Brownback blowback

Brownback is shocked that a teacher did not get tenure because of his beliefs. Read his qualifications carefully.

DES MOINES, Ia— U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, Republican candidate for President, today commented on the denial of tenure to Iowa State University Professor Guillermo Gonzales.

"When I was informed that Professor Guillermo Gonzalez was denied tenure, I was puzzled given his excellent academic record of achievement and faithful service. I understand that now two of Dr. Gonzalez's colleagues have indicated that Gonzalez's interest in intelligent design theory was, at least in part, responsible for this denial of tenure. This is rather alarming."

Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez is currently an Assistant Professor of Astronomy at Iowa State University, and has authored more than 65 scientific papers and articles. Dr. Gonzalez developed the concept of the Galactic Habitable Zone and co-authored "The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos is Designed for Discovery, which was published in 2004." The Privileged Planet provides scientific evidence for intelligent design theory, which challenges neo-Darwinism's claim that the development of the universe is the result of an unpredictable and purposeless process. Intelligent design theory rather explores recent discoveries in the fields of physics, cosmology, biochemistry, genetics, and paleontology that logically point to an intelligent cause in the development of life and the cosmos.

Brownback continued, "Observation, testing, and the development of reasonable hypotheses have long been integral to good science. Scholars, such as Professor Guillermo Gonzales, ought not to be intimidated nor silenced by those in the academic community who would rather dismiss a well-reasoned hypothesis than debate it on its merits. Such an assault on academic freedom does not bode well for the advancement of true science."

John Pieret of Thoughts in a Haystack has a different explanation:

Senator Sam ("I ain't no monkey") Brownback, who famously made his case for being the second President of the 21st Century by demonstrating that he hasn't yet made it through to the end of the 19th, is shocked … shocked … that Guillermo Gonzalez has been denied tenure despite his allegedly "well-reasoned hypothesis" set forth in a popular work of supposed science published by Regnery Publishing, which describes itself not as a publisher of works of science but as the "nation's leading conservative publisher." The writing of the book was actually funded, as Ed Brayton points out, by the John Templeton Foundation, instead of a scientific organization like, oh, say, NASA.

Update 5/24: PZ Myers at Pharyngula has more:

It also includes comments from Bob Park, which reflect my own views on this—his ID ideas were fair game for the tenure review.

But Park says that a researcher's views on intelligent design cannot be divorced from the tenure decision. Anyone who believes that an intelligent force set the Earth's location doesn't understand probability's role in the Universe, Park argues. Such a person is hardly qualified to teach others about the scientific method. "We're entrusting the minds of our students to this person," he says.

And there's also the best informed person on this topic, the chair of the department.

Eli Rosenberg, who chairs Iowa State's physics department, concedes that Gonzalez's belief in intelligent design did come up during the tenure process. "I'd be a fool if I said it was not [discussed]," he says. But, he adds, "intelligent design was not a major or even a big factor in this decision." Four of twelve tenure candidates have been turned down in the past decade, he says. "We are a fairly hard-nosed department."