Mather To Have Safer Sex

There will be sex, sex and more sex for Mather House residents this week, thanks to a week-long safer sex education event.

Starting Monday, events will include a speaker who is HIV-positive on Thursday evening and a screening of Magic Johnson's "Time Out" video. The activities are open to all students.

House tutors will table in the dining hall each night, handing out free condoms and brochures on topics such as what safer sex is, how to avoid contracting HIV and how to properly use a condom.

"Several people my age have friends and neighbors who this disaster has hit," said Mather Master Jeffrey G. Williamson, who conceived the idea for the event. "AIDS and safer sexawareness are very important as they embark ontheir adult lives."

Williamson plans to step down at the end of thesemester after seven years as master. He is alsoBell professor of economics.

Williamson said he didn't want to leave theCollege without addressing safer sex education.

With the help of University Health Services andthe guidance of Williamson, Resident Tutor RolandL. Dunbrack '85 and two AIDS Education andOutreach members, Chinua O. Sanyika '93 and AntheaM. Williams '93 helped arrange the week-longeducational events.

"The goal of the week is to spread as muchinformation about sexual issues as possible," saidDunbrack. "We want to saturate the house so thatpeople can't avoid it."

"Unfortunately, it is often women who have totake action [to protect themselves] in sexualsituations," he added.

According to Dunbrack, no other houses haveheld such an event. If it is successful, it maybecome an annual event at Mather.

"It may or may not work," said Dunbrack."People don't always want to go to something thatmay be hard to listen to."

But Dunbrack says that even if participation islow, the event's publicity will provoke studentsto think about the issues