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CHAPEL HILL -- Military values won out over scientific ethics Wednesday as UNC-Chapel Hill made the final selection for its freshman reading assignment.

This summer, about 3,500 incoming freshmen and 800 transfer students will be asked to read "Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point" by David Lipsky.

The assignment of a book on the U.S. military may quiet UNC-CH's conservative critics, who blasted the university in the past two years for picking books about the Quran and about low-wage workers in the United States.

But that doesn't mean there won't be strong feelings on campus about "Absolutely American," the title of which comes from a Theodore Roosevelt quotation that no institution is more "absolutely American" than West Point. UNC-CH students will debate patriotism, service to their country and the Iraq war -- all in the heat of a contentious presidential election.

"I cannot imagine a more timely and important topic for all of us," said Jan Bardsley, an associate professor of Asian studies who led the book committee.

The nine-member panel -- made up of faculty, staff and students -- chose Lipsky's book 5-4 over "Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age" by Bill McKibben.

Lipsky, a Rolling Stone magazine contributing writer, followed a class of cadets at the U.S. Military Academy from day one until graduation. He documents West Point's intense competition and culture, from military formations to buzz cuts to the stringent honor code.

Some committee members thought "Absolutely American" lacked the intellectual heft of "Enough," which explores the dark side of genetic engineering, robotics and nanotechnology.

Cookie Newsom, director of diversity education and a supporter of "Enough," called "Absolutely American" "the equivalent of a four-year episode of 'Survivor ' set at West Point."

But Zach Clayton, a committee member and freshman from Raleigh, said "Enough" was too one-sided, calling it "the typical UNC book."

The university's 2003 selection, "Nickel and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich, was criticized by conservative students as "a Marxist rant." The 2002 assignment, "Approaching the Qur'an," translated by Michael Sells, led to a federal lawsuit and international media attention.

Clayton said "Absolutely American" wasn't chosen to remedy UNC-CH's perception problems from the previous years' books. Instead, it will lead the 2004 freshmen to a healthy debate, he said.

"I think we'll have a very invigorating discussion on American values and our obligations, ... what it means to be a part of this country," he said.