For $4.87 at Wal-Mart, you could buy a lifesaver.

That’s the price of a 12-pack of Trojan Latex Condoms, those often-ridiculed and way-too-underestimated saviors of sexually active people everywhere.

Next week is National Condom Week, a time for celebration and information about the best possible sexually transmitted disease protection you can get, short of abstinence. As if that weren’t enough, they are also the most effective birth control method you can use without a doctor’s visit or prescription.

You could say condoms are the Rodney Dangerfield of the sex industry — they just don’t get much respect. How many times have you gotten a joke e-mail about “New Condom Slogans” (my favorite: Chevy Rubbers: Like A Rock)?

My favorite episode of rubber-bashing was on TV a few years back, when a comedian actually managed to put a condom over his head. Things like this are sending the wrong message to people. Condoms — in fact, STD and pregnancy prevention in general — are no laughing matter.

Due to the stigma attached to condom use, people have come up with multitudes of excuses to avoid using them. Probably the most often-used one is that they kill the mood. Well, guys, according to a pamphlet published by the American Social Health Association, using a condom may actually help a man LAST LONGER during sex.

Another evasive action that guys try is the “What? Don’t you trust me?” line. Well, girls, you might love him with all your heart, but do you know where he’s been? With many diseases, symptoms might not show up until quite a while after the fact. For example, you might not know you have genital warts for one to six months after you contract them. Gonorrhea might not show up for two to 21 days.

Let’s not forget that little, fatal bug called AIDS. A person could go for anywhere from several months to several years without seeing any symptoms. You might THINK he escaped that one-nighter clean, but are you SURE?

All three of these diseases, plus other wonderful itchies like syphilis, chlamydia (where 25% of the cases in men are symptomless) and genital herpes, are spread through sexual contact. You can reduce your chances of getting all of them by simply taking a few seconds and slipping on a condom. It’s really painless and inexpensive, and, in fact, condoms can actually be fun.

Thanks to science and some creative researchers, there are now condoms to fit every mood, size, and taste.

For you science-fiction lovers, use a glow-in-the-dark model. I can hear the lines now: “The Eagle has landed.” There are flavored condoms for people who don’t really like the taste of lubricant (yes, you CAN get STD’s, including AIDS, from oral sex. You need a condom then, too).

The Trojan company now makes a “larger-sized” model for those men who feel too big for their britches. They also have a “very thin” condom, which increases sensitivity. There are also shaped, ribbed, lubed, and non-lubed models, just to name a few. Feeling artistic? You can get condoms in every color of the rainbow, and them some. As you can see, condoms are a great way to bring variety and fun into your sex life.

One of the biggest roadblocks to condom usage is that people tend to be a bit embarrassed about buying them. Remember the joke about the pharmacist’s daughter? Guys, you should be proud to buy condoms. Hey, there’s no better way to impress that hot checkout girl at Hy-Vee then by purchasing a case of prophylactics. It tells her you care, and lets her know that you’re a sensitive kind of guy, that you’d never put someone you cared about at risk. Besides, nothing’s a bigger turn-off then having to cancel a date because you’ve got to go see the doctor about your new rash.

Girls, you can get in on the act, too. According to a John Hopkins University Population Report, women buy one-third of the condoms sold in the United States. Surprise your man, take the initiative.

The days of spontaneous, free love are over. Here are the facts: Approximately 55 million Americans have STDs, with more than 12 million people becoming infected each year. Hepatitis is the only one that has a vaccine, and it infects 200,000 people each year. An estimated 900,000 Americans have HIV, the cause of AIDS. Among adults ages 25-44, AIDS is the leading cause of death. Syphilis can also be fatal, and it affects 120,000 new cases each year. Need I go on?

We need to be safe, and we need to be safe NOW. Just because you’re safe from pregnancy doesn’t necessarily mean you’re STD-free. Methods such as the Pill, Norplant, and IUDs offer no STD protection. Condoms, then, are the best of both worlds. When used correctly, they are 88-97% effective in preventing pregnancy, and unbeatable at stopping the spread of STDs.

If you are having sex, EVERY week should be Condom Week. There’s not one solid reason why you shouldn’t use them. There’s unlimited reasons why you should, starting with the fact that it works.

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Holly Benton is a sophomore in animal science from Early.