In recent days, a controversy has arisen on these pages about the Collegian's judgment in printing Bradley Smith's Holocaust Museum advertisement. I believe the Collegian was entirely correct in printing the ad, and that critics of the decision were short-sighted in their perspective.

The fact of the matter is that, regardless of what some may say, this is still a university. Its primary objective, and indeed its reason for being, is to facilitate the free exchange of ideas among intelligent people. The Collegian, despite the best efforts of alternative newspapers, is still by far the largest purveyor of ideas at University Park.

The Collegian should be encouraged to print all perspectives, especially those presented in a paid advertisement. Within the context of activity announcements and letters to the editor, censorship is bound to occur.

But paid advertisements should be printed regardless of their content. For example, both the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Student Alliance and the Klu Klux Klan should have equal access to the Collegian's pages. But there is a difference between the KKK and the LGBSA, you say. That is exactly my point: University students should be intelligent enough to tell the difference and decide what they think accordingly.

The key here is that the written word poses no inherent danger. Collegian advertisments should not be censored to prevent offending some sensibilities; certainly Copernicus offended the sensibilities of many of his contemporaries. While it is clear, in my mind, that Bradley Smith is no Copernicus, shouldn't we, as the academic community, have the right to decide, and not let the Collegian's business managers decide for us.

Finally in response to Edward Yu's nomination of Hitler, the KKK, Bradley Smith for the Penn State teaching award, I would suggest that better candidates would be found in the masses of people who have risen to educate us as to the shortcomings of their doctrines. Often those who point out the errors in theories are as important, if not more so, to learning as those who pose the theories.