Observance of National Condom Day bypasses Norwich; Corps, civilian condom policies disagree

By Elizabeth Kennedy and Ronnel Daniels
Norwich Guidon Staff Writers

February 14 is one of the toughest days of the year for Shelly. She remembers the death of her mother, who passed away three years ago on Valentine's Day, from AIDS.

Shelly's mother contracted HIV when she was in college and lived to be 39 before she passed away. Shelly contracted the disease while still in her mother's womb.

Shelly, who requested anonymity, has lived her life infected with HIV and is trying to live as normal of a life as she can.

"Only, if my mother had used some kind of protection way back when, I wouldn't be going through this problem right now," she said.

For the eleventh consecutive year on Feb. 14, Valentine's Day, the American Social Health Association (ASHA) sponsored National Condom Day.

ASHA wants to remind people to love responsibly by protecting one another's sexual health.

Love is on everyone's mind on Valentine's Day, and with 15 million cases of STDs that will happen this year, we suspect that some (happened) on Valentine's Day, as people are feeling amiable, said Michael Stalker, ASHA Director of Media Relations.

ASHA sent media alerts to college publications around the country asking that they have students write articles with the idea that people can talk about condoms and sexually transmitted diseases.

Of the 15 million STDs which will be transmitted this year, 10 million of them will occur in people under the age of 25, according to Stalker.

It is for this reason that ASHA encourages campus health facilities to give out condoms if they have the resources.

Linda Alexander, President and CEO for ASHA, said, "Valentine's Day is nationally recognized as a time for love, to tell that special person in your life how much they mean to you."

There are an estimated 15.3 million cases of STDs diagnosed every year in the United States. Many people who contract an STD don't know that they have one until its too late.

Condoms offer the best protection for people who do have sex, according to the ASHA.

Alexander added that by using a condom you avoid getting or transmitting an infection that you might not even know that you have.

According to the Institute of Medicine, five of the top 10 most frequently reported infectious diseases in the U.S. are sexually transmitted.

One-fourth of new STD cases each year occur in teenagers. In many cases, STDs - including HIV/AIDS, herpes, human papillomavirus, chlamydia and gonorrhea - have no symptoms.

Prevention is the key, but even among condoms some types are better than others. Among the many types of condoms, the male latex condom is considered the most effective in preventing STDs.

The female condom, which is made of polyurethane, is also considered very effective for STD prevention. A male polyurethane condom is now available, although its effectiveness against STDs is still being tested.

Natural membrane condoms are not recommended for STD prevention.

"As a romantic occasion, Valentine's Day is an appropriate time to focus on the importance of safer sex," said ASHA vice president Peggy Clarke. "We encourage sex partners to talk openly about the sensitive subject of sexual health and to use condoms to protect one another from sexually transmitted diseases."

Alexander emphasized that abstaining from sex is the only completely safe choice.

For those who are having sex, unless both partners are 100 percent certain that they are free of infection, condoms are essential, Alexander said.

Even though on Valentine's Day at Norwich Cupid made an appearance, sprinkling conversation candy hearts all over the mill and putting roses in many women's hands, the Trojan man was nowhere to be found.

"This is a long-standing thing, and this is the way it sits," said Dr. Craig Sullivan, a physician at the NU infirmary. "There are condoms (for sale) in pharmacies and the bookstore. We don't hand them out, never have, and won't."

About five years ago, Martha Mathis, Dean of Students, put condom machines in the bottom floors of the civilian dorms to make them more accessible to students.

"There was a lot of discussion, from the president to alums. Everyone in the world had their opinions about [having condom machines] even in the civilian dorms, because our roots are military roots," Mathis said, adding that she didn't understand the connection between safe sex and military roots. "Any good educator should know that a uniform is not a reliable source of birth control."

"Realizing that we have two lifestyles on campus, I was hoping that the whole university would recognize the preventative measures involved, but that wasn't the case," Mathis said, "This was not to encourage sex, this was about the business of preventing, safety, and reality."

What is a reality for Mathis is not a priority for Leonard E. Doscinski, Commandant of Cadets, who said with important issues such as allegations of rape and racism fighting for his attention, putting condom machines in the corps barracks is not a priority.

When it comes to health and wellness, Doscinski said that if he were given the choice, he would put soap and paper towel dispensers in the corps bathrooms to stop the spread of colds and germs, before he would put condom machines in.

"The mission of the Resident Life Office," said Angela Roberts, Resident Director, "is to provide a safe environment for the students on campus."

"Condom machines are one of the ways that we can help out with the health and wellness of the students," Roberts said. "I think the main issue around condoms is that it's like we are encouraging sexual activity to happen. As long as it is safe sexual activity, that's what really matters."

"College is a time when many people are exploring sex and sexuality. If they haven't started in high school, and many have, college is a very active time for exploration," Stalker said.

"If we can get responsible and healthy sexual decision making instilled now, while people are still young, there are certainly benefits that are going to serve them for ever and ever," Stalker said.

With 95 percent of the venereal disease cases that Sullivan sees in students being a direct result of one-night stands and other alcohol related activities, he doesn't have much faith in responsible and healthy sexual decision making.

"In terms of handing out condoms to encourage that kind of behavior, that's not the business we're in," Sullivan said. "We give out birth control pills, because I think that means people have thought through their decisions around sexuality."

"They've got a stable relationship. I find that to be a far different level of medical decision making than the other," Sullivan said.

To give or not to give? It is a question that has been brought up time and time again at Norwich, according to Doscinski, who said that if he were to have the machines installed, then he would have to put in a quarter machine for students who don't have change when they get the urge, and also have to offer a variety to please everyone.

Doscinski, who doesn't even want soda machines in the dorms, is not ready to play that game.

The bottom line, according to Doscinski, is that cadets and civilians are different in many ways and this is just another one of those differences.

He would like to see condoms available in the infirmary, but, he said, it is not appropriate to have them in the barracks.

"The risky behavior [of having unprotected sex] scares me," Mathis said. "To think that some of us are not going to get caught one way or the other is foolish. Someone's going to get caught, disease-wise, pregnancy-wise, someone's going to get caught."

Should Sullivan change his mind and decide to distribute condoms, a Trojan condom spokeswoman said that they provide free condoms to infirmaries and other college organizations, including fraternities, who are willing to hand them out.

"Some people consider me to be way too conservative and tight about it, but that's where I come from," Sullivan said. "And I don't think it's far off."

Sullivan isn't the first person on campus to object to condom distribution, according to Jackie Lafabe, former NU bookstore manager.

Lafabe was a Norwich employee during President Russell Todd's administration in the 1980s.

At that time, she said, the bookstore was not allowed to sell condoms, and when an issue of Spin Magazine was distributed with a condom attached inside, the condom had to be taken out before the magazine could be put on the shelf for sale to the students.

Planned Parenthood will be handing out condoms and information in the Mill on campus the first week of April as a part of a Wellness Week, according to Linda Ellis, Norwich University Wellness Coordinator.

Although the nursing department did not hand out condoms on National Condom Day, they did make available informational brochures about AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

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