Notes from the Field
by Zachary Miner

As the newest member of the Center for Inquiry's staff, I have spent a good deal of my time getting acquainted with the organization and its various branches and programs, learning about the history and future plans, and further immersing myself in the issues surrounding reason, science and freethought on college campuses. So it was with a lot of excitement that I took my first fieldwork trip to speak to campus and community groups about the Center for Inquiry and its various programs of public education and advocacy and how they can get involved in helping us advance our common agenda. The members of our affiliated group at Ohio State University, where I first spoke, were very friendly and interested in my talk on religion on campus (about the proper use of the Christian and Hebrew Bible in education) and asked several great questions afterwards. The same thing happened at my next talk - a meeting of PA Non-believers in York, PA. I spoke on "New Religious Threats to American Freedoms," highlighting current movements on the far right that seek to "take back the country from the godless and immoral secular humanists." All in all, it was great to get to meet people who are so committed to our aims of promoting reason, science and freedom of inquiry and secular ethical alternatives to the reigning mythologies of the day. I especially appreciated hearing everyone's informed opinions on important issues such as the Newdow Pledge case, battles over Ten Commandments monuments, and the current presidential race.

I am very excited to be a part of the "inquiry movement" on college campuses at this time in history. The revolutionary/progressive spirit of the 1960s and 1970s -- the optimism that people could make the world a better place in the here and now through education -- seemed to founder somewhat under the Reagan and Bush administrations and remained dormant during the Clinton years, due in part to Generation X's having been affected by the spirit of the times. But with the election debacle of 2000, the religiously motivated attacks of 9/11, and the subsequent attacks by right-wing idealogues on civil liberties, I think that American citizens are beginning to sit up and take notice in a way they hadn't done for years. People seem to be starting to realize that the future of the country really does rest in the hands of the people, and it pays to stand up and make your voice heard. This is a theme which can be seen reflected in the rise of Howard Dean from a second-tier virtual unknown to a genuine presidential contender, as well as the millions of dollars raised by the home-grown campaign of the Internet upstart MoveOn.org.

We've had many exiting events over the last few months. In addition to my talks in Ohio and upcoming talks throughout Tennessee and Nebraska, DJ Grothe, director of Campus and Community Programs recently gave a campus-wide talk at the College of Charleston on the proper role of religion in education. He highlighted current controversies such as the intelligent design movement, school prayer, religious movements that seek to replace the classical liberal arts curriculum, and controversies surrounding student activities fees, to 500 students, primarily from the College of Charleston's political science and religious studies departments. He also focused on practical strategies for engaging in the current debate over the role of religion in public education. CFI's Austin Dacey will be debating influential Christian apologist William Lane Craig later this month at Purdue University, and there are many other upcoming events, all of which will be listed on our website, www.campusinquirer.org. Also, we're very pleased to announce that six student-only scholarships will be available for the upcoming Science and Ethics conference in Toronto (see the official announcement below).

So, this is just to say that I am very excited to be working through the Center for Inquiry and its various public education initiatives to help focus the energy present on college campuses today toward the goals of defending the scientific outlook and exploring its implications for the sacred cows in society. If you're interested in helping us with our goals of promoting freethought and the scientific outlook in our educational system (the goal of CFI's campus outreach program), visit our website at www.campusinquirer.org and join us, for free! You'll get free organizing and educational materials in the mail, and be informed about how you can help out on your campus. And please do not hesitate to e-mail me at zminer@centerforinquiry.net or call me at the Center For Inquiry at 716-636-7571, ext. 315. I look forward to hearing your input and to your getting more involved.

Best wishes!

Zachary Miner
Campus Organizer
Center for Inquiry
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Grants Available for Upcoming CFI Conference

CFA is pleased to announce that it will make available six grants of $350 each for students who wish to attend the Center for Inquiry's upcoming conference in Toronto entitled, Science and Ethics: How Scientific Inquiry Helps Frame Value Judgments being held May 13th through the 16th. The grants are intended to help defray the costs of attending the conference, such as travel expenses, registration and hotel accommodations.

This conference will challenge the assumption that science and the scientific method cannot help frame rational moral judgment. Conference participants will help bring to the fore a renewed challenge to integrate ethics and the sciences. Speakers include Susan Jacoby, Vern Bullough, I. Louis Horowitz, John Novak, Owen Flanagan, Paul Kurtz, Barry Beyerstein, Bernard Patten, David B. Resnik, Christopher W. DiCarlo, Bill Rottschaefer, Sanal Edamaruku, Donald B. Calne, Wallace Sampson, Oliver Curry, Jillian Scott McIntosh, and James Alcock.

Conference grants will be awarded to current CFA student members, and preference will be given to those who would be unable to attend the conference without financial assistance from CFA. Students wishing to apply for a CFA conference grant should send an e-mail with the following information to DJ Grothe at djgrothe@centerforinquiry.net: