The hearing is on:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/05/05/evolution.hearings.reut/index.html

Evolution hearings open in Kansas  May 5, 2005 Posted: 4:05 PM EDT (2005
GMT)

TOPEKA, Kansas (Reuters) -- A six-day courtroom-style debate opened
Thursday in Kansas over what children should be taught in schools about the
origin of life -- was it natural evolution or did God create the world?

The hearings, complete with opposing attorneys and a long list of
witnesses, were arranged amid efforts by some Christian groups in Kansas
and nationally to reverse the domination of evolutionary theory in the
nation's schools.

William Harris, a medical researcher and co-founder of a Kansas group
called the Intelligent Design Network, posed the core question about life's
beginnings before mapping out why he and other Christians want changes in
school curriculum.

School science classes are teaching children that life evolved naturally
and randomly, Harris said, arguing that this was in conflict with Biblical
teachings that God created life.

"They are offering an answer that may be in conflict with religious views,"
Harris said in opening the debate. "Part of our overall goal is to remove
the bias against religion that is currently in schools. This is a
scientific controversy that has powerful religious implications."

Conservative groups are trying to convince state education officials to
change guidelines for how evolution theory is taught in science classes at
a time when Kansas education authorities are producing new science teaching
guidelines.

The hearings -- organized by a committee of the Kansas Board of Education --
 were taking place 80 years after the so-called "Monkey Trial" of John
Scopes, a Tennessee biology teacher who was found guilty of illegally
teaching evolution.

There is renewed debate over evolution in more than a dozen states and a
resurgence across the nation in the influence of religious conservatives,
who played an important part in the reelection of Republican President Bush
last year.

Teachers and preachers
The Kansas hearing drew a large crowd that included students, teachers and
preachers. National and local scientific leaders for the most part
boycotted the event.

Pedro Irigonegaray, a lawyer defending evolution in the debate, said he
planned to call no witnesses, though he did cross-examine witnesses,
sometimes combatively.

Harris acknowledged under questioning that there were many people who saw
no incompatibility between religious beliefs that God created life and
evolutionary teachings about how life evolved through natural processes.

Outside the hearing room, outraged scientists challenged the validity of
the hearings. "This is a showcase trial," said Jack Krebs, vice president
for Kansas Citizens for Science. "They have hijacked science and education."

Ken Schmitz, a University of Missouri/Kansas City chemistry professor
attending the hearing said he worried that the attack on evolution could
confuse students and endanger their ability to excel in science.

"They are not going to understand this," said Schmitz.

Changes to the curriculum proposed by the conservatives would not require
inclusion of Biblical beliefs in science classes, also
called "creationism" -- the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1987 that
creationism could not be taught in public schools alongside evolution.

But they would involve questioning the principles of evolution as
explanations for the origins of life, the universe and the genetic code. As
well, teachers would be encouraged to discuss with students "alternative
explanations."

Kansas has been struggling with the issue for years, capturing worldwide
attention in 1999 when the state school board voted to downplay Charles
Darwin's theory of evolution in science classes.

Subsequent elections altered the membership of the board and led to renewed
backing for evolution instruction in 2001. But elections last year gave
conservatives a 6-4 majority and the board is now producing new science
teaching guidelines.

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