Special Blog Post:
Dissertation Describing Teaching of Creationism on Deck at The Ohio State University
The Ohio State University has launched an investigation into the matter based upon a letter of complaint filed by three professors. The professors challenged both the constitution of Mr. Leonard's dissertation committee, headed by an assistant professor in the Department of Education, and the fact that Mr. Leonard allegedly used students inappropriately as subjects in his experimentation. Many universities and colleges have formal policies prohibiting human experimentation except under strictly approved and rigorously supervised circumstances and with the subjects'—or in this case, their guardians'—fully informed consent. The guidelines are usually crafted to meet general standards of ethical research practices established by Federal Regulations, as well as the standards of specific professional organizations, such as the American Psychological Association, the American Nurses Association, the American Sociological Association, and the World Health Organization.
There is currently no information available concerning whether or not the teaching of creationism by Mr. Leonard to his high school students was done with the knowledge of the Hilliard School Board or the parents of the students subjected to his curriculum content and methods of instruction. According to the letter issued by the three professors challenging the dissertation committee and ethical standards, Mr. Leonard had openly testified before the Kansas Board of Education, which created a forum in which creationists could provide cover for the State of Kansas to start teaching creationism in public schools as if it were scientifically valid. To date, no similar effort at legitimizing the teaching of religious mythology in high school science classes has been made in the State of Ohio; however, under the auspices of the State Board of Education in Ohio, Mr. Leonard provided language on the inclusion of so-called "intelligent design" creationism in model lesson plans for public schools throughout Ohio.
Hilliard Davidson is a public high school located in the Columbus suburb of Hilliard, just west of the state capitol. The official Website of Hilliard Davidson High School lists Mr. Leonard on the "Teachers" page. Although school Websites are sometimes not regularly updated during the summer vacation months, there is no evidence that Mr. Leonard's affiliation with Hilliard Davidson High School has ended. The school Website provides considerable information about the high school and regulations governing student activities, opportunities, and responsibilities. On Page 20 of the Handbook of Hilliard Davidson High School, under the heading "Student Rights and Responsibilities," the following headnote statement and list is given:
- "The Board recognizes that it has the responsibility to assure students the legal rights that are theirs by virtue of guarantees offered all persons under the federal and stateconstitutions and statutes. In connection with these rights are responsibilities that must be assumed by the students. The Board understands that:
1. Students have the right to quality education and a responsibility to put forth their best efforts during the educational process.
2. Students have the right to expect school personnel to be qualified in providing a good education.
3. Students have the responsibility to respect the rights of other students and all persons involved in the educational process."
Many more questions remain, particularly regarding the use of federal, state, and local school district funds pursuant to the private research of a doctoral student, especially now that it is known that the research methodology was not cleared by experts in the field in which the dissertation's author represents sufficient expertise to engage in publication-quality research.
Published 6/11/2005 10:41:00 PM
<< 58 Comments Total
People like Bryan Leonard are evidence that evolution is a slow process and that vestigial characters are very real.
The Neanderthal, if it existed today, would be a republican.
Good evening, Mr. Goat.
Recent research has pointed to evidence that, far from being the brutish thugs we had previously believed, Neanderthals were actually quite advanced, possibly even possessing some degree of language skills.
If researchers find within the next few years that Neanderthals had also mastered the ability to live in places other than ugly trailer parks, I think we can then safely conclude that Neanderthals were not Republicans, after all.
This obviously still leaves open the questions regarding the true basis for the intellectual wing of the modern Republican Party.
The Dark Wraith has clarified necessary future directions in field research.
When I read "...regarding the true basis for the intellectual wing of the modern Republican Party", I was thankful I did not have a positronic brain.
Regarding the origins of the Republicans, I think you haven't gone far enough back along the hominid line to locate their source. Wouldn't Homo erectus or Australopithecus robustus be a more likely candidate?
Ah yes, Ohio...Ken Blackwell, Ohio's Secretary Of State, Co-chair of the Bush-Cheney Campaign who managed to make sure the voting machines were strategically numbered and placed, while several voting rights ethics were tossed aside to deliver his "Master George" Imperial Oval Office squatter's rights...Sigh, I'm not surprised to learn that the "Ohio Cronies' Theocracy Network" is at it again...
After all, Blackwell has his eye on the Governor's Office...
heh...
M#
Good morning, Mary.
Ken Blackwell may have the loving support of a Dominionist nutgroup on his side in Ohio, but it seems to me that his efforts to become Governor are going to have some frustrations.
Call it a hunch.
The Dark Wraith likes to have hunches.
Good morning, LindiBee.
I was thinking more along the lines of a different branch of the evolutionary tree. Mr. Blackwell and his religious mythologists who are taking over the public schools in Ohio would more likely be somewhere in the phylum of critters like weasels.
The Dark Wraith heads out to the chicken house to deal with the varmints.
I stand corrected; I wasn't aware of the possible language skills of the Neanderthal.
Actually now I think Howard Dean got it right (pretty much a white, Christian party). Presumably he means the mutant offspring of the incestous couplings of the Adam and Eve decendants.
Actually, you would have to add at least half the parents of these children to the hominid group, because they're the ones who want a "balanced" science/religious training for their kids. If the parents didn't want it, they would vote out the people on the board of education who are OK-ing this drivel.
....it kinda gives a whole new meaning to the words "monkey trial".
Zoo to feature creationism display
Kansas School board bands teaching of evolution
New Evolution resource website launched
Oh, and dont forget the Creation Museum set to open soon and feature Noah wresting a pair of TRex's into the Ark.
Noah wrestling T. Rexes into the ark?!
I guess that wouldn't be as bad as the part where the deck hands had to clean up the dung those behemoths were leaving behind. Geez, one good crap from a T. Rex could send most of the crew overboard just to get away from the funkadelic experience.
The Dark Wraith always looks at the practical problems in planning long trips with large, extinct animals.
Good afternoon, SB Gypsy.
One of the biggest issues in this regard is the lack of public service commitment in many communities. Many are the people who shake their heads at what's going on, but these same people won't run for school board positions, and they won't vote, particularly in off-year elections, which is when school board seats are often on the ballot.
This allows the minority of religious zealots to command an undefended field and infect communities with their hate parade of candidates, who run unopposed or with only token opposition. Worse, these religious cultists have the platform of their membership in the churches, which are often large and concentrated stewpots for the cult activities.
It has been my experience that, even in communities where the school boards are dominated by these Right-wing, religious sorts, the communities at large are surprisingly progressive in their citizens' world views. Perhaps more importantly, I would bet my bottom dollar that, in most of the medium to large cities across
America, there is a large selection of churches that are far, far more progressive, tolerant, worldly, and wise; but none of these churches individually command either the sheer numbers of members nor the necessary political/religious obsessions. Sadly, it is these tolerant and good churches' lack of the ugly qualities of the Right-wing pseudo-Christian churches that make them so nice to attend but at the same time so weak in a match-up with the cultist churches, which are generally fewer in number, but far more concentrated in political power.
Nevertheless, the Dark Wraith does like to visit churches where the nutjobs-to-normal people ratio is less than, say, about 0.1.
Hey Dark Wraith!
Watch it - your "ugly trailer park" comment was not very nice.
Just because some of us live in ugly trailer parks does NOT mean we're all Republican.
Thank you,
non-republican trailertrash
Dark Wraith -
Sorry to have yelled at you... Now that I think about it, I am surrounded by some real winners. They have those "W" decals on their trucks, SUVs, and other motor vehicles. There were a couple residents that had boats in their yards, too. I guess management put a stop to that. There is one that has those bull balls on the end of his truck...
I guess we can guess why we have the president we have. If most trailer parks are mainly occupied with Republican idio.. ahem, voters, and each trailer park contains 100 or so trailers, it would follow that (if they all vote) they would've cast a large number of votes for "W".
I'm sorry to have gone off topic of the discussion of Creationism.
non-republican trailertrash
Good evening, TrailerTrash.
Forgive the reference. If the truth were to be told (and I am not kidding, here), one of my desired goals in life is to be able to afford a big, double-wide and 50 wooded acres in the middle of nowhere. It would be nice if the land had a stream running through it and a clearing where I could put up some kind of covered gazebo for lots of picnics. I can clear land, so there'd be a garden where I'd grow vegetables that taste good: beans, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, Brussel sprouts, and things like that. I'd have a small, lined pit with a grid over it for cooking outdoors when the weather was good, and even when it wasn't; and the old percolating-type coffee pot wouldn't get washed all that often because that brown build-up is what gives good coffee its bouquet, and good coffee is wonderful to drink when you're sitting outside at night, and about the only thing you hear is some dog way off in the distance barking its fool head off, and about the only thing you see peeking through the trees swaying in the night breeze is a dot or two from the mercury vapor lamps at the farms way down across the fields on the other county road. For the most part, though, the trees make it really dark out there. That's why you keep the lights on in the trailer: so you can see your way back in when you get tired and need to go to bed.
Yeah. Those are the things I'd do if I had a trailer and 50 acres.
I need to stop this.
The Dark Wraith is seeing futures that won't happen.
Dark Wraith,
50 wooded acres in the middle of nowhere...a garden where I'd grow vegetables...a small, lined pit with a grid over it for cooking outdoors when the weather was good, and even when it wasn't;...about the only thing you see peeking through the trees swaying in the night breeze is a dot or two from the mercury vapor lamps at the farms way down across the fields on the other county road.
A flawless description of the good life.
lowlyredstater
"50 wooded acres in the middle of nowhere..."(etc)
You neglected to mention some vital ingredients: Woodland nymphs cavorting through the wilderness.
So help me God, Peter, the last time those cavorting nymphs came up behind me on one of those dark, quiet, spooky nights, I damn near didn't make it to the outhouse, what with my weak bladder an' all that coffee.
The Dark Wraith is going to take his shootin' iron to the next woodland nymph that comes frollicking onto the property.
I thought of a terribly rude comment when Mary threw Homo Erectus out as the species that conservative wingnuts belong to...one beneath the lofty level of discussion generally found here on DWF. However, I cannot resist.
Knowing that the most virulent of homophobes and heterocentrists(a synonym for homophobe when you're informed "I ain't no homophobe. Queers don'e scare me, I just think they are disgusting") are struggling to suppress their own hidden homoerotic attractions, as shown by erectile studies while viewing porn, I do think homo erectus is a most appropo discriptive of the species. It does help explain the freedom a male escort had of the WH.:}
And of course, Wild Clover, every time they come up with a brilliant new idea, we could say that they're suffering from another bout of Homo erectyl disfunction.
The Dark Wraith hands out the Viagra to the neo-conservatives so they can at least stand up a little straighter.
The Dark Wraith hereby censures himself for blogging while stupid.
Ba Da Bing!
I salute the master.
Hi Dark Wraith -
"Brussel sprouts" and "tastes good" don't really belong in the same set.
but, wait. The topic is creationism, isn't it. So, this fellow, Leonard, experimented on the students by teaching creationism. Did the students buy into his ideas? You mentioned three professors complained and that's why the investigation is ongoing. I wonder if the students' parents had any idea of what their children were being taught and how upset they are?
Good evening, Old White Lady.
Mr. Leonard's dissertation asserts that his methods actually did make students more receptive and favorable to creationism.
In other words, by forcing students to learn a distorted view of the world, the students indeed come out with a distorted view of the world. This is one of the points being made in the complaint against Mr. Leonard: he did not conduct research, at all: he carried out an advocacy agenda. Moreover, he used the auspices of his status at The Ohio State University to give a veneer of legitimacy to both the Hilliard School Board and to the parents and students in doing what he did.
If such charges stand scrutiny, then Mr. Leonard has a long road ahead of him. The accolades and back-patting he got when he testified before the Board of Education of Kansas, and the loving he got when he was on the Dominionist payroll at the Ohio Board of Education, are all behind him, now. Henceforth, he may end up facing a whole array of quite unfavorable audiences, ranging from an academic disciplinary board at Ohio State on through to parents of Hilliard High School students who are finding out just how controversial his conduct was in front of their children.
I suspect, although I am not certain of this, that OSU is going to turn full fury on him at least at the faculty level. I cannot see that institution letting this one go in a quiet manner, especially considering it gives some of the more resolute professors there the best shot they've ever had at those creationist professors who've been using their faculty status at OSU as if they have an implicit endorsement from high academia for their low religious myth mongering.
The Dark Wraith will keep his eye on this situation, you can bet on that.
And by the way, Old White Lady, people hate Brussel sprouts because they've never had that particular vegetable prepared properly.
Brussel sprouts are usually harvested way too late, when they're large. That means people eat them when they've infused of a very bitter organic chemical.
Brussel sprouts should be picked when they're no larger than the size of a nickel. They should then be prepared that day, or certainly no later than the next. They're best when sautéed in butter, then generously coated with shredded sharp Cheddar cheese.
When I've served them to people like this, I hear nothing but praise for this much-maligned vegetable that has so much potential as a tasty alternative to the run-of-the-mill dinner greens.
The Dark Wraith knows how to cook the delicious, yet nutritionally sound, meal.
Dark Wraith - thank you for the explanation. Also, you're right about the brussel sprouts. I haven't tried them the way you described. That does sound rather yummy.
It is remarkable to me that even in Kansas the state board of education would vote to remove the teaching of evolution from the state curriculum. It makes me feel we are indeed moving hopelessly into the dark ages of the early industrial revolution.
A comforting aside. During my recent 2,575 mile three day journey from Lansing MI to Portland OR I overheard and joined a few discussions, in small town middle America, with die0hard Bushites who are getting increasingly pissed about sending their children to die for Dubbya's lies. I saw more than a few Bush/Cheney bumper stickers that had been scratched or blotted out.
Good morning, Treban.
I, too, am sensing what appears to be a flood-gate finally starting to crack. It looks to me as if a whole lot of pent-up sentiments that people were afraid to recognize internally are starting to have an excuse to come out. I am seeing it even in my students, who are generally quite conservative because they think that's the way they're supposed to be in this part of the country.
The really important task is going to be to link the religious Right to Bush as he flames out. That shouldn't be too hard to do, but it's going to require a focused message that the Right is going to fight with righteous indignation. Howard Dean's opening salvo last week is just a hint of what's to come. Although the mainstream media portrayed reaction as highly and widely negative, I am glad that Dean grasped that this is a message that can be cultivated into a general opinion of the Electorate that the media can't pretend is unpopular.
There's work to be done; and remember what I've said to Peter of Lone Tree: the Downing Street Memo isn't the big one. That's down the road a little ways, yet.
The Dark Wraith smells the fire starting to heat up.
Morning Dark One. When I saw that remark about trailer-trash, I too started to set my jaw, but thank gawd and Greyhouond you came back and covered you're azz.
By the way, you're decription? Try 32 acers instead, add a barn, 22 head of horses and you have discribed my happy home. So all is forgiven. Want pictures? I'll send them. But here's the deal. We don't all sqaure dance! LOL
Presumably he had a thesis committee that approved his project?? What exactly were they thinking (or is this the proof of that which has long been suspected among some scientists, namely that the education profs. aren't worth the name)???
Hopefully someone is reporting this to the American Association for the Advancement of Science? I can't imagine they won't want to know about it!
- oddjob
Good morning, OddJob.
Mr. Leonard's dissertation committee comprises professors from three disparate departments, and all three of the fellows are creationists. The adviser is an assistant professor in the Education Department. The other two are, respectively, a professor of entomology and a professor of human nutrition.
In terms of faculty muscle, this is about as weak as a dissertation committee could get. Essentially, a committee like this is often seen as a rubber stamp for some Candidate who was crafty enough to cobble together such a thing.
The Graduate School at Ohio State is apprized of the composition of dissertation committees, but it does not have veto power over them. That's because the faculty does not want administrative interference in academic matters. The problem, as seen in this case, is that there is essentially no hard and fast stopping mechanism on a Candidate who has faculty support, provided that support is at least three professors wide and merely the depth of the paperwork to get the committee underway.
That having been said, if certain professors in a department want to stop a Ph.D. Candidate they don't like, they can. At Ohio State, professors have even gone so far as to threaten potential dissertation committeee members with removal of tenure to derail a committee that was forming. I saw that happen, and it was about as ugly as anything you could want to imagine.
For the Education Department at Ohio State to have allowed this matter to go this far indicates extraordinary weakness or inattentiveness on the part of the Department Chair. That issue has come up before: there was a professor in the department in the the early 1980s who was utterly incompetent, and his classes were nothing but a rubber stamp good grade for teachers working on their masters degrees to get better salaries (a long-simmering issue under the surface in academia). This professor went so far as to physically assault an undergraduate student he didn't particularly like. There was nothing—and I mean nothing—the department chair could do about it other than to profusely apologize to the student on behalf of the professor and ask the student "as one scholar to another" not to press charges with the police.
This is all part of the nasty underside of academia. Every now and then, tiny little cracks appear, and the world at large gets to see how the sausage gets made. In the case of the creationist fellow who aspires to his doctorate, a small crack is opening a little bit, again; but I can assure you that major parts of how this whole controversy gets resolved are never going to hit the press.
But perhaps the inside scoop will be told down the road on a blog.
The Dark Wraith keeps his ear to the ground.
hi mr wraith
thank you for mentioning karen kriatkowski. i am impressed with her stuff. did a post on her. not to worry, i'm sure you'll do better.
about the prof assaulting a student...seems to me that the dept chair should have begged the student to press criminal charges.
one of my pet peeves is that most states require some study and practice of teaching methodology for grade school and high school teachers, but not for "higher education" instructors.
mmmmmm...brusselsprouts. love em.
Good morning, Dread Pirate Roberts.
I am right working on my weekly Analysis post, and I go into a bit of detail on the good lieutenant-colonel there. I had to stop for a bit to research a minor linguistic matter that had suddenly caught my attention before I could proceed; but I should now be able to finish within the hour.
The Dark Wraith pounds on the keyboard.
Given that the text most entomology departments in this country use as their introduction to insect taxonomy (the REAL thing, with evolution as theory in the same way that gravity is a theory and all) was originally written by entomology professors at Ohio State (now deceased), this is nothing less than shameful!
Entomology has played a huge role in the development of evolutionary theory. That an Ohio State entomologist has played a role in this is just disgusting!
- oddjob
Truly like kale; willingly accept broccoli (but not if it's boiled to death); tolerate cauliflower (but don't like it); distinctly dislike cabbage (ick!); won't eat brussel sprouts (but acknowledge I haven't tried them as suggested).
- oddjob
Ever tried parsnips, OddJob?
Sautéed, of course.
The Dark Wraith knows a good vegetable when he sees one.
Yes! I endorse them!
Oh, in addition to saute they are a worthy addition to a hearty stew, with a flavor akin to carrots (but a little more astringent, or something).
- oddjob
(LOATHE turnips!)
- oddjob
I was actually going to ask you about turnips, OddJob, but something stopped me from typing that part of the post.
You really should try them boiled to death with a big ol' ham bone thrown in.
Yep. Turnip soup: it's not just for breakfast anymore.
The Dark Wraith wonders where OddJob just ran off to in such a rush.
Yet more educational idiocy in the service of right wing nuttiness.
(an opinion column by a noted wingnut)
- oddjob
The smell as they're boiling just -- well, I can't stay in the room.
Sorry 'bout that!
- oddjob
(I prefer my pork with kale, as in Portuguese kale soup, which always has linguiça in it. THAT'S yummy!)
- oddjob
I just harvested a few of my early beets - yum.
my pet goat---hope you eat the beet greens too. mmmmmmm
dark one---i look forward to your analysis.
all of ya....try the wraith's recipe for sprouts. really. and any veggie is good with butter.
Beet greens? Yup - last night along with a few fresh pea pods and small broccoli heads from a second cutting. All lightly sauted with a light drizzle of olive oil, pinch of salt, and a couple of twists of the pepper mill. (and a piece of cow on the bbq for dessert)
Awright, I'm tryin' to work, here. All this talk about food is making me so hungry I could eat a COW with a side of green beans and a white-chocolate/raspberry cheesecake for dessert.
You'd think I wouldn't be all that hungry after I'd read that post over at Blogenlust and made some rather grim comments.
Strangely, though, that just made me hungrier.
The Dark Wraith heads to the fridge to see what's in there.
DW blogged: "The Dark Wraith knows a good vegetable when he sees one".
PoLT, still hoping for a good grade in this course, will NOT bring up the implied reference to mirrors.
da da da DA da da, CLANG!
Geez, now that's weird. I could have sworn Master Peter got an "A" on that last test, but it says right here in my gradebook that it was an "F"!
Huh.
The Dark Wraith likes to enter grades in pencil.
The grades are being fixed around the intelligence.
Or lack thereof, as it were.
Not to sound like a copycat, Dark Wraith, but that dream of the 50 acres is my dream, too. The doublewide would just be an added benefit. A tent would do. I already have the start on the acreage. I have 9 acres in Tuscumbia (which is way out in God's country)... BTW, fried turnips are quite delicious.
Good evening, Trailer Trash.
It all depends on how a vegetable is cooked. I've had turnips fried and sliced, and they're great. I use salt and pepper on them.
I have to say, you stumped me with where you've got acreage. I know a whole lot of out-of-the-way places, but that one sent me to the maps.
The main reason I'd want the double-wide is because the bathroom is bigger. You get a nice, full-size shower, and there's enough room to move around while you're brushing your teeth and shaving in the morning. Although I don't have much of a problem living on the rustic side, having lived on a pretty primitive farm after my father passed on, I'd prefer not to deal with an outhouse. And it isn't the outhouse, itself, that the real issue: it's the damned spiders.
That and the stupid screech owls in the trees who like to cut loose when you're in there in the middle of the night in the pitch black.
The Dark Wraith remains regular to this very day.
Dark Wraith - I agree with you re: the outhouse. While growing up, we had an outhouse. Even though spiders like to spin webs all over the place and we'd run into them, my fear was of snakes. You never know where they would be hiding. If you don't see them, you don't know if they're poisonous or not.
Gawd-aw-mighty, woman!
Just when I was calming down from thinking about those spiders, you go and bring up the snakes!
Fortunately, we didn't have a whole lot of problem with them; but boy! those blacksnakes gave me the heebie-jeebies when they were out back.
That and my grandmother's old folk-tales about the "blue racers." I swear to God, to this very day, I still can't shake the irrational fear that those things really exist.
The Dark Wraith twitches.
Snakes in the outhouse! God that brings back the memories!
I have an extreme phobia when it comes to snakes which stems, no doubt, from growing up on a snake infested piece of land. We had snakes in the yard, in the creeks, and even had one come into the house. The possibility of having an encounter with a snake when using the outhouse was all too real a terror for me to think about while growing up.
Auntie Roo shudders and decides that it would be a good idea to check her bed thoroughly before going to sleep. Just in case...
Ha - that brings back the ole memories. My father gave us kids the task of filling gunny sacks with leaves to use in the barn (instead of straw). We went out in the woods and filled up the sacks. While doing so, we would come across those little blue/gray snakes (non-poisonous). We were pretty thrilled if we managed to catch one. I took a couple in the house to keep as pets. They always got loose! I often wonder if my mother ever saw them. Though, she really doesn't have a problem with them, just thinks they belong OUTSIDE! We were always carrying(sneaking) in little creatures to keep as pets.
Dear Dark Wraith,
50 Acres would be fine, my dream right now is 10 acres in Vancouver with BIG greenhouses, for year-round veggies! Yurts are an alternative to trailers in that 3 season climate. However, as the Dread Pirate pointed out on his blog, we may all need to be growing our own food soon!
I read Treban's comment with a blossoming hope, (hi treban) and add to that:
The other day, I read that the repugs have a bill in congress to REPEAL the 22nd amendment. This is the one that says noone can serve as president for more than two terms. So, they want to re-elect the ol' Dub!
When I told my Limbaugh-listening, republican-voting, twice Bush-voting brother this, he said he would not support Bush for pres again!!
will wonders never cease
Geez.
Even the dullards eventually tire of stupidity?!
The Dark Wraith is humbled by what that might imply for the future of humankind.