Trojan is spot on

Trojan has once again ruffled some feathers at the home of Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex.

This year’s Trojan Sexual Health Report Card ranked IU 42nd in sexual health. Of course, this is better than last year’s 63rd ranking but still lower than 2010’s No. 39 spot.

Offended, IU officials attacked the survey, declaring it inaccurate. Kathryn Brown, certified sex educator with the IU Health Center, and Cathlene Hansen, director of health and wellness education at IU, both said our school is better than Trojan says.

But is it? I mean, surely the beacon of liberalness in Indiana is going to inform students about sexual health, right?

Not necessarily.

Hansen said the health center hands out at least 10,000 condoms each semester, a pretty impressive figure. But that’s at the health center and I’ve never had a good experience there. I don’t know a single peer who necessarily seeks out going to said location.

I’ve been handed a condom once on campus. Not saying that I necessarily want more of the cheap, flavored, purple-colored kind that they tend to give out, but with three years on this campus, I feel like I should have been given more.

If we really wanted to boast about giving out condoms, we should be giving them to passersby at the Sample Gates or some other location that actually would create knowledge about sexual health.

The truth is we’re not a sexually healthy campus, but we don’t want to face it.
The majority of students feel no need to actually go get tested. When they do go get tested, they feel weird about it.

This may not be what Hansen and Brown see, but it’s what I notice every day in my peer group.

Sexploration Week was a great and progressive little week for IU, but it was only one week that will mostly be remembered for people going to the speed-dating event with fake disguises and Chaz Bono’s event at the IU Auditorium.

Did we actually learn about the importance and normalcy of getting tested? Not at all.
All sexual health organizations should be focusing on a yearlong awareness campaign, not just a week.

It really is no surprise that we are ranked so low. I’m not proud, IU isn’t proud, but don’t be so offended when we don’t try to be a truly open and safe campus.

­— sjostrow@indiana.edu