Today is the last day for the public to comment on-line on the state's proposed new science standards. So perhaps it was inevitable that there’d be a surge from supporters of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

The FSM started as a joke, created by an Oregon State grad student during the intelligent design flare-up in Kansas a few years ago. But the joke attempts to make a serious point. According to this story in Tuesday's Lakeland Ledger, the Polk County School Board – which has a majority that opposes the proposed science standards – has received dozens of emails demanding that the view of Pastafarians – who say they firmly, faithfully and absolutely believe the universe was created by the Flying Spaghetti Monster – be given the same treatment as other faith-based theories.

Said one e-mail: "I'm sure you all know that the theory of the Flying Spaghetti Monster has much greater support in the scientific community that traditional Intelligent Design. You would therefore be doing a grave disservice to the students of Polk County, and science in general, if you were to leave this ever so important theory out of your curriculum." (At this point, Pastafarians would respond to such a statement with an emphatic 'RA-men!')

The state's proposed standards wholly embrace Darwin's theory of evolution. If you like that, or if you don’t, you can comment on the DOE site here. (You have until 6 p.m. to do so.) If you want to make your point in person, there are still two public hearings on the issue, one on Jan. 3 in Jacksonville, and the other on Jan. 8 in Broward County. For more details, click here.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter