Cincinnati Proclaims February 12th, 2008 DARWIN DAY

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release:

The Free Inquiry Group of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, Inc. (FIG) is pleased to announce that the Honorable Mark Mallory, Mayor of the City of Cincinnati, has proclaimed February 12, 2008 as “DARWIN DAY.”

The Proclamation reads as follows:

Proclamation

City of Cincinnati

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Be It Proclaimed:

WHEREAS, The City of Cincinnati has always been at the forefront of scientific research, medicine, and academia; and

WHEREAS, The City will continue to support the sciences at all levels of education; and

WHEREAS, many scientific advancements can be traced back to the work of Charles Darwin and his groundbreaking discovery 150 years ago, that living things change over time, or evolve, in response to selective pressure of their environment; and

WHEREAS, Darwin's theory redefined the direction of research and progress, and has since been the cornerstone of the biological sciences that have brought advancement in medicine, agriculture, zoology, paleontology, and conservation, to name a few, to benefit us all; and

WHEREAS, Charles Darwin was born on February 12, 1809, and

WHEREAS, February 12 is a world-wide Darwin Day Celebration; and

Now, Therefore, I, Mark Mallory,

Mayor of the City of Cincinnati do hereby proclaim

February 12, 2008,

as

"DARWIN DAY"

in Cincinnati.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have

hereunto set my hand and caused this seal

of the City of Cincinnati to be affixed this

7^th day of February in the year Two

Thousand and Eight.

/signed/

Mark Mallory, Mayor

City of Cincinnati

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John Welte, Sr., President of FIG, who had requested the Proclamation, said he was very gratified to see the City of Cincinnati continue its historic support of science, reason, and free inquiry. “This is particularly important in light of the fact that there are constant attacks on the evidence of evolution by the ‘Creation Museum’ here in our area, by educators who want to allow the religious viewpoint called ‘Creationism’ to be taught in our schools, and even by candidates for the Presidency of the United States. Evolution has been clearly established as one of the most robust of scientific facts,” Welte said.