State Rep. John Lawless paid a visit to Penn State this weekend, and it wasn't a friendly one.

Lawless was one of the attendees at Womyn's Concerns-sponsored Sex Faire in Pollock Commons. Lawless, who brought a cameraman to film the event, made comments into a small microphone. Lawless plans to show the film at the next House Appropriations Committee meeting at the end of this month.

His thinly veiled threat of impeding state funding for the university is grossly unfair, and not in the best interest of a free and open learning environment. First, Womyn's Concern sponsored this event with its own fundraising. They didn't even tap the financial backing of the University Park Allocations Committee, like they and another feminist group did for Cuntfest.

Lawless counters the fact that they paid for this with their own funds by saying that they were holding the event in a building paid for by state funding. If Lawless has a problem with an event like the Sex Faire, does he object to a biology course showing, as he would call it, "pornographic" videos and visual aids on human intercourse? By attempting to place restrictions that narrowly tailor what can and cannot occur at Penn State, Lawless is treading dangerously onto the realm of censorship and suppression.

Lawless, who is from Montgomery County, has no authority to tell the community of Penn State what is decent and what isn't. The community standards of University Park are more liberal than the social mores of Lawless' constituents. Lawless argues that he represents the parents of students who attend the university. He needs to realize, however, that it is the students, and not their parents, who make up the majority of the immediate Penn State community. Besides, the outcry did not come from these parents, Mr. Lawless. The outcry came from your own indignation and inability to handle a liberated and frank discussion of sex. At a table with a sign saying "Smut and other Great Literature", Lawless said: "This is a disgrace."

While Lawless acknowledged that some of the material presented at the fair, such as an information booth on AIDS, was useful, he also expressed distaste at the majority of the information, calling it inappropriate or pornographic. It isn't a disgrace to talk openly about sex and sexuality. And it certainly isn't up to Lawless to define what is pornography, which, by the way, is protected speech.

This isn't the first time that Penn State has heard Lawless complain about indecency at the cost of free speech. Just a couple months ago, he wrote a letter to Gov. Tom Ridge expressing his disappointment and anger at UPAC-financed Cuntfest. Lawless was upset that taxpayer money was going into an event that celebrated femininity in such a brash and open way. He failed to realize, however, that all UPAC-sponsored events are supported by the Student Activity Fee and not by taxpayers' money.

In 1995, Lawless threatened to vote to withhold the university's state funding if a controversial art exhibit were not removed. The exhibit, titled "25 Years of Virginity: A Self-Portrait," depicted a quilt with 25 pairs of women's underwear, each with a cross stitched at the crotch.

We cannot allow one man to set the agenda for 40,000 individuals at this university. It is obvious that he has been trying for several years to squelch student expression. We need to stand up to this man, and let him know that we're not afraid to talk about the birds and the bees.