| Drop
a pebble into the sea of discontent with biological
evolution and watch the ripples grow into a tsunami
which wipe away the just-so stories and replace them
with the truth!
Students
in the Oshkosh Area Public Schools are taught that biological
evolution is a "done deal"--that all life
on earth is the result of an evolutionary process. Evidence,
as such, is not discussed even evidence for
evolution because evolution is so certainly true, it
does not need evidence to validate it. Thus topics in
the past which were cited as supportive evidence, such
as common features like eyes, legs, cells and DNA or
the distribution of fossils in the earth's strata are
now presented as manifestations or results of evolution.
Evolution has become "the tail that wags the dog"
or to use another metaphor, "the cart that pulls
the horse."
Students
receive the largest dose of evolution in the Biology
1 course taught at the high schools. The textbook used
in the course does the best job possible to cast evolution
in a favorable light. However, favorable material is
so lacking that the textbook uses nefarious literary
techniques, such as cherry-picking information, misrepresentation,
and implying things supportive of evolution which are
false. These are elaborated in the menu item Biology
Textbook.
The
material in the menu items Origins/Biology,
Transitional Fossils, and
Dating Fossils were presented
to the administration of the public school system in
September, 2005 for inclusion in the instructional materials
of Biology 1. Since these were written to correct misrepresentations
and errors in the biology textbook, a copy of the material
similar to menu item Biology
Textbook was also presented at the September meeting.
The
materials were rejected by the "grade 6-12 teachers
who have evolution benchmarks in their curriculum."
The form of the rejection is a report prepared by the
teachers entitled: "OASD Science Grades 6-12: Position
Statement on Intelligent Design." It is a complete
disconnect from the submitted materials since they contain
only scientific arguments and do not in any way mention
or allude to Intelligent Design. If this characterization
of legitimate scientific evidence as being ID is allowed
to stand, only material supportive of evolution will
be allowed in our public schools. Even errors and false
implications, as exist in the textbook, will stand because
attempts to correct them were interpreted as supportive
of Intelligent Design.
The
purpose of this website, TellAll.org,
is just that, tell all of the scientific evidence relevant
to origins and evolution in our public schools. Our
students are currently being brainwashed. Let's work
together to change that.
Here
is what we can do--petition the School Board to place
a referendum on the November ballot with the following
resolution: Be it resolved that when evolution is taught
in the Oshkosh public schools, it shall not be taught
as fact but rather with evidence, pro and con, and with
an analysis of its testability.
Help
collect signatures. Canvas your neighborhood. Obtain
petition forms at Print Petition
or from an outside dispenser at 1015 Maricopa Dr. The
collection period is July 10 to Sept. 7. Canvassers
and signers must be at least 18 and residents of the
school district. While this petition cannot force the
School Board to file a referendum in November, we believe
that thousands of signatures will send a strong message
that the Board cannot ignore. The more signatures, the
better! Please Help!
If
you want to contact the School Board members, the School
Board page has their names and addresses. See the
presentations page for
the case made to the Board to change the way evolution
is taught.
The
material on this site is controlled by Dr. Sandra Gade.
She is an Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University
of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. She has a PhD in Physics from
the University of Pittsburgh. She and her husband, Edward,
are residents of Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
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