The Story
Love ‘N’ Liquor: Sex Education from a Frustrated Stand-up Comedian (And Nurse Practitioner)
“If it's wet and it's not yours, don’t touch it.”
These were Linda Hancock’s first words of wisdom during her “Love ‘N’ Liquor” presentation on 21 September in the University Center Commonwealth Auditorium. The presentation held at 8 pm was the Tuesday event of “Obey Your Thirst For Life,” Alcohol Awareness Week 2004. A national speaker, Hancock is both a nurse practitioner and Ph.D. who is the Assistant Director of the Office of Health Promotion at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Besides warning the audience about the risks of wet-on-wet sexual contact, Hancock mixed humor and facts to both amuse and enlighten the audience of nearly 200 attendees. The majority of the audience consisted of student-athletes who attended the presentation with their respective teams. As part of Alcohol Awareness Week, the well-attended event was open to the entire campus and sponsored by the Student Health Center, Student Activities, Health Outreach Peer Educators (HOPE) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Hancock used a slideshow, her wit, and information to convey the facts about mixing sex and alcohol. Along the way, she shared the sobering information about media spin and the addictiveness of certain drugs.
For instance, she described the proper way to use a condom, which she described as a “little elf hat.” She shared stories of the common occurrences of “lost condoms” and “condom slackers.” She described “condom slackers” as sexual partners who decline the use condoms and unfortunately contribute to the epidemic of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among the college population.
Using some clinical images and also some cartoons, Hancock described the three most common STIs on college campuses: Chlamydia, human papillomavirus and herpes. At this point in the presentation, she revealed the “best kept secret in America,” the grim statistic that more than ninety-five percent of cervical cancer is related to genital warts.
Hancock denied using “scare tactics” but asserted instead that she used “fact tactics” to get across her notion of “genetic snowflakes.” “Genetic snowflakes” refer to the biological or genetic disposition that each individual has toward any prolonged behavior or condition state. That being so, she offered the 0-1-3(4) rule which connotes the number of drinks one should have in certain situations. That is, zero drinks during situations when it would bode well to be sober, like when one is serving as a designated driver or interviewing for a job. One drink per hour is the approximate amount of alcohol the liver can metabolize within that time period. The three refers to the three drinks suggested for a woman over three hours, while the four refers to the four drinks suggested for man over four hours.
Toward the end of the program, Hancock called three male volunteers to the front to demonstrate the STI gamble. The “Dating Game” showed that three different sexual histories, ranging from the monogamous to the promiscuous, do not necessarily predict HIV risk.
In the end of the program, Hancock shared the wisdom of a middle-aged mother of three and a clinician. “Campbell’s Soup is mmm Good. Frosted Flakes are great. And, sex is sacred.”
Obey Your Thirst For Life Alcohol Awareness Week 2004 features “Liquid Lunch” at the Commons Dining Hall, 11 am to 1 pm on Wednseday, 22 September and “Leaving Las Vegas,” the University Center Activities Board (UCAB) movie in the University Center Commonwealth Auditorium at 8 pm. Alcohol Awareness Week 2004 is sponsored by the Athletic Department, Campus Police, FISH Bowl, Office of Health Education, HOPE, Office of Student Activities, Student Assembly, Student Health Center and UCAB.