« Kansas Evolves Back
Main
Just Who Were These People? »
May 10, 2005
Now New York
I want to write about something else: archaeology, Ugarit, Paleoanthropology, anything. I'd even like to publish my next installment in Marketing Biology. But crazy stuff keeps coming up. Now, Daniel Hooker of the New York State Assembly has introduced a major piece of nonsense called A08036 or Assembly Bill 8036 for long. This bill, if approved, would require, yes, require the teaching of creationism (you know how I hate to say ID) alongside evolution in grades K-12 in New York State Public Schools.
The bill is short and to the point but it does have several disturbing provisions that go beyond beyond its main objective. One of the more dastardly is the following,
Such instruction shall be provided by or under the direct supervision of regular classroom teachers, provided, however, that such instruction may be provided by any other agency, public or private. [emphasis added]
I'm not a lawyer but this seems to open the door for someone other than a fully qualified teacher to provide this instruction, say, for example, a clergyman or a church group. Dangerous stuff.
Daniel L. Hooker represents the 127th Assemble District covering part or all of Chenango, Columbia, Delaware, Greene, Otsego, Schoharie, and Ulster Counties. In many ways, he is the all American Boy. This from his official biography,
A former Senior Vice President of Farm Family Holdings, Inc., Mr. Hooker served as Director of Member Services for New York Farm Bureau Member Services, Inc. prior to seeking a seat in the Assembly. He also served as a Councilman in the Town of Nelson in Madison County.Mr. Hooker spent his first two years of college at the Virginia Military Institute, where he was ranking Cadet. He is a graduate of Cornell University and is currently completing his MBA at the College of Saint Rose in Albany.
Among his community affiliations, Mr. Hooker is a member of the Schoharie County Farm Bureau as well as the AMVETS of Schoharie County. He is a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Marine Corps League, and the Athens Post of the American Legion. He is also an Eagle Scout and currently serves on the Rip Van Winkle Council Boy Scout Executive Board. Mr. Hooker is a member of the Irish Cultural Center in East Durham, and belongs to the Ancient Order of Hibernians. He belongs to St. Mary of the Snow Church in Saugerties and to the Knights of Columbus in Oneonta. A former volunteer fireman, he was also honored by the New York State Police for saving a woman’s life.
He even volunteered for active duty with the New York Naval Militia after 9/11.
Assemblyman Hooker is also the sponsor of AB 8073 to allow the display of the Ten Commandments in public buildings in New York, AB 7916 which "Declassifies sexual orientation from civil right status" and AB 7723 which "defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife and prohibits same-sex marriages from being solemnized." He is a busy guy having sponsored or co-sponsored over two hundred bills in his first session.
I'm sure Cornell is very proud of Daniel Hooker, particularly now that he has introduced AB 8036.
Checkout PZ Myers' justifiable rant about Hooker's efforts to harm the children of New York.
This bill will likely die a rapid death but what a waste of time and energy.
Via National Center for Science Education whose write-up should be read.
Posted by Duane Smith at May 10, 2005 8:58 PM | Read more on Evolution |
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.telecomtally.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1155