NCSE Evolution Education Update for 2010/09/10
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2010-09-10 15:27.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear Friends of NCSE, All sorts of new videos on NCSE's YouTube channel, plus a clarification on the status of the ICR's School of Biblical Apologetics.
WHAT'S NEW ON NCSE'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL NCSE is pleased to announce the addition of a further batch of videos to NCSE's YouTube channel. Featured is "The Great Debate" (in three parts), filmed at the American Museum of Natural History in 2002, with Kenneth R. Miller and Robert Pennock debating William A. Dembski and Michael Behe; the debate was introduced by Richard Milner and moderated by NCSE's executive director Eugenie C. Scott. (A complete transcript of the debate is available on NCSE's website.) Also featured is "McLean v. Arkansas 20 Years Later" (in four parts), filmed at the American Association for the Advancement of Science's annual meeting for 2001, with Stephen Jay Gould, Francisco Ayala, and Harold Morowitz, who all testified as scientific expert witnesses in 1982's McLean v. Arkansas trial, as well as Ronald L. Numbers and NCSE's Scott, discussing the seminal case in which a federal court found teaching creationism unconstitutional. And there's "What Would Darwin Say to Today's Creationists?" -- delivered by Scott to the University of Chicago's 2009 conference celebrating the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the Origin of Species -- and "Inside Creationism's Trojan Horse," delivered by Barbara Forrest, Professor of Philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University and member of NCSE's board of directors, to the Center for Inquiry in June 2007. Tune in and enjoy! For NCSE's YouTube channel, visit: http://www.youtube.com/user/NatCen4ScienceEd For the transcript of the AMNH debate, visit: http://ncse.com/creationism/general/forum-intelligent-design-held-at-american-museum-natural-his For information about the Chicago conference, visit: http://darwin-chicago.uchicago.edu/ For the decision in the McLean case, visit: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/mclean-v-arkansas.html IS ICR OUT OF THE WOODS YET? As noted in the September 3, 2010, Evolution Education Update, the Institute for Creation Research claims that its new School of Bible Apologetics, offering a Master in Christian Education degree, is "exempt from licensing by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board." In a frequently asked questions section of its website, however, THECB states that religiously affiliated institutions are not exempt from state oversight either under the First Amendment to the Constitution or under the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act. A story noting the prima facie inconsistency was posted to NCSE's website on September 3, after the Update was sent. But the ICR is apparently out of the woods after all. The Texas Administrative Code provides, "The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board does not regulate Religious Institutions of Higher Education which offer degrees only in religious disciplines" (19 Tex. Admin. Code 1.7A, sec. 7.9). It appears that THECB failed to clarify the relevant frequently asked questions of its website section in light of the Texas Supreme Court's decision in HEB Ministries, Inc. et al. v. Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (235 S.W.3d 627 [Tex. 2007]), which established that THECB does not have oversight over institutions that offer exclusively religious education and training. For the ICR's claim about SOBA, visit: http://www.icr.org/soba/faq/#q11 For the THECB's FAQs, visit: http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/index.cfm?objectid=68C1D2AE-9624-1AA4-11A049B0B40E8FA9 For the story (since updated) on NCSE's website, visit: http://ncse.com/news/2010/09/icr-not-out-woods-yet-006161 For the relevant section of the Texas Administrative Code, visit: http://info.sos.state.tx.us/pls/pub/readtac$ext.ViewTAC?tac_view=2&ti=19 For the decision in HEB Ministries v. THECB, visit: http://www.supreme.courts.state.tx.us/historical/2007/aug/030995.htm Thanks for reading! And don't forget to visit NCSE's website -- http://ncse.com -- where you can always find the latest news on evolution education and threats to it. -- Sincerely, Glenn Branch Deputy Director National Center for Science Education, Inc. 420 40th Street, Suite 2 Oakland, CA 94609-2509 510-601-7203 x310 fax: 510-601-7204 800-290-6006 branch@ncse.com http://ncse.com Subscribe to NCSE's free weekly e-newsletter: http://groups.google.com/group/ncse-news NCSE is on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter: http://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd http://twitter.com/ncse NCSE's work is supported by its members. Join today! http://ncse.com/membership
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