Campus Confidential
Traci Tyler
Issue date: 8/28/09 Section: Opinion
Another school year, and we all know what that means: house parties, bar crawls, the occasional study session and the return of Campus Confidential, and this week I'm talking to the freshmen.
For many of you, coming to Western means liberation, a great deal of more freedom than you have ever experienced before. You no longer have to answer to your parents on a daily basis or ask their permission to go to that kegger over the weekend, and all responsibility for taking care of yourself has come to rest on your shoulders. The decisions you make every day will affect the rest of your life, so somewhere in between scoring your next cup of ramen and that hottie on the next floor, you should remember to place sexual liability on your to-do list.
I know, you've all had the safe sex talk in health class and probably an awkwardly stilted red-faced conversation with your parents, but it's still something that you should be thinking about each time you plan on hooking up with someone and even when you don't. I'm not advocating promiscuity, but this is college, and strictly due to human nature and/or the occasional overindulgence in alcohol, students are going to have sex.
To help keep that sex both fun and safe, Beu Health Center carries several forms of contraceptives for men and women, including birth control pills, condoms, dental dams, diaphragms and emergency contraceptive pills which are all available at a cost. However, these precautions could help you to prevent an unexpected pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease, as my freshman roommate found out the hard way.
On that note, I urge all of you out there, not just the freshmen, to be smart about sex. Guys, you should always carry condoms just in case, but girls, don't always rely on the guys to be prepared. After all, not all of them were Boy Scouts.
For many of you, coming to Western means liberation, a great deal of more freedom than you have ever experienced before. You no longer have to answer to your parents on a daily basis or ask their permission to go to that kegger over the weekend, and all responsibility for taking care of yourself has come to rest on your shoulders. The decisions you make every day will affect the rest of your life, so somewhere in between scoring your next cup of ramen and that hottie on the next floor, you should remember to place sexual liability on your to-do list.
I know, you've all had the safe sex talk in health class and probably an awkwardly stilted red-faced conversation with your parents, but it's still something that you should be thinking about each time you plan on hooking up with someone and even when you don't. I'm not advocating promiscuity, but this is college, and strictly due to human nature and/or the occasional overindulgence in alcohol, students are going to have sex.
To help keep that sex both fun and safe, Beu Health Center carries several forms of contraceptives for men and women, including birth control pills, condoms, dental dams, diaphragms and emergency contraceptive pills which are all available at a cost. However, these precautions could help you to prevent an unexpected pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease, as my freshman roommate found out the hard way.
On that note, I urge all of you out there, not just the freshmen, to be smart about sex. Guys, you should always carry condoms just in case, but girls, don't always rely on the guys to be prepared. After all, not all of them were Boy Scouts.
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