"That's where you find healthy sperm, with healthy young men," said Miller.

But the truth may be that students just don't know enough about the process to have serious feelings either way.

"I think it's kind of mysterious, the methods used to obtain the sample," said student playing volleyball in the MAC yesterday. The student, who wished to remain anonymous, said that people he knew probably didn't take the donations seriously because they had very little information about the whole process.

But some area students are taking the notion quite seriously. Fox said that between 50 and 100 men have already responded. The prospective donors will all undergo a screening process lasting about two months, including medical and social evaluations.

Fox explained that she hears donors with a full range of beliefs. "Some say it's a moral obligation to be a donor, to help other people," while others view the practice as "morally unacceptable," she said.

"It's interesting that they should put `high quality sperm for artificial insemination,"' said Shivashish Chatterjee '95. "They are acknowledging the fact that this area is likely to provide them some."

Chang suggested that Cryobank clients may be drawing on a "better than average" gene pool, given the firm's Cambridge location. But neither he nor Chatterjee was sure how many students would end up as donors.

"It's a matter of choice," Chang said. "It's part of you that you're giving away."

But was this a choice he was willing to make? "No, I don't think I would," Chang said. "I'd like to know exactly where my children are. When you have kids you should have a full part in raising them."