No wonder so many students love Chuck Scannell's computer Web page.

A click of a button transports users to an extensive thesaurus of masturbation terms, nude photographs and "Cara's Kick-Ass Home Page."

But at least one UA administrator wasn't so impressed.

In late November, students, faculty and staff voted Scannell's Web site one of the top three "personal home pages" developed at the University of Arizona in a poll sponsored by UAInfo, the department that provides online computer access to university inf ormation.

For his work, Scannell, a mechanical engineering junior, received a T-shirt and a handshake from Provost Paul Sypherd at a UAInfo ceremony. What's more, UAInfo gave Scannell and the other winners top billing in its computerized table of contents, making their World Wide Web sites more accessible to UA students and computer users throughout the world.

Scannell was ecstatic, glowing in his popularity as a Web page designer, unaware that his work had become the center of controversy over appropriate use of university computers.

In December, UAInfo threatened to pull the plug on the computer whiz kid. A department official sent Scannell a computer message, ordering him to clean up his Web page.

A UA administrator had complained to UAinfo that Scannell's site was in poor taste, downright pornographic.

With a click of a computer mouse, viewers could get a list of euphemisms for masturbation. Another click and viewers landed on "Cara's Kick Ass Home Page" with a picture of a naked blonde woman pool side (chest and hips covered with black bars). A quote under the picture states, "Now you know why they call me "nurse feel-good."

Scannell's home page also has quick links to adult sex computer sites loaded with pictures of naked women (minus the black bars).

A UAInfo committee determined the computer link to Cara's home page "borderline offensive" and removed Scannell's name from its alphabetical list of personal home pages. He received a warning from the administrator of the university's engineering computer system, "Big Dog," which Scannell had used to develop his personal home page.

"I think they overreacted," Scannell says. "It wasn't such a big deal. I probably caught heat because I was more in the spotlight after winning the UAInfo award."

Via e-mail, Scannell promised to clean up his home page. He never heard back from anyone. UAInfo reinstated his name on its list of personal home pages, but the "top three home page" listing vanished into cyberspace.

Scannell may still have the last laugh. Viewers can still find all of the naked pictures and masturbation information on "Chuck's Home Page" just by clicking a mouse to the second page.

"I just put it all on a less prominent part of the page," Scannell says.

Scannell hasn't fooled anyone, says Brett Bendickson, a UAInfo systems support analyst.

"I consider (Scannell's home page) tacky and tasteless," Bendickson says. "But the fact is there aren't any laws he's breaking."

Bendickson says he acknowledges that UAInfo didn't take a "thorough look" at the home page before spotlighting it as one of the top three web pages. He says the link to "Cara's" home page was put on after Scannell won the award.

"Personally, I don't think his page is any good," says Bendickson. "I don't think anyone who sees the first page would dig deeper."

Scannell insists his personal home page included the link to "Cara's" home page prior to receiving the UAInfo award. In fact, he says, the option to access the page had been displayed on a projector screen during the UAInfo ceremony.

Scannell's personal home page remains on UAInfo's list of personal home pages. More than 600 students, faculty and staff have created and displayed their home pages on UA computers.

A quick glance at several student home pages shows that the majority contain only text, primarily biographical information, and have few links to additional web pages - unlike Scannell's, which features color photographs and graphics, and humorous comment ary.

Many of the more entertaining male student home pages have computer links to Cindy Crawford pictures. On the women's side, Brad Pitt seems to rule the university computer system.

"There are more than 500 student pages and none but a few have anything to do with school," Bendickson said.

However, learning to design home pages, not their content, is what's most important, Bendickson says. Many university professors require their students to learn how to design Web pages as an important job skill.

Another UAInfo award winner, economics Professor Jim Ratliff, created a home page about game theory which provides a serious discussion of interactive decision-making. His students accessed the computer page for class assignments.

Ratliff learned that UAInfo struck his personal home page from its list of contest winners after being contacted by the Wildcat. He says UAInfo should provide an explanation on its Web site for removing the list.

"It's rewriting history by erasing it," Ratliff says. "The people who voted deserve to see who the winners are."

The complaint against Scannell's work was the first UAInfo had received about a personal home page. The department had no policy to handle the complaint.

It now does.

If computer users have a complaint about a home page, they must decide what university policy it violates, then contact the UA's office that oversees such violations, says Bendickson.

For instance, if it concerns a copyright violation, they should call the university attorney's office. If users consider the material to be sexual harassment, the affirmative action department should be contacted.

The difficulty UA administrators face in policing student Web pages is that there is no simple way to patrol it.

Dave Pottinger, engineering senior, is one of only two people who oversees more than 2,800 computer user accounts on the Big Dog computer systems.

"We just can't get out there and look at everyone's Web site," Pottinger says.

What makes policing the Web more confusing are links from a student's home page to Web pages on different computer systems. On Scannell's home page, for example, viewers can link to "Cara's" home page on the university's "U" computer system. It's diffic ult to determine which system should assume the responsibility for warning students about inappropriate use of university computers.

"With the Web, it's hard to know where to draw the line," says Pottinger.

It would do the university little good to prohibit students from placing links to adult magazines, such as Penthouse, on their home pages, Pottinger says, because they could easily find Penthouse's Internet address and access it directly.

What concerns Pottinger and UA computer administrators most is how much computer storage space students use for their computer links to pornographic material. Pottinger says Scannell used an "infinitesimal" amount of Big Dog computer drive space to provi de links to "Cara's" home page and adult Web sites.

Use of UA computers must pertain to the university's mission of research, instruction and community outreach, says Linda Drew, manager of the Center for Computing and Information Technology.

"People here are using equipment paid for with taxpayer dollars," Drew says.

Congress' proposal to ban indecent material on the Internet has raised concerns among college administrators across the nation.

The ban was part of a massive telecommunications bill that failed to pass in December. Congressional leaders are expected to amend the bill this month and vote on the revised bill.

Companies that provide access to the Internet already are taking precautions to protect themselves from lawsuits and prosecution.

Last month, CompuServe Inc. of Columbus, Ohio, blocked its four million subscribers from reaching sex-related parts of the Internet. More recently, the nation's largest computer bulletin-board service, Exec-PC of Wisconsin, notified its users that it had eliminated 50,000 files of adult material.

College professors worry that the proposed ban on indecent material could affect all topics of a sexual nature, including health education, literature and fine arts. The restrictions could be used to prosecute professors who make such material available o n the Internet.

Many universities fear they could be held liable for indecent material students access using campus computers. Most college administrators don't want to assume the responsibility of policing the Internet.

"It will be like censoring libraries," Drew says. "We may get into a situation none of us wants to get into."