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First speakers in intellgent design series say Kansas standards unconstitutional

By By Kristen Jarboe (Contact)

Monday, January 30, 2006

In a Dover, Pa., case, a judge ruled the curriculum for intelligent design was unconstitutional because it violated the separation of church and state.

Kansas science standards also should be declared unconstitutional, said Jack Krebs, president of Kansas Citizens for Science.

He said the Kansas science standards expect teachers to teach intelligent design, changing the definition of science to include supernatural causation. Krebs said this violated the separation of church and state.

He spoke to more than 100 people at the Dole Institute of Politics Saturday as part of a forum called “Intelligent Design, Kansas Science Education and the Law.”

Attorneys Eric Rothschild and Steve Harvey, who argued against teaching intelligent design in the classroom in the Dover, Pa., case, joined Krebs in the discussion.

Also joining them was Richard Katskee, the assistant legal director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He also was an adviser to Rothschild and Harvey during their case.

Rothschild said, “Kansas has been a state that’s probably been dealing with this issue the longest in recent times among the states who are confronting this opposition to teach evolution. We’re here partly to say Pennsylvania is with Kansas.”

The Kansas State Board of Education revised science standards last year, which now include criticism of evolution in the curriculum.

Hume Feldman, associate professor of Physics and Astronomy, spoke about the series of lectures he has organized. He said the University would educate students about what he considered to be the true definition of science.

Five lectures are planned for the spring and five in the fall, but dates are not set.

“Science is being re-defined as we sit here, and I think KU should take a leading role,” Feldman said.

Pedro Irigonegaray, who argued against including criticism of evolution in science curricula at the Board of Education science hearings in May, also was at the discussion.

“Anyone from Kansas who loves this state, I think, has to be thinking, ‘How far are we going to let the pendulum swing?’” Irigonegaray said, “I would suggest to you that the message that we as a group are sending is not one of a legal plug. It’s not one of a thread of litigation. It’s more in terms of a warning saying, ‘Please pay attention.’ Instead of being unaware, let’s become aware of what’s happening and how can we make it better.”

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