Apathy has become such a buzzword here that one can wonder who actually is apathetic. A quick scan of this paper each morning and we see the charitable works of some, the diligent protests of others and, of course, the senseless rants of yet even more students. However, if we go into the deep recesses of this community one can see those students more dedicated to playing James Bond video games, reciting SportsCenter catchphrases and, er, practicing along with soft-core pornography on late night Cinemax. Yes, these are the academic charlatans who masquerade as students while people from generations past gasp in horror about how these pseudo-scholars should be attending tech school or boot camp.

As apathy continues to plague our campus, the administration at Penn State should take a look at itself to find the genesis of this problem. To begin with, the recruitment and admission of future students must be seen as the catalyst for showing potential students that this is not a place for students seeking to become future leaders.

As high school seniors prepare to make one of the largest decisions of their lives, they are flooded with mail, applications, propaganda and choices of colleges. However, to apply to the revered Pennsylvania State University, potential students are faced with an application that foreshadows the impersonal, time-saving attitude that they are faced with if they, in fact, are accepted and choose to enroll here.

If you take a look at the application that is now available online, take a look at its key selling point -- It only takes 20 minutes to fill out! Yes, it takes more time, effort and a whole lot more thinking to make a meatloaf dinner than it does to show the admissions people here how you are qualified to make a difference at Penn State.

Thinking of this concept of convenience-based education, I tried to think back to that fateful day when I filled out my Penn State application. It was the fall of 1994. Gangsta rap was showing white suburbanites the power of the gat, and Forrest Gump's brand of insightful idiocy was sweeping the nation. I remember struggling through non-Penn State college application essays that could show complete strangers how I would be a worthy and productive student in their universities. I tried to show them my writing skills, my insight and, most of all, my individuality. I even remember exactly what my freeform essay topic was about, nearly five years after the fact.

I can't remember filling out the Penn State application. I do remember, though, the talk that it received among my peers. "I wish every application was like Penn State's. You fill in like four things and send it out. It's so easy." The first encounter that Penn State has with potential students clearly shows that their application will be thrown into a database and sorted out through a scientific formula. It is through this cold and impersonal process that Penn State clearly plants the seeds for apathetic students. A student with no drive, creativity or leadership can slip through the cracks and be accepted, provided he or she has a decent grade point average and above-average SAT scores. Even worse, it sends the irreparable first impression to driven, creative high school students that their voice does not matter to the administration. "Pay your bills on time, keep your mouth shut and everything will be OK," is what that Nittany Lion shrine seems to be saying to prospective students.

This perception is exactly why the admissions process must be altered to allow the human element of prospective students to come into play. Though requiring essays or personal interviews could be a logistical nightmare for the admissions office, it seems too important an aspect of a student's profile to be ignored. Penn State must show that it is interested in people, not numbers, from the very start of a student's career. Otherwise, they simply seem to be afraid of knowingly accepting students who challenge their authority.