Profess-ors don't teach their opinions in class.

They present many sides of an argument, and they proceed with reason and pragmatic fairness.

Politically, their ideals are nothing short of the stuff in the Preamble to the Constitution and the patriotic fervor in the Declaration of Independence rolled into one. Professors don't succumb to base behavior like factious alignment.

Somewhere along our academic journeys we became convinced that the above baloney was true.

I'm sure that professors think they are kindling inquisitive fires in students' minds and that they are casting warm light on the cold, ignorant shadows of students' immature intellect.

Don't believe it for a second. Students don't question professors nearly enough, and we allow them to get away with baseless assumptions, scribbling them down in notebooks.

Asking questions and holding them accountable for what they want you to take as gospel is part of a university student's education. Tuition is high. Inquisitive minds' shooting off a few questions to well-educated professors is a good thing, and I'm not convinced that it happens enough.

I admit to surrendering to laziness or indifference. For all the times I kept my mouth clamped closed, I wish my queries forced it open. For all the times I sat on my hand instead of raising it, I wish I ignored decorum and spoke the words that were on my mind.

I'm not advocating rudeness or impoliteness. I'm asking for reasoned rational debate that I believe chips away at pretext, exposing glimmers of truth. I also believe it doesn't occur as often as it should.

Students are expected to empty whatever comes out of a professor's mouth into a notebook. Most professors encourage asking questions, but this seems to only nullify the slightest possibility that a student will break with accepted class format and interrupt the professor's sermon.

Reading newspapers and news magazines, watching C-SPAN and the news all contribute to students' education; further, they will educate and elevate the quality of debate that students seem to avoid engaging in during class times.

A skeptical outlook can be useful.

I don't recommend outright cynicism, which is jaded and negative, where skepticism is probing and inquisitive.

Lectures are boring and useless if students are not involved. Participation in education forms the keystone of learning. Professors don't teach their opinions and students are all over-opinionated.

I don't know about you, but I'm still a skeptic.