Unorthodox political fliers kill campaign // Canyon student removed from ballot for giving out condoms with message

DATE                  5/2/90
NEWSPAPER             THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
SECTION               NEWS
EDITION               EVENING
PAGE                  a01
STORY LENGTH          8 INCHES
HEADLINE              Unorthodox political fliers kill campaign // Canyon 
                         student removed from ballot for giving out condoms 
                         with message (AM HEAD VARIES)
BYLINE/CREDIT         Dan Froomkin:The Orange County Register
SUBJECT TERMS         SCHOOLS:CANDIDATES:ELECTIONS:VIOLATIONS:ADVERTISING:UNUSU
                         AL:OC
  KEYWORD-HIT

     A Canyon High School junior was kicked off the ballot for
  student-body president Tuesday, a day after he distributed about 100
  condoms to classmates as a campaign ploy.
     Each individually packaged Spartan lubricated condom was adorned
  with a "Be Safe. Vote for Pat Lee" sticker.
     "My opponent is, like, really well-known," said Lee, 17, of Anaheim
  Hills. "I needed a gimmick."
     But Canyon Assistant Principal Ray Dunne said Lee's action was a
  "very severe violation" of the school's campaign rule mandating that
  all advertisements "must be in good taste."
     "What image comes across when you hand someone a condom with a
  flier?" Dunne asked.
      Dunne said he found out about Lee's action from a concerned
  teacher. Dunne discussed the problem with senior Eric Jeppson, the
  student body association's commissioner of justice, and both agreed Lee
  should be removed from the race.
     Dunne said Lee had signed an oath pledging to follow the campaign
  rules and acknowledging that any violation could place his campaign in
  jeopardy.
     Lee said the punishment is too harsh. "If they said, `Stop it,' I
  could understand that," Lee said. "But when they told me `You're out,
  you're flat out' -- that was unfair."
     Lee said he was facing an uphill battle in his campaign before he
  came up with the condom-distribution plan.
     "If you hand out candies, they'll eat the candy, throw away the
  wrapper and forget about you," he said.
     "This way, they'll remember my name. Plus, there's a message behind
  it."
     Lee said he doesn't think the message is too graphic. "If the
  school's going to be educating us on safe sex, then why not?" he asked.
     Lee said most people first were shocked, then amused by his
  publicity stunt.
     "Even the teachers, they thought it was a little gross, but a great
  gimmick."
     Although Lee had planned only to hand the condoms out to boys,
  several girls asked him for some as well, he said.
     Lee's withdrawal leaves only Warren Avery on the ballot for
  student-body president, and no write-ins are allowed, Dunne said.
     Lee wants another chance.
     "I would like to win this," he said.