Cold prevention more important than condoms

An estimated 19 million people in the United States become infected with some sort of sexually transmitted disease (STD) each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Over this same period of time, the CDC estimates that 100 million Americans contract the common cold. That's right, statistics show that over five times as many people get the common cold each year when compared to the combined number of people who contract STDs. Student Health Services, however, seems to operate under the assumption that STD prevention measures are more necessary for overall campus health than cold prevention measures. Due to recent budget cuts, Health Services no longer offers free tissues or anti-bacterial lotion to students. But if you need some peach flavored lubricant or glow-in-the-dark condoms, you could probably still pick up a few of each - for free - from Health Education in South Campus.

Granted, contracting an STD is usually much more serious than getting a cold. However, it is also considerably easier to avoid getting an STD than getting a cold. For example, by keeping your pants zipped and not touching someone's blood, you have almost no chance of getting an STD. Catching a cold can happen just from going to class or the dining hall, if someone near you happens to have a cold.

In addition, it is completely unjustifiable for Health Services to be handing out condoms and lubricants to students free of charge.

First of all, giving away condoms promotes irresponsible sexual behavior. If students are under the impression that a condom is like a "get out of jail free" card for STDs and pregnancy, then they will continue to believe that sex comes without consequences, and help perpetuate the culture of multiple sexual partners and one-night stands that exists on college campuses.

In addition, the distribution of free condoms by Health Services using student fees disenfranchises students who have made a choice to be abstinent or buy their own condoms. Basically, students who choose not to use the free condoms are forced to pay for other students to have sex, blow up condoms like balloons or litter them around campus.

Also, there is really no argument for providing lubricants at all. They don't prevent STDs and are only useful for increasing sexual pleasure. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the purpose of an institute of higher learning generally is not to increase the sexual pleasure of its tuition-payers.

Condoms and lubricants are also easily accessible at off-campus locations that are within walking distance of the dorms (i.e. Store24 or Sam's Food Store). Now, granted, this may be difficult for some students because they will have to actually walk into the store and pay for the condoms with money, thus losing the screen of anonymity that comes with grabbing free condoms out of a basket. Think about this though: if you aren't mature enough to handle buying your own condoms, then you probably aren't mature enough to be having sex, and you certainly aren't mature enough to deal with the consequences of a mishap (i.e. pregnancy or infection).

The bottom line is that Student Health Services should not be spending money for services that don't benefit the whole student body. Rather than cutting things like tissues and hand sanitizer - useful for stopping an infection that can be caught just from being on campus - Health Services ought to cut condoms and lubricants out of their budget. These wasteful expenses do nothing to improve overall campus health that couldn't be accomplished if students were more responsible. Rather than focusing on giving students opportunities to be sexually active, Health Services should be offering cough suppressants, tissues and fever reducers that will benefit students who are actually sick.