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False Information on Intelligent Design
Course Given to Board
Dec. 30, 2005
By Patric Hedlund
Ken Hurst, Lead Mentor for Frazier Mountain High School’s award-winning Robotics program, was shocked when he looked at the syllabus for the course on Intelligent Design given to El Tejon Unified School District Board of Trustees on December 14. His name was prominently listed among the speakers who instructor Sharon Lemburg and FMHS Principal Dan Penner said would participate in the intersession class beginning January 3.
The goal of the class, the ETUSD trustees were told by Penner, is “to help students apply critical thinking to questions about evolution and Intelligent Design.” Trustees were told by Lemburg that outside speakers would assist students “to examine the issues from all sides of the debate.” Superintendent John Wight emphasized several times that “this is a philosophy course.”
But concern has surfaced about the syllabus presented to the Board of Trustees. The instructor of the proposed course, Sharon Lemburg, says she wanted “to tell people about the ideas of Intelligent Design,” but that “Everything happened quickly. I had to have a syllabus overnight. I’m not an expert on this subject.” Lemburg is widely appreciated in the community and by this newspaper as the Lady Falcons’ successful soccer coach. She is certified to teach Geography and Health, with a social science degree. She quickly admits she is not certified to teach science.
Hurst is known as a Ph.D. geologist who works at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. His two sons are students at the high school. He volunteersr time to help with the prestigious FMHS Robotics team. Trustee Kitty Jo Nelson said, “I was reassured when I saw Dr. Hurst’s name as one of the speakers.”
In fact, Hurst said in an interview Monday, Dec. 26: “This is false. I declined to be a speaker for the course in a phone conversation with Sharon Lemburg on December 1. On December 5 I delivered a letter by hand to Dan Penner objecting to the course as it is being presented and left a copy to be delivered to Superintendent John Wight.”
The other name listed alongside Hurst’s as an “evolutionist” on the syllabus is Francis Krich, an accidental misspelling (according to Lemburg) of Francis Crick, the Nobel Award winning co-discoverer of the double helix structure of the DNA molecule.
Unfortunately, this scientist’s name--although prestigious--was also placed on the speakers list without consent. Crick will not be speaking at Frazier Mountain High School during the school’s 19 day intersession. The distinguished Dr. Crick died in July 2004 at age 88.
Lemburg said Penner may have handed an old copy of the syllabus to the trustees.
“So, who is speaking with students on behalf of science?” asks Hurst.
During the presentation by Penner and Lemburg December 14, with two reporters from The Mountain Enterprise present, the ETUSD Board of Trustees was told that “the science department of the school is going to help with the course.”
“That is news to me,” said Dr. James Selgrath, one of two science teachers at FMHS: “I have no plans to do that.” Selgrath was interviewed by phone Tuesday, Dec. 27 while on vacation. He teaches Biology and is advisor to the very active Future Farmers of America chapter on campus.
When asked if he would propose a class on Intelligent Design for FMHS he replied: “Never...I have a Ph.D. in reproductive biology with a specialty in genetic engineering. I was on the faculty at Tufts University for seven years. I am a scientist.” He said he was concerned about saying more on the subject publicly until consulting with union attorneys whom he has been trying to reach over the holiday about his freedom to speak on the issue.
Hurst said his main concern is the integrity and reputation of education at Frazier Mountain High School.
“On Dec. 15 I met with [Principal] Dan Penner at 8:30 a.m. At that meeting I went through much of the material explaining why I thought the class was not a good idea as presented, and probably illegal and unconstitutional as well,” Hurst said, although it is unclear whether an elective three week course is relevant to the ruling by a federal court on Dec. 20 which said Intelligent Design should not be required by school board members to be taught in Dover, Pennsylvania schools .
Lemburg met with 11 of the 14 students enrolled in the FMHS class the day before winter break. She distributed a permission slip to be signed by parents notifying them of the controversial nature of the course. Lemburg explained her plans: “Students will watch two videos a day during intersession and write questions which they can direct to our speakers.”
However, while students and faculty were departing for vacation the next day, the three speakers left on the syllabus list who are alive and willing to show up for the class all appear to be employed full time to popularize Intelligent Design or a variation of Creationism, devoted to proving that the book of Genesis in the Bible is a factual account of the origins of the earth and of the plants and animals that inhabit it.
The syllabus lists 24 videos to be shown in the class. When asked who produces and distributes them, Lemburg answered, “I don’t know. They were lent to me by a friend. They are at my house. I haven’t watched them yet.”
The Mountain Enterprise independently researched the video titles. We were able to find the producers of 23 of the 24 titles. One of those is a scientific documentary used to teach geology in accredited universities. The remainder are produced and distributed by advocates of Intelligent Design or Creationism. Many feature Mike Riddle, professor at the Institute for Creation Research, which produces a video series with the label “Christian Answers,” and Mike Austin, whose videos are distributed by Northwest Creation Network.
The parent of another prominent FMHS student (who contacted The Mountain Enterprise with concerns but asked to remain anonymous for her son’s sake) suggests that the “philosophy class to teach critical thinking” appears to have slipped through the school system with little critical thinking applied to its development. She is concerned that the syllabus in its present form lacks balance.
“What if some parent decided to sue?” Hurst pondered, “The plaintiff’s costs in Pennsylvania were a million dollars. The [Dover] school district lost the case. If our district had to pay the winner’s legal fees, consider what that could do to our small district’s budget.
“This undermines the teaching of the science curriculum in our high school,” Hurst continued, “It is an opening to teaching and advocating a set of fundamentalist ideas that is unconstitutional [to bring into the public school classroom]. It is a huge disservice to the kids to present this in this way.” Hurst met personally with Superintendent John Wight on Tuesday, December 27 to discuss the syllabus in detail.
The Mountain Enterprise asked Hurst’s opinion as to whether such a course can be constructed in a balanced manner that would stimulate informed critical thinking, “That is a very good question,” he replied, taking a moment to consider, “I thnk it could be...but not with this syllabus and not with this instructor.”
Next week, The Mountain Enterprise will look further into the question of scholarly academic approaches to considering Creationism and Intelligent Design along with the body of scientific evidence underlying the theory of evolution.
--The Mountain Enterprise student intern Jacob Patton
contributed to research in this report. §
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