Authors:                  CHARLES THOMPSON
Full Text:

   A controversy over abortion shrank into a small and peaceful 
demonstration
at Messiah College last night, where four anti- abortion protesters handed
leaflets to people arriving at a concert by singer-songwriter Aimee Mann.

   Mann's appearance at the Christian college in Grantham had been targeted
by local members of Rock for Life, a group that publicizes recording 
artists'
pro-abortion stances, because of her contribution to a 1996 benefit 
recording
for the Feminist Majority Foundation's National Clinic Access Project.

   Some members of Rock for Life had seen that donation as a sign of support
for abortion rights by Mann, and they had called on college administrators
to cancel the show.

   The demands had spawned petitions and a lot of discussion on campus,
during which a number of students originally involved in the protest 
withdrew
their support. Mann's defenders contended that the 1996 disk was issued
primarily to help prevent violence at women's health clinics. Mann herself
has not been outspoken on abortion.

   By curtain time for last night's performance, only four sign- bearing
protesters were working the doors outside the college's Brubaker Auditorium.
Many students took leaflets titled "Aimee Mann and the Abortion Industry,"
but none seemed to turn away from the show.

   Kristen Ries, a Messiah junior from Carlisle, admitted to some "slight
qualms" about attending the show because of the controversy. But in the
end, Ries said, "I wanted to see for myself, so I could make my own judgment
about Aimee Mann based on who she is, and not just rely on what other people
think of her."

   Others felt the discussion was a little overblown.

   "Aimee Mann's not running for president, she's just giving a concert,"
said Messiah senior Benno Lauer, 19, of Upper Allen Twp. "It's a little
bit different, I feel."  CHARLES THOMPSON: