NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2014/03/28
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2014-03-28 15:57.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, A new honor for the young activist Zack Kopplin, but a defeat for a bill that would remove Louisiana's Balanced Treatment Act, ruled to be unconstitutional in 1987, from the state's statute books.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ZACK KOPPLIN NCSE is delighted to congratulate Zack Kopplin, recently named as the winner of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology's 2014 Howard K. Schachman Public Service Award. In a March 24, 2014, press release, Jeremy Berg, president of the ASBMB and director of the University of Pittsburgh's Institute for Personalized Medicine, commented, "Zack has been a true champion of science education, which has become all the more important in these times where educational standards are being debated. ... Zack has tirelessly fought for the teaching of evolution in classrooms." Among Kopplin's achievements is the launch of the campaign, now in its fourth incarnation as Senate Bill 175, to repeal the so-called Louisiana Science Education Act of 2008. A sponsor of the LSEA told the Hammond Daily Star (April 6, 2008) that it was aimed at promoting the discussion of "scientific data related to creationism," and Governor Bobby Jindal told NBC News in 2013 that the LSEA permits the teaching of creationism. Kopplin will receive the award in Washington DC on April 1, 2014. He previously received a Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award, the inaugural Troublemaker Award, and NCSE's Friend of Darwin award in 2012. For the press release from ASBMB (PDF), visit: http://www.asbmb.org/uploadedFiles/Advocacy/Advocacy_News/Kopplin%20PR%20Vf.pdf And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Louisiana, visit: http://ncse.com/news/louisiana BACK TO 1981 IN LOUISIANA AGAIN Louisiana's Senate Bill 70, which if enacted would repeal the state's Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science Act, was rejected on a 5-32 vote by the senate on March 24, 2014, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune (March 24, 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. There was reportedly no debate about the bill. Jean-Paul Morrell (D-District 3), one of the five senators to vote for SB 70, told the Times-Picayune that he attributed its defeat to the inattention of his colleagues. "Everyone was half listening and nobody read the bill," he commented. "It's disappointing that even though people know this bill is the right thing to do ... there is a lack of political will to do it." The sponsor of SB 70, Dan Claitor (R-District 6), indicated that he would attempt to bring the bill to the senate floor again later in the legislative session. Meanwhile, Senate Bill 175, which would if enacted repeal the so-called Louisiana Science Education Act of 2008, is still pending before the Senate Education Committee. Sponsored by Karen Carter Peterson (D-District 5), SB 175 is the fourth attempt to repeal the LSEA. For the text of Louisiana's Senate Bill 70 (PDF), visit: http://www.legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=871510 For the story in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, visit: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/03/creationism_education_louisian.html For the text of Louisiana's Senate Bill 175 (PDF), 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 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: * Steve Newton discussing the reactions of creationists to the Cosmos reboot: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/03/cosmos-wars-episode-iii-revenge-silliness-0015469 * Josh Rosenau lauding the comet-hunter Caroline Herschel: http://ncse.com/blog/2014/03/messenger-0015473 * Glenn Branch tracing a mysterious "fossilologist": http://ncse.com/blog/2014/03/dr-etheridge-fossilologist-part-1-0015459 http://ncse.com/blog/2014/03/dr-etheridge-fossilologist-part-2-0015460 http://ncse.com/blog/2014/03/dr-etheridge-fossilologist-part-3-0015461 http://ncse.com/blog/2014/03/dr-etheridge-fossilologist-part-4-0015462 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
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