After a recent study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that one in four American teenage girls has a sexually transmitted disease that they are unaware of before entering college, health officials at Sacramento State reflected on the need for students to be educated on sex.

Laurie Bisset Grady, interim associate director of the Student Health Center at Sac State, said it is absolutely necessary for students to get themselves tested for sexually transmitted diseases if they are sexually active. Students should go at least once a year or more to the health center or local hospitals, especially if they are noticing any physical changes or symptoms, she said.

During the check-up, doctors look for any abnormalities in vaginal discharge and appearance or abdominal pain. Health officials look to see if a male patient experiences pain when urinating or has any abnormal marks, such as warts, on the penis.

Aside from students checking themselves for any physical abnormalities, Grady said medical doctors need to work together by making sex education more available through workshops and classes.

“I think (health officials) have done a decent job of lowering pregnancy rates, but I don’t think we have done a really good job when it comes to STD prevention,” Grady said. “There is a lot of taboo when it comes to talking about sex and we need to change that,” she said.

The Student Health Center offers birth control, sex education classes, individual STD counseling and the PACT education program that offers contraceptive supplies, pregnancy testing, HIV screening, testing and treatment for STDs.

“Taking care of yourself is knowing when to use resources. The health center is a resource at Sac State for students to become informed about STDs,” Grady said.

Susan Smith, advice nurse at Kaiser Permanente in Walnut Creek, agreed with Grady as far as encouraging college students to get educated.

“More Internet information has made a big change when it comes to the knowledge of STDs. At Kaiser, we have a website to promote the education and good decision making in regards to sexual practices,” such as using condoms to prevent an STD, Smith said. The website is www.kaiserpermanente.org.

While many STDs are transmitted through vaginal intercourse, the following STDs can be transmitted orally: herpes (genital sores), gonorrhea (painful urination and discharge in penis and vagina, as well as abdominal pain) and chlamydia (painful urination, abnormal discharge and/or abdominal pain).

“People are not getting in touch with their bodies and they are not sure what is seen as normal or not,” Grady said.

Sophomore speech pathology major Tiffany Moen said many college students don’t fully consider the consequences when not protecting themselves during sexual intercourse.

“College students go crazy when it comes to sex. They party, get drunk and have sex. They never think that the person they are having sex with could have had sex with so many other people before them,” Moen said.

Having sex with just one partner or limiting the number of sex partners is one way students can prevent themselves from transmitting or receiving an STD. Talking to a partner about sex is another way students can prevent infection.

For more information, Sac State’s Student Health Center can be reached at (916) 278-6461.

Vanessa Johnson can be reached at [email protected].