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GETTING INTO HIS WORK — PAGE 8
November December 1990 • Volume 4
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THE CAT'S MEOW — PAGE 12
THE NATIONAL COLLEGE NEWSPAPER
S FEATURES
We won’t forget...
Students at the U. of Florida pulled
together in the wake of a serial killer’s
spree. A photo essay recalls the emotion
al images.
Page 2
OPINIONS
A jungle out there
Life after college is a strange place in
America, says a U. of Massachusetts
columnist who bases his findings on
obscure, but interesting, statistics
Page 6
LIFE AMD ART
A star on the rise
“China Beach’ star and Emmy win
ner Marg Helgenberger talks about
her humble, small-town upbringing in
Nebraska and the impact of her fame
Page 8
DOLLARS AND SENSE
Skyrocketing costs
Despite record amounts of financial
aid, the money is not enough to keep
up with the rising costs of tuition and
inflation.
Page 12
STUDENT BODY
Double or nothing
Athletes adept at several sports are
choosing schools that allow them to
play the field, court and track to make
the most of their abilities.
Page 22
Colleges embittered by NEA controversy
Anti-obscenity clause:
‘Communist witch hunt?’
The clause prohibiting the National
Endowment for the Arts from granting
funds for the creation of “obscene’ art
continues to polarize artists and admin
istrators at colleges and universities
across the nation.
The result of the heightened aware
ness of government funding for art —
obscene or not — is unfolding as politi
cians, university officials and activists
touting artistic freedom debate the
appropriateness of the NEA and the def
initions of art and obscenity.
The uproar began earlier this year
when a grant was used by photographer
Robert Mapplethorpe to produce pho
tographs of an erotic nature. Congress
then began requiring grantees to pledge
that NEA funding would not be used for
works that “may be considered obscene,
including . . depictions of sado
masochism, homoeroticism, the sexual
exploitation of children or individuals
engaged in sex acts and which, when
taken as a whole, do not have serious lit
erary, artistic, political or scientific
value.”
But the congressionally imposed
waivers raised questions for colleges and
universities as to whether to accept or
deny grants. While the U. of Houston
was among many who gave thumbs up
to the monies — $40,000 for its Arte
Publico Press — it was only after much
deliberation.
During the decision-making process,
advisory committee member and
Director of UH's Blaffer Gallery Martha
Mayo said, “What one person defines as
obscene may not be to another The
bottom line is we have a right to say, think
and express whatever we want within
reason and this restriction will clearly
deny us of our rights as stated in the First
Amendment.”
See NEA, Page 2
Mfl CHUNJAU. THt SHORTHORN U OE TEXAS ARLINGTON
Marissa Catubig, SMU theater sophomore,
displays her outrage during a Dallas NEA rally.
See related story page 2
French teaching program labeled sexist
By Lisa H. Cooper
■ The Amherst Student
Amherst College
Portions of a French language instruc
tion program were eliminated from the
curriculum at Amherst College after
three female students at Yale U. filed a
sexual harassment grievance.
Introductory French students claimed
“P'rench in Action,” which is used by
more than 1,000 colleges and secondary
schools across the country, is so sexist
that it interfered with their studies.
Developed in 1987 by the director of
Yale's language laboratory, Pierre
Capretz, the course uses a text, work
book and a series of videotapes for full
immersion in the language.
Taped in Pans, the 52 half-hour videos
follow the developing relationship of
Mireille, a young French woman, and
Robert, an American student
Yale senior literature major Tracy
Blackmer initiated the complaint in a
letter to the French department last fall.
“I had approached the course with a
very strong desire to learn the lan
guage,” Blackmer said. “But then I start
ed noticing that the camera was linger
ing on women's bodies.”
Blackmer cited an example in which
See SEXIST, Page 7
| By Alisa Wabnik
■ Aruona Daily Wildcat
U. of Arizona
Their tennis shoes gave them away.
Campus police refused entrance to two
men who showed up at the Miss Black U.
I of Washington pageant last spring
because they didn’t meet the dress code
— no tennis shoes or ball caps — insti
tuted by school officials to keep out gang
S members.
Gunshots were fired on campus later
that night, considered by many to signify
a gang’s way of saying goodbye.
UW in Seattle is one of several univer
sities encountering spillover of gang
activity from their surrounding cites.
Bloods and Crips are moving east and
north from California. Skinheads, a polit
ical group whose members sometimes are
involved in racial incidents, also are
spreading into new regions.
For typically young gang members,
university activities are a natural attrac
tion, said UW Police Department Det.
Cmdr. Lt. Vic Peirsol.
U. of Arizona officials also are con
cerned about gang activity filtering into
university life. UA Assistant Chief of
See GANG. Page 23