Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
The Daily Gazette
Swarthmore College
Wednesday, March 29, 2000
Volume 4, Number 102
NEWS IN BRIEF
1) Dr. Ruth talks to Swatties about sex
2) World news roundup
3) Campus events
SPORTS IN BRIEF
1) Women’s lacrosse falls in conference opener
2) IM scores
3) World sports roundup
4) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests
WEATHER FORECAST
Today: Windy. High in the mid 50s.
To our readers in the administration:
Tonight: Cloudy. Low around 40.
No matter what the weather outside says, it’s spring.
Tomorrow: Partly cloudy. High in the upper 50s.
Can we have some adirondack chairs on Parrish beach? Pretty please?
NEWS REPORT
1) Dr. Ruth talks to Swatties about sex
When sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer spoke to a near-packed house in
LPAC last night, the audience was treated to some words that may never
before have been said in LPAC.
“I don’t know if this fancy new theater ever heard the kind of language
we’re going to use tonight,” Dr. Ruth said early in her talk. “Orgasm,
erection, lubrications. Now I’ve said it.” Such openness characterizes
Dr. Ruth’s idea of spreading “sexual literacy”–debunking myths,
correcting inaccuracies, and encouraging informed and consensual
sexuality, which she did through an effective mix of information and
humor.
Dr. Ruth’s talk addressed a variety of issues, including
masturbation (if someone told her that he or she masturbated for three
hours a day, she said she would “want to know how you have time to
masturbate three hours a day. This is what I mean by sexual literacy.”),
unintended pregnancies (“How many [sperm] are needed to get her
pregnant? One fast one.”), abortion (“Abortion must remain legal, not as a
contraceptive, but when there is a contraceptive failure.”), Viagra (“A
man takes a pill, he now has an erection from the floor to the
ceiling [and he tells his partner] … just hop into bed.”), and the sex
position that is named after her.
Again and again, Dr. Ruth, who had to stand on a box to see over the
podium, encouraged openness between partners. “Even the
best lover, even one trained by me, can’t bring his partner to sexual
satisfaction if she doesn’t permit herself,” she said. “It is up to a
woman to teach her partner what she needs. Instead of taking matters
into your own hand, take his hand.” Also, consensuality and mutual
satisfaction are key, she said. “Anything that two consenting
adults do is perfectly all right. … All that matters is that both are
satisfied and both know what is needed to be satisfied.”
Dr. Ruth offered both practical and amusing advice, telling women that
they should do Kegel exercises at every red light and wink to the person
in the next car, while emphasizing that men need to do monthly testicular
exams. She did, however, request that men not perform those exams during
her talk. She also expressed her strong belief in the power of fantasies,
saying that “sex is between the ears,” not “between the waist and the
knees.”
Despite all the talk about sex, including many questions from the
audience, the topic that received the most audience response was
Dr. Ruth’s height. When directly asked how tall she was, she replied that
she was four foot seven, but that “I seem to be shrinking. I worry about
it, because soon you won’t be able to see or hear me.”
Dr. Ruth is the author of, among other books, Sex For Dummies. Her talk
was sponsored by Ruach and the Sexual Health Counselors.
– m.h.
*****
2) World news roundup
At least four people were killed yesterday when back-to-back tornadoes
raced through downtown Fort Worth around dusk, smashing windows in
high-rise office buildings and flattening smaller structures. …A Fulton
County, Georgia, grand jury in Atlanta on Tuesday returned a murder
indictment against Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, the former Black Panther once
known as H. Rap Brown, who is accused of shooting to death a black
sheriff’s deputy and wounding another. Al-Amin has been held without
bond in the Montgomery, Alabama, jail since he was arrested in the area
last week after a manhunt that included federal marshals, the FBI and
state and local law enforcement agencies. …The largest oil-producing
nations agreed to raise their output by about 1.7 million barrels per day
Tuesday, although Iran and Iraq refused to go along with the
agreement. The split in the 11-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries appeared to be the result of concerns about the timing of the
increase and objections to U.S. pressure to raise production quotas. …A
study to be released today by the U.S. Air Force provides more data
supporting a possible link between exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange
and adult onset diabetes, according to Pentagon sources. The findings are
the latest from an ongoing study of Air Force veterans that began in 1982,
comparing the health of 1,000 Air Force personnel who worked with Agent
Orange with a control group of about 1,300 veterans who were not exposed.
*****
2) Campus events
Admissions Postcard Campaign
Parrish Parlor West, 10:00 a.m.
“Upwardly Mobile: Mysticism and Political Power in a Hindustani Muslim’s
Experience of Heavenly Ascension” by Scott Kugle, Duke University
Trotter 303, 7:30 p.m.
Conscious Consumers Meeting
Parrish Parlors, 8:00 p.m.
Swarthmore College Democrats Meeting
Parrish Parlor East, 8:30 p.m.
Dialogues
Danawell Trailer, 9:00 p.m.
Dialogues
Mary Lyons Lounge, 9:00 p.m.
Dialogues
Wharton E/F Lounge, 9:00 p.m.
Film Society Screening, 10:00 p.m.
*****
SPORTS UPDATE
1) Women’s lacrosse falls in conference opener
The women’s lacrosse team lost 10-5 to Washington College in its
Centennial Conference opener. The women trailed by 4-3 at the half, but
were unable to make up the deficit. Mavis Biss scored two goals, Liz
Brainard had one goal and one assist, and Kristen English and Katie Tarr
each had one goal. Goalkeeper Jane Kendall had 17 saves. The team is now
4-10-2 on the season.
*****
2) IM scores
COMPETITIVE BASKETBALL
Corso 44
Father 55
Lewis 68
Young Bucks 47
Standings:
Father 3-0
Lewis 1-1
Corso 1-2
Young Bucks 0-2
NON COMPETITIVE BASKETBALL
The Crunge 54
PCBGM 29
Old Spice 45
Bonobos 47
Donuts 31
Mothership 28
Current standings:
EAST
The Crunge 4-0
Old Spice 2-2
Faculty/Staff 2-2
PC and a BGM 0-4
WEST
Donuts 4-0
Bonobos 3-1
Mothership 1-3
Binky the Cone 0-3
*****
3) World sports roundup
With only four games left and the playoffs out of reach for the third
straight season, the New York Rangers cleaned house Tuesday, firing
general manager Neil Smith and coach John Muckler. …For Venus Williams,
19 could be retirement age. Williams, who has yet to play a match this
year, might give up tennis to focus on her education and investments, her
father said Tuesday. …Wake Forest won bragging rights in its rivalry
with North Carolina State and earned a spot in the final of the
National Invitation Tournament. Wake will play Notre Dame in Thursday
night’s final.
*****
3) Today’s and tomorrow’s contests
TODAY
Baseball vs. Williams, 3:15 p.m.
Softball at Beaver College, 4:00 p.m.
Women’s tennis at Johns Hopkins, 3:30 p.m.
Men’s lacrosse vs. Stevens Institute of Technology, 4:00 p.m.
JV women’s lacrosse vs. Bryn Athen, 4:00 p.m.
TOMORROW
No contests scheduled for tomorrow.
*****
Quote of the day:
“There is no such thing as a life of passion any more than a continuous
earthquake, or an eternal fever. Besides, who would ever shave themselves
in such a state?” — Lord Byron
*****
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Editorial Board
Jeff Heckelman
Melanie Hirsch
Claire Phillips-Thoryn
Staff Writers
Karla Gilbride
Jeremy Schifeling
Kai Xu
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This concludes today’s report.