My dad sent me an old e-mail message today; it was dated Aug. 25, 2002.

I was a freshman.

The e-mail said my talkative roommate from New Jersey scared the hell out of me; she and I just purchased a Dave Matthews poster for our room by splitting the $8 cost, and I thought I wasn't going to have any friends.

And apparently, my roommate and I went to a party with some people she had met on a hiking trip a few days before, and I didn't have a whole lot to say because, on occasion, I can be pretty shy.

Notably, there wasn't a swear word to be found in the 400-some word e-mail.

Now, if you were to ask anyone in the newsroom, they'd tell you I swear frequently, either for comedic effect or out of the daily frustrations and irritations that come with being editor in chief.

As an only child, I was far better conversing with adults than with my peers in my younger years, when the questions were, "What grade are you in?," and "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

We all remember those days, don't we?

But for better or worse, those days have long since passed.

Asking tough questions, demanding answers and holding people accountable for their actions is part and parcel of journalism.

And the rules of decorum, unfortunately, don't stipulate how to ask a tough question at a press conference or luncheon.

My mom told me just two weeks ago that she couldn't get used to the idea of her daughter asking authority figures impertinent questions and being verbally abused as a result.

The catalyst for that particular conversation stemmed from a luncheon, at which Penn State President Graham Spanier briefly attended. In the 45 minutes he spoke, he had the rare opportunity of telling a room full of newspaper editors that The Daily Collegian amounts to little more than a student-run rag.

Trust me when I say it was one of the more interesting things I've witnessed in my three years at the Collegian.

When I asked, politely but pointedly mind you, about the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon's slated time change for next year, as well as why he and other administration officials couldn't bother to return the Collegian's phone calls, Spanier did indeed have a few things to say.

Perhaps his response, in front of at least 20 editors from around the state, as well as other Penn State employees, is an indication that it's been far too long since he's had lessons in decorum.

There's nothing like a university president referring to students' reporting as shoddy in front of prospective employers.

It's just a guess, but I'm thinking it's highly unlikely that would happen if the room comprised 50 mechanical engineering firm representatives and 10 students majoring in said profession.

But that, at least to me, says we, the 197 students who make up the Collegian's news division, have been doing our job and haven't been doing too bad at it, either.

We made a big deal out of nothing, he said. We can't get our facts straight, he added. When a reporter dares to contact him, our university president, by phone four times in a single day about the same story, of course he's not going to waste his time to take the call, he explained.

Perhaps you happened to get a glimpse of the Opinion Page the day Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon callously and immaturely blamed alcohol for a student's death in a guest column.

No words of condolence to be found.

Instead, we get the finger pointed back at us because our headline was "incorrect."

The last time I checked, students between the ages of 18 and 21, who are presumably intelligent, would not allow themselves to be influenced by a beer pong photo on an inside page.

Sometimes I just scratch my head and ask myself why the hell I didn't give premedicine more of a chance.

Do I really want to put up with this for the rest of my life?

What if I had just studied those chemical reactions for 10 more minutes and tried a little harder? Surely I would be on my way to a top medical school by now.

That day two weeks ago, when my mom and I were on the phone, I paused for a second, possibly with disbelief that she didn't share my excitement regarding Spanier's reaction.

I just don't like the idea of my daughter always making people angry, she said.

And I just told her, it's what journalists have to do sometimes.