Below is a dialogue through e-mail between Ken Ueda, Sarah Levy and Dr. Wise from 4/11/2007 6:43 p.m. – 4/12/2007 5:20 p.m..

Ken to Dr. Wise: Hello Dr. Wise. I hear good things about you among my peers. You seem to be very well liked. I stopped by your office earlier today but unfortunately you were not there. I was talking to Dr. Scalise in the physics department and was wondering (since I hear no professor plans on debating against the Discovery Institute) if I were to be able to speak among those 15 minutes that they plan on giving us. I plan on not debating against the Discovery Institute (as this would seem to suggest that I am giving them the same epistemic worth of legitimate science) but giving a speech on the history of Intelligent Design (such as the Dover Area School District trial). I fear that many of my peers may actually believe some of the terrible arguments that the Discovery Institute plans on talking about and since I know that no professor would have anything to do with the conference, I would like very much as a student to be able to speak to the public. I promise it will be in good taste. Thank you.

-Ken Ueda ’09

Math, Physics, Philosophy Major

Dr. Wise: Ken,

I don’t control who gets invited to the DI’s event, so I cannot say you can do it. You would have to ask the organizer or perhaps Sarah Levy ([email protected]) of the Christian Legal Society. Ms Levy invited the DI to come here. There are some biology students who also may attend. I will talk with them today.

Best regards,

J. Wise

Ken to Sarah Levy: Howdy. I have heard that the Discovery Institute has supposedly invited some of the faculty of SMU to debate against intelligent design. I have also heard from members of the SMU faculty that none of them plan on attending so I was wondering if I may speak on their behalf. All I ask is for really a small amount of time on stage so I may refute their claims and I think that isn’t too much to ask since the conference is 2 days and I’m sure they will have plenty of time to argue against me.

-Ken Ueda ’09

Sarah Levy: Mr. Ueda,

I am not in charge of the schedule of events, but have forwarded your message on to those who are in hopes that they will contact you shortly. May I ask if you are a faculty member, or are somehow connected with the university?

Thank you,

Sarah Levy

Ken to Sarah Levy: I am a student of SMU.

Ken Ueda ’09

Anika Smith: Dear Ken,

Sarah Levy sent your question to me this afternoon regarding your request to debate the speakers for the Darwin vs. Design conference. It is true that we invited representatives from the anthropology, biology, and geology departments at SMU to debate our speakers as fellow scientists and peers. These men are on even footing in education and experience, and we invited them to help illuminate the debate between Darwinism and Design. They have declined to engage in the debate.

These departments were challenged because they had called for the conference to be removed from campus. We wanted to see them put their money where their mouth is, so to speak. While I understand your desire to present your view for 15 minutes, the format does not allow the time or the patience for the audience to do so. I suggest that you attend the conference with your questions and really stick it to the speakers during the Q & A, if you like. Encourage your friends and anyone else who is concerned (including the professors who chose not to debate) to do the same, and hopefully the Q & A will be engaging and provocative.

Whatever you decide to do, I sincerely hope you continue to pursue these questions and wish you well in your education.

Sincerely,

Anika Smith

Ken to Anika Smith: Well that is strange because I believe the reporter from the Dallas Morning News revealed that the Q&A session will be pre-screened. If this is true, I wonder how is it even possible to “really stick it to the speakers” if they are able to dodge the more important questions. It is not just the faculty who believe that the conference should have been removed from this campus but the students as well so I as a student (and I should say at least a somewhat educated one) should be completely adequate to represent this opinion.

-Ken Ueda ’09

Anika Smith did not reply back.

So who’s doing the censoring?

About the contributor:

Ken Ueda is a sophomore math, physics and philosophy major. He can be reached at [email protected].