Leaders varying from the political world to the TV world will grace the Penn State campus as part of the 2006-2007 Distinguished Speakers Series (DSS).

The series kicks off at 8 p.m. Sept. 27, when conservative commentator and political analyst Pat Buchanan and the president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Nadine Strossen, engage in a debate entitled "Challenges to Civil Liberties in a Post 9-11 World."

Strossen is a law professor, an author and the first woman to head the ACLU.

Buchanan has worked for Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan and has run for president three times: in 1992, 1996 and 2000. He has also worked as a television political commentator.

Judy Albin, senior associate director for unions and student activities and adviser to the DSS Committee, which is run by students, said they wanted to have a debate this year to appease those who claimed the series was biased.

"We decided, wouldn't this be fun?" she said of a debate between Buchanan and Strossen.

General Richard Myers will step up to the Eisenhower Auditorium podium Oct. 9. Myers was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the United States' attack on the Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces in Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq. Prior to ascending to chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Myers served in the U.S. Air Force as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War.

P> Jeff Corwin, host of Animal Planet's "The Jeff Corwin Experience," will share some of his thoughts on ecology, wildlife and conservation Oct. 25.

LeVar Burton, legendary star of the TV series "Roots," will speak Monday, Jan. 29. Many Penn State students will recognize Burton from his appearances on the PBS children's show "Reading Rainbow," which he has produced and hosted for 21 years.

"You always hope for the Distinguished Speakers Series to include people that are intelligent and thoughtful," said Dan Carter, director of the Penn State School of Theatre. Carter said Burton and James Earl Jones, who spoke last year, are interesting actors to hear from because they are both socially engaging.

The final speaker of the series will be Jehan Sadat, the wife of assassinated Nobel Prize winner and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. She has been an advocate for women's rights all over the world and is the founder of a women's rights and education group called the Talla Society.

The DSS speakers are picked from students' and community members' suggestions, Albin said. The committee members look for a variety of different speakers, covering a variety of topics, she added.

The list of speakers is narrowed down through discussion and deliberation. Albin said the committee focuses on speakers the students would like to see.

Cost is also a factor. The committee tries to secure its first priorities, Albin said, and then uses the remainder of the allocated $185,000 for the handful of other speakers it's interested in.