Deseret Morning News PROVO - Brigham Young University received straight F's on the Trojan Sexual Health Report Card released Tuesday, but BYU officials believe they should get straight A's for helping students practice safe sex through abstinence.

Deseret Morning News graphic BYU finished dead last in the survey of 100 colleges and universities sponsored by the condom company Trojan and conducted by Sperling's Best Places. The University of Utah also flunked, finishing two spots better than BYU - 98th - because it got a single D instead of all failing grades.

The survey graded the sexual health of campuses around the nation based on the idea that a lack of information and access to condoms can lead to unsafe sex, higher risk for sexually transmitted infections or STIs and unintended pregnancies.

BYU and the U. fared poorly because they don't provide sex education on their Web sites, don't provide condoms or other contraceptives in dorms and don't have a sex advice column in their student newspapers. Professor Terry Olson of BYU's School of Family Life and BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said the survey's methods undermined its findings. Sperling's did not contact BYU - just collected information from the school's Web site.

"The hysterical thing about this survey is, it assesses sexual health on the grounds of what kind of information is provided on a Web site," Olson said. "It collected no data on rates of STIs on campus or rates of unintended pregnancies. There are no empirical foundations and no discussion of actual behavior on campuses."

Jenkins said BYU students don't want the services expected by the survey. Before they enroll, students must sign a statement that they will live by BYU's Honor Code, which prohibits extra- and premarital sex.

"Our students come expecting to uphold the Honor Code," Jenkins said. "They have already made a conscientious decision to avoid unintended pregnancies and STDs through abstinence. If (Trojan and Sperling's) truly were looking at preventing unintended pregnancies and STDs, we would have come out on the top, and hopefully with an A."

U. officials also questioned the report. The U., a public school, provides condoms and sexual health outreach, including HIV screenings, testing and counseling.

"We probably shouldn't have been No. 1, but there is no way we should be only two ahead of BYU," said Jason Gillman, office manager of the U.'s Health Promotion Program.

Gillman buys 10,000 condoms a year to give out free to students. A student committee and other campus organizations give out "living well kits" - stocked with a three of different types of condoms, lubricants and information about STDs - to students during class presentations and other events throughout the year.

Unsafe sex creates costly problems in the United States. About 65 million Americans are living with an incurable sexually transmitted infection. Utah is sponsoring free gonorrhea and chlamydia testing this week because of a soaring number of cases in the state. Utah County, where BYU is located, saw a 50 percent increase in those two infections between 2004 to 2005.

Trojan vice president of marketing Jim Daniels said the company recognized that schools have various reasons for not providing all of the resources graded in the survey. Trojan's position is that comprehensive sex education, including abstinence, is the best way to help students make smart decisions about sex.

"We live in a country with the highest rates of new STIs and unintended pregnancies of any Western nation, and we applaud those schools that provide fact-based, accurate and comprehensive information about sexual health to all students," Daniels said in a statement.

BYU's Olson suggested the report would be stronger if it graded schools in their own contexts and displayed an understanding that sex involves complex relationships and consequences that can last for generations.

"One of the problems with our culture is sexuality has been dangled out as just a sexual act and the only consequences are physical consequences."

Jenkins said Trojan should have ranked BYU higher in sexual assault services. BYU's Web site includes information about the campus Women's Services and Resources Center. This semester, the center is sponsoring classes on healthy relationships, pornography addiction, anger management and "What Every College Woman Should Know About Dating."

Danyelle White, editor of the U.'s student newspaper, The Daily Utah Chronicle, said the paper had a sex-and-relationships advice column last year, but the writers couldn't continue this year. White said the column will resume when the paper finds writers who can provide strong advice in an entertaining fashion.

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