page: 
 title: Tool T-shirt irks school officials
author: [none given]

        VALPARAISO, Ind., Nov. 14 (UPI) -- An Indiana high school 
student is back in school after being kicked out earlier in the week 
for wearing a T-shirt designed by the popular hard rock band Tool.
        Valparaiso High School officials sent home freshman Ben 
Burnett on Tuesday when they determined the shirt's depiction of nude 
figure in a sitting position was vulgar and offensive. The move 
angered the boy's mother, who said the image is less explicit than 
those in many popular ads.
        So Susan Powers took marker and drew socks and a pair of 
shorts on the figure and her son was allowed back into school. But she 
says the incident has angered her enough to write a letter to the 
school board.
        Powers told the Hammond (Ind.) Times, "I'm finding this the 
most ridiculous thing ever. I can't tell if (the figure) is a male or 
a female."
        The Tool tee shows a rear angle of the sitting figure, which 
exposes the lower back area where it meets the buttocks. Assistant 
Principal George Gordon said he felt the T-shirt disrupted the 
educational process and so Ben was sent home early.
        The teen told the newspaper he wore the same shirt to school 
once before and was told to turn it inside-out by administrators. But 
soon thereafter he wore the image on the outside again and he said 
none of his teachers had a problem with it.
Posted to t.d.n: 12/01/97 01:16:39