> [Original Message] > From: What's New <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: Akira Kawasaki <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: 6/24/2005 12:34:13 PM Subject: WHAT'S NEW Friday, June 24, 2005
WHAT'S NEW Robert L. Park Friday, 24 Jun 05 Washington, DC NOTICE: WN COMES OF AGE; IT WAS BORN 21 YEARS AGO, 29 JUN 84. The 1 Jul 05 issue will be a little different, but you might not even notice: The University of Maryland Department of Physics will now assume responsibility for sending it out. The Department of Physics has always been supportive of WN, even making it part of Bob Park's teaching assignment. WN will maintain its eclectic mixture of news and opinion, and will continue to be assembled by the same What's New team in the Washington Office of the APS. The APS Home Page, of course, will still have a link to What's New. 1. VOODOO SCIENCE: PENN MED SEVERS TIES TO TAI SOPHIA INSTITUTE. You may recall that WN reported a month ago that the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the oldest medical school in the nation, had formed a partnership with the Tai Sophia Institute to offer a master's degree in Complementary and Alternative Medicine http://www.bobpark.org/WN05/wn051305.html. Friends of Penn Med are relieved to learn that it has quietly severed ties to Tai Sophia. 2. THE LAW: WERE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS A "FAITH-BASED INITIATIVE"? With the Supreme Court about to announce a decision on displaying the ten commandments, Christian groups launch a get-out-the-prayer campaign. It will be hailed as a test of the power of prayer if they win. Monday, on the floor of the House, Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN) accused Democrats of being anti-Christian during a debate over what Democrats described as "coercive and abusive religious proselytizing" by evangelical Christians at the Air Force Academy. That violated House collegiality rules, halting business for an hour until Hostettler withdrew the remarks. On Wednesday, an Air Force panel investigating the religious climate at the Academy found that faculty members had indeed used their positions to promote their Christian beliefs, but "they had the best intentions," according to Lt. Gen. Brady who led the panel. 3. INTELLIGENT DESIGN: STILL DEBATING THE NON-DEBATE IN KANSAS. The front lines have shifted to Dover, PA where a federal judge will consider a lawsuit charging the School Board with violating the separation of church and state by requiring that children hear about Intelligent Design in science class. However, the Discovery Institute is still getting mileage out of the refusal of scientists to engage in a rigged debate in Kansas. This time it's Dr. John West, a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, who seems to be in charge of explaining that ID is science. West teaches Political Science at Seattle Pacific University, where "we ground everything we do on the gospel of Jesus Christ." So much for science. 4. THE SPORTS EDGE: TO BE A STAR, YOU GOTTA DO WHAT THE STARS DO. Copper bracelets 30 years ago. Magnets 10years ago. Now it's the titanium necklace, which regulates your body's electric currents. 5. JACK KILBY: AWARDED THE 2000 NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS, DEAD AT 81. His integrated circuit wrote the future more finely than anyone ever dared imagine. The smallest became the most powerful. THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND. Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the University of Maryland, but they should be. --- Archives of What's New can be found at http://www.bobpark.org WhatÂ’s New is moving to a different listserver and our subscription process has changed. To change your subscription status please visit this link: http://listserv.umd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=bobparks-whatsnew&A=1
