http://www.channeloklahoma.com/news/4666005/detail.html
Tulsa Parks Board To Revisit Decision On Zoo Display

TULSA, Okla. -- The Tulsa Parks and Recreation Board plans to revisit
its vote to allow a display at the Tulsa Zoo that includes a biblical
account of how the Earth was created, a department manager said.

http://www.channeloklahoma.com/news/4666005/detail.html
Tulsa Parks Board To Revisit Decision On Zoo Display

TULSA, Okla. -- The Tulsa Parks and Recreation Board plans to revisit
its vote to allow a display at the Tulsa Zoo that includes a biblical
account of how the Earth was created, a department manager said.

Board members want to clarify their June 7 motion, which was approved
3-1, in favor of the display, said Ross Weller, Park and Recreation
Department administrative manager.

"One or more of the board's members misconstrued what the motion was so
they want to clarify that," Weller said. "The misunderstanding is who
would design the exhibit and what the content will be."

Board Chairman Walt Helmerich said there are some discrepancies between
the written minutes of the meeting and the recorded oral minutes
regarding the exhibit's content and design.

Helmerich said a team organized by the zoo plans to put together an
exhibit composed of six or seven creationist stories - all equal in size
and text amount.

Dan Hicks, a conservative Christian activist who proposed the Genesis
story exhibit, said he wants the creationist story to be displayed as he
presented it at the meeting.

"What we voted on was my proposal and that the content will not be
adulterated," Hicks said, noting that the text for the display comes
directly from the Bible.

Hicks said he has hired a sign company to build a full-scale mock-up of
the 5-foot-by-3-foot display.

"I have no problem with the zoo making the final display as long as they
don't adulterate the content," Hicks said.

Helmerich said quoting the Bible verses verbatim likely will be too
lengthy for the exhibit.

A newly organized group called Friends of Religion and Science has
collected about 1,000 signatures on a petition asking the park board to
reverse its decision, member Brian Cross said. The group plans to attend
the board's next meeting, which is yet to be scheduled.

"It's bad for science. It's bad for religion, and it's bad for the zoo,"
Cross said. "There's been such a groundswell of opposition to this
display."

Hicks and Mayor Bill LaFortune, who voted in favor of the exhibit, said
a zoo sculpture said to depict the Hindu god Ganesha opens the door to
equal representation of art depicting the Christian perspective.