If we define public controversy by the content of the letters to the editor on the Opinion Page, then we, the student body of Penn State, care more about the Chicken Man than the New Jersey Supreme Court decision permitting equal rights to homosexual couples, the race for Congress, or the war in Iraq, all breaking news of the previous day.

Even within our university, we are more compelled to offer our position on whether or not the Chicken Man eats chicken than we are to plead for lower tuition, increased financial aid, administrative accountability, student representation; the list is endless.

How many times have you felt so passionate about an issue that you wrote to the Collegian? Yet 14 times in the last few weeks I've had the opportunity to read a student's position on the Chicken Man. Congratulations, Chicken Man - you are officially a public controversy.

During his annual "State of the University" address, President Graham Spanier stated an array of reasons why he felt Penn State is a student-centered university. What prompted our president's remarks? Perhaps it was the censorship of student artwork or the lockdown of Old Main. Maybe it's AD-51 and our free speech zones.

What's the true comedy of the situation? The majority of the student body doesn't have any idea what I am talking about.

I am by no means opposed to the discussion surrounding the Chicken Man. But imagine. What would happen if we diverted a portion of our conversation to address student involvement and activism?

Who knows what might happen next? We might even have a student-centered university.