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News Casual sex loses its appeal for youth by Ruth Padawer College Press Exchange Twenty years ago, Eric Nielson would have been an odd ity on New Jersey’s Rutgers University campus, speaking unabashedly as he does about choosing to remain a vhgin. But these days, Nielson, 18, figures half his male friends are vir gins, and none has been teased for his choice. “For me, it’s a matter of waiting until I find the right girl,” _ said Nielson, a freshman. “It’s not a moral tiling; it’s just what ’'feels right inside. I want to feel very emotionally attached to someone before I have sex with her.’’ A generation after the sexual revolution dazzled young people with the promise of freedom and excitement, the culture of liberation has lost some of its luster. Not only has the level of sexual activity among unmarried young people slackened in the past decade, after yeas of increase, but atti tudes have shifted, as well. Group dates are now fashionable, a way to avoid pressure for intimacy. Vnginity, a source of humiliation since the 1960s, is now more often a badge of honor. And casual sex isn’t as widely accepted as it once was. College students today are more likely than their 70s counterparts to view such dalliance as immoral — this at the same time that other adults, even senior citizens, have become more easygoing about sex outside of marriage. “There’s a real awareness on campuses these days tliat sex ual choices are serious choices, that they involve people’s emotions and bodies in serious ways,” said Meryle Kaplan, who runs the women’s center at William; Paterson Universi ty in Wfcyne, N.J. “It's not just about AIDS, either. A gener ation ago, sex was about personal expression and liberation. Now, there’s more awareness of sexual violence and conse quences — the idea that it’s your body, take care of it.” Consider these findings from large-scale studies by the University of Chicago, the University of California at Los An geles and the Urban Institute: • The proportion of adolescent males who approved of premarital sex when a couple doesn’t plan to marry increased from 55 percent in 1979 to 80 percent in 1988. By 1995, it had dropped to 71 percent • A record low of 40 percent of college freshmen agree that “if two people really like each other, it’s all right for them to have sex even if they’ve known each other for a very short time.” That’s down from 52 percent in 1987. • The proportion of 18- to 24-year-olds who frown on sex before marriage, calling it “always” or “almost always” wrong, has jumped more than 50 percent since 1972, to more than one in four. • Rates of sexual activity have flattened and even declined after climbing steadily from the 1950s through the 1980s. The proportion of 17- to 19-year-old males who reported that they were still virgins, for example, jumped from 24 percent in 1988 to 32 percent in 1995. "I have two much older brothers, and I used to hear them say that losing their virginity was the biggest goal they had in college,” said Taina Rodriguez, 18, a student at Rutgers University. “Now, the biggest goal is just getting through college.” Market researchers are calling the trend “neo-tradition alism.” They predict that patterns of dating, marriage and child rearing among today’s young adults might turn out to be more like those of their grandparents than of their parents — even as they reject traditional gender roles and are more open to gay and interracial relationships. Said one observer, “Picture Eisenhower, but with a pierced eyebrow.” raroara uevrne is a sopnomoie rairieign racwnson um versity’s Teaneck, N.J., campus. She sports a navel ring but dresses conservatively because she doesn’t want to look, in her words, “provocative.” “In my freshman year, I saw how the girls who slept with different guys had a really bad reputation,” she said. "1 would never put myself in that situation. But it’s a double stan dard for guys and girls, and 1 resent that.” To some, the predictions of a broad culture shift seem far fetched. True, the level of sexual activity among 15 to 19 year-olds has eased, but it’s still well above what it was before the “free love” culture of the 1960s and 1970s. And although premarital sex might be less acceptable than it was a decade ago, the number of cohabiting couples under age 25 doubled from 1980 to 1996. Moreover, according to a recent national study, teen-agers who drink or take drugs are much more likely to have sex at a younger age and with more partners than teens who avoid alcohol and drugs. Culture watchers are convinced that the nation is in the midst of a significant shift, with more young people rejecting the sexual-liberation legacy of their baby-boomer parents than anyone would have foretold 10 years ago. Private negotiations over flag result in mixed feelings by Jim Davenport Associated Press Private negotiations to remove the Confederate flag from South Carolina’s Statehouse on Thursday ended with par ticipants sounding like they’d attended different meetings. Gov. Jim Hodges and June Murray Wells, president general of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, described the meetings as productive, making the resolution of the controversy over the Confederate flag closer. “It was a very positive and produc tive dialogue,” Hodges said. “The devil is in the details.... until we get down to the specifics of the dif ferent proposals and get some feedback from the different interest groups that are involved in this, we won’t have finality,” Hodges said. Hodges said the group would meet again next week. With as many as 20 proposals under consideration, Hodges “wouldn’t bet on what the resolution would be. I’m opti mistic about our chances of trying to get the issue resolved.” “I thought it was a good dialogue,” said Lonnie Randolph, who fashioned a state NAACP boycott aimed at forcing the flag down. But Randolph said he didn’t think anyone’s position changed. The flag’s allies, Sen. Glenn Mc Connell, R-Charleston, and Chris Sulli van, director of the South Carolina Her itage Coalition, said the discussions left them unmoved. “We started out with the pleasantries and kept it pleasant, but got blunt,” Mc Connell said. “I’m not going to say it moved me to change my positions,” he said. If anything, McConnell and Sullivan were provoked by news Thursday that the Legislative Black Caucus wouldn’t sup port flying the flag at the Statehouse’s most visible spot, beside a Confederate mon ument. For weeks, flag opponents have said the Confederate flag represents no sov ereign government and should be moved on that basis alone. “But now it is a question of its visi bility,” McConnell said. “I do not believe the flag is coming down,” Sullivan said. The meeting encouraged Sen. John Land, D-Manning, who put the meeting together with Sen. John Drummond, D Ninety Six. The discussions are moving toward “where the flag will go,” Land said. Before the meeting, Nelson B. Rivers HI, the NAACP’s national field director and a Charleston native, said the boycott won’t be expanded because it’s working, although now legal action is being con sidered. The NAACP might ask the U.S. Jus tice Department whether South Carolina can fly the flag. The group’s lawyers are looking at whether the state is creating a hostile work ing environment for black state employ ees “who are forced to work under that flag.” Patterson said the NAACP sanc tions ultimately are what brought people to the table to try and talk about a com promise. McConnell scoffed at the suggestion. “The boycott isn’t the reason I’m at this table. I think the boycott has had the weight of a feather in a whirlwind,” McConnell said. Participants were unsuccessful in keep ing secret the 1 p.m. meeting at the Lace House, a pale yellow two-stoiy house built in 1854 when South Carolina’s alien ation from the rest of the United States had already begun. It’s one of several buildings in the two block-wide Governor’s Mansion complex and several blocks from the Statehouse, where the Confederate flag has flown since 1962. Sen. Kay Patterson, D-Columbia, and Sen. John Matthews, the Bowman De mocrat who chairs the Legislative Black Caucus, say the location of the flag is the biggest sticking point. • Matthews said a lot ot issues were dis cussed, “but we have not agreed to any thing.” Matthews, Patterson and other black lawmakers say they don’t want the flag where it will be in the faces of black peo ple. “No flags at Main and Gervais,” Pat terson said before the meeting. “There are other places to place flags.” Patterson prefers more out-of-sight places than McConnell, such as monu ments to Wade Hampton, Robert E. Lee or the Daughters of the Confederacy on the Statehouse’s southern side. The Legislative Black Caucus also joined in attacks against Republican Sen. d Arthur Ravenel for calling the NAACP the “National Association for Retarded People” at a weekend flag rally. Plagiarism from page A1 dent of plagiarism. First, professors purchase the pro gram for $300. The screening program replaces every fifth word with a standard-size blank. Pro fessors then ask students to supply the missing words. Based on the number of correct re sponses and elapsed time, the program computes the Plagiarism Probability $core. Plagiarism.org statistically checks a submitted term paper with a database of other papers collected from various universities, classes and from the Inter net. Such services started because of the increasing number of term papers avail able to students through “term-paper mills.” These Web sites allow students to download old term papers. Elections from page A1 college kids are lazy,” she said. Billy Peele, a marketing sophomore, agreed that voter turnout would increase if online voting becomes available. “Increased confidentiality and con venience will serve to make the election more appealing to students,” he said. In order to cast their votes, LeMas ter said students must log on to the VIP Web page, click on the “personal” tab of the page and choose “SG elections.” Welcome Back! We hope your holidays were wonderful... and want to remind USC Students that you are eligible for credit union membership! Along with many other membership advantages, we offer... On-Campus Surcharge-Free ATM Located at the Humanities Building, part of a state-wide Surcharge Free ATM Network. 0 Free Private Teller Service 24 hour computer account access. 0 Free Nightwatch Service 24 hour telephone account access. 0 Great unecKing options CALL FOR MORE INFORMATION! CAROLINA COLLEGIATE Federal Credit Union 710 Pulaski Street • Columbia, South Carolina 29201 . Tickets from page A1 will be able to get a ticket or not,” said Henry Patterson of Hickory, N.C. ' Ticket Exchange system users can search the ticket boards for orders at any , time. “It seems like now you can do any thing on the Web, so it only seems nat , ural for ticket exchanges to be available, too,” business freshman Dawn Temples said. i lo join the h- i lcketBoard, tans • must go to www.uscsports.com and click on the E-Ticket Exchange logo on the top left of the page. New users must then fill out a regis tration form and will receive a username, password and Web-based e-mail address for notification purposes. ■ilPIPPPPIppBipril I IF YOU ARE A GOOD STUDENT AND A CAMPUS LEADER YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR A $3,000 FELLOWSHIP If you’re a current, full-time college junior or senior demonstrating strong leadership abilities and majoring in business or a business-related field, you may be eligible to receive one of the State Farm Companies Foundation’s 50 Exceptional Student Fellowship awards. You may use the fellowship for the completion of your undergraduate studies or your first year of graduate work. Eligibility is not based on financial need, so don’t exclude yourself if you’re already on a scholarship. Demonstrated leadership, as well as scholarship, character and career goals will be considered in the committee’s selection. Candidates must be U.S. citizens. Only students nominated by USC will qualify as candidates. Applications without nominations won’t be considered. Application and nomination forms are available in the Fellowships Office, Harper College Room 101. Along with the forms, you’ll receive full details on the awards and how to apply for candidacy. The deadline for receiving completed application forms in the Fellowships Office is Friday, February 11, 2000. cWe(come Bacl^Students FINE CLEANERS ^Sletwiestoy faJw cxx/ie/ o/y rillyoM/i/ cl/iy/clettrUrujfr a^rid alteMitMm/ne&tlv! yiiMM if vu cJ'UXj'Se fJ'Ufifi/^ tJ'lne/ Wle-Osrtewv ...y&u/’ves cAvmm liie/fiirie&6. 830 Harden Street in the Heart of Five Points • 254-7373 • 13 Columbia Area Locations • Same day Service • • Fluff and Fold • Student Accounts Welcome •