By Nancy Berliner, MD, ASH President
2009-05-01
Spring is here. We are only eight months away from the 2009 ASH Annual Meeting in the city of New Orleans.
As some of you may know, last summer the state of Louisiana passed
the Louisiana Science Education Act, which allows teachers to “use
supplemental textbooks” in the classroom to “help students critique and
review scientific theories.” Scientists denounced the law as a
back-door effort to sneak creationism into the classrooms. The bill
passed unanimously in the Senate and 94 to 3 in the House, and Gov.
Bobby Jindal signed the bill into law last June — despite warnings that
it could harm the state’s reputation.
In response to the law, the Society for Integrative and Comparative
Biology, formerly the American Society of Zoologists, announced in
February that they would not hold their 2011 annual meeting in New
Orleans; they will be holding their meeting in Salt Lake City. However,
while the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology has pulled
out of New Orleans, Experimental Biology 2009 will still be held there
in April. This meeting serves as a joint annual meeting for the
American Association of Anatomists, the American Physiological Society,
the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the
American Society for Investigative Pathology, the American Society for
Nutrition, and the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental
Therapeutics. In addition, the American Association of Blood Banks will
be meeting there in late October.
I feel that, in the face of the Society for Integrative and
Comparative Biology canceling their meeting in protest of the law
passed last summer, I should comment on ASH’s intent to have our
meeting in New Orleans. I would like to emphasize that we celebrate the
rejuvenation of New Orleans and that we are delighted to support the
city in its efforts to come back from the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.
However, we are concerned about the message that this law sends about
the state of Louisiana and its willingness to undermine the teaching of
and commitment to science. As a scientific organization, we cannot
support such regressive thinking and will have to examine carefully our
future commitments within the state. It would be unfortunate if this
law were to jeopardize our presence in the city in the future.
By holding the 2009 ASH Annual Meeting in New Orleans, we are
bringing a city much-needed business to their convention center,
hotels, and restaurants. New Orleans has made great strides in the
recovery effort, but there is still more that needs to be done. Having
more than 20,000 individuals congregate in New Orleans in early
December will stimulate their economy and workforce.
So, mark your calendar! We look forward to seeing you in New Orleans on December 5-8, 2009. Look for more information on the ASH Web site in the coming months.
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