KaChelle Pratcher
Guest Writer
“The Sex Game,” was an open forum that talked about the advantages and disadvantages of being aware of your sexual behavior.
The forum, held in the Student Center at Jackson State University, featured Freda M. Bush M.D., Mandrell Brown, and Francis White, as the speakers.
“This forum was put together to share the importance of safe sex and to let students ask questions they were afraid to ask,” said Lewis.
A question asked several times throughout the event was, “What is the STD rate at Jackson State University?”
All three guests said there is no specific way you can find out the rates of dsexually transmitted diseases on a college campus. However, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website has county by county information that will show the rates of certain infectious diseases that are reported.
“State law requires that a doctor must report if a patient has HIV (AIDS), gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis,” stated Brown, JSU health educator and promoter.
According to the CDC website Hinds County has reported 8,200 cases of HIV.
JSU has a HIV testing site on campus located on the first floor in the Liberal Arts Building called Project Safe. The rapid tests check the body to see if antibodies or infections are present and uses just a swab saliva; the test is 99.9 percent accurate.
“What you do today or tonight can have an effect on the rest of your life” said Bush, with the East Lakeland Ob-gyn.
Bush, author of the book “Hooked,” said when thinking about sex, examine the factors of the “three B’s: Babies, Bodies Rubbing Together, and Bonding.”
White, a counselor for the LNC stated, “Think about the individuals you have had sex with and their partners, and so on, it’s a never-ending cycle.”
White added that having unprotected sex leads to risks of many different infections. The only effective way of preventing STDs is to be abstinent or practice safe sex every time.
The forum was sponsored by Miss Sophomore Chan’tal Lewis, the Special Interest Council, the University Health Center and the Latasha Norman Center for Counseling and Psychological Services.
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