Dartmouth supports lewdness

The College did nothing to stop a man touching his privates in Berry Library last Thursday, dismissing it as not in violation of College policy. According to the Daily Dartmouth‘s account, many students were disgusted to observe the man fondle himself while watching explicit transsexual films on a public computer, though associate librarian Cindy Pawlek determined that such acts were consistent with library rules. In fact, Dartmouth defines sexual harassment as including “verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature” that creates “an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working or educational environment.”

The incident may also have violated New Hampshire law, though. According to Title LXII of the New Hampshire Criminal Code, a person is guilty of a misdemeanor if he

(a) Fornicates, exposes his or her genitals or performs any other act of gross lewdness under circumstances which he or she should know will likely cause affront or alarm. (b) Purposely performs any act of sexual penetration or sexual contact on himself or herself or another in the presence of a child who is at least 13 years of age and less than 16 years of age.

Update: Former Review Editor Alston Ramsay ’04 points out a quote from the article that takes the cake:

Katherine McNabb ’06, who observed the incident, said that she was not particularly fazed by the transvestite pornography. “Don’t yuck someone else’s yum,” McNabb said.

Indeed.