1992_09 The Daily Collegian September 1992

              2-Op/Ed
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The Daily Collegian
September 15,1992
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Science not
bias or belief
system
Dear Editor
I would like to comment on
Traver Dougherty's letter regard¬
ing evolution vs. creationism in
the 9/10 issue of The Daily Colle¬
gian. First, a brief explanation
about science, Science is an inves¬
tigation of some phenomenon that
tries to be as objective as possible
in its inquiry in order to accurately
explain the phenomenon. Science
does this with no presupposed
conclusion in mind. Science takes
a value-free approach to evaluate
evidence and data as given to ar¬
rive at whatever conclusion to
which the facts may point Sci¬
ence proceeds by making obser¬
vations, hypotheses and testing
both of these to reject or confirm
an original claim. Science, there¬
fore, is not a "bias" or "belief
system" that determines how we
should or should not lead our lives
when it comes to moral and ethical
decisions.
Creationists, however, simply
dp not understand this. For ex¬
ample, Mr. Dougherty assumes
that "Perhaps my instructor is an
atheist or agnostic..." because he
teaches evolution as virtual law;
Mr. Dougherty further concludes
that evolution is the instructor's
(and the Biology department's)
rehgion. Yet, Mr. Dougherty does
not mention actually asking the
instructor what his religious be¬
liefs and values are. Instead, he
jumps to the ridiculous conclusion
that the Biology department must
attend-en masse-the First Church
ofEvolution and abide by its teach¬
ings. One need not be a scientist to
know that jumping to a conclusion
without verifying it is a poor way
to make a judgement about some¬
one.
In fact the majority of scien¬
tists do not bow down before the
big bang. Rather, they believe in
God. Evolution seeks to explain
the origins of biological life—it
does not set out to disprove God *s
existence. Interestingly enough,
Charles Darwin, former divinity
student turned scientist was troub¬
led by the implications of evolu¬
tionary theory: You see, Darwin
too believed in a literal account of
Genesis. Did Darwin alter his
painstakingly researched data to
conform to his theological views?
Hardly.
Creationists, though, have no
qualms about dishonestly twisting
evidence to support their origin of
speciousness. And why shouldn't
they? Their basic approach is a
slap in the face to scientific meth¬
odology. Creationists already as¬
sume their conclusion (i.e., the
Genesis account of creation) From
this presupposed conclusion based
on Hebrew myths, they work back¬
ward in search of evidence to bol¬
ster their conclusion. Actually,
since there is currently no crea¬
tionist research, creationists try to
point out (and even invent) chinks
in evolution's armor. They then
claim that evolution shouldn't be
taught A favorite tactic used by
creationists (i nc l uding Mr. Dough¬
erty) is to denounce evolution as
"only a theory." As s uch, creation -
Please see THEORY, page 3
Greeks hove
no sense of
humor
Dear Editor.
The backlash of self-righteous
mutterings from those who took
offense at the "God and Beer don' t
mis" column by Melanie Franklin
is as poinUess and absurd as George
Bush's family values platform.
Please spare us! Franklin's col¬
umn was satirical and exaggerated
and did not contain absolutes such
as "every single frai/sorority
member..." It was humorous opin¬
ion and not intended to be regarded
as a scientifically compiled trea¬
tise on the Greek system. Could it
be yet another generalization about
fraternities and sororities is beg¬
ging for publicity? I think so:
Those Greeks have no sense of
humor.
Instead of wailing about how
fulfilling their lives are and how
bereft of integrity the Collegian is,
disgruntled Greeks should pick up
a pen or turn on the computer and
write something satirical and
humorous about journalism stu¬
dents or the paper. We can take it
Michelle Martin
News Not Worthy
Compiled by Shannon Wentworth
"SexiialEtiquettelOT'isnow At the workshop, employeeswere
available in bookstores. It was
published by four undergraduate
students at Emory University to
help other students deal with those
often embarrassing and sticky situ¬
ations that arise prior to inter¬
course. Some gems in the book
include, "Be sure sexual activity is
consensual" (a particularly sound
piece of advice), "No means no"
(not Lha t it has ever meant yes, but
it seems that there has been some
problem with the language in the
past) and "Be aware of your and
his/her alcohol and drug intake"
(breath tests are optional, but be
sure you'll be able to get it up).
The book aims at educating col¬
lege students about sexually trans¬
mitted diseases, pregnancy and
date rape prevention. The book
will be sold on college campuses.
\
QOQ
Bui Id rags in Fresno? Forgone
night only, men dressed as women
will be at the Wild Blue at 8 p.m.
Sunday,September27. Don't miss
this chance to see men who are not
afraid to enter the realm of femi¬
ninity . Tickets are $ 15 for ringside,
$ 10 for general admission and the
proceeds will go to The Randall
House, a future HIV/AIDS Hos¬
pice. Finally,somejnen with balls!
QQO
A support workshop was held
for university, employees having
difficulties with the budget crisis.
Please see OR NOT, page 3
—
The Daily
COLLEGIAN   -
N   Aimee L, Fisher
Editor in Chief
Managing Editon Jason Terada
News Editor: Shannon Wentworth
Photo Editor: Bryan Chan
Sports Editor: David Donnelly
Business Manager Shawnda Grice
Advertising Manager: Shawndale Grice *
Advertising Production Manager: Lance Jackson
Artspeak Editon Manny Fernandez .
Cartoonist: OfirLevy
News Writers: Suzanne Andrews, Rosalba Beltran, Pat Bcttencourt.
Adam Breen, Amie Goodrich, Suzanne Kayian
Photographers: Hector Amezcua, Christine Baker, Steve Skibbie, Jeremy
Cloud
Sports Writers: Richard James, Alex Aboud, John L.Cruz
Advertising Representatives: UuraDeckanLShaxmonWenrAv^
Stark, Brendan Bailey, Ingram Tatum
Columnists: Adam Breen, Michael S. Handorf. Allessandria Polizzi
The Daily CoUegian does not endorse advertising claims and all
 should bt checked carefully hv the con«im*r.	
-'l
encouraged to discuss a healing
process and -coping I skills.
Hmm.Jet's see, I'd feel a lot bet¬
ter if I had, say, job security. The
workshop was a petty attempt to
heal the battered employees of \h is
feeble institution. Notice the uni¬
versity wasn't so adventurous as
to attempt to heal the students.
□QQ
Dogs, daughters and coffee?
Ed Emmanuel will perform Jew¬
ish humor for one hour in The Pit
on Wednesday at 5 pjn. So get a
cup of coffee, tie up your dog, call
your daughter and prepare to hear
a one-hour ode to Barbara Strei¬
sand.
***
QQQ
CSUF is offering a "Golden
Handshake" to faculty and staff,
imploring them to retire early and
save us a bundleof moneybecause
once they leave we can underpay
entering faculty and staff. It may
bea"Golden Handshake" fbr those „
leaving, but incoming personnel
may need a tetanus shot after get¬
ting a "Rusty Nail Welcome."
QQQ
•
In the spirit of Geraldo Rivera,
whoopened the empty vaults of Al
Capone and embarrassed himself
on National Television, William
.   '