April 27th, 2006
April 26th, 2006
HPV
I was among a group of well-educated young men the other day and I was once again surprised to find out that all of them knew almost next to nothing about HPV, including the fact that at least half of them will have been infected with one or more genital strains at some time in their lives. Can someone please start educating our young men about this virus? Just because it’s not well-known for making your penis burn when you pee (gonnorhea or chlamydia) or producing open sores (herpes) doesn’t mean you shouldn’t know about it– especially since it is the most sexually transmitted infection among young people.
Fact: HPV stands for Human papillomavirus, a member of a group of viruses that can cause changes in cells leading to abnormal cell growth. More than 100 strains have been identified; about 30 can be transmitted sexually. Of those transmitted sexually, some can cause visible genital warts and others can cause cervical cancer.
Fact: HPV is the most sexually transmitted infection among sexually active young people. Approximately 20 million people are infected with HPV and about 6.2 million Americans get a new genital HPV infection each year. At least 50 percent of sexually active men and women acquire a genital HPV infection at some point in their lives. For women, that percentage rises to 80 percent by age 50.
Fact: approximately 10 of the 30 types of genital HPV types can lead to the development of cervical cancer. Cervical HPV infection becomes undetectable for most women (90 percent) within two years, but persistent infection with these high-risk types of HPV is the main risk factor for cervical cancer. Cervical cancer is the only cancer where 100 percent of cases are caused by a virus.
Fact: most people with HPV do not know they are infected. Aside from those strains that cause genital warts, HPV infections usually cause no visible symptoms. The virus lives in the skin or mucous membranes and it is usually spread through genital contact. Because there are no symptoms and most people do not know they are infected, most people do not know they are spreading the virus, especially since HPV infection can occur in both male and female genital areas whether or not they are protected by a latex condom.
Fact: for women, annual Pap tests are the key to early detection and treatment. Pap tests and, if necessary, colposcopy are used to detect and treat pre-cancerous and cancerous cells, preventing them from developing into life-threatening cervical cancer. Most women who develop invasive cervical cancer have not had regular cervical screening.
Fact: for men, aside from strains that cause genital warts, for the most part, HPV does not pose the same types of health risks that it poses for women. HPV has been linked to penile and anal cancers in men, but these are extremely rare, especially in men with healthy immune systems. However, men should be aware of HPV because of their role in transmitting the virus to their female sexual partners and the greater health risk it does pose to those partners.
That’s right– because at the end of the day, whatever the difference in health risks, men and women, among other combinations, come together to be sexual partners and any type of partnership, however fleeting, involves shared responsibility. Realistically, I don’t expect everyone to get tested constantly and, if found to test positive for HPV at some point, eliminate all genital contact until your body gets rid of it on its own (since eliminating all genital contact is the only way to prevent the spread of the virus and there is no “cure” for HPV infection). However, to all the men out there, even if it won’t make your dick fall off, please at least be aware of HPV. Certainly, you should be aware of HPV since some strains cause genital warts. For the other strains, especially those connected to cervical cancer, you’re lucky in that you’re just as responsible for transmitting it, but you won’t get sick from it– the least you can do is if your girlfriend or your wife ever comes home from the gynecologist and tells you that she’s tested positive for HPV, you’ll know what she’s talking about and what might be ahead.
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April 21st, 2006
Mr. Bush comes to Stanford
President Bush came to Stanford today for a private dinner and I have never seen a visitor cause so much havoc to campus. Traffic on campus was completely screwed up starting mid-afternoon– foot traffic between Green Library and the Hoover Institute was completely shut down and police officers were directing traffic in random places all over campus, as far out as Sand Hill Road near SLAC. Aside from that, multiple military helicopters were flying pretty low over campus all afternoon. It was ridiculous. I mean, helicopters? Really?
When Chelsea Clinton was a student at Stanford and her parents came for visits, there was never this much disruption on campus. I mean, sure, when there were suddenly ten big black SUVs parked outside of Wilbur Hall or something, we knew the First Lady or the President was in town, but neither parent, including the Leader of the Free World himself, managed to shut down campus when he visited.
Of course, the real kicker is that it’s one of the worst weekends to have a high maintenance visitor come to campus– it’s Admit Weekend and over 1500 newly admitted students and their parents have been on campus since Thursday morning. Obviously, it’s a very busy and important weekend and I hear they already had to cancel an event at Memorial Auditorium (one of our largest indoor venues) because of the President’s visit. Shutting down foot traffic on parts of campus, having helicopters fly overhead constantly as Admit Weekend activities are occurring all over (indoor and outdoor), and just making it generally difficult to get around campus isn’t the best thing this weekend.
The only positive thing that I can take away from President Bush’s visit is that, just like everywhere else in the Bay Area, protesters were out and ready for his arrival, including students who had Admit Weekend responsibilities, but were sure to take time out to voice their opinions. It’s a part of Stanford that I’m kind of glad that ProFros (prospective freshmen) got a chance to see.
April 18th, 2006
April 17th, 2006
In honor of Easter: Is the Bunny acceptable in the workplace?
I wore a t-shirt today into the office that featured the Playboy bunny logo in gold. Putting it on in the morning, I certainly realized that it might a bit controversial, a bit eyebrow raising. But I work at a pretty liberal University and specifically, a pretty casual office at that, so aside from the wearing t-shirt and jeans non-issue, I kind of vaguely wondered if people would make an issue out of the shirt. The worst I expected was some ultra-feminist woman to make some snide comment about how magazines like Playboy objectify women. To which, I would probably respond something about how women have got much bigger problems and enemies than Playboy and the like and, if anything, we should thank Mr. Hefner and his magazine for helping to protect and exercise the First Amendment so well. There are certainly those who are supposedly in higher brow businesses, but are much more interested in and better at keeping women down– and many of them are women themselves– keeping us under glass ceilings and telling us what we can and cannot do with our bodies.
In any case, back to my day at the office: truth be told, I usually keep a jacket or something on for most of the day since the office is usually cold, so I didn’t expect many people to see the shirt anyway. During the short time I did have my jacket off, I did get a few quick looks and comments– the director of our department (a woman) did a quick double-take and I got out of the way before she could say something, good or bad. A co-worker said he liked the shirt. My boss first merely noted that I was wearing a shirt with the Playboy bunny on it and then asked the question, part-jokingly, part-rhetorically, “is that appropriate in the modern workplace?”
The interesting thing is that no one is really sure. I probably wouldn’t have worn it in any other office setting, but in this one, I thought I could probably get away with it. But what am I really getting away with it? What is so threatening about it? Is it because the bunny symbolizes “adult entertainment?” Is it because it refers to a very famous, very specific adult entertainment franchise that people might have strong feelings about, for or against? What if a man were to wear a t-shirt from a no-name strip bar– would that cause the same kind of uneasiness? Is the mere presence of the bunny a form a sexual harassment? Is the mere presence of something that is non-sexual in itself, but that is linked to something sexual considered the automatic creating of an uncomfortable work environment? Have we really become that sensitive and paranoid?
Well, I haven’t heard anything from anyone yet, so perhaps I’ve gotten through a day without causing too much of a controversy. Maybe the fact that I was a woman wearing a t-shirt with a Playboy symbol over some big boobs was just a little too weird. What could they say? “Some women feel threatened by the bunny symbol on your very large chest.” Right.
April 16th, 2006
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