On a campus still reeling from the aftershocks of racist actions, an organization of "Holocaust revisionists" has injected more controversy by spreading propaganda rooted in anti-Semitic notions under the guise of historical research. Despite the group's supposed academic approach, students must remain aware of its motives and reject its dubious scholarship.

The Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust presents itself as an objective scholarly enterprise that merely wants to set the historical record straight. In the past month, the committee has deluged campus groups with packets of information challenging the "extermination story" of the Holocaust and accusing Jewish organizations of spreading lies to gain support for their causes.

Slipped in the velvet glove of academics, the revisionists propagate suspicion and hatred by advancing the centuries-old "conspiracy theory" of Zionism, in which Jews supposedly control the world's banks and media. The organization draws support from a variety of extremist groups; their literature even admits that at least one quarter of their ranks are Nazi and Hitler apologists.

While open debate on historical events is a natural part of scholarship, the revisionists present a particular danger by deliberately undermining the Holocaust's enormity.

By attempting to disprove the use of the gas chambers and other Nazi atrocities, the revisionists not only contradict the accounts of hundreds of eyewitnesses, but also deny the painful lessons the world has had to absorb from the Nazi movement. It is a twisted vision, and one that students should understand and reject.

The Daily Collegian's business division -- which is separate from the news and editorial division -- pulled an advertisement from the revisionists because it not only offends a significant portion of the community but also profits from a distortion of the history and beliefs of the Jewish people and others who suffered under the Nazis.

The revisionists have cried "censorship" because of this rejection, but the issue is not one of free speech. As their deluge of mail to campus organizations shows, they have plenty of resources at their disposal to spread their ideas. The Daily Collegian's business division decided it does not want to make money off such a group.

The sudden appearance of this California-based organization may lead some to think only outside agitators commit racist acts on campus. Penn State and State College residents need to keep in mind that bigotry also comes from within the University community, as recent events have shown.

A group like the Holocaust revisionists appears in a place where members believe they can gain converts. To combat this idea, community members must scrutinize their own actions and educate themselves on the ways racism manifests itself.

The Holocaust revisionists are fanning the flames of bigotry on this campus. Students and faculty must resist the spread of the group's ideas by using the most rigorous standards of scholarship and heightening their awareness of anti-Semitic motives.