The Facilitation of Drug Use

While this topic isnt really environmentally related, after seeing this video I thought other people would find it really interesting. The video talks about a facility called "Insite" which facilitates the usage of illegal drugs and intravenous drugs by providing clean needles and medical supplies to addicts. The thought behind this is that addicts are going to use drugs no matter what, but by giving them sanitary supplies they will be able to slow down the spread of HIV amongst addicts. while this can be seen as controversial, I think it is actually a really good idea to do something like this because it is making a bad situation a little bit better. Insite also is providing other health care services like on site nurses and drug rehabilitation plans.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/health/08vancouver.html?ref=science

Evolution vs. Creationism

In a recent National Survey of 900 public high school biology teachers, a major controversy over the teaching of the topic of evolution has surfaced. The National Research Council recommended to these teachers to teach the topic of evolution using the straightforward evidence found about the topic. However, the survey found that 60% of teachers avoided teaching the topic all together to avoid class controversy of the topic. It also showed that 28% strongly taught the accepted theory of evolution, while the reminaining 12-13% taught the topic of creationism. This can be seen as a major problem in the public schooling system because this shows some teachers are not separating church from school in the classroom. I see this as a major downfall of these schools because by teaching the topic of creationism, your are alienating all those members of the classroom that are not of christian/catholic background. I also think that the teachers who chose not to teach the subject of evolution at all lack the confidence in their own abilities to teach and should have to undergo further schooling because they should be able to teach all the required material in a school's curriculum.