Every Wednesday, free condoms are handed out to students on campus. Amber Long, adviser for the Student Health Advisory Committee, says it’s getting hard to keep up with the demand.

“We’re having more people come to it, even the places at the health center that are offering free condom baskets and things,” she says. “Those are emptying a lot faster than they have in previous years.”

The committee is getting the word out on all sexual issues.

This week is Sexual Health Awareness Week, during which it hopes to inform students about issues like sexual health and sexual assault.

“Careful Cupid,” a sexual assault and self-defense workshop sponsored by the Student Health Advisory Committee and the Ames Police Department, will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Room 184 of the Forker Building.

Ames Police Officer Tom Shelton says his goal for the workshop is to make sure people know what sexual assault is and the steps the police department takes in sexual assault cases.

He says the process of reporting the assault is private, so victims don’t need to worry about it going public.

“It’s going to be pretty confidential, and there’s going to be certain steps that are going to make that survivor feel more comfortable in reporting it,” he says.

Shelton says a lot of times people are scared of hurting the person who attacked them, but that is the point.

“Your point is to stop making them think about you and start making them think about themselves,” he says.

Heather Priess, coordinator of the Story County Sexual Assault Response Team, says sexual assault is a problem at Iowa State. She says students need to become more aware of their surroundings and look out for one another.

“I think that the more aware people are of sexual assault, the more they can take steps to try to be safe and the better they will be able to help friends that they might have that are sexually assaulted,” she says.

Priess says some sexual assault victims may not always recognize that they were abused.

“Some people recognize that they were assaulted [and] some people just don’t know what to call it,” she says. “They know that something bad happened, but they might not call it rape, or they might not call it sexual assault and they might be more likely to blame themselves and be hesitant to seek resources.”

Sexual assault is not the only issue on campus. Sexually-transmitted diseases are also something students need to be aware of.

Teresa Tsushima, assistant professor of sociology, says an effective way to help inform students of sexual health would be to hold a half semester course on safe sex.

“I would recommend that course address issues like safe sex and also how to protect oneself from sexual assault and date rape,” Tsushima says.

Brochures and posters informing students about sexual health could be located in popular spots on campus, like the Memorial Union and Lied Recreation Center, Tsushima says.

“If you’re not in a hurry to get to class, you might be more likely to notice a poster or brochure and actually pay attention to it,” she says.

In addition to the self-defense workshop, an enhanced Free Condom Wednesday booth will be set up in the Union Drive Community Center. Condom-on-a-stick suckers, candy, other free goodies and information will be available to all students who stop by. Long says students are becoming more open to learning about sexual health.

“Students are becoming aware of their risk factors,” she says. “I think maybe the media’s doing a little bit better job [with] HIV and AIDS. Students are becoming more aware, and that’s also leaving them to question about STIs [sexually transmitted infections], as well.”