Intelligent Design . . . coming to a classroom near you?

Keltie's friend Droo has a lot of posts about the new wave coming to some US public school science classes . . . the theory of 'intelligent design'. One particular post is on the oxymoron of teaching intelligent design along with the scientific method . . . see link below . . .

http://exitsection.blogspot.com/2005/09/on-intelligent-design-and-scientific.html

Here's my theory on teaching intelligent design and the scientific method . . . if the students are really encouraged to think for themselves and apply the scientific method, and not subject to a lot of brainwashing elsewhere, they should be fine. (Eventually, after they get over the confusion, and probably become more bitter and disappointed than your home bred agnostic).

Basically, the holes in many of the religious theories, or particularly some exposure to religious fanatics alone will convince kids or teens that something smells fishy about many fundamentalist teachings, forcing them to work out their own beliefs. If they are in the least bit contemplative, they will be disappointed in one of the systems, and when they get more logical than wishful, you can guess which way they will lean.

My parents didn't try to convince my brother that there was no God . . . they would just point out the holes in logic of some of the religious stories he brought home from school. They would explain how some of his assumptions about God differed from most Christian teachings (he was a pretty nice kid with an optimistic imagination) and now he is probably more jaded than someone who was taught to be atheist. Noone at home told him there was no God, but that has been his opinion since he reached the age of abstract thought, pimples and b.o. It wasn't that long after he stopped beleiving in Santa Claus, I'd expect.

With me, they did actually argue that there was no God. I am a milder version of agnostic/atheist than my dad or my brother, who are definitely Bitter Atheists, borne of closer association and earnest consideration of religion.

About the kids in the class that have already been brainwashed elsewhere . . . well, they were brainwashed. They weren't going to believe in the standard scientific version anyways, right?

The Bird Deterrent Saga Part II: The Final Frontier

In the last entry I discussed the mill site bird infestation of previous years, and the ill-fated attempt to scare them off pest birds with a trained falcon. Though the falcon left in a huff of steam, with its owner in determined pursuit, the mill bird deterrent team was even more determined to control the rampant bird population.

A bird deterrent professional detailed the pest bird issue for me. “Part of the unique problem with pigeons at the mill site is the relationship they had with the seagulls. The seagulls feed on shell fish, and actually brought whole clams back to the taller building roofs. There they broke them open by dropping the clams from high in the sky onto the roof . . . hence the desire to deter seagulls from active roof work zones! “The seagull eats the inside of the shell fish, and the pigeons eat broken bits of sea shell so they can digest calcium and form a solution called ‘breeding milk’, which they feed to their young.

Because the seagulls leave the shells on the roof and not at the beach, the pigeons don’t have far to go to get what they need. This makes the area in and around the various mill operations very attractive to the pigeons: good shelter from predators and food close by.”

With the Pest Bird Management Plan, all this has been changed. There is now a detailed a plan for complete nesting area cleanup and the installment of bird deterrent devices. Cleanup included shell and fibrous debris removal and also the drainage of all standing water on building roofs. The consultant company installed and maintains the bird deterrents, which include devices such as audio and visual scare devices, as well as physical deterrents and barriers such as netting to protect covered ledges.

The pest bird plan “moved the seagulls off, cleaned the roof and forced the pigeons out of the protective roosts. This made the pigeons go farther a field for food and shelter, now they are more vulnerable to predators. We now have more raptor sightings and confirmed kills than ever before. Our work has helped to restore the natural balance and given nature a chance to keep the pigeon population from getting too large.”

The Bird Deterrent Saga, part 1: Trial and Error

Remember the persistent bird nesting problems on the mill site? Though stories like the canny pigeon that nailed three utility workers (with one white shot!) are always good for a laugh, bird droppings and bird infestations are potential sources of bacteria and other illnesses for exposed workers. In all seriousness, a“Pigeon Dropping Cleanup” policy was invoked, but a more permanent solution was necessary.

Since the installation of the Pest Bird Management Plan, the pest bird problem has been greatly reduced, especially on the roof of the paper machines. Supporters of the Management Plan, confirm this. “Although there are pockets of resistance from some of the birds, I believe the program has been a huge success. A couple of years ago there were over a hundred pairs of seagulls nesting on the roofs of the paper machines, whereas last year there were none. This was accomplished without harming a single bird.” Suppoerter X also commented that “as far as the pigeons go (technically Rock Doves) there are far fewer of them on site than in the past”.

So, how did this come about? Many solutions were researched, and more than one was given a trial run. An especially interesting trial included a trained falcon. Professional Z of Bird Deterrent Company Z, a rival but appreciative bird deterrent consulting company, happily recounted the tale.

“It goes like this . . . indeed the falconer had some concerns that his bird would be challenged by the noise and steam clouds around the mill. Falcons are used in the control of pigeons exclusively and the pigeon is a very adaptive flyer. Everyone should take the time to stop and watch these birds and their acrobatics. So, the falcon is released to ‘fly at the pigeons’ . . . but as luck would have it, one of the mills many steam clouds erupted and so thoroughly spooked the poor falcon that it took off for horizon.

“In the sport of Falconry, this most noble bird of prey is at the top of the pyramid of raptors. As such it is a very valuable bird to the owners, and it takes many years of training and care to train a raptor to fly at prey and return. Part of that training is the "imprinting" that is done on the human-raised baby falcon. Since the human provides the food from moment the baby bird begins to eat, the baby birds are trained to believe that the human is their parent bird. This ‘imprinting’. . . is why a mature falcon or raptor (there is a difference) will return to the glove of its owner.

“So back to our frightened falcon which has done a ‘horizon job’ at Crofton. The falcons are generally outfitted with radio transmitters, which enable the owners to track them. This done because hunting falcons fly very high and are often out of sight. The radio transmitter allows the owner to drive along the ground, staying in the general area of the bird as it flies. In the case of the scared falcon, that bird went to ground several hours later. Because he was in unfamiliar territory and was not too hungry, he just sat in a high tree getting reoriented. After a time a falcon will get hungry and begin to hunt. The bird’s owner needed to find the falcon before it begins to successfully feed itself. The one fear the owner of any raptor or falcon has is that a trained and imprinted bird could go ‘wild’ if it were to begin to feed itself, therefore replacing the human as its primary food source. With the aid of the radio transmitter, the bird was found in time . . . three days later.”

Needless to say, the falconer was not eager to repeat the experience. Another solution to the mill site pest birds would have to be found.