House Packed For Lecture By Therapist

When hundreds of students clamor to get into Science Center B on a Monday night, there can only be one explanation.

And according to Javier Romero '95, the reason was simply, "sex."

Sex, or more precisely, talk about sex, attracted close to 1000 students and Cantabridgians to hear a lecture by world-famous sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer.

But like so many sperm, only some of the students made it to their final destination, while hundreds were simply turned away.

The crowd was large and angry--students shouted, shoved and argued with the Harvard Uni- versity Police (HUPD) officers who blocked the lecture hall's doors.

"There have been crowds, but none have been this rude," said one security guard who asked to remain anonymous.

And some students said they had never witnessed such a huge turnout for a guest speaker.

"I've never seen anything like this," said Patrick E. Benzie '94, who stood by the lecture hall doors long after most of the crowd had dispersed.

The would-be audience members who waited with Benzie were determined and optimistic, despite a guard's repeated discouragements. Some offered their peers advice on slipping into restricted events.

"You need to do a sinewy kind of a snake thing that Dr. Ruth would love to see you do," one woman said.

Other students broke away from the pack to explore more creative entrance possibilities.

"A lot of people snuck in through Science Center A," said Robert M. Broggi '94. "We tried a superstealth mission, but we got caught."

"We're interested in hearing what Dr. Ruth wants to say," Loyalka said. "I want to see how big she is."

But Loyalka, Chan and several other students who caught onto their idea were shooed away by HUPD Officer Patrick R. Griffin.

"They're not hostile," Griffin said of the crowd. "They're just pushing and shoving."

Students argued with Griffin for several minutes, and were quick to voice their complaints.

"For classes they'll put people in the aisles--they don't care about fire hazards," said Gregory M. Weinhoff '93. "But the one time they have something that would help students...they won't allow it."

Demetri Karausos '95 decried the event as a "poor planning effort of the part of the Peer Contraceptive Counselors. They really didn't expect that this thing would fill up. That's really sad."

Several students said the lecture should have been held in Sanders Theater.

The Science Center staff set up a remote television about 20 minutes after the lecture began. After workers cleared up a few technical glitches, students settled on the floor in front of the Greenhouse Cafe to watch Dr. Ruth secondhand.

Some students theorized about why Dr. Ruth was such a popular attraction.

"Just because they're giving out free condoms," suggested Kusumarn Thammongkol '95. "Just for the heck of it. I wouldn't be using them anyway."

Others tended to agree with Romero's simple explanation.

"I think everyone's sexually crazed here," Benzie said. "Seriously.