Melissa Harper is a senior majoring in biological sciences. She can be contacted at [email protected].I was sitting at the crowded Einstein Brothers Caf downing my $4 coffee drink and trying to figure out what I could write about this week. Nothing really stood out except for the lady standing next to me with her silver chain belt that gracefully draped her expanding waistline. I was seconds away from giving up and just writing about polygamists when fate stepped in.
As I was finishing my coffee, a girl walked in and handed me a little pink note. Curiously I read it, and for a second I was halfway offended. Did I look like somebody who needed to get free sexually transmitted infections testing? Surely she meant to give it to my promiscuous friend who was with me.
As soon as I realized that everyone else was holding one of these peculiar little notes too, I had my topic: STI testing. Yes, I said it. On Oct. 16 and 17 at the Longest Student Health Center, they will be doing free testing for STIs.
First of all, “STI” just doesn’t have the same ring to it as “STD.” I know they are trying to make that term not sound as image debilitating as the word “disease” may allude. But calling them sexually transmitted infections just doesn’t really hit home to everyone.
Technically, all STDs are infections, but the viral infections just don’t go away with a week-long dosage of antibiotics. These viral infections are the gifts that keep on giving in the STD world. Nothing says “Thank you very much,” like a lifelong case of herpes. It is for this reason that I think MSU students should put their pride aside for 10 minutes and get tested.
I am not saying that there is a huge outbreak of syphilis or that gonorrhea is on the toilet seats. I just think many people are in denial about STDs and do not realize the importance of having a clean bill of health. The problem is that some students are a little freaked out by the health center. This is understandable but not an excuse. This little pink note said “free” and “confidential” STI testing.
OK, free I understand, but confidential – that’s a little hazy.
Some would say that the only way you could get a truly “confidential” test would be to stop by the health center any time during the semester, if that was even possible, and get tested so that everyone walking by the health center on Oct. 16 and 17 wouldn’t know why you were there standing in line. The problem with this type of mindset is that if we did this, we would be encouraging students to get tested only after a drunken night of debauchery and not at regular annual screenings like a healthy and productive member of society should do.
I think it is a great thing that we are offered this kind of free health care and we should take advantage of it. So what if your lab T.A. sees you going to get tested? It’s the responsible thing to do if you happen to be one of the 99 percent of students on campus who are sexually active.
OK, fine. It’s probably not 99 percent, but it’s high enough that we can afford to offer this kind of service.
Just think. Starkville is a small town; the sex pool into which we dive is not very deep, so it is very likely that whoever you have had relations with has done the same with someone two doors down and so on. That great guy you met at that kick-ass Eric Church concert probably dated or slept with your roommate’s old best friend, and now you and her have more in common than your terrible taste in music.
What it all boils down to is this: I think if students are mature enough to make casual sleeping arrangements, they should be responsible enough to get tested annually and should not care who might see them walking in and out of the health center. It’s better to know the status of your sexual health than to make a guesstimate. I am not promoting casual sex; I am simply promoting sexual health and awareness.