St Petersburg Court Rejects Schoolgirl Suit Over Darwinism

FLORA AND FAUNA

"Darwin only presented a hypothesis that has not been proved by him or anyone else," Maria Shraiber's father said. "Therefore, we think that when schools impose this theory on children as the only scientific option, they violate the human right of free choice." Yelena Mamedova, deputy headmaster at the school, earlier said that Maria did not know biology well enough, even though she was a good student. "Her grades were never very good in biology. I don't think she knows Darwin's theory very well," Mamedova said, adding that teachers had never discussed Maria's lawsuit.

by Staff Writers
St. Petersburg (RIA Novosti) Feb 22, 2007
A St. Petersburg court rejected Wednesday a lawsuit against Russia's education authorities over the compulsory teaching of evolution in schools. Maria Shraiber, a high school girl from Russia's second city, and her father, Kirill Shraiber have said their suit does not seek to abolish the teaching of Darwinism in schools, which was official dogma in Soviet times, but to give schoolchildren the right to study other theories regarding the origins of life.

According to the schoolgirl's father, Shraiber had left school and the country, citing pressure from teachers and anonymous threats ever since the suit was filed in July last year.

"Masha used to be a good student, but after we filed the suit, she received six Ds on her quarterly report card," he said. "Of course, we expected some confrontation, but not like this."

Mr Shraiber said Maria had left for the Dominican Republic where she had already found a job at a real estate and travel agency.

The Shraiber family said they hoped the litigation would alter the curriculum and result in new textbooks that did not offer only one explanation for the origins of life.

"Darwin only presented a hypothesis that has not been proved by him or anyone else," Shraiber said. "Therefore, we think that when schools impose this theory on children as the only scientific option, they violate the human right of free choice."

Yelena Mamedova, deputy headmaster at the school, earlier said that Maria did not know biology well enough, even though she was a good student.

"Her grades were never very good in biology. I don't think she knows Darwin's theory very well," Mamedova said, adding that teachers had never discussed Maria's lawsuit.

Mamedova said Maria took her school records home with her late last year. "After the court hearings opened, Masha rarely turned up at school, and she has not explained her departure at all," she said.

The Russian lawsuit echoes a string of similar disputes in the United States over the teaching of Creationism alongside Darwinism in the school curriculum.

Source: RIA Novosti

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS
Solar Energy Solutions
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ...

Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

FLORA AND FAUNA

Rat Like Senses A Whisker Away From Humans

Western Bank, UK (SPX) Feb 21, 2007
The sophisticated way in which rats use their whiskers in their surrounding environments show significant parallels with how humans use their fingertips, according to new research carried out at the University of Sheffield. Rats are tactile animals that use their facial whiskers as their primary sense. These whiskers are swept back and forth, or `whisked� many times each second.

CIVIL NUCLEAR Swedish nuclear reactor shut down Russia Pins Energy Hopes On New Nuclear Monopoly Britain Forced To Rethink Nuclear Power Plans Russia Set To Launch First Unit Of NPP In India In 2008	CLIMATE SCIENCE Russia, Kyoto Protocol And Climate Change In Chilly Washington Global Warming Gets New Airing Blair Wants New Climate Change Deal Before Exit US Offered Lucrative Lure Of Global Carbon Trading
FARM NEWS European Ministers Uphold Hungary's Right To Ban GMO Crop Ban Subsidies To Deep-Sea Fishing Bandits Roses Are Red But Chocolate Can Be Green Architectural Plan Revealed Of Doomsday Arctic Seed Vault	FLORA AND FAUNA St Petersburg Court Rejects Schoolgirl Suit Over Darwinism Rat Like Senses A Whisker Away From Humans Antarctic Warming To Reduce Animals At Base Of Ecosystem As Penguin Shift South Researchers Untangle Nature Of Regressive Evolution In Cavefish
ROCKET SCIENCE NASA Solicits Ideas For Constellation Ground Work New Space Technology Provides Less Shake Rattle And Roll DemoFlight 2 Launch Update SpaceDev Conducts Hot-Fire Test Of Hybrid Upper Stage Rocket Motor	NUCLEAR SPACE
EARTH OBSERVATION Sandstorm Over The Mediterranean 3D Upstart Eyes Google Earth With Helicopter ESA Celebrates 15 Years Of Near-Real Time Data Delivery In Earth Observation Gascom To Launch 4 Smotr Low-Orbit Remote Sensing Satellites	TECH SPACE Introducing The Coolest Spacecraft In The Universe Colorado To Develop Innovative Insulation For Space Raytheon Wins Contract For Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Radar Lockheed Martin Upgrade To Extend Life Of Romanian Radars 15 To 20 Years

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement