y
NEWS
battalion
lean
esia
tacks
k in
the world
'vff
oomber'',
ling 14 ^
:ploded
ling six
dozen
AP
iat it is a havea
is only made it
they find some
n,” Boyce said
the mjddlecf
msidering seal-
rision had beet
’anted on tk
ier leaving tk
city, the aitpoa
mostly youi!
vacations ak
te most terrify
a Me Don#.
, to make hard-
any spent tk
after the blast
et up a massk
ng home sir-
The first flit
rthern city!
; identified:"
ladian.
estination, ak
mated to be®
dead identifik
;tralian.
■ John Howard
tional securit)
for the United
would not k
tl tragedy f®
he said,
tpeared to lat
te rn travelers.
: outbreak, said
;e, Wainpkt^
leer.
ctions
turnout
Yugoslavia
rst presidential
; Slobodaa
failed Sunda;
voter turnout;
or a protracted
) Yugoslavia t
athy produced
elow the legal
jrcent, forcij 1 :
nch the entire
’ Dec. 5.
of the State
don said 45-
gible cast bat-
ut was blawec
)f governmer 1
between p r( -
; who ousted
^ living staf-
tely no poss 1 '
>ut could P 285
loran Lucie, a
. independed
Elections anv
definitely. ^
goal of these
not elect a
its
13
Opinion
The Battalion
Page 9 • Monday, October 14, 2002
A. biased education plan
Georgia school hoard should teach all creation myths, not just Christianity’s
JENELLE WILSON
T he Cobb
County,
Georgia
school board
voted last month
to teach alterna
tives to evolution. The school board insists the
change is to create balance within the school
curriculum.
The new school board policy's purpose is to
•foster critical thinking among students, to
allow academic freedom consistent with legal
requirements, to promote tolerance and accept
ance of diversity of opinion and to ensure a
posture of neutrality toward religion," accord
ing to CNN. The school board does not intend
to "discriminate for or against a particular set
of religious beliefs, religion in general or non
religion."
If the school board of Cobb County wants
to teach alternatives to evolution in order to
promote a more balanced curriculum, it should
be able to. However, it should teach all alter
natives, not just the Christian beliefs about the
origin of man.
There are over 500 different creation stories
among the 19 major religions, according to the
World Christian Encyclopedia.
If Cobb County wants to teach either new
or old world creationism, it has to teach the
Buddhist belief that creation cycles and new
worlds are created and then dissolve through
out time.
If children are taught about intelligent
design, which asserts that the world is too
complicated to have evolved on its own and
therefore some intelligent being must have cre
ated it, they should also be taught about the
Navajo insect or the Mayan feathered serpent
creation stories.
The schools in Cobb County must match
Christian creation beliefs with other religions,
butproviding a balanced curriculum isn't what
ttkreally trying to do.
What it is trying to do is circumvent that
pesky little First Amendment and the Supreme
Court ruling in Edw ards v. Aguillard in 1987.
Edwards v. Aguillard involved a Louisiana
law which forbade the teaching of evolution
unless creation science was also taught.
According to the American Civil Liberties
Union, the Supreme Court ruled the law vio
lated the Establishment Clause of the First
Amendment; the teaching of creation science
had no secular purpose. It only sought to
advance a particular religious belief.
This is exactly what is happening in Cobb
County. School board officials will not provide
"neutrality toward religion.” They will not be
teaching about all 500 creation stories. Instead,
they will only be focusing on and promoting
Christian beliefs.
Opponents of evolution often attack the the
ory because it has not been proven.
The textbooks in Cobb County already have
disclaimers on them, saying evolution is a the
ory and not fact, which is technically true.
However, evolution is a scientific theory,
meaning it has been tested over time and
verified with experimentation and obser
vations. In science, nothing can be proven
true; it can only be proven false. The theo
ry of evolution has not been falsified.
Creation science is not actually “science"
at all. Its theories cannot be falsified, which is
required of true scientific theory. Scientists
cannot prove there is no God.
However, a main aspect of
new world creationism —
that the earth is less than
10,000 years old - is
widely considered false
by the scientific commu
nity.
The Cobb County
policy is not promot
ing a “balanced” sci
ence curriculum. It’s
pitting science against
an untestable religious
belief. The only way for the
policy to be even remotely fair
is to include all other religious
beliefs — all 500 of them.
Jenelle Wilson is a junior
political science major.
JEFF SMITH • THE BATTALION
Americans are ignorant about foreign news
The United States has historically ignored news from the rest of the world
A merican ignorance can
only go so far. Last
Thursday, Germany’s most
famous landmark, the
Brandenburg Gate, was uncovered
after two years of painstaking
restorations. On the same day, Germany also celebrated the
2th anniversary of the Day of German Unity, which commem-
otates the official reunification of the former West and East
Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Millions of Germans took to the streets of downtown Berlin
re celebration of the Brandenburg Gate’s uncovering. I had
Planned to be among the millions, but opted instead for a quiet
ev ening with friends watching the spectacle live on TV. That
Wa Y I did not have to fight for a clear view of the action and
w as able to see and hear former President Bill Clinton present a
rousing speech emphasizing American support for a united
er many - despite Germany’s current attitude toward American
ror eign policy.
J had been looking forward to this day with the sort of giddi-
ness made many Germans question why an American cared
s °much about something that had little to do with American
reforests. The Brandenburg Gate is a symbol of German
^rength, unity and resilience, and these are the same ideals all
mericans have embraced over the past year in a struggle to
2 a| n balance within our country. I was annoyed that 1 had to
defend the fools who gave America its reputation for being the
land of the apathetic. As far as 1 am concerned, the question
should never have laeen why do Americans care about foreign
events, but rather, why shouldn't they?
The uncovering of the Brandenburg Gate was just one of
many important foreign events of which Americans are entire
ly ignorant. If Americans expect to be respected by the rest of
the world, they must take steps to educate themselves about
world affairs.
For decades, many Americans have proudly paraded their
lack of interest and indifference toward the world outside their
borders. In a country as big as the United States, it is easy to
get wrapped up in the many domestic issues we face daily.
However, there is no excuse for the geographic and historic
ignorance we have been known to display.
Part of the problem stems from the beginning of American
political history. After being involved in major trans-Atlantic
wars against Britain and France, Washington and Jefferson
warned Americans about the "dangers of foreign entangle
ments," thus laying the framework for the isolationist mindset
which continues still today.
American ignorance is also geographically imposed, notes
former British diplomat Jonathan Clarke. America’s geographi
cal isolation between two oceans nullifies the need for America
to make concessions and maintain open dialogue among other
countries. This argument seems a bit faulty in many ways;
especially taking into consideration that the United States has
the most powerful military and is the most politically influen
tial country. Wherever there is something important happening
in the world, it effects the United States. It is embarrassing that
Americans do not take the time to inform ourselves about it so
that we can properly criticize our government - good or bad.
Even more embarrassing is that Europeans, a whole ocean
away from us, can name our current president and give a rea
sonably sound opinion about him. We are not expected to know
all the heads of states of the European Union, but at the very
least we should be aware that the European Union now oper
ates under one single currency, the Euro, and it is stronger than
the U.S. dollar.
The media knows what attracts viewers and readers and what
does not - sex tips, stock tips, 10 steps to one thing or another.
In fact, broadcast media has significantly cut back its foreign
news coverage in order to attract larger audiences, cultivating
our own unawareness. It took a crisis the magnitude of Sept. 1 1
for people to actually demand more international news.
I am trying to do my small part to undo the damage that is
already done. But I wish the people here in Germany would
stop asking me why the Americans do not care about the rest
of the world. I am starting to run out of answers.
Melissa Fried is a sophomore
international studies major.
MELISSA FRIED
Residence Life is serious
a °ut punishing hazing
e sp°ns e Rolando Garcia's
ct 1 1 article:
^icers^h^ 61106 Association (RHA)
u PanH f C w ‘ t * 1 hazing need to grow
forthoi u 6 re ^Ponsibility for their actions.
Creek <:[ ene ^ t ' lot’s take a journey to the
font nf t ^ . w hich is always at the fore-
Univercih tl§ . g hazing and following
er stand § Uldelines an d forced to a high-
tio nsbvth tflan ot h er student organiza-
dent nr '' e Univers ity- If a fraternity presi-
n ew m Q ar iy ot h er officer were to take a
s Pin thp m ■ ta P e to a chair and
those mp m k" 1 0rder to cause vomiting,
out of th ■ ers w °uld rightfully be taken
nity couiH? 05 * 005 and the entire frater-
nients th t tace sus pension. The punish-
a teifnnn Were incurred were appropri-
n °t less severe than a Greek member
MAIL CALL
would have faced. The RHA officers in
question can whine all they want, but the
truth is that the Greek system is held to a
certain level by the University and the RHA
needs to be held to the same level. D’Olive
says that he is being nailed to the wall
because of his leadership position. Exactly.
You're a leader and you didn't live up to
the expectations put on you. Accept it.
Jason Finehout
Class of 2003
I think that this article is a great example
of the intrusive practices of Residence Life
that are becoming more common on cam
pus. To charge those students from Hart
with hazing is clearly a sham. This incident
no way involved admission or continued
membership in that dorm.
Furthermore, RHA's "anti-hazing" prac
tices have been way over-reaching. More
frequently on campus, people have been
getting in trouble for meaningless horse
play and college pranks. I think the
administration forgets that this is college
sometimes. Half the time I feel like I am
still in middle school with the way that
they deal with us. I think pranks and the
like are an integral part of one's college
experience; however, if this prank causes
significant damage or danger, they should
be held accountable.
Whatever happened to a little "Good
Bull" mischief? The fact that these Aggies
had to lose their leadership positions for
something as stupid as that is just ridicu
lous. Whittle himself seemed to actually
enjoy his experience, and why shouldn't
he? For all those on campus, be pre
pared to see this trend continue. Soon
we will all be good little boys and girls
sitting all in a row.
Chuck Goldsmith
Class of 2005