A controversial comic strip that offended some University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign students and faculty because it allegedly promoted sexual abuse will not be pulled from the student newspaper.

“Go Die,” a Daily Illini strip drawn by U of I freshman Mark Peaslee, sparked controversy with the Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Women March 27 and 28 when the strips depicted men and women thinking about sexual violence.

“It’s totally calm here,” said Daily Illini Editor Erika Rosenberg. “Only the one committee is upset.”

Rosenberg said the paper has received no letters or protests since the strip appeared. However, she said two people cancelled their subscriptions.

The March 27 strip shows a man who is wondering what his female companion looks like naked. The man then thinks, “Censored thoughts of degradation, pain and eventual death.”

Committee Chairman Michele Shoresman said the strip is promoting confusion.

“They’re confusing sex and violence,” Shoresman said. “That’s a dangerous thing to confuse. We can’t allow those sort of messages to be repeated in the press.”

This is the second time this year the committee has protested comics in the Daily Illini, Shoresman said. “The last time, a comic compared women to a toilet. We’re calling on the DI to be more responsible before they print these things.

“It’s not OK,” she said. “It’s not OK coming from a woman, either.”

The March 28 strip shows a woman involved in a bondage situation with her mate, whose mouth is full of razor blades, Shoresman said.

“I’m very critical of the media,” Rosenberg said, adding she also is against sexism in the media. But the comic’s sarcasm was not understood, she said.

“The cartoonist was trying to make a point,” Rosenberg said. “Maybe it was exaggerated, but he wasn’t advocating, making fun of or belittling (sexual abuse).”

The strip intended to show the sometimes poor communication between men and women, she said.