With limited resources on campus and throughout the city, Texas Tech University students are left trying to find affordable sexual health care while learning about the facts.
In 2013, Lubbock County was in the top 20 out of the 254 counties in Texas for the highest number of sexually transmitted disease cases as reflected by the Department of State Health Services’ annual report.
New Orleans-native Lance Evangelister is a 20-year-old, pre-engineering major in his sophomore year. He said although his religious beliefs encourage him to abstain, he wouldn’t know where to obtain contraceptives if the situation presented itself.
“We don’t have enough; well I just haven’t seen it on campus, so I can’t say that they are. You just don’t see it. Are they even sold on campus? I don’t know,” Evangelister said when asked if condoms are easily accessible at Texas Tech.
He said protection is important if anyone is sexually active.
“They should definitely have condoms in the dorms,” he said. “Dude, you should have that. I was just talking to some girls earlier today, and she was talking about, ‘I don’t know if I can hold out for that long’ because she was asking me for advice about some guy.”
Among students, he said, he has heard sexually related stories, and what scares him most is how they openly talk about not using condoms.
“Along with AlcoholEdu,” he said, “there should definitely be something spoken about sex because AlcoholEdu is mandatory as freshman. Maybe we should do something about sex.”
The DSHS website shows Texas is currently under an abstinence-centered education program, which provides students with facts about the risks and prevention in hopes of delaying sexual activity.
In 2012, the city of Lubbock reported a total of 190 pregnancies within the 13- to 17-year-old age range, as shown by the statistical report for the DSHS.
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy website showed Texas had 44.4 pregnancies per 1,000 girls within the 15- to 19-year-old age range in 2012. The website also reflects approximately $1.1 billion was spent on teen childbearing.
Brian Carr, Ph.D, has served on the Lubbock Board of Health and within the Texas Tech InterFraternity Council, and he said sometimes education is not enough if it is not being talked about at home.
“I think the better fix to all this is we have to foster relationships, and the difficulty is,” Carr said, “whether it be at the junior high, high school or college level, is saying that we need older people to kind of mentor younger people. And, the trouble is, is that we pretty much just say, ‘let the schools do it,’ and then the schools basically tend to throw some pamphlets out there.”
He said the last sexual health seminar he attended by the state provided literature about self-esteem, consent, and scientific information about reproduction. While the literature was informative, he said, the real problem is people are not truly discussing the topic
While on the advisory board for the Texas Tech IFC, he said, he once proposed women’s restrooms should hold a bowl of condoms. This was a decision he felt was necessary; however, others disagreed.
The DSHS report also reflected about 2,500 STD cases reported in the city during 2013.
History major Marine Marty has been in Texas for about a month, and she said the people in her hometown of Limoges, France, view sexuality in a more progressive way than those in this area.
While she said she has seen condoms for sale in the Student Union Building, she thinks they should be spread out throughout campus along with counselors or advocates readily available to answer any sexual health questions without an appointment.
“We need to have common talk whenever we want, and I think that is important,” she said, “or even a phone number to call if someone has a problem.”
A representative with the Texas Tech Student Wellness Center said the facility does offer contraceptives and STD testing for a fee.
The Lubbock City Health Department website shows it offers free or low-cost STD testing for area-wide patients who qualify.
When it comes to restrictions on reproductive health care, Marine Marty said it won’t eliminate the issue of unplanned pregnancies. She said the only solution is to focus on prevention, and that includes giving people an outlet to speak about sexual issues freely.
She said placing a taboo on sexuality could lead to negative psychological effects.
“Prohibition is not the way to act,” Marty said, “and it is even more difficult when it is about health.”
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