Culture
11 Oct 02

Student Guide Introduction

This is the Hotpress Student Guide 2002. We know that the last thing you want is a load of worthy and boring tips on how to be a good boy or girl. So instead, we thought we’d give you a little bit of help in the much more important task of being baaaaad.

Yes there’s stuff here on music, food and fashion. There’s study tips for those who think they might need them. And there’s a two-page hotpress ‘Cunning’ Planner to help you plot your way through the coming months. And for those of a more literary bent, there is a sample of the hotpress interview style, as Olaf Tyararansen sits down for a tete-a-tete with Trainspotting and (now) Porno author Irvine Welsh. But for the most part, we have concentrated on the thing that students are most interested in – sex.

It is after all the least expensive form of pleasure known to humankind. Between consenting adults, it is, in effect, the most fun you can have for free – with your clothes off, or even with them on.

Of course, there are risks involved – the possibility of (a) unwanted pregnancy and (b) sexually transmitted diseases must never be forgotten. So the byword must be SAFE SEX. Remember: you don’t need to engage in penetrative sex to have a very good time indeed. There are so many fine pleasures that can be indulged in, which open the doors to ecstasy without requiring you to cross the final frontier – the point where the risks really kick in.

If you are so doing – make sure that you use, or that your partner uses, a condom. For more on this whole subject, check out Nadine O’Regan’s advice on page 41. Meanwhile, stay sober, have fun. And enjoy the year.