MSU has recently become flooded with condoms, thanks to “Condom-Nation,” an Olin Health Center program designed to make contraceptives more accessible to students.

Dennis Martell, a health educator at Olin, said the program should cut down on the number of students having unprotected sex.

“We’ve heard all the excuses - ‘I didn’t have one on me’ or ‘I didn’t have any money to buy one’ or ‘I didn’t feel like running down to the vending machine,’” Martell said.

“We want people to have easy access to them.”

The condoms have been distributed since the beginning of the semester and will continue to be given away throughout the school year. Mentors, formerly known as resident assistants, are distributing the condoms on campus, along with lubrication and educational pamphlets.

Martell said studies have shown that giving out condoms works, and said he thinks “Condom-Nation” will be effective at MSU.

“We know that 65 percent of students on this campus are sexually active,” he said. “And of those 65 percent who are sexually active, only 50 percent of them use condoms all the time.

“We know that if you get the free condoms out there to the student population, there is a reduction in STD rates and a reduction in pregnancy rates. But the thing is, the amount of sexual activity stays the same.”

Holly Troychak, a sexual health advocate with Olin, said mentors have the freedom to choose how they distribute the free condoms.

“The mentors know their residents better than anyone,” the human biology junior said. “They know best what’s going to make them comfortable or uncomfortable.”

And she’s heard some creative ideas.

“I talked to one mentor who said she was giving them out in a trick-or-treat kind of fashion to her residents,” Troychak said.

But human biology senior Emily Gibson, another sexual health educator at Olin, wanted to make sure off-campus students weren’t left empty-handed.

“A lot of upperclassmen live off campus and I felt it was important to at least give them an option to participate,” Gibson said.

So the program is traveling to area establishments, including bars, as well. The sexual health advocates will go to bars, play games, and pass out condoms to patrons.

Gibson said the bars were a logical choice for reaching many off-campus students.

“We just wanted somewhere where we could reach the most students,” she said. “We looked at the Union, but I know it can be annoying when people are trying to hand out stuff to you there. We wanted to make it fun.

“We wanted people to learn things but still be able to get the free stuff, which every college student loves.”

Gibson said the “Condom-Nation” program is extremely important, and will hopefully cut down on unprotected sex and the number of students contracting STDs.

“With what we know, it just doesn’t make sense not to get condoms out to everyone,” Gibson said.