By Natalie Kilgore
Call me na?ve, call me crazy, but all this time I really did think everyone was blowing the whole pornography thing way out of proportion.
I thought to myself, why all the hoopla? Did a subject like that really deserve a three-day series on the front page of The Daily Universe, not to mention an entire campus conference -- Cyber Secrets?
I just never assumed members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, much less BYU students, would struggle with something so foul. Well, my eyes were opened last week.
As I walked to campus last Thursday I decided to go to the Harold B. Lee Library to pick up a book or two to read. Something fun to read -- I had some free time, surprisingly.
I wandered up to the fifth floor and became enthralled with the endless possibilities of amazing literature laid before me.
As I meandered down the aisles searching the book spines looking for the perfect book, something caught my eye.
I suppose it was the neon pink scrawl that initially drew my eyes to it, and I eagerly drew it from the shelf. The title said something stupid like, 'Conversations with Candi' featuring the picture of a naked woman.
In disbelief, I turned it over and my eyes met more inappropriate pictures.
It was a pornographic video.
I cannot express the shock I felt when I realized that indeed I had stumbled across a pornographic video in the Harold B. Lee Library, on BYU campus.
I immediately felt my face burn. I was so embarrassed and I prayed that no one I knew would come walking around the corner.
I wasn''t quite sure what to do with it -- to leave it there and let someone else discover it, or to throw it away.
I debated for a moment, still checking to make sure no one was coming, and then I decided to 'hide' it between two books in my hand and make a bee-line to the trashcan.
I hoped no one would see me throwing it away and think I was trashing a library book.
When I heard the video hit the bottom of the can, I breathed a sigh of relief and walked out of the library.
Once outside, the first emotion I felt was annoyance. Even now, I still can''t believe someone had enough free time to plant porn videos in the library. It''s just sick.
I imagine the culprit thought it would be funny for an unsuspecting student to stumble across it. And I''m sure that same person laughs when they think about the look on the face of the unsuspecting victim.
Let me assure you, whoever you are, this unsuspecting student did not appreciate your joke at all.
Despite my initial anger, I have come to understand that pornography really is a problem.
I feel sorry for the person who put the video in the library. He or she has a serious problem, and inflicted it on me.
Although I''m not tempted by pornography, I now know that some really struggle. I appreciate what BYU administrators and the local media are doing to help our community become aware of this serious problem.
I can even say I''m grateful for this experience. It wasn''t fun, and it was highly embarrassing, but it has helped me to be more understanding of a problem I don''t really understand.