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Jen Hein was in the classroom where a Kansas University professor allegedly reacted to a student's leaving to use the restroom by giving her "the finger" and wisecracking about the benefits of masturbating on an empty bladder.

"That's not what happened at all -- that's taken so far out of context, it's unbelievable," Hein said.

Hein, 23, is planning to protest a recent budget amendment introduced by Sen. Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, prohibiting state universities from showing "pornographic" videos in sex education classes.

Passed by the Senate and House, the amendment is headed for the desk of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

Unless vetoed by Sebelius, the amendment orders the state Board of Regents to rescind funding for any department caught showing obscene videos in a sex education class.

Wagle, a conservative, based her amendment on an anonymous student's critique of professor Dennis Dailey's class on human sexuality.

Hein said she would ask fellow students Monday to join her in seeking a meeting with Sebelius.

"I think she needs to hear the other side of the story," said Hein, a sixth-year Lawrence senior in advertising and strategic communication.

Hein said she would ask Sebelius to veto Wagle's amendment.

Sebelius spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran-Basso said the governor "definitely wants to hear from the students" and was willing to meet with them.

"A lot is going to depend on everybody's schedule, obviously," Corcoran-Basso said. "But someone from the governor's office -- if not the governor herself -- will meet with them."

According to Wagle's source, Dailey showed pornographic videos and photographs of naked children in class. Also, when a student was walking out of a class session on masturbation, Dailey reportedly "gave her the finger" and, after learning she was going to the restroom, said it was better to masturbate on an empty bladder.

Teresa Scalise, a 21-year-old senior and Dailey's teaching assistant, said that's not what happened.

"(Dailey) had talked about masturbation; there'd been class discussion on it and he was getting ready to show the video when a girl got up to leave," Scalise said.

"He said he hoped he hadn't offended her and the girl said, ‘Oh, no, I'm just going to the bathroom. I'm coming back.' After she left, he made the remark about the empty bladder. It was funny, it wasn't a put-down. Everybody laughed."

• Anti-obscenity measure clears House (4-4-03) • 6News video: Kansas legislature puts amendment into budget bill • Sebelius budget proposal advances (4-2-03) • Lawmakers attack sex class at KU (3-27-03) • 'Sexologist' offers insights to KU students (8-20-98)

No ‘finger'

Scalise said Dailey did not give the girl the finger. "That never happened," she said.

Hein said, "This whole thing has been taken out of context. We'd just talked about how your bladder shuts off when sexual desire begins, and how it's the same way with masturbation. That was the context -- what he said wasn't directed at (the girl leaving for the restroom). It was completely separate."

Hein and Scalise also denied the classroom videos were pornographic. The photographs of children's genitalia, they said, were inoffensive and part of a class on sexual development.

Both said, however, that Dailey's classroom demeanor is often brash, challenging, provocative and, at times, profane.

"That's his style," said Megan Schwerdt, a journalism senior from Topeka. "He doesn't do what he does to get a rise out of people, he does it to make you think. I think he's a great teacher."

Dailey, 64, declined comment on Hein's efforts to rally students to meet with Sebelius.

"I really don't want to say anything," he said, "but I would love for the governor to hear the voices of students."

Dailey, who's been at KU since 1969, won the university's Budig Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1989. He's been a finalist for KU's prestigious H.O.P.E. Award three times.

He's taught courses on human sexuality since 1973.

KU spokesman Todd Cohen said the university was willing to investigate complaints about Dailey's class.

"We've asked that people who've taken the class to file formal complaints if they were offended or thought something was wrong with the course," Cohen said. "But we've not heard from anyone."

He added, "It's one of the most popular classes on campus; there's a waiting list to get in."