Evolution under attack ... again

[B.J.Tindall]

If you think about this then this has direct consequences for topics such
as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the commercial exploitation
of organisms. If "intelligent design" and a Creator is responsible for all
life on Earth then surely the patent rights rest with that "person/entity".
Perhaps we are already infringing galactic patent rights. Still, not to
worry if the patent only lasts for 30 years. Of course should the Creator
have neglected to file such rights then I guess this means that all
organisms are in the public domain and no one country or person has rights
to them........
Brian

At 11:09 12.8.2003 -0600, Leah Larkin wrote:
>Dear Taxacomers,
>
>Well, it's that time of year again ... hunting season on evolution.
>An article on the front page of this morning's Albuquerque Journal
>reports on a proposed change to the state of New Mexico's Science
>Content Standards, Benchmarks and Performance Standards.  The change,
>which will be voted on by the State Board of Education at the end of
>this month, would involve a subtle change in wording which would
>seriously undermine the teaching of evolution in the state.  New
>Mexico already ranks in the bottom 10% of States for most measures of
>educational performance.
>
>Current standards say that students should be able to "analyze the
>data and observations supporting the conclusion that species living
>on Earth today are related by descent from common ancestral species
>originating over 3 billion years ago".  The proposed change would
>reword this to read "evaluate the data and obserations that bear on
>the claim that species living on Earth today are related by descent
>from common ancestral species originating over 3 billion years ago".
>The phrasing would undermine the teaching of evolution as accepted by
>the scientific community and allow the introduction of "intelligent
>design" (an alias for creationism) into the curriculum.
>
>The changes were proposed by the New Mexico chapter of the
>Intelligent Design Network.  As reported in the Albuquerque Journal,
>the submission to the Board of Education and associated press
>releases include the following:
>- evolution "challenge(s) the fundamental beliefs held by most New
>Mexicans that a Creator was responsible for creating the cosmos and
>all of life";
>- "there is no scientific basis for concluding 'that species living
>on Earth today are related by descent from common ancestral species'".
>
>As recently as 1996, the state of New Mexico removed evolution
>completely from state educational standards.  It was reinstated in
>1999.
>
>Frankly, I have no idea how credible the threat is, but if you would
>like to weigh in with the State Board of Education, e-mail addresses
>for most of the 15 members can be found at:
>http://www.nmsba.org/sbe.html.
>
>--
>-Leah Larkin, Ph.D.
>Adjunct Assistant Professor
>Department of Biology
>MSC03 2020
>1 University of New Mexico
>Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
>


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