Creationism Controversy

To the Editors of The Crimson:

I believe in evolution but take issue with several statements in "Several Professors Testify in Scientific Creation Controversy" (12/1/81). First, how can providing equal time for the teaching of creationism "violate(s)...the academic rights of both teachers and students"? Presenting alternative views should further, not retard, academic freedom. Second, Professor Caroll M. Williams overstated the case when he claimed, "Creationists say that God placed fossil objects on earth in order to deceive mankind." The publications of the Institute for Creation Research (2716 Madison Ave., San Diego, CA 92116), a body of scientists with Ph.D.s in biology, chemistry, and geology, do not base their arguments on divine deception. In fact, spokesman/biochemist Duane T. Gish, author of Evolution? The Fossils Say No (1973), recently debated paleontologist Ashley Montague at Princeton, where Montague made Gish's point for him when he exclaimed. "Of course it (the fossil record) looks like creation!" I myself do not think it necessarily does, but I would like students in Arkansas and elsewhere to have a chance to decide for themselves. Todd Lake '82