“Hump Day” will be safer now for ISU students, thanks to a new program implemented by several campus organizations.

Thielen Student Health Center, Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention (SAVP) and the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center have teamed up to present “Free Condom Wednesdays.” The organizations will hand out free condoms and information on safe sex in the area south of Parks Library.

According to a study conducted in the spring of 2002 by Thielen Student Health Center, only 27 percent of students use condoms for vaginal sex, 0.7 percent use them for oral sex and 1.9 percent use them for anal sex. The study was done as part of a national college health assessment.

Health Promotion Coordinator Brian Dunn said these numbers are lower than he would like to see.

“I would love to see 100 percent of sexually active people using condoms,” said Dunn, program coordinator for Thielen Student Health Center.

The low numbers were not the only reason the organizations decided to team up to distribute condoms on campus, Dunn said.

“It’s not like we looked at them and said, ‘Oh my God, we’ve got to do something’,” Dunn said.

Dunn said by providing condoms on campus, they would be bringing information to the students, rather than have students seek their organizations out.

Penny Rice, director of the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center, said she wasn’t surprised with the study’s low percentages of condom use.

“We live in the middle of Iowa, and the belief that ‘It’s not going to happen to me’ is prevalent here,” Rice said.

SAVP program coordinator Sara Kellogg said she sees “Free Condom Wednesdays” as a great educational opportunity.

Previously, free condoms and information were offered by the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center and Thielen Student Health Center, but there was no organized event. Kellogg said being out on campus would expose a greater number of students to the information.

Kellogg said although some people might be opposed to the idea of handing out free condoms because they consider it encouraging sex, “The bottom line is we know students are having sex, and we’d rather have them safe and well-informed.”

Rice said she hopes students will be comfortable picking up free condoms.

“We’re not promoting sexual activity,” Rice said. “We’re promoting safer sexual activity.”

Dunn said there is no statistic that says handing out condoms increases sex.

“[You are] not going to find much credible research that says providing condoms to people makes them have more sex,” he said.

Dunn said he hopes “Free Condom Wednesdays” will positively impact the numbers of condom users for next spring’s National College Health Assessment.

“I would hope that we would see an increase of condom use across the board,” Dunn said.