Campus group to pass out condoms at Kirkwood bars

Five thousand condoms will hit the streets of Bloomington tonight as rape awareness advocates descend on the Kirkwood nightlife to promote safe and consensual sex.\nThe group, Raising Awareness of Interactions in Sexual Encounters, performs skits for dorms, classrooms and greek houses to inform students on sexual assault. RAISE is also responsible for the urinal cakes found in many men's bathrooms on campus that tell bathroom-goers, "You hold in your hands the power to stop sexual assault."\nTonight, about 25 volunteers will hit the bar circuit, including Second Story, Axis, the Video Saloon, Kilroy's Sports Bar and Bullwinkle's, among others.\nThe condoms come with a sticker instructing the user, "Don't Guess, Get Yes! Always ask your partner if they want sex." An accompanying card has information on assault support resources at IU. Junior Cara Berg, president of RAISE, said her organization held the same event last spring with great success. \n"We're just going to be out there to talk about consensual sex," Berg said. "(We want) to increase the message of what is safe sex. It's not just condoms -- it's not just birth control. It's also what you're OK with and not OK with."\nRAISE will distribute the condoms from 8 p.m. to midnight.