Re: paleonet anti-evolutionism

["Dr. Chris Baldwin" <baldwin@xxxxxxxx>]

While I fully endorse what Roger has to recommend - lousy references for 
lousy scientists - you do need to be careful of the places that these 
pre-meds are going (don't ya just love 'em? Don't ya wish we had 
pre-geols hiding copies of Blatt, Middleton and Murray or Darwin in the 
Domestic Science section of the library stacks?!!). My daughter this 
last year went through the mill of medical school interviews here in 
Texas and she was appalled by the number who either asked or commented 
about pointedly religious issues (along with gender issues as well, of 
course.)

This being said we do have to be a tad more sophisticated than the 
opposition - particularly in these times and (at least for me here in 
the south) in these places. To adopt the sort of stridency and direct 
approach of poor Dr. Dini is to invite all sorts of time consuming 
problems. No matter how much I agree with Dini I think that the more 
indirect approach of Roger Kaesler will have the greatest effect.

Chris Baldwin




Kaesler, Roger L wrote:

>Dear colleagues,
>
>I have always taken the view that if my letters of recommendation are to be
>taken seriously, I need to have some damning ones out there in addition to
>those that extol the virtues of the applicant.  Thus, whereas it seems
>perfectly appropriate to base one's recommendation on the student's grasp of
>and ability to apply the fundamental principles of science, it is, I
>believe, inappropriate to refuse to write a letter for such a student.  To
>do so risks that such students will be admitted inadvertently to graduate
>school as sort of stealth paleontologists.  We all know what dreadful damage
>such people do when they start spouting their creationist nonsense after
>they have received credentials that suggest that they should know better.
>
>I suggest, therefore, that one interview students before writing a letter of
>recommendation, but if the student is unwilling to apply basic principles of
>science-be they gravitational theory, atomic theory, plate-tectonic theory,
>or evolutionary theory-then the letter of recommendation should indicate the
>student's unsuitability for further study.
>
>Best wishes,
>
>Roger
>
>Roger L. Kaesler
>Paleontological Institute-University of Kansas
>Lindley Hall
>1475 Jayhawk Blvd., Room 121
>Lawrence, Kansas 66045-7613
>(785) 864-3338 = telephone
>(785) 864-5276 = FAX
>kaesler@ku.edu = e-mail
>http://www.ukans.edu/~paleo/
>
>It is our job as editors to find meaning where none was intended.
>