With midterms phasing out and scores pouring in, I'm sure most of us have at least considered challenging our grades. Amid these debates of what should pass and what deserves to fail, it leads one to question on what principles students should be graded. More specifically, should a student's acceptance of the ideas taught in class have anything to do with their grades?

I was somewhat surprised at the attention The New York Times gave University of Rhode Island Ph.D. graduate Marcus Ross for writing a dissertation that, although it followed all the scientific principles taught at his university, he personally disagreed with. Ross' ultimate goal in receiving the Ph.D. was to be a good paleontologist. However, because of religious beliefs, he just happens to disagree with Darwin's theory of evolution.

Ross' dissertation was accepted, but it's frightening to think that professors from other universities openly and avidly disagreed with the decision because of Ross' religious views. This discrimination doesn't just affect those with religious beliefs, but anyone with moral, social and political values that differ from those of the educated elite.

I once took a sociology course at a community college, where I was among the more studious classmates. However, after looking over an essay exam, I noticed I lost a few points on a question with the only comment being that although I understood all the concepts well, I didn't sound like I believed them. The truth is I didn't accept half of the material. At first I laughed about it, as I was entertained by the teacher's frustration, but still, I was discriminated against for holding different beliefs about society than the teacher did. The most frustrating part was that I understood the ideas better than the majority in the class who accepted them.

Although most professors respect differing opinions, especially if they are well-supported, I've seen and experienced several occasions when agreeing with the teacher was the ticket to a good grade. For Ross, his dilemma was equivalent to a socialist in an American economics course being told he couldn't pass because he doesn't uphold the values of capitalism. To master the knowledge of something doesn't necessarily require one to believe it or to even think it right.

This fuzzy line is best defined by the misconception that a professor's job is not just to teach ideas but to also indoctrinate students with them. The beauty of education and science is that it invites us to challenge our beliefs and the beliefs of others but being able to question popular and even scientific beliefs is contingent on knowing that they could actually be wrong. When professors indoctrinate students instead of teaching them, it closes the door to inquiry and exploration of ideas.

All things should be taken in moderation; the authority of a well-educated person shouldn't be placed on par with an upset student. However, it is both arrogant and asinine to assume that because someone rejects popular and even scientific ideas, that they neither understand the ramifications of their beliefs, nor have valid and logical reasons for believing what they choose.

Michael Dini, an opponent to religious individuals like Ross in the scientific community, was quoted in The New York Times as saying, "Scientists do not base their acceptance or rejection of theories on religion, and someone who does should not be able to become a scientist."

Although the argument that religious people take what they believe solely on faith can be true, people have been defending their beliefs with quality reason and rhetoric since the days of Plato and Aristotle. Don't assume that because individuals value faith they can't logically and even scientifically defend their beliefs. It wasn't right when Galileo was made to recant his scientific ideas, so why should students be expected to recant their beliefs for the adoption of popular ideas?

Reach columnist Celeste Flint at opinion@thedaily.washington.edu