I signed up for an environmental class that dealt with environmental planning and stuff along those lines. I originally took it because it actually sounded kind of interesting and I was genuinely interested in the subject, but I dropped it like a yesterday's news, mostly because I realized I was taking too many credits (18) along with having an independent project and going to work about 15 hours a week. Just too much stuff to juggle.
There were some real strong opinions in that class...polar opposite too. On one hand, you had the conservative ag/forestry/civil engineering kids and on the other you had the liberal political science/environmental studies/design kids. I've made enough rants by now that everyone here probably knows I don't buy into the global warming hysteria and like to look at things from a logical, scientific, and historical perspective. Well, I quickly found out that this was not my class.
Our professor asked the class what they thought of global warming and its "implications on humanity." One of the ag kids sitting up in the second row raised his hand and calmly said that there are many beliefs as to why the earth is warming, such as increased solar activity or a systematic cycle in our climate. Instead, she ignored him and went off on a tangent about the kinds of catastrophes we could see and how we need to lower our carbon footprints, etc. I saw the kid look at his buddy and just kinda laugh under his breath because she completely brushed him off.
I've had political science professors before who do very well hiding their bias and looking at conflicting viewpoints from students, but she just blew off anyone that wasn't in her mindset (which about 2/3 of the class was). Why take a class where you're not going to be challenged to question all possibilities? If I wanted to hear doomsday lecturing and one-sided views twice a week, I could just go to ENS.com instead.
Now don't get me wrong, she's a nice person...but it really got on my nerves how she completely blew off genuine answers that could have spawned some good discussion.