I am troubled by the resurgence of a fundamentalist attack upon the grand theory of evolution. My school is a Catholic institution within the Bible Belt of the great American mid-west. Religion is integral part of our general education core but so is Science. There are many of us in the academy who do not see a natural conflict between the teachings of faith and Charles Darwin. Who can say with certainty evolution is not part of God’s plan?

Consider this film. It is the story of the Scopes Trial. It reveals the debate as one based upon the dark emotions of man rather than reason. Who knows the mind of God? Remember the Greeks considered pride the most serious of sins. Are we not guilty of hubris when we condemn something we don’t understand?

Personally I do not believe man will ever evolve to the point where he will understand the true nature of God to such an extent that he can become judge and jury over His thoughts and deeds. I do believe we have minds with which to question and learn. Failing to do so is not only a waste of intelligence but a sin against the nature of man. To ban the teaching of evolution is just such a sin.

Educators do not seek to tell the clergy what to preach in their churches. What right do the religious possess to influence the work done inside the classroom? Let’s not limit the thoughts of our children. Rather let’s have faith in their ability to think critically and recognize truth.

I received the following message from my brother in response to sharing the film’s link. “Do you really believe in evolution ? It is greatly overrated. Impossible to prove. Requires great faith to accept. I doubt that it even qualifies as a theory.” This is from a learned surgeon who I have respected since childhood. Yet his words hit me like a slap on the face. How could a man of medicine and science be so unaware of the great advances in computational biology and genomics which reveal close relationships between the various species?

That’s the problem with evolution. Its so slow!

It isn’t to get rich because this sure doesn’t pay. And its not for the humiliation of having our friends point out the typos we missed. Personally I don’t think it makes my writing skills, or lack of them, any better. Connection? Is anybody out there reading this dribble anyway?

I discovered a new television program call 2/8 life on hulu In the first episode our heroin Angela “details life in the real world for her and her soul-searching friends” in her blog. Let’s watch. She might have some answers for us.

Nope. We’re on our own here.

Teaching computer science gives me some great excuses, “I’m experimenting with new technologies.” Or I can claim “I’m doing research on web software.” I can even say “I’m trying new ways of reaching my students!” Impressed?

Oh well.

The truth is its a great way for me to think. Its kinda like talking to yourself free from the fear of the white coats and shrinks. I think I’m safe as long as I don’t respond to my own posts. Then they have me.

Anyway, we all have our own reasons. What’s yours?

“… a computer glitch slowed the registration to a crawl while hundreds of people waited outside…”

We have no idea what the potential impact of our products are going to be. What caused the glitch that held up the evacuation of New Orleans? It could have been a problem in the registration application or the networking software. It might have been a faulty network cable or an improperly setup network switch. Perhaps it was a faulty motherboard. Lack of proper training is another potential cause. It could have been any combination of problems cause by a lack of quality work along the line from manufacturing to data entry.

The message is clear. We must take care in all of our work. Just imagine your product being used in a worst case scenario and put the care into it that your loved ones deserve. Its the ethical thing to do.

Meanwhile let’s all pray for New Orleans and the people of the Gulf Coast.

I just returned from a whirlwind trip to Orangeburg, South Carolina. It is an area rich in history and decorated by lush tropical vegetation. Yes, it was warm for a midwesterner but not as warm as the hospitality I found there.

The purpose of my excursion was to meet the faculty of Claflin University and introduce them to the rich world of podcasts. We hit a few speed bumps along the technological freeway but overcame all obstacles. The bottom line is we met our objectives and I believe we all had a good time.

The most exciting part of the trip though was meeting Dr. Henry N. Tisdale, President of Claflin University. He is a dynamic leader and man of vision. He greeted me with a warm smile, a firm handshake, and an invitation to become part of the Claflin family.

Dr. Tisdale’s vision is to move this outstanding historically black university to premiere status on a global scale. Claflin ranks among the best schools in the south. Its retention rate is inspiring. It completes with the best research universities for research grants. But the truly amazing thing is how good alumnae feel about the school. According to a Carnegie study student 99.8% give it highest marks.

The Claflin Mission

Under girding the mission of Claflin University is commitment to excellence in academics, teaching, research and creative expression.”

Part of the Claflin vision is the inclusion of educational technology in its androgological arsenal. That is way I was invited to speak. My first task in preparing for my talk was to read their strategic plan for information technology. I can honestly say I’ve never seen a better one. The more I read it the more excited I became about my upcoming visit.

My day on Claflin’s campus was impressive. Faculty enthusiastically responded to speakers. They attentively listened and asked excellent questions. They were happy to be back from their summer vacations and showed it. There were graduate students working on their research in the labs and the food service staff prepared a world class meal for the community. Everywhere I went there were people happy and their work and proud of their institution. It’s been a long time since I saw faculty this excited about coming back to work.

I left Orangeburg saturday morning knowing one way or another I will be a part of this family.

Yes there is an energy crisis. No. We cannot wait for the government or industry to help us. We have to do whatever we can to reduce demand for oil in hopes of tipping the supply/demand curve toward easing gas prices. What can we as professors do?

1. We can voluntarily decrease our driving speeds.
2. We can buy more fuel efficient vehicles.
3. We can adjust our thermostats to use less energy.
4. We can make sure our tires are properly inflated.
5. We can keep our cars tuned.
6. We can cancel vacation trips
7. We can carpool
8. We can cancel plans to attend conferences.
9. We can teach online one day per week.
10. We can talk to our students about being wise consumers of energy.
11. We can schedule future courses to meet between monday and thursday.
12. We can vote for candidates who will face the challenge with us instead of profiting from it.

What ideas do you have? Please post them here as comments.

If this book doesn’t touch your heart it must have stopped beating.

Joe Posnanski records his travels with the legendary Buck O’Neil during the last year of O’Neil’s life. He saw the negro leagues from O’Neil’s optimistic perspective and learned just how big one man’s heart can be. I liked the book so much I immediately passed it along to younger baseball fans to read.

Available from amazon.com for $11.86.

Would you believe it!

Here we are at the All Star break and the lovable losers are in first place. Not only are they in first but they have the highest winning season in all of professional baseball. Yes, they are tied at .600 with Los Angeles but that’s an entirely different league. The Cubs also have 8 players on the National League team and 2 players being considered for rookie of the year.

Yes, “anyone can have a bad century” but it looks as though that’s in the past. It really is “next year!”, Dad. Its too bad you aren’t here to see it.

I know this has nothing to do with education or technology but its my blog and I’ll celebrate if I want to. Besides there is a lot of technology in baseball but “there’s no crying.” So put your towel away Cardinals fans.

I’ve been waiting for this all of my life!