Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:18:57 -0400 http://www.cesame-nm.org/ PostNuke Powered Site en-us http://www.cesame-nm.org/images/ceselogo.gif http://www.cesame-nm.org/ webmaster@cesame-nm.org http://www.cesame-nm.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=20 CESE extends our sincere condolences to Dr. Timothy Moy's family, and to his many colleagues and friends. Prof. Moy, who was an associate professor of History at the University of New Mexico, drowned on July 22nd while assisting his son in the waters off Kailua, in Hawaii. In addition to his many duties at UNM, Tim was a longtime member of CESE (the Coalition for Excellence in Science and Math Education), and served as president of CESE from 2001-2002. He was an articulate explainer of history and scientific thought, a strong promoter of increasing appreciation of science, and a passionate advocate of the importance of scientific integrity. He will be missed very much. -Dave Thomas Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:18:57 -0400 http://www.cesame-nm.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=19 Walter Murfin School fractions proficient in mathematics and reading are negatively correlated with school fractions of minority and economically disadvantaged students. For elementary schools that tested at least 40 students in school year 2005-2006, the correlation of math proficiency with school minority fractions was r = -0.700, p Tue, 03 Jul 2007 12:01:07 -0400 http://www.cesame-nm.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=18 Creationists consistently attribute the cause of the practice of eugenics to the acceptance of evolutionary science and have blamed such things as Hitler's "racial cleansing" on Charles Darwin. Well, the real story lies elsewhere. In fact, this article by Rebecca Reis of CESE sets the record straight. The old saw "Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" applies. In fact, scientists and creationists play considerably different roles than one might think if listening to only the creationists. Read on for some good research and a much better picture of what the real story is. By Dr. Rebecca Reiss Associate Professor of Biology New Mexico Tech Sat, 09 Jun 2007 19:33:58 -0400 http://www.cesame-nm.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17 http://www.abqjournal.com/opinion/letters/564911opinion05-23-07.htm PERHAPS ONLY a few of you have been following the KNME/PBS series, "Secret Files of the Inquisition." That's unfortunate. It seems to me that one major reason that the "heretics," Jews, and other so-called "subhumans" (their interpretation included homosexuals, free-thinkers, some scientists, physicians, and book readers) were not totally annihilated during the Inquisition was the lack of the appropriate technology for mass murder. Thu, 24 May 2007 17:37:37 -0400 http://www.cesame-nm.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=16 (Please do not let the math at the beginning stop you from reading the important conclusions in the full article!) By Walt Murfin "Canonical Correlation" or "Canonical Regression" is a method for finding the relation of a number of simultaneous inputs to a number of simultaneous outputs. That is, how are input variables t, u, v, . . ., taken all together, related to output variables x, y, z, . . . ., taken all together? At first glance, this seems almost too much to ask. However, there is a method. First, consider ordinary multiple regression. Let the input be an N×P matrix X, and the output is an N×1 vector Y. We are trying to find the constants "a" for the equation Z=a0 +a1*x1 +a2*x2 +a3*x3+. . . +aP*xP. We find the a’s such that Z will have the maximum correlation with the actual output Y. We can guarantee that no other combination of the x’s will give a higher correlation. Wed, 16 May 2007 12:33:09 -0400 http://www.cesame-nm.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=15 By Walt Murfin Students in the United States have participated in several international tests. Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) tested 4th and 8th grades and the final year of secondary school (usually 12th grade) in mathematics and science in 1995, 8th grade in 1999, and 4th and 8th grades in 2003. TIMSS was a project of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA.) The IEA also sponsored tests of 4th grade reading in 2001 in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and tests of 8th grade civics in 1999. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tested 15-year-old students (roughly 8th grade) in mathematics, science and reading in 2000 and the same subjects plus problem solving in 2003. PISA was a project of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD.) The United States and several other countries participated in these tests, but the number and mix of countries involved varied from test to test. Tue, 15 May 2007 01:35:43 -0400 http://www.cesame-nm.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=14 The brightest stellar explosion ever recorded may be a long-sought new type of supernova, according to observations by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ground-based optical telescopes. This discovery indicates that violent explosions of extremely massive stars were relatively common in the early universe, and that a similar explosion may be ready to go off in our own galaxy. Wed, 09 May 2007 14:13:52 -0400