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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 15, 1993)
DI B Mi \l> VMS Question before sex, not after It’s Homecoming weekend. Par ties will commence, alcohol will flow and sex will occur. Late tonight, after a few drinks, when you’re alone with your latest soulmate and the clothes are unbuttoning them selves, remember to ask, “Have you been exposed to any sexually trans mitted diseases?” People who have sex with some one theyjust met generally don’t have time for questions that may save their lives. Those questions come later, when they’re sitting in the examina tion room, asking themselves how they could be so stupid. Three students a week have been asking questions at the Health Center and the answer has been “human papillomavirus,” a polite term for genital warts. The genital warts virus has the typical characteristics of a rampant sexually transmitted disease, or STD. We don’t know from where it comes. It mutatqs faster than a roach colony. Men are difficult to diagnose. Just about everyone could have it, and there’s no cure for it. The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate 40 percent of American women have human papillomavirus. They would have mentioned it back when only 10 percent of women were infected, but they were busy trying to figure out a way to discuss HIV. After all, HIV can lead to AIDS, and genital warts is mostly a nuisance, except for those pesky strains that can lead to cancer. Women are the barometcrof STDs in this country because they are in charge of reproduction. Because they are in charge of reproduction, women use birth control. And to get birth control, they must have pelvic exams. It’s not particularly attractive for women to be identified as a measur ing device for disease in a population, but men suffer the disadvantage of ignorance. No one sits boys down in seventh grade and tells them they have a choice between napkins and tampons. They It’s not particularly attractive for women to be identified as a mea suring device for disease in a population, but men suffer the disadvantage of ignorance. spend seventh grade with some evil, thwarted, NFL-might-have-been who calls them sissies if they feel pain when they are hit by sledgehammers. Guys feel pain; they just learn not to tell anyone. 11’ s not 1 ikely that a few warts will bring many men into the examination room. Xhere’s a big chunk of socialization missing when young men will give names to their genitals but will not take them to the doctor. Doctors can diagnose and treat genital warts, but they can’t prevent them. The virus is primarily transmit ted through sex, but it’s also transmit ted in ways we have yet to discover. It can be transmitted even if a condom is used, although most peo ple still aren’t using condoms. Even when people use condoms initially, they are likely to stop using them a few months into a relationship. Two years could be considered long-term condom use. Some people get mar ried, divorced and remarried within two years. Safe sex simply contradicts human behavior. Perhaps STDs are nature’s way of thinning out the population. At the current replacement rate, Earth will hold 10 billion people in less than 30 years. Ten billion is too many of anything, especially something that eats, drinks and poops. Even if safe sex does contradict human behavior, a people’s suscepti bility to STDs is completely within their control. Controlling one’sexpo stire to any STD involves awareness, self-esteem and communication. There arc no magic ways to protect oneself against STDs. People make up myths to blindly rationalize their behavior. Vitamin C, the pill, red 'meat and even condoms won’t pre vent the transmission of STDs. Sexually inexperienced people need to be aware of the possibility of sex. Heavy petting can turn into sex before you realize what’s happening, especially if you’ve been drinking. Don’t depend on your friends to take care of you. You take care of you. Sex is far better when you’re mentally prepared for it.»Sex that “just hap pens” can be disappointing in more ways than one. Self-esteem plays a role in pre venting the transmission of STDs. People who care about themselves don’t risk exposure. They get to know someone well enough to discuss sex before they have sex. Anyone who is embarrassed or offended by the sub- . ject of STDs shouldn’t be having sex. Sex in the 1990s isn’t easy, and it’s not going to get any easier. The reason we don’t talk about sex now is be cause no generation has had to do it before. No one’s life depended on it. Assume that everyone has been exposed. After all, there are ways to be exposed to genital warts that don’t involve sex. You can ask your partner now, or you can ask your doctor later. McAdiai b a lophonore bow t-odho rial major aid a Daily Nabnukaa colamabt. K \IMU)\\ ROW I l | Red scare hits football illiterate Isee red. I’m not bleeding, so football season must be here. Unlike most Nebraskans, I wasn’t bom with football season built in to my biological clock. I don’t know that it’s here until it falls on me like a larger-than-life, paper-mache Harry Husker. Or is it Herbie Husker? Laugh if you like—I’m used to the persecution that comes with being football illiterate in this state. Sometimes I wonder why I’m here. Is it just a cruel trick played by fate or was there some mix-up at birth? I have a hunch that somewhere in Lapland, a 20-year-old girl wearing a funny hat sits atop a reindeer scream ing/Go Bia Red!” I have nothing against Husker foot ball; I just don’t understand it. And oh, have I tried. Year after year, I sit far too close to the television and suffer through endless beer commer cials trying to make sense of the mad ness. Sometimes I even figure out which team to root for. I’m a reasonably bright person, so I should be able to figure this out. None of the other sports boggle me. I even like to watch soccer and hockey. But not football. I feel especially alienated now that I’m living my life here in the eye of the Husker hurricane. Friends and family assume that because I’m a UNL student, I’m close friends with the entire team. “Tell me,” my best friend’s 6-year old qpcond cousin asks, “is Calvin Jones kind to small animals?” My third grade teacher wants to know what Tommy Frazier eats for breakfast, and my grandmother can’t stop asking, “What’s that cute Troy Branch REALLY like?” Hear me now — I know only one football player. I went to high school with Clinton Childs, and I say hi to him once or twice a semester if I see him on campus. I feel especially alienated now that I’m living my life here in the eye of the Husker hurricane. Friends and family assume that because I’m a UNL student, I’m close friends with theentire team. The only other person involved with the football program that I could recognize is Tom Osborne. Tom Osborne has been featured in every confusing Nebraska game I’ve ever watched. Because 1 recognize him, he’s my favorite part of the game. When ev eryone else is ahootin’ andahollerin’, I sit and wonder if the university is paying him enough. He seemato have taken a telemarketing job on the side-i — I suspect with Time-Life Books. Every game, you can see Mr. Osborne wearing his headset, proba bly taking orders for the Civil War series. “Order now and get a free red polo shirt iust like mine.” Why else would he be wearing that headset? Who is he talking to? Other coaches, you say? Bah. You know as well as 1 do how important Mr. Osborne is. I’d guess that he’s better recognized in this state than the governor. Sure, Gov. Nelson was great in “The Breakfast Club” and “St. Elmo’s Fire,” but he hasn’t received much attention since he broke up with Debra Winger. Mr. Osborne, on the other hand, shows up in the newspaper or on television nearly every day of the year. A man of such importance isn’t just talking to other coaches. He’8 probably landing space shut tles for NASA. “Bring her down gently, Jimmy. That’s right. Now hit the showers.” Or maybe he’s recording an album with Dionne Warwick & Friends. “Keep smilin’, keep shinin’....” Ah well. I don’t think I’ll ever figure out football, but I don’t mind. I can use all my football energy to find a cure for cancer. And noone has to know that I’m an ignoramus, no oik who isn’t reading this anyway. I learned long ago to shroud my weakness. Nancy Drew ' and the Hardy Boys would never guess that football boggles me. My secret is this—when I’m at or watching a game, I make lots of noise. I scream and shout during every play. But I don’t make just any noise. I try to make sounds that can’t be interpret ed as either good or bad. “Ooooo whoa-heeeee-yoyoyoyyo!” I also pay close attention to my surroundings and repeat anything and everything I hear. “You know what we need to be doing. We need to be throwing the ball. And catching it. And kicking it. We need to be getting it into the air and back inour hands. And we need to be throwing it.” But maybe this isn’t something I should hide. There’s no shame in my plight. As of today, football illiteracy is not a crime in this state. Well... it’s not a felony anyway. Rewdl la a juator aewa-adttarlal, advar tfslag aad Eagilfk major and a Daly Nabraa kaa columaiat. Hgh School Juniors, Seniors, College Students and Graduates We are seeking highly motivated men and women to fill part-time military positions with the Nebraska Amy National Guard. We offer the following benefits: •V2 Tuition Paid 1 • HaakonVocational Trainkig and Experience For more information call your kxal Nebraska Army National Guard Recruiter. Toll Free 1-800-334-5082, in Lincoln 473-1588 NEBRASKA Americans AtMBest Tile Aimjr National Govt) it an Equal Opporturaty Employer. •Excellent Pay a Herff Jones Duet It’s An Offer That’ll Rock You... Order your Herff Jones college ring and we’ll throw In a free performance by your favorite artist — on compact disc, of course. Soo your Horlf Jottoo roprosontotivo for dotollt. fHEBFF JONES Lower Level, Nebraska Union October 14,15,16 Add to your UNL course options, even after you drop the class. UNL's most popular courses in: Accounting Finance Philosophy AG LEC Geography Physics Art History History Political Classics Management Science Educational Psychology Marketing Psychology Economics Math Sociology English Available through UNL College Independent Study: • Study and take exams when your schedule allows, when you're ready. • Take as long as a year or as few as 35 days to complete a course. • Send an average of six assignments per course to your instructor, and receive rapid turnaround of your materials. Call 472"! 926 for a free College Independent Study Program Bulletin or stop by our office at 269 Nebraska Center for Continuing Education, 33rd and Holdrege Streets, UNL East Campus. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Division of Continuing Studies