Major budget differences between neighboring universities in Northwest Missouri
I wrote this article and created the accompanying infographic for a class in May 2020 .
Missouri Western State University is only 44.6 miles from Northwest Missouri State University, but their placement in terms of financial stability couldn’t be farther apart.

​Missouri Western has had a $10 million spending deficit while Northwest has made more than $12 million in excess revenue in the last three years, according to their respective budget reports. One factor that contributes to Northwest’s revenue is that it made over $4.5 million more in tuition and fees during the fiscal year 2019 than it did in 2018.

Northwest’s Vice President of Finance and Administration Stacy Carrick said the investment in online professional graduate programs played a large part in the increase, among many other factors.

Enrollment’s effect on the budget
“Enrollment is the primary factor as we have seen financial support from the state of Missouri continue to decline,” Carrick said. “In the last five years, we have made strategic decisions to protect our enrollment at Northwest.  We engaged in the partnership for the online professional graduate programs, and we have also experienced the highest retention in the history of Northwest.”

Northwest’s record retention rate was at 78% in fall 2018 with its enrollment up 8.2% with 6,857 students, according to a news release Sept. 28, 2018.

Missouri Western’s has seen a net decrease of 977 full-time undergraduate students since 2010, according to President Matthew J. Wilson’s report to the Board of Governors April 24.  It’s enrollment had been on a gradual incline from fall 2016 at 5,377 to 2018 at 5,684, according to the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Work Development. However, the incoming class was down 10% in fall 2019 and overall enrollment dropped 5%.

In fiscal 2019, Northwest made nearly $2.5 million more revenue from tuition and fees than budgeted. On the other side, Missouri Western made approximately $300,000 less than its budget.

“Our financial challenges are serious and wide-ranging,” Wilson said in the report. “In recent years, low-enrolled programs have required constant subsidization. Academic programming costs, fringe benefit costs, bond payments, highly discounted tuition, and auxiliary expenses, among many others have continued to outstrip the revenue needed to support them.”

One of the largest expenses in Missouri Western’s budget is the amount of scholarships it gives out. The cost of scholarships increased as the number of students who receive merit-based scholarships has gone up, according to a 2019 Griffon News article. Almost all of its expenses cost more than the amount budgeted in each category. For scholarships, it planned to give out $9 million to students in 2019, but it gave out $10.3 million. It also made less revenue than projected, which further widened the gap.

Northwest gave out approximately twice as much in scholarships than Missouri Western in fiscal 2019, which accounted for 22% of its expenses. Salaries and benefits cost $50,219,699, for it which is about $11 million more than Missouri Western spent. Still, salaries and benefits accounted for 65% of its expenses while it was 56% of Northwest’s.
 
Decline in state funding
A substantial part of each institution’s budget is the appropriations from the state. Northwest received $29,258,910 from the state, about $8.6 million more than Missouri Western, in 2019. The state appropriation accounted for 30% of Northwest’s revenue while it was 37% of Missouri Western’s.

While state funding has gradually decreased over the years, Gov. Mike Parson announced April 1 that he will withhold $61 million of funding for Missouri’s four-year colleges due to budget constraints during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Kansas City Star. Parson reduced around $180 million from the budget of the fiscal year that ends June 30.

A cut of $61 million would bring the budget for four-year institutions down to $705 million from the original budget of $766 million. In 2005, the budget was $718 million, which would be $949 million adjusted for inflation.

Higher education institutions can’t save much this late in the fiscal year. Missouri Western’s Vice President of Financial Planning and Administration Darrell Morrison said the reductions from the state have forced the university to implement a spending freeze on normal operations for a period of time. Missouri Western isn’t saving much money with all classes moved online, save for some utility and cleaning costs.

“Additionally, all travel has been suspended and we have reduced staff to lower levels,” Morrison said. “We are continuing to monitor the situation in case we need to take additional action.”

Northwest is in a similar situation; Carrick said its savings are limited to reduced travel and utility costs from building closures.

“As always, the leadership at Northwest is resourceful and resilient and this situation is no different,” Carrick said. “The leaders, faculty and staff at Northwest prove to be great stewards of funds and are making great decisions to control spending to help ensure we do not exceed our budget. We will also utilize savings from vacant positions throughout the year as well as savings from operations.”

When classes moved online and students moved out of the on-campus housing, Northwest refunded them roughly half the amount of room and board fees they paid for the semester. This cost the university more than $4 million, according to an Inside Higher Ed article. The reduced state funding means Northwest loses $2.5 million from the budget, which was 9% of the appropriation from the state. The university received $4.8 million from the coronavirus relief bill, but only half of it will be able to be used for the budget because at least half of it must be used as emergency grants for students.

The remaining $2.4 million barely covers the cut in state funding, much less other costs like the refunds for room and board. Carrick didn’t comment on how the excess revenue from the past three years could help with the losses Northwest is experiencing.

“As a general rule, the budget is focused on generating revenues within the fiscal year to cover the projected expenditures within the same fiscal year,” Carrick said.

Missouri Western refunded its students 40% of housing and meal plans, and it cost the university $1.5 million, according to a Kansas City Star article. If the cuts to state funding are split proportionally across universities—with each institution losing 8-9% of its appropriations— Missouri Western could lose $1.6 million to $1.9 million. It received $3.7 million from the coronavirus rescue package, but half of it will go to students.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought on numerous financial constraints that complicate the universities’ budgets, especially because they cannot know for sure whether or not they will have in-person classes in the fall. If Missouri Western’s campus doesn’t open, Wilson estimates it would lose $4.5 million.

Universities do not know how much they will receive from state appropriations, either. The Missouri House approved a budget that would give higher education institutions 10% less funding in the next fiscal year. However, Missouri senators voted 26 to 5 to keep giving universities the same funding next year as they were originally promised this year, according to KOMU Channel 8. Because the chambers didn’t agree, they will have to negotiate and decide on a budget before May 8.

Northwest and Missouri Western are cutting back on spending in any way they can, while also preparing for the worst case scenario.

“Missouri Western State University … like many other universities across the nation, is facing tough decisions as we move into the future,” Morrison said. “However, we are focused on student success and achievement and are making plans to be able to do so for a long period of time.”

​College media adapt to online only formats

I wrote this article for a class in April 2020 then submitted to the College Media Review, originally posted here. ​
While universities across the country have suspended in-person classes to limit the spread of COVID-19, the future for student newspapers remains unknown because being online-only until physical classes resume could create long-term changes.

More than 600 universities responded to a survey conducted by the American Association for Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers to gauge the changes institutions are making or considering in response to COVID-19. According to the press release published April 2, 81% of institutions have moved completely online for the rest of the spring term. Of the universities that have moved online, 23% have decided to keep classes online for the summer and 38% are considering doing so.

Student publications have had to quickly adapt to producing web-only content, and some may not return to printing once classes begin again.

College Media Association Treasurer Steven Chappell said the number of student newspapers that decide to move online-only increases each fall, and he thinks he’ll see a larger number make that decision this year than any previous.

“There are some publications that have been looking at this for a long time,” Chappell said. “This will probably be the exacerbating event that pushes them over the line and forces them to take the plunge into an online-only universe.”

Funding concerns
Without print newspapers for the rest of the semester, publications may be losing crucial advertising revenue. Others may lose advertisers permanently.

Jim Rodenbush, adviser for Indiana Daily Student at Indiana University, said IDS has lost money from advertisements but hopes that the relationships with the advertisers are strong enough to continue once printing resumes.

“The biggest concern, I suppose, is what is this going to look like when we’re on the so-called other side of it?” Rodenbush said. “A lot of the Bloomington community and advertisers that we have relationships with are restaurants and small businesses, and there is no guarantee for a complete recovery for some of these places.”

Student newspapers that are more reliant on print revenue are more likely to stop printing, Chappell said. Student newspapers are either part of an academic program or part of student affairs, often funded by student fees. The newspapers on the academic side tend to have better support and are more stable than the latter because they are partly funded by tuition money.

Chappell is the adviser of the Northwest Missourian at Northwest Missouri State University. Most of its advertisers have agreed to move their ads online or reserve printing in the fall. Chappell said that means losing revenue in the future, but he doesn’t know to what extent that may be.

“The businesses that tend to advertise with the Missourian heavily are those kinds of business that may not survive this if it lasts a long time,” Chappell said. “If the economy tanks, state tax revenues are going to go down, and the first thing the state of Missouri cuts every time their tax revenues go down is education. That could definitely impact us as well, so we could see lost funding on two fronts.”

What does this mean for printing in the future?
Tammy Merrett, adviser for The Alestle  at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, said she is 99% certain the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs will force her to publish the newspaper completely online,  because he’s been trying to do it for years.

In the past, Merrett has been able to justify printing because it generates the most revenue. Not printing would eliminate more revenue than it would save in print costs. However, she doesn’t know if printing will still be the main revenue generator once classes resume.

“The only way we would know is trying to go back to print and seeing what happens with revenue,” Merrett said. “But that’s kind of what’s hard to pin down, so, after this, we may get to a point where print does not generate as much revenue as or more revenue than what we’re paying out of printing costs, and if it’s at that point, then I would have no choice as the fiscal officer but to say, ‘you know, it’s not cost effective anymore to print.’”

Merrett said she hopes this doesn’t happen, but she tends to prepare for the worst case scenario so she can be pleasantly surprised. However, seeing what’s going on in the professional world keeps her expectations low.

Many professional papers, such as The Des Moines Register, are laying off reporters. Some, such as The Tampa Tribune, have stopped printing entirely until the pandemic ends. Others, such as two newspapers in South Dakota, have shut down completely.

Chappell said he doesn’t know if student newspapers will follow the professional trend.

“Historically , college newspapers mirror what happens to professional newspapers,” Chappell said. “We’re just a few years behind because it takes forever to make change at the academic level.”

Developing a Digital-First Mindset
In some ways, the COVID-19 pandemic has strengthened students’ ability to produce content for their newspapers. Many have had to write stories remotely while adjusting to online classes for the first time. Although there have been challenges in getting interviews and staying motivated, many advisers are proud of how their students have handled it.

The Torch  at Valparaiso University has been working on converging the newspaper with its TV and radio stations since January in an effort to give students experience with a bit of everything and make them more mobile. Publishing online-only has helped them make this change, adviser Paul Oren said.

“It’s kind of force-feeding it,” Oren said.

Oren wanted to focus on their online content because his students often didn’t like to produce content that wasn’t going to be printed in the weekly newspaper. He said they would treat it like a punishment. Now that they can only publish content online, he hopes they are learning how valuable the website is.

Oren  also wants his students to promote their stories more on social media. He said it takes time to get used to because now they are competing with everything online for page views, whereas The Torch  was the only newspaper on and around campus.

“Our students are learning how to be their own self-promoters on social media, and that’s a great skill to have,” Oren said.

Students on the University Times staff at California State University, Los Angeles also prioritized  the print newspaper over updating online content. When Julie Patel Liss became the faculty adviser two semesters ago, she had the goal to have her students develop a digital-first mindset.

Patel Liss said being forced to go online-only has helped the students make that shift because they no longer have to worry about the print edition. Her students cover breaking news well, and she hopes they’ll retain those skills.

“The fact that they’ve been able to consistently get stuff up within hours, or in most cases within minutes, I think at that point kind of shows them that they can definitely do it,” Patel Liss said. “What I’m hoping that comes of this is that when it comes time for print, they already have a whole base of stories. So then they don’t need to worry so much about print because the content will be there.”

Final Thoughts
Student newspapers are adapting to unprecedented circumstances. They are strengthening their communication skills and learning from this experience.

“There’s no blueprint for this,” Oren said.
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Merrett said she hopes her students can use this situation to further build a positive perception of The Alestle  because SIUE hasn’t provided clear communication in its updates. She told her students to take the opportunity to be a central resource of information for the community.

“I think a lot of student publications are doing just that,” Merrett said. “They’re doing lots of good work, and they are stepping into that void where universities are not communicating well. No matter how many awards are won by the student publications, there’s still a perception that they’re students ‘playing journalism.’ It’s a serious endeavor, and people need to be more aware of that. University administrations also need to be more aware of that and hopefully will take positive steps to encourage that rather than be threatened by that.”
College media adapt to online-only formats

​While universities across the country have suspended in-person classes to limit the spread of COVID-19, the future for student newspapers remains unknown because being online-only until physical classes resume could create long-term changes.
Northwest does not decide to raise student minimum wage along state increase

The University has not decided to raise the minimum wage for student employees, even though the state minimum wage increased. The Northwest Leadership Team and Student Senate will continue having discussions about raising it as the wage for all private, non-exempt businesses rises every year until 2023.
Top three STDs clapback with highest number of diagnoses in age of hookup culture, awareness

The number of sexually transmitted disease cases across the nation is at an unprecedented high. Nearly half of the 20 million new STD diagnoses made each year are among ages 15-24.

Northwest does not decide to raise student minimum wage as state's continues to increase
I wrote this article and created the accompanying infographic for a class in March 2020 .
Picture
The University has not decided to raise the minimum wage for student employees, even though the state minimum wage increased. The Northwest Leadership Team and Student Senate will continue having discussions about raising it as the wage for all private, non-exempt businesses rises every year until 2023.

The public minimum wages will increase 85 cents each year until it reaches $12 in 2023 after Missouri voters passed proposition B in November 2018. The University is exempt from making the minimum wage increase through the Missouri Revised Statutes Section 290.500 (3), RSMo, provided by the Missouri Division of Labor Standards.

Student Senate decided not to vote on raising the minimum wage this year after University Police Chief Clarence Green said raising it would either require the University to cut student positions and hours or add $1.80 per credit hour to the designated fees each enrolled student pays. He said students could end up paying hundreds of dollars in fees if the fee increases every time the minimum wage increases, according to a 2019 article in the Northwest Missourian.

Senior Human Resources Generalist and Coordinator of Student Employment Paula McLain said the seven decision-making administrators that make up the leadership team, including President John Jasinski, always bring budget discussions to Student Senate to ensure student involvement in decisions that affect all students.

“We have been doing that for several years now because it’s important that the students are involved in that process, and we’ll continue to do that on an annual basis,” McLain said. “It really comes down to the leaders and the Student Senate working together with those decisions.”

How students are affected
Senior Nayeon Lee has worked as a library assistant for four semesters. She said she would like to earn more than $8.60 an hour but not if the cost of attending Northwest increases as well because it’s already high as an international student.

“I don’t know about the other international students, but most of the Korean students, their tuition, their living fee is all coming from their parents,” Lee said. “It’s like common to ask your parents to financially help you, but at the same time, the reason why I work is because I feel burden to my parents and I don’t want to be like that.”

About 950 students are employed on campus, outnumbering faculty and staff. McLain said about a third of working students earn work-study dollars from the federal government. The amount had not changed in the 19 years McLain had worked at Northwest until there was a small increase in 2019.

“It went up, just mid-year, like maybe $2,000,” McLain said. “It was a surprise but again, it wasn’t much. When you’re using the same dollars over and over and minimum wage is increasing, it just doesn’t go very far.”

The complex budget
After Student Senate chose not to raise the minimum wage, the leadership team compared its options. Jessica Henry, executive secretary to the vice president of finance and administration, said the leaders evaluate various factors including state appropriations, tuition and fees, strategic investments, investments in people and mandatory expense increases such as health, retirement and utilities. She said they decided against the fee increase in an effort to sustain affordability.

McLain added that the budget is very complex. Student hours had to be cut in 2019 when the leadership team chose to increase the minimum wage.

“Having the funds to be able to support an increase is critical,” McLain said. “Student labor comes from a lot of different areas like the federal government, institutional dollars, designated fees, etc. Obviously, in order to do an increase for any employee, you’ve got to have the money to do it.”

Student employment wages are paid in part by the designated fees for Student Programming, according to the Student Senate website. McLain said she does not know how many hours would be cut if minimum wage increased without increasing the designated fees.

“It’s going to depend on the wage at the time and the amount of dollars needed in order to do that,” McLain said. “It’s a very detailed analysis, so it would be hard to say right now, not knowing what the amount of increase would be determined by the University.”

She said the leadership team could potentially decide to raise the minimum wage for student employees but still keep it less than the wage for private businesses at $9.45.

McLain said it is difficult for the leadership team to budget for a pay increase in advance because many factors are involved and some crucial details are unknown until a certain time.

“We’re annually informed about the federal piece, so we can make the assumption it’s not going to change,” McLain said. “But it could so then you’ve got to reevaluate at that point. That’s why it’s so difficult to predict or ascertain. If I stopped today and did an analysis, it may be different than if I stopped to do it three months from now.”

Opportunities in student employment
Most positions earn $8.60 an hour, but the wage can start at $8.70, $9.00 or $9.50 an hour, depending on the job descriptions and qualifications. One-third of the positions are office assistants. Other jobs include library assistant, tutor, sports official, farm assistant, on-air announcer and lab assistant. As the job gets more technical, the starting pay increases.

Both McLain and Henry said student employment can stay competitive with off-campus jobs without raising the minimum wage because of the various benefits of working on campus.

“The value of an on-campus job is student-first focus, flexibility of scheduling with classes, professional-based learning opportunities, career pathing and FICA tax exemption,” Henry said.

The Career Pathing Program provides student employees the opportunity for a 25% wage increase each year that is applicable and transferable to all jobs on campus. To earn the increase, students must attend three of the eight developmental sessions offered per semester for both the fall and spring semester and have a satisfactory performance evaluation from their supervisor.

McLain said she encourages students to participate in the program because they get paid for the hours they use to attend the event and it helps them build relationships in the workforce. She said that if students participate in the Career Pathing Program, starting by earning $8.60 per hour as a freshman, and work every single hour they are allowed – 20 hours a week during the semester and 40 hours a week during breaks – they can earn a total of more than $46,000 by the end of their senior year.

“That’s pretty extreme, but even if you did half of that, that’s a lot of money to help pay towards tuition,” McLain said. “On average, students work about 10 hours a week.”

Lee said she usually gets scheduled six hours a week. The maximum she’ll work is 12 hours. She would not support a wage increase if it meant she would work fewer hours.

“They don’t give me enough hours,” Lee said. “If you want those 20 hours, you need to have like two or three different jobs, and I don’t think I can handle that. I would rather have 20 hours from the same student employee job.”

McLain said only 12-15% of student employees complete the Career Pathing Program requirements each year. Part of this is because 40% of the student employees are seniors and won’t benefit from the pay increase. The numbers also only count those who attended the six required sessions, leaving out the students who attended four or five events.

Henry said the public minimum wage is evaluated every year in the budgeting process. McLain said the leadership team will need to have a thorough analysis every time to determine whether or not to increase the minimum wage.

Lee said that changing when she gets paid would be beneficial, even if the pay didn’t increase, because the time she receives her paycheck is what impacts her most.

“We get paid per month, and it’s also really – I wouldn’t say stupid – but it’s really weird because you get paid on the 25th of the next month,” Lee said. “It feels like they’re paying you like two months later. It would be better if pay us like the first week of the new month.”

McLain can’t predict whether or not the University will accommodate future pay increases as the minimum wage for public businesses continues to increase.
​
“It really comes down to the complex budget and doing analysis and the leaders and in the Student Senate, so I don’t know what it looks like for the future,” McLain said.

Top three STDs clapback with highest number of diagnoses in age of hookup culture, awareness
I wrote this article for the Northwest Missourian in November 2019,  originally posted here. 
The number of sexually transmitted disease cases across the nation is at an unprecedented high. Nearly half of the 20 million new STD diagnoses made each year are among ages 15-24. 

Chlamydia is the most reported STD, with more than 1.7 million new cases reported to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention in 2018, a 3% increase from the year before. In 2015, there were 1.5 million new cases of chlamydia, the highest number of annual cases for any condition — not just STDs — reported to the CDC.

There were more than 580,000 new cases of gonorrhea, the highest number since 1991, and more than 115,000 cases of syphilis in 2018. These three STDs are the most commonly reported STDs in the United States. 

A report from the World Health Organization June 6 found that more than 1 million new cases of curable STDs are reported every day. 

Elizabeth Torrone, an epidemiologist with the CDC, said 2018 was the fifth consecutive year the CDC saw an increase in STDs, according to WebMD. In 2014, there were 1.4 million diagnoses of chlamydia, 350,062 of gonorrhea and 63,454 of syphilis. The number of STD cases is an underestimation because many often have no symptoms, so people aren’t aware they are infected. 

Director of the Division of STD Prevention at the CDC Gail Bolan said the sustained increase is worrisome because the CDC hasn’t seen anything like it in 20 years, according to an NBC news article. 

According to Priority STD Testing, the CDC estimates that half of the people who are sexually active will contract an STD by age 25. The CDC recommends that people get tested for STDs at least yearly.

The Source Medical Clinic in Maryville offers confidential medical and sexual health services, such as STD testing and treatment, for free. Executive Director Gwen Knowles said the clinic has seen a definite rise in positive tests. 

The Source Medical Clinic website says 47,000 new STDs were reported in Missouri in 2018 and 12,890 people living in Missouri have HIV.

She said one reason there are more positive tests is that more people are getting tested and are more aware and educated of the risk.

“They are more proactive about their sexual health,” Knowles said. “The college culture is a little more conducive to multiple partners and having more sex, so people 18-24 have the burden of the highest number of STDs.”

Assistant Director of Wellness Services - Clinic Services Judy Frueh said a good way students can prevent getting an STD is limiting and knowing their partners. She said anybody who has more than four sexual partners in a lifetime has a greater risk of contracting an STD.

“I think it’s one of those things where we don’t think about it until after the fact. Or we all feel that way that ‘It’s not going to happen to us,’” Frueh said. 

Young women up to age 24 accounted for 44% of chlamydia cases reported in 2018. The CDC estimates more than 20,000 women become infertile each year due to undiagnosed STDs. Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis are all curable when detected. 

A 2015 survey taken by people aged 15-24 showed that only 12% of them had been tested for STDs in the previous year. This age group accounted for 53% of gonorrhea cases and 65% of chlamydia cases, according to Inside Higher Ed. 

Frueh said she hasn’t necessarily seen an increase in STDs on campus, but she noticed that more people are getting tested in recent years than they have in the past. The most common STDs at Northwest are chlamydia and gonorrhea. She said a large influx of people tend to get tested halfway through each semester. 

“There’s a lot more awareness that people come in to get tested and screened than they used to,” Frueh said. “I think that’s a good thing that they come in. … I think there’s still people that are scared, but they still come in, so I think the stigma is not as prevalent as it used to be.”

STDs are also known as sexually transmitted infections. The term “disease” suggests an easily identifiable medical condition while most STDs show mild or no symptoms, according to the American Sexual Health Association. There is not a consensus on which term to use in the medical and public health community. 

Frueh refers to them as STIs. 

“It’s not really a disease,” Frueh said. “Most of the time it can clear just like any other infection, such as a sinus infection.”

Junior Megan Heil said she thinks dating apps help quicken the rate at which STDs spread, especially in college towns. She used Tinder, which launched in 2012, for eight months before she met her boyfriend. She said she noticed that most people using it were only doing so to find people to have sex with. 

“I doubt (getting an STD) is something people worry about,” Heil said. “Even if they got one, there’s a good chance they wouldn’t be able to get in touch with whomever gave it to them since there are ways to unmatch so quickly.”

Knowles, on the other hand, said she doesn’t think dating apps necessarily play a role in the rise of STDs. She is more concerned about whether or not people are safe when they meet strangers from the apps. 

“We worry more about people getting assaulted because they’re meeting people they don’t know,” Knowles said. “We’ve had multiple people reporting assault. What someone thinks is fun and consensual isn’t always the same for the other person, and that leads to problems.”

There is no data proving that dating apps contribute to the increase in STDs although some experts believe they do, according to Insider. Implantable birth control methods and new STD treatments may also play roles in the increase. 

According to an article by the Atlantic, dating apps have changed the way people meet their potential partners, but not what they’re looking for: companionship and/or sexual satisfaction. Heil said she thinks dating apps were designed for people to meet and get to know others in a safe setting. 

“People want everything from friends to hookups to serious relationships and everything in between on the apps. Sometimes you wouldn’t know what they wanted until you match with them,” Heil said. “I think each dating app has its own dynamic and purpose. Tinder seems to be mainly for hookups and Bumble seems good for friends.”

Heil said people should meet their Tinder dates in public spaces to stay safe since it’s hard to know someone’s intentions through a short bio and a couple photos. Heil said she wasn’t surprised to see people using dating apps to meet people to have sex with. 

“I think (the hookup culture on college campuses) is normal, honestly. You’ve got hundreds of 18-20 somethings living together, most of them on their own for the first time,” Heil said. “As long as they are both consenting and safe about it, I think it’s okay. But it needs to be a personal choice. No one should feel pressured into sex, because contrary to popular belief, not everyone is doing it.”

Meeting strangers can be dangerous because the person may not be who they say they are and could be a sexual predator. These situations get riskier when alcohol is involved. 

“Studies also indicate you are much more likely to use substances with sexual encounters when you’re not as emotionally involved with somebody,” Frueh said. “Take someone with you, not just as a designated driver, but to keep an eye on you, keep an eye on your drink and the decisions you’re making so you don’t get into a compromising situation.”

While she thinks dating apps increase the rate of spreading STDs, Heil said she thinks people are more aware about the risk of STDs in general because of social media and access to the internet. 

“I even think it’s easier to detect because when you’ve got a concern you can just Google it instead of going to the doctors,” Heil said.

Getting tested for STDs may seem taboo, but Frueh said students shouldn’t be afraid to get tested. Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis tests cost $20 at Wellness Services. 

“It’s confidential, and I think almost everybody that gets checked are glad they did, even if the results are positive, because we can help them get through that process and treat it,” Frueh said. 

Confidentiality has been a guarantee with all STD tests and screenings due to a rule added to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in 2002, according to “Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.” It protects personal privacy, which is especially important for minors who don’t want their parents, or others, to know. 

Health professionals recognize that minors wouldn’t seek health care if it wasn’t confidential, and that could have negative effects for them and society, according to the same journal.

Knowles said people should follow the CDC guidelines and get screened for STDs every year; it should be as normal as getting any other kind of check up.
​
“I just think sexual health is really important, and you have to be the best advocate for yourself and your sexual health,” Knowles said.