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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 1981)
checks and balances does creationismi deseive equal time? By RON HUNT OfawEmaraM "Scopes II" conjures up full-blown images of monkeys, brilliant scientists, sincere-but stupid fundamentalists, and the sheer awe of "billions and bil lions of years.” A federal trial in Little Rock. Ark. — expected to last through next week — is being called “Scopes II." In this nickname we find the key to the trial and the continu ing battle over teaching evolu tion and creation in public schools Equal treatment to both views of the origin of life is required by the Balanced Treat ment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science Act, passed in March by the Arkansas legis lature. and signed into law by Gov Frank White It would go into effect in the fall of 1982 Claiming the law is vague and unconstitutional, the Amer ican Civil Liberties Union filed suit in U S District Court in May "Scopes II" was the tag given the trial by Bruce Ennis, an ACLU lawyer He thus likens the Arkansas trial to the 1925 trial in Dayton. Tenn., of John Scopes, charged with teaching evolution in opposition to a Tennessee law The 1925 trial was a high i r i! OLD BELIEVERS A Film about the Russian Community of Woodburn, Oregon 1:30 pm Saturday December 12, Gerlinger Alumni Lounge Panel Discussion to follow mrr Spansdred by the Oregon Folklore Society and the UO f KLL Russian A East European Studies Center CHRISTMAS SPECIALS from Mattox Outdoor Outfitters Pile Clothing ish^ht irregulats) Men s ..nri Women s $47 SOv.Hur $34.95 $42.50 $29.95 30% OFF $6.00 $15.95 Polarguard |ackets Mm s ■ .< won . $hs value Polargliard VeStS Mrn s a.ut Women s SSO value Thinsuiate Vests xs ti«u xi Hooded Sweatshirts *..»>«. m<ixi only vi"vjiu. 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LJ LJ iena » a Biiu»o it> t» n le e to£~~ ..*;i* BOOKSTORE MODEL EL-506S • Some ot the 46 functions performed at the touch of a key are hyperbolic (smh. cosh tanhjand their inverses trigonometric (sin cos tan) and their inverses rectangular polar coordinate conversions exponential (base 10 and base e) and their inverses (logarithms) power (y x) and its inverse ( x root of y ) factorial (n1) mean, sum and standard deviation • Scientific notation (8-digit mantissa. 2 digit exponent) 13th & Kincaid Mon-Fri 8 15-5:30 Sat 10:00-3:00 Textbooks 686-3520 • General Books, 686-3510 • Supplies 686-4331 strung affair Clarence Darrow traded mental blows with Wil liam Jennings Bryan Both sides argued in extravagant terms, calling the other side, respec tively, anti-intellectual or anti God The ACLU apparently thinks the Arkansas trial is an other case of defending teachers of evolution against anti-intellectual religious freaks Thus the "Scopes II” designa tion What the ACLU fails to see is that those who oppose the teaching of scientific creation ism (which utilizes scientific da ta that questions evolution and supports creation, without reliance on the Bible) in public schools are religious and anti intellectual Everyone is religious All of us live our lives with a view of reality If we didn't live this way we couldn’t think at all Whether we say that the material u niverse is all there is or that a spiritual creator exists, we have assumed a starting point for the rest of our thought This as sumption is based on faith Creation cannot be proved, but neither can evolution The origin of life is historical; it can’t be proved by experimentation Therefore, those who op pose the teaching of both views are religiously motivated Ar kansas state attorneys filed a brief saying the ACLU suit is attempting to censor creation ism. "shutting out from the marketplace of ideas' those ideas with which they disagree because they are incompatible with their personal, religious or philosophical views " Those represented by the ACLU in this case also are anti intellectual. in a philosophical sense Charles Darwin once wrote. “The horrid doubt always arises whether the convictions of man's mind, which has developed from the mind of the lower animals, are of any value or at all trustworthy Would any one trust the conviction of a monkey's mind, if there are any convictions in such a mind7” If evolution is true, how can we trust our minds to oDserve it7 Ultimately evolutionists can give no basis for the intellect; reason cannot come from non-reason no matter how many billions of years they throw into the equa tion Calling the Arkansas trial "Scopes II" reveals the religious, anti-intellectual bias of the ACLU in this case Arkansas legislators don't want to censor the teaching of evolution Neither do they want to censor another view — crea tionism The Oregon Legislature should consider a similar balancing act Ex-official blasts foreign policy The Reagan administration is obsessed with having a confrontation with the Soviet Union," a former member of the U S State Department said at a press conference Wednesday in the EMU Richard Barnet called U S foreign policy "mindless" and said he is "very pessimistic" about the short-range prospects of nuclear war Barnet who served as Deputy Director of Research for the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency during the Kennedy administration, also spoke at a Wednesday night speech sponsored by the EMU Cultural Forum "I don't know of a time in my lifetime when I ve heard from so many people in knowledgeable positions expressing great worry about the prospects of nuclear war," he said Pres Ronald Reagan is operating on an "exceedingly dangerous assumption" if he thinks a nuclear war could be limited to Europe said the senior fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies of Washington, D C who is currently at work on a book dealing with United States-Europe relations It would be equally dangerous to assume that "if we talk tough, stand firm, and have massive armament the Russians will back down," Barnet said He said if the United States continues its armament plans, the Soviet Union probably will be “much more adventurous’ than now “The Soviet Union is exceedingly anxious to avoid confrontation On other topics brought up at the press conference, Barnet said • “The administration is incredibly short sighted in cutting back alternative energy par ticularly in renewable resources “ • It's "tragic" that the government doesn't see employment as the number-one problem when unemployment of black teen-agers is more than 50 percent in some areas • The assumption that heavy defense spending will lead to more employment is on shaky ground because defense contracts are temporary, affect few cities, and lead only to employment of high-skilled workers in high-tech nology fields • “The political parties at the top are ab solutely bankrupt" because they don't have via ble economic programs The Democrats are merely “waiting for Ronald Reagan to stub his toe, which he seems to be doing." Programs suffer enrollment decline Fall enrollments for ESCAPE and SEARCH are down from previous levels, but program directors say they are not too concerned ESCAPE enrollment was down only 4 percent over fall term last year, and is therefore in line with the enrollment decrease tor the University, di rector Trudy Flannery says Enrollment in ESCAPE, now at 360 students, is "holding fast," she says Enrollment last Pilot Training The U.S. Air Foce will train 1.500 pilots this year. It’s your opportunity to join America’s Aerospace Team. Receive the best flight training and proudly wear the prestigious wings of an Air Force pilot. If you’re a college senior or a recent graduate, up to 26 years old, a U.S. citizen, and in good physical health, find out if you can qualify with no obligation. You may be one of the selected few to become a pilot with the Aerospace team. For information call Tom Tucker at 687-6786. A great way of life fall, which was lower than that of winter and spring terms, was 375 Enrollment in the eight SEARCH classes was only 81. according to the University registrar's figures Kuhns says he and fellow staff members Mary Hope and Yliana Hermoza are proud that 17 courses and at least 10 winter term workshops have been planned within the last three weeks kinko's copies 4c self service • computerized Xerox • reduction • 2 sided copies • binding • lamination 344-7894 764 E. 13th *EJHHE5a
