Newspaper Page Text
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER1990 ■ News Features
U. THE NATIONAL COLLEGE NEWSPAPER 7
Condom crusaders wage war against campus machines
By Michael Fibison
• The Reporter
Mankato State U.
A militant group of self-proclaimed
“Christian-minded” students calling
themselves Students Against Sin waged
a crusade against condom vending
machines at Mankato State U.
G&B Vending Inc. owner Gerry
Erickson discovered knobs missing on a
sabotaged condom machine at the stu
dent union and an inscription banning
the machines etched into the side.
Erickson said he also received a letter
from SAS condemning the machines and
vowing not to follow “the long drawn-out
legal procedures and red tape to have
these vending machines removed from
campus.”
Instead, they decided to take overt
action.
The letter stated, “We will stop at
nothing to sabotage these machines and j
prevent them from working.” They also
claimed to have the machine keys and |
threatened to steal the merchandise.
The condom-condemning crusaders
said it is their duty to prevent the sins j
of premarital and extramarital sex by j
ridding MSU of its condom dispensers.
“If these condoms were not available
to the youth of our society, they would
not be tempted to follow the path of
Satan toward sexual misconduct,” the
letter stated.
The actions of the group have worried
Michael Hodapp, assistant director of
the student union.
“I don’t know how you stop something
like that,” Hodapp said.
If the machines are not removed from
campus, SAS vowed to continue their
“active and militant” stance against the
dispensers.
Erickson expressed his disappoint
ment. “I thought we were doing a ser
vice,” he said.
His company is the second to brave the
MSU campus after the first vendor was
forced by costly vandalism to remove his
machines.
Erickson estimated his cost at about
$200. He speculated that the group must
have used tools such as a chisel and ham- ;
mer to break the knobs off of the
machines.
Erickson said he questions the
“Christianity” of the group because they
are destroying property.
SOGER IUTEYM, THE 0AIIY ILLINI. U OF IUIN0IS
BRIEFLY STATED
SGAs network across the globe ...
Geography and culture soon may be
irrelevant for student leaders trying
to communicate worldwide thanks
to a new global electronic Student
Government Association mail net
work developed in May at Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State U.
For about $10 a month, more than
150 institutions currently have
instant access to mEtil discussion,
archives and a global directory of
other student governments. Kurt
Jager, a member of an independent
student government association at
the U. of Stutgart in Germany, said
he thinks the future of SGANet
might help prevent such occurrences
as the massacre in Bering last year,
lb participate in SGANet, Brian
McConnell, coordinator of Virginia
Itch's network, said students may
obtain a CompuServe account by
calling 1-800-848-8990. a Oliver
Vest, Collegiate Times, Virginia Ttech
Sexist
Continued from page 1
the French word for “thin” was illustrat
ed by a shot of a woman in a half T-shirt.
“The image struck me so powerfully,”
Blackmer said. “They were exploiting
her body. She was a body, not a person.
It became really difficult to concentrate
on the videos.”
In lesson 11, Blackmer said students
were shown a man trying to pick up a
pretty woman in a park. On the follow
ing exam, the students in Blackmer’s
class were required to repeat the lines
of the male pick-up artist.
“I was really uncomfortable with the
fear and the violence that is implicit in
something like that," she said.
Amherst French Professors Aida
Nawar and Paul Rockwell agreed that
elements of the program are offensive
but said the program is an “excellent”
teaching tool.
Nawar said she intends to use por
tions of the program, but will use only
those which contain no sexist elements.
“I don’t think anyone can deny that
there are things that might be offen
sive," Nawar said, adding that she has
been made uncomfortable by at least one
close-up shot of a woman’s chest.
“Most texts are truly objectionable,”
said Marie-Htlbne Huet, chairwoman of
the French department, adding, “I
refuse to teach anything that is objec
tionable to anyone.”
There’s an
IBM PS/2 made for
every student body.
When you said you wanted an affordable computer,
we listened.
And we responded. So, as a college student, mem
ber of the faculty or staff you can now get an IBM
fcrsonal System/2® Selected Academic Solution at a
special price*
You’ll find that all the PS/2 Selected Academic Solu
tions have preloaded DOS 4.0 and Microsoft Windows'"
3.0, a color display and a mouse. Some selected models
are preloaded with Microsoft Word for Windows'"** and
Excel'"** to help you create impressive papers, graphics
and spreadsheets. Also, great tools like a notepad, calen
dar and cardfile are provided.
What’s more, the IBM PS/2 Loan for Learning is also
available to help make paying for your PS/2® easier.
If you purchase a PS/2 Selected Academic Solution
before December 31,1990, you’ll receive a !
Certificate entitling you to a round-trip ticket for
$149 t /$249. t Plus a free TWA Getaway® Student
Discount Card application. You’ll also get a great low
price on the PRODIGY® service.
With the special price for college students, faculty
and staff, there’s never been a better time to buy a PS/2.
Visit your campus outlet to find
out more about the IBM PS/2
Selected Academic Solutions.
Or call IBM at 1 800 222-7257,
and we’ll respond promptly
with our information kit,
or the location of the •
nearest participating IBM *.
Authorized PC Dealer.
• IN* otter « awUbte Of*] lo quakkeo conege ttudants laciily and tlall that purchase BM Selected Academe Solutions through pat’eipeing campus outlets or BM 1 BOO 27i mi or partcipalng BM
Authorized PC Dealers Orders are subyect to av»iab*ty Pncee are mbyte t to change and IBM may withdrew the otter at any tma without written notee "Word k* Wmdows and t »=et are the Academe
Edition t vaeo tor any TWA des'nation m the i ontmental U S or Puerto R<o tor tmvei September ’6 1990 through December t9 '99' at the toSownn round tnp 'ares SM9 00 round tnp lor tra*Mrom
September 16 1990 through June 14 1991 end September i« i90t through December t9 >991 J?49 00 round lnp lor tract June 15 1991 through September 15 199> Seett are limited Fare >* non
retundebte 14 day idvace purchase blackout dales end cerlam other reslnctions apply Complete detaft w* be shown on cerblicate Appkcant* kx TWAs Getaway Student Oacouni Card most be
kA i«ne students between the ages ot 16 and 26 *«M Personal System/? and PS/? are lettered trademarks ot tntemetonat Butmeaa Mactsnes Corporation Wuosott it s registered trademark ot
Microsoft Corporation TWA it a registered service mark ot frana World A*t<nea me Twa Getawdy * a registered trademark ot Trans Wond Aat*m me PROOtGv.saregeteredsei'ncemarkandtradema'k
ot P*odqy Services Company a partnership ot IBM and Sears Windows Word lor Windows and E xcet are trademarks ot Mc'osott Corporation
° BM Corporation 1990