Pro

by Tomas Kassahun

If love is a treasure, it must be a treasure buried deep beneath the lust that covers the Earth.

And as I walk across the campus of Fresno City College, this facts becomes even more evident to me. I can’t help but cringe at the sight of two human beings devouring each other like hot dog eating legend Takeru Kobayashi devours hot dogs. Why these people feel the need to display their affection in public is a mystery to me.

Just sitting on the benches at FCC has become a difficult task for me. In fact, I don’t feel like I’m sitting on a bench at all. Rather, I feel like I’m on the other side of the bed, observing the process of reproduction.

Sometimes I wonder how painful it must be to roll around on a rock hard solid bench; particularly for the women who normally carry the weight above them. Wouldn’t there would be less pain and more pleasure if these couples expressed their feelings in the privacy of their bedrooms on a nice, comfortableTempur-Pedic?

The only thing worse than the sight of lust is the sound effect that comes along with it. Upon hearing all the moaning and the groaning and the slurping noises of saliva,even the Dali Lama would put together a string of adult rated vocabulary.

Public display of affection is embarrassing for the onlookers as much as it is for the performers. When the couples enter the classroom after having been engaged in deep intimacy, severe consequences follow. Sometimes lover boy walks into class with Lady Gaga lipstick all over his face.

For the college, public display of affection has a devastating effect. Just look at the designated slobbing areas for evidence, which are not hard to find. This is what future college students witness when they come to take a tour of their future. This is the factor that contributes to the negative perception of community colleges.  

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying couples should act completely numb while in public. I understand this is college and the five feet apart rule doesn’t apply here, but too many students have crossed the line when it comes to intimacy in public.

I can walk by the forum hall several times in one day and see the same people every time, applying the same motions. It’s like watching frogs mating continuously for months without a second of rest.

Public display of affection leads to serious issues such as sexual harassment cases. When the man goes where he does not belong, the woman often turns against him and conflicts arise. As a result, neither the man nor the woman know what they are getting into; therefore, increasing the chance of a sexual harassment case.

Because public display of affection has become so abundant on college campuses, students from high schools can migrate to colleges, where there is no principal to break apart their precious moment of lust and blend in with the other couples.

When more students realize the difference between Hollywood and college, we can all enjoy a lust free campus. I can see the beauty of a romantic scene between Leonardo DeCaprio and Kate Winslet, but there’s nothing romantic about the exchange of saliva between two college kids.

Maybe when Johnny Lee said he was looking for love in all the wrong places, he was talking about college. Because apparently it’s not love in the air. It’s lust. And it stinks.

Con

by Jesse Franz

There they are: That couple in the corner eating each other’s chapstick. They are the couple who walk around with their hands in one another’s back pocket; the people whose only argument has ever been, “You’re cute,” “You’re cuter,” “No, you’re cuter!” Although their relentless display of affection is enough to inspire single people, like this writer, to regurgitate their last meal, are we so pompous to try and discern whether these actions are done out of lust or love?

Pause and remember Allie and Noah, the main characters from the Notebook. Although fictional, they took PDA to a whole new level, and no one in their right mind would dare despise them for it because their act was committed in the name of love.  However, when one sees two college kids making out in the hallway, they automatically assume it is lust. Now ask yourselves, who are you to say whether someone’s in love or not?

We as a civilization have set a principle that love is in the eye of the beholder. Love is something that only an individual in it can perceive, despite what their parents, or their creed says to the contrary. This is the reason why nobody is in disbelief when two people say, “I do.” It’s the reason why Allie and Noah’s story was so heartbreaking, and yet so fulfilling. Love is an unperceivable connection between two people that only they can know, because only they are immersed in it. So how are you, as an outside observer, to say, “These kids aren’t in love, they’re in lust.”

When we look at two people holding hands walking down the street we should feel inspired or fulfilled, not revolted. Inspired that one day you will find someone that you feel so connected to that you aren’t ashamed to kiss them in public, even if you’re embarrassed by the onlookers. Or if you have already met that special someone, you should feel fulfilled knowing that you’ll be holding hands with your beloved soon.

Love is the only phenomenon that’s dualistic; a mental experience that causes physical side effects. So why then would it not be expected that those in love would pursue their emotions in physical ways, even in public. Of course those acts committed out of lust are better saved for the bedroom, and procreating in its essence should remain a private act, but you can’t throw out the baby with the bathwater, or in this case those in love with those who are making babies in the bathwater.

Public display of affection also takes on the more sinister face of homophobia. When two straight people walk down the street they are never met with the confrontation of a glaring audience however, when two gay people do the same they are subject to the judgement of those who wince in the face of their love. The first step out of this principle of inequality in love is to accept PDA in all forms. To accept Portia de Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres, just as we accept Noah and Allie. If we cannot have equality in love, where can we have it?

Overall, something like PDA – normally regarded as trashy – promises new hope for the future. Whether that is a future of equality, or the future of your own personal love. So hold someone’s hand in a crowded room, kiss your darling during the movie, or hold your sweetheart in the parking lot till the sun rises. Don’t put off showing someone how much you care about them, because tomorrow you may not have the chance.