KCC Survey Finds Students Unprotected
by Emily DiRienzo

The breezeway—the passage between the cafeteria and the academic clusters— often resembles Union Square during the Fall and Spring semesters.

Instead of jewelry, artwork and anti-war leaflets, students are offered information on health insurance, armed-force recruitment and even free condoms.

The condoms being dispensed by our beloved HELM Center is not a cutesy attempt at honoring Valentine's Day, but rather a recognition of National Condom Week, an entire week devoted to creating safe sex awareness. While National Condom Week is a long way from becoming a bank holiday the message is nevertheless one that should be taken seriously.

If you hadn't slept through HPE 12, you would have learned that there is no safer sex   than no sex at all, but until Louis Vuitton comes out with a line of chastity belts it is safe to bet that abstinence will enjoy an approval rating much like that of our current president. If a life of abstinence seems like a cold and lonely journey to embark, just remember that the other route requires you to come prepared, which means protecting yourself and your partner from sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies.

Condoms, unlike other forms of contraceptives, rank high in their class, serving not only as an effective means of birth control but also as protection against HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. As proven by the HELM center's decision to distribute these little health gems, condoms are probably the most readily available form of contraceptives, available at just about any drugstore or clinic out there.

With New York's release of an official ‘city condom' even bars and night clubs are jumping on the safe sex band wagon.

With a push from Mayor Bloomberg's administration, the New York Health Department has partnered up with Lifestyles brand condoms to create this city condom that both symbolizes the metropolitan area and its growing concern with STD contraction rates. Despite the efforts of national organizations such as Planned Parenthood, who are notorious for their inexpensive, if not free, health services and other groups devoted to sexual health education, many still choose to put their lives and health on the line all in the name of pleasure.

A recent survey conducted amongst Kingsborough students bared shocking results.

Students were asked to answer a series of questions regarding their sexual lifestyles in hopes of revealing the true level of awareness present on the KCC campus.

  A whopping 63 percent of the students that took the survey admitted to not always protecting themselves during intercourse while another 20 percent of this number claim they never use contraceptives of any kind. Another question on the survey dealt with HIV testing, and it was a surprise to see that out of the percentage of those who said they did not always use contraceptives, 25 percent have never been tested for HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases.

Neglecting to get tested for these diseases seems careless when glancing at national statistics. In the United States alone, over 980,000 cases of AIDS have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This number only reflects those with AIDS, the most advanced stage of HIV, while the number of reported cases of HIV is much higher. In the case of HIV, approximately 40,000 men and women contract HIV each year and the CDC estimates that one in every three persons with HIV doesn't know they are infected.

As frightening as these statistics may be, we, as students, should use this knowledge as a way to stop these numbers from advancing by getting tested and practicing safer sex.

While the outcome of the questionnaire added up to be much more extreme than predicted, the one thing that came as no surprise was that only a measly two-percent of the students used abstinence as their preferred method of protection. Results of this nature have made events such as National Condom Week absolutely necessary, though it is upsetting to see that with all the free condoms being distributed by the city the level of awareness and actual use of these products is at a depressing low.

Unfortunately cost is not the only obstacle safe sex advocates have to conquer, many simply neglect to protect themselves during sex for more intimate reasons. Somehow over the years word got out that unprotected sex is more physically enjoyable and since then, men everywhere have viewed condoms as the only thing standing between them and pure ecstasy.

On the contrary gentlemen. next time you are about to engage in unshielded sexual activity I ask that you take into consideration that the external, and often internal symptoms of STDs such as genital warts, herpes, gonorrhea and syphilis will cause much more physical discomfort than a thin layer of latex ever could.

A sense of invincibility can be detected in this generation by men and women alike.

While men do not have to worry about potentially becoming pregnant—at least not until we have a genetic breakthrough—both sexes tend to think that having only one sexual partner grants them immunity against STDs. While monogamy is something that should indeed be practiced, it is something that must be valued by both parties involved in order for it to be 100 percent effective.

Relationships, especially ones that include physical intimacy, should be built on trust, but think of contraceptives as homeowner's insurance that covers your back should floods, fires or disloyal partners arise.