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Censorship at Darwin vs. Design conference
By: Ken Ueda, Contributing Writer
Posted: 4/17/07
Below is a dialogue through e-mail between Ken Ueda, Sarah Levy and Dr. Wise from 4/11/2007 6:43 p.m. - 4/12/2007 5:20 p.m..
Ken to Dr. Wise: Hello Dr. Wise. I hear good things about you among
my peers. You seem to be very well liked. I stopped by your office
earlier today but unfortunately you were not there. I was talking to
Dr. Scalise in the physics department and was wondering (since I hear
no professor plans on debating against the Discovery Institute) if I
were to be able to speak among those 15 minutes that they plan on
giving us. I plan on not debating against the Discovery Institute (as
this would seem to suggest that I am giving them the same epistemic
worth of legitimate science) but giving a speech on the history of
Intelligent Design (such as the Dover Area School District trial). I
fear that many of my peers may actually believe some of the terrible
arguments that the Discovery Institute plans on talking about and since
I know that no professor would have anything to do with the conference,
I would like very much as a student to be able to speak to the public.
I promise it will be in good taste. Thank you.
-Ken Ueda '09
Math, Physics, Philosophy Major
Dr. Wise: Ken,
I don't control who gets invited to the DI's event, so I cannot say
you can do it. You would have to ask the organizer or perhaps Sarah
Levy (slevy@smu.edu) of the Christian Legal Society. Ms Levy invited
the DI to come here. There are some biology students who also may
attend. I will talk with them today.
Best regards,
J. Wise
Ken to Sarah Levy: Howdy. I have heard that the Discovery Institute
has supposedly invited some of the faculty of SMU to debate against
intelligent design. I have also heard from members of the SMU faculty
that none of them plan on attending so I was wondering if I may speak
on their behalf. All I ask is for really a small amount of time on
stage so I may refute their claims and I think that isn't too much to
ask since the conference is 2 days and I'm sure they will have plenty
of time to argue against me.
-Ken Ueda '09
Sarah Levy: Mr. Ueda,
I am not in charge of the schedule of events, but have forwarded
your message on to those who are in hopes that they will contact you
shortly. May I ask if you are a faculty member, or are somehow
connected with the university?
Thank you,
Sarah Levy
Ken to Sarah Levy: I am a student of SMU.
Ken Ueda '09
Anika Smith: Dear Ken,
Sarah Levy sent your question to me this afternoon regarding your
request to debate the speakers for the Darwin vs. Design conference.
It is true that we invited representatives from the anthropology,
biology, and geology departments at SMU to debate our speakers as
fellow scientists and peers. These men are on even footing in
education and experience, and we invited them to help illuminate the
debate between Darwinism and Design. They have declined to engage in
the debate.
These departments were challenged because they had called for the
conference to be removed from campus. We wanted to see them put their
money where their mouth is, so to speak. While I understand your
desire to present your view for 15 minutes, the format does not allow
the time or the patience for the audience to do so. I suggest that you
attend the conference with your questions and really stick it to the
speakers during the Q & A, if you like. Encourage your friends and
anyone else who is concerned (including the professors who chose not to
debate) to do the same, and hopefully the Q & A will be engaging
and provocative.
Whatever you decide to do, I sincerely hope you continue to pursue these questions and wish you well in your education.
Sincerely,
Anika Smith
Ken to Anika Smith: Well that is strange because I believe the
reporter from the Dallas Morning News revealed that the Q&A session
will be pre-screened. If this is true, I wonder how is it even possible
to "really stick it to the speakers" if they are able to dodge the more
important questions. It is not just the faculty who believe that the
conference should have been removed from this campus but the students
as well so I as a student (and I should say at least a somewhat
educated one) should be completely adequate to represent this opinion.
-Ken Ueda '09
Anika Smith did not reply back.
So who's doing the censoring?
About the contributor:
Ken Ueda is a sophomore math, physics and philosophy major. He can be reached at kueda@smu.edu.
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