Ranking places UT low in sexual health

Listen up everyone, our good friends over at Trojan have sent the students of UT the fourth-annual Trojan Sexual Health Report Card, and things aren’t looking good. The report card is an annual ranking of sexual health resources at American colleges and universities and is based on the availability of resources that make having safe sex easier for students.

Compared to other SEC schools, UT is lagging behind. Tennessee is ranked at No. 100, with the University of South Carolina coming in first and the University of Georgia ranked in sixth place. The University of Florida falls behind at No. 24, and the University of Alabama comes in at No. 40.

Some students feel as though the sexual health of UT students does not need improvement.

“I think we definitely have a lot of resources for students,” Kelly Ferowich, junior in nutrition, said. “I feel like I hear about it more than I want to.”

However, others feel that our school is not doing enough to promote safe sex.

“I know that schools like JMU (James Madison University) have places on campus where condoms are distributed daily,” Natalie Jacobs, junior in psychology, said.

“We need to have more resources available for students because the reality is that most of them are sexually active,” Jacobs said.

This might be true, considering the fact that most students I attempted to interview about this subject said they didn’t know much about the resources available on campus or from our health center. So, although South Carolina’s football recruits may end up pumping gas one day, they’ll have the last laugh at the STD-laden UT students.

The criteria for the ranking includes:

1. Student opinion of health center

2. Hours of operation

3. Allowing drop-ins versus requiring appointments

4. Separate sexual awareness program

5. Contraceptives, free or at cost

6. Condoms, free or at cost

7. HIV testing (on/off campus, at cost)

8. STD testing (on/off campus, at cost)

9. Anonymous advice via e-mail / column

10. Lecture / outreach programs

11. Student peer groups

12. Sexual assault programs

13. Web site usability, functionality

The criteria to receive a high score on the report card also includes how willing students would be to contact their health center with a sexual problem. An area that South Carolina particularly excelled in is sexual health and violence-prevention services that offer healthy relationship services, STI information, sexual-assault prevention and campus outreach.

Jacobs and Samantha Economos, junior in pre-nursing, both said they probably would not go to the health center for a sexual problem and don’t think any of their friends would either.

In order to help our campus become a more sexually responsible place, The Daily Beacon will now accept anonymous questions about sex and sexual health from our student body. So what are you waiting for? Go ahead, ask your deepest, darkest questions, and we at the Beacon will do our best to give you advice. Email us at ftheden@utk.edu.