The world that we live in can be a very dangerous place. Life is full of risks, most of which we don’t actively choose to take.

The staff of NIU’s Health Services and Health Enhancement Services is trying to make life a little safer for students. Knowing the importance of sexual safety and education, it requires all women who request birth control to watch what is called a “pre-session video” before undergoing testing, said Beverly Espe, assistant director of health services.

The video contains information about the different kinds of birth control and the different tests that the women will go through, such as the breast and pelvic exams. It also contains information on how to conduct a self-breast exam.

The video is shown before a woman meets with a nurse to actually undergo the exam. The purpose of the half-hour-long video is to keep students up-to-date on what options are available to them and to try to keep them calm about the testing, Espe said.

Some students find out information from the video they hadn’t known before, Espe said.

Sophomore art education major Bjana Lunde understood how this could be the case.

“[The video] is good because some people aren’t educated,” Lunde said.

Many people already know most of what the video has to teach them, but others would benefit from it, Lunde said.

Espe said that Health Services has shown the video for five to 10 years and students’ reactions to it always have been mixed. Some students are “very appreciative,” while others have seen it all before. Because of this, Espe said that the staff always reevaluates the way in which it does things, including making the video mandatory viewing. She gave the example of a non-traditional student coming back to college. If this student had been on birth control for years, it might seem silly to have her watch the video. Espe said that Health Services tries to stay current.

“As standards in the community change, we have to change,” she said.

Another way in which NIU tries to keep students safe is by providing condoms for free. This service is provided by Health Enhancement Services. Most students are aware that condoms are provided within Health Services and through all community advisers.

Aware of the arguments on both sides of the free condom issue, Espe explained the reasoning behind the decision.

“It’s about the prevention of STDs,” she said.

Espe explained that if students were going to engage in sexual activity, they should be able to do so safely.

Both Lunde and Miller agreed that condoms should be freely distributed.

Miller said that students tended to find the free condoms funny.

“We joke about them all the time,” she said.

Lunde said that people often laugh about something when they’re uncomfortable.

“That’s a way of dealing with it,” she said.