UNLV hit below belt by Trojan ranking

November 20, 2009 by Hannah Birch 

University drops 20 places on list of schools promoting sex safety resources

Despite living in a city where sex is everywhere, UNLV students seem to have fewer resources concerning safe sex than billboards may lead people to believe.

The Trojan Sexual Health Report Card, constructed from data collected by Sperling’s BestPlaces, ranked UNLV 97th out of 141 colleges and universities in the availability of sexual health resources and information.

The ranking of the schools, all of which must be participants in the NCAA conference, used data from campus health centers and student opinion polls.

Factors like contraceptive availability, health testing, screening services and sexual assault programs assisted Sperling’s BestPlaces researchers assess on criteria in 13 categories.

Each category was assigned a letter grade. A cumulative GPA was then calculated and the schools were ranked according to this number.

Placing highest was the University of South Carolina, followed by Stanford University and Columbia University.

Since 2008, UNLV’s standing in the list has dropped 20 places.

The drop could lead students to ask if the appropriate resources are even available.

“People are really unaware,” said Karoline Khamis, the violence prevention coordinator for the Jean Nidetch Women’s Center.

Khamis directs the Peers Advocating Anti-Violence Education program at UNLV. The Women’s Center works closely with the Student Recreation and Wellness Center to ensure that students are receiving the care and information they need about sex and general health.

“We have a really diverse student population and not just with ethnicity. There are, you know, thousands of students that aren’t from here,” Khamis said. “With a lot of the stuff that goes on, they don’t always know where to go.”

Programs like PAAVE and Students Unite for Reproductive Justice aim to educate students on sexual issues facing members of the UNLV community.

Students may remember campaigns like “Tell us what you didn’t learn in sex ed” and what Khamis called the “glorious vagina suit,” which was worn by an individual from the Women’s Center.

Both of these initiatives on campus attempted to educate students and keep sexual health at the forefront of their minds.

“We make it fun to learn about stuff,” Khamis said. “It’s really just about education.”

Educating students is not the only goal of the study.

“We thought of the parents and what sort of information is available for them,” said Bert Sperling of Sperling’s BestPlaces.

He went on to say that the report card provides an efficient and accurate way for families to compare schools and choose which ones best meet their needs — and not just the academic ones.

“It’s also an unbiased way to compare schools for the administration of campus health centers,” said Sperling. “The study is purely informational, but [the response] has been very heartening.”

Using targeted advertisements on Facebook allowed Sperling’s researchers to collect poll responses directly from students who were attending the schools being evaluated.

“We got 7,000 responses,” said Sperling, adding that the students’ responses were taken strongly into account.

Sperling said he is pleased overall with how students, parents and administrators are responding to the report card.

Sperling added that student activist groups have been formed because of the survey, parents are better informed and administrators are presented with a snap-shot of what their school might be lacking.

“Students are entering a completely new area of their lives,” Sperling said. “We want them to be able to make their own healthy choices. The more resources are available to them, the better they can make these choices.”