Sex and 'Jeopardy': An explosive combo

Sex sells -- it's a well-known advertising mantra. Fortunately, it's something that the organizers of Thursday night's "Sex Jeopardy" know well. In the multi-purpose room of the DuBois College House, around 50 Penn and Drexel students tested their knowledge of sex in a trivia contest sponsored by DuBois and the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. This take-off on the popular television show created an open and informal atmosphere for students to discuss their knowledge -- or lack thereof -- of sex. The sexually charged contest was run by the Penn student group Facilitating Learning About Sexual Health. Four members of the organization invited students to participate openly in the game. To ensure an open discussion, they had the participants brainstorm their own guidelines along with their own team names -- which included, quite appropriately, The Ruff Ryders, The Thundercats and The Trojanz. The first round offered categories like "Adam and Steve, Alice and Eve," which covered questions on gays, lesbians and bisexuals. A particularly candid discussion about herpes followed a question from the "Public Cervix Announcement" category. The participants discussed how one contracts herpes and how the disease is diagnosed. The answer for one such question was: "Two sexually transmitted infections are very widespread in college populations, and 90 percent of those infected do not show symptoms." The members of FLASH offered an explanation after many questions. They showed how to correctly use a female condom on a model vagina, much to the amusement of the crowd. One question from the category "Dudes" required students to give two ways for men to reduce the risk of being accused of sexual assault. "The Thundercats" correctly responded that one should not engage in sex and also should not drink to avoid sexual assault accusations. While these answers were correct, FLASH still challenged students to explore the realistic applications of their answers. "We want students to be able to talk about sex in a comfortable environment," said College senior Antwan Allen, a member of FLASH. "Sex Jeopardy brings up a variety of issues without using a lecture or a formal discussion group." Many students said they enjoyed testing -- or proving, as the case may be -- their knowledge in the field of sex. "It was fun," College freshman Jerryanne Heath said. "I like the fact that it was really comfortable and we didn't have to talk about our personal experiences."

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