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| 04-15-2004 | Previous edition: 04-14-2004 |
        
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Printer-friendly version Student strips in displeasure over posters
Assistant Campus Editor A sophomore was distracted from school on Wednesday so he decided to walk through Centennial Mall wearing only fliers. Aaron Colter, sophomore in the School of Liberal Arts, was protesting the posters that Students for Life and the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform displayed in the Purdue Mall on Tuesday and in Centennial Mall on Wednesday. The display showed photographs of fetuses in relation to images of the holocaust and lynching. Colter said the posters distracted him from his classes and tests, so he decided to make other students aware of that. The posters are part of the Genocide Awareness Project. Mark Harrington, executive Midwest director of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, said the point behind the posters was to make abortion real to students. He thinks the posters are relevant to the Purdue campus because women of the age group that attends Purdue are in the age group that typically decides to abort a fetus, and the Purdue campus represents future decision-makers. "We want to influence the influential, the people who can make the changes," said Harrington. Colter said he is personally pro-life; however, he doesn’t agree with the manner in which Students for Life is expressing its opinion. Sara Davidson, president of Voices for Planned Parenthood and senior in the School of Liberal Arts, said she doesn’t agree with the tactics either. "It brings a lot of emotion into it, because no one likes the after-effects of abortion. The question isn’t whether we like abortion or not, because we don’t. The question is whether some people need abortion or not, and the answer is yes." Lauren Schmitt, president of Students for Life and senior in the School of Family and Consumer Sciences, said she is hoping the graphic images will make the connection with abortion and other forms of genocide. Colter called the Office of the Dean of Students and questioned how this display was allowed. The office told Colter that it falls under freedom of speech. He said he then questioned the office about the possibility of walking around campus naked. Colter said the Dean of Students Office said as long as it was not pornographic, it, too, would fall under freedom of speech. On Colter’s way to Centennial Mall he was stopped by several police officers who suggested he should not proceed because if the wind blew the papers upward, then he could be arrested for indecent exposure. The Office of the Dean of Students received complaints about the posters, other than just Colter’s individual expression. Tamara Rice, assistant dean of students, said in the past two days they have received about 10 phone complaints and that is more than they have had in the past for any other display on campus. Harrington said a student took a razor knife and cut out one of the warning posters that preceded the display. At similar displays at other campuses, protests have included someone driving a car through the barricades and students jumping over the barricades, said Harrington. Rice said she is aware that Purdue is a tame campus. She said if an organization wanted to go out and organize a counterprotest, then the Office of the Dean of Students would support that organization in the same manner they supported Students for Life. Printer-friendly version |
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