I remember the good old days back at Melbourne University when we would wait anxiously for the Farrago to hit the stands in the Union Building. I say "hit the stands" but the newspapers were actually dumped on the floor, and they usually stayed there decomposing until the cleaner threw the lot into the bin, thus exercising his right to the ultimate form of censorship.

We would all grab a copy and read it over an espresso in the coffee lounge, and eventually throw it away in digust, mumbling something about "leftist crap."

The Farrago was the product of politically opinionated hippies. Every month editorials full of four-letter words would encourage us to become homosexuals as a form of social protest, to kill our parents, to shoplift rather than buy, to bomb the U.S. consulate and to commit suicide in order to "teach the bastards a lesson." The editor would censure those passages that did not suit his or her political opinion. As a result, the yearly election for the editor's position became a bloody battle between political groups who knew absolutely nothing about journalism or how to publish a newspaper. The letters to the editor border on defamation, and often spark such a controversy that the next edition would be full of letters of complaint from an outraged public.

I never thought I would miss the "Farrago," but in retrospect I can understand what an important part it played in my tertiary education. It was through my disgust with many of the extremist views put forward that I began to form my own strong political views. I was forced into thinking about social injustice and about the fairness of our education system. I was kicked out of my middle-class complacency and found myself joining Amnesty International, then marching against plans to raise university fees.

After reading The Daily Collegian for almost four months, I have come to realize that many students at Penn State interpret the function of university education in a different way. Emphasis is placed on conformity, on baseball caps with the same Greek letters, rather than a willingness to develop any sense of individuality.

The Collegian reflects this very conservative fraternity-style outlook. It lacks any form of real dialogue; few truly innovative ideas are put forward. No one sees it as the role of this students' newspaper to publish student poetry or prose. The language is formal; it is used by students as a training ground for careers in journalism. The columnists, including myself, are basically very conservative in their outlook. No space is given to really provocative material; the letters to the editor are seldom written in anger, but are part of the newspaper's boring middle-of-the-road routine. Reading The Collegian makes you feel like you are in the process of dying, and that nothing really matters anymore.

How a student newspaper, which in any other society would be considered conservative, can be defined by my fellow students as a "leftist rag" is beyond my comprehension. However, if nothing else, it is indicative of how far to the right American society is. Indeed, to call "militant" a newspaper that places such importance on sports coverage is nothing short of a joke.

It seemed that things might have been about to change when Chino Wilson's column expressing a black militant viewpoint was published. While the controversy had the ugly effect of bringing to the surface the right-wing extremists of the University with their placards and subsequent death-threats, the episode also prompted some very constructive criticism. The Collegian published letter after letter, and for the first time since my arrival here in January it was functioning as a forum for different opinions. However, the controversy was considered by many nothing but a bad experience.

The extent of the protest against the article also revealed how unaccustomed the readers are to controversial and challenging material. The abnormally large amount of attention the issue attracted is partly The Collegian's fault: Readers should see articles like this more frequently, they should be used to at least listening to extreme views.

I believe it is time Penn State students took a closer look at their newspaper. We must begin by asking ourselves whether we are prepared to listen and discuss, or whether we merely want to live a peaceful existence in the quiet oasis of "Happy Valley." Becoming individuals means being prepared to let others turn our values upside down and then seeing if what we believed in is worthwhile. If a column of regurgitated Malcolm X is enough to spark such a violent outrage, then we are obviously not prepared to question our values.

I want my university life to be a process of self-discovery. This doesn't necessarily mean becoming an unwashed radical hippy like the editors of The Farrago. It means being able to tell our children one day that we at least had the courage to think about making this a better world. Whether we succeed or fail, The Collegian must come along for the ride. The Collegian must change.