As the saga that began on Sept. 11 continues to concern Americans, many Muslims and people of Arab descent have been affected on campuses across the nation.

Two weeks ago, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft called for the investigation of Muslims across the United States as part of the country's antiterrorism effort.

Agents from the FBI and local district attorneys have been in charge of contacting administrators at more than 200 college campuses to inquire after Muslim students.

At other large universities across the country, officials have asked university administrators for the personal information of some Arab students.

Administrators at Penn State, however, said they have not been contacted with any questions regarding Muslim students.

"To my knowledge, none of our students have been interviewed as part of the student investigation," said Ann Frentzen, interim director of intensive English at Penn State.

The federal government has not called local officials either, such as those from Penn State Police Services and the State College Police Department, for information regarding Muslim students, officers at the departments said.

They added they have also not been asked to conduct any investigations of the students.

"We've had no requests to do that to my knowledge," said Sgt. Dana Leonard of the State College Police Department. "(If we were contacted to conduct investigations), we would have to examine any requests we get and see if they are consistent with what we normally do."

Zubair Malik, president of the Muslim Student Association, was recently contacted by an FBI agent, who left a message at his home asking if there was anything he could do to help. Malik never talked with the agent in person.

Despite the seemingly good intentions of the agent, Malik was somewhat troubled by the phone call.

"I know it's another way to screen Muslims," he said. "But it's just another difficulty for Muslims to go through just for our faith or for being an Arab. I don't feel so good about it."

Bill Mahon, director of public information at Penn State, was not concerned about the phone call, or the fact that the university had not been contacted prior to the questioning.

"It isn't an issue for the university if the FBI called an individual," he said. "(The FBI) has a lot of connections. If there isn't any direct connection to the university, I don't know what our part would be."

While some district attorneys across the country have been asked to conduct investigations as part of the antiterrorism task force, Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar has received no such requests.

"I have no role in this whatsoever," Gricar said. "As of right now, I don't know a thing about it and I'm not involved in it and I don't want to be involved in it."