Printer-friendly versionOn a cold Wednesday night, David (name changed at his request), a 21-year-old Wharton senior, pounds beers, smokes weed and scouts potential hook-ups at a fraternity party. After several rounds of drinks, he abandons a game of beer pong and strolls into a dark bathroom to relieve himself. A girl he does not know eyes him and follows him in. They start to make out while the party continues on the other side of the wall. By the time David leaves the bathroom, he will have known her quite intimately, while still unsure of her name.
Throughout his education, David has been bombarded with statistics about the risks of unsafe sex and the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 65 million Americans are living with an incurable sexually transmitted disease. Two-thirds of all new STD cases every year occur in people under the age of 25. For the first time in ten years, the infection rate of HIV has risen. These numbers may scare David, but not nearly enough. He rarely uses protection -- despite having multiple sex partners.
It has been two weeks and a day since David had unprotected sex in that fraternity bathroom. Early on this Thursday morning, he heads to 1201 Chestnut Street to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases at the Philadelphia Community Health Alternatives. After spending four years worrying about grades and internships, he is now motivated enough to find out if his sexual habits have in fact impacted his physiological health. "I actually wanted to do it right now because I had slept with a girl unprotected, and I feel like if the girl would let me do that, well then, maybe she has been having a lot of intercourse on her own," David says. While his worries are specifically about the sexual history of this one partner, he is less concerned about his own past. "If she's been having a lot of intercourse on her own, you know, before me, then I just feel like that kind of increases the chances because she wouldn't make me wear a condom. And I was a little nervous about that. I feel like that might have been kind of slutty on her part and so I wanted to get tested." While her failure to ask him to wear a condom makes him think that she might be a "slut," he excuses his own carelessness by saying that he just got caught up in "the heat of the moment."
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What a moron this kid is - how he got accepted into Wharton escapes me. For someone to make out in a bathroom, get checked for an STD, and (even before getting his results back) declare that he is invincible is beyond asinine. However, if David is representative of the average Wharton kid, then that gives the rest of us college grads a needed advantage in the job search.
By the way, I think that it is obvious that David is the slut - not the girl he makes presumptions about. The only thing sadder than a male slut is a scholarly carney.
Alum, Banker
NY
This article disheartens me, but confirms something that I suspected. That the culture of the condom my peers and educators worked so hard to indoctrinate in us back in the early '90's has been slowly eroding. You didn't go out for the night without at least one condom in your wallet or purse or coat pocket. I got out of a LTR over a year ago, and being back out in the sea of single sexuality have been shocked by how willing people are these days to have sex without a condom.
It seems like there is the perception that STDs are no longer a real threat to people with certain social status (of class and race). While it is true that certain demographics are more at risk than others, the spread of a lax attitude is the quickest way to a resurgence in other populations.
Wise up people! If spontaneous stranger sex thrills you, great, I'm glad you found something that gets you off. (Enjoy it now while your in college because its never easier to find.) But please (and this goes for both men and women) - carry condoms on you, and practice putting them on until you can do it with one hand and your eyes closed so that it doesn't matter how intoxicated you are when the situation presents itself.
'96 Alum, Penn Employee
Philadelphia
Image is nothing. Yes Wharton may be one of the top schools, but what does that imply about its students? Not too much from a social aspect. Wharton is a typical school. It has your share of nerds and geeks, and also jocks and male and female sluts. This was a really good article though, since it does break our little Penn bubbble with the harsh realities of STDs and the hellish world of AIDS and HIV. What I don't agree with is David's idea that AIDS is a disease 'you can live with and life will still be the same.' I hope you honestly don't think that. If you do, just read up on stories of AIDS victims. Sure, David you may be rich and can afford the HIV drugs that aren't mostly covered by insurance, but your lifestyle will change. Your bubble will be broken, and you will fall victim to another statistic in our country, and live out your days yearning to take your life back to that fateful moment before you stuck it in the wrong hole...
Penn Senior, Health Care Consulting
Philly
This guy is a loser. Plain and simple. Nobody really thinks this way, except this idiot. Who would really want this guy to pull his pants down before knowing this dumbass? If everything really is true in this story, I'm thankful, so I wont send my kids to the sex crazed UPenn. And for that guy, hope he gets this article on his resume.
Mark, student
USA
It is not often that someone will candidly (and publicly) offer their opinion of your personal actions, especially those involved in such a serious topic. Your personal critique of my sexual habits has led to a complete and radical change of the mentality and dealings in both me and my peers. After reading the article, it truly reflected how poor these decisions are, and how it can affect those around me. Sexually transmitted diseases are not something to brush over as innocuous. They are very real, and the sexual responsibility we face must be scrutinized with extreme caution and awareness.
However, my story is not the only anecdote of someone who chooses to engage in such risky behavior. Sadly, but true, almost everyone can remember that one time when they made the decision to have sexual intercourse without a condom. Perhaps it was the spontaneity of their actions, the increased pleasure of condom-less sex, or the inability to escape the intoxication of sexual pleasures when no condom is around. This is the truth, ladies and gentleman, this story is REAL Ð too real. I am not revealing an isolated incidence of sheer stupidity, but rather telling a tale to which many people can personally relate. Unprotected sex happens everywhere, all the time. I am sure you can remember that one time you either initiated sex with a condom and subsequently took it off for better stimulation. Or rather the time you began to have sex then later realized before ejaculation you should don one. This story is not farfetched Ð it happens quite often Ð too often. For some reason, people try to rationalize their actions in some way, repress these memories and forget about that one incident, hoping it never comes back to haunt them.
Regardless of this stupidity, that one small error in judgment can be costly. I sincerely hope that by sharing my experiences with us all, these single episodes of unprotected sex will end and awareness and responsibility will increase. With all this in mind, I was faced with a similar situation this past weekend, the opportunity to have unprotected sex with a person whom I had just met that night. However, this time I did not succumb to the enticement of a night of irresponsible debauchery, but rather respected those around me and Ð more importantly Ð respect myself by behaving in a responsible manner and abstaining due to the lack of a condom.
I believe the article was written with a single purpose, and that very purpose has been successful in even making the subject to which it was written substantially more aware and responsible for his actions. In addition, I know that STD clinics around the city have been flooded with people who have a story similar to mine. Dean, great article, and I sincerely believe you have completely altered both my mentality and the many people that chose to ignore that "one time" in only the most positive manner.
David, Student
Wharton
whartonsr03@yahoo.com
Yo, David Dude! If you wait until after you get the results to start wearing a condom.....you have to go back and start the whole process all over again. Jeeesh!!
Sheila, Retired Penn alum
Boston
It's a shame when a strong mind has a weak character. Unfortunately, even heath care professionals (including med students) often fail to incorporate their knowledge of risk into their social behavior. David is certainly not alone, and that is a sad commentary on our society.
Ed, Medical Student, '98 CAS
New Orleans
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