Posted on 01/30/2003 9:33:28 AM PST by matthew_the_brain
Letters of Recommendation
Before you ask me to write you a letter of recommendation for graduate or professional school in the biomedical sciences, there are several criteria that must be met. The request for a letter is best made by making an appointment to discuss the matter with me after considering these three criteria:
Criterion 1
You should have earned an "A" from me in at least one semester that you were taught by me.
Criterion 2
I should know you fairly well. Merely earning an "A" in a lower-division class that enrolls 500 students does not guarantee that I know you. In such a situation, all I would be able to provide is a very generic letter that would not be of much help in getting you into the school of your choice. You should allow me to become better acquainted with you. This can be done in several ways:
1) by meeting with me regularly during my office hours to discuss biological questions. 2) by enrolling in an Honors’ section taught by me. 3) by enrolling in my section of BIOL 4301 and serving as an undergraduate TA (enrollment is by invitation only). 4) by serving as the chairman or secretary of the Biology Advisory Committee.
Criterion 3
If you set up an appointment to discuss the writing of a letter of recommendation, I will ask you: "How do you think the human species originated?" If you cannot truthfully and forthrightly affirm a scientific answer to this question, then you should not seek my recommendation for admittance to further education in the biomedical sciences.
Why do I ask this question? Let’s consider the situation of one wishing to enter medical school. Whereas medicine is historically rooted first in the practice of magic and later in religion, modern medicine is an endeavor that springs from the sciences, biology first among these. The central, unifying principle of biology is the theory of evolution, which includes both micro- and macro-evolution, and which extends to ALL species. How can someone who does not accept the most important theory in biology expect to properly practice in a field that is so heavily based on biology? It is hard to imagine how this can be so, but it is easy to imagine how physicians who ignore or neglect the Darwinian aspects of medicine or the evolutionary origin of humans can make bad clinical decisions. The current crisis in antibiotic resistance is the result of such decisions. For others, please read the citations below.
Good medicine, like good biology, is based on the collection and evaluation of physical evidence. So much physical evidence supports the evolution of humans from non-human ancestors that one can validly refer to the "fact" of human evolution, even if all of the details are not yet known. One can deny this evidence only at the risk of calling into question one’s understanding of science and of the method of science. Such an individual has committed malpractice regarding the method of science, for good scientists would never throw out data that do not conform to their expectations or beliefs. This is the situation of those who deny the evolution of humans; such a one is throwing out information because it seems to contradict his/her cherished beliefs. Can a physician ignore data that s/he does not like and remain a physician for long? No. If modern medicine is based on the method of science, then how can someone who denies the theory of evolution -- the very pinnacle of modern biological science -- ask to be recommended into a scientific profession by a professional scientist?
If you still want to make an appointment, you can do so in person during office hours (M-Th, 3:30-4:00), or by phoning my office at 742-2729, or by e-mailing me at michael.dini@ttacs.ttu.edu
Citations
Ewald, P.W. 1993. Evolution of infectious disease. Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 298.
Ewald, P.W. 1993. The evolution of virulence. Scientific American 268:86-98.
Morgan, E. 1990. The scars of evolution. Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 196.
Myers, J.H. and L.E. Rothman. 1995. Virulence and transmission of infectious diseases in humans and insects: evolutionary and demographic patterns. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 10(5):194-198.
Nesse, R.M. and G.C. Williams. 1994. Why we get sick. Times Books, New York, pp. 291.
_____1997. Evolutionary biology in the medical curriculum -- what every physician should know. BioScience 47(10):664-666.
Rose, Michael. 1998. Darwin's Spectre. Princeton University Press, Princteon, NJ. pp. 233.
Seachrist, L. 1996. Only the strong survive: the evolution of a tumor favors the meanest, most aggressive cells. Science News 49:216-217.
Stearns, S.C. (ed.) 1999. Evolution in Health and Disease. Oxford University Press. pp. 328.
Trevathan, W.R., Smith, E.O. and J.J. McKenna (eds.). 1999. Evolutionary Medicine. Oxford University Press. pp. 480.
Williams, G.C. and R.M. Nesse. 1991. The dawn of Darwinian medicine. Quarterly Review of Biology 66:1-22.
"If the bible had said that Jonah swallowed the whale, I would believe it." -- William Jennings Bryan
Is a belief in G-d "useful" but necessary to, for example, celebrate Mass? Or is command of Latin and ritual all that's necessary?
Having said that however, I am less than convinced that millions of complex life forms emerged from some primordial sludge and believe evolutionary theory as it is now explained has major problems and contradictions that simply cannot be adressed without being labeled a "creationist".
"Reason should be destroyed in all Christians." -- Martin Luther
Natural Selection may be a central fact of biology, but it doesn't do the Evolutionist any good. Natural Selection is an essentially "conservative" force, not an "evolutionary" one.
If I have 50 red marbles made of glass and 50 blue marbles made of ice, and I put them all on a tray and let them sit in the hot sun for a few hours... at the end of the day the higher melting-point of the red marbles will result in their continuation as marbles, whereas the blue marbles will just have been selected out, eliminated. And, the demographic complexion of the marble population will have changed from "overall purple" to "overall red" due to this form of "natural selection".
But while the overall complexion of the population has indeed changed, no "evolution" has occurred. You still have the same red marbles with which you started... Natural Selection has conserved the "most fit" of what you had to start with, but you haven't anything new -- nothing "evolved".
Ah, then, "Random Mutations" you say? Well, now we're suddenly talking about a very different matter than testable, repeatable, well-proven Natural Selection. We're talking about the undocumented, unproven, and statistically-dubious (not to say ludicrous) idea of relatively-common "positive" germline mutations.
Insisting that a student exercise a blind faith in the "power of positive mutation" is a little bit different than expecting him to affirm the simple, proven Facts of Natural Selection.
If you believe basic biology is not central to "diagnostic and therapeutic prinicples", I can offer you no satisfactory explanation.
If you believe Evolutionism is of any utility value whatsoever in the actual practice of Medicine, I submit that we ask some actual Practicing Doctors, mmm?
Doc? Polycarp? Have either of you ever needed to call in Richard Dawkins or Steven Jay Gould to consult on a medical case?
Think about that.
Let me contradict you from direct experience. In an undergraduate biology lab I took 30 years ago, we exposed Bacillus subtilis ( I think) to a mutagen. We then plated it out on a penicillin agar. Colonies of penicllin-resistant bacteria grew on the agar. Without the mutagen, no colonies developed. So why did the strains of resistant bacteria only appear when they were mutated?
If this prof didn't want to recommend a student because that student wouldn't put guano on his head and dance nude around a Bunsen burner, that's his RIGHT!
However, his right to be an Idiot, does not restrict my right to observe: he's an Idiot.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.