From: Darryl Maddox (dpmaddox@arn.net)
Date: Fri Feb 07 2003 - 09:24:32 EST
IF any of you would bother to look at the Texas Tech web site you would see
that Dr. Dini teaches only 2 courses: an introductory biology course and a
course on how to teach introductory biology labs. I can't believe, or come
up with, any reason any student seeking admission to a graduate school
"needs" a recommendation from a teacher who taught them only one or at the
most two of their biology courses, when there are, if I remember correctly
more than 20 other biology teachers at this school. I went to a school with
only 5 geology teachers, I only needed 3 letters of recommendation for
graduate school so even though I think I could have gotten a good one from
any of the five, simply by the numbers I had to eliminate 2 of them. Now,
unless you need 20 letters of recommendation, how much trouble can it be to
avoid 1 of over 20? And if shear numbers were not enough, most students
seeking admission to graduate school except, law and medicine, plan to major
in some field within the larger field beginning about as soon as they get
there and in preparation for this they have taken upper level courses in
that field as undergraduates. Doesn't it make sense that if they are going
to major in a particular area of a science in grad school and they took
courses in that area in undergrad school, that the 3 or so letters of
recommendation they need from past teachers should be from those teachers
who taught them the courses related to the area they are going to pursue in
grad school? And since Dr. Dini doesn't teach any upper level courses
except the one on how to teach introductory biology labs, why would anyone
even want a letter of recommendation from him?
I wrote him to confirm which courses he teaches and to ask him the question
in the last sentence of my previous paragraph. His reply was that he didn't
know why anyone asked him for a letter except that he apparently had a
reputation of writing a pretty good one and he was willing to take the time
to do it.
It seems to me that this thread, like the one that preceeded it a couple of
months ago, has been lot of argument about nothing and has been precipitated
by someone trying to stir up some trouble becuase some teacher is a little
picky about who he recommends for grad school, but no one seems to have
addressed that possibility.
Darryl
----- Original Message -----
From: "Denyse O'Leary" <oleary@sympatico.ca>
To: <billyates@billyates.com>
Cc: <asa@calvin.edu>
Sent: Friday, February 07, 2003 8:10 AM
Subject: Re: Professing evolution column by Maggie Gallagher
> The main problem with Prof Dini's approach is that the institutions to
> which the student may apply will not know exactly WHY the prof will not
> write the letter of recommendation. That is, they will have no way of
> distinguishing between a conflict over religion and a failure to meet an
> academic standard.
>
> Rather than violate Prof. Dini's conscience by requiring him to
> recommend the student, I would require him to supply an explanation of
> his refusal, for example "I cannot in conscience recommend this student
> because I disagree with his views on evolution." That would give the
> institution to which the student is applying the opportunity to form its
> own judgment of the student's academic and personal qualifications. What
> means a lot to Dini may be irrelevant to them, and they should be free
> to make up their own mind.
>
> So far as I can tell from reading their works directed at laypeople, the
> random-mutation/natural-selection-only evolutionists have actually been
> behaving like a church for some time, defending their dogma against
> heretics. Things will likely get hotter from here.
>
> William T. Yates wrote:
>
> > Any thoughts?
> >
> > http://www.townhall.com/columnists/maggiegallagher/mg20030206.shtml
> >
> > --Bill Yates
>
>
> --
> --
> My next book, By Design or By Chance?: The Growing Controversy Over the
> Origin of Life in the Universe (Castle Quay Books, Oakville) will be
> published Fall 2003. Meanwhile, check out free resources at
www.designorchance.com
>
> To order, call Castle Quay, 1-800-265-6397,
> fax 519-748-9835, or visit www.afcanada.com (CDN $19.95 or
> US$14.95).
>
> Denyse O'Leary
> 14 Latimer Avenue
> Toronto, Ontario, CANADA M5N 2L8
> Tel: 416 485-2392/Fax: 416 485-9665
> oleary@sympatico.ca
> www.denyseoleary.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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