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You are here: Home / Politics / Republican Stupidity / It Could be Just a Mistake

It Could be Just a Mistake

by John Cole|  August 22, 20062:23 pm| 20 Comments

This post is in: Republican Stupidity, Science & Technology

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But I am over giving these guys the benefit of the doubt:

Like a gap in the fossil record, evolutionary biology is missing from a list of majors that the U.S. Department of Education has deemed eligible for a new federal grant program designed to reward students majoring in engineering, mathematics, science, or certain foreign languages.

That absence apparently indicates that students in the evolutionary sciences do not qualify for the grants, and some observers are wondering whether the omission was deliberate.

***

The awards in question — known as Smart Grants, for the National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent program — were created by Congress this year, with strong support from the president. The grants are worth up to $4,000 and are awarded in addition to Pell grants.

Recipients must be college juniors or seniors enrolled in one of the technical fields of study that the Department of Education has deemed eligible for funds. Many different topics, as varied as astronomy and Arabic, qualify.

But evolutionary biology is absent.

The article then goes on to cite a professor who refuses to state that this was a deliberate absence:

Lawrence M. Krauss, a physics professor at Case Western Reserve University and an outspoken defender of evolutionary sciences, noted the subject’s absence from the list in a letter to the department.

“I’m not making any accusations,” Mr. Krauss said in an interview on Monday. “I’m concerned it’s not there.”

Mr. Krauss said he sent the letter to the department when he learned of the absence, which he called “a serious omission.”

I will go on record stating it is no accident- after watching these guys play politics with countless other issues near and dear to the fringe of the religious right, I am not going say this was just a mistake. It is what it is- more proof the lunatics are in charge.

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20Comments

  1. 1.

    Pb

    August 22, 2006 at 2:35 pm

    Hmm, I wonder what else is missing.

    Exercise Physiology, maybe? It looks like very little else got left out, actually.

  2. 2.

    Tom in Texas

    August 22, 2006 at 2:38 pm

    PB;

    Still, the absence is conspicuous: the only major with evolution in its title was one of only three among the physical sciences that appears to have been deleted from the list. For unknown reasons, “behavioral sciences” and “exercise psychology” are also absent.

  3. 3.

    Tom in Texas

    August 22, 2006 at 2:40 pm

    And John, you stole my post :). You are entirely correct, IMO. An administration that hires college dropouts to regulate NASA’s official policy obviously is willing to play political games to placate their base when it comes to science.

  4. 4.

    Pb

    August 22, 2006 at 2:42 pm

    Tom in Texas,

    Amazing–that’s some journalism right there! Usually my time is better served looking at the primary sources instead. :)

  5. 5.

    Zifnab

    August 22, 2006 at 2:44 pm

    Indeed, the word “evolution” is not entirely absent from the registry of eligible majors. It is still listed as a subtopic under other fields eligible for Smart grants. For instance, paleontology and genetics, both of which draw on evolutionary theories, list “evolution” as a potential area of focus for students in those subjects. There is also an “other” category, under which studies of evolution might fall.

    They can’t just not fund evolutionary research, after all. I’m sure there will be a number of generous grants to students studying at the Discovery Institute and other Evolutionary Research Institutes.

  6. 6.

    John S.

    August 22, 2006 at 2:58 pm

    It is what it is- more proof the lunatics are in charge.

    Or if you like, The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum.

    It’s a pretty catchy tune.

  7. 7.

    Tom in Texas

    August 22, 2006 at 3:03 pm

    Related tangenitally to this thread (and also concerning computer games, for those with such tendencies):

    There is a video game coming out sometime this fall called Spore. Designed by Will Wright, the creator of Sim City, the game is a microstudy of evolution. You create a species and control its entire evolutionary history, from single celled organisms to the ability to walk on land, fight other species and develop cultures. You have total control over the physical appearance of the species. Eventually, as you control your own planet and develop the ability to travel in space, you encounter other planets, inhabited by other species designed by other human players.

    My question is: Doesn’t this violate Christian Doctrine and merit condemnation? Isn’t this as damnable as Grand Theft Auto? Now, I know the average parent will be a lot more likely to approve of this game than of some gory blood and guts style game like The LaHaye inspired Left Behind, so it seems unlikely that any protest against it would gain traction, but shouldn’t concerned Christian Senators like Santorum/Brownback/ et al save us from these exploitative video game designers?

  8. 8.

    Pb

    August 22, 2006 at 3:07 pm

    Tom in Texas,

    Eventually, as you control your own planet and develop the ability to travel in space, you encounter other planets, inhabited by other species designed by other human players.

    See? Intelligent design! I knew it!

  9. 9.

    Zifnab

    August 22, 2006 at 3:44 pm

    http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=200

    Wright to Life

  10. 10.

    Jon H

    August 22, 2006 at 3:47 pm

    Bush administration policy: Hear no evil, See no evil, Fund no evil, Speak evil.

  11. 11.

    lard lad

    August 22, 2006 at 4:07 pm

    Where’s scs? This thread will never hit 100 posts without a Creation Science supporter. Just think of all the “evidence” we can refute for the twentieth time.

  12. 12.

    fwiffo

    August 22, 2006 at 4:23 pm

    If you take a look at the PDF linked in the article, it’s really damning. There’s this big long list of majors, and right where evolutionary biology would fall in numerical order, there’s literally a blank line, like somebody hit it with white-out or something. It’s not like there are blank lines all over the list, it’s just that one spot. It’s hilarious. Take a look if you didn’t RTA.

    The funny part is, the scheme to delete evolution must have been concieved by some real rube. They’re too stupid to realize that evolution is the foundation of all modern biology, so the other grant recipients in other biology majors are obviously going to be dealing with it. Not to mention, their crackpot theology is also debunked by other fields included in the list, e.g. physics, astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, geology, etc.

  13. 13.

    Andrew

    August 22, 2006 at 4:30 pm

    I think this scheme was probably cooked up by a hardcore athiest/Democrat/evolutionary biologist and then leaked.

    It’s so stupid and plausible, it is guaranteed to make Bush look like a moron.

  14. 14.

    Tsulagi

    August 22, 2006 at 4:32 pm

    I will go on record stating it is no accident- after watching these guys play politics…

    Yep. I’d also be curious to see where the grant money is disbursed. Of course, no possibility that a disproportionate amount would go to students enrolled in colleges and universities in red states. They wouldn’t play reward politics like that.

    You know, like with the Homeland Security grants to red states that need to vitally protect their petting zoos and balls of string from evildoers. Statue of Liberty? Nah, no need, she’s just a French chick who represents those dirty frenchy liberties that get in the way of fighting the GSAVE. You’re on your own, babe.

  15. 15.

    Pb

    August 22, 2006 at 4:33 pm

    fwiffo,

    right where evolutionary biology would fall in numerical order, there’s literally a blank line, like somebody hit it with white-out or something

    Yep, I noticed the same thing, it does look pretty blatant.

  16. 16.

    John S.

    August 22, 2006 at 5:22 pm

    You know, like with the Homeland Security grants to red states that need to vitally protect their petting zoos and balls of string from evildoers.

    Potential Terrorist Target #1: Indiana with over 8,591 potential targets.

    You better recognize!

  17. 17.

    Jon H

    August 22, 2006 at 7:01 pm

    “Indiana with over 8,591 potential targets”

    And that’s just the mistresses of the GOP officials!

  18. 18.

    Andrew

    August 22, 2006 at 7:26 pm

    Well, at least they could have penciled in Phrenology or something over evolution.

  19. 19.

    KCinDC

    August 22, 2006 at 11:37 pm

    It’s so blatant that I wonder if someone deliberately did it so obviously to call attention to it and get press coverage of the omission. Perhaps there are underlings ashamed of the policies being passed down from on high and doing a little deniable undermining.

  20. 20.

    Jon H

    August 23, 2006 at 10:43 pm

    Pb writes: “Exercise Physiology, maybe?”

    Could lead to dancing.

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