Harvard panel approves student sex magazine
Associated Press
Feb. 12, 2004 07:05 AM
BOSTON - Harvard students already churn out publications about academia and art, politics and public health, literature and law, and other hum-drum subjects. The newest student magazine promises to feature a slightly racier aspect of campus life: sex.
University officials on Tuesday approved the publication called "H Bomb," a sex magazine that will feature photographs of undressed Harvard undergraduates - as well as art, sex advice and fiction.
"We are aware of the fact that some segments of the population would find the contents distasteful," said Associate Dean Judith H. Kidd. "However, the committee considered this to be an issue of freedom of speech."
"I will read it with interest. I may find myself not in agreement with some editorial choices that they make, but I'm not prejudging," she said.
H Bomb won't have any shots of revealing moments in Harvard Yard or intimate encounters in dorm rooms. One of the conditions of its approval is that its photos can't be taken on university property, a policy which is in place for all of the school's more than 20 undergradate publicatons.
The publication is the first of its kind for Harvard, but it's not unique. Vassar College also has a sex-themed magazine called Squirm, and Swarthmore students put together a publication called Unmentionables.
The two students who proposed the magazine came before Harvard's Committee on College Life on Tuesday. Kidd is a member of the 14-member body of faculty, staff and students, which must approve all student organizations, whether they publish magazines or not.
The proposal made some members of the committee squirm in their seats a bit, Kidd said, but eventually the committee voted 12-0, with two abstentions, to approve the publication.
"It did not go down easily for several members," she said.
After the Harvard Crimson published a story describing the magazine as a "porn magazine," the students proposing to publish the magazine, Katharina C. Baldegg and Camilla H. Hrdy, were inundated with interview requests, said Harvard spokesman Robert Mitchell.
The two students have unlisted phone numbers and e-mail addresses, and could not be reached for comment from The Associated Press. A Harvard spokesman released a statement from the students disputing the report that the magazine was porn.
"H Bomb will be a magazine that deals with sex and the issues surrounding sex for men and women of all sexual orientations. ... Our magazine will be all-inclusive, relevant and attractive to anyone interested in sexual issues," the statement said.
There is a need for their proposed publication, Hrdy said. "Just the fact that there's no publication that allows an outlet for what everyone's talking about seems kind of ridiculous," she told WBZ-TV.
Phil Nini, owner of the popular Nini's Corner magazine store in Harvard Square, said that he's not yet sure where he'll put the magazine on his shelves, if he carries it all.
"I have to see it first," he said.
Associated Press
Feb. 12, 2004 07:05 AM
BOSTON - Harvard students already churn out publications about academia and art, politics and public health, literature and law, and other hum-drum subjects. The newest student magazine promises to feature a slightly racier aspect of campus life: sex.
University officials on Tuesday approved the publication called "H Bomb," a sex magazine that will feature photographs of undressed Harvard undergraduates - as well as art, sex advice and fiction.
"We are aware of the fact that some segments of the population would find the contents distasteful," said Associate Dean Judith H. Kidd. "However, the committee considered this to be an issue of freedom of speech."
"I will read it with interest. I may find myself not in agreement with some editorial choices that they make, but I'm not prejudging," she said.
H Bomb won't have any shots of revealing moments in Harvard Yard or intimate encounters in dorm rooms. One of the conditions of its approval is that its photos can't be taken on university property, a policy which is in place for all of the school's more than 20 undergradate publicatons.
The publication is the first of its kind for Harvard, but it's not unique. Vassar College also has a sex-themed magazine called Squirm, and Swarthmore students put together a publication called Unmentionables.
The two students who proposed the magazine came before Harvard's Committee on College Life on Tuesday. Kidd is a member of the 14-member body of faculty, staff and students, which must approve all student organizations, whether they publish magazines or not.
The proposal made some members of the committee squirm in their seats a bit, Kidd said, but eventually the committee voted 12-0, with two abstentions, to approve the publication.
"It did not go down easily for several members," she said.
After the Harvard Crimson published a story describing the magazine as a "porn magazine," the students proposing to publish the magazine, Katharina C. Baldegg and Camilla H. Hrdy, were inundated with interview requests, said Harvard spokesman Robert Mitchell.
The two students have unlisted phone numbers and e-mail addresses, and could not be reached for comment from The Associated Press. A Harvard spokesman released a statement from the students disputing the report that the magazine was porn.
"H Bomb will be a magazine that deals with sex and the issues surrounding sex for men and women of all sexual orientations. ... Our magazine will be all-inclusive, relevant and attractive to anyone interested in sexual issues," the statement said.
There is a need for their proposed publication, Hrdy said. "Just the fact that there's no publication that allows an outlet for what everyone's talking about seems kind of ridiculous," she told WBZ-TV.
Phil Nini, owner of the popular Nini's Corner magazine store in Harvard Square, said that he's not yet sure where he'll put the magazine on his shelves, if he carries it all.
"I have to see it first," he said.
