Section A·Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Tuesday, November 23, 1999
Berkeley professor debates evolution
Instructor denounces Hemenway opinion
By Jim O'Malley Special to the Kansan
Phillip Johnson, a leading critic of Darwinism, is now also a critic of Chancellor Robert Hemenway.
Last month in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Hemenway called for better science education as the remedy for the State Board of Education's evolution decision.
Johnson, a law professor at Berkeley,
responded to Hemenway in the Nov. 12
issue of the Chronicle. Johnson is an advocate of intelligent design — the idea that species did not develop by genetic mutation and natural selection, but are intelligently designed by a creator.
The evidence supporting Darwinism is weak, Johnson wrote. And he said the theory is a controversial one with serious religious implications.
Johnson rejected Hemenway's contention that science does not conflict with religion.
"Of course there is a tension between God and Darwin," Johnson wrote. "Why else would people who wish to mock the
Christian fish symbol choose as their counter-symbol a fish with feet?*
He argued that the way evolution is taught is not science education but
indoctrination in a materialistic belief system.
Johnson wrote that he disapproved of removing anything from the curriculum.
"The truly educational approach is to teach the contro-
The evolution debate
versay," he wrote. "Real education requires that students be exposed to dissenting views in their strongest form, rather than merely to some caricature
written by a scientific materialist."
Johnson concluded by warning Hemenway that if scientific and educational elites wage a war of conquest against religion, that they would be underestimating their enemy.
Although Johnson said in 1992 that Biblical young-earth creationists were misguided, according to a 1997 Christianity Today article, he has since worked out a cautious truce with them.
Johnson declined to comment on whether biblical creationism was a scientific theory that should be taught.
"I do not believe that biblical creationism can be described as a failure or as immoral," he told Christianity Today.
Edited by Kelly Harvey
Friends create magazine
Two KU students release new literary publication
By Derek Prater writer kansan.com Kansan staff writer
A new literary magazine released last week is the product of ambition, experimentation and a friendship between two KU students.
Neotrope is a literary journal dedicated exclusively to experimental fiction and drama, published by Broken Boulder Press. The press, a non-profit, tax-exempt organization, was founded in 1996 by Paul Silvia, Fresno, Calif., graduate student.
Silvia said he had kicked the idea for Neotrope around for awhile, but it really took off when his friend Adam Powell moved to Lawrence in 1998.
Silvia and Powell, New Castle, Del., junior, have been friends since they met several years ago at the University of Southern California.
"We do really seem to feed off each other and inspire each other." Powell said.
Silvia said he and Powell shared an interest in writing, in particular, experimental writing. Neotrope is their attempt to draw more readers to an area that they feel is not receiving as much attention as it should.
"There really is some very cool experimental fiction being done, but there aren't
any magazines out there dedicated to avant-garde fiction and drama," Silvia said.
Powell said he did not know of any other national publication that focused primarily on experimental fiction and drama.
Todd Bash, a Los Angeles-area resident who wrote a play in the first edition of Neotrope titled Das Nachtgespenst, said there was unquestionably a lack of outlets for experimental writing. Bash said he was encouraged by enterprises such as the one Silvia and Powell were undertaking.
Silvia said he and Powell received lots of works for consideration for the first issue of Neotrope.
They strived for diversity, but there was a common theme in what they were looking for. Silvia said.
"Our ideal story is really something so bizarre that when you see it, you get this startle response," he said.
Powell agrees.
"We want something that attempts to inspire new feelings in the reader that you've never felt before," he said.
Locally, the magazine is available at Borders Books Music & Cafe, 700 New Hampshire St.; The Raven Bookstore, 8 E. 7th St.; and Love Garden Sounds/Arts Multiplex, 936 1/2 Massachusetts St., carried Neotrope.
Silvia and Powell said they hoped to have the next edition of Neotrope out by early next September.
Edited by Jessie Meyer
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Job service seeks University aid
By Todd Halstead writer@kansan.com
A new online job-placement service has decided the University of Kansas is where to turn for help.
The Information and Telecommunication Technology Center at the University has entered into a three-year contract with DiscoverMe LLC, a Web-based job placement firm located in Prairie Village. Under the agreement, the center would create new software that would enable DiscoverMe, located at www.discoverme.com, to expand its services.
Carol Rudder, CEO of DiscoverMe, said she started the company in 1988 with eight employees and expected to reach 18 employees this December.
She said the center would be paid a flat rate of $700,000 for the new software.
Rudder, who had bad experiences with jobs through hiring agencies, said she saw a way to improve the business.
software and Internet needs.
DiscoverMe is the first online job placement firm to use personality profiling to match job seekers with a company's top performers. The center previously was procured by DiscoverMe to have its engineers and technology experts create the company's unique
"The first version of software made service possible," Rudder said. "The new software will take us to the next level as far as speed."
Rudder said although it was economically efficient, she also chose to work with the center because of its creativity in finding the best solutions.
"We had a vision, but they were responsible for the development," Rudder said.
The company began its services this year with no company clients and 5,000 job seekers registered at its Web site. It has grown to six company clients and more than 20,000 job seekers.
Rudder said projected 1999 sales of less than $500,000 would reach $260 million by 2004.
Mark Widowik. The center's director for applied technology, said although the center had helped Sprint create key advanced network technology, it focused on assisting smaller companies with new technology.
"We are in the process of raising $12 million for marketing," Rudder said. "We work with large companies and expect to be huge."
"Part of our mission is to help start budding new businesses get off the ground through a collaborative effort." Wdowik said.
- Edited by Jamie Knodel
Dangerous drug gaining popularity
By Amber Stuever
By Amber Steuer
writer @kansan.com
Kansas staff write
Elizabeth, a University of Kansas senior, described the trend drug as euphoric. Most, however, call it pure ecstasy.
However, the drug—which runs $10 to $30 per dose — exchanges an intense high for a dangerous gamble with the user's health.
The official name of the drug that has increased in popularity in Lawrence is N-methyl-3, 4-methylenedioxyphetamine, or MDMA. The hallucinogenic amphetamine, known as ecstasy, can make users feel that their insight is boosted and their communication aided without the unpredictable turns of LSD and other hallucinogens.
"It's prevalent in this town," Elizabeth said. "But just because there's a lot of it doesn't mean you shouldn't be careful with it."
Sgt. George Wheeler of the Lawrence Police Department said that police had seen some of the illegal drug.
The danger of ecstasy comes from its mystery makeup, he said.
"The problem with all those synthesized types of drugs is you don't know what you're getting," Wheeler said. "The purity of the ingredients, and certainly the purity of the end product is detrimental."
The drug combines a hallucinogen similar to LSD with an amphetamine similar to speed, said Julie Francis, Watkins Memorial Health Center health educator. Because the drug can be synthesized anywhere, there's no exact recipe. Users have no idea of the intensity of a given pill.
Small doses generally cause feelings of increased confidence and relaxed arousal.
Elizabeth said ecstasy caused the skin to feel increasingly sensitive. She said it did not, however, make users want sex more than usual.
High doses of ecstasy can cause anxiety, delusions, paranoia and heart problems. Irregular heartbeats have caused death in users with previously undiagnosed heart disease. Recent studies also have shown that the drug may have long-term effects.
The drug also can be addictive, Francis said.
The effects of ecstasy start 30 minutes after use and last for four to six hours. However, Elizabeth said ecstasy was a hard drug and that its crash was more severe.
Edited by Jamie Knodel
Buy/Sell New & Used • Upgrade 1403 W 23rd St. • 841-4611