CFI Metro Moves to Manhattan

The Center for Inquiry is pleased to announce that its Metro New York headquarters have moved from Montclair, New Jersey to 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112, by leasing a suite of offices at that address, effective February 3, 2003.

The Center for Inquiry is a transnational nonprofit 501C3 organization. Its general purpose is to defend reason, science and freedom of inquiry in all areas of human endeavor. It encourages evidence-based inquiry into science, pseudo-science, medicine and health, religion, ethics, secularism and society. Through research, education, publishing, and social services, it seeks to present affirmative alternatives based on scientific naturalism.

The Center for Inquiry is the home a dozen international magazines and newsletters, including The Skeptical Inquirer (sponsored by the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal) and Free Inquiry (for the Council for Secular Humanism). It has several hundred community groups associated with its various organizations worldwide, including those of the Campus Freethought Alliance and Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS).

The Center for Inquiry main headquarters are in Amherst, New York. It maintains branches in Los Angeles, Tampa, New York City, and various countries of the world, including Germany, France, Russia, Peru, Nepal, and Nigeria, among others.

Paul Kurtz, Chairman of the Center for Inquiry and Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo, stated that the decision to relocate to Rockefeller Center was made because "New York City remains the intellectual, financial and media capital of the world." "Moreover," he said, "our thousands of readers and supporters in the greater New York area have enthusiastically supported a move to Manhattan. The MetroNY center will continue to host conferences and seminars in New Jersey, Westchester, Long Island, and surrounding counties in the tri-state area," he added.

"At a time when a flight from reason seems to have overtaken large sectors of the public fascinated with paranormal and spiritual solutions, the vulgarization and banality of values, and an exaggerated emphasis on violence as the solution to problems, we wish to keep alive the spirit of dissenting rational inquiry and to recommend ethical and social alternatives based on scientific inquiry, often muted in America today. Many distinguished scientists, Nobel Prize Laureates, scholars and authors are associated with the work of the Centers," said Kurtz.

Chairman of the Metro New York Center for Inquiry is Austin Dacey, Ph.D. Barry Seidman is Executive Director of Community Outreach, and Arthur Urrows is Senior Development Officer.

Visit the Center for Inquiry website at www.centerforinquiry.net


CFI Florida Hosts First Conference

Location: Tampa Bay, Florida
Date: January 31, 2003

The new Center for Inquiry ­ Florida (CFI Florida) will host its inaugural conference, titled "The Evolution of Humanism: entering a New Epoch," Friday, February 7th, through Sunday, February 9th, at the Radisson Hotel & Conference Center in St. Petersburg, Florida. Center for Inquiry chairman Dr. Paul Kurtz is the keynote speaker with a talk titled: "Two Scenarios for the Future: Theocratic Plutocracy versus Secular Democracy." Other speakers and topics include: University of Tennessee professor Massimo Pigliucci on Intelligent design vs. Evolution; Australian skeptic and tax consultant Richard Lead on the history and evolution of financial scams; and sex education author Deborah Roffman on "Thinking Outside Pandora's Box: Real Talk to Kids about Sex."

The Radisson Hotel & Conference Center is located at 12600 Roosevelt Blvd.

Pre-registration ended on December 28, 2002, but walk-ins are welcome throughout the conference. Registration begins at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The cost is $129.00 at the registration desk. For more information call 727-209-2902 or go online to www.centerforinquiry.net/flevents.htm.

The Center for Inquiry ­ Florida is a branch center of the Center for Inquiry (CFI), a 501(c)(3) educational, non-profit, international organization which promotes science, reason, and free inquiry in all areas of human endeavor. CFI ­ Florida was founded to educate, serve, and provide human enrichment and camaraderie through a variety of programs which promote
the discussion and defense of rational approaches to education, politics, society, and life in general. Many of the topics at the
conference highlight and articulate these aspirations.

"Our goal for this conference is to introduce our CFI branch to Floridians and giving them an idea of what we do and what we are all about," says CFI Florida Executive Director Toni Van Pelt. "In particular, we hope to reach those who are interested in protecting rational, secular values and a scientific outlook. People who, until now, didn't have a like-minded regional organization to get involved in."

Among the other guest presenters are artist and cartoonist, Don Addis, Young Skeptics executive director Amanda Chesworth, magician and bunco investigator Robert Steiner, Center for Inquiry International Director Bill Cooke, and nationally recognized lecturer and author on woman's rights history Sally Roesch Wagner.

For more information, contact:

Toni Van Pelt
727.209.2902
Fax: 727.393.8052
tvanpelt@cfiflorida.org