Fun and games with condoms at Latexhibition

At this roulette wheel, nobody wins.

The model called the "Game of Life", beat out dozens of other latex creations to win first place in the biannual Latexhibition, held in the Cesar Chavez Student Center earlier this week. With each turn of the wheel, marked by coiled condoms, students won a disease or unwanted pregnancy resulting from unprotected sex.

"It never ceases to amaze me, every semester students come up with some things we've never seen before," said Ann Auleb, a lecturer in biology, counseling and health. "Somebody did a one-armed-bandit that really worked."

Students in Auleb's biology of human sexuality and biology of AIDS classes created the models as class projects. Auleb said that the purpose of the Latexhibition is to demystify latex products. The creators of the winning display will receive either a T-shirt or extra class credit.

"Sex is seen as something very private in this society," Auleb said. "I think many people are uncomfortable talking about sex and if they're not going to talk about these issues then they aren't going to be able to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases or unwanted pregnancies."

The purpose of the exhibition, which is sponsored each semester by the Education and Referral Organization for Sexuality in conjunction with other peer-education organizations and the student health service, is to create an open forum for students to discuss the role latex barriers play in the practice of safe sex.

"If we say we are having an exhibition on HIV or AIDS, not very many people will come," Auleb said. "If you have an event that's fun and humorous a lot of people will come by to see it. We can have 3,000 people come by to see the displays."

At the EROS table, students could get information on safe sex practices and the merits of various latex-barrier devices. Peer counselors were available to answer questions and distribute free condoms.

"This is one of two big projects we put on during the year," said Marianne Jenson, the associate director of EROS. "The purpose is to desensitize students to purchasing and touching latex-barrier devices, to make it less scary."

Student reaction to the exhibition was mixed. Many came with friends and giggled or pointed as they strode through the rows of displays.

"It's a good idea, but it's a little like fun with condoms," said Mathew Bikerton, a junior in industrial design. "One thing about it is that it makes them more acceptable. Although many of the displays aren't putting any particular message across, they are serving a purpose in that way."

Jocelyn James, a freshman in marketing, liked the displays, "I like the "Computer Love" with the condoms on the keys the best, it's creative and looks like a lot of work went into it."

" Computer Love," consisted of a computer and keyboard covered in condoms. To either side of the keyboard were personal-computer magazines with sexual messages attached. The disk, which was halfway into the hard drive, read "america sex online for horny people."

Students who missed the Latexhibition this week will have another opportunity to see some of the exhibitions when they are displayed in the library during the last week of April.

[ Golden Gater Online February 29, 1996 ]

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