The stories you are about to read are true, but the names have been changed to protect the innocent - and the not so innocent.
Here are the facts: Dick and Jane are one of those committed, monogamous, perfect couples who have been together for more than a year now and plan to marry after college. Spending most of their time together, they share everything. They are so serious that Jane's on birth control, so they of course don't even use condoms anymore.
Or maybe not. > What Dick and Jane haven't shared with each other are a few details from their past. What Dick doesn't know: Jane had a few pretty wild nights at the bars her junior year. What Jane doesn't know: Dick had a few flings in Panama City on spring break a few years back. It was only a short-lasting phase for both of them. Too bad the remnants of their past sexual partners may have stuck around longer. See Dick and Jane. See Dick and Jane run. See Dick and Jane run from a hard thing to do. February and March are packed with weeks and months dedicated to creating awareness about different social issues. Sexual assault, eating disorders and women's issues, to name a few. In fact the whole month of April is devoted to STD awareness. But with spring break around the corner and the spring air making people a little friskier than usual, we can't just be aware in April. So I'm proposing my own invention. Not just a for a week or a month. But for every time you enter a relationship or fling. Awareness of your partner's sexual history: A time to make a promise to have STD test results in your hand before you get busy with him or her. It's not an easy or typical thing to ask for. But if the person really cares about you, they'll do it - right? If you're going to be sexually active - be responsible. Even if it means losing the person, you owe it to each other. Call the Health Center and set up an appointment. The testing is confidential, and the people there are kind and helpful. And to those who don't have sexual intercourse: Before you breath a sigh of relief thinking this info doesn't apply - think again. Oral sex counts. I know that's hard to swallow - but it's a perfectly easy way to give or get an STD. In 2003 about 40 percent of Ball State's campus had more than two sexual partners, according to records kept by the university. That's just less than half while about 16 percent of those people are having unprotected sex. So, out of approximately 18,000 students, about 7,200 had more than 2 sexual partners and about 3,000 of them aren't using protection. Back to Dick and Jane. They aren't into any of that kinky three-way stuff, but when I said Dick and Jane shared everything, I meant everything. Their pre-relationship sexcapades kind of turned into a big orgy. Not a typical orgy, but a hypothetical orgy. The Ball State Health Center suggests getting tested for STD's after three partners. That's pretty smart considering this: Dick and Jane each had three previous sexual partners before entering their monogamous relationship. Meanwhile each of their partners had three partners and each of their partners had three partners. Consequently, Dick and Jane have now theoretically shared 24 different sexual partners. Not so monogamous-sounding anymore, huh? In 2003, a Ball State Univerisity survey reported some alarming statistics: 180 people had Genital Herpes; 540 people reported having Genital Warts/HPV; 180 people had Chlamydia; 54 people were HIV positive. That's nearly 1,000 people on campus who reported having an STD. Don't let that fool you, carriers of STD's don't always show signs of being infected. College students think they are invincible. That isn't always the case. Don't become a victim and don't victimize someone else. If you've had sex - do the whole campus a favor and get tested - you owe it to yourself and you owe it to your current or future partner. Write to Meghan at mefarr@bsu.edu
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