If we cannot respect an opinion, we must respect the right to have one. At a recent University Technology Committee meeting, faculty members discussed the issue of pornography in public labs on campus. Although some committee members felt that policy should be enacted to restrict viewing of pornography in the labs, others felt that to do so would be censorship, perhaps even a violation of students First Amendment rights. This issue has not yet been resolved, however the committee did agree that students should be educated in a computer etiquette that would ensure the comfort of all the students using the computer labs. In a college community, where statistically one in four women are victims of rape, we must be sensitive to this matter.
Pornography is a term that holds no single definition.
What one woman may see as art, another may find vulgar. However, there are certain things that pass through the e-mail server on this campus that we would never show our mothers. College is a large collective of mostly unmarried young adults who are groping through the hazards of daily life, trying to find a passion, a skill, a personality. And in truth, many students truly do reach a deeper realization of their own sexuality during this time. So it may be the very nature of the community to be more open to cat calls, butt checks, one night stands and a lot of porn.