NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2014/03/14
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2014-03-14 14:34.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, The Louisiana legislature takes a step toward repealing the creationist bill it enacted in 1981, while a Darwin Day bill is introduced in the Hawaii legislature. The Baton Rouge Advocate reaffirms its endorsement of the proposed repeal of the so-called Louisiana Science Education Act of 2008. And NCSE attains its 40,000th Facebook fan.
LOUISIANA EDGES TOWARD REPEALING 1981 CREATIONIST LAW Louisiana's Senate Bill 70, which if enacted would repeal the state's Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science Act, passed the Senate Education Committee on March 12, 2014, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune (March 12, 2014). Enacted in 1981, the Balanced Treatment Act was declared to be unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in Edwards v. Aguillard in 1987. Yet it remains on the books. SB 70 was passed "without action," which the Times-Picayune explains allowed the committee "to move the bill to a vote of the full Senate without formally approving or opposing it." In 2013, a proposal to repeal the Balanced Treatment Act (included in Senate Bill 205) was passed by the Senate, only to be removed by a conference committee before a final version of the bill was passed by both houses of the Louisiana legislature. Dan Claitor (R-District 6), the sponsor of SB 70 and the legislator who in 2013 amended SB 205 to include a repeal of the Balanced Treatment Act, emphasized that his bill targeted the Balanced Treatment Act alone, not "the Louisiana Science Education Act of 2008. This is a 33[-]year[-]old bill that was found unconstitutional 27 years ago." There is a current bill that would, if enacted, repeal the so-called Louisiana Science Education Act: Senate Bill 175. Lenny Ditoro, who is reportedly associated with the Louisiana Family Forum, spoke in opposition to SB 70, saying, "the legislation represented the opinion of [the] Louisiana legislature at the time [and] is a matter of history of this body." In 2013, opposition to the repeal was voiced by Ben Nevers (R-District 12), who argued instead that it would be useful for the law to be on the books in case the Edwards decision is ever reversed. For the text of Louisiana's Senate Bill 70 as introduced, visit: http://www.legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=871510 For the story from the New Orleans Times-Picayune, visit: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/03/creationism_science_education_0312.html For the text of Louisiana's Senate Bill 175 as introduced, visit: http://www.legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=875625 And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Louisiana, visit: http://ncse.com/news/louisiana DARWIN DAY BILL IN HAWAII House Resolution 145, introduced in the Hawaii House of Representatives on March 7, 2014, would, if enacted, express the House's recognition of February 12 of each year as Darwin Day "to celebrate all of Charles Darwin's achievements in the field of science." The resolution is unusual in establishing Darwin Day on a perennial basis: previous Darwin Day resolutions, such as Virginia's House Resolution 884 in 2009, typically designate February 12 of the current year as Darwin Day. The sole sponsor of HR 145 is Kaniela Ing (D-District 11). For the text of Hawaii's House Resolution 145 as introduced, visit: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2014/bills/HR145_.htm And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Hawaii, visit: http://ncse.com/news/hawaii BATON ROUGE ADVOCATE ENDORSES REPEAL EFFORT AGAIN The Baton Rouge Advocate (March 9, 2014) reaffirmed its editorial support (previously expressed in 2013) for the attempt to repeal Louisiana's so-called Science Education Act, which, Governor Bobby Jindal told NBC News in 2013, permits the teaching of creationism, including "intelligent design." Senate Bill 175, prefiled by Karen Carter Peterson (D-District 5) in the Louisiana Senate on February 25, 2014, and provisionally referred to the Senate Committee on Education, is the fourth attempt to repeal the act. "If Louisiana allowed teachers to instruct students that the sun revolves around the Earth, there would likely be outrage at such an affront to science and education," the Advocate's editorial commented. "Yet that is just about what is in state law when it comes to evolution and the processes by which life developed on Earth. It's just as mistaken to allow -- actually, encourage -- teachers to adopt 'supplemental materials' that 'critique' evolution, because evolution is as fundamental to biological sciences as the planets are to astronomy." The editorial also expressed hope that "the Legislature will listen to reason and repeal the statute. Previous efforts have been scuttled in Senate committee, where the backers of creationism have more sway. Once a repeal bill gets to the floor, given how the law makes Louisiana look like Hicksville with a French accent, we like its chances." The previous attempts to repeal the LSEA were shelved by increasingly narrow votes of the Senate Education Committee: 5-1 in 2011, 2-1 in 2012, and 3-2 in 2013. Endorsers of the repeal effort include the Louisiana Coalition for Science, the Louisiana Association of Biology Educators, the New Orleans City Council, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute for Biological Sciences, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the American Society for Cell Biology, the National Association of Biology Teachers, and a group of seventy-eight Nobel laureates in the sciences, representing nearly 40% of living Nobel laureates in the sciences. For the 2014 and 2013 editorials in the Baton Rouge Advocate, visit: http://theadvocate.com/news/opinion/8485234-123/our-views-the-opposite-of http://theadvocate.com/news/opinion/5482640-123/our-views-a-new-effort For the text of Louisiana's Senate Bill 175 as introduced (PDF), visit: http://www.legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=875625&n=SB175%20Original And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Louisiana, visit: http://ncse.com/news/louisiana FACEBOOK: N > 40,000 A milestone: there are now over 40,000 fans of NCSE's Facebook page. Why not join them, by visiting the page and becoming a fan by clicking on the "Like" box by NCSE's name? You'll receive the latest NCSE news delivered straight to your Facebook Home page, as well as updates on evolution-related and climate-related topics. Or if you prefer your news in 140-character chunks, follow NCSE on Twitter. And while you're surfing the web, why not visit NCSE's YouTube channel, with hundreds of videos for your watching pleasure? It's the best place on the web to view talks by NCSE's staff, including the new series of activist workshop webinars. For NCSE's Facebook page, Twitter feed, and YouTube channel, visit: http://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse http://twitter.com/ncse http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd WHAT'S NEW FROM THE SCIENCE LEAGUE OF AMERICA Have you been visiting NCSE's blog, The Science League of America, recently? If not, then you've missed: * Mark McCaffrey reviewing Eisenhower's contributions to science education: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/03/i-like-ike-0015404 * Steve Newton discussing the creationist backlash to the reboot of Cosmos: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/03/cosmos-creationists-why-some-people-hate-science-television-0015444 * Ann Reid recounting her evolutionary adventures on Heron Island: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/03/occasional-evolutionist-0015451 * Minda Berbeco criticizing Patrick Moore's climate change denial: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/03/like-wow-denial-is-lame-0015441 * Glenn Branch uncovering the identity of a missing witness from the Scopes trial: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/03/bryan-s-missing-witness-part-1-0015431 http://ncse.com/blog/2014/03/bryan-s-missing-witness-part-2-0015432 And much more besides! For The Science League of America, visit: http://ncse.com/blog 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 and climate education and threats to them. -- Sincerely, Glenn Branch Deputy Director National Center for Science Education, Inc. 420 40th Street, Suite 2 Oakland, CA 94609-2509 510-601-7203 x305 fax: 510-601-7204 800-290-6006 branch@ncse.com http://ncse.com Check out NCSE's new blog, Science League of America: http://ncse.com/blog Read Reports of the NCSE on-line: http://reports.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/join
» 3241 reads
