# Texas Board of Education may certify Creationist-based "Science" Master's Degrees **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 18, 2007, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493 "2007-12-18T19:48:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493/41 "2007-12-19T16:18:13Z")
[QUOTE=pravnik] Say, remember about a month ago when you [promised to cut back on that](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9160827&highlight=Texas#post9160827)? Now would be a excellent time. Those of us who live here, like it, and want to see the place enter the 21st century hear news like this and bang our head against the wall, because it’s more than a minor annoyance or news item about some far off land, it’s a serious threat to the credibilty and efficacy of our educational sytem. Enough with adding the insult to injury, okay? [/QUOTE] I did promise to ease up, didn’t I? I will try harder to lighten up and I do know there are good people in Texas. Its just that they don’t make the news while the bible thumpers do. I hope you do more to reverse that situation than just banging your head against the wall. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493/42 "2007-12-19T17:00:53Z")
[QUOTE=LouisB] I did promise to ease up, didn’t I? I will try harder to lighten up and I do know there are good people in Texas. Its just that they don’t make the news while the bible thumpers do. I hope you do more to reverse that situation than just banging your head against the wall. [/QUOTE] Of course I do, but it’s like plugging up a firehose sometimes, so sorry if I get snippy. I get infuriated with my fellow Texans who do things like pass anti-gay marriage acts into the Texas Constitution, when it’s nothing but a transparent do-nothing act to rally the base behind the current governor to beat his opponent in the Republican primaries (see my rants in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6723116#post6723116)). At the same time, though, a lot of the “what do you expect, it’s Texas” reactions from the rest of the world are kneejerk and even based on incorrect information, as in [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=432231&page=3&pp=50). It gets old getting it from both within and without. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493/43 "2007-12-19T17:05:05Z")
Having worked in the semiconductor business pretty much all my adult life, I can assure everyone that Texas has plenty of technology-based jobs and is quite competitive. It would be interesting to see how it ranks in terms of engineers/scientists per capita with other states-- I’d be very surprised if it wasn’t in the top half at least. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493/44 "2007-12-19T17:26:46Z")
> [@Lamar Mundane](#): > > I think we should outsource science education to China and India. Maybe this way, by the time we get to College, we’ll be able to understand our TA’s. In all seriousness, I think there’s an excellent argument to be made for teaching Chinese in elementary school these days. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493/45 "2007-12-19T17:35:33Z")
There is still a ray of hope left here. > [@](#): > > Paredes also raised the possibility that the board might approve the program with a name other than “science education.” If there isn’t “sufficient conventional content,” he said, “maybe it’s a matter of locating this program in its proper disciplinary realm.” For now, Paredes stressed that no final decisions have been made. If they do change the name to something like “creationist education”, and have it in the theology department, then I have no more problem with it being accredited than I do with any other theological degree. If the stick with they term “science”, however… ug. ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493/46 "2007-12-19T17:38:12Z")
[QUOTE=pravnik] Of course I do, but it’s like plugging up a firehose sometimes, so sorry if I get snippy. I get infuriated with my fellow Texans who do things like pass anti-gay marriage acts into the Texas Constitution, when it’s nothing but a transparent do-nothing act to rally the base behind the current governor to beat his opponent in the Republican primaries (see my rants in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6723116#post6723116)). At the same time, though, a lot of the “what do you expect, it’s Texas” reactions from the rest of the world are kneejerk and even based on incorrect information, as in [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=432231&page=3&pp=50). It gets old getting it from both within and without. [/QUOTE] Just for the record, I was trying to avoid exactly this. What worries me about this is the influence Texas has over textbooks. Yes, it’s “just” an advisory board’s recommendation and no reason to panic… …yet. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493/47 "2007-12-19T17:40:55Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Having worked in the semiconductor business pretty much all my adult life, I can assure everyone that Texas has plenty of technology-based jobs and is quite competitive. It would be interesting to see how it ranks in terms of engineers/scientists per capita with other states-- I’d be very surprised if it wasn’t in the top half at least. [/QUOTE] Per capita? I don’t know. But as far as sheer numbers, [yes](http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf05301/), it’s right up there. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493/48 "2007-12-19T18:33:50Z")
[QUOTE=bannerrefugee] I work for a graduate school with 36 PhD students (medical research). There are 26 Indians, and 4 Chinese students, and only 6 students from the US (all Texans), in spite of a pretty extensive effort to recruit Texans. It gives a whole new meaning to cowboys and Indians. The ratio’s not much different for the faculty. So to an extent I agree with you. Never the less there are not enough people like our grad students or faculty to change the over bearing religious culture in this part of the state. [/QUOTE] Houston’s not considered as “groovy” as Austin, but we’re a pretty diverse crowd down here. The [Texas Freedom Network](http://www.tfn.org/) is fighting this sort of idiocy. And they are looking for members! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493/49 "2007-12-19T20:02:35Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Having worked in the semiconductor business pretty much all my adult life, I can assure everyone that Texas has plenty of technology-based jobs and is quite competitive. It would be interesting to see how it ranks in terms of engineers/scientists per capita with other states-- I’d be very surprised if it wasn’t in the top half at least. [/QUOTE] But how many are home-grown and how many moved there? I can think of two native Texans among the many people I know working there, and you might throw in one guy from Oklahoma. Not that California is so different. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493/50 "2007-12-19T20:20:52Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] The current governor of Texas, [Rick Perry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Perry), has a degree in Animal Science (not sure exactly what that entails), QUOTE] It’s definitely a real science degree as opposed to a creationism one: (Perry went to A&M, BTW) [http://animalscience.tamu.edu/main/academics.html](http://animalscience.tamu.edu/main/academics.html) [http://animalscience.tamu.edu/main/about.html](http://animalscience.tamu.edu/main/about.html) ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493/51 "2007-12-19T20:28:18Z")
**FINALLY** the path has been opened for me to finally become: **Joe Merijeek, M.D. - Reflexology**. That six week correspondence course would finally be worth it! -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493/52 "2008-04-23T19:25:43Z")
Update: [Client Challenge](http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/042408dntexcreationscience2.917bf873.html) (might require registration). > [@](#): > > AUSTIN – A bid by the Dallas-based Institute for Creation Research to train future science teachers was flatly rejected by Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board members Wednesday. ---
**Author:** ![LilShieste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@LilShieste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilShieste)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493/53 "2008-04-23T19:35:37Z")
[QUOTE=Turek] Update: [Client Challenge](http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/042408dntexcreationscience2.917bf873.html) (might require registration). > [@](#): > > AUSTIN – A bid by the Dallas-based Institute for Creation Research to train future science teachers was flatly rejected by Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board members Wednesday. [/QUOTE] God bless those heathens! ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493/54 "2008-04-23T20:09:15Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] The current governor of Texas, [Rick Perry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Perry), has a degree in Animal Science (not sure exactly what that entails)… [/QUOTE] Animal Science is simply the old Animal Husbandry course of study relabeled because people were sick and tired about the jokes about ‘being caught practicing it…’ I have known a number of AnSci graduates who went on to Vet Med, and others to human Med. It’s a real course of study, and can be pretty rigorous. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493/55 "2008-04-23T20:09:39Z")
[QUOTE=pravnik] Say, remember about a month ago when you [promised to cut back on that](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9160827&highlight=Texas#post9160827)? Now would be a excellent time. Those of us who live here, like it, and want to see the place enter the 21st century hear news like this and bang our head against the wall, because it’s more than a minor annoyance or news item about some far off land, it’s a serious threat to the credibilty and efficacy of our educational sytem. Enough with adding the insult to injury, okay? [/QUOTE] Did you not notice HIS location field? The Klan has posted billboards within 50 miles of us recently. And _our_ Bush didn’t get kicked upstairs to the Presidency. We suffer too, y’know. ---
**Author:** ![fatnugly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@fatnugly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fatnugly)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493/56 "2008-04-24T01:40:23Z")
A little research. Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board rejects bid of Instute for Creation Research to offer on-line masteres degree in science. 23 April 2008 Dallas Morning News. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493/57 "2008-04-24T03:32:10Z")
[QUOTE=fatnugly] A little research. Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board rejects bid of Instute for Creation Research to offer on-line masteres degree in science. 23 April 2008 Dallas Morning News. [/QUOTE] I sure like your username. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493/58 "2008-04-24T12:15:47Z")
[QUOTE=fatnugly] A little research. Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board rejects bid of Instute for Creation Research to offer on-line masteres degree in science. 23 April 2008 Dallas Morning News. [/QUOTE] See post #52 for a direct link to the story. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2008, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493/59 "2008-04-24T13:55:34Z")
[Texas proposed instructional video](http://religiousfreaks.com/2006/07/09/evolution-vs-creationism-family-guy-style/) Um, yeah, it makes sense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-board-of-education-may-certify-creationist-based-science-masters-degrees/430493.md?page=2)