Dustin Dopirak's column ("Lumping all white students into one group a mistake if change is to occur," Jan. 22) was nothing short of a mistake in and of itself. Not only were his arguments inaccurate and contradictory, they were just as self-serving as the statements which presumably triggered the arguments in the first place.

In his column, Dopirak addresses statements made by a student at a Town Hall meeting (not a Black Caucus meeting as stated in the column) where students, faculty, staff and members of the community were allowed to voice their opinions on the recent actions of some members of the Penn State College Republicans.

However, in doing so, Dopirak does exactly what he is accusing this student of: taking a "presumptuous view of the situation." While he does begin with a valid point, that the College Republicans are not necessarily representative of the opinions or beliefs of the thousands of white students at Penn State, he loses credibility when he begins to compare this student's statements to the College Republicans total lack of respect for the centuries of oppression placed on African Americans in this country. Dopirak even goes on to suggest that this is "at the core of what is wrong with the racial situation at Penn State," and if there is to be any change to occur, it must be on both sides. This suggests that black students must be willing to reason with the racist ideologies that some people unfortunately possess. As if this weren't enough, Dopirak goes on to assume that "most" white students are willing to support the social change initiatives of organizations, such as Black Caucus.

It may be best for Dopirak to stick to sports.