To the editor:

I would like to comment on the controversy over adjunct professor Michael Talkington and his decision not to return to teach biology at OCCC.

The article in the Aug. 23 issue of Pioneer states that Talkington was “found to be following the course syllabus,” which means he was teaching what he was supposed to be teaching. It saddens me to think that a few students, who think they know more than a professor with 17 years of teaching experience, have made things so difficult for him that he feels he cannot continue teaching at OCCC.

May I remind everyone that the theory of evolution has never been scientifically proven, and therefore remains just that, a theory.

People are free to believe any of these theories they wish, but it is incumbent on them to get all the information they can to determine which theory they believe.

The problem is that the theory of evolution has been taught as fact for so long, we now have these students who don’t want to hear about anything else.

The article quotes a student who said that “Talkington ‘glossed over the scientific explanation very quickly, then explained ‘Creationism’ for about five minutes.”

Five minutes is hardly enough time to say the word, “Creationism,” let alone explain it in any depth. Just maybe he felt that everyone in the class already had a 5-minutes-worth grasp of “Evolution” from their preceding years.

I would like to ask a question of those students who complained about Talkington spending five minutes talking about Creationism.

Would you have objected to his spending five minutes talking about the theory that Earth was populated by aliens from another galaxy, or is it just Creationism that bothers you?

I have taught my kids not to fear ideas, to gather as much information as they can, and then to think about what they believe and why. So open your minds, embrace knowledge and information, and then make up your own minds.

But give other people that same courtesy.

Too bad you won’t be able to gain from Talkington’s education, knowledge, and experience any longer because of a few closed minds.