The Inter-Residence Hall Association is discussing ways to deter vandalism in residence halls, as well as the availability of condoms in vending machines and C-Stores on campus.

A proposal regarding condoms was presented by Keith Twombley, TRA president, and co-authored by Jennie Kingery, RCA president. The proposal, titled “The Superman Jones Initiative,” states that IRHA supports having condoms in vending machines and requests the Department of Residence make them available in Dining Services C-Stores campuswide.

“It’s true that [condoms] are available at all sorts of locations, but having them available at all locations can’t be a bad thing,” Twombley said.

“If selling these in C-Stores helps keep one girl from getting pregnant or one person from getting [a sexually transmitted disease], I don’t see what the problem is.”

Director of the Department of Residence Randy Alexander said he doesn’t see the need for condoms in C-Stores.

“My position is . condoms are already in the residence hall vending machines and are free at the Student Health Center,” Alexander said. “They are in the C-Stores at Hawthorn Court and students didn’t buy them. The last I checked only 22 boxes have been sold since August.”

Alexander said the Department of Residence has to deal with many constituents – including parents, students and the Board of Regents – and the department has to be careful about the messages it sends to those constituents.

“We’re not saying students can’t be sexually active and that they can’t use condoms,” Alexander said.

“I believe if we come out and make something available, we are implying that we’re neutral on the act, and eventually a lot of times when young people are sexually active, bad things happen.”

Twombley said selling condoms doesn’t advocate sexual activity.

“If the condoms are available that doesn’t send a message that we’re encouraging sex,” Twombley said.

“If we had people on the street corner yelling out `I have condoms for sale,’ that would be sending a message.”

The proposal states condoms have been shown to help prevent sexually transmitted diseases, but Alexander said he has read reports disputing such ideas.

“STDs skyrocketed, unplanned pregnancies have gone up,” Alexander said. “Those things don’t help students achieve their academic and personal goals.”

Alexander said he isn’t trying to tell students what to do, but he doesn’t want to be involved in the sale of condoms.

The proposal will be voted on Thursday and sent to several administrators, including Alexander, for review.

John Shertzer, IRHA adviser, also said in Thursday’s meeting that vandalism is increasing on campus and continues to be a problem. Alexander agreed that vandalism is a problem, and often the majority of students suffer from a few irresponsible people.

“You tend to see more vandalism where there are more men,” Alexander said. “Typically 95 percent [of the vandalism] is caused by five percent or less of the population.”

Students don’t realize the money to repair vandalized property comes from their pockets, Alexander said.

“Students have this misperception that they’re not paying for it,” Alexander said. “We don’t get any state funds; the only place to get money is from the students.”