Since I have harped on this from time to time

[Germainfitch1]

Bowling Green is the number one school for STDS so it wouldhave to happen here.

[Jacobs4Heisman]

Bowling Green is the number one school for STDS so it wouldhave to happen here.

Whoops -- bad example.

[Germainfitch1]

Have you ever heard that before? I hear that all the time? Is there any truth to it or is it just something that was made up and caught on?

[jpfalcon09]

It was back in the 80's and it was STI's, not STD's...so it's not true.

[Jacobs4Heisman]

I think it wasa biased study from a while back like...I wanna say mid 80's. They only polled students who were actually getting tested for STD's so duh -- of course the percentage was going to be high.

[Schadenfreude]

Have you ever heard that before? I hear that all the time? Is there any truth to it or is it just something that was made up and caught on?

My understanding -- and maybe someone actually *knows* -- is that someone surveyed every university they could find and Bowling Green was near the top. It could have been ten, fifteen years ago.

The problem, for BGSU, as I understand it, is that it was doing a good job keeping track of this sort of thing. Other universities were not, for whatever reason.

It's gotten way out of hand. I wish there was a way to dispatch with this urban legend.

[transfer2BGSU]

Bowling Green is the number one school for STDS so it would have to happen here.

You're wrong again (not that I'm surprised).Oh wait, that's a joke, right?

=========

STD rumor false despite speculation in past years
Urban Legend tarnishes BGSU rep for decades
By Alison Kemp

September 15, 2005

BGSU is not the STD capital of the world.

The rumor that the University is overflowing with STDs has been around since Nov. 11, 1985, when The BG News reported that one in 10 female students on campus had tested positive for chlamydia.

But the actual statistic was that one in 10 women that chose to be tested for chlamydia ended up testing positive.

Barbara Hoffman, health promotion coordinator at the Wellness Connection, can’t believe that this misprint has soiled the University’s reputation for so long.

“It’s amazing how strong this can be, this urban legend,” Hoffman said.

The latest information available from the Wellness Connection is from the 2003-2004 school year, when enrollment was around 20,000 on both the main campus, and Firelands.

Of the 2,101 students tested for chlamydia that year, 4.1 percent had the STD. Only 0.3 percent of students tested for gonorrhea had the disease.

“Sexually Transmitted Infections” has actually become the proper term over the last five years for what used to be called STDs, according to Hoffman.

Now an O-Reg leader, Steve Dutton, junior, remembers hearing the myth about BGSU in high school.

“I tried not to believe it,” Dutton said. “But it’s college. Every college will have it [STIs].”

The spread of STIs at the University is still comparable to the spread of other common germs for Dutton.

“There are so many students in close proximity,” Dutton said. “They [STIs] are easy to spread.”

Dutton educated the incoming freshmen that were in his O-Reg groups this past summer. He said that less and less students in O-Reg are being fed the wrong rumors about BGSU.

“Students at BG are defending this case,” Dutton said. “The rumor is slowly going away, hopefully one day completely.”

Allison Savage, a sophomore studying athletic training, was not affected when she heard this myth.

“I heard it, but it didn’t bother me,” Savage said. “If you’re smart about it, it shouldn’t affect you.”

At O-Reg this summer, Sara Thadeus, a freshman architecture major, had the rumors of STIs at the University squashed by her group leader.

“When we came to O-Reg, we broke into groups, and the group leader [spoke about the STD rumor]” Thadeus said. “It was far-fetched to begin with.”

Hoffman appreciates the efforts of upperclassmen in O-Reg and other campus activities who continue to educate newcomers about the truth behind these rumors.

“The continual spread of the incorrect statistic has lead to much questioning of the health center,” Hoffman said. “It is something we are constantly fighting.”

Chlamydia is caused by bacterium, and about 25 percent of males and 75 percent of females have few or no symptoms when they are infected — and can still transmit the disease.

Gonorrhea, called “the clap,” ‘dose,” or “drip,” is caused by a bacterial infection.

If the infection is not treated, it can spread to joints, tendons, or the heart. Only 20 to 40 percent of females do not show symptoms when they are infected with gonorrhea.

Students should receive screenings for STIs if they are sexually active, Hoffman said.

If students change their partner, experience symptoms or are named as a sexual contact with someone who’s infected, they should get an STI screening at the health center, Hoffman said.

The Wellness Connection offers programs on how to avoid STIs, and condoms are free at The Wellness Connection.

http://www.bgnews.com/vnews/display.v/A ... _archive=1

[Schadenfreude]

Bowling Green is the number one school for STDS so it would have to happen here.

You're wrong again (not that I'm surprised).Oh wait, that's a joke, right?

=========

STD rumor false despite speculation in past years
Urban Legend tarnishes BGSU rep for decades
By Alison Kemp

September 15, 2005

BGSU is not the STD capital of the world.

The rumor that the University is overflowing with STDs has been around since Nov. 11, 1985, when The BG News reported that one in 10 female students on campus had tested positive for chlamydia.

But the actual statistic was that one in 10 women that chose to be tested for chlamydia ended up testing positive.

Barbara Hoffman, health promotion coordinator at the Wellness Connection, can’t believe that this misprint has soiled the University’s reputation for so long.

“It’s amazing how strong this can be, this urban legend,” Hoffman said.

The latest information available from the Wellness Connection is from the 2003-2004 school year, when enrollment was around 20,000 on both the main campus, and Firelands.

Of the 2,101 students tested for chlamydia that year, 4.1 percent had the STD. Only 0.3 percent of students tested for gonorrhea had the disease.

“Sexually Transmitted Infections” has actually become the proper term over the last five years for what used to be called STDs, according to Hoffman.

Now an O-Reg leader, Steve Dutton, junior, remembers hearing the myth about BGSU in high school.

“I tried not to believe it,” Dutton said. “But it’s college. Every college will have it [STIs].”

The spread of STIs at the University is still comparable to the spread of other common germs for Dutton.

“There are so many students in close proximity,” Dutton said. “They [STIs] are easy to spread.”

Dutton educated the incoming freshmen that were in his O-Reg groups this past summer. He said that less and less students in O-Reg are being fed the wrong rumors about BGSU.

“Students at BG are defending this case,” Dutton said. “The rumor is slowly going away, hopefully one day completely.”

Allison Savage, a sophomore studying athletic training, was not affected when she heard this myth.

“I heard it, but it didn’t bother me,” Savage said. “If you’re smart about it, it shouldn’t affect you.”

At O-Reg this summer, Sara Thadeus, a freshman architecture major, had the rumors of STIs at the University squashed by her group leader.

“When we came to O-Reg, we broke into groups, and the group leader [spoke about the STD rumor]” Thadeus said. “It was far-fetched to begin with.”

Hoffman appreciates the efforts of upperclassmen in O-Reg and other campus activities who continue to educate newcomers about the truth behind these rumors.

“The continual spread of the incorrect statistic has lead to much questioning of the health center,” Hoffman said. “It is something we are constantly fighting.”

Chlamydia is caused by bacterium, and about 25 percent of males and 75 percent of females have few or no symptoms when they are infected — and can still transmit the disease.

Gonorrhea, called “the clap,” ‘dose,” or “drip,” is caused by a bacterial infection.

If the infection is not treated, it can spread to joints, tendons, or the heart. Only 20 to 40 percent of females do not show symptoms when they are infected with gonorrhea.

Students should receive screenings for STIs if they are sexually active, Hoffman said.

If students change their partner, experience symptoms or are named as a sexual contact with someone who’s infected, they should get an STI screening at the health center, Hoffman said.

The Wellness Connection offers programs on how to avoid STIs, and condoms are free at The Wellness Connection.

http://www.bgnews.com/vnews/display.v/A ... _archive=1

Thank you for that post.