Biography
Dan Dugan has always been fascinated by combinations of art and technology. As a child, when he was taken to the theater he always wanted to go backstage to see the light board. In his teens he built a huge model circus and two small pipe organs. He was very active in music, singing bass in the church choir, the San Diego Bach Chorus, and in madrigal groups performing on the green at the Shakespeare Festival. In college he dropped out of a four-year scholarship to work full-time in the theater doing lighting, which became his first career. He did lighting designs for the San Diego National Shakespeare Festival, the San Diego Opera, and the San Francisco Actors' Workshop.At age 24 Dan switched to doing theater sound, working for the San Diego National Shakespeare Festival and the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. The title "Sound Designer" was created in 1968 to describe what Dan was doing. He provided sound services for many seasons of the Mondavi Jazz Festival, and engineered several independent record albums, including Kate Wolf's first two albums which are still in print, now as CDs.
Dan is well-known in audio engineering as the inventor of the automatic microphone mixer. His patented equipment is used in thousands of churches, courtrooms including the U.S. Supreme Court, and on television shows including the David Letterman Show and Hollywood Squares. Currently he works in his laboratory in San Francisco manufacturing his inventions, servicing sound equipment for the film industry, and doing music editing for ballet, modern and ethnic dance companies, and ice skaters.
In addition to engineering, Dan has a lively interest in philosophy, particularly skepticism, the philosophy of science, and current controversies about scientific paradigms and alternative medicine. He is the Secretary of PLANS (People for Legal and Nonsectarian Schools, Inc.), a whistle-blowing organization opposing taxpayer funding of Waldorf education. PLANS is suing two school districts in federal court for violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
1) Waldorf education: Dan is Secretary of "People for Legal and Non-sectarian Schools" (PLANS) and moderates the "waldorf-critics" Internet mailing list. These are networking resources for parents, teachers, school boards and reporters interested in Waldorf education as viewed from outside the cult of Rudolf Steiner. Click here to go to the PLANS page.
2) The Great Audiophile Cable Bubble: Dan is fighting outrageous consumer fraud in the high-end hi-fi business. See Ethan Winer's article "Dispelling Popular Audio Myths." and the Audioholics site.
The American Family Foundation (AFF) 212 533 5420
Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU)
The Bay Area Skeptics (BAS) 510 528 7884
The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP)
The Council for Secular Humanism http://www.secularhumanism.org
The Cult Awareness Network (CAN). CAN closed its doors 6/22/96 after one of 51 lawsuits filed all over the country by associates of Scientology was successful. CAUTION: The name "Cult Awareness Network" has been purchased by lawyers associated with Scientology. This name is now being used by a Scientology front organization.
The East Bay Skeptics Society (EBSS)
The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) email office@natcenscied.org
The National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF)
People for Legal and Non-Sectarian Schools (PLANS)