Playboy magazine’s “Girls of the Big 12” issue went on stands Tuesday, exposing the world to the latest college student sex survey. Playboy reports that 90 percent of students are sexually active. Of them, half are having sex once a week.

The new report shows that numbers are up from a 1991 study by the Kinsey Institute. It showed 80 percent of men and 73 percent of women are sexually active. Human Sexuality professor at Iowa State, Corly Petersen questions the accuracy of the survey.

“You always have to be careful about sex surveys,” Petersen said. “Honesty can play a big factor. Students may exagerate to fit into the crowd. You have to be real careful about how you ask the questions. Some students may think sexually active means sexually aroused.”

Randy Patterson, Director of Student Health at Iowa State, agreed. “I have a real problem with those surveys. Every young person believes he or she is not as sexually active as their friends.”

Peterson’s Human Sexuality classes have taken an 85 question survey simular to that of Playboy’s. Although it is not a random sample, her class has a good cross section average of 60 percent men and 40 percent women.

“Twenty percent of our class reported they had not had sexual intercourse,” Petersen said. “I would have guessed it would be higher than that. Twelve percent did not have oral sex; so you can see the variance.”

Petersen’s most recent survey reported that one-third of the class were not involved in intercourse in the last six months.

“If anything, students are more responsible than they used to be,” Patterson said. “I would believe the number of partners has gone down and that students are better protected.”

Although only seven percent of men and eight percent of women in the Playboy survey report that premarital sex is wrong, students did show a decrease in the number of people they sleep with. Fifty-seven percent of the men and 71 percent of the women said they had had sex with only partner in the past school year.

HIV testing on a rise.

According to the Playboy survey, one-third of both male and female students have been HIV tested. Sixty-six percent of the women and 49 percent of the men claimed their sex lives would not change if AIDS disappeared overnight.

“I don’t think we’re anywhere near that number,” Patterson said. “In a busy month we may see 250 to 300 students get tested. In a slow month, somewhere between 70 and 80. We always see a surge of people when a national figure comes out HIV positive.”

Iowa State’s Student Health Center is a state testing site. Nurses are required to follow an Iowa code that calls for pre-test and post-test counciling. HIV testing at the Student Health Center is entirely anonymous and free.

“The worried make up most of the tested,” Patterson said. “There are a number of students that should be tested that aren’t. They think that if they ignore it, it will go away. They don’t want to think that it could happen to them.”

Petersen said she encourages all her students to get tested.

“There has been an increase of students getting tested on campus,” she said. Fifty percent of the females and 23 percent of the males in her class have been tested. “That is really encouraging.”

Is oral sex real sex?

In Playboy’s survey, 52 percent of men and 46 percent of woman say “yes it is.” One-fourth of the men and 15 percent of the women felt that oral sex is more intimate than intercourse.

“We seperate the two by name,” Petersen said about her teaching of the issue. “But oral-genetal sex is considered very intimate. I teach more about the different risks involved in both. There are STDs unique to both of them.”

Students are more sexually creative.

Playboy reported that three out of four students discuss sexual fantasies with their partners.

While pornography viewing as a couple is up more than 60 percent, two-thirds of males and 45 percent of females rely on mainstream movies to get erotic ideas. While 99 percent of all students reported feeling pleasure from sex, twenty four percent of woman said they had never achieved orgasm. Playboy’s College Sex Survey was compiled from responses from more than 1,000 students who completed a 152-item survey. The survey, not identified as a Playboy project, also included 10 essay questions.