Greg, you make some excellent points - and I concur with your suggestion not to hold conferences in states that undermine the teaching of evolution.
Another strategy we might consider - those of us in academia, that is - is announcing that we will downgrade applications for admission to our universities from students in states where evolution is not taught, or is taught badly. The quality of a student's education is a legitimate criterion for admission to university, and if a state wants to damage its own students by teaching pseudoscience, then the citizens of that state should be told that they are hurting the chances of their children to be admitted to college. Maybe that would wake up enough parents to stop the legislatures from passing any more of these backward-looking, anti-science laws.
fighting back against anti-science legislatures
30 June 2008
Greg, you make some excellent points - and I concur with your suggestion not to hold conferences in states that undermine the teaching of evolution.
Another strategy we might consider - those of us in academia, that is - is announcing that we will downgrade applications for admission to our universities from students in states where evolution is not taught, or is taught badly. The quality of a student's education is a legitimate criterion for admission to university, and if a state wants to damage its own students by teaching pseudoscience, then the citizens of that state should be told that they are hurting the chances of their children to be admitted to college. Maybe that would wake up enough parents to stop the legislatures from passing any more of these backward-looking, anti-science laws.
-Steven Salzberg
http://genefinding.blogspot.com
Competing interests
None.