A3 - Sunday, February 3, 1985 - North Shore News Classifies........A18 Entertainment......C4 Fashion...........€6 Food.............€5 Mailbox ..........87 Miss Manners, .... .€2 - Open Sunday......81 Sports............B6 Tax Savings.......89 TV Times.........B9 Travel..........4607 ‘WEATHER: SAENESS: CI A look at the most SPORTS: BS Hockey, ringette and the SHOPPING: BI Mainly cloudy today and Monday, highs near zero. : -"MEMBERS OF a standing- room-only crowd that. showed up for ; Thursday’ s Great Dabte of Pornography at Capilano College listen in- A merchant suggests nights. Sunday may replace Friday rest of the sports. misunderstood of the illnesses. i NEWS photo Terry Peters tently to speakers who covered the spectrum from total censorship to freedom to publish: For more, see aiso Inquiring Reporter, Ald. Pornography debate dra Ss col It was the civil libertarians versus the -moderates at Capilano College Thursday as the Great Debate on Pornography attracted a capacity crowd to the South Cafe. _. Panelists included John Dixon, Capilano College -philosphy professor and president of the B.C. Civil, Liberties Association; Graham Forst, Capilano College English professor; Jillian Ridington, of the National Action Commit- tee on the Status of Women; and John Russel, Executive Director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. Each speaker was given 10 minutes to ad- dress the crowd before throwing the debate open to questions. Forst related how he. at- iempted to take fornial ace tion ‘against Pent) suse Magazine for pictues in | By JOANNE MacDONALD the December, 1984 issue depicting women in degrading poses, including hanging trom trees, Although his claim was taken by the RCMP to the Crown in December, Forst said he has still not receiv- ed word from the Crown whether a crinte was coni- mitted in Penthouse under the Criminal Code. Forst said although he has reservations about restrictions on freedom of speach, he felt there should be a clear line drawn bet- ween the display of prono- graphy and eroticism. He questioned why the same concern demon- strated for victimized minority groups was not extended to women as a group, and added men should realize they, too, are affected by pornography. John Dixon told the crowd although he was aware he was arguing a “kind of implausibility’’ that) any community serious about self-govern- ment would not tolerate the restriction of access to self-expression. As a result, he said, peo- ple must be willing to allow for ‘‘lots of obnoxious speech,’’ even when people are aware that such utter- ances are silly or even dangerous, He asked whether the people who go willingly in search of pronography find themselves immediately in- spired to commit aggressive acts against women, and queried if there was any difference between the pornographic movies peo- ple are willing to view, or the women willing to talk among themselves about their fantasy lives. Ridington said although she was not in favor of cen- soring sexually explicit material, sh. was in favor of regulating material that is dehumanizing and degrading to people. Ridington also stressed the courts have shown ag- gressive behaviour does result from people being exposed to obscene films and other material, adding several professionals back up this claim. In his address, Russel lege crowd disputed that claim, saying tests done to prove the theory are usually con- ducted in an artificial atmosphere. He said male psychology students are - usually recruited for such tests with most doing it for the course credits. He. said: results usually. tend to indicate that aluiough men can in agine committing a sexual act after the testing ~— which includes being ex- posed to sexually explicit films, ete. — that the fan- lasy is nol necessarily translated into ‘actual behaviour. Ruseel argued the tests were f irther artificial since students have no fear of prosecution while partici- pating in them, and that permission to be aggressive is often implied a a a What’s Going On. .BI5 Escort service clamp down? INTERLUDE ESCORTS may be ~ the first and last of its kind in North Van- couver if city. council votes to rescind a bylaw at Monday | night’s meeting. By LYNN BLANCHARD - A notice of motion was filed “by Ald: John Braithwaite last "-week to deal with’ the con- troversy surrounding : ‘the escort service. “We've got to get: some ‘ace tion and get rid of {the bylaw), said Braithwaite Thursday. When Carol McNeill: ap- plied for a licence for. the on- ly existing escort service last November she couldn't be refused simply on the grounds of council’s misgivings; he said. “T was certainly concerned about the granting.of that business licence,**’” said Braithwaite. ‘‘Objectively we had to give it to (McNeill) but subjectively we didn’t want to approve it, We want to get rid of the bylaw if we don’t want tha: kind of business in the community.’ Eraithwaite said that the escort service could attract 2 iot of unsavory individuals and could easily become a front for prostitution. . McNeill said any business _could fall into that but it depends on who you have working for you, “Our clients are very reputable, from handicapped people to politicians.’’ she said. ‘*We don’t provide sex- ual services and I'm not going to exploit women.” If councit rescinds the bylaw, MeNeill’s escort service ) Will nat face competition. Asked if this was fair, ! Braithwaite replied, ‘H's not -a point of being fair just i. because she shouldn's have competition. If she is pro- ” viding a service, then each year we loak at it to see if the licence should be granted or revoked.”’