Monthly Archives: June 2012
Female student, 60, sues college professor after sexuality course required them to ‘masturbate, document sexual abuse, fetishes and promiscuity to pass’
A woman taking a human sexuality course has filed a lawsuit claiming she was required to masturbate, keep detailed sex journals, reveal her fetishes and if she had been sexually abused – or she would not pass the class.
Karen Royce, 60, who took the class in Western Nevada College filed the suit on June 25 against class instructor Tom Kubistant, department chairman Robert Morin and college president Carol Lucey.
She claimed the class assignments were invasive and constituted sexual harassment.
According to ABC,her lawyer Ken McKenna said: ‘Not only was she shocked by the assignments [and] the personal inquiries, but she herself had been a victim of sexual abuse.
‘One of his requests was that people put in writing if they’d had sexual-abuse experiences. How the authorities for this college could allow this man to conduct his class in this fashion and in effect say that’s OK with us is so outrageous it’s beyond belief.’
Ms Royce took the class because she wanted to pursue a career in social work and believed the course would help her to ‘gain knowledge as to psychological theories of human sexuality,’ which she believed were ‘pertinent and necessary in excelling as a social worker’, according to the suit.
She said she was not made aware that such intimate details about her own sex life would have to be revealed in order to pass the class.
Students did have to sign a waiver however which acknowledged the course’s graphic content.
Ms Royce said Mr Kubistant required students to double the number of times they masturbate each week and keep a journal, which they had to submit to him.
She told KRNV: ‘I raised my hand and said, “I don’t masturbate”. He said I had to do it at least three times in order to get a grade in the class.’
‘Victim’: Karen Royce filed the lawsuit claiming what she was asked to do in the course was tantamount to sexual harassment
The lawsuit also states that Mr Kubistant locked the door once the class started which he claimed was to bar latecomers.
He then asked the students to compile lists about different types of sex and sexual positions, which he read aloud to the class before assigning homework – three 250-word journal entries detailing each student’s sexual thoughts.
‘I raised my hand and said, “I don’t masturbate”. He said I had to do it at least three times in order to get a grade in the class’
He also told them about the final exam paper, which would be called A Sexual Case Study…You! in which they would have to describe aspects of their sex lives, sexual exploration, sexual abuse they experienced, promiscuity, masturbation and fetishes.
Ms Royce is believed to have tried to address her concerns with Mr Kubistant but they were ignored, according to the lawsuit. This was when she turned to school authorities.
Spokeswoman for Western Nevada College Anne Hansen told ABC that after reviewing the syllabus and interviewing students an investigator ‘found no evidence to support the student’s complaint of sexual harassment.
‘In fact, the investigator found that the instructor was considered to be an excellent and caring professor, who, with the exception of that one student, appeared to be universally admired by other students who had taken the course.’
Ms Royce dropped the course after four classes. After the Office of Civil Rights said they would not be pursuing the allegations any further, she decided to file the federal lawsuit.
Mr Kubistant did not reply to requests for comment. He continues to teach at the college.
Man accused of waving machete after kindergarten graduation
A Lake Forest man who allegedly began waving a machete during a kindergarten graduation ceremony in Laguna Beach has been arrested on suspicion of exhibiting a deadly weapon, possession of drugs and driving under the influence, authorities said.
Juan Vigil Portillo, 31, was arrested Saturday following the ceremony at Anneliese School, according to Lt. Jason Kravetz.
Police said they began receiving calls around 2 p.m. that a man had pulled into the parking lot of the school on Laguna Canyon Road as the kindergarten graduation ceremony was ending. Callers reported that he was drinking beer in his Toyota Tundra and acting strangely, Kravetz said.
When one of the teachers approached the man and asked him to leave, he allegedly pulled out a machete and swung it at her, Kravetz said.
The teacher called 911, but the man allegedly pulled away just as officers were arriving.
About 20 minutes later, police from nearby Irvine said they pulled over Portillo. Irvine police said they had received calls of a man driving erratically and swinging a machete at motorists.
Laguna Beach police responded with the teacher to identify the man. Police said they found methamphetamine in his possession during the booking process.
Shanghai subway to scantily clad women: No wonder you’ll be sexually harassed!
For women in Shanghai looking to beat the heat this summer with skimpier clothes, the city’s subway authorities have a message: dress appropriately or be ready to deal with the inevitable sexual harassment.
The controversy online started on June 20 when someone posted on the Shanghai Number 2 Subway Line official Weibo account – Chinese version of Twitter – a picture of a female passenger wearing a revealing dress with the comment: “If that’s what you wear on the subway, then no wonder you will be sexually harassed! There are perverts riding the subway every day and we can’t catch them all. Girls, you’ve got to respect yourself!”
Outrage over the comment was swift and voluminous, quickly becoming the second-most discussed topic on Weibo with nearly 16,000 forwards and 7,000 comments tagged to the original post alone.
No right to judge! The overwhelming number of comments condemned the message and its insinuation that revealing dress could be viewed as an invitation for harassment; branding it blatant gender discrimination.
“It’s a woman’s business to choose what to wear, if laws or your regulations do not forbid her from dressing like this, you [the Metro] have no right to chastise them,” wrote one commentator. “If your logic were right, then all men would harass women in the swimming pool.”
“You have the right to judge whether people are dressing elegantly or not. And you have the right to like it or not,” wrote another critic of the Shanghai Metro. “But you have no right to harass anyone!”
Some people also raised questions about the fact that the Shanghai Metro staff took a photo of the unwitting passenger in the first place, and, adding insult to injury, used the photo in its controversial public service announcement.
Zhejiang Province Police
The Zhejiang province police department’s diagram meant to give women guidance on how men’s lurking eyes can lead to sexual harrassment.
“First I think the Metro has no right to insult others, especially their passengers. It’s a matter of professional decency,” wrote Hao Junbo, a lawyer on Weibo. “If the Metro published this person’s picture without approval beforehand, it violates the passenger’s rights.”
Responding to the criticism, Lan Tian, a press officer for Shanghai Shentong Metro Group, the authority that runs the Shanghai subway, justified the company’s comments to the Chinese state newspaper Global Times.
“As the city’s subway operator, we have the responsibility to warn women of the potential danger of sexual harassment on the subway,” he told the Global Times. “At the same time, we are not justifying any kind of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior.”
Nevertheless, perhaps inspired by the general sentiment expressed online, a couple days later on June 24, several women went to another subway station in Shanghai to protest the Weibo post by the Shanghai Metro.
Donning black veils that covered their faces and holding signs that said things like, “Just because I’m slutty doesn’t mean you can be dirty,” the girls rode the subway in an attempt to call attention to the issue.
Interestingly, this time though, online sentiment was against the protestors, with many arguing that women should in fact dress more conservatively while riding the subway. A recent online poll by Sina Weibo found that 55 percent of over 10,000 people agreed with that sentiment.
Man has something wiggling in his eye from eating raw food, a 5 inch live worm to be exact
A doctor in India has pulled a live five-inch long worm from the eye of an elderly patient who was complaining of persistent pain in an operation reminiscent of a far-fetched alien movie plot.
When Dr V. Seetharaman examined 75-year-old patient P.K. Krishnamurthy at Mumbai’s Fortis Hospital this week, the eye expert was shocked by the highly unusual sight of the writhing parasite and had to operate speedily to remove it before serious damage was caused.
“It was wriggling there under the conjunctiva,” Seetharaman told AFP, referring to the thin membrane lining the eye. “It was the first time in my career of 30 years that I had seen such a case.”
Krishnamurthy had been suffering for more than two weeks with redness and irritation before the doctor pin-pointed the threadlike creature under a microscope on Wednesday.
“He was also confused and very much disturbed,” said Seetharaman.
The specialist removed the five-inch worm by making a small opening in the conjunctiva — a 15-minute operation that was observed by the patient’s horrified wife, Saraswati.
“It just kept moving and jumping; it was scary for a bit,” she told the Mumbai Mirror.
The patient was relieved of his symptoms while the worm, which was alive for another 30 minutes after surgery, was sent to the hospital’s microbiologists to be identified.
Seetharaman had previously only heard of worms of about two to three centimeters being removed. “Probably this is a record,” he said.
He suggested the creature could have entered the patient from a cut in his foot or from eating raw or improperly cooked food, before entering the bloodstream and travelling to the eye.
“If the worm was not removed it could have gone into the layers of the eye and caused visual loss,” he said. “It could have entered the brain and caused major neurological problems.”
Dr S. Narayani, the hospital’s medical director, agreed it was an extremely rare case. “We have a very active ophthalmology department and we have not come across a case like this in the last 10 years,” she said.
Tulsa’s Most Expressive Arrestee Adds To His Collection Of Marvelous Mug Shots
Meet Robert Mrah.
The 42-year-old was arrested last night for public intoxication, a fairly frequent occurrence for the Oklahoma man. After spending the evening in the Tulsa jail, Mrah was released from custody this afternoon.
Mrah’s latest collar resulted in a new mug shot (see upper left) for his growing body of police portraiture. The other three expressive images were snapped within the last nine months.
Who thought of this dumb idea? Boy, 12, badly injured in ‘salt-and-ice’ challenge
A 12-year-old boy, who participated in a “salt-and-ice challenge” last weekend that he, his twin brother and friend learned about on Facebook and in watching You Tube videos sustained serious second-degree cold injuries on his back that required treatment at the West Penn Burn Center.
The unidentified youth lay on his stomach during a sleep-over at his house as his brother and a friend put salt in the form of a cross on his back, then put ice cubes atop the salt before applying pressure. The process causes almost immediate pain. The ill-advised challenge is to see how long you can withstand the pain.
Ariel Aballay, director of the Burn Center, held a news conference today to alert parents of the serious injuries the challenge can cause, noting that videos of people taking the challenge are well represented on You Tube. In just moments, the challenge can cause first-degree cold injuries of redness that can take a few days to heal. The Pittsburgh youth’s injuries caused severe blistering and require drug treatment with a lotion that must be applied four times a day for months. He is lot allowed to swim or go outside without a shirt and even must have his back washed if he sweats for the rest of the summer.
“The injury is similar to frostbite that can result in mild cold injury but it also could increase in severity based on the time the ice is applied,” Dr. Aballay said. “The longer, the more serious the injury. This patient went for a few minutes, but there have been cases that went for six or seven minutes that resulted in third-degree injuries.
“Hopefully his wound will heal” without scarring, he said.
His mother said her son withstood the challenge for 20 minutes, eventually losing any sense of pain or feeling. She asked that her name not be used, but stressed the need to let the public know the potential consequences of the challenge that many children and young adults are attempting.
Her twin sons and a friend undertook the challenge about 3 a.m. June 22. By the next afternoon, his skin had blistered, prompting his mother to take him to the emergency room, where doctors initially thought the injury would lead to scarring.
She returned him to the burn center on Monday for additional treatment.
“I want parents to go to Facebook and YouTube to be aware of it and all the other Internet challenges,” she said. “Kids are so impressionable and you can tell them no until you are blue in the face.”
Do you ever wonder … What Do You Eat With a $168,000 Bottle of Wine?
The most expensive wine ever sold directly from a winery will go on sale this week, from the venerable Australian vintner Penfolds. The limited edition release of the 2004 Penfolds Block 42 Cabernet Sauvignon is priced at $168,000 a bottle.
The wine’s distinctive price comes from its rarity. The wine was made from the oldest producing cabernet sauvignon vines in the world, transplanted from France to Australia in the 1830s.
Later planted at the Kalimna Vineyard in the Barossa Valley, northeast of Adelaide, the vines today provide unequaled juice, but little of it. Only 12 bottles of the 2004 vintage will be sold.
To add further cachet, Penfolds commissioned an ampoule of scientific grade glass to hold it from three Australian artists: Nick Mount, who designed and hand-blew the glass; silversmith Hendrik Forster, who prepared the precious metal detailing; and furniture craftsman Andrew Bartlett, made the bespoke Jarrah cabinet.
“Wine and art are intrinsically linked,” says Matt Lane, Penfolds’s U.S. representative, making the ideal buyer, says Lane, is “a big time, serious wine collector, of course, but also the art aficionado who wants to collect a unique sculpture.”
The other attribute of the ideal buyer — profoundly deep pockets — is indicated by the 12 bottles’ allocation for sale: three will go to Russia, London and Dubai, three to the rest of Asia, two to North America, and two to Australia. (One bottle will be donated to a charitable organization for auction, while the remaining one will be kept at Penfolds as a showpiece.)
“I can see a billionaire CEO buying the Penfolds ampoule,” says Lane. “Larry Ellison might want to drink it in celebration of buying 98 percent of Hawaii’s pineapple island, Lanai.”
Toddler drinks brake fluid for the second time this year. Claims not to be an addict; says he can stop any time
THE parents of a 17-month-old baby boy who was admitted to hospital after allegedly consuming brake fluid for the second time this year will make a statement to Uitenhage police today.
The boy was in a stable condition at Culyer hospital intensive care unit in Uitenhage last night.
He was admitted to the hospital at the weekend. Doctors subsequently found traces of brake fluid in his body and asked for police intervention.
A case of attempted murder and child abuse was opened.
Police spokeswoman, Priscilla Naidu, said last night that no-one had been arrested.
“We are busy with investigations and still taking statement from both parents.
“The child is still at the hospital’s ICU unit and will be placed in the care of social workers when he has fully recovered,” she said.
According to inspector Naidu, it was the second time the child was admitted to the hospital for brake fluid consumption.
She said at this stage they were not sure if someone gave him the fluid to drink or an accident.
General manager at the hospital, Walter Kurten, said the child was in a stable condition but that he could not reveal more information as it would be a breach of patient confidentiality.
McDonald’s worker reveals secrets of fast-food giant (and warns against ordering grilled chicken)
A McDonald’s worker has lifted the lid on what it is really like to work at one of the restaurants in the chain in a candid and hilarious Internet conversation.
The unnamed man claims that some staff at his branch deal marijuana from the parking lot and that if somebody comes in high they will ‘practically give you free food’.
Burgers and chicken are left to stew for ‘hours on end’ whilst staff moan about having to make Happy Meals as they are time-consuming.
Exposed: A McDonald’s worker has revealed what it is really like to work at the fast-food chain; he claims that some staff deal marijuana from the parking lot and that if somebody comes in high they will ¿practically give you free food¿
Staff jokingly call their company ‘The Party’ after the totalitarian political group in George Orwell’s 1984.
And to get through the day they keep telling themselves: ‘Never, ever underestimate the ignorance of the customer.’
Contrary to popular myth, the worker also claims he has never seen anybody put anything in the food – and says the tables are wiped down every 10 minutes.
The man’s conversation appeared on Reddit.com and quickly went viral as it confirmed some people’s worst fears about the company.
He has not revealed his identity or where he lives but said he is leaving his restaurant – one of the top 500 in the country – in two months to go to college.
Revelations: Staff at one McDonald’s branch get through the day by telling themselves: ¿Never, ever underestimate the ignorance of the customer¿ (file photo)
The worker said that the worst thing he ever saw was his colleague selling marijuana to another employee just outside the restaurant.
But he added: ‘If you came to our Mcdonald’s high, we would practically give you free food.
‘Everyone makes mistakes, so yeah it might of been embarrassing to screw up your change, but there is no way in hell anyone would turn you in.
‘Our Mcdonalds parking lot is a notorious spot for Ents (people who smoke marijuana) to hang out, because if you just sit in your car and blaze, it simply (at night, at least) looks like kids just eating food they just got in the drive thru. The perfect alibi.’
The worker claims that ‘nobody’ at his restaurant messes with the food as it would be ‘the biggest d*** move ever’.
Yet he tells people to avoid the double quarter pounder with cheese as it is the unhealthiest thing on the menu with the highest amount of sodium, carbohydrate and calories.
Misery Meal: The worker writes that Happy Meals are the biggest bore because you have to work out the toy, the drink and what dessert goes with it
The worker claims that few people order the grilled chicken items so it can remain there for two hours under a steamer set on ‘high’.
And if a customer orders a Happy Meal staff roll their eyes as they are ‘the biggest pain in the ass’ because you have to work out the toy, the drink and what dessert goes with it.
Apart from Happy Meals, oatmeal and iced coffee take the most time to make.
Burgers too can be left out for far longer than people would like.
The worker writes: ‘I cannot stress enough that things differ from location to location (Based on rankings, staff, overall “prestige” if you will of the McDonalds), but for ours, 10 minutes tops (if already made).
‘Otherwise, the patties can sit in the steamers for up to an hour before they lose structural integrity (meaning, 1 out of 100 people might be able to tell it doesn’t taste fresh).
‘Our McDonalds is one of the top 500 in America though, so we go hard in the paint, so to speak. If you go to some “s*****” one, maybe out in the boonies of nowhere, they could have their burgers sitting out for hours on end.’
Insider secrets: Contrary to popular myth, the worker also claims he has never seen anybody put anything in the food
Over the course of the conversation on Reddit, the worker claimed that the customers caused most of the problems, such as the man who once tried to pay with board game money.
Another came in wearing white y-fronts and nothing else whilst one man ‘nearly made it to second base’ with his girlfriend whilst waiting in line.
Then there are the abusive customers, one of whom threw and ice cream at him or screamed ‘I oughta mothaf***** kill you’.
People who do not understand English also pose problems as they hold up the drive thru line, although the man who drove up in the exact replica of the Mystery Machine drew much mirth.
Then there were the two families who started rowing in the parking lot, causing half the restaurant to go outside and watch.
When the manager threatened to call the police they went to a neighbouring parking lot and carried on fighting.
Recounting one episode, he writes: ‘One time I was working front counter when a mom and her kid were in the lobby filling up their drinks at the drink station.
‘The kid was whining about something, and the mom wasn’t really paying attention to the kid. Kid walks over to the sweet tea container, and holds down the auto-lock handle. Me, just watching this ensue, does not move, does not even say: ‘Hey! stop!’
‘I just watch the kid go unnoticed for about 20 seconds, draining 2 gallons of sweet tea onto himself, and onto the floor. The lady turns around, flips s*** and I am still standing there with the same expression on my face of ‘well, that kids a dumbass’.
‘2 gallons of sweet tea on the floor, I walk over there and asked her if she wanted any napkins.’
On another occasion a customer who tried to get behind the counter was stopped by a 6ft 4in maintenance man called ‘Big Tim’ who picked him up and took him outside.
Then there are the games they play to pass the time, such as ‘guess the race’.
He writes: ‘Since we cannot see the people (only hear them on the drive thru headset, until they pull around), all employees play “guess the race” games most days.
‘I’ve personally gotten pretty good, certain races order certain food items together, and combined with the makes of their car, we are able to guess accurately before we see them face to face.
‘(Pontiac, dodge, or chevy are almost all driven by blacks)’
In his final thoughts, the worker writes: ‘Never, ever underestimate the ignorance of the customer.
‘I know that sounds bad, but the key to enjoying the job, is to keep calm, and be chill about everything.
‘The last thing you want to do is instigate an argument by yelling or something, because that evens out the playing field.
‘If you act chill, and act like you ain’t even mad about anything, everyone will respect you, and make your life (for the most part) easier.
His appraisal of working at McDonald’s is also surprisingly upbeat.
He writes: ‘If anything is to be taken from this though, I’ve said honestly this has been the best job experience ever.
‘The workers and employees I’ve worked with, have been the most diverse and colourful personalities I have ever met.
‘It’s been great job experience prepping myself for the real world in/after college work life. Everything has been amazing, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. If they fire me for the truth, so be it.’
MailOnline has reached out to McDonald’s for comment.
Sick infant dies, lies in bed for almost a day before mother can tear herself away from the Internet
A woman whose baby boy lay dead for nearly a day while she chatted on internet forums was arrested in Japan, media and police said Friday.
Yumiko Takahashi knew that 19-month-old Neo was running a high fever when she checked on him on the afternoon of June 24 last year but left him lying on his bed untended, police said.
An autopsy revealed Neo died around 2:00pm local time June 26, police said. His mother found his lifeless body the following morning, newspaper reports said.
Takahashi, 29, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of child neglect and causing death, a spokesman for police in Otsu, western Japan said Friday, adding that the lag had been due to officers “carrying out the necessary investigations.”
Takahashi, whose first child died a few days after birth and who lost another son in a fall from an apartment balcony, told police she had been using chatrooms, media reported.
“I have sought solace in chatting on the internet to get connected to other people for three years since I got depressed for losing my son in an accident,” broadcaster NHK quoted her as saying. “Child raising is too much hassle.”
