From _Science_, Vol. 262, Dec. 24, 1993
                  Random Samples, by Holden

         "Intelligent Design" at San Francisco State


     Two important concepts--academic freedom and the theory
of evolution--are currently clashing at San Francisco State
University.  The question:  Does the school have the right
to stop a biology professor from expounding on creationist
ideas?  On 7 December, the university's Academic Senate
voted no.
     Hostilities commenced last spring when, in response to
complaints by five students, the chairman of the biology
department moved Dean Kenyon, a tenured professor, out of
the introductory course he had been teaching for almost a
decade.  Kenyon devotes two course sessions to explaining
how it is unlikely that the aspects of chemical evolution
could have occurred by chance.  He insists he's no Biblical
fundamentalist, but he has become an advocate of the theory
that "intelligent design" must be behind the emergence of
life.  University officials have their doubts about having
this laid on freshmen who may never see another science
course.
     After his removal, Kenyon claimed his intellectual
freedom had been abridged and appealed to the faculty
senate's Academic Freedom Committee.  The committee agreed
with him, but the department demurred.  Tensions escalated
in November, when the American Association of University
Professors weighed in, praising the committee's report and
urging resolution of the issue.  And finally came the
endorsement of Kenyon's reinstatement by the Academic
Senate.
     His defenders, all but one of them nonscientists, say
Kenyon shouldn't be penalized for exposing his students to
alternative interpretations of events.  And they feel the
department violated "due process" by relying on student
reports rather than engaging in systematic information-
gathering on his teaching.
     But Kenyon's views have been a matter of chronic
concern since he began injecting them into his teaching more
than a decade ago, says university dean James Kelley, an
oceanographer.  So "18 years of student complaints" seems
like enough evidence.  Department chairman John Hafernik
adds that there was no due process to violate.  He calls
Kenyon's reassignment a "scheduling decision" that should
never have gone outside the department.  But it did, and now
it's back.  Kelley says Kenyon (who is now teaching only
labs) has been offered the chance to conduct an advanced
seminar where his ideas can be explored.  But Kenyon wants
his intro course back, saying "I'm not going to drop this
issue."  He won't get more specific, but university
officials fear a lawsuit is in the making.