Feb 7, 2007 2:31 pm US/Central
Coed Calendar Features 'Hot, Not Nerdy' Engineers
CHAMPAIGN (STNG) ―
Miss January -- wearing only a G-string thong -- says she likes tattoos and Harley Davidsons. Miss July -- appearing in pink lingerie and a lab coat -- says she likes going to the beach but also the book "Anna Karenina." Miss February likes taking naps, live music -- and "fun science demos."
Like a Playboy pinup collection, this 2007 calendar features a dozen scantily clad models. But these students at the University of Illinois aren't your typical models.
The women in the "Girls of Engineering" calendar were accepted to the Downstate campus' nationally ranked engineering program, where students on average scored a 31 on the ACT college entrance exam and graduated in the top 12 percent of their high school classes.
The calendar was originally conceived as a fund-raising tool by a male and female student at the school, but in the end no charities benefitted and the calendar lost money.
But the student models, who were not paid, said they agreed to pose to counter perceptions that women in engineering were "nerdy," said one 23-year-old model from California. She graduated in May with a degree in chemical and biomolecular engineering and appears as Miss October and said, "Girls can be hot and be in engineering."
Agreed "Maribel," 19, a mechanical engineering major from Downstate Mahomet who asked that only her calendar name be used: "It's not brains or beauty. It's brains and beauty."
Still, the calendar caused a stir on campus, where just 15 percent of the more than 5,000 engineering students are female.
The executive producer, Lake Forest College student Syed Karim, admits the calendar ended up a little more risque than he expected. They weren't allowed to sell copies in the campus bookstore, he said.
The calendar upset some students like Tracy Saillard, president of a professional and social sorority for female engineers.
"It's difficult enough to be treated as equals," said Saillard, 21, of Mount Prospect. "I don't think posing half-nude in the calendar helps us any."
U. of I. campus provost Linda Katehi, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, called the calendar "offensive."
"As a female engineer I feel this act is demeaning and stereotypical," she said. Katehi said she asked the university's corporate licensing office to issue a "cease and desist" order to the calendar's producers to bar use of "U of I" on the cover.
Because of poor marketing, Karim said, he and his partners lost some money. The calendars are $6 each at www.girlsofengineering.com.
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2008. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
