In the News

Kathy Hanson, for the Ames Tribune, reports that some representatives from Iowa's regent universities are calling for the state Legislature to kill "The Evolution Academic Freedom Act," introduced Feb. 3 by Rep. Rod Roberts, R-Carroll.

A statement released Tuesday includes a petition with more than 200 signatures by faculty opposing HF 183 from Iowa State University, the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa, as well as from 17 other Iowa universities, colleges and community colleges, seven primary and secondary schools, and three research organizations.

According to the statement, HF 183 is one of many "academic freedom" bills that have been introduced in the last year that are sponsored and supported by the Discovery Institute, a "Seattle-based anti-evolution organization." Similar bills have been introduced in several states, including Alabama, Florida and Oklahoma. One such bill passed and was signed into law in Louisiana.

Robert Crowther Jr., Discovery Institute's communications director, said the Discovery Institute has not been directly involved in writing HF 183 but thinks it is likely Roberts crafted the bill's language along the lines of the institute's "model legislation."

"That's what we hoped would happen," Crowther said. "We want anyone interested in furthering academic freedom to use our resources."

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David Cyranoski, for naturenews, reports that a debate over the teaching of intelligent design in schools is raging in the unlikely battleground of Hong Kong.

The controversy is affecting all levels of education. In the latest episode, a dean of science at one of Hong Kong's premier universities backed out of a radio show earlier this month after finding he was being set up to debate with an advocate of intelligent design within his faculty.

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The C. S. Lewis Society of Tampa, Florida which is the lead sponsor of the educational event "Darwin's Legacy: The Hidden Story" at the University of South Florida this Thursday, February 26th, just announced that the two hour program would be broadcast live on 860AM WGUL in Central Florida, and streamed live across the US on their station's website, 860wgul.com.

The event, which will run from 7:05 pm to 9:00 pm Eastern time, will feature three speakers:

1) Michael Medved is a Yale graduate with honors, and a culture critic who hosts a daily talk show that attracts over 2 million listeners, has written ten non-fiction books, including several New York Times bestseller.

(2) Dr. Steve Fuller, the renowned sociologist of science at the University of Warwick in the UK and founder of the "Social Epistemology" subfield, has been noted for an unusual analysis of the "design controversy" which is sympathetic of intelligent design, even though he approaches the topic with the perspective of a self-described "leftist" and "secular humanist." His newest books, which deal with this topic head-on, are Religion vs. Science? and Dissent over Descent.

(3) Dr. Tom Woodward, who completed his Ph.D. in the Rhetoric of Science field at the University of South Florida, is research professor at Trinity College of Florida and has written two books tracing the intellectual controversy raging between "Darwinism vs. Design": Doubts about Darwin and Darwin Strikes Back. He is the founder and director of the C. S. Lewis Society.

WGUL's technical directors have confirmed that by Saturday, Feb 28th, the program will become an archived audio file, and thus will be available from 860wgul.com as a podcast.