Re: "Protesters attract attention, but not change," April 3 column.

I'd like to remind a number of Penn State students that even though peace protesters may not hold a popular opinion, they still have as much right to their opinion as yesterday's cartoonist has in drawing a picture of Saddam Hussien in a Madonna-like pose above their protest. A "diverse" community still includes actions and opinions that are unpopular, whether liberal or conservative.

In response to statements that protesters accomplish nothing, I've heard some lively debates at the Allen Street gates, debates the likes of which I've not seen outside the classroom in my four years at Penn State. The protesters' intent is to create dialogue and give a voice for the "unpopular" point of view, not wholly to denounce the current conflict. They are raising awareness like the Take Back the Night and Pride Week rallies.

Whether protesters accomplish anything depends upon whether their audience is receptive to their actions; Martin Luther King was a protester, wasn't he? And isn't he viewed as a hero? The protesters are exercising freedom of speech, just like anyone who writes a letter to the paper or goes on television supporting war. Because of the protesters' bravery in the face of the insults I hear thrown at them every day as I wait for my bus, I would consider their exercising of free speech when their opinions are unpopular to be similarly heroic.