Florida- UF students, brimming with anticipation, finally got their fill last Wednesday when Ron Jeremy came to debate his racy trade at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

The Great Porn Debate, hosted by Accent, welcomed approximately 2,800 to witness porn superstar Jeremy and award-winning author Susan Cole duke out the pros and cons of pornography.

Cole opened up the debate in a somber tone toward pornography that would continue throughout the night.

“Women will experience some form of violence in their lifetime,” said Cole, a Harvard University graduate. “If it hasn’t happened yet it probably will and pornography plays a role in that.”

Cole believes that women who enter pornography were probably abused at home and have no better alternative. Cole added, however, that she “completely support(s) masturbation.”

Jeremy’s position on the topic of masturbation was similar, but he turned Cole’s argument against her.

“When she talks about the masturbation thing, I totally agree with that,” Jeremy said. “But the thing is if she thinks masturbation is O.K., what is wrong with the fantasies people use to masturbate?”

Jeremy added that in the “very saturated porn industry” where “every taste can be satisfied,” he does not defend the renegade companies Cole referred to that promote violence.

He added that “We (the porn industry) just want to be left alone.”

Despite her negative attitude toward pornography, Cole was encouraging.

“For those who want to change the world and see women as total equals, make women’s equality, in the economic sense, very real,” she said.

Jeremy, who has starred in more than 1,800 flicks, agreed.

“Very few women in porn have gone to college.” But he added that women such as Jenna Jameson own multi-million dollar corporations.

UF professor Diana K. Nagy attended the debate.

“I don’t think anyone really won,” she said. “Both of them are coming from the same direction. They both agree that S&M and child pornography are unacceptable.”

Ben Plank, a UF industrial engineering senior echoed Professor Nagy’s view, but leaned more toward Jeremy’s angle.

“I think they both stated good points, but I think Ron Jeremy had a stronger argument. I think Susan Cole overstated a lot of things, but I think it was pretty fair,” he said.

At the debate’s end, Cole reiterated her point that porn “perpetuates violence” against women.

As attendees left the center, one student said, “Let’s go watch some porn.”