Thanks for your reply and interest Trinity. I had a discussion with one of my instructors. I think it is important that I show this to the community.:

I see you have a lot of similar feelings to my own. I have been like you for 30+ years and being an educator seemed to me the only way I could maintain my creativity, individualism (and collaboration when requested or appropriate)and desire to better myself. That worked at Bradley for six years but there they did not like the fact my teaching philosophy gave the teachers I was instructing the tools to teach as facilitators and guides rather than simply purveyors of knowledge. So I was released from Bradley my last year prior to tenure with no reason put in my records. I have been here for five years this month and initially was a grant writer and adjunct faculty. Again the administration did not like that I was creative, came up with ideas and attempted to pursue them in the best interests of the college
(i.e., I joined with 7-8 other faculty members to pursue putting a wind turbine on campus and found it was feasible and would save us a great deal of money - but it wasn't what the administration wanted) and was willing to
work collaboratively with others. April 1 I was released from that job. So believe me, I completely understand your frustration and your goal(s).

I shared the information with Matt because he appeared interested in working on the ideas with you Wednesday and I know he is also very energetic, appears to like science and doesn't fit into that societal "mold" you are
describing. Also, you will need to have a lab partner (or maybe two or three) to adequately test these hypotheses. I have shared it with the
Physics prof and he and I will be getting together Monday or Tuesday of next week to see if we can provide you with the tools to perform the experiment and then share the results. His initial comments this morning were "this is
good and I think we have the tools to help him? Hmmm, I wonder how we can cool and heat the lens that will be placed in front of the light source.
Hmm, I wonder how you can keep condensation from forming on the lens." As you can see we may very well have it so that you can pursue this
investigation and the reason why from my perspective is that it will help you (and Matt and the class if you are willing to share the results) better understand the properties of light and how the environment either does or
does not impact those properties.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and general misgivings about the role the almighty dollar and the wishes of the few impact the rest of us. I have found that one can only deal with these limiting factor by having a deep well of optimism. I hope you will find that optimism as well and then keep plugging away. There will be others like me who can help you through this
morass so don't give up. Do stay frustrated, however, because that can lead to change in the long run.

Dr. Kellerman