NEWS
Students promote AIDS awareness at bar, distribute condoms
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by Jessica Peterson
Tuesday, April 30, 2002
UW-Madison senior Jill Rouse went to Bullfeathers Friday night because she said the student body is “promiscuous.” But Rouse was on an academic mission, not looking for a hook-up.
In an effort to promote safe sex practices among students, a group of UW-Madison seniors passed out condoms and information about HIV at the downtown bar, located at 303 N. Henry St., last weekend.
Rouse, a student in a medical genetics class on HIV and AIDS prevention, said she and fellow classmates wanted to offer a “realistic approach” to promoting safe sex among a student body she called “promiscuous.”
“A lot of educational systems promote abstinence-only,” senior Kerry Deming said. “We know kids go to the bars, we know they drink, and we know they have sex.”
The students handed out condoms and AIDS ribbons to patrons at Bullfeathers, which was the first establishment to allow the distribution, the students said.
Bar owner Dick Lyshek said he did not have any reservations about allowing the students to distribute condoms and AIDS awareness materials in his bar.
“They were kind of fun, and it went over pretty well,” Lyshek said.
Rouse said the group handed out 250 condoms in less than one hour, noting that some patrons took extra condoms and red ribbons to give to friends.
“We were very pleased with the turnout of how many people were wearing the ribbons in the bar,” Rouse said.
Deming said she has seen bowls of free condoms in bars in other cities, which prompted the group’s action, and said the group was well-received Friday night.
“People were saying it was such a great idea,” she said.
At one point, the group hosted a condom-blow-up contest in which participants competed by blowing up the condoms with their mouths.
“Whoever popped their condom first won two pitchers of beer,” Rouse said.
Rouse said the information offered at the bar was important to distribute because “HIV is a very serious epidemic that we need to pay attention to.”
Students who picked up condoms agreed.
“It was important because a lot of students here are sexually active,” senior Dave Hemming said.
