I was indeed moved by the statements of Professor's Clausen and Rambeau regarding their dismay at the Penn State bookstores deliberation over whether to carry Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses."

Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are concepts worth standing up for, regardless of what one may feel about the nature of a given publication. Obviously the pain felt by millions of Moslems over a blasphemous depiction of their religion, when measured against values like freedom of speech and freedom of the press, carries little weight. That the PSU Bookstore would even consider the sensibilities of Moslems could, I guess, make one ashamed.

I would hope now, since freedom of speech and the press are enshrined as sacred trusts, that we would see defenders, say, reading at Iggy's Skytop or petitioning to have Samuel Morrison and Mordecai Vanunu released from prison in the name of freedom of the press. While they are at it, they could ask that well known free speech advocate, Margaret Thatcher, to lighten up on Peter Wright, author of "Spycatcher."

They then could turn their attention to a real reason to be ashamed -- the U.S. government's ongoing campaign to silence certain voices, like those of Hortensia de Alende, Farley Mowat and Patricia Lara, to name but a few.

Finally they could turn to the University of Michigan, where Jewish students and faculty recently demanded that the student newspaper desist from publishing editorials critical of Israel.

Is freedom tempered by compassion another "passe liberal concept?"