More controversy was added to the already-controversial “Vagina Monologues” before its performance Thursday night.A graphic that appeared on the cover of High Note, the Iowa State Daily’s weekly arts and entertainment guide, depicted the symbol for woman with a microphone in front of it. The graphic accompanied a story titled “Finding a voice for vaginas,” which previewed ISU’s rendition of “The Vagina Monologues,” a critically acclaimed performance about female personality and sexuality. The play was performed by various women who are ISU students and faculty members.Some of the women involved in the production were offended by the nature of the graphic, which they said resembled a penis or a sperm cell entering a woman, and the show’s director considered calling off the performance.”It was an unfortunate editorial choice, because it appeared to take what we were doing and turn it into a joke,” said Carlie Tartakov, assistant professor of curriculum and instruction and “Vagina Monologues” performer. “The mike looked like a sperm entering the symbol of a woman. The monologues were not focused on men. They gave a voice for women’s stories, on how they relate to the center of their bodies and the impact on them and others. This ended up being an advertisement that was distraction and distortion of what the program was really about. It objectified women’s bodies.”Iowa State Daily cartoonist Carmen Cerra, senior in journalism, drew the graphic. He said that although he knew the microphone cord in his drawing looked like a sperm cell, his intent was to make the picture “more dynamic and to complement the story.””But this isn’t the first time that someone has taken an image, then been offended by their own interpretation of it,” he said.However, Shirley Dunlap, director of “Vagina Monologues,” said she found the graphic “appalling” and did not want to be associated with “something so dirty.””I thought it cheapened women,” said Dunlap, associate professor of music and performance. “I thought it did everything that ‘Vagina Monologues’ was not about.”Dunlap said she was so disturbed by the graphic and the way the situation was handled that she almost did not perform.”I didn’t want the show to be canceled,” she said. “I said that I was not going to be able to do the show until I received an apology, … and I wanted it from the people who were responsible for putting it in the newspaper.”At Dunlap’s request, Conor Bezane, Daily arts and entertainment editor, and Katie Goldsmith, Daily managing editor, went to the Memorial Union before the performance to apologize to the cast. Dunlap said she also wanted the Daily to publicly apologize to the audience members before the show, which the Daily did not agree to do.”Our intent was not to undermine the production of ‘The Vagina Monologues,'” Bezane said. “I am very supportive of women’s issues and would call myself a feminist. I wanted to make sure our readers knew about the show. It didn’t occur to me that the graphic would be deemed offensive.” Other “Vagina Monologues” performers said they saw nothing wrong with the graphic.”I didn’t even notice the graphic,” said performer Sine Anahita, graduate student in sociology. “I didn’t see a sperm. … I actually thought it was empowering. A microphone in front of a woman symbol is actually quite empowering.”Anahita said she was “shocked” when Dunlap said she was considering not performing.”Why let something as what I consider little, like a graphic, destroy and derail the whole wonderful thing that happened?” she said.Monologue performer Abby Hansen, junior in women’s studies, said she was not offended by the graphic, and the most important thing was that the 700 people in attendance at the show were positively affected by the performance.”I think it’s just important to realize that there are differing opinions amongst people,” she said. “The whole point of ‘The Vagina Monologues’ is about respecting diversity and affecting each other. We had to respect other people’s ideas and come together as one for ourselves and for our community.”