U. News
Rebel editor finds a cause
Jeff Gremillion wants his day in court. The 22-yearold 1993 journalism graduate of the U. of Southwestern Louisiana is suing his alma mater for stepping on his First Amendment rights.
Gremillion, the former editor of the university's yearbook, L'Acadien, stunned the campus and a good deal of the Bible Belt with the 1991 publication appropriately titled "A Shock to the System."
The yearbook featured several controversial photos, including one of a topless woman and a man amorously sharing a plate of spaghetti, and one depicting the school's bulldog mascot parked on an American flag.
Administrators, wealthy school contributors and some students were offended. One benefactor even suggested Gremillion should have his mouth washed out with soap.
Many were offended by this photo for the book's Gulf War coverage.
"To print that kind of garbage and to have [students] pay for it is like being forced to accept an obscene phone call," says sophomore Randy Lormand.
Gremillion ran for re-appointment as editor in April 1992 and was approved by the campus Communications Committee. He was already working on the next edition when he was notified by the dean of students that someone else had been named editor. This was the first time the administration had ever ignored the vote of the committee.
DANIEL LINCOLN. U. OF SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA
Gremillion appealed to the American Civil Liberties Union, which furnished him with an attorney. He filed suit in April 1993.
Gremillion wants one year's salary of approximately $7,500,a public admittance of wrongdoing from the administration and a revision of the editor selection process.
The administration has moved to dismiss the case and is waiting for the U.S. District Court to make a decision.
Though resolution of the case may take months and Gremillion will be at Columbia U. pursuing his master's degree, he says he will not lose enthusiasm for the fight.
"I think that the university sent a very wrong message," he says. "Until that message is set right, I think that I'll have enough righteous indignation to pursue it." University President Ray Authement declined to comment.
Ironically, "A Shock to the System" received first place in the Associated Collegiate Press Best of Show Competition last year. Stephanie Fournet, The Vermilion, U. of Southwestern Louisiana
Much ado about hot dogs: 28 stadiums in 28 days, and they even got on television.
Ivy students chase their dream fields
"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" took on a new meaning for four college students this summer, when they visited all of the 28 major league ballparks in just 28 days — a different game every day.
Mark Johns, Chris Looney and Mike Casagranda of Princeton U., and Brent DeRiszner of Dartmouth U., all 20 years old, started thinking about the idea several years ago.
"When the league schedules came out this January, it took me four or five days to come up with our schedule," Johns, a junior, says. "We started out naively hoping we could go around the country in a big circle and see everything."
But the game schedules didn't work out that way, and the four ended up going from Seattle one day to Anaheim, Calif., the next, from Oakland to Denver and from Baltimore to Miami. Embarking on their trip July 31, they sometimes traveled more than 1,000 miles from one park to another, driving through the night in their rented minivan.
"The worst part was after one week,"
Johns says. "It seemed like we'd been on the road forever already."
PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIS LOONEY
The four got help with their unusual roadtrip from some unexpected places.
"Two corporate sponsors approached us after reading about our trip in USA Today," Looney says. A sports drink company and a baseball bat manufacturer donated a combined $7,500 to the students. The trip cost the group a total of about $2,000.
Their celebrity status preceded them around the country, says Johns. "We ran into reporters in every stadium."
After their exhausting journey, the guys say they are older and wiser - particularly in the area of baseball park cuisine.
"The best food was definitely the fajitas and Texas barbeque at the Houston Astrodome," says Looney.
Other highlights include almost catching a foul ball at Shea Stadium in New York, and visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
And the best stadium? "Fenway Park in Boston and Camden Yards in Baltimore," Looney says. "They both have a classic design, and there's not a bad seat in the house. And the fans there are great."
So, after 28 days of travel stretching from Cleveland to Oakland, from Montreal to Miami, are the four planning anything big for next summer?
"I don't think so," says Looney, a junior. "It's time to start getting serious about the job market."
Johns has another pressing priority.
"Right now I need to get back into shape so badly," he says. "Too many hotdogs." Joan Hurley, The Daily Barometer, Oregon State U.
My thesis is bigger than yours
It's a strange little office.
A poster titled "Penises of the Animal Kingdom" hangs on the wall behind the desk, displaying drawings of odd-looking genitalia, from a whale's long and pointed member to a bat's short and roundish one. On the desk sit little jars containing samples of the bacula (Latin for "little wand"), a bone corium to most carnivores, rodents and primates which may enable copulation.
The oldities in the office belong to U. of Florida graduate student Ron Edwards, who is researching mammalian genitalia for his Ph.D. dissertation.
"Genitals have been neglected — in an evolutionary sense, that is," Edwards, 28, says. "The way we interact as males and females is influenced by biological structure. If we want to understand the biological history of our own gender interaction, then genital anatomy is something we shouldn't neglect."
Edwards chose to study the evolution of gunitalia while earning his bachelor's degree at the U. of Chicago. However, he says his professors at Chicago weren't enthusiastic about his ideas. "They thought I was nute," Edwards says. "That's why I went to a different college for my graduate research."
Richard Kiltie, Edwards' graduate research adviser, says little work has been done on genitalia from this perspective.
"People have been embarrassed with this issue, but they'll just have to get over it," says Kiltie, a UF zoology associate professor.
Edwards says after three years of research, he has discovered many interesting aspects of mammalian copulation. "For instance," he says, "while I was helping research rats, we discovered that their brains have a cooling mechanism to prevent overheating their brain tissues during conlation."
And some mammals genitalia have evolved to better fertilize and stimulate the female, he says.
"When considering size, you can't do much better than to go to the walruses. They have a baculum as long as my forearm," he says. "Their nenis is one-third to one-ball of their body length."
"But that is just a size issue. What about ornateness and complexity? For that you go to the rodents. They have a variety of spines and tumps and sometimes five different erectal tissues."
Humans, he adds, don't have a baculum. "Our closest relatives, the arcea, all have bacula. But nobody knows why man lost his."
Humans, he adds, don't have a baculum. Our closest relatives, the apes, all have bacula. But nobody knows why man lost his." Mary Hart, a former student in Edwards' class, says she never thought about people studying genitalia before. "It's an interesting concept that he's come up with," says Hart, a recent UF graduate in sociology. "He's always willing to discuss his work with his students. He is an interesting guy to talk with." - Victoria Strug, The Independent Florida Alligator, U. of Florida
OCTOBER 1993
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