Students in search of condoms may be in for a surprise if they try to purchase them at the convenience store in Newcomb Hall. Amid the caffeine pills, candy bars, vaginal douches and clothing irons offered at the store, not one latex condom is for sale.
According to store cashier, Mary Ann Stewart, condoms have not been on the shelves there for several months. When asked why, she cited the concerns of her manager.
"The manager said they were not appealing to the eye," said Stewart.
Bela Szuromi, the manager in charge of the Newcomb convenience store, declined to comment, directing all inquiries to ARAmark Regional District Manager Brent Beringer.
"They simply weren't selling," said Beringer when asked about the lack of condoms for sale at the Newcomb location. "They weren't selling at a volume that made any sense to stock them. There wasn't an agenda or anything like that."
Beringer also expressed concern about the availability of storage space at the Newcomb store.
University students had varied reactions to news of the store's lack of condoms.
"I don't find anything negative with it, but it does give a sense of promoting sexual behavior," said first-year College student Justin Stone in reference to the sale of condoms.
Others did not agree.
"I think it's great to promote things other than abstinence," said fourth-year College student Jessie Miller.
ARAmark, which runs all convenience stores on Grounds, does stock condoms at store locations in Runk Dining Hall, Observatory Hill Dining Hall, and Lambeth Field Apartments, according to Beringer. Condoms are also available for purchase at the U.Va. Bookstore, which is not affiliated with ARAmark.
Students can also find condoms through several University-sponsored sources. The LGBT Resource Center, a part of the Office of the Dean of Students, gives away free latex condoms and lubricants at its office on the fourth floor of Newcomb Hall.
The Office of Health Promotion, a division of the Elson Student Health Center, will distribute up to three free condoms to students who come to Student Health, according to Peer Health Education Coordinator Tara Schuster. Schuster also added that condoms and safer sex aids are made available to students at a number of events staged year-round by the Office of Health Promotion.
Student groups also take part in the distribution of condoms. AIDS Service, Awareness and Prevention, which according to its description is "U.Va.'s only student-initiated and student-run HIV/AIDS focused organization," often distributes condoms at talks and tabling events on the Lawn.
Another CIO, VOX: Voices of Planned Parenthood, has also given out condoms to students through means such as its "Condom Fairies," group members who donned homemade wings on Halloween to hand out condoms at parties.
As to whether the convenience store at Newcomb will sell condoms again, Beringer noted that the store will stock the latex products at the beginning of the fall semester.
The fate of their continued availability, he said, depends on the success of their sales.
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