The coordinating board provided 286 pages of e-mails in response to an open-records request from The Dallas Morning news. Many of the notes are from Texas. But others come from all corners of the U.S. and the world—from Florida to the Philippines, Nevada to Nigeria. The letters show how heated the debate has become, as Texas and other states try to figure out the best way to teach students science.

School Board Votes: Evolution is Just a Theory
Jan 19 2008 - My Clay Sun (Orange Park, Florida)
A local school board in Florida has decided that evolution should be presented as a theory, and not fact, in the classroom. Members of the Clay County School Board passed a resolution asking the Florida Department of Education to reword its newly proposed state standards, which present evolution as “the fundamental concept underlying all of biology and is supported in multiple forms of scientific evidence.” “It’s not like we’re asking for permission to teach creationism or any of those things. What we’re saying is let’s not be so dogmatic in our approach,” noted Superintendent David Owens.

Creationists Delay Bid for Master's Degrees
Jan 15 2008 - San Antonio Express-News (Texas)
Members of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board will have to wait to vote on an application by a creation science group hoping to offer online master’s degrees. The Institute for Creation Research is seeking state approval to grant the degrees so educators can “understand the universe within the integrating framework of biblical creationism,” according to the schools’ mission statement. Board members were scheduled to vote on the application next week. However, the institute asked the board to postpone the vote until April to “do justice to the concerns (the board) raised.”

Lawyer Says School Proposal Equates Evolution, Religion
Jan 15 2008 - St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
A Florida attorney claims that science can be like religion. David C. Gibbs III wrote in a recent legal memo that by singling out Charles Darwin's theory of evolution as the sole pillar of modern biology, Florida's proposed science standards "leave no room for other philosophical perspectives and cross the line between science and faith." Gibbs also notes that the proposed standards could face a legal challenge for violating the constitutional separation of church and state. An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida described Gibbs's claim as "cockamamy." Gibbs sent the memo to the Florida Board of Education in December. Board members will vote on the new science standards in February.

Education Secretary Ducks Evolution Quarrel in Tallahassee
Jan 10 2008 - Miami Herald (Florida)
In an effort to promote the benefits of the No Child Left Behind Act, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is visiting states to discuss the law. But during her visit to Florida, Spellings stayed far away from the unfolding controversy on whether the state should add the word “evolution” to its science standards. Spellings noted it is not “her job to make policy decisions and said it was up to people such as new Florida Education Commissioner Eric Smith." When asked if she had a position on the issue, Spellings responded, “No. I don’t.” The Florida Board of Education is scheduled to vote on the new science standards in February.

State Board OKs Debated Biology Text
Jan 10 2008 - Post and Courier (Charleston, South Carolina)
The South Carolina Board of Education has approved a biology textbook that had been previously questioned. “It’s almost shameful to me that we spent so much time questioning whether evolution should be taught in 2008 in South Carolina schools,” observed Trip DuBard III, who voted to approve the textbook. “I thought we were beyond that.” Board member Charles McKinney spoke for the board’s conservative faction when he said he views evolution as “an incomplete mystery” and worries that the textbook presents “distorted science opinion” as truth. The board is required to approve updated versions of textbooks each year.

Science Advisers Urge Teaching Evolution
Jan 4 2008 - CBS News
A new report by the National Academy of Sciences and its Institute of Medicine emphasizes the importance of teaching evolution in public schools. The report includes recently discovered evidence supporting evolution, including an important fossil find. The report also takes positions against creationism and other anti-evolution views. Evolution continues to be a popular topic in many states, including Florida and Texas. In Florida, officials are considering revising their science standards to include the word evolution. The Texas Board of Education is expected to begin a review of the state science curriculum in the near future.

Word 'Evolution' May Be Added to Florida Curriculum
Jan 4 2008 - Miami Herald (Florida)
The pros and cons of evolution and intelligent design were debated during a public hearing January 3 in Florida. The state’s school board is considering revisions in science standards that would substitute the word evolution for “biological changes over time.” Many public school teachers who appeared at the hearing supported the teaching of evolution. But some residents who attended said “that God created the Earth and everyone that is on it.” The Florida Board of Education is scheduled to vote on the revised standards on February 19.

Evolution Furor Flares on Florida Science Proposals
Dec 31 2007 - Palm Beach Post (Florida)
The evolution debate will take center stage in February when the Florida Board of Education considers revising science standards that would make evolution a major topic in classrooms for the first time. Educators and advocacy groups have voiced mixed reaction to the plans, which would require students to recognize that fossil evidence is consistent with the idea that human beings evolved from earlier species.

Creationist School Offers a Degree of Controversy
Dec 19 2007 - Houston Chronicle (Texas)
In Texas public schools, science educators are not allowed to teach creationism alongside evolution. But the Institute for Creation Research hopes to change that mandate. The Dallas-based organization is seeking state approval to grant on online master’s degree in science education that would prepare teachers to “understand the universe within the integrating framework of Biblical creationism,” according to the school’s mission statement. An advisory council comprised of university educators has voted to recommend the program for approval by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The recommendation has generated mixed reaction. Commissioner of Higher Education Raymund Paredes said he will “treat the issue with care” as he reviews the institute’s application and delivers his opinion to the board in January 2008.

Evolution's Role in Class Set to Grow
Oct 20 2007 - Orlando Sentinel (Florida)
For the first time, Florida has written new science standards that mandate students need to learn evolution. The proposed standards call evolution one of the “big ideas” that must be taught as part of in-depth, hands-on learning. Current standards do not use the word evolution, but call for teaching evolutionary concepts in public schools. The public will have 60 days to comment on the changes, which were released on October 19. The proposed standards will then be sent to the Florida Board of Education for approval.

Teachers 'Fear Evolution Lessons'
Oct 5 2007 - BBC News
The head of science at London’s Institute of Education says the teaching of evolution is becoming more difficult in United Kingdom schools because of the rise of creationism. Professor Michael Reiss explains the problem is partially due to the increase of Muslim students whose families do not accept evolutionary theory compared to Christian families. Reiss says he supports new government guidelines that state creationism should not be discussed in science classes unless the subject is raised by students.

Education Board Opposes Intelligent Design in Curricula
Aug 24 2007 - Dallas Morning News (Texas)
The majority of the Texas Board of Education opposes the idea of science educators teaching intelligent design alongside evolution in the classroom. Interviews with eleven of the 15 members of the board found minimal support for requiring the teaching of intelligent design in biology and other science classes. Several board members, however, noted they are creationists and have doubts about Charles Darwin’s theory that humans evolved from lower life forms. The board plans to revise the state’s science curriculum for public schools in 2008.

Ohio School to Mark Darwin's Birth, Work
Aug 21 2007 - CBS News
Case Western Reserve University in Ohio is planning a celebration of Charles Darwin. The university will host a series of lectures by prominent researchers and other activities. Speakers invited to attend the event will include U.S. District Judge John Jones. In a 2005 trial involving the Dover, Pennsylvania, school district, Jones ruled that the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution was unconstitutional because intelligent design is fundamentally creationism, not science. The Darwin celebration will take place in 2008–2009.

And God Created...Dinosaurs
May 29 2007 - ABC News Online
A former Australia science teacher has opened what is being described as the world’s first creationism museum in the United States. The museum teaches visitors that the Earth is barely 6,000 years old, and that God created dinosaurs and humans at roughly the same time. Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, fears the museum will give children a distorted view of science. Ken Ham, the museum’s president, expects up to 250,000 people will come to the museum each year to decide for themselves.

No Big Bang Over Teaching Evolution
May 7 2007 - The State (Columbia, South Carolina)
Biology teacher Mitzi Snipes confronted this year’s controversial new rules about teaching evolution head on. Snipes, a fourth-year teacher, told her students “to be open to new ideas.” Snipes’ students conducted research and created web pages outlining Darwin’s theory and creationism. Snipes found many students concluded that both stances have merit, and that the two do not have to be mutually exclusive. Other teachers took a more measured approach when lecturing students about the origins of life this year, the first year since policymakers rewrote the guidelines on how to teach evolution. The new standards encourage teachers “to investigate and critically analyze aspects of evolutionary theory.”

About Creation, Pope Melds Faith With Science
Apr 12 2007 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
Science cannot fully explain the mystery of creation, Pope Benedict XVI said in comments about evolution that were published in a book on April 11. At the same time, Benedict did not reject evolutionary theory or endorse any alternative for the origins of life.

Teacher Fired Over Bible References
Mar 21 2007 - Boston Globe (Requires free registration)
During his eight days as a part-time high school biology teacher, Kris Helphinstine included Biblical references in material he provided to students and gave a PowerPoint presentation that made connections between evolution, Nazi Germany, and Planned Parenthood. That was enough for the Sisters School Board in Oregon to fire Helphinstine for deviating from the curriculum on the theory of evolution. Helphinstine said in a phone interview with The Bulletin newspaper of Bend that he included the supplemental material to teach students about bias in sources, and his only agenda was to teach critical thinking.

Kansas Science Guidelines Revised
Feb 14 2007 - Kansas City Star
Capping two years of bitter controversy and occasional ridicule, the Kansas Board of Education has rescinded science curriculum standards that cast doubt on evolution. In their place are new guidelines reflecting the scientific consensus that evolution is a foundation of modern biology and a critical component to a science education.

Britain Boosts Intelligent Design Debate
Jan 24 2007 - MSNBC.com
British teens may soon be debating creationism and intelligent design in religion classes that give equal time to the Darwinists and atheists who oppose these views of the world’s origins. Newly published school guidelines reflect the growing influence of a bitter battle over evolution being waged on the other side of the Atlantic, by conservative American Christians who want to put God back into the secular state school system. The guidelines place the issue firmly in religion education classes, rather than the science classes where American intelligent design proponents want it to be handled.

Kansas Will Revisit Science Standards
Jan 12 2007 - Kansas City Star (Requires free registration)
Now controlled by moderates, the Kansas Board of Education wasted little time in beginning the repeal of science curriculum standards that cast doubt on the theory of evolution. At its first meeting of the year, the board voted January 9 to revisit the science standards with a vote likely coming next month. Critics of the theory urged the board to leave the standards alone.

Cobb Gives Up On Evolution Book Stickers
Dec 20 2006 - Atlanta Journal Constitution (Requires free registration)
The Cobb County, Georgia, evolution saga is over, more than four years after school officials ordered stickers warning that evolution is “a theory, not a fact” pasted into thousands of science textbooks. The end came on December 19, when the Cobb County school board announced it had settled a lawsuit filed by parents who said the disclaimer violated the constitutional prohibition against government–established religion.

Teach Darwin, Quebec Tells Evangelicals
Oct 26 2006 - The Globe and Mail (Canada)
School officials in Quebec have launched a crackdown on unlicensed evangelical schools, saying the province will close any institution that does not follow the provincial curriculum and teach Darwinism. Education Minister Jean–Marc Fournier noted that some evangelical schools have been operating illegally in the province and teaching their own curriculum

Scientists Endorse Candidate Over Teaching of Evolution
Oct 26 2006 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
In an unusual foray into electoral politics, 75 science professors at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland have signed a letter endorsing a candidate for the Ohio Board of Education. The professors’ favored candidate is Tom Sawyer, a former congressman, and one time mayor of Akron. The professors hope Sawyer will oust Deborah Owens Fink, a leading advocate of curriculum standards that encourage students to challenge the theory of evolution. Elsewhere in Ohio, scientists have also been campaigning for candidates who support the teaching of evolution and have recruited at least one biologist from out of state to help.

Michigan Backs Teaching Evolution in Science Class
Oct 10 2006 - CNN/Associated Press
The Michigan Board of Education has approved new curriculum guidelines that support the teaching of evolution but not intelligent design in science classes. Intelligent design, however, could be left for other classes in Michigan schools, according to the new standards. If a district or a teacher decides to include intelligent design in a science class, they could face a court challenge from opponents of teaching intelligent design.

Science Theories May Face Scrutiny
Sep 7 2006 - Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio)
The Ohio Board of Education will consider whether the debate over intelligent design and evolution should have a second look after requesting that the Ohio Department of Education draft a nine page “Controversial Issues Template.” Supporters say the template provides guidelines for discussion; opponents argue the document is “to single out and cast doubt on widely accepted scientific theories. The Board of Education and its committees will discuss the template starting the week of Sept. 11.

Papal Summit to Debate Darwinian Evolution
Aug 30 2006 - NewScientist.com
Pope Benedict XVI will host a private seminar in September to discuss the Catholic Church’s position on Darwinian evolution. The seminar will be aimed at finding a way to stop the church from delivering mixed messages about evolution.

State School Board Race Evolves Into Debate Over Science
Aug 25 2006 - Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio)
Two candidates running for a school board race in Akron, Ohio, are attracting national attention for their different views on the teaching of evolution. Former Akron Mayor Tom Sawyer and incumbent Deborah Owens Fink, a University of Akron marketing professor are two of four candidates campaigning for the District 7 seat. Owens Fink was a leader in the effort to adopt a controversial science curriculum standard and lesson plan calling for critical analysis of evolution. Sawyer was drafted to run by the newly formed Help Ohio Public Education. The group’s founders say the curriculum changes promoted intelligent design and were an effort to insert religion into the science curriculum. The state board rescinded the curriculum changes in February after a federal judge rejected the teaching of intelligent design in Pennsylvania.

Evolution Major Vanishes From Approved Federal List
Aug 24 2006 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
Evolutionary biology has vanished from the list of acceptable fields of study for recipients of a federal education grant for low–income college students. The omission is inadvertent, said Katherine McLane, a spokesperson for the Department of Education. Samara Yudof, another department spokesperson, said evolutionary biology would be restored to the list of majors, but as of Aug. 23 it was still missing. The fact that the omission occurred at all is worrying scientists concerned about threats to the teaching of evolution.

Evolution Less Accepted in the U.S.
Aug 10 2006 - National Geographic News
Several surveys have shown that people in the United States are less likely to accept Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution compared to adults in other western nations. A new study of those surveys suggests the main reason for this lies in a unique confluence of religion, politics, and the public understanding of biological science in the United States. Led by Jon D. Miller, a political scientist at Michigan State University, the study can be found in the Aug. 11 issue of the journal Science.

Evolution Fight Shifts Direction in Kansas Vote
Aug 3 2006 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
Several winners in a primary election for the Kansas Board of Education have promised to work swiftly to restore the state’s science curriculum so that it does not include criticism of evolution. Proponents of evolution say the election results represent the third major defeat for the intelligent design movement, and are a sign that the public is beginning to pay attention to the movement’s details and its failures. Supporters of intelligent design and others who favored the Kansas science standards say they are disappointed over the election results, but note they have won victories in other states.

Evolution's Foes Lose Ground in Kansas
Aug 2 2006 - MSNBC.com
Conservative Republicans who approved standards last November that called evolution into question have lost control of the Kansas Board of Education following a primary election held Aug. 1. Five of the 10 seats on the board were up for election in the primary. Scientific groups around the country closely monitored the vote. Eugenie Scott, director of the National Center for Science Education, which supports the teaching of evolution, noted that a strong conservative showing would have generated attempts to adopt Kansas’ standards in other states.

Evolution's Backers in Kansas Start Counterattack
Aug 1 2006 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
A contentious school board election has religion and science at odds in Kansas. Less than a year after a conservative Republican majority on the State Board of Education adopted rules for teaching science containing one of the broadest challenges in the nation to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, moderate Republicans and Democrats are planning a counterattack. The politicians want to retake power and switch the standards back to what they call “conventional science.”

Evolution's Lonely Battle in a Georgia Classroom
Jun 28 2006 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
On occasion, an educational battle will dominate national headlines. However, the battle more commonly takes place behind close doors on the local level and can be handled so discreetly, that even a teacher working a few classrooms away might be unaware of the situation. This was the case for retired NSTA member Pat New. New, a middle school science teacher, quietly advocated her right to teach evolution in Dahlonega, Georgia, and prevailed.

Scientists Urge Evolution Lessons
Jun 22 2006 - BBC News
A statement signed by representatives of 67 national science academies says evidence on the origins of life is being “concealed, denied, or confused” in some classes. The statement lists key facts on evolution that “scientific evidence has never contradicted.” Yves Quere, co-chair of the Inter Academy Panel on International Issues, the global network of science academies, said the statement reflects growing concern within the scientific community that students are not being taught basic facts on evolution and the nature of scientific inquiry.

New School Guide OK'd
Jun 13 2006 - The State (Columbia, South Carolina)
Biology teachers in South Carolina public high schools should engage in class discussions that question the theory of evolution, according to the state’s new teaching standards. An Education Oversight Committee unanimously approved new language to the state’s biology standards that adds the phrase “critically analyze” to guidelines for teaching evolution. The guideline directs teachers to “summarize ways that scientists use data from a variety of sources to investigate and critically analyze aspects of evolutionary theory.”

Evolution Stickers Ruling Tossed
May 26 2006 - Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Requires free registration)
A federal appeals court in Atlanta has declined to rule on the constitutionality of the controversial Cobb County, Georgia, school district’s evolution disclaimers placed in science textbooks. The court said it declined to rule because it did not have enough information to make a decision. The court’s action means more arguments from lawyers and possibly a new trial. In January 2005, a federal judge ordered the removal of the evolution stickers after discovering they conveyed an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. Cobb County officials complied, but also appealed the ruling.

Forum to Tackle Intelligent Design
May 17 2006 - Tallahassee Democrat (Florida)
What effect will last year’s decision by a federal judge to ban the teaching of intelligent design in Dover, Pennsylvania, schools have on science classes nationwide? A panel of national and local experts will attempt to answer that question tonight at a public forum on the campus of Florida State University. Those who cannot attend the forum in person can watch it on the web at http://www.research.fsu.edu/dover/.

Opinion: Evolution's Bottom Line
May 12 2006 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
The usefulness of scientific theories, like those on gravity, relativity, and evolution, is to make predictions. When theories make practicable foresight possible, they are widely accepted and used to make all of the new things that we enjoy. Creationists who oppose the teaching of evolution as the predominant theory of biology contend that alternatives should be part of the curriculum because evolution is “just a theory,” but they never attack mere theories of gravity and relativity in the same way, writes Holden Thorp, chairman of the chemistry department at the University of North Carolina. Thorp notes both sides say they are fighting for lofty goals and defending the truth. But Thorp explains that lost in all this truth-defending are more pragmatic issues that have to do with students whose educations are at stake and the fact that creationism has no commercial application, but evolution does.

Creationism 'No Place in Schools'
Apr 11 2006 - BBC News
The Royal Society has issued a statement noting that leading scientists have warned against the teaching of creationism in schools and that students must be clear that science backs the theory of evolution. The society’s statement comes after claims that some schools are promoting creationism alongside evolution. The Department of Education says that creationism was not taught in schools. Meanwhile, delegates at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers’ conference have rejected calls for legislation to ban the teaching of creationism.

Anglican Leader Says the Schools Shouldn't Teach Creationism
Mar 22 2006 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
The Archbishop of Canterbury opposes teaching creationism in school and believes that portraying the Bible as just another theory devalues it. “I think creationism is, in a sense, a kind of category mistake, as if the Bible were a theory like other theories,” the archbishop, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, told The Guardian newspaper in a recent interview. “Whatever the biblical account of creation is, it’s not a theory alongside theories. It’s not as if the writer of Genesis or whatever sat down and said, ‘well, how am I going to explain all this?’”

Evolution vs. Intelligent Design Debate Gets Hearing
Mar 14 2006 - Florida Times-Union (Requires free registration)
Organizers of today’s debate over evolution and intelligent design at Jacksonville University in Florida hope to replace the arguing that usually accompanies the topic with calm, respectful dialogue. The two men debating evolution and intelligent design say they intend to encourage all sides to reexamine their own and others’ beliefs. Michael Ruse of Florida State University and Paul Nelson of the Discovery Institute will discuss the issue as part of the university’s Ethics in Contemporary Life lecture series.

The Great Debate
Mar 2 2006 - District Administration Magazine
Few topics have created a controversy for school administrators and science teachers in grades K–12 like the debate between evolution and intelligent design. But reporter Julie Sturgeon writes in this article that the debate does not have to pull a school district apart and leave both sides gunning for the other.

Evolution a Theory, Father Says
Mar 1 2006 - Review-Journal (Las Vegas, Nevada)
Las Vegas parent Steve Brown wants schools to teach the theory of evolution in what he calls the “right way,” which means acknowledging that much of the theory is just a theory. To get the attention of public school teachers, Brown has filed a petition with the Nevada Secretary of State’s office to amend the state’s constitution to require a broader approach to teaching evolution in public schools. More than 83,000 signatures will need to be collected by Brown to have the initiative placed on the November ballot. If the petition is placed on the ballot and approved by voters in November, it would have to pass a second time in 2008 before it could take effect.

Utah Lawmakers Kill Evolution Challenge
Feb 28 2006 - MSNBC.com
Utah lawmakers have rejected a bill that would have required science teachers to teach alternative views to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. People on each side of the science education debate viewed the bill as an important proposal because Utah is a conservative state with a legislature dominated by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But lawmakers voted against the bill after it was amended twice. The change resulted in most the bill’s language being eliminated except for one sentence that reads “the State Board of Education shall establish curriculum requirements” related to science instruction of students on the origins of species.

Evolution Bill May Lose Its 'Origins of Life' Wording
Feb 23 2006 - Deseret News (Utah)
A controversial bill challenging the way evolution is taught in Utah public schools is evolving again. The House sponsor of Senate Bill 96, Rep. Jim Ferrin, wants to substitute the measure for a third time by removing all references to the words “the origins of life,” but still aim to keep teachers from telling students they evolved from apes. Ferrin’s request can happen only if the House Rules Committee agrees to put the bill up for its final legislative debate. School officials oppose the bill primarily because it treads on the state school board’s authority to set curriculum. However, a new poll shows Utah residents support the legislature’s move to regulate evolution lessons.

Academics Fight Rise of Creationism at Universities
Feb 21 2006 - The Guardian (London, England)
A growing number of science students on British campuses and in sixth form colleges are challenging the theory of evolution and arguing that Darwin was wrong. Some students are receiving failing grades on university exams because they quote sayings from the Bible or Qur’an as scientific fact and at one sixth form college in London most biology students are now thought to be creationists. The Royal Society, Britain’s leading scientific academy, plans to confront this issue with a lecture titled “Why Creationism is Wrong.” Geneticist and author Steve Jones will deliver the lecture in April.

Teachers Study for Evolution Challenges
Feb 19 2006 - MSNBC.com
Teachers from across the country convened in St. Louis this weekend to arm themselves with information that will help them in future conflicts over the teaching of evolution in science classes. Educators attending the workshops, part of the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s national meeting, reflected on the December 2005 court ruling against intelligent design. The science workshops were also aimed at preparing teachers to handle new challenges to evolutionary theory, which consist of casting doubt on the theory’s foundation rather than trying to establish an alternative theory.

Ohio School Board Sides With Evolution
Feb 15 2006 - The Enquirer (Cincinnati, Ohio)
The Ohio Board of Education has voted to remove language critical of evolution from its science curriculum. Opponents of the language said the “critical analysis” of evolution in the state biology standards opened the door to the teaching of intelligent design and other concepts challenging Darwin’s theory and made the state vulnerable to litigation on constitutional grounds. A spokesman for the Discovery Institute, an organization that promotes intelligent design, described the board’s action as “a sad day for the students of Ohio.”

Ohio Expected to Rein in Class Linked to Intelligent Design
Feb 14 2006 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
Under pressure from opponents of intelligent design, the Ohio Board of Education today could scrap an optional model biology lesson plan adopted in 2002 that requires high school sophomores to critically analyze aspects of evolutionary theory. A board reversal would be the latest milestone in a series of developments nationwide to reject the teaching of intelligent design.

At Churches Nationwide, Good Words for Evolution
Feb 13 2006 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
Ministers at several hundred churches across the country preached yesterday against recent efforts to undermine the theory of evolution, asserting the opposition many Christians say exists between science and faith is false. The event, named Evolution Sunday, took place on the same day as Charles Darwin's 197th birthday. Churchgoers listening to the sermons say they welcomed what they heard.

Evolution Defenders Will Party for Darwin
Feb 10 2006 - Wichita Eagle (Kansas)
Defenders of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution plan to celebrate the 197th birthday of the scientist on Feb. 12 with several events across the globe. The University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology celebration will include birthday cake, a badminton game, and a reading of Darwin’s “The Origin of Species.” Philosophy students at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, plan to get a head start on Darwin Day on Feb. 10 by singing Darwin carols they composed.

Not in Kansas Anymore
Feb 10 2006 - Inside Higher Ed
A Wisconsin lawmaker has proposed a bill that seeks to “stem the growing tide of intelligent design and other specious science.” State Rep. Terese Berceau’s three-sentence bill says that anything taught as science in science classes should be “testable,” describe “only natural processes,” and be consistent with science as described by the National Academy of Sciences, which has said intelligent design is not science. Berceau noted the bill would not completely eliminate intelligent design out of schools, it just could not be taught as science. The legislation is the first of its kind in the country. Five faculty members at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who were consulted on the measure, support the bill. A lawmaker who cosponsored the bill said, “it stands little chance of being approved.”

Evolution Wording Attacked
Feb 9 2006 - Columbus Dispatch (Ohio)
More than two-thirds of scientists and educators who initially advised the Ohio Board of Education on science standards are urging the board to eliminate a portion of the guidelines. Ohio’s teaching standards for tenth grade biology and accompanying lesson plans undermine Darwinian evolution by singling it out for critical analysis, the teachers and scientists wrote in a letter to Ohio Gov. Bob Taft. The guidelines also open the door to teaching religion in public school classrooms. Although the issue is not on the agenda, board members will likely discuss the matter in their meeting next week.

Evolution Measure Splits State Legislators in Utah
Feb 5 2006 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
A proposal over how students should learn the origins of life has divided lawmakers in the Utah Legislature. The bill would require science teachers to offer a disclaimer when introducing lessons on evolution. Some leaders in both parties have announced their opposition to the bill, and most lawmakers say that with less than a month left in the legislative session, its fate remains a tossup. Advocacy groups who follow the national issue of teaching evolution note that what happens in Utah could be important far beyond state borders.

State Delays Update of Science Curriculum
Jan 26 2006 - Miami Herald (Requires free registration)
Florida’s science curriculum for public schools will not be updated until 2008, a year later than expected. The delay ensures that a controversial debate over evolution will come after the state’s governor leaves office and a successor is named. The two leading Democratic candidates to replace Gov. Jeb Bush oppose intelligent design in public school science classes. Florida’s Education Commissioner John Winn says he will not take a position on how the state’s public schools should teach the origins of life until the review is completed.

School Oversight Panel Takes No Stand in Evolution Debate
Jan 24 2006 - The State (Columbia, South Carolina)
High school biology teachers in South Carolina are in limbo on how to teach the origins of life this fall. An Education Oversight Committee failed to take a stand Jan. 23 on whether to include new language that would allow theories other than evolution to be taught. The committee instead decided to ask the state’s Department of Education to help find a compromise. No deadline has been set for when that work might start or when the issue will be resolved.

California School Sued Over Evolution Class
Jan 11 2006 - ABC News
A federal lawsuit has been filed against a California high school for teaching a religion-based alternative to evolution. Filed by parents of 13 students attending Frazier Mountain High in Lebec, the lawsuit argues the school violated the separation of church and state while attempting to legitimize the theory of intelligent design by introducing it as a philosophy class. The school’s superintendent says the class, “Philosophy of Design,” was not being taught as science and was an opportunity for students to debate the controversial issue.

Emotional Education Issues Ahead
Jan 10 2006 - Deseret News (Utah)
Seventy-one percent of Utah residents want the state’s schools to keep teaching evolution in high school biology classes. But two-thirds of Utahans want intelligent design to be taught as a “complement” to evolution lessons, according to a Dan Jones & Associates poll for the Deseret Morning News and KSL-TV. The survey of 406 Utah adults, taken Dec. 26 through Jan. 3, has a 5% margin of error.

Intelligent Design Policy is Rescinded
Jan 4 2006 - Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
The Dover, Pennsylvania, school board has officially rescinded its policy of presenting intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in high school biology classes, after a federal judge found the concept was religious and not scientific. Most of the school board incumbents who had defended the policy were ousted in the November election and were replaced by candidates who pledged to eliminate it. Board members declined to comment after the unanimous vote.

State Science Standards Sent for Rewrite
Jan 3 2006 - Journal-World (Lawrence, Kansas)
The Kansas Board of Education is not through with the science standards yet. Portions of the standards are being rewritten because of copyright disputes, a process that could take several more weeks and cost thousands of dollars. The board voted in November to approve science standards that criticize evolution. Proponents claim the new standards give a balanced view of evolution while critics argue they promote creationism. Before the vote, the National Academy of Sciences and NSTA notified the Kansas Department of Education the state couldn’t use its copyright material in the standards.

In Kansas, Teaching Biology is Survival of Fittest
Dec 30 2005 - Chicago Tribune
Kansas educators like veteran biology teacher Ken Bingman are becoming stuck in the middle when it comes to teaching evolution in the classroom. The Kansas Board of Education voted in November to adopt science standards that cast doubt on Darwinian evolution. The new standards are not binding on school districts, but may be reflected on state assessment tests. To add to the mix, previous boards have changed the standards in recent years, and polls have consistently shown a majority of Americans favor teaching both evolution and creationism.

Buttars Drafts Bill on Origins Teaching
Dec 24 2005 - Salt Lake Tribune
A Utah Republican who long has promised to push a bill requiring that intelligent design be taught in the state’s schools along with evolution has finally made public a draft of his measure, but it makes no mention of the controversial concept. Instead, Sen. Chris Buttars' draft bill released Dec. 23 requires Utah schools to "avoid the perception that all scientists agree on any one theory, or that the state endorses one theory over another," when it comes to the origins of life.

Schools Nationwide Study Impact of Evolution Ruling
Dec 22 2005 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
Educators and legislators in communities nationwide that are considering intelligent design say they are learning about the results of the trial in Dover, Pennsylvania, but have yet to read the judge’s decision. Judge John E. Jones III ruled that it was unconstitutional to teach intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in a public school science classroom. A Drake University law professor noted that Jones’ ruling is only legally binding for the Dover area and that no other courts in the country must follow the decision. Jones’ ruling, however, could influence similar challenges in the future.

Ruling Addresses Broader Controversy
Dec 21 2005 - Philadelphia Inquirer (Requires free registration)
The sweeping federal court decision against intelligent design has gone far beyond the narrow issues in Dover, Pennsylvania, and has given new hope to science teachers who have been on the defensive in the teaching of evolution. Although the ruling is not binding beyond the Pennsylvania district where it was issued, evolution advocates expect the ruling to be used as a “powerful weapon” elsewhere.

Ruling May Create New Interest in Intelligent Design Movement
Dec 21 2005 - Seattle Post-Intelligencer
While some saw a federal ruling Tuesday as a major blow to the proponents of intelligent design, a Seattle organization that is one of the movement's key figures slammed the decision as a futile attempt at government censorship that could actually further its message. "We think (U.S. District Judge John Jones III) really overreached. He basically used this to step on a soapbox and pontificate about his views on intelligent design and even religion," said John West, a senior fellow at the Center for Science and Culture. Located inside the Discovery Institute, the center spends upward of $1 million a year on polls, advertising, and research to challenge parts of Charles Darwin’s evolution theory.

State Embraces Evolution Curriculum
Dec 21 2005 - Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA-Requires free registration)
The teaching of evolution, adaptation, and natural selection is spelled out explicitly in California’s award-winning science curriculum standards. It’s part of every public school biology textbook. Evolution questions appear on state science exams administered each spring. There is, however, no specific legal prohibition against classroom discussion of alternative ideas. Nevertheless, the recent spate of intelligent design lawsuits has sent chills through California’s science and education communities.

I.D. Ruling Called Unlikely to Deter Iowa District
Dec 21 2005 - Des Moines Register (Iowa)
A Muscatine, Iowa, school board member says he believes his district will continue to discuss whether intelligent design should be included in science classes, despite a federal judge’s decision in Pennsylvania to ban mentioning the idea in public school biology classes. “We have laws, and one week they (are) a law, and the next week they are not,” said Paul Brooks. “I have a hard time having one judge in one state tell all the teachers across the nation what they can do and what they can’t do. I don’t think that is right.” Brooks said the topic emerged in Muscatine after it became a national issue and university professors in Iowa began speaking out about it.

Judge Rules Against "Intelligent Design"
Dec 20 2005 - MSNBC.com
A federal judge has barred a Pennsylvania school district from teaching intelligent design in biology classes. US District Judge John E. Jones delivered a stinging attack on the Dover Area School board, saying its first-in-the-nation decision in October 2004 to insert intelligent design into the science curriculum violates the constitutional separation of church and state. The school system does not plan to appeal. Eric Rothschild, an attorney representing the families who challenged the policy, called the ruling "a real vindication for the parents who had the courage to stand up and say there was something wrong in their school district." Click here to read NSTA's statement about the ruling.

Evolution Trial in Hands of Willing Judge
Dec 18 2005 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
“Any judge will tell you that they welcome the opportunity to have important cases on their dockets,” explains Judge John E. Jones III. Jones presided over the federal trial that involved eleven parents challenging the Dover, Pennsylvania, school board’s decision to include intelligent design as part of high school biology classes. Jones is expected to issue his decision next week. Legal experts note the “big question” is whether Jones will rule narrowly or more broadly on the merits of teaching intelligent design as science.

Minnetonka School Board Rejects Changing Science Standards
Dec 16 2005 - Minneapolis Star-Tribune (Requires free registration)
The Minnetonka, Minnesota, school board has blocked an effort by two of its members to change its science standards in a way that some residents fear would allow the teaching of intelligent design. The two members argue the proposed change would have made the district’s standards conform exactly to language in the state’s standards. But other board members say the state’s requirements are contained in other parts of the district’s standards, including statements about the incompleteness of some scientific ideas and the ability to explain how new evidence can challenge accepted theories, including the theory of evolution.

Panel Backs Teaching Evolution
Dec 15 2005 - The State (Columbia, South Carolina)
Faced with a package of new science standards for all grades, the South Carolina school board recently voted 10–5 to reaffirm current high school biology guidelines for the teaching of evolution. The state's Education Oversight Committee will consider in February whether those biology standards should be revised.

Judges Question Evolution Sticker Ruling
Dec 15 2005 - MSNBC.com
A federal appeals panel has questioned the accuracy of a judge’s ruling that a disclaimer in school textbooks describing evolution as “a theory, not a fact” represents an endorsement of religion. “I don’t think you all can contest any of the sentences” on the disclaimer sticker, Judge Ed Carnes of the eleventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals told an attorney arguing for parents who sued the Cobb County, Georgia, school district. A lower court ordered the school district to remove the stickers in January. The school district’s attorney argued the lower court judge misconstrued the school board’s intention, which was to allay community concerns while teaching good science. The appeals panel did not indicate when it would rule.

Appeal May Be Major Test Case
Dec 11 2005 - Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Requires free registration)
Under orders from a federal judge, school staffers and students used putty knives and a glue remover last spring to erase the evolution debate from 34,452 Cobb County, Georgia, school books. The famous stickers declared evolution "a theory, not a fact," but U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper said that assertion had more to do with religion than science. This week, in a nation still riven by disagreement over the ascent of man, the federal appeals court in Atlanta will hear arguments on whether Cobb's stickers did, indeed, violate the First Amendment's rule that government may not establish a religion.

Dover Ruling Could Be Its Own Genesis
Dec 6 2005 - Chicago Tribune (Requires free registration)
The federal judge presiding over the Dover, Pennsylvania, science curriculum case could deem intelligent design a religious belief, thereby rendering its inclusion in public school science courses unconstitutional, or he could term it a valid scientific theory and thus legally teachable. Some observers want the judge to narrowly rule only on whether the school board's motivation was religious or not, so that the constitutionality of the alternative theory remains vague.

Criminal Twist in Evolution Debate
Dec 6 2005 - CBS News
A Kansas professor whose planned course on creationism and intelligent design was canceled after he sent e-mails deriding Christian conservatives was taken to the hospital Dec. 5 following what he said was a beating. Professor Paul Mirecki told the Lawrence Journal-World that two men who beat him were making references to the class that was to be offered for the first time this coming spring. Originally called, "Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies," the course was canceled last week at Mirecki's request. The class was added after the Kansas Board of Education decided to include more criticism of evolution in science standards for elementary and secondary students.

At Forum on Evolution, Beliefs Remain Static
Dec 6 2005 - Washington Post (Requires free registration)
Three high school friends stood together at a table, goggles protecting their eyes and putty knives in hand, as they split a block of ancient earth in search of fish fossils that scientists said were 10 million years old. One student did not believe the scientists because nothing on Earth is more than 6,000 years old, and Charles Darwin’s theory that living things have evolved from a common ancestry over eons is a myth. Another student said she “believes in evolution wholeheartedly” because there is “far too much evidence” to deny it. The third student said she believes in some parts of evolution and not others, but noted that God was responsible for everything.

Intelligent Design Might Be Meeting Its Maker
Dec 4 2005 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
To read the headlines, intelligent design as a challenge to evolution seems to be building momentum. Behind the headlines, however, intelligent design as a field of inquiry is failing to gain the traction its supporters had hoped for. It has gained little support among the academics who should have been its natural allies. And if the intelligent design proponents lose the case in Dover, there could be serious consequences for the movement's credibility.

Vatican Official Refutes Intelligent Design
Nov 18 2005 - ABC News
The Vatican’s chief astronomer says intelligent design is not science and does not belong in science classrooms. The Rev. George Coyne, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, noted that placing intelligent design alongside evolution in school programs is “wrong” and was akin to mixing apples with oranges. Coyne added if intelligent design is taught in schools, it should be a part of religion or cultural history courses, not science classes.

Teach Kids Evolution, Study Says
Nov 16 2005 - Detroit News
Although most Americans believe God created humans on the sixth day of the universe, they want science-based evolution taught in public schools, according to a Scripps Howard/Ohio University Poll. Sixty-nine percent of the 1,005 adults surveyed agreed with the idea that “evolution is what most scientists believe, so it should be taught in public science classes.” Twenty percent of the respondents said they believe “scientists are wrong, so evolution should not be taught.” Eleven percent of respondents were undecided or suggested teaching both evolution and intelligent design.

Kansas Education Board First to Back "Intelligent Design"
Nov 9 2005 - Washington Post (requires free registration)
The Kansas Board of Education voted Tuesday that students will be expected to study doubts about modern Darwinian theory, a move that defied the nation's scientific establishment even as it gave voice to religious conservatives and others who question the theory of evolution. The bitterly fought effort pushes Kansas to the forefront of a war over evolution being waged in courts in Pennsylvania and Georgia and statehouses nationwide. Click here for a statement from the National Science Teachers Association on the Kansas decision. Meanwhile, in Dover, Pennsylvania, eight school board members who supported the introduction of "intelligent design" in science classrooms were voted out of office on Tuesday. Click here for details on the Dover election from the New York Times; click here for extensive coverage of the evolution debate in the US.

Kansas Evolution Vote Nears, Scientists Fight Back
Nov 7 2005 - CNN.com
At the new "Explore Evolution" museum exhibit in Kansas, visitors pass a banner showing the face of a girl next to the face of a chimpanzee for a lesson on how the two are "cousins in life's family tree." Curators of the exhibit hope their work provides a counterweight to the anti-evolution sentiment sweeping their state and the country. “People just don't understand how science works. We need to better inform them about what science is," noted a museum spokeswoman. But on November 8, Kansas education officials are poised to do what many scientists see as just the opposite.

Intelligent Design Trial Concludes
Nov 4 2005 - MSNBC
A landmark federal trial over whether a Pennsylvania school district can include intelligent design as part of high school biology lessons on evolution has come to an end. U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III said he hoped to issue a ruling on the Dover Area School Board case no later than early January.

Daniels Hesitant to Back Intelligent Design Bill
Nov 4 2005 - Indianapolis Star
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels says he would be reluctant to sign a bill requiring teachers to incorporate intelligent design into their lesson plans. Daniels’ comments come as House Republicans try to gauge public opinion for the concept. At least one Republican has said he will sponsor a bill during the state’s 2006 legislative session if no other lawmaker steps forward.

Intelligent Design Decision Dissected
Nov 3 2005 - MSNBC.com
A trial over whether a Pennsylvania school district can introduce intelligent design as part of high school biology lessons on evolution is expected to conclude this Friday. A Dover Area school board member testified Wednesday that she voted to include intelligent design in biology classes, despite having limited knowledge about the concept. School Board president Sheila Harkins argued that students should be made aware of alternatives to evolutionary theory. Another school board member testified that he was “very nervous” before a deposition held in January 2005.

Expert Testifies on Intelligent Design
Oct 25 2005 - ABC News
Introducing intelligent design to high school students could help the idea gain wider acceptance among mainstream scientists, a sociology professor testified in a trial over whether the concept can be mentioned in public school biology classes. Steve Fuller, who teaches at the University of Warwick, England, tried to bolster the Dover Area School Board’s contention that intelligent design, which holds that life on Earth was the product of an unidentified intelligent force, is a scientific concept. Eight families are suing to have intelligent design removed from the curriculum, because they believe the policy essentially promotes the Bible's view of creation and, therefore, violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

A Call to Action Against Intelligent Design
Oct 24 2005 - Inside Higher Ed
Cornell University’s interim president, Hunter R. Rawlings III, has denounced the theory of intelligent design, arguing that it has no place in science classrooms. Rawlings has called on faculty members in a range of disciplines to engage in public discussions about why the anti-evolutionary theory is both popular and wrong. Proponents of intelligent design at Cornell have described Rawlings’ criticism of intelligent design as “censorship,” adding that if science professors “were really confident of evolution,” they would accept the teaching of intelligent design as an alternate theory.

Poll: Majority Reject Evolution
Oct 23 2005 - CBS News
A new survey shows that most Americans do not accept the theory of evolution. Fifty-one percent of Americans say God created humans in their present form and another three in 10 say that while humans evolved, God guided the process, according to the poll conducted by CBS News. Fifteen percent say humans evolved and that God was not involved. The CBS poll was conducted among a nationwide random sample of 808 adults who were interviewed by telephone October 3–5, 2005.

Witness Defends Broad Definition of Science
Oct 19 2005 - New York Times (requires free registration)
Prof. Michael J. Behe, a leading architect of the intelligent-design movement defended his ideas in a federal courtroom on Tuesday and acknowledged that under his definition of a scientific theory, astrology would fit as neatly as intelligent design. Under cross-examination by a lawyer for parents who have sued the school district, he said he was untroubled by the broadness of his definition of science. Behe compared intelligent design to the big bang theory of the origins of the universe, saying both initially faced rejection from scientists who objected for religious and philosophical reasons.

Another Attack on Evolution
Oct 18 2005 - Inside Higher Ed
The University of California at Berkeley has been sued for maintaining a website about evolution to help teachers. The site contains a links section that notes many religious organizations that have stated that faith is not incompatible with evolution, and these links violate the First Amendment, according to the suit filed by Jeanne Caldwell, a California parent whose husband Larry is an anti-evolution activist. A university spokesman said the school would defend the lawsuit “with vigor and enthusiasm,” noting the argument that Berkeley was violating the First Amendment with regard to church/state separation was “highly questionable,” and that “it’s the university’s job to share scientific and other information with the public.”

Defense Readies Case on Intelligent Design
Oct 17 2005 - ABC News
Lawyers for the Dover Area School Board will begin presenting their case this week, defending the decision made in 2004 to require students to hear a statement on intelligent design before they engage in lessons on evolution. The statement says Charles Darwin's theory is "not a fact," has inexplicable "gaps," and refers students to a textbook called Of Pandas and People for more information. The defense will begin their case with Lehigh University biochemistry professor Michael Behe who argues that Darwinian evolution cannot fully explain the biological complexities of life, suggesting the work of an intelligent force. See this related article.

Evolution Isn't Enough, Professor Says
Oct 17 2005 - MSNBC
A biochemistry professor who is a leading advocate of intelligent design testified Oct. 17 that evolution alone can’t explain complex biological processes, and he believes God is behind them. Leigh University professor Michael Behe was the first witness to be called by the Dover Area School Board. Eleven parents have sued the Pennsylvania school board for their decision to introduce students to intelligent design. Meanwhile, the Discovery Institute, an organization representing intelligent design scholars, has filed a brief urging a federal judge to rule in favor of the school board.

Witness Faults School District's Intelligent Design Policy
Oct 13 2005 - Post Gazette (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
It’s OK to question the theory of evolution, but not to “bash” and “trash” it, according to an expert witness who testified in the trial over the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. The Dover Area School District’s curriculum goes too far in discrediting the theory of evolution, according to Brian J. Alters, director of the Evolution Education Research Centre at McGill University in Toronto. Eleven parents are suing the Pennsylvania school district, claiming the curriculum violates the U.S. constitution’s requirement for separation of church and state. The school system plans to call its first witness next week.

New Mexico Schools Could Enter Battle Over Intelligent Design
Oct 9 2005 - Washington Post (Requires free registration)
As a federal judge hears arguments over whether a Pennsylvania school district can include intelligent design in its biology curriculum, Dan Barbour fears that the New Mexico high school where he works could face a similar showdown. The school board in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, voted in August to allow the discussion of alternative theories to evolution in high school science classes. Critics say that could mean intelligent design, and some faculty members are averse to teaching a concept whose scientific validity has been questioned, said Barbour, the school’s science and math director.

Text Originally Referred to Creationism
Oct 7 2005 - CNN.com
Early drafts of a student biology text contained references to creationism before they were replaced with the term “intelligent design,” according to a witness in the Dover Area School District evolution trial. Barbara Forrest, a philosophy professor at Southeastern Louisiana University, took the witness stand over the school system’s use of the book Of Pandas and People. Written in 1987, the text was revised after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could not require schools to balance evolution with creationism in the classroom, Forrest said. Forrest reviewed drafts of the textbook for eight families who are trying to have the intelligent design concept removed from the school district’s biology curriculum. The school board’s policy requires students to hear a brief statement about intelligent design before classes on evolution.

Intelligent Design Trial Resumes Today
Oct 5 2005 - Philadelphia Inquirer (Requires free registration)
The trial involving how the Dover Area School District should require schools to teach evolution resumes today. When former Dover school board member Carol Brown took the stand last week, she likened the board’s public meetings to “tent revivals,” complete with religious references. Brown was the seventh witness to testify the school board had repeatedly used religious references in discussing policy before it voted to promote alternatives to Darwinian evolution. Lawyers say the testimony supports the plaintiff’s argument the board showed religious intent with the new policy. But Patrick Gillen, a lawyer for the school board, noted the board had no religious agenda, but rather was seeking to promote “free inquiry in education.”

Dad Expands Science Quest
Oct 2 2005 - Sacramento Bee (California)
Ask Larry Caldwell why he decided to take on Darwin and he will tell you his motivation stems from science, not religion. Caldwell, who unsuccessfully asked California’s Roseville Joint Union High School District to add arguments against evolution to biology classes in 2004, continues to advocate his cause. “We’ll focus on California first, but my hope would be that we would be able to assist people all over the country,” Caldwell said.

Intelligent Design Advocates Object to Criticism
Sep 30 2005 - The Wichita Eagle (Kansas)
Intelligent design advocates claim that a group of Nobel Prize winners who criticized how proposed Kansas science standards would handle evolution failed to do their homework. Proponents of intelligent design say the prominent scientists did not review the proposed standards and that the criticism “is part of a larger campaign to discredit intelligent design and suppress debate over evolution’s flaws.” Led by Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel, 38 Nobel laureates sent a letter to the Kansas Board of Education earlier this month noting evolution is the foundation of biology and has been strengthened through DNA studies.

Roseville District Keeping Close Eye on Evolution Trial
Sep 30 2005 - Sacramento Bee (California)
Residents of the Roseville Joint Union High School District in California are keeping a close eye on the evolution trial in Dover, Pennsylvania. Larry Caldwell, who unsuccessfully asked the school district to add arguments against evolution to biology classes in 2004, believes the outcome of the case could impact similar debates across the nation. Caldwell sued the Roseville school district in January, claiming officials violated his rights to free speech, equal protection, and religious freedom in responding to the “Quality Science Education Policy” and related materials he introduced. Other residents hope the decision in the Pennsylvania case will help to keep anti-evolution material out of the science classroom.

O'Connell: No Change in Science
Sep 29 2005 - Los Angeles Daily News
California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell has vowed to fight “tooth and nail” to keep the teaching of intelligent design out of public schools. “This is designed to be a pre-emptive message to stay the course and continue to adhere and teach our world-class science standards, which are developed to prepare students for the global economy,” O’Connell said at a press conference on the topic. Randy Thomasson, president of the nonprofit Campaign for Children and Families, said his group would like to see the teaching of intelligent design in California’s public schools. “To keep it out is anti-education,” Thomasson observed. But critics claim intelligent design is “creationism in disguise.”

Witness: 'Intelligent Design' Not Science
Sep 28 2005 - CNN.com
The concept of intelligent design is a form of creationism and is not based on scientific method, according to a professor who testified in a trial over whether the idea should be taught in Dover Area schools in Pennsylvania. Robert T. Pennock, a science and philosophy professor at Michigan State University, testified on behalf of families who sued the Dover Area School District. Pennock said supporters of intelligent design don’t offer evidence to support their idea. School district officials argue they are not endorsing any religious view and only letting students know there are differences of opinion about evolution. Earlier in the trial, a former Dover Area High School physics teacher testified that the school board ignored faculty protests before deciding to introduce intelligent design to students.

Trial Over 'Intelligent Design' Resumes
Sep 27 2005 - ABC News
The trial over a Pennsylvania school district’s requirement to introduce students to intelligent design will continue today. Brown University biologist Kenneth Miller, the first witness called by lawyers suing the Dover Area School District, said on the opening day of the trial the policy “undermines scientific education by raising false doubts about evolutionary theory.” But lawyers representing the school district argue their client is not endorsing any religious view and are “merely giving ninth grade biology classes a glimpse of differences in evolutionary theory.”

Delaware Schools Sticking With Evolution
Sep 27 2005 - The News Journal (Wilmington, Delaware)
In Delaware’s biology classrooms, where tenth graders study natural selection and gene mutation, the Pennsylvania debate about intelligent design has barely created a ripple. Teachers in Delaware say evolution is taught as a scientific theory based on extensive fossil and embryological evidence. “Intelligent design is based on a nonscientific point of view,” noted Kelli Martin, education associate for science with the Delaware Department of Education. “It does not belong in the science classroom.”

'Intelligent Design' Debate Back in Court
Sep 26 2005 - CNN.com
“Intelligent design is a religious theory that was inserted in a school district’s curriculum with no concern for whether it had scientific underpinnings,” attorney Eric Rothschild argued on the first day of a landmark legal trial that could influence how evolution is taught nationwide. Rothschild is representing eight families who are challenging a decision by the Dover Area School District. The district’s school board voted last year to introduce students to intelligent design. The school district’s attorney, Patrick Gillen of the Thomas More Law Center, defended Dover’s decision saying “this case is about free inquiry in education, not about a religious agenda. Dover’s modest curriculum change embodies the essence of liberal education.”

Court Case May Determine How Evolution is Taught in U.S.
Sep 23 2005 - New Scientist.com
A landmark legal trial will begin Monday that could influence how the theory of evolution is taught in U.S. schools. Eleven parents of students who attend or are planning to attend Dover High School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, along with the American Civil Liberties Union are suing the Dover Area School District. The parents claim the school board violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by creating new teaching requirements that cast doubt on evolution, introduce students to intelligent design, and encourage them to read anti-evolutionary material that promotes intelligent design. A verdict is expected in December.

Some Schools Adding Evolution 'Alternatives' to Social Studies Class
Sep 21 2005 - Education Week (Requires free registration)
As debates over the legitimacy of intelligent design and other alternatives to evolution erupt across the country, some school and elected officials are suggesting that social studies, humanities, or comparative religion classes offer the best venues for those discussions. Public officials or school board candidates in several states, including New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Utah, have considered the social studies option. The appeal of the option has been limited, and most debate about how to teach life’s origins has focused on science classrooms.

Nobel Winners Defend Evolution
Sep 16 2005 - CBS News
Thirty-eight Nobel Prize laureates have asked Kansas educators to reject proposed science standards that treat evolution as a seriously questionable theory, calling it instead the “indispensable” foundation of biology. The group, led by writer Elie Wiesel, said it wanted to defend science and combat “efforts by the proponents of so-called intelligent design to politicize scientific inquiry.” The proposed standards are designed to expose students to more criticism of evolution, but state in an introduction that they do not endorse intelligent design. Kansas Education Board Chairman Steve Abrams, a supporter of the proposed standards, said he was “unmoved by the scientists’ plea.”

School Board: Intelligent Design Isn't
Sep 6 2005 - The Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)
The Utah Board of Education has unanimously approved a position statement supporting the continued exclusive teaching of evolution in state classrooms. Utah Sen. Chris Buttars (R-West Jordan) recently proposed teaching intelligent design as a theory to explain the origins of life. The school board ignored Buttars’ complaint that board members never invited intelligent design supporters to participate in drafting the position statement. The board also declined Buttars’ request to delay voting on the document until the senator could give a presentation arguing for intelligent design. Buttars contends that all he wants is equal time in the classroom, and that it does not have to be in the science classroom.

Scientists Rip District's Evolution Policy
Sep 3 2005 - Santa Fe New Mexican (Requires free registration)
University of New Mexico scientists are opposing a new policy that enables students to learn alternative theories to evolution in science classes. “The policy is a means to facilitate the introduction of completely nonscientific ideas like intelligent design and unscientific ‘evidence against evolution’ into the public schools’ science classrooms, and we reject such attempts,” the scientists said in a letter sent to Sue Cleveland, Rio Rancho, New Mexico’s superintendent of schools. The Rio Rancho school board voted 3–2 on Aug. 22 to adopt the policy.

Teaching Creationism Endorsed in New Survey
Aug 31 2005 - The Arizona Republic/New York Times
A new poll finds that 64 % of Americans believe creationism should be taught alongside evolution in public schools. Thirty-eight percent of Americans favor replacing evolution with creationism, according to the survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. Officials with the Pew Forum and the National Center for Science Education have expressed mixed reaction to the poll's results.

Supporters of Evolution Theory Show Their Religious Stripes
Aug 31 2005 - Education Week (Requires free registration)
Scientists, teachers, and others who defend the teaching of evolution in public school science classes have grown accustomed to countering accusations that acceptance of the theory disavows religious faith. An increasing number of grassroots organizations are trying to fight that perception with renewed vigor, and in doing so, cultivate rank-and-file support for the theory of life’s origins advanced by Charles Darwin nearly 150 years ago.

New Challenge to Evolution
Aug 29 2005 - Inside Higher Ed
A group of Christian schools has filed suit against the University of California, claiming it engages in religious discrimination by refusing to certify certain high school courses at religious schools as meeting the system’s admission requirements. The courses in question teach alternatives to evolution, including creationism and intelligent design. But the dispute goes beyond science to other courses taught from a “Christian perspective.” “All viewpoints are perfectly acceptable until they are Christian,” observed Wendell R. Bird, an attorney representing the Association of Christian Schools International in the suit. University officials have declined comment on the lawsuit until they can study it.

New School Year, New Battle Over Evolution
Aug 26 2005 - USA Today
Although the high school in Dover, Pennsylvania, may look like American high schools everywhere, the school term that starts there on Aug. 30 promises to be anything but ordinary. A nationally watched court case and a local school board election have made this town a flash point for those who support and oppose intelligent design. The Dover school district requires that a one-minute statement mentioning intelligent design and a book on the subject be included with teaching evolution in biology classes. A federal judge will decide starting Sept. 26 whether intelligent design is science or religion. Dover voters will weigh in on the matter Nov. 4.

Governor: Science Class is for Science
Aug 26 2005 - Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. says he opposes the teaching of intelligent design in science class. “I would expect my kids in science class to be instructed in those things that are somewhat quantifiable and based on thorough and rigorous empirical research,” observed the father of six. Huntsman added that he would be “fine” if intelligent design were one of the many creation theories discussed in sociology or psychology class. “But that doesn’t happen until college, or the later years of high school,” he explained.

'Intelligent Design' Faces ISU Opposition
Aug 26 2005 - Des Moines Register (Iowa)
A forum on how intelligent design should be taught at Iowa State University is planned for this fall, but the professor who is sparking the debate is likely to avoid the event. A total of 124 ISU faculty members have signed a petition opposing the teaching of intelligent design as a scientific fact. Guillermo Gonzalez, an ISU astronomy professor who is nationally known for his research on intelligent design, said his colleagues are creating a “hostile work climate” by circulating the petition. Gonzalez said he does not teach intelligent design because it is controversial and he does not want to teach an idea that is not yet accepted. A university spokesman said he was unaware the subject is being taught.

In Explaining Life's Complexity, Darwinists and Doubters Clash
Aug 22 2005 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
At the heart of the debate over intelligent design is this question: Can a scientific explanation of the history of life include the actions of an unseen higher being? Proponents of intelligent design say the complexity and diversity of life go beyond what evolution can explain. But mainstream scientists say claims of intelligent design run counter to a century of research supporting the explanatory and predictive power of Darwinian evolution, and that the design approach suffers from fundamental problems that place it outside the realm of science. For one thing, these scientists say, "invoking a higher being as an explanation is unscientific." Click here for more coverage of the evolution debate by the New York Times.

Evolution Debate May Play Out in Schools
Aug 17 2005 - Indianapolis Star
An advocacy group is threatening to sue an Indiana school system if the district fails to give a “balanced and nonpartisan” view of the origins of life. Headed by resident Alex P. Oren, the group has a stated mission to stop “the influence of atheism and immorality” in public schools. While his faith motivates his effort, Oren insists he is not seeking equal time for God, just the arguments against evolution. The Indiana Department of Education’s science curriculum director is willing to accept intelligent design or creationism in classes such as religious studies. But Karen Rogers notes “it has no place in science classes because it simply is nonscientific.”

'Intelligent Design' Debate Stirs Lawmakers
Aug 17 2005 - Rocky Mountain News (Denver, Colorado)
Two Colorado lawmakers who are ordained ministers have different views on whether intelligent design should share time with evolution in public school science classes. Rep. Debbie Stafford (R-Aurora) plans to introduce a bill in 2006 that would allow the teaching of intelligent design and evolution. Stafford says “looking at more than one theory stimulates the minds of young people.” But Rep. Terrance Carroll (D-Denver) says “teaching intelligent design in the public school classroom would cause trouble, noting the concept “is not any kind of scientific theory whatsoever.”

Kansas Board Advances a Draft Critical of Evolution
Aug 10 2005 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
The Kansas Board of Education has approved the latest draft of science standards, which include greater criticism of evolution. The draft says the board is not advocating the teaching of intelligent design. The language favored by the board, however, comes from intelligent design advocates. Opponents of the latest draft argue religion has no place in the science classroom. Proponents say they wanted a more balanced view of evolution. The draft has been sent to an outside agency for review. A final vote is expected in October.

Evolution is Only Theory of Life's Origins Included in Draft of Science NAEP
Aug 9 2005 - Education Week (Requires free registration)
While debates over alternatives to evolution continue, those controversial concepts have not found a place so far in the science portion of the test known as “the nation’s report card.” The National Assessment of Educational Progress, the board that sets policy for the test, has received a draft of the framework that will act as a basis for a revised version of the science exam. The draft document offers a thorough treatment of Darwin’s theory of evolution and references its core principles as a basis for testing students at the 12th grade level. The document contains no mention of alternatives meant to challenge that theory. Developed by two committees comprised of scientists, state officials, testing experts, teachers, and others, the draft will likely be revised before it is released for public comment in October.

Evolution Issue Again Gets Look From Board
Aug 9 2005 - Kansas City Star (Requires free registration)
The Kansas Board of Education may move closer today to adopting science standards that would encourage students to challenge some aspects of the theory of evolution. The changes fall in line with those proposed in a minority report submitted in 2004 by eight members of the standards committee. Besides calling for a more critical look at evolution, they would also change the definition of science. The new definition would no longer limit explanations of the word to “natural” phenomena. After the board tentatively approves the standards, they will be sent to an education agency in Denver for review. A final vote is likely in October.

Debate on Evolution Begins to Flare in the Bay Area
Aug 7 2005 - Mercury News-San Jose, California (Requires free registration)
The evolution debate is slowly gaining ground in the Bay Area of California. At a Stanford University conference in May and a seminar hosted by several South Bay churches in July, intelligent design has mobilized advocates on both sides. President Bush weighed in on the topic last week, supporting the teaching of intelligent design. Lawmakers in 19 states are considering bills to alter traditional science lessons that teach Darwin’s theory of evolution. Bay Area school boards have largely avoided the topic. However, one Sacramento-area school district faces a lawsuit over its decision to reject teaching the concept.

Bush Evolution Remarks Generate Wide Media Coverage
Aug 3 2005 - NSTA - Cindy Workosky
Remarks made by President Bush on August 1 that "intelligent design" should be taught along side evolution in the nation's public schools generated a ground swell of media coverage across the country. The news articles below detail Bush's remarks and explore the sharp criticism from the scientific and education communities.

Kansas Science Committee Challenges Board Changes
Aug 3 2005 - Kansas City Star (Requires free registration)
The committee charged with rewriting Kansas’ science standards has challenged every change the state’s Board of Education made to its draft report on the teaching of evolution. The committee has agreed to send a reply to the board, outlining concerns over changes to the committee’s initial draft. Those changes use “intelligent design-inspired language repeatedly, the committee response stated, and “it is clear that intelligent design promotes a particular religious doctrine over mainstream religious views.” The board will vote Aug. 9 to send the science standards to an outside reviewer. Final action on the matter is expected this fall.

Bush Backs Teaching Intelligent Design
Aug 2 2005 - Philadelphia Inquirer (Requires free registration)
President Bush says the nation’s schools should discuss intelligent design alongside evolution when teaching students about the creation of life. Bush has declined to state his personal views on intelligent design. He noted, however, that “part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought.” Scientists concede that evolution does not answer every question about the creation of life, but most consider intelligent design an attempt to inject religion into science courses.

Educators Likely to Fire Back at Board Over Evolution
Aug 1 2005 - Kansas City Star (Requires free registration)
A debate over evolution is resuming in Kansas because some educators don’t want to pass on the opportunity to inform the state’s Board of Education on how they feel about science standards favored by the theory’s critics. The board’s conservative Republican majority tinkered with proposed standards in July, adding new language favored by intelligent design advocates. But the board also forwarded its language to a committee of educators for review. Most of those educators favor retaining the standards’ current, evolution-friendly tone. Some teachers plan to discuss a point-by-point response to the board’s language. A final version of the standards might not be approved until October.

Schools Stay Out of Evolution Fray
Aug 1 2005 - Philadelphia Inquirer (Requires free registration)
Although an Austrian cardinal says evolution is incompatible with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, American Catholic teachers are not changing how science is taught in Catholic schools. Three American scientists have asked Pope Benedict XVI to clarify the church’s position, after concerns that an essay written by Christoph Schonborn, could signal a shift in the Catholic Church’s long-standing support for evolution. Schonborn sparked a controversy with an opinion piece that stated “evolution proponents had wrongly claimed that the writings of Pope John Paul II say evolution is compatible with church teachings.” Schonborn has said there are no plans to issue new guidelines for teaching science in Catholic schools, although he believes students should learn alternative theories.

Judge Reviewing Reporters' Notes in 'Intelligent Design' Lawsuit
Jul 27 2005 - Education Week (Requires free registration)
A federal judge is reviewing notes and other documents from reporters who covered meetings of the Dover Area School Board in Pennsylvania in June 2004. The board decided students be taught “intelligent design” and other alternatives to Darwin’s theory of evolution. The policy is now the subject of a federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and 11 parents from the Dover Area district. Both sides have sought access to the notes, in an attempt to determine the extent board members made “overtly religious comments” during the hearing in question.

Classroom Evolution's Grass-Roots Defender
Jul 20 2005 - Washington Post (Requires free registration)
A grass-roots group concerned about Republican triumphs and the influence of the Christian right is fighting back in Northern Virginia by defending the teaching of Darwinian evolution. The Message Group says their immediate goal is a Fairfax County School Board endorsement of modern Darwinian theory, which faces attacks in many states by Christian groups and education activists. The group’s overall objective is to challenge Republicans who oppose teaching evolution at their own organizational game.

Evolution Not Yet Extinct in Schools
Jul 16 2005 - Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)
The director of Utah’s public school curriculum says there will be no change in the way human evolution is taught, despite a senator’s claims to the contrary. Sen. Chris Buttars (R-West Jordan) had considered proposing legislation that would enforce the teaching of alternative concepts of human existence. However, after conversations with Utah’s superintendent of schools, Buttars is confident that teachers who teach the evolution of humanity “will be dealt with.” The state’s curriculum director noted the standard for the teaching of biological diversity does not prohibit the teaching of human evolution.

Schools Confront Science of Life Debate
Jul 6 2005 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
For school districts across the country, the teaching of Darwin’s theory of evolution reflects a re-emerging issue in public education. In local communities and state legislatures, evolution is being contested anew; prompting rebukes from scholars who fear politics and religion are eroding established science. Some science teachers, however, are not embracing this debate of ideas.

House Debate Over Evolution at Pa. Schools
Jun 21 2005 - Boston Globe
Pennsylvania lawmakers have heard testimony on a bill that would enable local school boards to mandate that science lessons include intelligent design. A Lehigh University biological sciences professor told a House Subcommittee on Basic Education that intelligent design “has no religious underpinnings,” noting it “merely contends that evidence of complex physical structures shows that design, rather than evolution, is responsible for an organism or a cell.” The American Civil Liberties Union says the teaching of intelligent design would undermine the state’s science standards, which specify the teaching of evolution.

Opting Out in the Debate on Evolution
Jun 21 2005 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
When the Kansas Board of Education held hearings in May on what the state’s students should learn about evolution, biology professor and evolution advocate Dr. Kenneth Miller along with mainstream scientists declined to testify. Scientists who declined offered two reasons for their decision: the outcome was a foregone conclusion and participating in the hearings would only strengthen the idea in some minds that there was serious debate in science about the power of the theory of evolution. Despite their decision to stay away from Kansas, scientists continue to make the case for evolution.

Eighty Years After Scopes, a Professor Reflects on Unabated Opposition to Evolutionists
Jun 18 2005 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
In a few weeks, the 80th anniversary of the John Scopes trial will take place. Echoes of this notorious “monkey trial” continue to resound as several states deal with the controversy of how to teach students about evolution. How can it be that almost half the population rejects the idea that humans have evolved, and almost two-thirds want some form of creationism taught in public school science classes? Michael Ruse, a philosophy professor at Florida State University and an "ardent Darwinian," explores the answer to this question in his new book The Evolution-Creation Struggle.

Greenville Senator Challenging Standard for Teaching Evolution
Jun 17 2005 - The State (Columbia, South Carolina)
A South Carolina lawmaker is challenging his state’s standard for teaching evolution. Sen. Mike Fair (R-Greenville) says public school students should be told that a “full range of scientific views…exist” when learning how fauna, flora, and man came to inhabit the Earth. The state’s current science standards include guidelines for biological evolution in high school classes. The standards do not suggest or encourage science teachers to broach alternative theories, including that a supreme being is responsible for creating mankind. Lawmakers will tackle the issue when they return to work in January 2006.

Evolution Debate in Kansas Prompts Attacks
Jun 15 2005 - ABC News
A recent discussion about how evolution should be taught in Kansas’ public schools degenerated into personal attacks among Board of Education members. The board is reviewing proposed standards drafted by three conservative members designed to expose students to more criticism of evolution. One of the four board members who want the standards to maintain their existing evolution-friendly tone told conservative members they were the “dupes” of intelligent design. A conservative board member lectured the board’s four moderates for failing to attend public hearings on the evolution debate, noting if the moderates had attended they “would have been informed.”

Group Creates Pro-Evolution Site
Jun 10 2005 - Wired News
The National Academies has unveiled a new section of its website dedicated to teachers’ resources on evolution. Designed to confront advocates of intelligent design, the new section contains academic papers supporting evolutionary theory and supplements for educators discussing how to teach evolution in the classroom. Between 2001 and 2003, religious activists convinced school boards and legislators in more than 40 states to consider downplaying evolution in favor of intelligent design, according to the National Center for Science Education.

Panel Calls for Lessons Criticizing Evolution
Jun 10 2005 - Kansas City Star (Requires free registration)
A three-member panel of the Kansas Board of Education has recommended that the state’s teaching standards include strong criticism of evolution. The proposed changes would contain “perceived flaws” in the theory of evolution. The changes stop short of endorsing the idea of intelligent design. Supporters of the proposed standards say it is exactly what they have been asking for. Critics claim the changes “open the door to the teaching of creationism in public schools.” The full board will consider the proposed standards next week.

Students Torn Over Life's Origins
Jun 7 2005 - Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia)
Students in Virginia are facing a dilemma when it comes to learning about the origins of life. Some students learn one point of view in church and another from science classes in public schools. Experts say evolution and creationism can share some common ground “It’s sad that people are forced to think either-or,” says Wayne Carley, executive director of the National Association for Biology Teachers. Although the ongoing debate to teach creationism alongside evolution has not made splashy headlines in Virginia as in other states such as Kansas, some scientists believe the debate affects everyone in the United States.

Theory Isn't Science, Teachers Group Says
Jun 6 2005 - Detroit Free Press
Officials with Gull Lake Community Schools, which includes schools in Richland, Michigan, have been threatened with a lawsuit over the teaching of intelligent design. Two teachers placed a book about intelligent design on the district’s annual textbook list and added a lesson from the publication in the district’s science curriculum. Although the school board approved both the textbook list and curriculum, school officials contend the board never studied the information. The teachers have turned to the Thomas More Law Center, which has notified Gull Lake of a possible lawsuit. Proponents of intelligent design say the theory is not creationism because it does not speculate about the identity of the designer. Critics, including NSTA, “call it nothing more than a thinly disguised version of creationism and a back door attempt to get religion into public schools.”

Evolution Battle to Flare Up in Utah
Jun 3 2005 - Salt Lake Tribune
A state senator plans to add Utah to the list of states dealing with the evolution debate. Sen. Chris Buttars wants Utah public schools to teach “divine design” along with evolution so students can decide which theory is more valid. Buttars says he prefers to use the term “divine design,” sometimes called “intelligent design,” because “it does not preach religion.” Buttars adds he hopes to defuse the expected controversy by avoiding the word “creationism.” A group called the Eagle Forum has backed Buttars’ proposal. School officials argue teaching divine design could violate the constitutionally protected separation of church and state.

Turned Off Science
Jun 3 2005 - MSNBC
The battle over teaching evolution is raging in communities across the country. The headlines, however, rarely focus on the “quiet” impact of the controversy, according to the author of this article. Science is becoming a political “hot potato” for some students—transforming what should be a dynamic, fascinating topic into a total turn-off. And some students are choosing silence over losing a prom date. “Children are very much worried about their place in the world…,” observes a science teacher from Georgia.

Evolution Briefs Sent to State
Jun 2 2005 - The Wichita Eagle (Kansas)
Three members of the Kansas Board of Education’s science subcommittee now have two legal briefs on evolution to review as they prepare recommendations on how students should learn about the origins of life. The lawyers who represented both sides of the evolution debate submitted the legal documents following public hearings held last month. Board members who oversaw the hearings continue to review evidence and have not agreed on any possible changes. The committee plans to report to the full board June 14–15.

Darwin's Theory Evolves Into Culture War
May 22 2005 - Chicago Tribune (Requires free registration)
Although it took center stage recently in Kansas, the issue of evolution has become a controversy in at least 18 states, according to the National Center for Science Education. The controversy may appear to be simply about the teaching of science in the classroom. Observers note, however, that it represents a “far more complex, widespread clash of politics, religion, science and culture that transcends the borders of conservative, so-called red states and their more liberal blue counterparts.”

Ballot Fight on Evolution Ends in a Tie
May 19 2005 - New York Times (Requires free registration)
The battle over teaching evolution in a Pennsylvania school district has ended in an election tie, after two competing slates of candidates won separate primaries. A slate of seven incumbents, all of whom support a policy requiring high school biology students to be told about intelligent design, won a Republican primary. A slate of seven challengers, all of whom support discussing intelligent design as a religious concept in humanities courses instead of biology classes, won a Democratic primary. There are seven open seats on the nine-member Dover Area School Board. Each side had hoped to sweep both primaries, but all 14 candidates will now be on the ballot in November.

Kansas Debate Challenges Science Itself
May 16 2005 - Boston Globe
Last week’s public hearings on evolution were not limited to how the theory should be taught in Kansas’ public schools. The Kansas Board of Education is considering redefining science itself. Advocates of “intelligent design” are pushing the board to reject a definition limiting science to natural explanations for what is observed in the world. Instead, they want to define it as “a systematic method of continuing investigation,” without specifying what kind of answer is being sought. The proposed definition has outraged many scientists, who are frustrated that students could be discussing supernatural explanations for natural phenomena in their science classes.

Evolution Dominates Campaign in Pa. Town
May 16 2005 - ABC News
The debate over evolution and intelligent design is playing a role in this year’s school board elections in Dover, Pennsylvania. The Dover School Board voted last October to require that ninth grade students be told about intelligent design when they learn about evolution in biology class. The 18 candidates vying for the seven open seats on the board are evenly divided over the intelligent design mandate. “We would have no interest this year if not for the intelligent design issue. It is the overriding concern,” observed school board president Sheila Harkins.

Sharp Words Traded at Evolution Hearing
May 12 2005 - MSNBC
A Topeka attorney has denounced intelligent design advocates and conservative Kansas Board of Education members for their unwarranted attacks on evolution. Pedro Irigonegaray told intelligent design proponents they are “damaging science education and the state’s reputation.” Irigonegaray’s comments came on the final day of public hearings on evolution in Kansas. Irigonegaray called no witnesses during the hearing and refused to take questions following his remarks. Board members, however, observed that Irigonegaray and other evolution supporters had engaged in character assassinations.

Evolution Hearings to Wrap Up Today
May 12 2005 - Kansas City Star (Requires free registration)
A series of public hearings on evolution will conclude today in Kansas with arguments supporting the current teaching of evolution. Mainstream scientists not participating in the hearings claim evolution is a widely accepted theory. Pedro Irigonegaray, a lawyer hired to represent evolution supporters, will argue the debate “doesn’t come down to religion versus science, but to the scientific method and a high quality public education.” Intelligent design supporters argued last week that evolution is a flawed theory and that its alternatives should be allowed in the classroom.

No Quick Vote Foreseen in Evolution Teaching
May 11 2005 - Kansas City Star (Requires free registration)
It could be August before the Kansas Board of Education makes a final decision on how evolution should be taught in the state’s public schools. The board’s chairman expects the group to hear a report in June from the subcommittee holding hearings on a minority proposal to teach evolution from a more critical point of view. If a vote were taken in June, it would be on a draft of the standards. A final vote is not likely until July or August. The board is also expected to seek an external review of the science standards draft favored by the board.

Attorneys for, Against Evolution Spar at Hearing
May 9 2005 - Kansas City Star (Requires free registration)
The first round of public hearings about evolution in Kansas has ended in sparring between opposing attorneys. John Calvert, a retired attorney who organized the case against evolution, argued that excluding other ideas from the classroom favors a nontheistic religion, creating constitutional problems. “Any time you get into a discussion of religion and you skew the evidence in one particular way, you get into a problem,” Calvert said. Pedro Irigonegaray, an attorney hired to defend evolution was skeptical and told Calvert, “I think we’re just going to go back and forth, and we’re not going to agree and we’ll leave it at that.”

Evolution Hearings Open in Kansas
May 6 2005 - CNN.com
A series of courtroom-style hearings to debate how Kansas students should learn the origins of life are now underway. The first day of the hearings included testimony from William Harris, a medical researcher, and co-founder of the Kansas group Intelligent Design Network. "School science classes are teaching children that life evolved naturally and randomly," Harris said, adding "this was in conflict with Biblical teachings that God created life." Pedro Irigonegaray, a lawyer defending evolution, does not plan to call any witnesses in the debate. National and local science groups have boycotted the hearings. Coverage of the Kansas hearings can also be found in this New York Times article.

Teachers, Scientists Vow to Fight Challenge to Evolution
May 5 2005 - Washington Post (Requires free registration)
Teachers and scientists nationwide are mobilizing to fight the challenge on the teaching of evolution. This week’s battle is focused on Kansas, where State Board of Education hearings will begin May 5 on evolution and intelligent design. Scientists warn that introducing challenges to evolution in the public school curriculum would weaken education, harm the economy and, as one paleontologist observed, open Kansas to ridicule as “the hayseed state.” Science organizations are boycotting the hearings, but plan to offer daily critiques.

Court Denies Cobb Evolution Request
May 5 2005 - Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Requires free registration)
A federal appeals court has rejected a request by a Georgia school district to delay removing disclaimers about evolution from science textbooks this summer. U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper ordered Cobb County school officials earlier this year to remove the disclaimers after the school year ended on May 20. County school officials have made tentative plans to remove the disclaimers, but have not set any dates for the project.

Teaching Evolution: A State-by-State Debate
May 5 2005 - National Public Radio
Science teachers can learn how the evolution debate is playing out nationwide through this article. Policymakers in 16 states are examining the controversy. In some states, intelligent design advocates are pushing for the concept to be taught side-by-side with evolution. In other states, schools are incorporating the idea that evolution is “theory, not fact.”

Now Evolving in Biology Classes: A Testier Climate
May 3 2005 - Christian Science Monitor
Teachers nationwide are facing resistance from students when it comes to teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution. A NSTA survey released in April found that 31 percent of 1,050 respondents felt pressure to include creationism, intelligent design, or other non-scientific alternatives to evolution in their science classroom. Twenty-two percent of the respondents said the pressure primarily comes from students. Science teachers say they must find new methods to defuse what has become "a politically and emotionally charged atmosphere" in the classroom. Critics of Darwinian evolution claim their goal is more science, not less, in evolution discussions.

Testimony on Science Shortened
May 3 2005 - Kansas City Star (Requires free registration)
A series of public hearings scheduled for this month on how evolution should be taught in Kansas schools will be shorter than expected. The Kansas Department of Education had asked attorney Pedro Irigonegaray to represent evolution defenders after they declined to participate in the hearings. But instead of giving testimony, Irigonegaray now plans to only introduce exhibits and give closing arguments.

Intelligent Design: Who Has Designs on Your Students' Minds?
Apr 28 2005 - Nature News
College graduate Salvador Cordova argues the development of life on Earth would be better described if an intelligent creator were added to the mix. Most scientists, however, disagree with the concept of intelligent design. “To me it doesn’t deserve any attention, because it does not make any sense,” explains Bruce Alberts, a microbiologist and president of the National Academy of Sciences. But despite researchers’ apparent lack of interest, or perhaps because of it, the intelligent design movement is catching on among students on college campuses nationwide.

Some Groups to Boycott Kansas Hearings on Evolution
Apr 27 2005 - Education Week
Several groups from the mainstream scientific community plan to boycott a series of public hearings on the teaching of evolution in Kansas. The American Association for the Advancement of Science, as well as numerous Kansas advocacy organizations plan not to attend out of concern that the sessions “will distort the nature of Charles Darwin’s theory and the study of science itself.” Representatives from the National Academy of Sciences have not been contacted by Kansas officials. A NAS spokesperson, however, echoed the concerns expressed by AAAS, noting “the hearings would put religious beliefs and science in the same forum.”

Evolution Debate Hits Michigan District
Apr 25 2005 - Lansing State Journal
A Christian-oriented law center may file a lawsuit against a school district unless two science teachers can keep teaching intelligent design in their classes. The Thomas Moore Law Center says the two educators have included the intelligent design theory along with teaching Darwinian evolution. However, the district’s superintendent ordered the teachers to stop teaching intelligent design and eliminated related textbooks earlier this year. Law center officials note that violates “academic freedom to teach and students’ rights to learn about controversy over evolution theory." The law center plans to take action in federal court if the school district fails to respond by April 28.