“Sticking It” To the Man!

Steve York, a 22-year-old senior at the University of California San Diego, asked himself a question – “To Porn or Not to Porn?”

While serving as editor of The Koala (a satirical magazine known for printing irreverent and controversial material) last year he decided as a pet project to being back Koala TV, a show that used to run every week on the campus TV station SRTV with the same irreverent nature as the magazine.

How irreverent you ask? The show was taken off the air six years ago for airing a Jenny McCarthy porn tape.

It probably had better ratings then Jenny.

So bring it back he did, and if you’re going to air porn, why not have the fun yourself?

“We decided in February, for something funny to do, to do a real quick amateur tape, like 10 minutes of me and a lady friend,â€? York told COED. “We aired it once, and it generated a little talk, but the school paper asked me to run it again so they could get some pictures, and they ended up running on front page.â€?

Amazingly, the show wasn’t pulled after airing the homemade porn. The student government just asked the station nicely to stop showing nudity, which worked so well that in March York stripped off his clothes during a live broadcast.

“We were banned from the station,â€? York reflected. “They deemed the material inappropriate.â€?

In October, the sanctions against the station and York ended, as the student government did not pass a resolution banning sexual material. Since the station is student run (the $8,000 annual budget is funded by student fees) it is up to the student council to enforce the charter, which allows indecent, but not obscene, broadcasts between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Koala TV usually runs at 10 p.m. every Thursday, so York thought he was back in business. That is before the administration tried to step in.

“Our lovely Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, Joseph W. Watson, said that he would unplug the station unless the council barred sexual material,â€? York explained. “When we heard about this, we took it as a green light.â€?

So a few days later Steve showed about 30 minutes of footage of himself having sex with an unidentified adult actress called Rising Fee’s and Poppin’ B’s, with the face of Senior Student Senator Kate Pillon superimposed over the actresses face. This was followed by a half-hour of York answering phone calls live on topics ranging from a critique of his performance to why he didn’t use protection.

“I think it ended up looking pretty good I thought,â€? Steve said proudly, “especially since we were able to put it together in a few days.â€?

This time SRTV amended its charter, banning “graphic depiction of sexual activity, including nudity,â€? and the student council passed legislation to enforce the amendment and denounce the pornographic airing of Koala TV in a 17-0-1 vote.

York and Koala TV producer and John Muir College were banned from the station’s premises and SRTV was banned from airing any “Koala TVâ€? material. Even though the second airing of their show did not happen till after the amendment was signed on Oct. 27.

Despite the ruling York is dedicated to continuing to fight for his First Amendment rights and the ability to provide his brand of entertainment on the “socially dead” campus.

“I will never follow any illegal ruling,” said York, 22. “I didn’t realize that the Associated Students are now acting as judge, jury and disciplinarian.â€?

Steve, we salute you.