CSC - Intelligent design is at forefront of tenure controversy

Original Article
An Iowa State professor who was denied tenure is going to the Board of Regents to appeal the university's decision.

The astronomer believes in intelligent design. And while he can't talk about his appeal, he can talk about his theories.

"Intelligent design seeks to explain whether there are intelligent causes for the things we observe in nature," he said.

This is why Guillermo Gonzalez says his days are numbered at Iowa State University.

He says it's the price he's paying to stand up for what he believes in.
"Because it's something that I discovered and I have to tell the world it's, anytime a scientist makes a profound discovery he just has to report it, write about it."

And he did. He published a book three years ago called The Privileged Planet focusing on how our place in the cosmos is designed for discovery.

"In Privileged Planet, we argue that the universe is actually designed for discovery," he said. "That's what the evidence shows, the evidence shows that places that are most habitable are the places most likely to have complex life (and) also offer the best opportunity for scientific discovery."

But Gonzalez says he stops his research at the science of intelligent design and that's where the controversy starts.

"The problem is that the causes may be natural or supernatural, we don't know just from the science -- but just the fact that it may be supernatural -- really causes people to feel very uncomfortable."

He says if the Board of Regents denies tenure, he will join a list of other educators who put their jobs on the line for the love of science.

ISU officials say the decision is up to the Board of Regents. Members can overturn the decision and grant Gonzalez tenure.

In the last 10 years, 12 professors in the physics department have been eligible for tenure.

One third of them were denied.

ISU says granting tenure is considered a lifetime employment and a very important decision.

Gonzalez says his attorney and supporters are releasing evidence at a news conference Monday that ISU conspired to deny him tenure.