stating the limits to scientific data when it comes to human origins and evolution. He is a proponent of teaching students to inquire and think logically.
"Inquiry is basically the ability to know what is fact and what are ideas about those facts and how you get those ideas," he said. "You always have to mix ideas with facts to get theories. We should be teaching students to ask, 'Does that fit the facts or not? Is there a belief in this thing? How would you test this?'
"That's what education is. You learn better when you are investigating. If somebody just spoonfeeds you and says, 'This is the way are you supposed to think,' how will you know the difference between data and ideas?"
The board was careful to step lightly in the area of religion. The standards never mention religion or intelligent design a countering scientific theory that posits a designer behind the complex universe.
Intelligent design critic Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, told Reuters this week she thinks this a covert Christian move.
"This is neocreationism," she said, "trying to avoid the legal morass of trying to teach creationism overtly and slip it in through the backdoor."
Abrams strongly disagreed.
"That's baloney. Science needs to be observable, measurable, testable, repeatable and falsifiable," he said. "This is about science, not religion."
Abrams represents a diverse district that blends a spectrum from urban Wichita to rural Arkansas City. He said he has gotten a consistently positive response from the move to allow teachers to shed light on Darwinian evolution. Since debate began in 1999, Abrams has been reelected twice.
The draft of new science standards for Kansas teachers now goes to an independent Denver firm for critique. A final vote is expected in September.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: The compelling scientific documentary,
"Unlocking the Mystery of Life," advances a powerful idea: the theory of intelligent design. Using stateoftheart computer animation, you will see the unmistakable hallmarks of design.
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From clevescene.com
Originally published by Cleveland Scene Mar 30, 2005
©2005 New Times, Inc. All rights reserved.
Kill Bill Microsoft's army of lawyers was no match for a kid from Kent State.
BY DENISE GROLLMUS
Microsoft threatened to take David Zamos's 2002 Ford Escort to recover
$143.50 in eBay profits.
Bill Gates' software empire accused Zamos of unfair competition.
Zamos tangled with Alex Arshinkoff (above) before taking on Bill Gates. By forcing Zamos to keep the software, Microsoft left him with no option but to sell it on his own.
After Zamos went to the press, Microsoft changed its tune.
David Zamos doesn't look as if he could singlehandedly humiliate the world's largest software maker.
The wellbuilt 21yearold sips a jumbo cup of Starbucks coffee in the University of Akron's student union. He's looking dapper in pinstriped slacks, a navy pea coat, and a necklace of wooden beads that hugs his wide neck.
Thanks to massive doses of caffeine, Zamos (whose name rhymes with "famous") anxiously taps his Camper laceups against the table. A laptop sits to his right, a fat black binder to his left.
The only thing setting him apart from the other latenight crammers is that his notebook isn't filled with study guides. It's overflowing with documents from the federal lawsuit Microsoft brought against him on December 21.
(* The rest of this story has been deleted from the web, but it can be seen at the S olomon Wright web page . A Google search for David Zamos vs Microsoft will find some info. Try http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/5002/davidzamos.html. It's a 'David vs
Goliath' where a keen mind, stone and sling is replaced by a postmodern keen mind, good information used well and stamina to not quit. *)