COLUMN: Safe, instead of sorry

From Miranda Saloman's, "Notes From the Lilypad From Miranda Saloman's, "Notes From the Lilypad According to the 1993 Survey of the Ivies, one-third of all first-year Penn students are sexually active. The same survey reported that only one-fifth of all Penn seniors graduate with their virginity intact. I don't have a background in statistics, but I can do enough math to figure out that 46.7 percent -- or almost half of all students on this campus -- lose their innocence during college. Still, we Ivy Leaguers are a careful bunch; of the Ancient Eight schools, Penn has the most sexually active student body. So lots of us are learning about sex, in lab if not lecture form, right here in beautiful West Philadelphia. If you've waited this long, chances are good that you've given the subject a fair amount of thought. Maybe you're waiting for true love, and the gender-specific entity of your dreams has yet to appear. Perhaps your beliefs include waiting for marriage. Could be you're not waiting for anything but a willing partner. Whatever your reason, you'll probably have your values tested during your time at Penn. "Walk of Shame," Penn Six's song about the embarrassing journey home the morning after a drunken one-night stand, is a favorite with audiences because we recognize the scenario. Too many of us have been there. Unfortunately, an innate ability to be cautious does not automatically come with high SAT scores. While the student group Facilitating Learning About Sexual Health makes a valiant and underappreciated effort to distribute knowledge and complimentary dental dams to one and all, the sad truth is that students here -- like most people -- don't know enough to make fully informed decisions. Freshman year, I knew several card carrying members of the "V Club," whose membership has since been revoked, who didn't know that it's possible to transmit HIV through oral sex. They were horrified to learn that they were not in a "zero-risk category" after all. I also met a foreign student who confessed he had met a sophomore at the freshman orientation dance party. She invited him back to her cubicle in the high rises, only to refuse to have sex without a condom. He was shocked by her demand, and left as soon as it became clear that she would not compromise on the issue. Obviously, even the best and the brightest don't necessarily understand the importance of using a condom every time -- or even understand what "every time" includes. Scary, but true. Intelligent choices about sex are not hard to make if you are brave enough to do some planning. Condoms are easy to get; Student Health sells 10 for $3, and the staff there promises to be discreet. Buy them, carry them and if the time comes, use them. (Just one at a time, though -- there is no strength in numbers.) If something does go wrong, though, do not despair. Women's Health provides Morning After Contraception for $15, in addition to administering free pregnancy tests and prescribing inexpensive birth control. Women's Health also provides information on anonymous HIV testing close to campus, in addition to testing for other STDs like herpes, chlamydia and gonorrhea. Inexperience and ignorance need not go hand in hand. And since this is college, we can try to be adults about sexual matters. Most people won't laugh at "stupid" sex questions. The subject is still so taboo, and there is so much misinformation floating around, that any honest question is a good question. Safety is not a subject you should have to learn from experience. If you are still a flower, as a good friend from high school puts it, and you are planning to take the plunge, I wish you the best of luck. But please, whatever you do, be careful. If you can make decisions that are right for you, you'll have no frightening question marks, no mistakes and no regrets.