Some student disappointment is sure to follow the recent announcement of Penn State's 2006-2007 Distinguished Speaker Series. This year's lineup may be one of interesting people, but event planners will likely struggle to get students in attendance.

The main draw of this year's series will most likely be the scheduled debate on Sept. 27, between political analyst and conservative commentator Pat Buchanan and Nadine Strossen, president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and law professor.

Judy Albin, senior associate director for unions and student activities director for unions and student activities and adviser to the DSS committee, said the debate is intended to appease those who have, in the past, claimed the series was biased.

This is fair, and the debate is sure to be interesting, but the rest of the lineup will have more difficulty attracting attention from students.

Following the debate, on Oct. 9, the series will host General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the United States' attack on the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq. Myers talk should be interesting, but he is not exactly a household name.

Jeff Corwin, host of Animal Planet's "The Jeff Corwin Experience," and LeVar Burton, who is known from the PBS children's show "Reading Rainbow," will also be appearing in the series. Jehan Sadat, wife of assassinated Nobel Prize winner and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, will talk about women's rights.

Considering that past speakers in the DSS series have included Howard Dean, Cal Ripken Jr., James Earl Jones, Yolanda King, Alice Walker, Dr. Ruth and Janet Reno, one has to wonder: Where is the big name speaker for this year?

The committee that decides what speakers will come each year has declined to say how much each speaker will be paid, though $185,000 is allocated through Penn State for the DSS lineup.

Student input has historically factored into the decisions on who will speak at Penn State, but only a minority of students are voicing opinions and are being given the opportunity to do so. Any sort of student opinion surveys are not being well publicized at all. Future DSS committees may find their job a little easier by using a resource pool of more than 42,000 students at this campus, all of whom have an opinion.

This year's speaker series lacks the star quality of series in the past. Students would rather see some big names like Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Stephen Colbert, Steven Spielberg or even Chuck Norris. This year's series contains a mix of interesting people, but none alone are a big enough draw.

Here's hoping next year's lineup will ignite some student interest.