Just for this issue, the Editorial Board is going to stop giving you advice on how to improve campus, and start giving you advice on how to improve your sex life.

According to Pipe Dream’s Sex Survey, 62 percent of men and 48 percent of women have experienced pregnancy scares. We’re alarmed by the number of people that have been subjected to this potentially avoidable circumstance. It doesn’t take a survey to figure out that most college students are not trying to have children, but when sheer carelessness is involved, it could happen to you.

The survey indicated that 5.3 percent of non-virgin respondents reported never using protection during sex. An additional 11.3 percent claimed they used protection less than 50 percent of the time. These numbers are troubling. With these statistics in mind, it becomes more comprehensible how this many students have faced a pregnancy scare.

According to the results, a large number of students believe that birth control is a substitute for condoms. This is far from the truth. Birth control, when used correctly, protects women from pregnancy but does not prevent either partner from contracting sexually transmitted infections. And hormonal birth control is volatile — take a pill at the wrong time or miss a day completely and your protection may be weakened. We know, from personal experience and observations from our friends, that many students aren’t using their birth control perfectly. It’s difficult to get to the pharmacy every month or to remember to take a pill at exactly 9:15 p.m. every day. Chances are, you’re screwing up your birth control and severely decreasing its effectiveness. Use a rubber.

Unwanted pregnancies aren’t the only unsatisfactory things that culminate from having unprotected sex. Though the percentages of men and women without STIs were in the high 90s by the survey, we believe this number is lower than reported. College students don’t get tested as frequently as they should and many STIs don’t show symptoms. Couple this with the percentage of people who don’t use protection, and things get a bit murky. You could have chlamydia right now and not even know it. You probably have chlamydia.

There should be more urgency from college students to go get tested for STIs. If there is a problem, ignoring it will not make it disappear. Additionally, a failure to be tested could lead to the unknowing transmission of disease, especially considering the amount of students who responded that they use protection less than 50 percent of the time. Testing is available at the Decker Student Health Services Center and should be taken advantage of more frequently.

Look, we aren’t your parents and, ultimately, what you do between the sheets is up to you. But the last thing Binghamton University needs is a chlamydia outbreak. Don’t be stupid.