Thursday, October 13, 2016 www.usustatesman.com (435)-797-1742 Free single copy
STUDENT LIFE | Meet your senator USUSA Senator Joseph Day is not the only college student to have been saved by an aptitude test. see PAGE 3
SPORTS | Women’s soccer
NEWS | Emmy-worthy
Student-run AggieTV wins multiple Emmys.
Brooksby shines in pair of weekend wins as Aggies move into first place.
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#EvanHelpUs:
Independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin visits Logan
PHOTO BY Tim Carpenter Independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin spoke at a town hall meeting in Logan Wednesday night. According to a recent poll by the Deseret News, he would receive 22 percent of the votes in Utah, compared to 26 percent for both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. The full video of McMullin’s visit can be found on the Statesman’s Facebook page. By Alyssa Roberts NEWS STAFF WRITER
Evan McMullin’s campaign staff expected only 12 people to show at a town hall meeting in Logan. But nearly 1,000 showed up. McMullin, an independent presidential candidate, spoke at Mt. Logan Middle School Wednesday night. He recently experienced a surge in sup-
port of his independent conservative platform in Utah. McMullin has nearly as much support in Utah as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, with 22 percent favorability compared with Clinton and Trump’s 26 percent each, according to polling data published by Salt Lake-based Y2 Analytics. McMullin’s campaign strategy is to win Utah’s electoral votes, which would prevent both Clinton and Trump from obtaining a majority in the electoral college.
“The larger Hillary’s lead, the more difficult it is to achieve that goal,” McMullin said. But it isn’t impossible. As a former CIA operative, McMullin’s campaign platform includes a call for national security reform. If elected, he also plans to input economic and government reform policies. He’s asking potential voters to support his campaign with the hashtag #EvanHelpUs. “The cause of liberty is still the cause of
all mankind and this country is still a light to the rest of the world,” McMullin said. “I think it’s important that it remain a light to the rest of the world.” — ac.roberts95@gmail.com @alyssarbrts
The full video of McMullin’s appearance can be found on the Statesman’s Facebook page.
COEXIST: RELIGION AND SCIENCE By Vivian Gates STUDENT LIFE STAFF WRITER
Many will find the claim “I believe in science” a common phrase in today’s world. Dr. John Carman, an evolutionary biologist at Utah State University, asserts that, “there is no room for belief in science.” In fact, says Carman, “belief in one’s science is a stumbling block to scientific progress.” Science can, however, be supported. “If we look at the scientific method, there’s no room for faith. Because in science we create hypotheses, and then test them,” Carman says. “When a hypothesis gathers enough evidence in support of its claims, we call it a theory. But even good theories should not rise above continued scientific scrutiny. All we can say in science is that the evidence suggests that ‘such and such is the case’. That’s all.”
Take, for example, Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation versus Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. It was a mistake for scientists to accept Newton’s claims as an infallible scientific doctrine, especially given that Einstein later came bearing a more sound theory. “Right now I’m writing a research paper on reproductive biology,” Carman says. “We’re making some discoveries that appear to disprove an evolutionary theory that has existed for a hundred years”. In science, being skeptical and not “believing” theories is the name of the game. Carman’s research regarding asexual reproduction of plants through seeds may one day provide food for an additional billion people; it would be hybrid crop that self-replicates through its own seed, with no need of cross pollination. But in religion, faith is vital. One can sup-
port a theory. However, one must have faith to consider oneself spiritually invested. An expert and proponent of evolution, Carman claims, “When I was a teenager, I was taught that there was no death before Adam.” Now, Carman predicts that many religious teachers/leaders are less dogmatic about evolution and read the book of Genesis for its religious value, and not as an Earth science textbook. “I think it’s more generational,” Carman says. “I see it more commonly in older people who have been strongly influenced by Christian leaders who insist that evolution is a false teaching.” Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints leader Joseph Fielding Smith, for example, provoked a huge divide in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles when he
asserted that Adam and Eve were created by God 6,000 years ago and there was no other true doctrine. James E. Talmadge and B.H. Roberts, on the other hand, were supporters of evolution and believed that there were, before Adam and Eve, “preAdamite beings” on earth. The issue became so controversial that many apostles stormed out of the room in a meeting regarding the issue in 1931. Today there is no official position on the theories of organic evolution in the Church of Jesus Christ “and those who say otherwise are citing their own opinion,” confirms Carman. So what is so offensive to creationists about evolution? Why does the claim that science and religion cannot coexist remain? “Taking things so literally in the bible is see “Religion” PAGE 4