"Nothing can offend you as much as a drawing"

O'Connor tries to make a statement with his cartoons, and he likens his work to a tool that elicits thoughts or reactions from people.

"I think they're the only thing in the paper that really can get a reaction out of someone," he says. "Nothing can offend you as much as a drawing."

Carl Schierhorn, an assistant professor of journalism and mass communication, has known O'Connor since he began drawing for the Stater while still in high school.

"Cartoonists, in general, and Pat, in particular, wear it as a badge of honor to tick people off," Schierhom says.

Despite his tendency to activate people's emotions with his work, he is a subdued person.

"It's kind of weird because I'm a really kind of quiet person," O'Connor says. "I don't go around hitting people in the face with my opinions."

But his artwork does that for him - in a more anonymous fashion. O'Connor likes responses to his cartoons, but says he does not receive as many letters as he'd like.

"I like people to write letters," O'Connor says, "because that means people are reading them."

A letter from spring 1999 sparked O'Connor's interest. In response to his cartoon of the three hostages in Kosovo with the caption "3 more reasons to stop the bombing in Kosovo," a Marine on campus sent a letter to the editor.

"I thought it was great because he called me a slack cartoonist who sat around in a cozy office all day," O'Connor says.

He was pleased to see the initial letter spawn letter after letter. O'Connor says it was "cool to see people discuss" an issue sparked by his cartoon.

"Good news isn't good for cartoonists"

"Good cartoonists, the best ones, always push the envelope," says Christine Tatum, O'Connor's editor at TMS-Campus.

Kent State President Carol Cartwright proudly displays her collection of O'Connor editorial cartoons. Despite his frequent portrayal of her with a price tag sprouting from her hair, Cartwright is still a fan.

Does he ever push too far? Kent State President Carol Cartwright doesn't think so.

"Part of the editorial function is the freedom to express," she says. One would think Cartwright a harsher critic because it is often her caricature in O'Connor's cartoons. But she is good- natured about the portrayal.

"I don't mind it at all," she says. "I have some displayed. I have a couple personally signed."

O'Connor developed Cartwright's caricature while drawing for the Stater in high school. Since then, O'Connor has grown accustomed to drawing her and has added a price tag to her head of fluffy, white hair.

"I think it's actually very clever," Cartwright says. "But I don't know if I've taken to that price tag."

Despite his depletion of Cartwright, O'Connor respects her.

"I think she does a hell of a lot for this university that people don't give her credit for," he says. "She does some wonderful, wonderful things. But unfortunately that's not good for editorial cartoons. Good news isn't good for cartoonists.

"So when she gets a raise, when something goes wrong, that's when I draw a cartoon. When people are trying to oust her from the university, that's when you draw cartoons."

It is often a difficult dichotomy to maintain - what to think and what to draw. Cynicism is what this particular art form calls for, though.

"I can't draw happy-go-lucky stuff because that's not what it's about," O'Connor says. "That's not what makes funny cartoons."