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MEGAN BASSETT, a senior accounting and Spanish major, and her 14-month-old daughter Mia, play peek-a-boo while Bassett fixes dinner. Before having
Mia, Bassett said, “I had so much free time.”
Pregnancy comes with hard choices
PREGNANT from page 1
T wanted no regrets’
Megan Bassett got pregnant shortly after
classes finished in the spring of 1997, after the
then-sophomore Spanish and accounting major
went home to Ogallala for the summer.
She said she never went through denial, as
many women going through unplanned pregnan
cies often do.
In fact, though her first two home pregnancy
tests were negative, Bassett kept testing until one
showed positive.
Emotionally, she could accept the fact she was
pregnant, she said.
“It was just what I was going to do from that
point on,” she said. “That took awhile.”
After finding out she would be having a child,
she moved back to Lincoln in mid-July so she
could “get her ducks in a row” before approaching
her family.
In Lincoln, she moved into a house with three
other women and a man. By the summer’s end,
three of the women, including Bassett, were preg
nant. That helped her handle the pregnancy. But
she had yet to tell her parents.
“Even if (parents are) the most understanding
people in the world, they want the best for you,
and that doesn’t really mean having to struggle.”
Bassett moved again at the end of August and
told her parents she was pregnant shortly after.
Parents want their children to go to college,
get married and be financially stable before hav
ing a child, she said.
This wasn’t her case. But when she was five or
six months pregnant, after meeting with a coun
selor and thinking her decision through, she made
the final decision to keep her daughter, Mia.
It was an individual decision, although she
admits family and friends didn’t always approve
when she broached the subject
“I pretty much probably always was going to
(keep Mia). I just needed to make sure,” Bassett
said. “What I always said was, I just want to make
sure five years down the road I’m not having this
kindergartner and wondering what I’m doing or
how I got here.”
After deciding to keep Mia, Bassett started
preparing for her daughter’s arrival.
She found a baby sitter about seven months
into the pregnancy, and she looked at renting a
two-bedroom apartment. She scheduled her class
es around Mia’s schedule-to-be. She needed the
nine months to prepare for the overwhelming
change.
Before having Mia, she volunteered nearly 30
hours a week and was involved with Residence
Hall Association. “I had so much free time,” she
said.
Though she had planned to move off campus
anyway, she hadn’t planned such a drastic change
Please see PREGNANT on 7
Student voices vary on sex survey
By Kelly Romanski
Staff writer
During the yearlong Clinton-Lewinsky
scandal, the media reported daily on sex and
sexuality, and many public and private discus
sions on the subject ensued.
Yet some definitions of sexual activity and
behavior remain subjective or unclear, accord
ing to some University of Nebraska-Lincoln stu
dents.
The Daily Nebraskan conducted an unscien
tific survey of about 150 students living in greek
houses and residence halls via written and
anonymous questionnaires.
Students who responded gave a variety of
answers to many of the same questions that
stumped a country, including “Can oral sex be
considered the same as sexual intercourse?” or
“What actually comprises sexual activity?”
“There has been some confusion about it, as
far as the public is concerned,” David Story, a
sophomore news-editorial major, said during a
small DN-sponsored discussion on sexuality. “I
think sex is a broad term that encompasses any
activity that leads up to it.”
“When I hear ‘sex,’ I only think of inter
course,” agricultural economics freshman Chris
Gustafson said. “The rest is sexual activity.”
“The attitudes of students breaks down into
each person individually,” Story said. “There’s a
whole lot of people out there who take sex as
their responsibility, who would be cautious with
it. But then you run into the extreme of the play
ers and such that are simply out to get laid, and
are good at doing so.
“And then there is the conservative, opposite
side that wants nothing to do with sex until
they’re married.”
Students from all backgrounds responded to
the following questions* The following excerpts
show a variety of students’ perspectives on their
own and others’ sexuality.
Two female and two male students’ replies
were excerpted for each question to illustrate the
majority opinions of each sex.
Question: Do students at UNL think about
the possibility of a sexually transmitted disease
or an unplanned pregnancy directly before
sex? ”
Males:
■ No. “People normally do what feels good
and sex happens to feel good.”
■ No. “I was positive that it would not hap
pen with my partner.”
Females:
■Yes. All women who start taking birth con
trol at the UNL Health Center must take a class
that forces them to realize birth control does not
protect against STDs. “They get to see these
wonderful pictures of genital warts - and then
they tell you there’s no cure. That’s enough for
most people to forget AIDS and death - college
students are afraid of blisters and deformities.”
■ “Yes, I believe it is always in the back of a
person’s mind, but the question is whether or not
they will act on their thoughts. I am always pre
pared, but sometimes don’t follow through.”
Question: “Do you believe that the couple
who conceived a child should soon get mar
ried? ”
Males:
■ No. “I believe it is case-specific. If the
baby was conceived on a one-night stand, the
couple being married may be more harmful for
the baby in the way of an unhappy home.”
■ No. “Just because a baby is formed does
not mean marriage is necessary. I would urge to
give the baby up for adoption, because there are
so many couples who have the proper time,
attention and money to raise a healthy baby.”
Females:
■ Yes. “They should get married because
that is what is morally right.”
■ No. “The couple would be unhappy, thus
would not be raising the kid well if the family is
so unhappy.”
Question: “What role does the male play
after a baby in an unplannedpregnancy is bom ?
Males:
■ “The role of a father, if I am not mistak
en.”
■ For the most part, I don t think guys want
to have anything to do with an unplanned preg
nancy. After all, males are not the ones carrying
the child. I feel that as a gender, we really need to
take more sexual responsibility for ourselves.”
Females:
■ “Full responsibility of caring for the child,
because it is just as much his.”
■ “He should be around to watch the child
grow up and be active in his/her life. See the
child at least once or twice a week.”
Question: "Who should take the lead (male
or female) in preventing the transmission of sex
ually transmitted diseases? ”
Males:
■ “The male. It is easier for a man to use a
condom than it is for a woman.”
■ “Both, because it is both parties’ responsi
bility.”
Females:
■ “I think that it is a mutual thing. I think
both people should take the initiative.”
■ “The male, because he can wear a condom
no matter what.”
Question: Would you be afraid to buy pro
tection such as condoms orforms of female con
traception at a store? ”
Males:
■ “No. I don’t care what people think.
Actually, I do. I think it’s kinda funny because
the cashier knows you’re gonna get laid and
he/she isn’t.”
■ No. “There are much more frightening
things - like cockroaches.”
Females:
■ “Yes, since everything is rather new. I still
am shy about the subject.”
■ “No; if you’re old enough to have sex,
you’re old enough to use protection. If you can’t
go into a store and buy some form of protection,
then you obviously aren’t ready for sex. And if
you aren’t ready for sex, having sex will only
hurt you in the long run.”
Question: Do you think alcohol plays a role
in sexual behavior (not just having sexual inter
course)?
Males:
■ “Yes, I do believe it does because from
what I’ve seen, people are more apt to have sex
when drunk.”
■ Yes. Drinking “makes the couple more
relaxed, so sex will probably occur at a better
chance.”
Females:
■ Yes. “Alcohol intensifies hormones,
which leads to sexual behavior. Often with alco
hol there are decisions made without thought.
Therefore, people often engage in sexual behav
ior under die influence of alcohol. I think a lot of
people also regret it (or something else in their
lifetime because of sex and alcohol).”
■Yes. “I think alcohol is usually the initiator
in sexual behavior.”
In one part of the survey, the DN requested
additional comments. Several students wrote
that being in college can be difficult for those
who stick to their convictions and don’t have
sex.
One male wrote, “Although I have never had
sex, it has been a constant struggle of mine. At
times, I just want to get virginity over with to be
like all the other guys. But then I look at the trou
ble sex can get you into, and then I realize why I
have waited.”
One female simply stated: “Sex ruins rela
tionships outside of marriage.”