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The Critic's Resource on AntiEvolution

NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2016/10/28

(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)

Dear friends of NCSE,

Kudos for Jason R. Wiles. And news of the death of Jack T. Chick.

TWOFOLD CONGRATULATIONS TO JASON R. WILES

NCSE is pleased to congratulate Jason R. Wiles on receiving the
Evolution Education Award for 2016 from the National Association of
Biology Teachers and the Excellence in Teaching Award for 2016 from
the Association of College and University Biology Educators.

The NABT award, sponsored by BEACON and BSCS, "recognizes innovative
classroom teachers and their efforts to promote the accurate
understanding of biological evolution with the larger community,"
while the ACUBE award "is offered annually to honor faculty who both
practice and promote effective, innovative teaching in the biology
classroom."

A longtime member of NCSE and a contributor to Reports of the NCSE
(for example, his "Is Evolution Arkansas's Hidden Curriculum?"
published in 2005), Wiles is Associate Professor of Biology at
Syracuse University.

For information about the awards, visit:
http://www.nabt.org/websites/institution/index.php?p=132#award3 
http://www.acube.org/teaching-award/ 

And for "Is Evolution Arkansas's Hidden Curriculum?" visit:
https://ncse.com/library-resource/is-evolution-arkansass-hidden-curriculum 

JACK T. CHICK DIES

Jack T. Chick, the author and publisher of numerous fundamentalist
cartoon tracts, died on October 23, 2016, at the age of 92, according
to the Facebook page of Chick Tracts. Writing in Los Angeles magazine
in 2003, Robert Ito suggested, "With more than 500 million copies of
his 142 books in print, including translations in more than 100
languages, Chick is the world's most published living author." But he
was also hugely controversial, due to his uninhibited indictment of
what he regarded as contemporary social evils -- including abortion,
Dungeons and Dragons, homosexuality, the occult, and rock music -- and
his equally uninhibited conspiracy theorizing, centered on but not
limited to the Catholic Church.

Evolution was frequently in Chick's sights. Most famous was his tract
"Big Daddy?" (originally published in 1970), which featured a
clean-cut college student confounding his dogmatic professor on the
topic of evolution by presenting "amazing findings which are rarely
made public" showing that evolution is a "big lie." Later editions of
the tract credited the flamboyant young-earth creationist Kent Hovind
for his assistance. According to Randy Moore, writing in Reports of
the NCSE in 2013, "Big Daddy?" is "the most widely distributed
anti-evolution publication in history." Also among Chick's
antievolution efforts are "Earthman" (1990), which contends, "top
scientists denounce evolution as a bad joke"; "In the Beginning"
(2000), according to which "There was NOTHING prehistoric" (emphasis
in original); "Apes, Lies, and Ms.  Henn" (2004), featuring a teacher
dogmatically presenting evolution to primary school students; and two
full-length comic books, The Ark (1976), according to which the
remains of Noah's Ark are on Mount Ararat, and Primal Man? (1977),
which assails human evolution in particular.

Chick was born in Los Angeles on April 13, 1924. In 1942, he won a
two-year scholarship at the Pasadena Playhouse School of Theater. His
studies were interrupted by his service in the U.S. Army; he served
three years in the Pacific theater and rose to the rank of sergeant.
He graduated from the Pasadena Playhouse School in 1948. In the same
year, while on his honeymoon, he was converted to evangelical
Christianity by listening to a revival broadcast. Eager to spread the
gospel but too shy for public speaking, he found the solution while
listening to a discussion of comic books incorporating Communist
propaganda in China. He established Chick Publications in 1970.

For the notice of Chick's death at the Facebook page of Chick Tracts, visit:
https://www.facebook.com/chicktracts/photos/a.437041710057.374027.436937560057/10157595360455058/?type=1&theater 

For Randy Moore's article on Chick in Reports of the NCSE (PDF), visit:
http://reports.ncse.com/index.php/rncse/article/view/223/319 

Thanks for reading. And don't forget to visit NCSE's website --
http://ncse.com -- where you can always find the latest news on 
evolution and climate education and threats to them.

--
Sincerely,

Glenn Branch
Deputy Director
National Center for Science Education, Inc.
1904 Franklin Street, Suite 600
Oakland CA 94612-2922
510-601-7203
fax 510-788-7971
branch@ncse.com 
http://ncse.com 

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http://ncse.com/blog 

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