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Page 3 • Monday, February 15, 1999
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BY STEPHEN WELLS
The Battalion
ife would be better if the real world played like a commercial. A lazy
Sunday pool party could turn into a carnal carnival with the addi-
Ition of a certain brew of beer; airlines would actually care if the lug-
J>e ended up in the same country as the passenger, and the Trojan Man
jtfuld arrive on his horse with plenty of time to spare before the clothes
ne off.
For those who do not have a condom cowboy and his trusty ride to re-
mi] d them to practice safer sex, this week has been set aside as Nation-
'ondom Week.
Jational Condom Week began in 1978 at the University of California
David Mayer and several students. The object was to use humor to get
across the message of safer sex through condom use. It has since blos
som ied into a national awareness week and health symposium.
â– Margaret Griffith, the health education coordinator at A.P. Beutel Health
Cei ter, said condoms are a viable option for students who are looking to
hare sex without exposing themselves to all of the risk involved in a sex
ual relationship.
■“People seem to want a way to have sex with no risk at all involved,”
Giitfith said. “There’s not one. Even inside of marriage, there’s a risk of
getting a sexually transmitted disease if one of the partners steps outside
the bounds of marriage. Condoms do provide a good protection against
pregnancy, against bacterial infections like gonorrhea and syphilis and
agamst the HIV virus.”
â– Although it was not until 1978 that a coordinated effort to spread the
word about condoms was begun, evidence suggests condoms have been
around since prehistory. In his book Extraordinary Origins of Everyday
Tlvngs, Charles Panati explains the history of the condom.
â– Evidence suggests even the Romans and Egyptians used condoms
fhlide out of oiled animal urinary bladders and lengths of intestine. While
thfse may not be the most romantic things to slip into on a cold night,
thjh/ beat the older stretched leather sheatlis in comfort and reliability.
â– Just as scientists now honor Michael Faraday and Issac Newton by
Waterskl Te nanil ig laws after them, randy young adults pay homage to the Earl of
watersKi e« condom every time they enter a convenience store with a gleam in their
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tie men from venereal diseases.
Likewise, the word “rubber” was coined after the introduction of the
thick, vulcanized rubber condoms of the 1870s, something men should
consider when they complain about the comfort issue.
These older generation condoms pale in comparison to the latex con
dom of today. Often, the failure rate of a condom is not due to poor engi
neering or industrial processes, but the age-old guy tradition of refusing
to follow directions.
“There’s a lot of user failure when people use condoms because, and
I’m not saying this to be condescending, guys are not exactly noted for
reading or following directions,” Griffith said. “Condoms come with di
rections that people should read. There’s a trick to using a condom prop
erly. ”
Barring mistakes on the part of the do-it-yourself male population, to
day’s condom is a lean, mean organ-protecting machinb; Guidelines for
testing condoms vary from state to state, but some tests are performed for
every batch in every area.
Just as an artist cannot possibly paint a masteipiece with inferior brush
es, condoms cannot protect well if they are made from inferior latex. Be
fore the first condom is poured into the mold, the entire batch of latex is
tested.
“The FDA runs entire batches of condoms through a prescribed regi
men with prescribed tests to determine whether or not they are safe,” Grif
fith said. “Last year a batch of Lifestyles failed a test and the entire ship
ment was recalled. A warning was issued immediately.”
Finished condoms must endure grueling torture tests on par with Navy
SEAL training to prove their worth. One test, called the bursting test,
pumps the condom full of air until it pops like a balloon. The tensile test
stretches the condom until it snaps. Holes are discovered by either filling
the condom with water and looking for leaks or by passing electricity
through the condom.
For the majority of college students, electricity passing through a con
dom is not a common hazard no matter how good their partner is. A con
dom’s kryptonite is heat, and some misinformation has surfaced about
the effects of heat on a condom.
“The first thing you should look at in a condom is the date,” Griffith
said. “And you want to store it in a place that is not too hot or too cold. I
tell guys to keep theirs in a wallet I They’ve heard all along not to do that,
but they can for a short period of time without damaging the condom. If
they don’t keep condoms in a wallet, where will they keep them? A wal
let is cooler than a pants pocket.”
Females who want to protect their bodies should not harbor any doubts
about carrying condoms with them.
Amy Barkley, a freshman general studies major, said carrying a con
dom is a protective measure against unsafe sex.
“I think a lot of girls consider it the man’s job to keep a condom with
him for protection,” Barkley said. “A lot of girls may think their job is to
take the pill and count on the man to have a condom ready when he needs
one. Pills won’t keep you from getting a disease.”
Sexually transmitted diseases are a great threat to college students. As
many as 33,000 Americans, most of them under 30, are infected daily with
a sexually transmitted disease because of a lack of protection daily. Those
who only use protection during genital-genital contact are reducing their
risk of many STDs, but oral-genital contact can spread some forms of He
patitis, which may ultimately lead to cancer.
Luckily, Americans are becoming more responsible, nine-hundred-mil
lion condoms were sold last year, 40 percent of them to women.
“I don’t think it is a bad thing for a girl to buy a condom,” Barkley said.
“Maybe it meant you were a ‘bad girl’ a long time ago. Today buying a
condom means you are trying to protect yourself and your partner when
you have sex. It’s not as criticized as it must have been for older people.”
There is also more good news for cash-strapped Aggies. Condoms are
cheap. Anybody knows to buy cheap they must buy in bulk, but going to
a warehouse store for a gross of condoms can be quite embarrassing.
One attractive option is to buy from the various non-profit organiza
tions interested in keeping disease and unexpected pregnancy at bay. With
$5, any Aggie can walk into Planned Parenthood and buy a dozen con
doms with enough money leftover to buy half a pack of post-coital ciga
rettes.
Beutel Health Center has another option available for students who
would rather not have their parents asking questions about a check writ
ten out to Planned Parenthood. A box of ten Trojan brand condoms costs
only $2 and can be placed on a fee statement under the heading “phar
macy.”
Like last week’s Sexual Responsibility Week, National Condom Week
is stressing education over field study. Those students who would like
more information about condom use or other sexual matters without re
sorting to trial and error can visit the health education center in room 016
at the Beutel Health Center.
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Camp Day 1999
Tixoscla/yA Fobariiaary 16, 1999
9:30 A1VE to 3:30 PIVT
3VESC Haillway & Flacj Room
Interview for summer positions as oamp
counselors and staff.
Wanted: People with an interest in Kids and skills in
archery
arts
baseball
basketball
boating
camping
canoeing
crafts
dance
drama
equestrian
activities
fisbing
football
biking
lifeguarding
music
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S{>onsorecl L>y live Department of Recreation. Park and Tourism Sciences,
tKe RJPTS Majors CIItxL>, arid tine T\A_MU Career Center