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Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
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| Address URL | http://scienceblogs.com/tfk/ Registered: 31-Mar-2008 |
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 Send to email | And now? Texas in Creationism |  By Thoughts
el 19-Jul-2011 | This Thursday, the Texas Board of Education will vote to adopt science textbook supplements.
You'll recall that the board approved new science standards a couple years ago, and that they were a mixed bag. They dropped inaccurate language about "strengths and weaknesses" of scientific theories (language used to attack evolution in textbooks last time they did textbook adoption). But they stuck in a line about "all sides of the evidence," whatever that means, and inserted language requiring greater scrutiny for evolutionary concepts than for all others, and inserting creationist ideas about cellular complexity and "sudden appearance" of fossil species.
It's rare that I'm relieved to see a statewide school system underfunded, but in this case I'll make an exception. Because the state legislature is using money set aside for textbooks to close their budget deficit, the board can only afford to buy online supplements to cover the new material added to the standards. Texas buys a lot of textbooks, but these supplements are less likely to turn up in other places than a Texas edition of a textbook might be. Then again, a supplement has a lower barrier to entry for a publisher.
At least one creationist group decided to jump on the opportunity. A newly formed company called "International Databases" released a series of password protected PDFs, which look to be slideshows by someone who enjoys roadtrips and the occasional visit to a creation museum. That the company's name can be shortened to "ID" is surely an accident. They describe intelligent design as "the default position in science," but insist that they aren't promoting that creationist idea.
ID, LLC, and other publishers had their supplements reviewed by committees of scientists, teachers, and other Texans a few weeks ago. The ID supplement didn't make the cut there, but may still be revived by the board's creationist members, at least if they manage to get a few of the newly elected members to join them. Or the board might decide to force mainstream publishers (ID, LLC seems to run out of a garage in New Mexico) to insert creationist nonsense. Given that publishers are likely to fold these supplements back into their textbooks, and then sell those textbooks nationwide, NCSE and a ton of Texans are doing all we can to keep that from happening.
So off I go, having barely unpacked my bags from TAM!, I'm repacking to testify before the board this Thursday. I fly out tomorrow, and will spend Wednesday with friends and colleagues in Austin, testify and livetweet at @JoshRosenau and @NCSE (using hashtag #txtxt, if you care) on Thursday, then watch the board vote on Friday, and come home. It should be a blast, but also fairly whirlwind. All told, I'll have been traveling three of July's 5 weeks, for a total of 14 days. That's eight flight segments, for a carbon footprint I don't even want to think about.
Next week's my birthday, and seriously, I think I've earned that iPad on my Amazon.com wishlist. Read the comments on this post...
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| Texas Instruments to close plants in Texas and Japan |  Texas Instruments announced recently that, even though it reported better than expected chip sales during the fourth quarter of 2011, the company will shut down its plants in Texas and in Japan. Texas Instruments has seen an increased demand for its mobile chips but will close the two factories during the next 18 months while increasing its employee numbers at different plants. The move is an effo [..] Read complete article | | Published 24-Jan-2012 by Todd Haselton in BusinesschipsEarningsfactoriesJapanmobileplantsrevenueTexasTexas Instrumentsti
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| Kotaku`s The Gamers Guide | Blogger | XBOX 360 Gamers Weblog
Gossip, news and leaks for obsessive gamers Kotaku As if you don't waste enough of your time in a gamer's haze, here's Kotaku: a gamer's guide that goes beyond the press release. Gossip, cheats, criticism, design, nostalgia, pred |
| Texas to Texas [Note] | ![Click here to read ModNation Racers Crashing Our Podcast Live This Week - ModNation Racers Crashing Our Podcast Live This Week [Podcast]](http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2010/05/160x120_500x_devastator_01.jpg) To: Bash From: Crecente Re: Let's Try Shiso Pepsi! This morning we left El Paso, after spending the weekend with my mom and step-dad there, and Trish drove us across a chunk of the state to Fort Worth, Texas. We're going to be spending a day in the city looking around before heading out for New Orleans Wednesday morning. We decided to take the Fort Worth route instead [..] Read complete article | | Published 29-Jun-2009 by Brian Crecente in Note day note
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| And now? Texas | | This Thursday, the Texas Board of Education will vote to adopt science textbook supplements.
You'll recall that the board approved new science standards a couple years ago, and that they were a mixed bag. They dropped inaccurate language about "strengths and weaknesses" of scientific theories (language used to attack evolution in textbooks last time they did textbook adoption). But [..] Read complete article | | Published 19-Jul-2011 by Thoughts in Creationism
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Texas |  Wednesday night, Ed Brayton and I joined Texas Citizens for Science and Center for Inquiry-Austin for a series of talks about science education in Texas.
Earlier that day, a number [..] Read complete article | | Published 18-Jul-2008 by Thoughts in Policy and Politics
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Thoughts on Texas |  Berlanga and Nuñez voted against the final TEKS, the other 13 voted to approve them. Texas has new science standards. Those standards are better than the old ones, but those old standards really did suck. As the Fordham Institute put it, giving the standards an F in 2005, "Thematic unities, so persuasively urged in the national guides, have an effect here opposite to that advertised. Th [..] Read complete article | | Published 28-Mar-2009 by Thoughts in Creationism
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Texas hearings, day 2 | | I'm currently taping the Texas Board of Education as they consider amendments and motions regarding state science standards. The first big fight related to language in the standards on the books now which refers to "strengths and weaknesses," and to change that to a requirement that students "analyze and evaluate" scientific ideas. Ken Mercer offered the amendment striking the "analyze and ev [..] Read complete article | | Published 26-Mar-2009 by Thoughts in Creationism
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Texas Liveblagging | ![Click here to read The Amazing Bill Paxton Pinball Machine - The Amazing Bill Paxton Pinball Machine [Pinball]](http://cache-09.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2010/03/160x120_bill_paxton_pinball.jpg) Some dude who cut in line, science prof.: Keep the language unchanged. How many conformists got patents or Nobel Prizes? Key element of college readiness is crit. thinking. Quote Nietzsche, to no clear end. Campbell and Reece disparages anything but evolution.
C&R is a college text.
Leo: Pseudoscience? Philosophy sucks. DNA analysis has a [..] Read complete article | | Published 21-Jan-2009 by Thoughts in Policy and Politics
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Texas vignette | ![Click here to read Professor Layton Movie Getting Western Release - Professor Layton Movie Getting Western Release [Uk]](http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2010/04/160x120_professor-layton-and-the-eternal-diva.jpg) Barbara Cargill is amending 3rd grad standards to alter the list of objects students must use to understand how pushing and pulling changes an object's position. Much discussion between Cargill, Chairman Don McLeroy, and reputed Sarah Palin lookalike Terri Leo about how and when children are to play with balls.
Folks are feeling punchy, so juvenile jokes abound. Read the comments o [..] Read complete article | | Published 26-Mar-2009 by Thoughts in Policy and Politics
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| The testimony in Texas | |
As you'll recall, I spoke toward the end of the public testimony at the Texas science standards supplements, so I departed from my prepared text a bit. Not, perhaps, my finest performance ever, due to the ad libbing.
A bunch of other video is online from the hearings, including this stunning video of Vera Preston-Jaeger, who told the board "I am able to be here today because I [..] Read complete article | | Published 16-Aug-2011 by Thoughts in Creationism
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| Thoughts From Kansas | Blogger | Weblog of a University of Kansas ecology and evolutionary biology student, fighting for progressive politics, evolution, and endangered species.
Thoughts from Kansas You will notice that it lacks definiteness; that it lacks purpose; that it lacks coherence; that it lacks a subject to talk about; that it is loose and wabbly; that it wanders around; that |
| Texas hearings, day 2 | | I'm currently taping the Texas Board of Education as they consider amendments and motions regarding state science standards. The first big fight related to language in the standards on the books now which refers to "strengths and weaknesses," and to change that to a requirement that students "analyze and evaluate" scientific ideas. Ken Mercer offered the amendment striking the "analyze and ev [..] Read complete article | | Published 26-Mar-2009 by Thoughts in Creationism
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