The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology has moved its 2011 meeting from New Orleans to Utah in protest of Louisiana's decision to allow religious materials in science class, but it's too late for the Experimental Biology meeting to do the same, according to organizers.

The April Experimental Biology meeting--which includes organizations like the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, and the American Physiological Society -- is being held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. Peter Farnham, the director of public affairs for ASBMB, said they briefly toyed with the idea of cancelling the meeting, but had already signed a contract to reserve the space. "This legislation in New Orleans got our attention, the problem is that you sign these contracts seven to 10 years out," he said. SICB had more leeway because they had not yet signed a contract, Farnham said.

Martin Frank, executive director of APS, added that he wasn't sure that a boycott would be the most helpful response. "Boycotts are blunt instruments that don't necessarily resolve the problem," he said. What's more, only 10 to 15 venues in the US can accommodate meetings with as many people as they anticipate--between 12 and 15,000, he said.

Instead, the Experimental Biology meeting plans to hold an open symposium, called the Evolution of Creationism, on April 20th. The group is inviting state legislators and high school science teachers to the free session.

Barbara Forrest, a professor at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, on the board of directors for the National Center for Science Education, and the cofounder of the Louisiana Coalition for Science, which combats the use of creationist and intelligent design materials in schools, said such outreach efforts are well intentioned but unlikely to change the law. "It's a wonderful thing to do, but I don't think it's going to have any influence on the legislators," she said.

To her, the boycott is likely to be more effective. "I think it's the only thing that might get the attention of public officials. Nothing else has worked," she said.

In response to the passage of a Louisiana law allowing creationist textbooks in the classroom, the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology cancelled plans to hold their 2011 meeting in New Orleans. Instead, the group will hold their meeting in Utah, which has enacted laws ensuring that evolution is a mainstay of science curricula.

The law, called the Louisiana Science Education Act, was passed 35-0 in the state senate and 94-3 in the state house in June of 2008. It allows teachers to use supplementary materials in the classroom, which critics fear will include religious materials and textbooks promoting intelligent design.

Richard Satterlie, the head of SICB, sent an open letter to Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, explaining the organization's rationale. So far, Jindal has not responded.


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What neo-creationists get right
[20th June 2008]

Eugenie C. Scott
[27th May 2002]