Sunday, August 06, 2006
Ohmygosh Oshkosh
A retired physics professor from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, is trying to turn the Oshkosh, Wisconsin public school system into the next battleground over the teaching of evolutionary theory.
Sandra Gade is conducting a petition drive asking the school board for an "advisory referendum" on whether evolution should "not be taught as fact but rather with evidence, pro and con, and with an analysis of its testability."
Once she is done petitioning in early September, she said she will present them "to somebody." School district and state education officials say there is no mechanism in Wisconsin law to allow a school district to do an advisory referendum on a curriculum issue.Her website has a section on "Dating Fossils" that bespeaks a preference on her part for young-Earth creationism. Instead of concentrating on "gaps" in the record or the suddenness of the Cambrian explosion, as the Intelligent Design movement does, she dredges up all the young-Earth creationist arguments about the dating of the geologic column, including quote mines of David B. Kitts, Niles Eldredge and Tom S. Kemp.
Given how embarrassed the Discovery Institute was by the attempt to include young-Earth creationism in a purported course on the "Philosophy of design" in Lebec, California, I'm sure any success Ms. Gade may have in the "teach the controversy" area will be equally troubling to it.
I hope someone gives the boyz in Seattle a "heads up" on Ms. Gade so that they get out ahead of her on the nudge, nudge, wink, wink front.
