Porn Star Reaches Out To Get Berkley Students To Touch Themselves
UC Berkeley – The Daily Californian
Nov. 22 – Nina Hartley, porn starlet by profession and feminist by declaration, told a crowd of 250 Cal students that “it is very important that you all masturbate a lot.”

Hartley directed the talk at women, who she said, “have been trained to ignore all sensation below the belly button. Women need to realize that if it makes you wet, it makes you wet.”

Hartley was invited to the campus by the Berkeley chapter of Take Bake the Night, a rape and domestic violence prevention group. Hartley said sexual self-awareness makes women more powerful in their own lives.

“In our culture, we are brainwashed to think ‘bad penis, bad penis,’ ” she said. “We say to men, ‘I feel uncomfortable, what are you going to do about it?’ I realized that I had to take responsibility for my own orgasm and get rid of my Cinderella complex that some guy somewhere was going to make me feel alive.”

Hartley is a Berkeley native and a registered nurse. At 21, she became a stripper and quickly fell in love with the sex industry, and she spent the next 12 years making over 550 pornographic movies.

“I am always happy to hear about people who grew up on my movies,” she said. “At least they are watching a woman who is having fun.

“I’m a star, and I’m a known slut, and I have realized that what men want most is a willing, happy woman – most men are just waiting for us to say yes,” she said.

One symptom of the problem with sex in America, Hartley said, is the difference between romance novels and porn. Women read stories of men sexually fulfilling women and men watch movies where women just want sex.

Men and women ought to enjoy pornography together, she said, although that might require that men change their viewing habits.

“For guys out there who like to watch ‘Anal Gang Bang, Part III’ with their friends,” she said, “that might not be what you want to watch with your girlfriend.”

“In the real world, men have to jump through a lot of hoops to get sex,” she said. “Women’s bodies are saying yes, but their words are saying no. In porn movies, women want it just as bad as men do. It is no ‘how much money do you make, how big are your shoulders?’ but rather ‘I’m horny, you’re cute, we have time.’

“Pussy does rule,” she said. “Know it, own it, but use your power for good, not evil.”

Drunk sex, which is often performed sans condom, is not a good idea, Hartley said.

“I don’t fuck drunk people; there is no sport in it,” she said. “My own code of ethics is to treat a person respectfully.”

She also told students to learn that sex and love do not have to go together.

“It doesn’t have to be love to be healthy, respectful sex,” she said. “This is the time to experiment and try new things. If you are really horny and need a study break, then go ahead.”

Hartley praised the power and performance of her Hitachi vibrator and urged men to welcome sexual appliances into their beds as allies.

“Guys, don’t be intimidated by sex toys,” she said. “They are your buddy in a foxhole. They keep going when you can’t.”

Hartley also answered audience questions ranging from sex with the disabled to how to get into the sex industry. She also called for the legalization of prostitution.

“If all women who wanted to get rid of prostitution would just enjoy fellatio,” she said, “that would get rid of 50 percent of prostitutes’ business right there.”

UCLA Student Government Can’t Handle Drugs Like Alka Seltzer
UC Los Angeles – Daily Bruin
Nov. 15 – Associated Students pulled several over-the-counter cold and flu medications from the shelves of UCLA campus stores after the Food and Drug Administration linked an ingredient in the products with strokes.

A study by the Yale University School of Medicine found that phenylpropanolamine may increase the risk of hemorrhagic strokes in women ages 17-45, and possibly for men as well.

PPA is common in cold, cough and weight loss medications. Products such as Alka Seltzer Plus, Contac, Dexatrim, Dimetapp, Tavist-D and Triaminic were removed from campus stores. These products come in different forms, some of which do not contain PPA. Contac, for example, is available in six different versions, only one of which contains PPA. The FDA suggests consumers check the ingredient labels on products, but has not banned PPA.

“We just reacted like we thought we should,” manager and buyer for the UCLA stores Mike Espy said. “This decision to remove the products was mandatory; we did it voluntarily.”

The stroke risk is low, but the FDA is advising consumers not to take medications containing PPA.
“Although the risk is very low, we still have serious concerns about consumers using the product,” FDA Spokesperson Laura Aley said. “The effects of taking the drug are irreversible and we are unable to predict who is at risk.”

Yale’s study directly linked four strokes to PPA consumption.

Many drug store chains, such as Rite Aid and Wal-Mart, have removed PPA products from their shelves.

Come to Davis, Get an Education, Participate in a Tractor Pull
UC Davis – California Aggie
Nov. 17 – Some UCD students are being asked to pull more than their own weight – they are being asked to build a weight-pulling machine to compete in the National Collegiate Tractor Pull this May.

Students up for the challenge would join a team to design and build a tractor one-fourth the size of industrial models. The tractor will compete against those from other schools as it pulls a sled of increasing weight around a 200-foot track.

The project, now in its fourth year of UCD participation, is run by the Biological Systems Engineering program. A member of last year’s team, Ryan Hammond, said students of all majors are welcome.

“It’s aimed at a lot of different majors – not just engineering,” he said. “[The tractor] was complicated to put together, but simple to manufacture … anyone can work on this.”

Another member of last year’s team, Ramesh Perea, said it is all about team spirit.

“All the hard work we did … we weren’t just building a tractor,” he said. “You’re out there with all these other schools, having fun.”

– Compiled by Brendan Buhler