Comments on: Guillermo Gonzalez — The Next Richard Sternberg?

By: And Hector Avalos deserves tenure at ISU? | Uncommon Descent

And Hector Avalos deserves tenure at ISU? | Uncommon Descent — Fri, 25 May 2007 13:05:56 +0000

[...] Avalos conducted a witch hunt of Guillermo Gonzalez back in 2005 (go here). He just posted on PZ MyersÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ blog a response to the Discovery Institute (go here). Here is an interesting quote from it: I may not be an astronomer, but my article, “Heavenly Conflicts: The Bible and Astronomy,” passed the editorial review of Mercury: The Journal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 27 no. 2 (March/April, 1998), pages 20-24. There, I critiqued fine-tuning arguments before I even heard of Gonzalez. [...]

By: Analyysi

Analyysi — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 13:37:54 +0000

Iowa State Daily, 1.9.2005:

“At the request of ISU President Gregory Geoffroy, the ISU Faculty Senate will work to organize a forum to discuss Intelligent Design, a topic that in recent weeks has sparked hot debate on campus.”

“Geoffroy has asked the Faculty Senate to sponsor a forum, said Tanya Zanish-Belcher, Faulty Senate secretary and associate professor of library.”

“Claudia Baldwin, president of the Faculty Senate and associate professor of veterinary clinical sciences, said the date of the forum will be announced this semester.”

http://www.iowastatedaily.com/.....68d658d5da

By: notenure

notenure — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 00:08:15 +0000

I received it along with the emails of our department faculty in the To: field.

By: anteater

anteater — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 20:44:50 +0000

#17,

Just curious, was the petition sent to all faculty or was it a chain-email sort of thing?

By: Srdjan

Srdjan — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 08:51:23 +0000

#10
120 out of 1600. Not bad

By: notenure

notenure — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 03:49:28 +0000

“It would be interesting to see the list of faculty who were given the petition but did not sign.”

I am one of the faculty. The petition was emailed prior to publication to give people a chance to sign.

As a young scientist who is in the intelligent design camp, I did not sign. Am I publicly standing up for Gonzalez? It’s extremely risky to deviate from the norm (which, in my discipline, is Darwinism) before having tenure. Actually, before retirement, if you factor politics into your career strategy.

And as far as an invitation to a “forum”, from what I’ve heard, Avalos loves to tear an opponent apart in public debate.

By: DaveScot

DaveScot — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 02:35:50 +0000

I’d stand up for Gonzalez in a heartbeat. I love a fight and never mince words. Life’s too short to live a lie. Semper fidelis.

By: Jeff Blogworthy.com

Jeff Blogworthy.com — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 19:18:43 +0000

The cost of scientific dissent, part deux

So little time, so many careers to ruin.

“Guillermo Gonzalez is an Assistant Research Professor of Astronomy at Iowa State University, He received his Ph.D. in Astronomy in 1993 from the University of Washington. He has done post-doctoral work at t…

By: Jeff Blogworthy

Jeff Blogworthy — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 19:11:25 +0000

I hate the term “McCarthyism” to the extent that I refuse to use it. McCarthy was right – his detractors were wrong.

By: jasonng

jasonng — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 08:13:10 +0000

“It would be interesting to see the list of faculty who were given the petition but did not sign.”

Nope, they never intended to give a fair debate to this, the 120 set the rules and the rest are expected to follow along. It would be very surprising if someone publicly sided with Gonzalez, I’m sure many are siding with him in secret.