LehighWeek Volume 03, Issue 05

              PHILIP A. METZGER
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Vol. 3, Issue 5
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bookstore director Robert W. Bell stands next to a tabletop full of banned books he put on display last
week. Featured are issues of Playboy and Penthouse magazines, which have been ordered removed from
the bookstore. PHOTO by YOUNG HONG
Banned Publications Fuel Discussion
By Kurt Pfitzer
Every year, during the last week of September, the
university bookstore commemorates National Banned
Book Week by displaying a table full of books that have
been banned at one time or another in the United States
and abroad.
This year, for the first time, two publications removed
from the bookstore by the university — Playboy and Penthouse magazines —joined the display. The monthlies,
along with Playgirl, were ordered removed from the
bookstore in July by director of auxiliary services Barbara
Kreppel.
Last week, issues of Playboy and Penthouse were
mounted with the banned books below a placard inscribed
with the words of the First Amendment, which prohibits
Congress from passing any law abridging the freedoms of
speech and the press.
The banned books, which included "Lord of the
Flies." "Satanic Verses," the "American Heritage
Dictionary" and 50 other titles, were all offered for sale.
Each book contained a card explaining when, where and
why the book was banned.
Cards saying "Not For Sale" and "removed from
stock at the request of the university" were placed in front
of the Playboy and Penthouse magazines.
Kreppel said she asked bookstore director Robert W.
Bell to remove the magazines after receiving "several
complaints" from bookstore patrons.
"Those magazines don't portray the positive relationships that [the university] is trying to develop between
men and women," Kreppel said. "We thought that selling
them was probably not the best way for the university to
represent itself, especially in light of what it's trying to
accomplish with its commissions on women and minorities."
Kreppel said she made the decision to remove the
magazines'from the bookstore after consulting with
Marsha A. Duncan, vice president for student affairs:
Barry L. Gaal, assistant vice president for business
services and purchasing, and Bell.
She said the university could support "freedom of
speech and the free flow of ideas" without selling the
magazines at the bookstore. "We're not banninglhem
from campus. We're not saying you can't own them,
subscribe to them or buy them somewhere else. We're
just not selling them."
"We thought that selling [Playboy and
Penthouse] was probably not the best
way for the university to represent itself."
Barbara Kreppel
Bell, who has been bookstore director for 20 years,
said he had received an average of one or two complaints
a year about the three magazines.
"Women thought the magazines were denigrating to
women," he said. "Men thought they were on the
pornographic side. I asked them, v Where would you like
to start censoring? If I begin with this, what comes next?
If I [remove a publication] for you, should I do the same
for everybody who takes offense at something we
have?'"
Bell also said he invited each person who complained
to take the matter up with his superior.
Students who read or bought the magazines did not
seem to regard them as "hard-core porn." Bell said.
"The people who would stand and look at the magazines
were usually reading them. Once in awhile you'd see
them look at the pictures. You didn't hear a lot of
snickers. And our sales were not great."
Continued On Page 2>
October 3,1989
Chemical Engineering
To Celebrate Convocation
About 300 people will be on hand for Lehigh's chemical
engineering celebration and convocation Oct. 5-6.
The event, which will mark recent accomplishments by
Lehigh's department and will honor prominent Lehigh
chemical engineering alumni, is expected to draw faculty,
staff, alumni, friends and a significant number of colleagues-
from other universities, corporations and government.
Mary Lowe Good, scientist and senior vice president of
technology for Allied Signal Corp., will be the keynote
speaker at the banquet.
Currently chairperson of the National Science Board,
the group that oversees the National Science Foundation.
Good will examine the question, "Who will do science and
engineering in 2010?"
Among the events planned Thursday are tours of the department's new Mountaintop Campus laboratories and
department headquarters. Also on Thursday, there will be
tours and a dedication of the newly renovated undergraduate
laboratories in Whitaker Laboratory on the Asa Packer
Campus.
Presiding over the dedication will be Peter Likins.
Lehigh president, and Alan W. Pense. dean of the College of
Engineering and Applied Science. Invited guests include
industry representatives who contributed to the renovations.
At a series of forums Friday, industry and university
panelists will discuss relevant issues to the future of chemical engineering. Forum topics include educational challenges in chemical engineering and research challenges in
polymer science and engineering; process design and
control; and biotechnology.
At the convocation banquet Thursday night, the first
Monroe J. Rathbone Chemical Engineering Alumni Awards
will be presented. These awards are given to recognize
alumni who have made significant contributions to the
profession of chemical engineering.
Recipients will include Frederick Clark Durant, III,
Class of 1939; David Southerland Hollingsworth, Class of
1948; Lt. General (ret.) Fred Kornet, Jr. Class of 1940;
Edwin Morrison Ross, Class of 1932; Robert Tilton Sheen,
Class of 1931;, and Robert Edwin Siegfried, Class of 1943.
Inside:
Seniors, Education Alumni
Return 3
Exiles Give Perspective On
Panama's Woes 4
Education Is Key For Blacks
In South Africa    5
k   Photo Exhibit,
\$L   Dance 6
ISO Dance Theatre
In The South Mountaineer:
Lehigh, Towson State
Put On Football Fireworks