"The tribe has spoken," and the hype surrounding Survivor's controversial new season sparked interest and debate among concerned student groups and loyal fans at Penn State.

The premise for the show's 13th season, Survivor: Cook Islands, divides teams racially into an African-American team, a Caucasian team, an Asian American team and a Hispanic team.

The season debut dominated primetime rankings but proved to be the series' worst, averaging only 18 million viewers.

Penn State student groups have reservations about how the groups will be portrayed and whether people will be offended.

Xiaole Mao (graduate-bioengineering), president of Chinese Friendship Association, said he felt people might get the wrong idea.

"The result could be uncomfortable for some people [who are] more sensitive about this issue," Mao said. "It is not a good idea to make the program this way, and I don't think it's good for the program itself."

Raquel Jones (senior-science), president of Latino Caucus, wrote in an e-mail message that while she did not find the show "offensive," she didn't feel the premise was "proactive" either.

"I think the premise for the season really instills a mindset that I had hoped was gone," Jones wrote.

"This competition will only set races against each other to 'prove' that one [race] is better than another. This is an absurd idea because no race is better than another."

Penn State Black Caucus declined to comment.

Loyal fans felt the new season's premise could be offensive, but was just another twist to keep the show's torch from being extinguished.

"For a show that's been on this long and has divided tribes by gender and then age," said Jeff Wuebber (junior-secondary education), "it's a natural progression for the show."

Long-time Survivor fan Emily Jungblut (senior-public relations) said she thought the show's premise would break down stereotypes but noted that people of multiple ethnicities were not represented.

"[The show] draws definite lines and I don't think that's fair," she said.

Mike Armstrong (junior-criminal justice) said he felt student reaction to the show was debatable.

"It could [offend people] depending on who's watching," he said, "depending on who the student is and how they feel about segregation."

But some fans defended the show and its premise.

"The show is in no way trying to put races against each other for malicious intent," Wuebber said.

"They always start off separating groups, then they come together, and I think that's just one way of separating them," said Andrew Olcese (senior-kinesiology).

"I think the major point is people coming together and showing they can work as a team and survive in uncivilized places."

Whether the show will draw in more viewers in the long run is questionable.

"A lot of people will watch it just to see if they could possibly get away with it," Armstrong said. "It's an issue you can't necessarily put on TV, but they're pushing the envelope."

In the end, loyal fan Wuebber hoped people could see the show's potential for good.

"I hope people have an open mind because in this country, ethnicity is a hot topic and maybe a little debate about it is a good thing," he said.