Email This StorySurvey gives BU low marks on sexual health
Sept. 18, 2007
 Jade Hodges/Lariat staff |
By Caitlin Forehand
Reporter
Baylor Bears are experts on many things, but "the birds and the bees" may not be one of them.
The makers of Trojan brand condoms released their second annual Sexual Health Report Card, in which they ranked 139 colleges and universities across the United States, including Baylor.
Baylor was ranked 134 with a "GPA" of 1.45. It is the lowest-ranked school in the Big 12 and in Texas.
Lori Fogleman, director of media relations at Baylor, called the survey "goofy" and "a marketing tactic." She said Baylor was unconcerned with the low ranking.
"These kinds of 'college surveys' are a dime a dozen these days," she said. "Companies have their own reasons for doing them, and we really don't spend our time analyzing and responding to each and every survey."
In Trojan's sexual report card, it states the survey was necessary because the United States has the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies among developed countries. The report cites statistics for the U.S. such as "more than 750,000 unintended teenage pregnancies, 19 million sexually transmitted infections, and more than 1 billion acts of unprotected sex among single adults."
To conduct the survey, researchers polled college health centers and reviewed the schools' Web sites. They then assigned a GPA based on 11 categories. Among others, these categories include: sexual health and awareness programs, condom and contraception availability, HIV testing, sexual assault programs, usability of online sexual health information, anonymous advice and lecture outreach programs.
Nancy Keating, director of nurses at Baylor's health center, said they offer testing for any sexually transmitted diseases. Although the health center does not have a lab on campus, they are usually able to get test results back in one day.
Each of the schools in the study were given letter grades for the 11 categories considered. Baylor's grades for the eleven evaluated areas are: health center hours of operation - B; doctor appointments and drop-ins - C; separate sexual awareness programs - F; contraceptives and condoms - F; HIV testing - B; STD testing - D; anonymous advice via e-mail/column - F; lecture/outreach programs - C; student peer groups - C; sexual assault programs - B; Web site - D.
Sperling's BestPlaces, a research company that specializes in rankings, conducted the surveys for Trojan and said it found that "a lack of access to information and resources may prevent some students from being sexually healthy."
Some of the biggest factors separating the higher-ranked schools from the others were availability of anonymous advice, free contraception distribution and sexual awareness programs.
The schools that ranked the highest did consistently well in all categories, and there was not necessarily just one factor that separated the higher-ranked schools from the lower ones," said Melle Hock, a representative for Trojan.
Baylor offers a human sexuality course through the department of health, human performance and recreation.
"The information presented in the course is based on research and is accurate, up-to-date and taught in a sensitive and caring manner," Loeen Irons, a senior lecturer in the health, human performance, and recreation department, said in an e-mail interview with The Baylor Lariat. Irons, who teaches the sexuality course, said students are advised to take care of their sexual health.
"We also encourage students to get regular well-woman and well-man check ups and refer students to the health center if they have additional medical or counseling needs," she said.
Dallas senior Katie Kennedy said she is glad Baylor offers a human sexuality class.
"I've learned a lot in the class and I'll definitely keep the textbook," she said.
But a few students in the class are somewhat frustrated with the way Baylor treats sexuality.
"We have one of the top human sexuality professors in the country, but we use a textbook that gets censored," Frisco junior Brandon Dartez said.
The textbook, which reads "custom edition" on the cover, contains two photocopied chapters on sexual behaviors and pleasure and sexual problems and solutions. The chapters also contain large areas of white space, which caused students to question what was originally printed.
Dr. Beth Lanning, associate professor in the health, human performance, and recreation department, also teaches the human sexuality class. When asked if textbooks were censored, Lanning said, "We take care of what we need to for the class."
Pearson Education, located in New Jersey, is the book's publisher. On the company Web site, Pearson addresses its custom textbook philosophy.
"The Pearson Custom Editions program effectively replaces the conventional course-pack with a custom-built reader that focuses on highly specific themes and topics," a company press release said. "Each professor can, in effect, publish his or her own 'dream collection' of classic readings that exactly match their shifting course requirements."
Bookstore manager Anne Richards said the human sexuality textbook arrives from the publisher in its current condition, and any changes take place before the book reaches the shelves.
Dartez likes that Baylor is a religious school, but he said he would like it to be more open about sexual health.
"We have the stigma of being really religious, but we're still regular students," he said.
Jim Daniels, vice president of marketing for Trojan, said it is time to "evolve the way we address the realities of sexual health and provide students with practical resources they need to protect themselves."
The only other religious schools in Texas ranked in the report were Texas Christian University and Southern Methodist University. TCU was ranked 85 with a GPA of 2.64 and SMU was ranked 105 with a GPA of 2.36.
First and second place in the survey went to the University of Minnesota and the University of Wyoming, which both had a GPA of 3.91. Ten out of the 11 other schools in the Big 12 made the top 100.
Baylor was not ranked in last year's survey.
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