Although condom giveaways are a common site in Free Speech Plaza, a recent survey found that half of students on campus are not wearing them consistently.
In the spring of 2013, 51.5 percent of students at the University reported using a condom or other protective barrier most of the time or always within the last 30 days, according to an American College Health Association survey released this fall.
Sierra Fowler, health promotions coordinator for the Student Health Center, said it is concerning that students aren’t using condoms consistently because it is the only thing that reduces both pregnancy and the risk of spreading sexually transmitted infections and diseases.
Students think just because someone “looks clean” they are safe, but STDs can still spread even if the person does not show any signs of having one, Fowler said.
Some students also feel invincible and think that the likelyhood of them getting a sexually transmitted infection is low, said Student Health Center’s Health Promotions Coordinator Kathryn Saichuk. But anyone can become infected with an STI if they engage in any type of sexual contact, Saichuck said.
When students do not use protection, they increase their chances of contracting a STI and having it develop into a super strain, she said.
A common misconception is that condoms protect against all STIs, Saichuk said. While condoms protect against most, students can still spread human papillomavirus and herpes, among others, because they are transmitted during skin-to-skin contact.
One option the Student Health Center encourages students to consider is abstinence, because it is the only way to completely avoid STDs, Saichuk said.
The University has seen an increase of students who are choosing to be abstinent from genital-to-genital contact, Saichuk said.
For students who are not choosing to be abstinent, the Student Health Center encourages student to get tested for STIs regularly, Fowler said.
Another trend Saichuk said the Student Heath Center has noticed is that more females than males are being tested. Only about 25 percent of the 2,000 students who requested to be tested in 2012 were male.
One reason is because females who have an annual gynecology exam can request to be tested for STIs at that time. If the doctor discovers any abnormalities, then additional testing may be required, Saichuk said.
The fear is that more students on campus have STIs but are not being tested because they do not show symptoms, Saichuk said.
While Baton Rouge leads the nation in newly diagnosed cases of AIDs per capita, it is unusual to see a positive HIV test on campus, Saichuk said. There has only been one in the past few years.
Although it is rare to find STIs on campus, one common and potentially dangerous trend among college students is hooking up, said Lila Arnauld, Gulf Coast community education manager for Planned Parenthood.
This makes not using protection even more dangerous because students are less likely to know the person and have a conversation with them about each other’s status, Arnauld said.
“The best tools for helping to reduce STD rates are honest communication between young people and parents, medically accurate sex education and access to affordable birth control, including condoms,” Arnauld said.
This may also help explain why the University feel 10 spots — from 29 to 39 — in Trojan’s annual Sexual Health Report Card, which ranks 140 colleges and universities.
While the University has been consistent in providing students with services, other universities such as Princeton University received higher ratings by improving their HIV testing and accessibility to condoms, according to the Trojan report.
Trojan sends surveys to colleges and universities and asks them to report about students’ accessibility to services, testing and counseling, Fowler said.
The universities and colleges’ health centers fill out the surveys themselves, so Trojan relies on the schools to report honestly, Fowler said.
However, rankings like Trojan’s are not scientifically based and can sometimes be misleading, Saichuk said.