The Missoulian from Missoula, Montana • 17

Missoulian, Sunday, February 15, 2004 B5 OPINION MONTANA Letters ALL LOCAL SsOPEN FOR 2004 SEASON Two bodies identified, investigated as murders Perkins County, S.D. The state of South Dakota had issued a warrant for James on Feb. 5, alleging a parole violation. Jardee did not know why Briscoe was expected in court or why James was on parole. WINTER GETAWAY SPECIALS WEEKEND 3 nights (2) 1 day sled rentals $450 MIDWEEK Sun-Wed (2) 1 day sled rentals $400 W7 Carlo's One Night Stand PROM RENTALS Retro 70's Tuxedos Colorful Long Gloves Fabulous Rhinestone Jewelry Unusual Top Hats 10 Ird 543-6JSO toll frmj I-8M-941-63SG EKALAKA(AP)-Carter County Sheriff Rusty Jardee on Saturday released the names of the two South Dakota residents who were found dead in a pasture in southeastern Montana.

The body of Carol M. Briscoe, 44, of Rapid City, S.D., was found Thursday in the trunk of a car in a pasture near the South Dakota border. The body of Kevin R. James, 40, was found nearby on Friday. His most recent address was unknown, Jardee said.

On Friday, Jardee said law enforcement officers were investigating the deaths as homicides. Autopsies are scheduled for Monday afternoon in Billings. Jardee said there were arrest warrants out for both Briscoe and James. Briscoe was wanted for failing to appear in court in Bathing Beauties BEAD SALE everything In our fabulous collection of beads, seed beeds, findings and lewclry 25 Off now through every day In February Bathing Beauties 517 Hlgglns Ave 543-00 IS Open Every Day I Oam 6pm Quarter Moon dooh are afraid of learning why and how others believe differently. It is the ultimate paradox that the more we know the more we know we don't know.

Let's not turn this into a debate of evolutionists versus creationists but an opportunity to provide the children of Darby a fuller spectrum of ideas. Mignon Hess, 1229 Jackson, Missoula Missoula schools Vote no, until budget shell game ceases Like the geese returning north this time of year we, also have the school budget shortfalls returning to the public eye. In recent years it seems to proceed like this: Missoulian headlines shortfall; all non-tenured teachers receive "pink" slips; a "bare bones," one-year budget is developed, which includes an additional tax levy; tax levy is passed; prior to the start of the fiscal year (July 1) some decisions are reversed; and "pink slipped" teachers are rehired. I have some real concerns with this process. First, "pink slipping" teachers causes a major distraction from their primary role of teaching.

Second, not developing budgets for more than one year creates unnecessary knee-jerk reactions. Finally, reversing school closures and other budgetary decisions after the good citizens of Missoula pass a bond issue is an egregious breach of trust. I will vote against all future school bond issues until I am convinced the board has taken a long-term budgetary approach to solving funding with the entire district in mind and commits to its decisions even after they receive additional funds as a result of a favorable levy vote. Don Malerk, 4220 Jamie Ann, Missoula Fiction Non-Fiction l.2t Melon Ave, Miwoula I 0MHERING Crazy Love 50 614 S. IIIGGINS 1 Near lligglns 8r 4th furniture Si accessories Save 10-40 rnrrri 543-3456 IP and CC required for membership Evolution Leftist agenda tries to tilt education On the evening of Jan.

20, 1 was witness to one of the biggest snow-jobs done on taxpayers since the famous "Monkey Scopes Trial" where the agnostic lawyer Clarence Darrow convinced the jury that black was white. Location: Darby High School gym. The education establishment is in a two-faced dilemma: on the one hand their science education prospectus states that students will have opportunities to explore various phases, in that field. Then the Ph.D.s and ivory tower scientists turn around and state emphatically that you can't study intelligent design! What's up anyhow? Are they afraid students might find out that evolution is not all it's cracked up to be? C'mon, let's be honest for a change and call "a spade a spade." Stop the stupid semantics about, "We've got to have separation of church and state!" That was dreamed up by some liberal clowns on the Supreme Court. This concoction of theirs is stated nowhere in the U.S.

Constitution. And this Darby parent that rattled off a list of court cases around the United States by secular humanist judges that, "the teaching of ID is unconstitutional." So what? They've also recently ruled that sodomy is O.K., and homosexuals are now legal to marry one another. No, I think the National Education Association has an agenda to shape their leftist policies into our schools and shutting out intelligent design jolly-well fits that plan. I ask everybody if evolution works, why do we still have monkeys? Bruce King, 285 McCarthy Loop, Hamilton Don't let semantics blur science In his Feb. 6 letter to the editor regarding evolution, Chris Jones says that the theory of evolution is "simply a theory" and not a fact.

Calling it a "theory" is of course strictly speaking true, but the rest is an attempt at misrepresentation. A theory, in the scientific sense, is "a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena" (Random House American College Dictionary). The term does not imply tentativeness or lack of certainty, as it does in its colloquial meaning. What evolution has is what any good scientific claim has: evidence, and lots of it. Evolution is supported by a wide range of observations throughout the fields of genetics, anatomy, -ecology, animal behavior, paleontology and others.

If one wishes to challenge the theory of evolution, one must address that evidence. Of course, to do this, it is necessary to know both the theory and the evidence. It is clear, however, that Jones does not really know either. He asks, for example, why no transitional fossils have been found. Well, for starters, they have.

There are excellent transitional fossils for the transition from reptile to mammal, from land animal to early whale, and from early ape to human, to name but a few. Many more examples can be found summarized at wwuUalkorigins.orgfaqsfaq-transitional.html Any good science teacher makes a point of always reminding students that all science is tentative, and that theories are always subject to checking and verification. Biology is no different from physics in that respect; and yet, despite it being called the "theory of gravity" and not the "fact of gravity," we do not demand that the views of the Flat Earth Society be included in science class on the grounds of "objectivity." Arturo Magidin, 3725 Stephens Apt. 102, Missoula TBS Jmm 1 1 I I i. THE MINERVA SOCIETY Presents a Free Public Lecture.

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676-8400 Get Them Both for only $49.99 Tobacco taxes Quit balancing budget on backs of smokers Well, I see there was another so-called poll on cigarette taxes to pay for more health care and to help reduce youth smoking (Missoulian, Feb. 10). Dave McAlpin and the rest of the anti-smoker group, where are your heads? Seems like every time someone needs money for something, it's the smokers who pay. Well, why not raise all alcohol taxes, too? There are more drinkers than smokers, so let's be fair about it- Also, whom did you poll Nonsmokers? I'm sure there are more people killed and injured from drinking and driving than smoking. When was the last time someone was killed or hurt from a driver smoking too much? And what ties up courts more smoking or DUI? But every time the state or a group needs more money for so-called health care, who pays? The good, old smoker.

Where will the money come from if we all stop smoking because they're too high to buy? Not too smart are you? Now we know where your heads are. Let's take a new poll, and this time let's ask some smokers, seeing as how you want us to pay for everything. We can buy our cigarettes out of state; then where will you get the money? This all shows that you don't use your heads. Why don't all you anti-this and anti-that get real jobs? Dwight Povsha, P.O. Box 324, Florence President Bush True veterans easy to corroborate President Bush says anyone is free to check his military records to verify his attendance in the National Guard in Alabama.

Somehow, some of those records have disappeared. Maybe its the same sinister force that did in the Watergate tapes. As a veteran of the Korean War, I can today e-mail about a dozen of my fellow troops, in the next 10 minutes, who could verify my whereabouts during my entire two years in the Army. Frank Mctully, 972 Leese Lane, Stevensville Coming clean would stop critics cold Considering the controversy over the "failed intelligence" or the "interpretation of the intelligence," I think President Bush and the people who surround him would be well advised to take a tip from the Missoula County sheriff. When his staff let the wrong prisoner out of jail the sheriff just stated, up front, "We made a mistake." There was no public outcry for an investigation.

His statement ended the story. T. Millar Bryce, P.O. Box 665, Plains Politics Still searching for truth from candidates Every four years I dread election time. Oh, I vote all right.

I'm a Republican, but if I feel a Democrat or other can do the job in the interest of our country, I'll vote for them. I'm sick of lies and half-truths that come at election time. Why do we need any party at all? Why can't you and I have a government that puts the people in control, not a Democrat or Republican? My grandfather once said, "The only time a politician tells the truth is when he calls another politician a liar." Jeff Steele, 34 Grizzly Drive, Seeley Lake i Free -Network Calling. (ran the Hwa I Owworit Aft Plus, unlimited Night Weekend Minutes fire you? Access 39" 59-99 Monthly atrtlm minute. 400 800 Philosophical ideas belong in curriculum I am grateful that a discussion about the differing points of view between scientific naturalism and objective origins has at least begun in Darby (Missoulian Feb 4).

Rather than diminish the education of students as claimed, I believe that a proper consideration, in the classroom, of the issues involved would be superior to the program currently in place. It is a conundrum why both the scientific and educational communities are fearful of a discussion that includes both the empirical hypotheses of science, as well as the philosophical ideas for which science has staked their claim. The lack of willingness to open a dialogue about such matters is reminiscent of the flat earth theories held by the opposite camp centuries ago. Stratum, 1131 North First Hamilton I' Wireless Connection vcrizpnwireiess fciiiiiriiiiiiiiiniMrtihffiiiiiiiiriiiii it i wfej-tMMmmmm Authorized Retailer Important Consumer Informatorr Tarn 9 surcharges apply 8 may vaiy Federal UntveiMl Setvee Charge of 2 06 (vaties quarterly based an FCC rate) and a 5 Regulatory Charge per Iremonth sre our charues, not tae) Night 4 Weekend hoirs MwvFri 9 00pm-5 Warn Sat 12 OOam-Sun 1 1 59pm Subject to Customer Agreement fud Callng Plan On New Qualifying une(s) of service New2Year agreement reqitrednx advertised phone pneing $175 early temniatran fee applies Requr-a credit approval Carrot combned with other service promotions Usage rounded to neirtfuH mnile. Unused allowances lost rebate applies, HowtO-12irweksforretMtettieck Mustbe a customer for 30 consecufive days far rebate Pnone nay not be returnee, tferrebate form has been submfled Subject to taxes otflef iucrwges Not available an martiets Geographc m4 other restKtions apply Actwafcon of muftple activation tnesrequred to receive selected Farmty Share plani.

Sorm rejections apply. See brochure and sales representative br detais Offer may vary by Retailer Offer Ends Id t04 HOW'S YOUR HEARING? ASK AN AUDIOLOGIST Jamie Small graduated from the University of Montana in 1985 with a Master of Arts degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders. In June of that year, she began practicing at Rocky Mountain Speech and Hearing. Since that time, she has seem the department grow to include two more audiologists. Jamie js a member of the Montana Audiology Guild and served two terms as its president.

She is also a member of the Montana Speech-Language and Hearing Association and the American Academy of Audiology. In her free time, Jamie enjoys writing and water color painting. She has one 16 year-old son. Offer students full rainbow of thought A letter to the editor is not the forum in which I or anyone is going to change his beliefs with respect to the origins of our species, so I suggest we stick to the subject: whether or not schools, and Darby in particular, should introduce "objective origins" into the classroom. Yes, by all means, but in a religious studies class that includes the ideas presented in the Bible, Koran, Talmud and Native American traditions, among others.

Let's leave it to the students to form their own opinions once they are presented with all of the information, not just the Christian perspective. Unfortunately this will not happen, because among other things, religion instills a sense of fear in the believer, and it is this emotion that drives the opponents of free-thinking. No, not all those who believe in God are closed-minded, only those that Jamie Small, MA At Rocky Mountain Speech and Hearing, we have the experience, education and knowledge to address your unique hearing needs. Take advantage of our personalized sen ice and our commitment to providing solutions for optimal communication. A J'-.

-J Letters policy: The Missoulian welcomes and encourages letters to the editor on topics of general interest. Letters should be about 300 words or fewer. The Missoulian reserves the right to reject or edit letters for content and length. The Missoulian prints as many letters as possible. Letters must contain the writer's name, address and telephone number (phone numbers are for verification, not publication).

Mail letters to: Missoulian Letters, RO. Box 8029, Missoula, MT 59807-8029. Fax: (406) 523-5294. E-mail: opedmissoulian.com. 5-11-3873 700 West Kent Parksiiie Protevtional Vil Rocky Mountain Speech Hearing Center.