From: Preston Garrison (garrisonp@uthscsa.edu)
Date: Fri Dec 13 2002 - 01:39:21 EST
Group,
This was in the Texas-Oklahoma section ASA newsletter. Thought some
of you might be interested.
Preston G.
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Discrimination Against Those Who Question Evolution at Texas Tech
Free Market Foundation, a conservative political activist group in
Texas, reports that Dr. Michael Dini, Associate Professor in the
Biology Dept. at Texas Tech, Lubbock, refuses to write
recommendations for students who do not affirm a personal belief in
evolution, regardless of whether they can show mastery of the theory.
His biology course is required for all biology students.
Here are Dr. Dini's own words describing this prerequisite for a
letter of recommendation:
"If you set up an appointment to discuss the writing of a letter of
recommendation, I will ask you: 'How do you think the human species
originated?' If you cannot truthfully and forthrightly affirm a
scientific answer to this question, then you should not seek my
recommendation for admittance to further education in the biomedical
sciences.
"Why do I ask this question? Let's consider the situation of one
wishing to enter medical school. Whereas medicine is historically
rooted first in the practice of magic and later in religion, modern
medicine is an endeavor that springs from the sciences, biology first
among these. The central, unifying principle of biology is the
theory of evolution, which includes both micro- and macro-evolution,
and which extends to ALL species. How can someone who does not accept
the most important theory in biology expect to properly practice in a
field that is so heavily based on biology? It is hard to imagine how
this can be so, but it is easy to imagine how physicians who ignore
or neglect the Darwinian aspects of medicine or the evolutionary
origin of humans can make bad clinical decisions. The current crisis
in antibiotic resistance is the result of such decisions."
You can read this statement in its entirety by going to
<http://www2.tltc.ttu.edu/dini/Personal/letters.htm>www2.tltc.ttu.edu/dini,
click "About Dr. Dini," then click "How to get a letter of
recommendation".
James Brink, the assistant provost, reportedly told Hiram Sasser of
Free Market that "students with a strong faith or belief in
creationism should not attend a public university, but rather should
attend a Biblically-grounded university where their ideas are
reinforced instead of scientifically challenged." The university
president also reportedly refused to take action; the university
issued a letter to concerned parents defending Dini's action as
protected by academic freedom.
There is a great article about this issue on the Boundless webzine by
Focus on the Family, found at
<http://www.boundless.org/2002_2003/features/a0000679.html>http://www.boundless.org/2002_2003/features/a0000679.html.
Free Market has contacted Texas Tech and asked them to make Dr. Dini
change his prerequisites. At this time they are waiting to see what
the University will do before they consider suing.
There are two things we as ASA members can do at this time. The
first is to pray; certainly this is a spiritual battle more than
anything else. The second thing, if God leads you, is to contact Dr.
Dini or the university and give them your view of his statement. Dr.
Dini can be reached at
<mailto:michael.dini@ttacs.ttu.edu>michael.dini@ttacs.ttu.edu. Free
Market's Hiram Sasser can be contacted at
<mailto:libertylegal@libertylegal.org>libertylegal@libertylegal.org.
If any of you contact Texas Tech or Dr. Dini, I'd like to report on
it. I'll keep you posted of future developments.
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