The theory of evolution was subjected to the first of several courtroom-style hearings in Kansas, an occasion colored by detailed testimony, forceful cross-examinations, and quarrels over biological events that occurred millions of years ago. A three-member subcommittee of the Kansas state board of education is staging the hearings to consider whether to allow language critical of Charles Darwin's theory into the state's science standards. All three panelists have suggested that teachers be allowed to discuss alternatives to Darwinian evolution in science classrooms in Kansas. However, many scientists and other defenders of the current approach to teaching the topic worry that a majority of the 10-member state board would soon vote to weaken evolution's place in the state standards. Critics of the hearings described them as a sham orchestrated by state board members to justify future changes to the state standards. Many of the nation's top scientists and scientific organizations boycotted the hearings, saying they amounted to an attempt to foist views they consider religion-based, such as "intelligent design," upon teachers and students.