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Astroglide slip n’ slide, guess the condom flavor, name that position and aphrodisiacs were among the games University of Maine students played Sunday afternoon at the sex carnival in the basement of Cumberland Hall. The event was hosted by resident assistants from Cumberland and Gannett first-year residence halls. This was the second year they held the event.
“This year it is bigger, better and more thought out. More people are here; more organizations are here. Last year was obviously a great success, and that’s why we really went all out this year,” said Travis Hall, an RA for Gannett Hall and the disc jockey for the event.
Several volunteers sported white T-shirts with a carnival tent and blue words advising, “Pitch a Tent . It’s the Sex Carnival.” Many campus groups had tables with games, pamphlets and posters promoting safe sex practices. Condoms were strewed about the tables. The event advertised more than 4,000 condoms.
Sophomore Dan Zaffof said, “It’s funny. There’s a lot of interesting things to learn about. My favorite game was condom darts.” This was a popular game that caused a line of students to wait for their turn to put on beer goggles and throw darts at blown up condoms.
Tickets were rewarded as an incentive for students to use the knowledge the games provided. Students who answered a question correctly were rewarded a ticket to put in a drawing to win a prize of their choice to be drawn at the end of the carnival.
Games like Astroglide slip n’ slide do not necessarily teach students anything about safe sex, but raise awareness.
Fresh from gliding down a tarp covered in personal lubricant, Andrew MacKeil, a freshman on the varsity swim team, said, “It looked like fun. I ended up with a lot of lube on me. We tried to get more people to join us.”
Todd Brelsford, one of the coordinators of the carnival, said, “The more ridiculous we could make it, the better it would turn out.”
Sandy Caron, sex therapist and professor of a human sexuality course, assisted her teacher’s assistants at the bobbing for condoms game.
“I think it’s a great way to have fun and raise awareness. That’s the bottom line,” she said.
Caron’s teaching assistant Jermaine Henderson, who is also in the Athletes for Sexual Responsibility program, said, “Sex should not be a bad thing to be open talking about.”
National survey statistics from the textbook “Adolescence,” by John Santrock, indicate at the beginning of adulthood, age 18, just more than half of individuals have experienced sexual intercourse, but by the end of emerging adulthood, age 25, most individuals have had sexual intercourse.
Brelsford believes it is important to educate students.
Brelsford said, “I don’t think the event promotes sexual activity. It goes back to the whole argument, is it good to give out condoms … does it promote sex or does it promote safe sex? And our attitude with this event is the more information we can get to students, the better. Our hope is they will come learn something new. So I don’t know if it promotes anything in a negative way at all.”
