Perhaps the giggling or intermittent shrieks tipped you off, if not the thicker newsstand. In the spirit of National Condom Week, each copy of The Daily is accompanied by a latex condom.

Planned Parenthood and CHARTS (a Ryan White Title IV program) at the OU Health Sciences Center supplied the 11,000 condoms on todays edition, and we greatly appreciate their generous donations.

Although some of our readers might interpret this kind of unconventional journalism as an attempt to enliven the loins of students, our intention is to initiate a crucial dialogue about sexual activity across campus.

While abstinence is the only safe sexual practice, theres no doubt people on campus have sex. Consequently, its important that students, faculty and staff do their best to reduce the risks associated with sexual activity. Hands down, the best way to do that is through barrier protection (i.e., condoms).

Having a longtime partner is no sure-fire reason to avoid using condoms. The Dailys sex survey (see Page 1) indicates that almost 53 percent of individuals who admitted to having an STD also admitted to having cheated on their partners (males and females combined).

For those hitting the home run, proper condom care is just as important as condom use.

Using a condom stored in a wallet or car does nothing more than promote false senses of security latex condoms must stay at room temperature (at all times) to maintain the integrity of the rubber.

Always check for tears in the condoms packaging (especially the one affixed to this paper) to make sure it doesnt dry or crack.

Women should realize that French letters (ask the British) are becoming even more important to them.

Data about human papillomavirus show it is the primary cause of cervical cancer in women. Because HPV is asymptomatic in men, transmission of the disease occurs frequently and without knowledge. The Centers for Disease Control estimate that 80 percent of sexually active women will contract HPV by the age of 50.

Gardasil, the HPV vaccine, is available at Goddard and has proven highly effective against two virulent strains of HPV.

Clearly, the sexuality dialogue is broad and dynamic. As a result, its important to start the discussion early.

So ask your classmates what kind of rubber raincoats they got.

Then ask if they can think of a good reason not to use them during sex.

If they know the numbers, they wont be able to.



hello there & you too