Student Life Archives

Some come for information, some come because they are required to and some come hoping to win sex toys.

Whatever the reason, every year students turn out for Sex in the Dark, a sex education program led by Paola “Poli” Rijos, Student Health Service’s Health Educator, for residential college and dormitory floors.

Sex in the Dark takes a question-and-answer approach to sexual education. Students are given the chance to write down or e-mail questions they have before the program. During the program, the lights are turned off in the room and the questions are answered.

“We turn off the lights because even though the questions are anonymous, people still might blush when they hear their question being answered,” said Rijos.

In theory, by fostering a sense of anonymity, students are more likely to ask questions about what they are really wondering, rather than being constricted by embarrassment.

In general, the event is tailored to make students feel comfortable.

“We avoid scare tactics,” said Rijos. “We also try to remind students that not everyone is having sex. It may seem that way, because the only things you’ll hear about sex are from the people who are having it and being loud about it. But there are just as many people who aren’t having sex and being quiet.”

According to data from the Student Life sex survey, nearly 54 percent of freshmen report being virgins; this is comparable to data in other surveys circulated prior to the Sex in the Dark program.

Many students are surprised when they hear statistics similar to this at their floor’s Sex in the Dark program, based on data collected from students on the floor.

“I’d thought that a lot more people were having sex,” said freshman Andie Sporck.

Because students have had a vast range of experience with sex education in high school, students’ reactions can vary from “nothing I hadn’t heard before” to surprise or shock over the frankness of the program.

“Sex in the Dark freaked me out. I can’t believe they raffled off vibrators and anal beads,” said one freshman, who said she’d never had such explicit sex education before and preferred not to be identified by name. “I didn’t even know what they were until Sex in the Dark. It made me feel uncomfortable-I thought it was a little inappropriate.”

Another student jokingly complained that the name “Sex in the Dark” was false advertising.

Even as it attempts to cater to students with different educational and life experiences, the program attempts to distinguish itself with a candid environment and humorous tools like a fake vagina dubbed Lola.

Almost all students interviewed, though, appreciated the realistic approach that Sex in the Dark took.

“I thought it was good because they understood that people are going to have sex, and they weren’t ignoring that,” said Michael Fazio, a freshman. “They were very honest and frank and realistic in their approach, and that was good.”

Josh Lalo, another freshman, agreed.

“It’s good to have a place to talk about [sex], for people to talk about their problems,” he said. “I liked how they were so open about everything, especially the people who weren’t afraid to answer questions with stories from their personal experience.”

By the end of the first semester, every freshman has had the chance to attend Sex in the Dark with their residential college.

Most take advantage of the opportunity, but several students didn’t attend citing tests, busy schedules or just lack of interest.

MCT

Every two years, a rare phenomenon occurs, affecting companies such as Trojan, Durex and, starting in August, the Guilin Latex Factory. With the arrival of the Beijing Olympics, the Olympic Village will replace college campuses worldwide as the sexual epicenter of the world.

If this year’s Olympics follow the trend seen in Sydney, Salt Lake City and Athens, China will experience an exponential increase in sexual activity.

For the Athens games, the Olympic committee ordered 130,000 condoms and 30,000 tubes of lubricant from Durex, the official condom and lubricant sponsor of the 2004 games; each athlete received 12 condoms for the two-week-long games.

“As the official supplier of condoms and lubricants, we hope the donation will help athletes improve their achievements between the sheets,” stated a Durex mouthpiece to ESPN.com staff writer Jeff Merron in an August 11, 2004 article.

At Sydney in 2000, athletes only received about five condoms to start the games, so if the 41.67 percent increase from Sydney to Athens holds true, officials in Beijing will need to order 178,500 condoms (17 per athlete) and more than 42,000 tubes of lubricant.

With Guilin Latex Factory, China’s largest condom vendor, virtually a lock to sponsor the condoms for the 2008 Olympics, other companies have started selling products tailored to attract not only the athletes but also the fans and tourists who will be in Beijing.

The Chinese auction site Taobao is selling condoms bearing one of the five Fuwa Olympic mascots for eight yuan ($1.11), and the auction site Paipai is selling Olympic ring-colored sex beads bearing the five colors of the Beijing games.

“The anal beads are spherical, but multifaceted for your intense stimulation,” reads the ad for the beads upon their release into the public market.

The fact the Olympic athletes engage in sexual activity during their entire stay at the Olympics raises the question of whether sex negatively influences the athletes. Many coaches forbid sexual contact by their players during any moments of intense competition, such as the Olympics or the NFL playoffs, and Eva Longoria withheld herself from husband and San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker during the 2007 NBA finals.

While Parker played great and helped his team win the title, many doctors and psychologists disagree with the theory that sex hinders athletic performance. Emphasizing that sex allows athletes to relieve stress and to expel extra energy that would hinder their concentration on the field or court, some doctors have even encouraged athletes to have sex the night before an event.

Additionally, ejaculation actually raises testosterone levels in men, which may benefit sprinters, boxers and other sportsmen who must have as much energy as possible when competing.

While athletes and coaches may worry about fatigue in the legs due to sex, doctors claim that no scientific proof exists to support this claim, citing that sex only burns around 50 calories. Supporting the claim that sex can help athletic performance, Bob Beamon shattered the long jump record by almost two feet at the 1968 Olympics after having sex the previous night.

“There is no proven effect on athletic performance, either positive or negative, of sexual activity prior to an athletic event,” stated Dr. Alan Glass, director of the Habif Health and Wellness Center.

“There is no evidence that demonstrated that sex can hurt an athlete’s performance,” said Paola Rijos, health educator at the Habif Center. “According to the National Geographic, scientists do not believe that sex the night before a sporting event has a tiring effect. They also add that sex does not weaken the athletes’ muscles. The psychological affects are still unclear. It’s important to know that scientists stress athletes should not try anything new the night before a competition.”

Of course, most of the athletes who are expected to contend for metals do abstain during the games, but the majority of Olympic athletes, often called Olympic tourists, come not only to win but also to meet other beautiful, fit individuals and cannot help sleeping with their compatriots.

Accordingly, the Chinese government has already begun taking precautions against the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and has ordered all Beijing hotels to supply guests with free condoms beginning this year.

The games will likely receive another key component to the sex trade starting with the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Prostitutes in the area are attempting to organize co-op brothels for the spectators in an effort to tie sex even closer to the Olympics and give fans the opportunity to live the games like the majority of the athletes whom they are watching.

As in Sydney, owners will be sure to expand their brothels and include handicapped accessible venues and prostitutes from all four corners of the globe will convene for the games.

While Wash. U. provides a sizeable supply of condoms, the horny young adult crowd pales in comparison to the horny beautiful members of the Olympic Village.

According to Student Health Services, the University orders 40,000 condoms for distribution, coming out to between six and seven per person.

The Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) has a separate program from Student Health Services, called “We’ve Got You Covered.” The goal of the “We’ve Got You Covered” campaign is to promote safer sex by providing students with free, reliable access to both contraception and sexual health information. This is accomplished by providing participating residence halls with “safer sex packets,” which contain 20 envelopes with two condoms and optional sexual health fact sheets. SHAC refills the packets once a month. The campaign is supported by Student Union, Residential Life and Student Health Services.

Scott Bressler

Ahh. Another year, another Sex Issue survey. While the results vary each year, the main purpose of survey remains constant: to discover students’ expectations, experiences and opinions on relationships and sex.

However, there were some notable changes made this year. 2008 marked the first time Student Life conducted the survey online, leading to an unprecedented 1550 undergraduate responses collected. The survey has a theoretical margin of error of two percent.

We also sorted some of the data based on gender, relationship status and other factors to see if there were any interesting delineations. However, no generalizations were made based on sexual orientation because the number of respondents who chose options other than heterosexual was too low to supply sufficient data for an accurate analysis.

Data complied by David Brody and Shweta Murthi
Graphic design by Joe Rigodanzo and Anna Dinndorf

Scott Bressler

Even as they sit in class, passing notes to each other or comparing test scores, the professor may not even be aware of their relationship beyond the classroom.

No matter what the circumstance, lovebirds across campus are finding fulfillment in lectures, language classes and studios.

“We met in Arabic class,” said junior Thom Wall, who has taken multiple semesters with his girlfriend. “She said she was the one that sat next to me, and I say I sat next to her [first]. It’s a point of contention between us.”

Wall has had classes with his girlfriend every day of the week, which he says he enjoyed because it gave them an opportunity to see each other during an otherwise busy schedule.

“It gave us an excuse to talk more,” he said. “It was more meaningful than a lecture class.”

Junior John Monnat, an architecture student, also met his girlfriend in class. Although there’s little division between their work and leisure atmospheres, Monnat says he values the time with his significant other.

“[Class makes it] easier because we can see each other, but [it’s] harder because there’s no boundary,” he said. “We were both in studio every day for hours. There needed to be some sort of boundary, but it being a constant thing was a good thing.”

Marketing major Ali Crouch, a junior, has had a different, but still positive experience with her boyfriend-a fellow marketing student-in business school lectures. She said that being with him makes it easier to pass the time.

“Sometimes we end up writing stupid notes to each other and get distracted that way,” said Crouch. “Mainly I don’t pay attention as much as I would if I didn’t have someone next to me talking to me. But if the class is boring, you have someone entertaining next to you.”

Crouch said that she also enjoys studying with her boyfriend.

“It helps to study together and we only have to buy one book for the class,” she said. “It helps to have a second opinion when we’re studying.”

Monnat said that being in architecture makes it easier for his girlfriend and him to concentrate on the work because they both know how important it is.

“We both understand why we were in studio and why we spend so much time there,” he said. “We have a lot of common things to talk about.”

Monnat added that being architecture students also means they have the same social group. Because of that, classmates are comfortable with their relationship in a classroom setting.

“It would be hard if one of us wasn’t in architecture, because you get so focused in that group of people and in the projects that you do,” he said. “It would be hard if someone wasn’t in the same environment.”

Although Crouch does not know everyone in the classes she shares with her boyfriend, she figures that people have found out about their relationship.

“We’re not all over each other in class,” she said. “We come to class together, leave together and are in group projects together, so I’m sure it’s assumed.”

Wall’s experience in language classes was different regarding his classmates because the setting is so relaxed.

“The student/teacher dynamic isn’t quite the same as it would be in a lecture,” he said. “Arabic classes are pretty small to begin with. The class was maybe 12 people tops, so we were all friends.”

But Wall said that even though being with his girlfriend increased the time it took to study, he is glad to have had the experience.

“It took a lot longer for obvious reasons,” he said. “There are a lot of things that are more important than your GPA.”

Imagine this: Melissa and John have been in an intimate relationship for two years. They are perfectly happy. One day, Melissa meets Michael, and begins to develop a deep attachment to him. She brings Michael home to John. All three sit down to talk and by the end all three are content with the outcomes.

Melissa is now in two relationships-one with John and the other with Michael.

Wrong? Unnatural? Plain cheating? Perhaps to some, but for those engaged in such relationships, it is simply the most natural and right way-that is, to polyamory, the practice of multiple relationships.

“[Polyamory] is the belief in having open relationships, but having your partner know about these various non-monogamous relationships,” said Susan Stiritz, professor of women and gender studies. According to Stiritz, the practice is grounded in the belief that humans are not inherently monogamous and that the limitation to only one relationship is unnatural.

What is natural in polyamorous relationships, however, is the establishment of hierarchy.

“You begin with a primary relationship,” said Stiritz. “If you meet someone new, you would introduce that new person to your primary relationship, and you would all discuss how the primary person would feel about having this person around the house.”

Stiritz attended a workshop on polyamory as part of a wider sex education conference held in St. Louis. As the only non-polyamorous person at the workshop, she learned a great deal from those around her. “These are very serious people,” she said. “They’re innovators in exploring how humans can connect.”

Stiritz does not study or teach the topic herself, she said, primarily because it is not a theme most students are interested in and it is not a type of relationship that would generally apply to adults looking for long-term intimacy.

However, that is not to say that students are not curious.

Senior Josh Ellman, a member of Safe Zones, said that the group at Washington University held a panel on Tuesday, Feb. 12 that touched on issues including polyamory. The panel was made up of Washington University students and faculty, as well as others from the St. Louis community.

“They [spoke] about their experiences and what polyamory means to them. For Safe Zones, this is definitely something we want to learn more about and be able to educate other students on. It’s not something that’s frequently talked about. Also, there have been some misunderstandings,” said Ellman.

Stiritz and Ellman are both firm in making the distinction between cheating and polyamory.

“Most people cheat, but they don’t practice polyamory,” said Stiritz.

“[Polyamory] isn’t just some sexual hookup thing. It is meaningful. It just happens to be different from what people are used to,” said Ellman, “It’s also a common misconception that polyamorous people are just not interested in being monogamous; these people are realizing that just the typical man and woman [relationship] is not working. It’s not realistic; it’s not what’s happening in the world.”

For Michael Brown, coordinator for LGBT Student Involvement and Leadership, polyamory goes as deep as to question what a relationship is.

“It’s really rethinking intimate partner relationships and asking what intimacy is,” said Brown.

“Polyamory simply challenges the whole concept that one person has to be with one person, that this is the only kind of intimacy, and that anything outside of this must not be intimacy,” said Ellman.

According to Stiritz, a book called “Open Marriage,” first published in 1972, promoted the idea that non-monogamous relationships would enrich the lives of all those involved and make them better partners for each other.

“A lot of people tried it, but there is just not enough social or structural support,” said Stiritz, “I think we have a hard enough time getting along with one person.”

Stiritz emphasizes the great amount of work polyamorous people commit to in order to maintain their relationships, especially in dealing with jealousy-an issue even monogamous couples have trouble overcoming.

“They have developed their own techniques, insights that would help anybody understand how to give up jealousy,” said Stiritz. “If you want to go to somebody who can work through marital difficulties, go to somebody who is polyamorous.”

However, despite the valuable qualities of polyamory, Ellman pointed out that the practice is still largely unfamiliar and unaccepted by a society that is grounded in a heterosexual normative concept. Ellman does not know anyone at the University who is engaged in polyamory.

“But the people who practice polyamory swear by it,” said Stiritz. “They find that it is liberating, that it gives them a higher level of being. They love their freedom, the passion that they have in their loves, because they always have a new relationship starting.”

Individuals who drink heavily are at a greater risk for sexually transmitted diseases since they are more likely to have multiple sexual partners, according to Psychiatrist Patricia Cavazos-Rehg, a researcher at the Washington University School of Medicine.

She studied 601 unmarried individuals between the ages of 18 and 25 to find a correlation between alcohol use and the number of sexual partners.

“As a person’s drinking becomes more problematic, then the individual could be engaging in more problematic, risky behavior such as having sexual intercourse with random partners or different partners,” she said. “If a person has a problem with substance use, what other risky behaviors are related to that?”

The study found that, on average, participants had more than nine sexual partners and those considered alcohol dependent had nearly 12 partners on average.

Of the participants who were identified as alcohol dependent, 45 percent had more than 10 sexual partners; having more than 10 partners is considered high-risk sexual activity.

Cavazos-Rehg also said that the study gives a better idea of what role alcohol plays in sexual activity and its implications for public health.

“If a person comes in for heavy drinking or alcohol dependence problems, [we can] at that same time test them for STDs [or] provide them with education about using protection,” said Cavazos-Rehg. “In this age group, the spread of STDs has escalated quite a bit recently.”

The study states “prevention efforts should target these high risk individuals because they are at risk for STD transmission and other serious consequences.”

The individuals involved in the study all had a relative with some kind of substance dependency but the study can still be applied to a wide segment of the general population because many people are in a similar situation.

“It’s estimated that one out of four persons [in the general public] have a substance dependent person in their family,” said Cavazos-Rehg. “We’re not talking about a small amount of people in the population.”

Several studies have already addressed binge drinking and other high-risk behaviors, especially in college-age individuals, but this study differed because it addressed those that had been diagnosed with alcohol dependence.

The study also attempted to report issues that are more specific than just “heavy drinking” in self-reported surveys, through the use of clinical diagnoses given by a trained interviewer.

Related studies have been done in the past, but this one stands out because of its focus on clinical diagnoses.

The study also differed from previous research because other studies usually considered lower numbers of sex partners.

“I haven’t seen any studies that actually look at more than six partners, so this study is also new in that way. We were looking at a higher number of sex partners,” said Cavazos-Rehg.

Other studies on how alcohol use influences sexual activity are in progress as well, including the age at which an individual first engages in sexual intercourse.

Freshman Ben Ingell was not surprised by the results of the study.

“I could [understand] that. I think the drinking on this campus is about average,” said Ingell.

The study utilized the Diagnostic Statistical Manual to determine which individuals qualified as alcohol dependent. Criteria include withdrawal symptoms, interference with work or school and hazardous behavior. Multiple criteria must often be met for an individual to be classified as substance dependent. The most prominent symptoms are heavy and persistent use of alcohol.

As international students adjust to the United States, they are surrounded on all sides by new things. For many however, the biggest adjustment comes in dealing with the different sexual landscape on campus.

For example, seeing multiple couples hook up at W.I.L.D is a shocking introduction to the U.S. for many international students.

While international students adjust to living in St. Louis and studying at Washington University in the first few months, they also need to adjust to a culture of dating, hook-ups and on-campus romance.

“I was surprised that many people have had sex here,” said Renault, a student from Taiwan who asked not to be identified by his full name. “I thought students here would have more self control. In Taiwan, sex is like marriage. It’s very serious.”

Several international students come from cultures where the general public usually frowns upon public displays of intimacy and pre-marital sex.

“Korean culture is very conservative,” said freshman Chan Lee, from South Korea. “A typical Korean would find it awkward.”

The definition of a relationship and how far one can go with a significant other also differs overseas.

“I haven’t seen much of dating in the freshman year,” said freshman Canan from Turkey. “It’s mostly based on hookups, which is not the case back home. It’s less physical in the beginning [in Turkey].”

“Here, it’s easier to [distinguish between a] hookup or to be in a serious relationship”, said freshman Ken Sakamoto from Japan. “Japan is more in-between.”

The initial interaction between males and females is also different overseas from what students have experienced. “In Turkey, guys are more flirty,” said Canan. “Girls have to try a lot more [here].”

Freshman Tina Wang, who is from Taiwan, lived in El Salvador for several years before coming to St. Louis. “Latin America is a very affectionate place,” said Wang.

According to Wang, two people may not have even exchanged names before kissing each other on the cheeks. On the other hand, as the region is largely Catholic, making out in public is uncommon. “I don’t see everyone grabbing each other,” said Wang.

Many international students had encountered American culture before, especially in the form of television shows such as “One Tree Hill” and movies such as “Old School.” “The extent to which it is publicized is ridiculous and blatantly offensive,” said another freshman from Taiwan. “It’s completely unethical.”

For some students, these early encounters with U.S. media have either caused outrage or helped cushion the shock of seeing someone “sexiled” or hearing about a neighbor’s hookup experience.

As American culture spreads to other countries in the form of language and multimedia, the values of local societies, especially amongst young people, have been liberalized.

“Taiwanese values are changing,” said freshman Anny Chung from Taiwan. “My grandma would be shocked. In the beginning, I felt uncomfortable but now I guess I’m used to it.”

At the same time, however, all students interviewed for this article agreed that the movies they saw did not completely and truthfully reflect American culture in the dating arena.

Some students cited their ability to legally drink at an earlier age as preventing them from having any regrettable hookups of their own.

“It puts us at an advantage,” said William Hsu from Hong Kong. “We know our limits.”

Most of the students interviewed were ambivalent regarding their classmates and peers engaging in public displays of affection. Many of them have already gotten used to the stories they hear or the things they witness.

“It struck me how people here are more explicit about sex and relationships,” said Chung. “[But] people can do what they want with their lives.”

“My view on [hookups] is I don’t want to see it but people can do it,” said freshman Ian Chui, from Hong Kong.

Some have nothing against it. “[Hookups are] part of the college life,” said freshman Levent Dinckal from Turkey. “It’s a good part of life.”