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laanodiod
in tills issue
October 11, 1985
3 POTPOURRI
This page's stories will vary from week to week. This week, the perils
ol being short, Sissy Spacek stars in the title role of "Marie" and rock
group Mr. Mister hits the charts.
4 First decisions not always best
Bette Davis and Errol Flynn as Scarlett and Rhett?
The original casting choices are not always the ones that make the
movie a hit.
4 Kiri Te Kanawa records misty music
The New Zealand singer has a new album out.
WENDY JOHNSON 5 National commission studies pornography's effects.
Attorney General Edwin Meese appointed this 11-member commission
in May 1985 to determine pornography's effects on human behavior.
5 Woman dyes dogs' hair to make clothes
A Minnesota woman takes loose dog hair, dyes it with Kool-Aid and
then spins the hair into yarn for clothes.
GIGISHAMSY 6 Local activists try to rid area of porn
The Citizens for Decency are talking to local store managers and trying
to convince them to stop carrying adult magazines. They also picket
Adult Video every Friday, hoping to close it down.
TRICIA PARKER 7 Only degrading and dehumanizing porn harmful
A&M researcher says violent porn desensitizes men
and women.
Dr. Wendy Stock says pornography is increasingly more violent and
more dehumanizing.
STACEY ROBERTS 8 Pom is dirty for some, but not for Adult Video
Adult Video on Texas Avenue is the only adult bookstore in town.
Manager Sue Bute says, that despite what some people might think,
sexually explicit material can have a healthy effect — for instance it
can relieve boredom in a couples' sex life.
The law on pornography says pornographic
material is that, which, takep as a whole,
lacks serious literary, artistic, political or sci
entific value. But what is pornography to
one man can be art to another.
Not only is the law on pornography
vague, but community standards set the def
inition for pornography. So what is consid
ered pornographic in one community could
be accepted in another.
With no real definition for pornography,
and with people being as varied as they
are, it's no wonder pornography is such a
controversial subject.
We tried to cover all the sides, and the
middle, of the pornography controversy in
this issue of At Ease.
At the far left is Adult Video. It's the only
adult book store in town. Adult Video's man
ager defends sexually explicit material. Sue
Bute says, while she’s not for child pornog
raphy, some pornography can have a
healthy effect on people. Married couples
sometimes grow bored of each other, and
sexually explicit materials can put some
"zing” lock into their love life.
In the middle, is A&M sociologist Wendy
Stock. Stock says not all porn is harmful. It’s
only when pom becomes violent or dehu
manizing, Stock says, that it becomes harm
ful. Stock says about 15 percent of all pom is
violent pom, about 70 percent is dehumaniz
ing or degrading and the rest is classified as
erotica. She says erotica is sexually explicit
material which depicts a natural, consen-
tual relationship.
At the right are the Citizens for Decency,
member Patty Jones says the group wants to
get pom out of the community and away
from children. The group pickets Adult Vi
deo every Friday, and has been trying to
convince local store managers to stop carry
ing adult magazines. Jones says magazines
such as Playboy or Hustler can induce such
criminal behavior as rape. She says she's
concerned because people are growing ac
customed to pornography.
And over it all, is Uncle Sam. At the ver
bal request of President Reagan, Attorney
General Edwin Meese appointed an 11-
member commission in May 1985 to study
the effects of pornography on human behav
ior. Dee Kuhn, spokeswoman for the com
mission, says Reagan requested the study
because he had heard from so many seg
ments of the country on the issue.
The commission will report its findings to
the Attorney General in June 1986, but until
then, you've got At Ease. □
— at ease co-editors
MARY McWHORTER 10 'After Hours'a welcomed departure
for Martin Scorsese
This new black comedy film rates four stars out of five.
KARL PALLMEYER 11 RECORD REVIEWS
Neil Young's "Old Ways," The Boomtown Rats' "In The Long Grass"
and Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble's "Soul to Soul" are all
reviewed.
12 NBC's 'Misfits' misses prime-time hit
The new series "Misfits of Science" takes a shot at prime-time, but
misses.
at ease staff
Co-editors..... Cathy Riely
Walter Smith
Writers Wendy Johnson
Mary McWhorter
Tricia Parker
Gigi Shamsy
Photographer Bill Hughes