2008 Woodie Awards
The ins and outs of SEX
Sarah Posillico Staff Writer
Issue date: 1/30/07 Section: B Side
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Jeremiah McHugh is a well-ad-justed UVM junior. He, like most college students, has a strong opinion on sex.
"Sex is one of the best inventions ever," he said when asked to elabo-rate on his views about sex. "But I've learned that it all comes down to how you feel about the other person. I mean, a vagina is a vagina! It all comes down to who it's attached to."
While crude, this statement speaks volumes concerning the sex-ual climate amongst UVM students. The common stereotype that pre-vails among adults and labels college students as sex-crazed adolescents; co-eds who prefer one-night stands to real relationships, may no longer hold true.
"I sort of had an expectation that more people would be having sex more often," Kevin Anderson, an en-vironmental science major said. "I thought it would be more like [every-body having sex]."
However, many students do view college as an environment that is no-ticeably more conducive to sex than previous living situations.
"You're on your own for the first time, and you're just discovering what you want to do," Erin Cain, a bi-ology major at UVM, agreed. "There are just so many young people doing the same thing."
Because students find themselves in their own space without the threat of parents watching their every step, "freshman year is a pivotal year in sexual development," UVM junior Alea Tuttle said. "It's definitely a ma-ture step towards having sex."
Gretchen Gross, professor of hu-man relationships and sexuality, has noticed a change in students' views of sex and of themselves.
"In my experience, UVM stu-dents' level of thoughtfulness and insightfulness when they are given the opportunity to pause and ask themselves, 'what do I want? What do I need? What am I comfortable with?' It's right there … there's a lot of thought behind it," Gross said.
Gross has noticed that her stu-dents recognize and know about STDs and using contraception, but they don't know as much about han-dling the emotional and mental as-pects of relationships and sex.
"Sex is one of the best inventions ever," he said when asked to elabo-rate on his views about sex. "But I've learned that it all comes down to how you feel about the other person. I mean, a vagina is a vagina! It all comes down to who it's attached to."
While crude, this statement speaks volumes concerning the sex-ual climate amongst UVM students. The common stereotype that pre-vails among adults and labels college students as sex-crazed adolescents; co-eds who prefer one-night stands to real relationships, may no longer hold true.
"I sort of had an expectation that more people would be having sex more often," Kevin Anderson, an en-vironmental science major said. "I thought it would be more like [every-body having sex]."
However, many students do view college as an environment that is no-ticeably more conducive to sex than previous living situations.
"You're on your own for the first time, and you're just discovering what you want to do," Erin Cain, a bi-ology major at UVM, agreed. "There are just so many young people doing the same thing."
Because students find themselves in their own space without the threat of parents watching their every step, "freshman year is a pivotal year in sexual development," UVM junior Alea Tuttle said. "It's definitely a ma-ture step towards having sex."
Gretchen Gross, professor of hu-man relationships and sexuality, has noticed a change in students' views of sex and of themselves.
"In my experience, UVM stu-dents' level of thoughtfulness and insightfulness when they are given the opportunity to pause and ask themselves, 'what do I want? What do I need? What am I comfortable with?' It's right there … there's a lot of thought behind it," Gross said.
Gross has noticed that her stu-dents recognize and know about STDs and using contraception, but they don't know as much about han-dling the emotional and mental as-pects of relationships and sex.
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