"Happy" Valley. It's a cute yet completely inaccurate term to describe State College. This area is far from being "happy."

Every day, students who express themselves openly and honestly are being tyrannized. If your race, gender or sexual orientation doesn't fit in with the "straight white male" category, then you stand the chance of being targeted by an act of hate.

Yesterday, a flier on the Undergraduate Student Government office door was defaced because it advertised National Coming Out Day, an event held annually to celebrate the choice by millions of men and women to express themselves as part of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Allied community. Hate, mistrust and blatant disrespect for oppressed groups are still running rampant on this campus. While this act was done to demoralize the efforts of various student organizations who have worked to unify Penn State, we see this as a reminder that our work is not complete; rallies of this nature are urgently needed to educate people about those who are not straight, white or male. Although "Happy" Valley's pet name is secure, it will be some time before the meaning matches the feelings of this campus. The ideas expressed here aren't limited to one person or one organization. They are a combined effort of Lambda Student Alliance (LSA), USG, Black Caucus, Undertones, Allies, Lambda Delta Omega, Council of Commonwealth Student Governments, Womyn's Concerns, Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council. Submitted by: