From: ELOISE@MAINE.bitnet (Eloise Kleban) Newsgroups: alt.comp.acad-freedom.talk Subject: Backlash at Penn State (fwd) Date: 15 Jul 1993 09:52:55 -0400 Organization: EFF mail-news gateway Lines: 127 Sender: daemon@eff.org Approved: usenet@eff.org Message-ID: <199307151352.AA15818@eff.org> Reply-To: EDUCOM-W - EDUCOM Women and Information Technology List Didn't know if this was the right place to post this since it's not computer ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- ---- ------- ------- Forwarded Mail Follows ------- ------- ---- Received: from UMR(SCOLLINS) by MAINE(ELOISE) id 2521; (MAIL R2.5) Wed, 14 Jul 93 14:53:32 EDT Return-Path: <@MAINE.CAPS.MAINE.EDU, @BITNIC.EDUCOM.EDU:LISTSERV@BITNIC.EDUCOM.EDU> Received: from BITNIC.EDUCOM.EDU (NJE origin MAILER@BITNIC) by MAINE.CAPS.MAINE.EDU (LMail V1.1d/1.7f) with BSMTP id 5378; Wed, 14 Jul 1993 14:50:05 -0400 Received: from BITNIC.EDUCOM.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@BITNIC) by BITNIC.EDUCOM.EDU (LMail V1.1d/1.7f) with BSMTP id 6091; Wed, 14 Jul 1993 14:51:00 -0400 Return-Path: <@BITNIC.EDUCOM.EDU:scollins@UMR.EDU> Received: from UMRVMB.UMR.EDU (NJE origin MAILER@UMRVMB) by BITNIC.EDUCOM.EDU (LMail V1.1d/1.7f) with BSMTP id 6072; Wed, 14 Jul 1993 14:49:07 -0400 Received: from UMRVMB by UMRVMB.UMR.EDU (Mailer R2.10 ptf000) with BSMTP id 9218; Wed, 14 Jul 93 13:45:55 CDT Received: from phoenix.cc.umr.edu by UMRVMB.UMR.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with TCP; Wed, 14 Jul 93 13:45:51 CDT Received: from pulsar.cc.umr.edu by phoenix.cc.umr.edu (5.65c/umr.edu-1.44) id <199307141845.AA20300@umr.edu>; Wed, 14 Jul 1993 13:45:56 -0500 From: scollins@umr.edu (Sally Collins) Message-Id: <199307141845.AA20300@umr.edu> Subject: BACKLASH AT PENN STATE (fwd) To: educom-w%bitnic.BITNET@umrvmb.umr.edu Date: Wed, 14 Jul 93 13:45:55 CDT X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11] Hello. Following is a message of attacks against women and women's programs at Penn State. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sally A. Collins e-mail: scollins@umr.edu Scientific Programmer/Analyst office: 114 M/CS UMR Computing Services phone: 314.341.4841 "Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty." -author unknown ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forwarded message: > From @UMRVMB.UMR.EDU:WISENET@UICVM.BITNET Wed Jul 14 10:24:06 1993 > Message-Id: <199307141524.AA35189@umr.edu> > X-Delivery-Notice: SMTP MAIL FROM does not correspond to sender. > Date: Wed, 14 Jul 1993 11:19:00 EDT > Reply-To: Women In Science and Engineering NETwork > Sender: Women In Science and Engineering NETwork > From: "Donna M. Hughes" > Subject: BACKLASH AT PENN STATE > To: "Sally A. Collins" > > The women at Penn State need your support. > > Yesterday, criminal charges were filed by PSU against two women > students for their alleged participation in a protest against sexism at this > university. > > Let me give you some background. For two years a newspaper, called The > Lionhearted has attacked the Women's Studies Program, the student > women's group, Womyn's Concerns, women columnists - anyone who > speaks up for women on campus. This paper is financed and supported, > quite publicly and proudly, by a PSU trustee member - Ben Novak. > > The Lionhearted calls their sexist attack a "two year expose" of > "incompetent teachers, politicized curricula and de factor censorship of > student thought in the women's studies program." The Lionhearted's tactics > have been lesbian-baiting and, more recently, attacking those women who > speak out against violence against women on campus. The paper has > attacked individual women's studies instructors, and called for the > elimination of the women's studies budget and program at PSU. They have > secretly tape recorded my class, then published a distorted and > editorialized transcript in their paper. They have printed excerpts from > (and condemned): Suzanne Pharr's Homophobia- A Weapon of Sexism, > Barbara Macdonald's Look Me In the Eye- Old Women, Aging and > Ageism, and Rita Mae Brown's Rubyfruit Jungle. Numerous times they > have reprinted, and ridiculed, copies of class hand outs, including > guidelines for discussion adapted from those of Lynn Weber Canon. (I > could go on and on!!) > > For two years the women at PSU have asked for a response and support > from the administration. None has come. (The president has even granted > a two-part interview to The Lionhearted.) Also, > when students went to personally ask for support, president Joab Thomas > said he couldn't speak out against a trustee member. Therefore, the silence > has been deafening. > > The women's community has responded by throwing away The > Lionhearted. (The paper is left in racks on campus and is free.) This spring > the viciousness of the men's (and they are all men) attack became even > worse. A woman wrote a column in support of the annual Take Back the > Night March. The Lionhearted reprinted it (after being denied permission) > and wrote an attack against the columnist, the Take Back the Night March, > and women activists in general. Most disturbing of all, they took the > picture of the woman columnist and placed it on a pornographic cartoon of > a woman in bed. The caption read: Feminist At Work. This defamation > sparked another round of throwing away the newspaper . > > The local community newspaper responded by offering to reprint for free > all of the "stolen" copies of The Lionhearted. The women's community > held a protest rally. Police were there and used tactics, such as > photographing demonstrators, to intimidate the women. The police also > started calling women and threatening them with charges for taking The > Lionhearted. A local journalist group offered a reward of $250 for anyone > who would provide evidence against any women who took The > Lionhearted. Yesterday, the PSU police filed charges of theft, receiving > stolen property and criminal conspiracy against two women students. > > The women at PSU need your support. Write to President Joab Thomas, > 201 Old Main, University Park, PA 16802 or fax to 814-863-8583. Also, > you can write to the other board of trustee members care of the Trustee's > Office, 205 Old Main, University Park, PA 16802 or fax 814-863-4631. > Please send copies to me: Donna Hughes, 13 Sparks Bldg., University > Park, PA 16802 or fax 814-692-5514. > > Thank you for whatever support you can give. If you have questions > or suggestions, please email me privately. > > > Donna M. Hughes PhD Bitnet: h82@psuvm > 13 Sparks Building Internet: h82@psuvm.psu.edu > The Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-865-7093 > University Park, PA 16802 >