Re: [asa] Secret Emails Reveal How ISU Faculty Plotted to Deny Distinguished Astronomer Tenure

What I find so fascinating is how the media has mostly refused to
accept the claims by the Discovery Institute and I have looked at some
of this supposed evidence and found that the arguments are pretty weak
at best.

Sure, Gonzalez's involvement with Intelligent Design were a concern to
the faculty but the Discovery Institute is making some assertions
which I find poorly supported by the evidence. Some people have looked
at the publication record of Gonzalez (and Behe) and found a
remarkable trend.

Also interesting is how Rosenberg was quoted and what the full quote revealed

<quote>
        "Contrary to his public statements, and those of ISU President
Gregory Geoffroy, the chairman of ISU's Department of Physics and
Astronomy, Dr. Eli Rosenberg, stated in Dr. Gonzalez's tenure dossier
that Dr. Gonzalez's support for intelligent design 'disqualifies him
from serving as a science educator.'"

<quote>
    The full context of that quotation is:

<quote> "on numerous occasions, Dr. Gonzalez has stated that
Intelligent Design is a scientific theory and someday would be taught
in science classrooms. This is confirmed by his numerous postings on
the Discovery Institute Web site. The problem here is that Intelligent
Design is not a scientific theory. Its premise is beyond the realm of
science. … But it is incumbent on a science educator to clearly
understand and be able to articulate what science is and what it is
not. The fact that Dr. Gonzalez does not understand what constitutes
both science and a scientific theory disqualifies him from serving as
a science educator."
</quote>

Now the DI may be able to help Gonzalez by arguing that this was
religious discrimination but that would involve accepting that ID is
religious. Not a very palatable choice. Instead, the DI seems to have
moved from tenure to viewpoint discrimination and hostile workplace.
Again, not a very plausible argument either.

The DI attempted to generate media interest in the Gonzalez case and
failed, outside Iowa few noticed and within Iowa the reception was
mixed.
They lost in the scientific arena, they are losing in the media arena,
and they are losing amongst conservatives.

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Thu Dec 6 23:08:00 2007