College Press Service
Condoms, rubber dams, gloves: At 15 cents apiece, they're quite a bargain if they can save a student's life. But Brown University may see a shortage of campus-supplied protection in the near future if changes are not implemented.
"My concern is that we (Health Services) have been buying a large supply of latex with cash up front, and we've asked students to pay for them on an honor system," said Marylou McMillan of Health Services. "But people are not paying."
From the start of orientation period, Health Services has invested $1,512 in latex. But it has received little more than $100 from student contributors.
"The budget is not limitless," said McMillan, regarding the $4,000 budget put aside each year to purchase the supplies. "If there isn't a change, we won't get all the way through May."
First-year counselors, who supply their unit members with Health Services' latex taped to their doors in an open envelope, are aware that the envelopes rarely contain any money in return.
"People are not paying for them because it's an option, not a requirement," said Kai-Lin Hsu, a coordinating counselor in Keeney Quad. "That'll be a problem if there is a lack of supply."
Hsu also pointed to students' waste of the condoms. "Some students will take them and just play around when they're drunk, and leave them in the hallways."
McMillan said, "Does every piece of latex get used? Probably not. If someone is wantonly wasting them, that irritates me."
McMillan has begun a poster campaign to urge sexually active students to take responsibility for the latex. A poster in Keeney Quad reads, "Pay your own way. Don't expect someone else to pay for your protection!"
"I'm trying to change the thoughts toward the method," McMillan said. "Pay for your own sex, instead of making me pay."
Other proposed solutions include placing money jars in the unit kitchens' condom drawers or in the bathrooms. "We are going to pilot test that idea," McMillan said.
More metal boxes will also be placed in the cold clinic area of Health Services, where students are also obtaining latex without contributing the 15 cents. Health Services implemented the current system for obtaining protection five years ago, initiating an honor code to help refund its purchases.
McMillan has dismissed the idea of using freshmen unit dues to cover latex supplies. "That would be like asking your roommate or someone to pay for your sex," she said.
Previously, machines installed in the laundry rooms dispensed condoms for 20 cents apiece.
In addition, the Health Services pharmacy made condoms available for student purchase. During that time, nearly 9,000 condoms were sold through the pharmacy, a modest quantity compared to the 22,000 distributed the next year under the current system.
"The number of pieces that go out has increased in numbers," McMillan said. "It has leveled off to about 48,000 condoms a year, which has stayed stable for about four years."
According to McMillan, the increase over the last five years is attributable to the present system, which reduces the barriers to safer sex practice, making latex readily available 24 hours a day.
"It's very anonymous. You can pretend you're looking at your throat, grab some condoms, put money in the box, and leave," said McMillan. "I want to make it as available as possible so if students are having sex, they are using the appropriate prevention methods."
McMillan also addressed the issue that freshmen who are dependent on their unit counselors to supply the latex may not know where to obtain them next year.
"I tell the counselors that it's great to make condoms available in the dorms, but that they also should let the first-years discover the accessibility by themselves," she said.