As I'm sure we've all heard, Kansas has made evolutionary theory no longer required learning material in their public schools...

So, what now?

-- KT Hicks (kt_hicks@yahoo.com), August 13, 1999

Answers

Whaddaya mean, what now? It's Kansas. What did you expect? But seriously, this is hardly a new problem. People always seem to think they can somehow protect themselves from knowledge they don't like simply by pretending it doesn't exist, not realizing that (as the great giver of wisdom, G.I. Joe, once said) "Knowing is half the battle." Fortunately, this one's been on the books for decades in the Supreme Court, and there're already ppl putting things in motion to get this nonsense proven unconstitutional *once again*. *shakes head* Maybe I'll be surprised about things like this when people stop banning and burning books. Y'know, it's funny... the stereotypical view of librarians is that we're a really conservative bunch. In truth, you won't find a more ardent bunch of free speech advocates outside of the A.C.L.U. *grin* So support your local library!

-- Karen O. (lisl_1@yahoo.com), August 19, 1999.

I just received an interesting article on how things in Kansas came to be, along with some valid (if vague) suggestions on how the scientific community and higher education in general should respond. If anyone is interested let me know and I'll forward you a copy.

-- Jeff Fiscus (koros@usit.net), October 28, 1999.

Actually, I read a few days back that the Illinois school system has successfully eradicated that evil word, "EVOLUTION," from their textbooks and test materials. Teachers are allowed to refer to a process of things changing over time, but they are not allowed to use the catch-phrase evolution, or talk about things evolving. (Sheesh. Talk about DEevolution.)

-- Karen O. (lisl_1@yahoo.com), October 30, 1999.