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

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links
Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com
Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com

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.

ENERGY TECH Tiny High-Frequency Cryocooler Is Cold And Efficient Scientists Convert Heat To Power Using Organic Molecules Wild Grass Could Hold Key To Clean Fuels Of The Future For US Global Warming Is Now Hot	CIVIL NUCLEAR Swedish nuclear reactor shut down Britain Forced To Rethink Nuclear Power Plans Russia Set To Launch First Unit Of NPP In India In 2008 Second Romanian Reactor Loaded With Nuclear Fuel
BLUE SKY Global Assimilation Of Ionospheric Measurements Model Goes Operational Airborne Dust Causes Ripple Effect on Climate Far Away U.S. wood-fired boilers cause concern Climate Change Affecting Outermost Atmosphere Of Earth	WOOD PILE Poland Threatens Fragile Forest Despite EU Warning Malawi Ropes In Army To Save Its Forests Afghan Women Grow Trees To Lift Their Own Lives US Hails Borneo Rainforest Deal
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	CAR TECH Posh Areas Cough Up As London Expands Traffic Toll Zone Robot-driven cars on roads by 2030 Talking Urinals Discourage Drunken Driving Fuel-Efficient Car Gap Growing In The US As Choice Strangled By Regulation
AEROSPACE Can UABC Take Russian Aircraft-Makers Out Of Spin Superjet To Be Tested For Strength Anger As Britons Face Air Tax Hike Bats In Flight Reveal Unexpected Aerodynamics	NUCLEAR SPACE Could NASA Get To Pluto Faster? Space Expert Says Yes - By Thinking Nuclear NASA plans to send new robot to Jupiter Los Alamos Hopes To Lead New Era Of Nuclear Space Tranportion With Jovian Mission Boeing Selects Leader for Nuclear Space Systems Program

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights 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 SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement