Can what we don’t see still hurt us? Perhaps it can. As thousands of on-campus residents moved into their fall assignments several weeks ago, they brought with them a countless number of unseen companions. The population of sexually transmitted infection-causing microbes is probably so large they should share the room and board burden of the students they inhabit. And on a campus where, as I learned last semester in my COMM107: Oral Communication class, about one in 300 students is HIV-positive, it makes you wonder why more isn’t being done.
To make matters worse, most students who host the various microscopic predators are completely unaware of their status. Through a unique blend of fear, ignorance and perhaps even stupidity, the majority of sexually active young adults across the country and at the university have never been tested for STIs. In today’s society, where one in five Americans has genital herpes, the lack of concern among the sexually active college population is cause for serious alarm.
A recent study at Emory University suggested that college freshmen are 70 percent more likely to get chlamydia than other college students. Chlamydia infects an estimated 2.8 million people each year, and the disease, which is reported in over three times as many women as men, is eight times more common among black women than their white counterparts. More than 100,000 new cases of syphilis are recorded each year, with 1.3 million new incidents of gonorrhea and 6.2 million new cases of the human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes almost all cases of cervical cancer in women and one that condoms provide essentially no protection against. In 2004, the state of Maryland was ranked No. 2 in the nation in reported cases of primary and secondary syphilis. And with 63 percent of all STI cases occurring in people younger than 25 and AIDS being one of the primary causes of death among Americans between the ages of 25 and 44, you would expect the administration of universities such as Maryland to provide more than just free Lifestyles brand condoms in a basket on the counter of the University Health Center.
What is really needed on this campus is free testing for STI’s. With many students already reluctant to get tested, it is ridiculous that a student at the university can run a bill of $50 at the health center to be tested for just HIV, chlamydia and gonorrhea (syphilis testing is free). The Centers for Disease Control estimated the annual direct medical costs of testing and treatment nationwide at $13 billion in 2004. With all the various fees slipped in the margins of our tuition bills, the university should be providing its cash-strapped students the courtesy of free testing, especially because it’s not an expense the school will have to pay for every student.
The university is a place where students come to learn more about themselves and the world around them. There is no reason for the discovery of one’s sexual health status to be exempt from this four-year learning experience. As the mediums through which many people’s futures are determined, the contemporary American university should do more to assist its students who wish to maintain their sexual health, just as the Campus Recreation Center and various student programs such as Gemstone and Honors allow students to maintain their physical and mental health. The financial barrier placed between young adults and STI testing must be broken down, either by the university or by the state and federal governments subsidizing or eliminating the costs.
Yesterday afternoon, the Kappa Phi Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., organized a rally to promote a drive for free on-campus STI testing. One can only hope that the school’s administration was listening. Some of our futures depend on it.
Ademola Sadik is a sophomore finance major. He can be reached at asadik@umd.edu.
