THE DIT students' union. DITSU, has run into a barrage of criticism over posters for next month's DIT Rag Ball in the Point.

The posters depict - and let's not beat about the bush here - a naked woman on her knees, with only a strategically placed sheet and a man's arm protecting her modesty. In fact, the breasts of the young lady in question appear to be under extreme pressure from the arm of the gent, who also appears to be untroubled by clothing. The tasteful caption above these carnal goings on is - wait for it - "Come Together". Geddit? Come Together? Your wife, does she go, etc?

USI's women's rights officer, Kellie O'Dowd, described the posters as "tasteless and offensive" and said she had received numerous complaints from DIT students over the nature of the illustration.

"This behaviour is indicative of the DIT students' unions," says O'Dowd. "Not happy with removing their womens' rights officers to replace them with equality officers, the DIT students' union executive, by endorsing these posters, seems to condone discrimination against women."

DITSU president Colin Joyce remains unmoved. We think they are artistic posters," he says. "They display both a male and a female so it can't be an insult to either sex."

That logic probably doesn't bear close examination but Joyce goes on: "They had this problem in the 1950s and `60s in relation to Lady Chatterley's Lover and stuff and there are still extreme right wing elements, but they are slowly changing their minds."

Joyce describes the campaign as "light hearted" and says the posters are not offensive to the vast majority of DIT students. DITSU will continue to display them until the next phase of the Rag Ball poster campaign commences, though Joyce says he is not sure if the new posters will have a similar content.