Over two months after the nation reeled in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, a new organization on campus is working to provide information and education about a country that was not in the minds of most United States citizens and Penn State students before that day.

PeaceWorks, a new student organization with the goal of promoting world peace, held a workshop last week to provide historical and sociological information about that country, Afghanistan, and the people and religion of the nation.

With the help of videos about its religion and political system, as well as the discussion with some Penn State professors about the country, students and all who were interested were able to gather together in a friendly environment and have an in-depth, serious discussion about the state of the country and people that the United States is currently at war with.

Some students of Penn State might agree with the purpose of the organization, as its spokesman Jesse Durst described it last week, which is "to promote peaceful alternatives to war ... as far as solving problems of global injustice, terrorism and human rights violations." But even those who don't believe in those ideals at this difficult time should take advantage of and commend the efforts this organization is engaging in. Education about the history and operation of Afghanistan is key for us to engage in an efficient war that will hurt the least amount of civilians as possible and best accomplish our goal as a nation -- to erradicate terrorism.

Students have little understanding of the way Afghanistan works, and in order to make educated decisions about the way the military and government of the United States is handling this attack on terrorism, they must have adequate information about the conflicts and values that characterize the country and its people.

We can only hope that many in the State College area take advantage of this opportunity for education and discussion about a very pertinent topic in all of our lives right now, even if we don't necessarily support the idea of peace at this moment.

We would like to see PeaceWorks continue such educational workshops about the problems and conflicts in other countries. We would like to avoid ignorance about such attacks in the future, and perhaps if PeaceWorks helps the community to understand the reason for conflicts around the globe, the United States will be prepared to handle future conflicts without violence.