Questions a Virgin Never Asks

To the editors:

I submit 10 questions a virgin never asks:

10. Am I wearing holey underwear?

9. Did I remember my pill last night?

8. Where did I leave my condoms?

7. Will the condom break?

6. How do I compare to his ex?

5. Who is that at the door?

4. Why is my period one day late?

3. Why is my period two days late?

2. Is he using me for sex?

1. Do I have chlamydia?

This past Wednesday (April 29), a rise in cases of chlamydia recorded by the University Health Service (UHS) made front-page news. To my mind, however, the most interesting story came at the very end of the article. According to UHS infection control surveillance officer Donna Y. Campbell, "If students want to avoid the illness altogether, they might consider abstinence....But...it is not UHS's intention to proscribe promiscuity among undergraduates." Otherwise, Campbell might be out of a job.

Possibly the most powerful force known to humankind, the sex drive appears unstoppable, even to many good Christian college students. Intelligent people will risk pregnancy, disease and shame for an orgasm. Recent Earth Day posters take this for granted, urging us to "Shower with a friend" and "Do it in the dark".

To promote abstinence, therefore, seems the ultimate in naivete. Yet, precisely because sex is so powerful, it must be handled with respect. Sexual intercourse can be a mystical, even sacred experience. Two individuals become completely naked and vulnerable to each other--or, as the Bible puts it, they become "one flesh." Yet in the modern trend of serial monogamy, the bond of one flesh, meant to last a lifetime, is ripped apart again and again. Chlamydia can be treated with antibiotics. What is the cure for a broken heart?

To be completely honest, as a college student I also found myself helpless before the power of sex. The summer after my junior year, I got married. LAURA CHENG '93   May 1, 1998

The writer is a pre-law tutor in Eliot House.