Though it is not fair to generalize individual instances, individuals' acts can sometimes be an indicator of where a community or a society is going. I do not intend to generalize the incident about someone setting a notice board on fire in the Forum building during the Historians Against the War meeting in order to stop the meeting ("PSU historians raise concern about policies, war abroad," April 9 article). However, I do wish to draw attention to what such behavior may indicate.

Not only was it an act of vandalism, but also sheer intolerance (read: fanaticism). Isn't it exactly what we don't like about the Islamic fundamentalism? It's unfortunate that what people don't see is that this is worse than a bunch of foreigners burning American flags in their countries. An American just burnt the very spirit of America.

I would like to bring to light the fact that most of the Islamic terrorists come from poor families that have very little education and are very poorly informed. They are easily swayed by the money and also the propaganda that has been continuing for decades. However, in our society where we claim so loudly "the land of the free," a society where we claim "freedom of expression," a society where we claim "knowledge for everyone," such an act of intolerance is probably more shocking than the expected fundamentalism of the deprived Islamic people.

It may just be an indicator of how "tolerant" we are about things despite an education where we are taught that democracy rests on the dictum that rights and duties go together. It might really just indicate how our society is degrading thanks to the information (read: propaganda) we receive from the media. It might just indicate what kind of precedent our leaders are setting by using more and more discretion. And might just force (hopefully) some of them to think "Is this what we want our future to be? Intolerance, fundamentalism, vandalism."