Student-Run Sex Magazines Surface Across U.S.

Dec. 6, 2008— -- Once a semester, Rice University students in Houston gather for "sex-trivia pub night" at Willy's Pub to test one another's knowledge of all things sexual. The students divide themselves into teams and, after a few rounds of erotically charged questions, the members of the most sexually knowledgeable team win $20 tabs at the on-campus, student-run hangout.

Hosted by Open magazine, whose pages include nude photos of Rice students, the goal of trivia night is to help students talk comfortably about their sexuality. "Our generation is growing up in a time with moral codes that are preached by Christianity," said Rachel Solnick, Open editor in chief and Rice sophomore. "But if you're not religious, you have to have your own moral compass."

Open magazine has plenty of company, as other publications that focus on various forms of sexual expression -- some more explicit than others -- have emerged at more than a dozen U.S. colleges in recent years, even amid concerns about the exploitation of women.

Some publications include erotic fiction and nude or semi-nude photographs of their students, which creates an uncomfortable balance for school administrators as students increasingly come under the influence of sexual material on TV and the Internet, experts said.

"Students are becoming more openly questioning of authority and what's acceptable," said Robert Gaines, an adolescent psychologist in New York.

And society's loosening moral standards "intrigues students and makes them want to copy that," he said. "Making sexual matters part of campus conversation is probably a good thing. But putting nude pictures of students in these magazines is probably more risky. Someone might regret that later."

At Rice, 1,500 copies of the first issue of Open magazine were distributed free of charge last spring to students on campus. The magazine was funded by a $3,300 grant from the Dr. Bill Wilson Student Initiative Grant, which, named for an alumnus, is awarded to innovative student projects that enhance student life at Rice.

The university recognizes Open magazine, which must pass muster with an editorial board of Rice faculty and staff to ensure that its content isn't offensively explicit. But the board neither prescribes content nor censors the students' suggestively nude images.

Such leeway contributes to a healthy discussion of the best ways to approach sex and sexuality, editor Solnick said.

Open aims to "emulate the late-night conversations your have with your friends," Solnick said, adding that the publication, despite its frank discussions and nude photos, is appropriate for a college campus.

"We just want to be able to approach sexuality in a smart manner," Solnick said. "We're less interested in the erotica side of it as we are in the personal side of it."

The content of the 68-page magazine included articles, poems and short fiction with titles such as "Abstinence-Only Education Is Anything But," "Health and Body" and "Exploring Health Benefits of Sex."

The publication debuted on Rice's campus and in nearby businesses last spring to a mostly positive, albeit shocked, student reaction, Solnick said.