Penn State kids are terrible. They have no class or manners.

Of course, as a Penn State "kid" myself, I don't believe that's true. However, that's what someone told my mom when she found out that my two sisters and I went to Penn State.

The woman had attended the Penn State football game versus Ohio State and committed the sin of all sins in Happy Valley -- she wore the other team's colors. The Buckeye fan complained that she was cursed at, harassed and threatened by Penn Staters.

She probably was.

That weekend I saw students chanting curses and throwing food at Ohio State fans who were old enough to be my grandparents. Middle fingers flipping and marshmallows flying through the air at senior citizens won't go down as our finest moments.

Neither will the weekends I've seen men urinating off of balconies on Beaver Avenue or screaming derogatory comments at every passing female. Then again, we've all been cut in line for a beer or a slice of Canyon pizza by a "stealthy" group of 10 girls who think they can infiltrate unnoticed.

Bad behavior isn't exclusive to weekends. Class time has its offenders. Last semester, one student faithfully attended every one of our biology classes without fail and always brightened my mornings by blaring death-metal music from his iPod so I could enjoy it from six rows behind him. In the meantime, he propped his feet up on the seat in front of him and reclined in his chair, thoroughly engrossed in a sci-fi novel. Why bother waking up, getting dressed and going to class?

After all, on the way you might have a collision with a bicyclist who thinks it's normal to swerve in and out of pedestrians faster than Lance Armstrong petals in the Tour de France.

Well, you can always take the bus, if you can get on. The problem is nothing brings out the Lisa Leslie boxing-out abilities in the tiny, shy girl next to you in line like the White Loop rolling around. Plus, you might get left behind because people already riding won't move back and make space. Or, you might get on it and have to stand because somebody thinks their book bag is more worthy of a seat than you. Not to mention you might sit next to someone who decides to explain in disgusting detail her latest sexual exploit on her cell phone at volumes that can only make you wish you carried ear plugs.

Displays like these have allowed other people to say that we have "no class." They give older people one more reason to stereotype young people as ungrateful and impolite.

Believe me, they are stereotyping. Our generation has been referred to as the "Me Me Me Generation." According to the Associated Press, five prominent psychologists released a study this week stating : "Today's college students are more narcissistic and self-centered than their predecessors."

I hope hearing people talking this way about our generation and our school makes you mad. After all, when people talk about your school, they are talking about you.

Still, I don't think we fully deserve the bad rap we're getting. Some of the nicest and most considerate people I know I've met at Penn State.

Every time my friends and I return from the grocery store, our friend John carries case after case of bottled water stacked chin-high to our third-floor rooms without even being asked. And somehow, he still manages to hold the door for all of us - and the five strangers who follow.

In the same way, I've seen many people leave a party or the comfort of their beds so that one of their female friends doesn't have to walk home alone at night.

So, you see, chivalry is not dead at Penn State -- at least not completely.

Neither is politeness and random acts of kindness from strangers.

Yesterday I walked my clumsy self straight into an unwitting diner at Pollock Dining Commons, spilling my drink all over him. Considering that he was doused in ice-cold water, I'd say he was pretty gracious in saying "it's ok" and laughing it off.

Another time, a Redifer worker helped me pick up an entire basket of plastic ware that I accidentally knocked all over the floor. I meant it when I told you I was clumsy.

Last week, someone gave me their seat in my crowded political science class and took an uncomfortable one on the floor. And, more than once, I've lost my key and had complete strangers go far out of their way to return it to me.

There's a whole lot of people like John out there, people who quietly and without recognition use the good old-fashioned manners that some would have us think Penn State students don't possess.

That's lucky for us because to some degree Penn State's reputation is our reputation. After we leave here, future employers may judge us based on what they've heard about our school. I hope they've heard about our Johns -- and I hope they haven't met that Ohio State fan.

I love Penn State. I love the campus. I love the atmosphere. Most of all, I love the people and the pride. We take pride in our football team. We take pride in our designation as a school that knows how to throw a good party. We should take pride in ourselves and our actions because that's what visitors here -- prospective students, alumni and even our opponents -- will remember most.

It seems to me we're not a generation of "me, me, me" and we're not a university of rude, selfish "kids," but it wouldn't hurt to let everyone else see that.

In the meantime, as Ron Burgundy would say, "You stay classy, Penn State."