Pittsburgh From www.post-gazette.com- Don’t expect heavy breathing or shady-looking patrons slumped furtively in their theater seats.

It’s true, “The New Devil in Miss Jones” is hard-core pornography. But several hundred students expected to settle into soft green seats in a Carnegie Mellon University auditorium April 26 are a different kind of audience, likely to snack on popcorn, laugh and applaud as they witness a controversial expression of modern culture.

That, at least, is what the head of the student-run activities board remembers from previous times his group sponsored a once-a-semester pornographic movie as part of a wide-ranging film series.

“It’s kind of an absurd environment. Some people dress up in costume,” said Tomasz Skowronski, a Carnegie Mellon senior and acting president of the activities board. “It’s not serious. People are very lighthearted about this.”

On other campuses, though, plans for similar screenings this spring have sparked debate between those who say the movies are unfit for a college audience and others who say campus beliefs about free speech require that even something like porn be allowed to be shown.

In Maryland, even the state Legislature pounced on the issue.

A screening of “Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge” that was set for April 4 at the University of Maryland was canceled amid one state senator’s threat to hold up hundreds of millions of dollars in campus funding. The school’s decision to pull the film drew cries of censorship and spawned a free-speech protest by students who screened excepts of the film last week in a campus lecture hall.

At Carnegie Mellon, “Pirates II” already has been shown, so Mr. Skowronski said the offering in McConomy Auditorium this time will be “The New Devil in Miss Jones.” On April 26, students plan showings at 8 and 10 p.m. and at midnight, said Ken Walters, a university spokesman.

The activities board shows 48 films a semester, some of them blockbusters, ranging from horror movies to comedies. Last fall, “Pirates II” and “The Dark Knight” tied for third most popular draw after “WALL-E” and “Iron Man.”

In the past, some on campus, including members of religious groups, criticized the porn screenings. But after campus discussions, a decision was made to allow the programming to continue.

All films cost $1, but unlike others in the series, pornography screenings do not rely on student activity fees because the producers do not charge for the campus showings, Mr. Walters said. University funds are not involved.

“Our university policy does not prohibit organizations from screening adult films,” he said.

Films like “The New Devil in Miss Jones” typically are promoted as “to be announced,” a designation that those on campus know usually means porn. Alternative programming is offered for those who do not wish to view the film, but Mr. Skowronski said the heavy turnout of those 18 and older carrying a student ID indicates “a large part of the student body doesn’t feel this is a problem.”

He said universities, in the name of education, routinely give a platform to speakers whose ideas may offend. But because it’s porn and there’s “a bunch of naked people running around and having sex,” there is a knee-jerk tendency by some to treat the showings differently, he said.

Besides, he said, with pornography so available on the Internet, it’s not as if young adults need to sit in a crowded hall to view sex.

Still, some aren’t convinced that education is the underlying motive for the screenings.

Pornography, if balanced by other viewpoints, can help launch a useful discussion about identity and sexuality, said Dave Bindewald, a campus minster at Carnegie Mellon. What troubles him is the venue.

“I’d be more comfortable with a film class or a film professor, an American society class or a sexuality class, rather than saying ‘Hey, Friday night at 6 o’clock in the auditorium. It’s TBA night and it’s going to be porn,’ ” he said.

“I don’t think it’s education,” he said. “It’s just kind of consumption.”

Since the days of “Deep Throat,” sexuality as expressed on campus has been fertile ground for controversy. Several years back, state lawmakers in Harrisburg demanded answers from Penn State University leaders about a student-run “Sex Faire,” which employed graphic displays in the name of sex education.

More recently, The College of William & Mary cited free speech principles in deciding to allow students to bring to campus the “Sex Workers’ Art Show,” a March 23 event in which strippers and prostitutes discussed their work. The college organized a forum for opponents to air their views.

At the University of Maryland, English professor Martha Nell Smith — a self-described feminist who says she’s no fan of porn — nevertheless found herself on a campus panel defending the right to show “Pirates II.” She said once the threat to cut off funding was made, the issue stopped being about pornography.

“I wish whoever wanted to bring it to campus wouldn’t have wanted to bring it to campus,” she said. “However, given the fact that it was brought to campus, you just let it be shown and let it die.”

News coverage of the controversy — outlets from as far away as Taiwan reported it — created a publicity bonanza for the film’s producers, she said.

In a compromise on the matter, Maryland lawmakers agreed to withdraw the funding threat if the state’s universities adopt a policy for showing sexually explicit material on campuses. On Friday, the board of regents for the University System of Maryland told Chancellor William E. Kirwan to develop policy recommendations.

At Carnegie Mellon, several students interviewed Friday had no problem with the campus screenings and said anyone who is offended need not go.

“It was pretty shocking freshman year when I learned that the school was letting people do that, but [now] it really doesn’t bother me,” said senior Sarah Hsieh, 21, an electrical and computer engineering major from Columbus, Ohio. “People think of it as sort of funny. It’s not taken that seriously.”