Comments

UOSA Congress is currently working on the issue. The process of being allowed to proceed with such a task takes time, and sadly a certain student organization tied up Congress' time last semester.

There did used to be condom machines in the dorms, but they were removed because of vandalism. I think that protection should be available, but I'm sure that OU wants to make sure they will be protected (ha!) this time around.

What about the statment made when the need for a condom is introduced between two people?

"I'm clean and safe but I don't know or trust you therefore I need this to be safe" ???... not very polite let alone romantic.

But if there is a real demand for condoms, them putting pay-machines in dorms will not only be a good service but will provide proof of such demand.

The annual number of condom sales in university housing should be made public.

I love that a "hideous side effect of sex" is children. You can probably get tons of cheap condoms from Goddard Health Center for practically nothing. Also, you can go to the store and buy them. Or you can suck it up and get the free ones that are being handed out. Don't worry, no one actually thinks you'll be getting any anyway.

To summarize Mustafa: "Condoms aren't very romantic." HAHA, I'm glad to see people intelligently weighing in on the subject.

Even if condoms do reduce the number of "unwanted" pregnancies or the transfer of STD's like AIDS, it's beside the point for me. Condoms can and do fail. The best sure-fire way to reduce unwanted pregnancies is to abstain from sex until you know you are ready to have children. Having sex makes babies, this is simple biology - it's kinda inherent to the design of our reproductive systems. The best sure-fire way to prevent STD's is to abstain if you're not sure. This is not rocket science. But therein is the problem. People don't like that word - abstinence.

Our society does not seem to care very much about that whole concept of personal responsibility and accepting the consequences for one's actions, for if we did, none of this would be an issue. We live in a culture where "freedom" is increasingly valued only for its utility - the freedom to do "whatever I want, whenever I want, without any regard to the consequences." It's all about doing "what you feel". This is not true freedom at all. Rather, it is a form of slavery, where our passions and emotions are our masters, dictating to us what we do, rather than reason and virtue. True freedom is the ability to act responsibly. It means having the choice to do the right thing, even when it’s not convenient, popular, or easy. It means being able to make the decision to wait to have sex until you and your partner both know you are ready for the consequences (i.e. pregnancy) that can result from sexual activity.

This is not some sermon preaching that "sex and pleasure are bad!". To the contrary - within the appropriate context (i.e. marriage), and when the couple enter into it as a selfless sacrifice for each other and for the potential human life that may be conceived from the act, sex is meant to be deeply satisfying and fulfilling. But we will continue to be as unthinking animals, rather than the dignified, free-thinking, higher-reasoning human creatures we were created to be, as long as we continue to treat sex as nothing more than a utility for physical pleasure. Ultimately, it is not a failure to use condoms or other birth control, but rather our society’s warped understanding of sex and the perverted mindset we hold that pregnancies are bad and that babies are an "inconvenience" that has fueled the high rates of unwanted pregnancies and abortions. It is our self-centeredness as a culture and our unwillingness to accept personal responsibility for our actions that has created a “need” for birth control and contraception.

No doubt, you will respond telling me I’m being unreasonable, unrealistic, judgmental, the whole nine yards. And it only proves my point to how unwilling we are as a society to reevaluate our values and our utilitarian concept of "freedom", and to strive for personal responsibility. Food for thought. I’ve made my case. Let the flaming begin.

I am 12 and what is this?

Mesocyclone
Seriously? First and foremost, your greatest contradiction is when you cite freedom. Your right this country gives us many important freedoms. One of those is the freedom of choice. Thus, it is time the state of oklahoma stops forcing conservative values on people and allows people to make their own decisions. I am very happy for you that you think it is important to wait until marriage to have sex. But what gives you the right to tell me that because you feel this way, I should also have to wait? Rather, if this were a "fair" world, which believe me I know it far from, then the school should provide the condoms for us to use. Then you and I can make our OWN personal choices as to whether we want to A) wait until marriage B)have sex and use a condom or C) dont use a condom hope it doesn't result in a pregnancy and get an abortion if it does. And yes condoms do fail, but only when used improperly. When condoms are used properly, they protect individuals 99% of the time. So get off your soap box and stop telling people what you think is appropriate, because we don't care. Make your own personal choices but keep them to yourself.

OU should give condoms out for free. They shouldn't even charge us for them. Schools across the country do this, and I think it is an excellent service provided to students.

"Having sex makes babies."

I've been having sex since I was 17 and I've never been pregnant. Your statement is false.

The safe sex program was started in response to AIDS hysteria. As that reason fizzled out the need for safe sex was expanded to include all STGs and unwanted pregnancies. According to this article and most of the comments, the main focus seems to be on stopping pregnancies. Forget that! Any girl who is sexually active and not on the pill is a dangerous fool.

If the threat of STDs means anything to you then answer the question "Would you have sex with a known patient of AIDS, or some other STD, and yet trust a condom to protect you?

If so you’ll soon be finding your dates at the bus station.

I am puzzled by Tyler Branson reaction to the R-word. Are sleazy whores not still the only ones that do not require even the pretense of romance? Or is his meaning that the majority of girls attending the University of Oklahoma are no better than sleazy whores? Or is everyone so paranoid of unplanned pregnancy that girls on the pill will have sex only with guys who wear condoms?

Paige- the fact that you’ve been having sex since 17 means little if you don’t tell us how old you are now? What, 19 maybe? How is that odometer?

Are you STUPID!!!! Did you seriously just compare hiv, warts hpv, etc. to children? Did you seriously just call children a "hideous side effect?" You people are evil! Why can't you see that. Open your eyes! Imagine a world with prudence, self control, and the occasional self denial. Yes I know, its difficult to get over the evil of selfishness. Grow up.

Why does it seem impossible to hold people to a higher standard when it comes to sex? We hold them to high standards in education. Its not that hard to live a life without sex until marriage, and then live a life of responsible sex ordered to its natural end, having children. Family is the building blocks of society and an institution of learning should encourage families, not wanton sex. Western civilization for over a thousand years has operated just fine without having to induge in every sexual desire that crosses ones mind.

Let us pray for a culture of life that will destroy this culture of death before the culture of death ultimatly kills itself and everyone with it!

People. We have the technology to almost guarantee a 100% chance of not getting pregnant (try combining spermicidal lube, the pill, and a condom). The only leg that the abstinence-only people really have to stand on is religion, and that's just not strong enough.

YES WE NEED ACCESS TO CONDOMS. THIS IS A COLLEGE CAMPUS. WITH SEXUALLY HYPERACTIVE YOUNG ADULTS. It's naivety to think otherwise.

But if a couple wants to have some naked sweaty funtimes and realize they don't have a condom, they can always fall back on the old proverb: Your mouth can't get pregnant.

Obviously, some commentators are deeply disturbed (aka mustafa and Mesocyclone). One of them is referring to sexually active women as infected whores, and the other one see sexuality as a bestial decadence melted with pseudo-philosophical representations of the dignity of man. Sadly, it leads them to condemn anything that involves non-religious intimate relationships (e.g., condoms and birth control), even if it means to increase the spread of STDs and unwanted pregnancies... Seriously, what kind of backward place this country is?

I am disappointed in the commentary on this article. As university students, let's try to read between the lines of the article above, and make intelligent responses that refrain from knee-jerk reactions to vocabulary and ad hominem attacks that try to place us in camps of two types:
1. Religious fanatics, sexuality deniers, freedom haters, persecutors of women, delusional conservatives who don't see the practical benefits to society of birth control and want to impose their values on everyone else
2. Loose moraled, std infested, irresponsible baby killers who don't take sex seriously enough and refuse to take responsibility for their actions

Lets assume, for a moment, that the people posting on this forum genuinely care about humanity, about their loved ones, about relationships, about happiness, but we disagree about the finer points: how do healthy sexual relationships look? What tactics can we use to promote sexual health in our society, for a variety of people that have differing beliefs about what a healthy sexual life is?

I think we can have a better conversation than this. So stop with the ad hominem attacks and aggressive language and THINK.

"So stop with the ad hominem attacks and aggressive language and THINK."

Seriously, just how long have you been on the Internet?

Probably longer than you. This isn't a chat room or 4chan. It's the web page of a university newspaper. At least, nominally. The internet is a tool, used for a multitude of purposes, and expecting college students to use their brains in this venue doesn't make me naive, I'm just trying to raise the bar and ask for some quality, for a valuable conversation to be had.

Though you are certainly letting me down by implying that I am somehow misinformed rather than actually giving your opinions on the questions I raised. Perhaps you are simply being defensive, or are you too lazy to rise to the challenge? Go punk on some greek students then, plenty of fun to be had for people who only want conflict...

"This isn't a chat room or 4chan. It's the web page of a university newspaper."

I still think that you are new here. Otherwise you would not be so kind with 4chan /b/tards like Mesocyclone or mustafa.

"Perhaps you are simply being defensive, or are you too lazy to rise to the challenge?"

There are better places to talk about that than the OU Daily. I am just here to torch the ultra conservative religious freaks.

Until I read this article, I wasn't thinking about condoms. And I bet the majority of my friends weren't either. I know using "everyone" instead of "just about everyone" makes for a slightly stronger lead, but it's just not true that everyone is thinking about condoms. As shocking as it might seem, not all college students think about condoms and sex constantly! (gasp!)

Also, I certainly hope that the mention of children as a hideous side effect of sex was at least somewhat a joke--although it wasn't a very funny one. At all.

It comes down to knowing the history of a given political issue.

The modern safe sex campaign was initiated as a response to a propaganda stunt aimed at deflecting the highly negative impact of the advent of AIDS on it's primary source, the homosexual population. In order to shield the homosexuals, the liberal blab-machine began in earnest, to spread the lie that "AIDS does not discriminate heterosexuals are just as likely to get it as homosexuals.” It was wildly predicted that, within a decade, deaths from AIDS would be in the millions.

This stunt backfired on liberal’s quest to make society more sexually uninhibited. Attendance at singles bars dropped off dramatically.
People suddenly became paranoid and began cutting cutting back drastically on casual sexual activity. This was extremely bad news for liberalism which needs an atmosphere of sexual freedom to help advance several key causes such as Feminism and Gay Rights. People refraining from one-night stands or becoming less sexually active in general, whether due to a health scare or a religious revival, is a serious threat requiring serious damage control.

Thus the myth of the condom, to prevent the myth of heterosexual AIDS, was born.

All that was needed to prevent the spread of heterosexual AIDS were condoms which until then were only available in sleazy men’s room of sleazy bars and bus stations. With a condom you can have safe sex even with a full-blown AIDS patient.

Condoms are the protection of absolute last resort. Their protection is mainly psychological.

It is very simple, if you any doubt of the cleanliness of your partner then you shouldn’t be partying with them until such doubt is resolved. IOW take just a little to get to know the subject.

The Student Congress Problems and Projects committee will see a resolution encouraging H&F to put condom dispensers back in the basements of the dorms this Sunday, and it will likely be heard in Student Congress on Tuesday, Feb 23, at 7PM in Adams 150.

And I'm pretty certain that HCSA will pass a similar resolution on Monday night (Feb 22) at their meeting.

These are resolutions, basically just letting H&F know what the students want. It will then be up to them to do what they want.

To follow up, the HCSA resolution and the Student Congress resolution both passed as planned.