"It was offensive because it was explicit porno; it showed every kind of sexual act I could think of," student council member Denis Shmidt said.
Last month, “Koala TV’s” creator and former UCSD student Steve York made national headlines when he produced and starred in a pornographic video shown on closed-circuit campus television. "Koala TV" runs on SRTV, UCSD's student-run television.
Student leaders are responsible for the station's charter, which allows indecent, but not obscene, broadcasts between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. An investigation by the UCSD administration last month found the broadcast to be in violation of the charter. The council voted to suspend the airing of such content on the student-run station.
But a petition drive forced the matter to go back to a special election.
While York calls his programming a freedom of expression, others say it's inappropriate pornography. York said he decided to take on the issue of pornography because pornography and censorship are big issues that students need to discuss. He added that he feels he's protecting freedom of expression on an increasingly conservative campus.
"I feel this is really censorship,” York said. “It's a very highly-patrolled and surveillanced campus and I'm trying to offer something fun for students over at SRTV, as I have been for four years. UCSD students aren't just going to stand around and be bullied by the administration."
But some students wish York would just move on.
"This is simply to create debate, to get the spotlight and that's not what SRTV was for. This one thing is ruining it for everyone else," one student told several news stations that visited the UCSD campus Friday.
Students were allowed to vote online until 4 p.m. Friday. At least 15 percent of the student body must vote for the results to be valid.
