The Berlin Wall was reconstructed yesterday on the steps of Old Main.

Members of the conservative student group Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) stood in front of a stack of spray-painted cardboard boxes to demonstrate the "wall" that the group says exists between "politically minded" courses taught at Penn State and the real world. The wall was a representation of the Berlin Wall, which fell this week 16 years ago, on Nov. 9, 1989.

YAF President Shauna Moser said that "communism was pretty much dead," but at Penn State, "it's still one of the most heavily taught subjects."

Posters on the wall stated that "75 percent of politically motivated classes are taught on liberal ideas." Moser defined "politically motivated classes" as "anything with a philosophical or political slant." Liberal ideas included communism, socialism, anarchism, feminism and post-modernism, Moser said. She said Penn State should include more "classes taught from a Western perspective," including Greek and Roman political thought, medieval studies and the Enlightenment.

Moser said YAF researched its information in Penn State's directory of courses. She said that the small number of conservative classes limits their availability to students.

"The chances of getting into a class that is going to teach you something about the foundation of your country are slim to none," she said.

Moser added that learning "classical" subjects was vital to a well-rounded education. "You can't be a good citizen if all you were taught in college was feminism and Marxism," she said.

Moser said that the purpose of YAF's event yesterday was to distribute information, but she added that YAF would consider petitioning the administration in the future. "This is something that we would like to follow up on," she said.

Thomas Wilent (senior-communication arts and sciences) stopped to look at the Berlin Wall display. Wilent said he agreed that there were many liberal courses at Penn State, especially in sociology, his minor.

Wilent said that nearly every sociology class he's taken has been about capitalism and how it sets up a class structure "to keep people oppressed."

Ashley Linker (sophomore-psychology) said she has taken some liberal classes. "My [Sociology 001] course right now is very liberal," she said.

Penn State spokesman Tysen Kendig said YAF's information "sounds like selective argument," adding the university offers "thousands of courses."

Vincent Colapietro, professor of philosophy, said his department does not have a bias toward "liberal" philosophies. "We certainly do not ignore earlier periods in the history of philosophy," he said.

Colapietro said both liberal and conservative students have their philosophies questioned in classes. "The business of education is to question orthodoxy, not to endorse them," he said.