This just on the heels of the ouster of the pro-science individual on the Texas Board of Education just prior to reviewing the science education curriculum.

I was born in Texas in the early 40’s. My family moved to California in 1951. I returned for a visit in 1959, saw signs over two drinking fountains, in a Safeway, that said, “COLORED” and “WHITE.” At my young age I was appalled and remember quite clearly saying to myself, “Texas is the iron- curtain-of-the-mind,” and I vowed never to return. For all these years, I never tell people where I came from. I have always been ashamed of my heritage—being on the wrong side of the civil war, and then blatant—in-your-face segregation. Now, add homophobia, and creationism.

When I heard that Governor Perry had appointed a creationist to head the state school board, I thought it was time to do my part, to help Texans to be more open-minded, and accept science. I am a doctoral candidate, and I’m developing course material for high school and college classes entitled “Evolution vs. Creationism: Listen to the Scientists.” The idea is to bring some of our country’s top scientists into classrooms in the form of short video mini-lectures. About two months ago. I sent a website link to approximately 50 heads of science education in districts all over Texas. Only two returned an email expressing interest. One was Chris Comer (the one who lost her job over defending science), and the other was Steven Schafersman, Ph.D._President, Texas Citizens for Science. Chris Comer stated that she wanted to see the videos and needed some instructions to get her computer to play them. Stephen Schafersman returned an email saying he very much approved of the scientific relevancy of the videos, and would pass along the email link in his organization news letter.

Think about it– Chris Comer got fired for passing along an email announcing a lecture to be given by Barbara Forrest (whose testimony at the Dover trial “blew-the-whistle” on the fact that I.D. is simply creationism renamed—therefore religion, and does not belong in schools because of the first amendment—read Judge Jones decision). If what Barbara Forrest is saying to the world is so horrible—enough to get the “Texas Education Agency, Director of Science Curriculum,” fired, then, if I were a citizen of Texas, who uses critical thinking, I would certainly be curious to hear for myself what kinds of things Dr. Forrest is saying that is so blasphemous. If Texans start watching these mini-lectures, with top scientists, they will have a chance to hear what Dr, Forrest said, and be able to judge for them selves. They are available directly through You Tube, or on http://www.evolutionvscreationism.info. If you want to evaluate them as potential classroom material, then go to http://www.scienceteachersandevolution.com. This site contains is a survey where you can evaluate the mini-lectures. These mini-lectures contain considerable footage with Barbara Forrest—probably everything she said at the fateful Texas lecture. It’s time that Texans began listening to credible scientists, and hopefully lifting the “iron-curtain-of-the-mind” that has shackled their thinking all these decades. It’s absolutely essential that all citizens, not just Texans, truly understand the “process” of science, and why keeping the integrity of that process is so important to our survival as a U.S., and world society.

Allison Hoffman, Qualitative Researcher
Scientific, Qualitative, Research, and Education, Inc. (S.Q.R.E.)
http://www.sqreweb.org sqre@roadrunner.com