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1ACLU to address “intelligent design”
Stephen Harvey, one of the lead attorneys on the historic Dover, PA intelligent design case, will be the keynote speaker at the ACLU Northwest Ohio Chapter’s annual dinner and meeting on Thursday, May 18 at the Toledo Club, 235 14th Street, Toledo.
The chapter will also honor Toledo resident and long-time community activist Rob Salem for his years of important contributions to the advocacy and understanding of civil liberties.
The event begins at 6:00 p.m. with a cash bar. Dinner will be served at 7:00 p.m., followed by presentation of awards, election of board members, and Harvey’s presentation at 8:00 p.m. Reservations must be made in advance. Costs are $40.00 per person for dinner and program, $10.00 per person for program only. No tickets are issued for the event, reservations are held at the door. Reservations may be made online at www.acluohio.org, or by calling 216/472-2200.
“It is vitally important that kids in American schools are given the best possible education. Intelligent design promoted as science denies core understandings of the scientific process and deprives children from learning basic scientific notions,” said Harvey.
In February 2006, the ACLU of Ohio sent a letter to the Toledo Public Schools demanding they cease allowing staff to teach intelligent design, after a news article in the Toledo Blade provided evidence that some teachers were teaching principles of intelligent design. The Ohio State Board of Education later dropped the teaching of intelligent design from their approved curriculum.
Salem is a clinical professor at the University of Toledo College of Law and serves on the executive board of the ACLU of Ohio. Recently, Salem and his students have developed projects to address the problems faced by some of the most vulnerable groups in our society—lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth; prisoners; and people with HIV/AIDS. Salem is a frequent speaker on civil rights issues.
ACLU Northwest Ohio Chapter President Linda See said, “We are so pleased to honor Rob for his countless hours of work and his immeasurable dedication to civil liberties and the principles of equality and human dignity.
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