With the continued threat to author Salman Rushdie's life over the publication of his latest novel, "The Satanic Verses", opinions and controversy abound, affecting even the Centre Region.

Waldenbooks, B. Dalton and Barnes & Noble bookstores pulled Rushdie's novel off the shelves nationwide after the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's decree of a $2.6 million dollar bounty for the assasination of the author.

Yesterday, however, B. Dalton and Barnes & Noble announced their decision to return the novel to their shelves as soon as possible.

Although the majority of bookstores in the Centre Region do not have the book in stock, one local bookstore has already made orders for a second shipment.

Michael Svoboda, owner of Svoboda's Books, 129 W. Beaver Ave., said he has reordered 50 to 75 copies of the controversial novel, stating it is a mistake for any bookstore to take "The Satanic Verses" off the shelves.

"I'm not aware of any threat to a book chain that could have prompted such a decision," he said. "It sets a bad precedent. Now any threat could potentially result in books being pulled off the shelf."

"I discount (the threat)," he said. "I know of nothing in town that comes near to a threat."

Members of the Moslem Students Association on campus support the removal of the novel from sale or display.

"The people's right to freedom of speech shouldn't include this type of pornography and racist literature," said Iftikhar Chaudhry, secretary for the Moslem Student Assciation. "In this country, even if a book this offensive is not banned, it is definitely denounced. This type of literature promotes only hate and bigotry."

Anish Wig, former president of the International Student Council, said if the book is not totally banned from the book stores it should not be put on open display because it would create an angry and insensitive atmosphere.

The recent crackdown of local pornography distributors is a perfect example of how literature that can be considered morally offensive is not protected by freedom of speech, Chaudhry explained. The problem with this book is that the people who are defending it know virtually nothing about the Islamic religion, Chaudhry added.

"The western world can't understand just how derogatory and offensive this book is," said Mohammad Ghazal, president of the Moslem Students Association. "Islam is not just a religion, it is our whole aspect of life -- our everything."

"Many important people who are aware of Islam denounce the book because they are aware it is a deliberate attempt made by the author to insult Moslems to the very core of their belief," Ghazal said.

Moslems take special offense at Rushdie's writing of the book because his familiarity with the Islamic religion makes the novel seem like a calculated attack, Chaudhry said.

"He was paid to write it and he knew what he was doing," Chaudhry added.

Arthur Goldscmidt, professor of history and an expert on the Middle East, explained that the Rushdie controversy has its roots in Islamic history. The Islamic religion and culture has been systematically misrepresented, exploited and ignored "for such a long time, that they are very sensitive to attacks that portray Islam blasphemously," he said.

Even the title of the novel strikes a sore spot, Goldscmidt said. He explained the origins of the satanic verses is based on a myth that tells of Satan whispering verses to Mohammed that he supposedly wrote down.

"The threat from the Ayatollah is real," Goldschmidt said.

Moslem students agreed that Rushdie's "crime" is the equivalent of treason in the United States.

"By Moslem law, unless he repents, death is the penalty," said Bahram Emamizadeh, an Iranian student at the University.

"It isn't that we don't tolerate criticism, but (Rushdie) can't use fiction as a way to insult us," Emamizadeh said. "If we don't fight this book then we have lost our dignity and identity as Moslems."

Members of the Moslem Students Association contacted Pattee library in an effort to have Rushdie's novel pulled from the shelves, Ghazal said.

An employee at Pattee library said in a phone interview that "We would never pull a book off the shelves -- for absolutely any case."

A check of Rushdie's novels on the LIAS system at Pattee indicated that several are available. However, the shelf containing his novels was found to be empty. On Wednesday, Pattee employees said, "We are not aware of any missing (Rushdie) works."