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1. Princeton University: When Princeton president Harold Shapiro appointed bioethicist Peter Singer as the DeCamp Professor in the University Center for Human Values, he thumbed his nose at academics, members of the disabled community, and ethicists who take life seriously. Singer's record in favor of euthanasia and moral relativism was well known. But we wonder if President Shapiro knew the wilds of Singer's imagination? For in a positive review of Midas Dekkers's Dearest Pet: On Bestiality, written for the porn site nerve.com, Singer carries his campaign against human dignity to new lows. He writes that our physical similarities with other mammals — mostly genital — are so strong that the taboo on bestiality stems not from physical differences but from "our desire to differentiate ourselves, erotically and in every other way, from animals." "Who has not," he opines, "been at a social occasion disrupted by the household dog gripping the legs of a visitor and vigorously rubbing its penis against them? . . . [I]n private not everyone objects to being used by her or his dog in this way, and occasionally mutually satisfying activities may develop." Princeton is a trend-setting university with a hallowed history, but when its top ethicist smiles on bestiality, we vote no confidence in its leadership or moral vision.

2. University of Oregon: Elements of the so-called animal liberation movement, which specializes in "liberating" lab animals and destroying private property through vandalism and arson, have an office at the University of Oregon in Eugene. Their newspaper — paid for by student fees — is the Insurgent, the December 8th issue of which contained an eight-page insert titled: "The ALF Primer: Your Guide to Economic Sabotage and the Animal Liberation Front." "First, you may want to decide what kind of establishment you want to target — a fur shop, a butcher shop, a factory farm or slaughterhouse, or maybe a fast food restaurant?" the piece notes. Detailed instructions follow on gluing locks, vandalizing vehicles, clogging toilets, and arson. "As dangerous as arson is, it is also by far the most potent weapon of direct action," says the Insurgent. "A simple way to burn a vehicle is to place a sheet or blanket on top or underneath and soak it in flammable liquid. . . . If not using a time-delay device, try to light it from as far away as possible by lighting the end of a rolled up newspaper, flare, or other torch-like object." The insert included on the facing page the names, home phone numbers, and home addresses of some research professors, with the suggestion to "tell them how you feel about the 'research' they do." The University has failed to respond to this outrage in any way.

3. SUNY-Albany: New York State's first college-funded S & M Club, the Power Exchange, was founded by two coed students who report no objections from the administration. "The response has been great," one student told the local press. "When my brother found out, he was like, 'I can't believe you could do something like that,'" she said. "Now, he's kind of OK with it. The rest of my family has been very supportive." Club leaders say student government money comes from student fees, not taxpayer dollars. A university spokeswoman sums up the official attitude toward the Power Exchange: "As long as they abide by the student guidelines, they have a right to have their club officially recognized by the student association on campus and to be funded by the student association."

4. Temple University: When Temple University student Michael Marcavage protested against a theatrical depiction of Jesus as a homosexual, he was subjected to Soviet-style behavior modification: handcuffed and committed to a psychiatric ward. Objecting to the portrayal of Jesus as the "king of queers" in the highly controversial play "Corpus Christi," the student received permission from the school to stage a counter-production based on traditional Christian teachings. A week before the productions, Temple cancelled the traditional play, allegedly for lack of money. According to Marcavage's attorney, Brian Fahling, when Marcavage began to leave a meeting on the plays, thinking it was over, he was "pushed to the floor, then handcuffed and taken to the Temple University Hospital psychiatric ward . . . and committed." The doctor evaluating him "saw no reason why he was committed," Fahling said, and discharged him. Marcavage filed suit against Temple in November, 2000.

5. Villanova University and the University of California at Berkeley (tie): Free speech has been a rare commodity at college campuses this year, particularly when conservatives are doing the speaking and writing. When students at Villanova wanted to bring NRA president Charlton Heston to campus, the school administration took every measure to make the actor's appearance an administrative nightmare — if not an impossibility. Even though Heston waived his standard $20,000 — $30,000 speaking fee, Villanova refused to pick up the tab for his basic expenses, including security fees and hotel room, under the guise that Heston was "too controversial." The Villanova Times, headed by Chris Lilik, was required to pay for extra security in anticipation of protestors who were themselves supported financially by the school's own Center for Peace and Justice. Villanova funded protesters, whose presence required increased security, and then saddled the student group with the increased security costs.

At Berkeley, censorship took a more sinister form. After UC-Bekeley's main campus daily, the Daily Californian, ran author David Horowitz's ad, "Ten Reasons Why Reparations for Slavery is a Bad Idea — and Racist Too," radicals protested the decision to run the ad and stormed the paper's offices and did what such folks always do: issued a list of demands. They demanded an apology from the paper's editors and stole all the remaining newspapers from campus racks. The Daily Californian ran a formal apology that claimed the ad was full of "incorrect and blatantly inflammatory content" and even refused to officially report the theft to campus police.