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The Daily Tar Heel

Prevention is the Best Medicine, Weeeee!

I'm an Aleutian-Alaskan native, and I've just contracted syphilis. I'm worried about telling my boyfriends because I'm afraid it will give my "race" a bad name. First of all, I am not supposed to be having multiple relationships or having sex, but I'm a freshman and I'm so confused! I just want to be loved! Secondly, the guys I've slept with all left me the next day. How do I tell them now after that I've been humiliated and screwed? - Anonymous

First of all, I wouldn't worry about your actions putting a bad light on your race. According to the N.C. State Center for Health Statistics, only 19 reported cases of congenital syphilis were contracted by Native Americans or Aleutian natives in North Carolina last year, as opposed to whites (95) and blacks (344). So don't stress about it.

More important is what you need do about contacting your sexual partners. This should be your number one priority, as the longer it takes for the knowledge to get around, the farther the disease will spread. Your partners are all possible carriers, and they need to be told immediately so they can tell their other sexual partners as well.

Another big issue to deal with here is prevention. You wouldn't have to contact those guys if you had been protected from the start. I know in the throes of passion (or carelessness) a condom isn't the most appealing thing in the world. But in retrospect, it looks a lot less like a hassle and more like a necessity.

Now, I could go on about the dangers of having multiple sexual partners. But I don't want to beat you up any more than you probably already have.

Contracting an STD is not the end of your life. Syphilis, if left untreated, can lead to hair loss, mental deterioration and, in some rare cases, death. But you have already won half the battle. By getting tested, you can now get treatments to prevent any more symptoms.

But your other sexual partners deserve that same chance, so you have to tell them the truth. They will thank you when they still have their hair at age 25.

Do you know the true meaning of "weeeeee?" And more importantly, how about "hold on to your little gonads and strife?" This has taken over my thoughts for the past week. Please help!! - A.F.

Actually I don't know the true meanings of "weeeeee" or "hold on to your little gonads and strife." However, I do know that those two statements make for one funny movie.

For those of you who are totally confused (and maybe a bit curious), the movie I'm referring to is Threebrain's "Weeeeee!" (http://www.threebrain.com/weeeeee.html)

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