Subject: Re: Gathering useful information at Darwin Day events

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 10:47:23 EST

Bob, I am pleased to hear from you.  As the Michigan State Director, American 
Atheists I am very committed to the Darwin Day Celebration.  We have been a 
part of the Darwin Day event since 2002, hold a special field trip to celebrate 
Darwin's birthday.  I am please to send you this announcement of our plans 
for this month:

DARWIN DAY - CELEBRATION OF SCIENCE AND HUMANITY

Join in the fun as Michigan Atheists hold its fourth annual celebration of 
Darwin's birth in preparation of the Darwin Day Project, designed to establish a 
Global Celebration by the year 2009, Darwin's 200th birthday.

WHEN:  SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2005
TIME:  1:30 PM - 'sharp'
WHERE:  MATTHAEI BOTANICAL GARDENS, 1800 N Dixboro Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48105 
(734) 998-7061  http://www.lsa.umich.edu/mbg/ for driving instructions and 
additional information about the Gardens.
RATE:  $5.00 adult, $2.00 student  (5-18)

We will gather at 1:30PM and our guided tour will begin at 2:00PM.  At the 
conclusion of our tour we will be able to tour the outdoor gardens and grounds.

Bradley Sampeer, our Darwin Day coordinator will greet you at 1:30 PM so you 
may register for dinner following our visit at the Gardens.  Our dinner 
gathering will include a Birthday cake in celebration of Darwin's birth.  Location 
for dinner will be announced at the Gardens.

I would appreciate future mail from you regarding Darwin Day Celebration and 
will send you a report and photos of our event this month.

I will not be able to supply you with names or email addresses of my 
membership as we keep this information very private.  However, as you can see, I am in 
touch with my membership and I will certainly encourage them to check out 
your site.  

Thank you for your commitment to this important event.

Arlene-Marie, Michigan State Director American Atheists
[email-masked] (313)388-9594  www.michiganatheists.org

American Atheists is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for 
nonbelievers; works for the total separation of church and state and addresses 
issues of First Amendment public policy.

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 15:53:35 -0800

Bob!
Good to hear from you again -To quote Huxley, How stupid of me not to have
thought of it myself!
Of course it's you.  I don't know why I presumed this was some unknown
other East-Coast based Bob Stephens... At any rate, yes, I'm glad that
you're still
doing so much for Darwin Day and of course I'll be happy to send you
the questions & answers for all the versions I have.
Take care,
-D

David G. Fitzgerald
Broker Representative
Marsh Risk & Insurance Services
One California St.
San Francisco,  CA  94111
phone (415) 743-8442
fax (415) 743-8082
[email-masked]
"Is fearr Gaeilige briste na Bearla cliste"
(It's better to speak broken Irish than perfect English )

---

From: "Julie Fisher" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 17:27:52 -0600

Here is our newsletter's report on our Darwin Day Celebration in San
Antonio:

FACT Celebrates Darwin Day--by Melissa Ozuna

Darwin Day is celebrated internationally on February 12th, Charles Darwin’s
birthday.  It was originally held to provide a forum for lectures and
presentations to oppose creationism and defend science.  It has now evolved
into a celebration of Darwin’s life and his scientific achievements, and
used as an opportunity to educate the public about evolution, science,
scientific principles and methods.  

The Darwin Day celebration hosted by the Hill Country Freethinkers on
December 12, 2005 was an overwhelming success.  With well over 70 FACT
members, Hill Country Freethinkers, UTSA students, and guests in
attendance, the private room at Hoovers' was filled to capacity.  After the
opportunity to meet and greet our fellow members and guests, Oak DeBerg
introduced our two speakers, Dr. Rogers Spotswood, who teaches at St.
Mary’s University and Northwest Vista, and Dr. Thad Bartlett, a professor
at the University of Texas San Antonio.
Dr. Spotswood received his Bachelor's from Vanderbilt University and his
PhD at the University of Washington in Seattle.  In addition to teaching,
Dr. Spotswood spent a great deal of time as an analyst for the Air Force
and for the Defense Intelligence Agency beginning in 1977.  He is currently
an Associate Faculty Member teaching Asian Security Issues at St. Mary’s
University.
Dr. Spotswood spoke to our group regarding “Conflict in the Classroom”.  He
discussed the effects that the rise in religious fundamentalism in the
1980’s has had on education, and in particular his method of teaching.  In
the 1960’s he was able to teach evolution and the origins of the universe
in his world history courses, as a means to illustrate how brief human
history is in the overall scheme of things, with little to no objections
from students.  However, in the 1990’s he began to encounter resistance
from some of his students.  Being a student of the enlightenment, he felt
tolerance was the best means to deal with students that adamantly rejected
the science of Evolution or the Big Bang Theory.
Over time he, as well as many others in the education community, began
shying away from teaching the Science of Evolution (based on evidence) in
an effort to tolerate students’ religious beliefs (based on a presumption
of truth of the Bible).  Dr. Spotswood fears that this trend is dangerous
for students and society as a whole.   “Science, in general, is under
attack by religious fundamentalists and we need to start fighting back. 
Tolerance is not paying off,” proclaimed Dr. Spotswood.  He thinks that
teachers need to begin teaching evolution in secondary schools at the
least.  He also feels that the Enlightenment needs to be stressed and the
Great Awakening down played in American History textbooks.  
Dr. Spotswood concluded by reminding us that, “The Constitution is based
upon Enlightenment issues, not Christian issues”.  This is definitely
something that the religious fundamentalists need to be reminded of before
they hijack our country through infiltration and corruption of our
educational system.
Next, we were honored to have Dr. Thad Bartlett speak to us on Human
Evolution.  Dr. Bartlett received his Bachelor's in Anthropology at
Grinnell College and his PhD at Washington University.  He has spent much
of his career studying the white-handed gibbon (one of which can be seen at
the San Antonio Zoo), in Cameroon.  Currently, he is a professor of
Anthropology at the University of Texas San Antonio.
Dr. Bartlett shared a number of articles he found published within the last
year regarding Paleoanthropology (the study of human origins based on
fossil records) in relation to his own field of study, Biological
Anthropology.  Among the articles were "Hard Heads, a Key to survival”,
“Hobbit-like Human Ancestors Found in Asia”, and “Running, Key to Human
Evolution”. 
“Hard Heads a Key to Survival”, published February 13, 2004 presented the
theory that Homo Erectus, an Asian Hominid dated to 2 million years ago,
developed a thick skull due to ritualized sexual habits. Their cranial
vault, housing a brain half the size of the modern human, was very thick
and heavy, which became an asset for withstanding repeated clubbings to the
head - part of an exhibition to attract members of the opposite sex. 
Undoubtedly, this would be males wooing females.
The National Geographic article “Hobbit-like Human Ancestors Found in
Asia”, discussed Homo Floresiensis, a modern Hominid dated to only 18,000
years ago.  Homo Floresiensis stood approximately 3 feet tall and had the
brain size of a modern chimp.  According to Dr. Bartlett, their small
stature could be attributed to the fact that they inhabited an isolated
island.  It has been found that when isolated, small animals can grow very
big, and big animals can grow very small, due to a difference in the
predator/prey ratio.
The news story entitled, “Running, Key to Human Evolution” presents a
soft-tissue issue - habitual bipedalism leads to large butt muscles.  The
evolution of walking upright is due to a gradual progression in hunting
technique.  Evidence of this trait is found by studying hominid skeletons,
particularly barrel ribs, the “S” shaped spine (adapted to handle the
change in the center of gravity), the way the spine connects to the skull,
the shape of the pelvis, and the development of biped “cushy” joints.
In addition to the above-mentioned articles, Dr. Bartlett discussed basic
principals of evolution.  He concluded his lecture by going back to Dr.
Spotswood’s discussion of conflict in the classroom.  Dr. Bartlett feels
that “Evolution is not a debate, it is as clear as any science”.  He
teaches evolution in his classroom just as a Biology teacher would teach
Biology or a Physics teacher would teach Physics.  
After the presentations, both speakers were presented with a gift of brass
bookends depicting a “scholarly primate”, a fitting token of our
appreciation.  Discussion continued among the many attendees, with an
informal question and answer session proceeding far past our allotted time
at Hoovers'.
We were honored to have enlightening and informative guest speakers, as
well as a pleasant and interactive crowd.  It is hoped that all will join
us in the years to come.  This year’s event was a success and enjoyed by
many.  If you could not make it – well, there is always next year!

> [Original Message]
> From: Dr. R. Stephens <[email-masked]>
> To: <[email-masked]>
> Date: 2/6/2005 11:34:44 PM
> Subject: Gathering useful information at Darwin Day events
>
> Dear Julie Fisher,
>
> We at DarwinDay.org are still discovering how best to do things, often
> with helpul suggestions from supportive people like you.  We recently
> realized that if you collect names of interested persons at your
> Darwin Day celebrations, and send us a copy, then we can communicate
> with them in the future.  We can announce your future events and keep
> people inspired about this movement to honor Science and Humanity.
>
> Attached is a Microsoft Word format file (you can use OpenOffice or
> StarOffice as well) of a sign up sheet to use at your Darwin Day event.
> If you print some copies of this sheet (each copy will hold 20 names)
> and place them where people can sign them, we will know how to contact
> these interested people next year.
>
> We would also appreciate it if you sent us brief reports of your event,
> with an estimate of how many people attended.  If you have a few
> digitized photographs that you would like to share, you can attach them
> to an email.  If anyone has a transcript of an inspiring talk, debate,
> or sermon, we'd appreciate that too.  Basically we would like to
> encourage other people next year to join this important and enjoyable
> movement.
>
> Thank you for your kind assistance.
>
> Sincerely Yours,
>
> Robert J. (Bob) Stephens, Ph. D.
> Chairman of the Board, Darwin Day Celebration, a Nonprofit Corp.
> http://darwinday.org
>
> PS If you do not want to receive additional e-mail from Darwin Day
> Celebration, simply reply to this e-mail at [email-masked].
>
>
>