Love is in the air… and so is SEX

It’s Valentine’s Day: a time of year dedicated to the beauty, splendor and wonder of love.

Now let’s get real.

Once we graduated from putting Loony Toon valentines in each other’s decorated shoe boxes, this holiday was about one thing: sex. Or perhaps more accurately, Valentine’s Day became less about the sentiment and more about the romance, whether that was holding hands, a peck on the cheek… or other stuff, depending upon your age (and/or your audacity).

Arguably on a college campus near February 14th, it certainly has to do with home base (and we’re talking baseball, not tag).

Accordingly so, organizations and students across campus are gearing up for this sensual celebration.

The Safe and Sexy Social 1

is this Friday, complete with sex toys, condom demonstrations, food and games.

“The idea is that everyone can come, whether they’re a couple or a single. They can come and make necklaces that say ‘I’m single’ or ‘I’m dating’ or ‘It’s complicated,’” said Terry Koons, Associate Director of Health Promotions at Ohio University.

Although the event is touted as a fun social, serious topics like sexual assault and romance responsibility will also be covered 2.

Koons said that the office of health promotions makes it a priority to educate students about these kinds of topics. He noted that they tend to do programs tying together high-risk drinking and sexual assault. They try to stress to students the necessity of avoiding high-risk behaviors.

“We think that’s probably one of the most preventable ways of not being involved in an assault,” he said, adding that “If you or your friends have been drinking or using drugs, people need to step in and take care of them, and get them out of a situation where they might be having sex.”

A subset of the Health Promotions department, Promoting Ohio University Wellness Education and Responsibility, or POWER, assists in providing events like the Safe and Sexy Social, and weekly programs 3 that address student health issues, like “Latexology” or “Relationships 101.”

POWER is also in charge of the Latex League, a group that promotes the informed usage of contraception. To join the League, a student must watch a demonstration of the 13 steps to correctly put on a condom 4. In return, students get a discount on the contraceptives sold in Baker 355.

“You can get condoms for 25 cents if you come in and show your latex league card in here,” said Brian Albrinck, a member of POWER.

Watch the 13 steps in the video below.

Laura Colman, treasurer of POWER, said that she has gotten many interesting questions from curious students.

“The main one I get is ‘There are really 13 steps to putting on a condom?’” she said.

Learning how to use latex effectively may be more crucial now than in the past.

“There has been a recent increase of chlamydia on campus,” said Koons 5.

Listen to the full audio of my interview with Koons here.

He added that the office is encouraging people to get tested for sexually transmitted infections at Hudson, where costs are relatively low.

When asked about their preferred methods of contraception, students had varied responses.

Tyler Carson, a sophomore studying journalism, endorsed the birth control pill.

“As long as it’s taken properly it’s very effective. I don’t always have to go through the hassle of buying condoms if I don’t have to,” he said.

Tolupe Osunsanya, a freshman studying mechanical engineering, preferred condoms.

“I like rubbers. They’re convenient, cheap, and pretty basic,” he said.

Graduate student Kayla Lennon said that she chooses the more traditional tactic of abstinence.

“That’s the easiest way not to get a disease… or a child,” she said.

So this Valentine’s Day, whether you’re strolling through Baker, bored on a Friday night, talking to your friends, or reading a blog (shameless plug!) there are plenty of ways to get information about sex… and maybe even love.

1. “At the event there will be stations on latex, and people can join the latex league, and learn how to use latex correctly, and buy t-shirts. There will be a crafting area where you can make Valentine’s necklaces and gifts. There will be Valentine’s cookies with icing too. There will be a table around sexual assault and romance responsibility. There’s a sex toy party. There’s a lot of different stuff going on, in the first floor of Baker,” Koons said.

2. “We always look at tying alcohol and sex together because usually the majority of students who are drinking are at risk. The majority of sexual assaults reported on campus are among people who have been using alcohol or drugs. They may know each other somewhat, but then they end up in a position they didn’t want to be in. but because they were intoxicated, they didn’t make the choices they would have made if they were sober,” Koons said.

3. “POWER stands for Promoting Ohio University Wellness Education and Responsibility. We are the peer health educators on campus. We have weekly sessions and other educational programs like the safe and sexy social where we are trying to educate our peers about living a healthier lifestyle. We never tell our peers, no, they can’t do something like, they can’t drink or have sex. We’re just trying to educate them on how to practice risk reduction,” said Laura Colman, POWER treasurer.

4.  ”The only criticism we get is that we don’t just pass out condoms to people. The reason that we don’t just pass them out is because we feel like they need to have an educational component to it. Because if you just give it to somebody they may or may not know how to use it, and we don’t just sell condoms, we sell dental dams and latex gloves. We feel that if you go through the Latex League demonstration and get your card, you only do it once, then you can come in whenever you want. But we feel like we have to give people enough information. The other thing is when you provide condoms in places where alcohol is served. If they’re in a position where drinking is going on, it’s likely to correlate into a sexual assault. We want people to think about not drinking before they have sex. If you want to have sex and then drink, that’s your business. But we want to make sure that both parties are not under the influence or impaired, so they know what they’re doing. It can be challenging because people say if you’re drunk, you need protection, but we don’t want to just pass out condoms to drunk people and hope everything turns out all right. The education component is important,” Koons said.

5. “One of the physicians over at Hudson recently shared with me that she had seen an increase of people coming in with Chlamydia because of unprotected sex. So we’re trying to do a little bit more education about using latex protection,” Koons said.

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