THE
I S S U E DAT E 10•24•17
BEACON
VOLUME 14 NO. 4
BY THE STUDENTS, FOR THE STUDENTS
Sexual Health In Decline
By Troy Hudson
prisingly common neglect for basic sexual protection even among people who seemed to have the most to lose from an unwanted pregnancy. Of the participants who a n -
If you’re reading this newspaper, chances are you’re an adult. Even if it doesn’t quite feel like it yet, trust us — deadlines, complicated relationships of all kinds, the looming knowledge that you will one day have to repay your student loans — this is the stuff of adulthood. So as adults, let’s clear the air — there’s something we’re not talking about enough in our culture, and the consequences of this collective neglect are frankly alarming. We’re talking about sex, of course, and the absurd reality that nearly a third of Americans have unprotected sex “every single time.” The disturbing statisIllu stra tic above is taken from a tion by V survey conducted by Suane ssa perdrug Online Doctor, in Poi rier which the online prescription service interviewed 1,000 Americans and 1,000 Europeans about their sex habits. What they found was a sur-
swered “yes” to the question “I would be devastated by an unplanned pregnancy,” 19 percent said they still have sex without any protection “every single time.” Wait, this is 2017, right? After decades of mandatory sexual education in public schools, can this statistic really be representative of our country’s attitude toward safe sex? Unfortunately, even though it is well documented that comprehensive sex-education programs are substantially more effective than abstinence-only programs offered at most schools, decentralized curricular standards make it easier for schools to provide the kind of sex education that will offend the fewest number of parents, rather than offering adolescents practical strategies for self-protection. According to surveys conducted by the National Survey of Family Growth, the number of people aged 15 to 19 who have received any formal education at all about birth control and sexually transmitted diseases has progressively declined since 2006, while exposure to abstinence-only education has increased. What this means for college students is that many will arrive on campus with no
idea of the risks they take when having unprotected sex — risks with totally unnecessary and potentially agonizing consequences. Furthermore, because sex isn’t spoken about frankly in our culture, we often don’t feel comfortable seeking out information (and no, porn is not a reliable source). Despite the cultural awkwardness around the issue, this is a case where what you don’t know actually can hurt you. So allow us at The Beacon to briefly remind you just what’s at stake should you decide to have unprotected sex. The three most common sexually transmitted infections in America are chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis. How common are they, exactly? In 2016, over 2 million new cases were reported in the U.S., the highest number ever recorded — and keep in mind these are just the cases that get reported. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that nearly 20 million new cases of STIs occur every year in this country. The “it can’t happen to me” argument simply doesn’t hold water in the face of such overwhelming frequency. Of these three diseases, chlamydia is by far the most common, accounting for 1.5 million cases reported to the CDC last year, (Continued on Page 2)
How Much Food Does SMCC Waste? By Ben Riggleman Twice a week, under the cover of early-morning darkness, a large orange truck pulls up to Oceanview Dining Hall. Pizza crusts, paper cups, unpopular quinoa dishes — it all gets packed into this truck and never seen again. In total, that’s some 1,700 pounds of waste per week. The truck belongs to We Compost It, a local business that describes itself as “Maine’s premiere composting company.” SMCC has been composting its food for less than three years. According to Rachel Fisk, Sodexo marketing coordinator, the school community was moved to leave the landfill behind when it discovered how much it was wasting through a program of Sodexo’s: WasteLESS Week. The dining-services contractor is holding a second WasteLESS week at SMCC from Oct. 23 to 27. Every day this week, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., all waste generated in the SeaWolves Café will be captured and weighed. The results — a judgment of sorts — will be announced at lunchtime on Friday. Other educational activities will happen in the meantime. The point will be to “try and show students how to be more sustainable in their everyday lives,” Ms. Fisk said. “But we [also] try and open their eyes on how wasteful they are.” Another goal is to raise awareness of an issue that mirrors wastefulness: hunger in Maine. On Monday, in the first event of the
week, Wayside Food Programs visited the dining hall. Wayside runs a soup kitchen at 135 Walton Street, Portland, as well as “community meals” in local neighborhoods. Its Food Rescue program, which SMCC participates in, distributed 772,500 pounds of food that would otherwise have been wasted in 2016, according to Wayside’s website. Some leftover food from the dining hall is also sent to Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Maine. Tuesday, We Compost It will staff a table, informing Oceanview diners of the work it does to minimize the footprint of our waste. Wednesday will be themed around water waste, a hidden effect of thrown-out food. It takes water to grow crops, and even more to raise animals for human consumption. A single egg is responsible for the use of tens of gallons of water. A hamburger takes about 150 gallons to produce, according to estimates on a U.S. Geological Survey website. Thursday’s theme will be “Choose to Reuse,” promoting reusable drink containers with a mug raffle. Pro tip: You can get a discount on drinks if you bring a mug or cup of your own to the café! (That’s not a new policy, either.) It’s easy to slip into wasteful habits in our world of supermarkets and college meal plans. While composting our waste is much better than letting it molder in a landfill, there’s surely room for improvement. The Beacon looks forward to an eye-opening week, courtesy of Sodexo.
Graphic by Troy Hudson