(Information comes from my brother in North Dakota)
* “Expelled”—Literally
Last year, Ben Stein (a well-known comic and former presidential speech writer, whom you may recognize from Visine commercials) produced “Expelled,” a movie that draws attention to a pattern in modern academia: Those who suggest, on the basis of scientific data, that the complexity of life suggests intelligent, not random origin, are being refused tenure, and are being excluded from scientific dialog. Ben’s own experience now validates his assertion. He’s a marvelous, engaging speaker, and was scheduled to speak at the University of Vermont commencement this spring. However, because of an e-mail uproar denouncing him for his challenge to evolutionary theory, he has tried to bring calm to the University by declining the invitation.