A dozen students arrived at Phillips Hall on Thursday night for free HIV testing and counseling.
The free testing sessions, which lasted 20 to 30 minutes for each person, were provided by Gateway Community Services and RING, MSU's North Complex lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender caucus.
"As far as I know, this is the first time these services have been offered on campus, outside of Olin," RING President Erik Green said.
The procedure used Orasure, a blood-free method of testing that checks the saliva for antibodies associated with HIV.
A pre test quiz, risk-assessment questionnaire, statistical demographic worksheet and counseling session preceded the anonymous testing. The results will come back in one week, where each person tested will receive another short counseling session when they get their results.
"It's something very personal," Green said. "It's a serious disease and people should feel comfortable being tested so they will be tested."
MSU's 2002 National College Health Assessment showed that about 75 percent of students on MSU's campus are sexually active. Of those who claimed to have had vaginal sex at least once in the previous month, more than 37 percent said they never used a condom. Of those who have had anal sex at least once in the previous month, nearly two-thirds said they never wore a condom.
Olin health advocate Dennis Martell said he worries some people are becoming complacent about the threat of AIDS.
"With all the new drugs on the market, people think they can live with it and deal with it," he said. "The fact is that those drugs don't work for all people."
Olin Health Center offers the HIV Education, Counseling and Testing program, which anonymously tests about 600 people each year. The free program employs six MSU students as peer counselors who are certified to do the testing.
Olin uses the traditional blood method of HIV testing but currently is looking into beginning to use Orasure, Martell said.
"If you are sexually active and not using protection, there is no reason for you to not get tested," he said.
Thursday's testing comes just weeks before Global AIDS Day, held on Dec. 1. Olin health advocates are planning events for the coming weeks that aim to raise AIDS awareness.
For Green, the event is more than just testing for HIV.
"It's important, since we are an LBGTA group, to show that it isn't a disease that affects gay people," he said. "It's important to raise this kind of awareness."
Green said he hopes other LBGT groups on campus will follow his lead and offer these services throughout campus next semester.
"It's a very serious disease," he said. "But if you catch it early enough, you can fight it and live with it."
