September 25, 2000 By JIM TORREYand SUSAN CASTILLOTHIS WEEK, leaders from the Pacific Northwest will gather in Eugene to share economic and environmental strategies. How can we help our economy and our communities thrive in an increasing global world? How can we link high speed rail, revitalized downtowns, trade and tourism corridors, and environmental efforts to improve our quality of Read More ›
On Tuesday, we will be welcoming delegates for this year's Cascadia Conference, organized by the Cascadia Project, a nonprofit alliance of communities in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. Delegates from Eugene, Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, B.C., and other cities will spend two days in workshops with their counterparts from rural communities. In partnership with the University of Oregon, we are looking forward to showcasing our city and county as a national model for "green communities." Panels and workshops will include: High speed rail: A high-speed passenger rail system linking Eugene/Springfield to Vancouver, B.C., and relieving pressure on Interstate 5 is a pivotal project to achieving the Cascadia vision. Delegates will hear from Amtrak West CEO Gil Mallery about the $10 billion High Speed Rail Investment Act...The federal bill could result in more than $500 million in new track improvements, improving the travel times of both passenger and freight rail, and enhanced rail crossings for safer and improved pedestrian access...The local success of the Amtrak Cascades service, which links Eugene, Portland and Seattle, continues, and we've seen continued ridership increases and positive customer satisfaction.
Read More ›More than one-third of the states (19) do an “unsatisfactory to dreadful job” of including evolution in public school science standards, including 12 states that shun the “E-word” and four that avoid the subject, says a study out Tuesday. The rest do “at least a satisfactory job,” says the study, “Good Science, Bad Science: Teaching Evolution in the States,” published Read More ›
http://slate.msn.com ——————————- CRSC response: Ms. Shulevitz’s bigoted rant (note the religious insult in the opening sentence) is such a gem that it requires little comment, except to mention regrettably that Slate has already begun editing out her gaffs. The original story had the following: “The fossil record is full of evidence that some primitive gizmo, such as the eyespots on Read More ›
The Fordham Foundation’s highly touted report by Lawrence Lerner, “Good Science, Bad Science: Teaching Evolution in the States,” recommends increased emphasis in America’s public schools on biological evolution–which the report never adequately defines. (1) But the Lerner report fails to point out that students are being systematically misled about the scientific evidence, and it thereby encourages precisely the sort of Read More ›
Near the turn of the last century, scientists contemplated with rising anxiety what might have been termed the Year 1900 Crisis. Embalmed in the mathematical coffins of Newton and Maxwell, the science of matter was undergoing a near-death experience. Except for extrapolating the lordly equations of gravity and electromagnetism, there seemed to be nothing left of any great consequence for Read More ›
The teaching of biology is getting poor grades this year amid criticism of confusing textbooks and lackluster state science standards. Despite the complaints about materials, biology teachers are doing a fine job, said the president-elect of the National Association of Biology Teachers. “Our teachers are just excellent, and they work with what they have,” said Ann Lumsden, professor of biology Read More ›
The Clinton Administration recently issued a new set of rules permitting federally funded research on embryonic stem cells. The guidelines were hailed in many quarters as a victory for “science.” But what kind of science? Astonishingly, some supporters are offering arguments that echo the ideas of the racist scientists who paved the way for the Third Reich. The medical value Read More ›
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