For the past three years, the university has placed black blocks around campus on Constitution Day to give students an opportunity to voice their opinions -- in the form of scribbled chalk messages -- on controversial questions.
But this year, the question that had everyone talking wasn't about gun control or higher education -- it was about swine flu.
As part of Constitution Day, the university placed writing blocks around campus with questions attached, inviting students to respond by writing with chalk.
"I don't think there's anything more important to the community and to the nation than learning to have a public voice. That's what democracy is all about," said Jeremy Cohen, associate vice president and senior associate dean for undergraduate education, standing outside the Palmer Museum of Art as students wrote on blocks behind him.
The questions ranged from "Should all men and women be required to do national service?" to "Should states be obligated to make higher education affordable to everyone?"
But the question that got the most response was "Should students and staff be required to get H1N1 flu shots?"
Friends Tymel Harvey and Aaron Dodson had opposing views on the issue.
"I don't want to get sick," said Harvey (freshman-advertising), justifying his "yes" response.
Dodson (freshman-international politics) disagreed.
"I don't think people should be forced into getting it, because I don't believe flu shots are a guarantee," Dodson said.
Similarly, Michael Toohig drew a big "no" on top of responses on the block.
"It's your choice of what you want to put in your body, not the government's," Toohig (freshman-engineering) said. He said he heard some had become ill after receiving an H1N1 vaccine.
Some students took the questions less seriously, drawing cartoon pigs on the blocks.
The blocks were supposed to be in place on Thursday, the actual Constitution Day. But the possibility of rain delayed their debut, said professor Rosa Eberly, whose classes read banned books and protested university free speech policies outside various campus locations Thursday.
The blocks were first designed by Penn State professor Peter Aeschbacher's architecture classes four years ago, and have even won an award for their contribution to the celebration of the national holiday, Cohen said.
This year, new block designs were featured in front of the library.
