Early Friday morning, Indiana University student Lauren Spierer went missing. The sophomore apparel and merchandising major was last seen around 4:30 am heading home after spending time with friends. According to the Herald Times Online, nearly hundreds of people volunteered Monday to help police search for clues on her whereabouts. Searches will continue today.

The CollegeCandy staff is extending our thoughts to Lauren and her family — and as a college-centric blog we thought we ought to do more than that. While we can’t travel to Indiana to help with the search, we can remind everyone, especially college females, the importance of staying safe on campus.

Yes, you’ve probably heard these before, but it can never hurt to reiterate some safety tips that all college women should follow. Here are five important tips:

Walk With Somebody: It’s so easy to find a friend to walk you home. So do it. Often you don’t want to inconvenience others, but Lauren’s situation is a terrible reminder of why women should always walk in groups.

Walk In Well Lit Areas: It might be tempting to take the short cut home but walking through well-lit and populated areas can keep you safe

Yell For Help: If you are being followed make noise. It can both garner attention to help you and scare off a potential attacker.

Limit Distractions: When walking by yourself, especially at night, resist listening to music and spending time on your phone. This will help you become more alert to your surroundings.

Take A Self Defense Class: These classes teach a variety of different things from how to spot dangerous situations and how to intimidate attackers, to the physical moves that can help save your life.

For more information on the search for Lauren Spierer check for updates on Herald Times Online and the twitter page dedicated to the story. And remember, while you may feel completely safe in your college campus bubble, you’re still living in the real world and need to take real precautions.

On a typical weekend, if you’re at a bad party, you can call it a night, call Safe-rides, and make it back to your dorm in one piece. Then again, if you’re at a good party, you can live it up, sleep until noon the next day, and then relax your hangover away until it’s time to get back to the daily grind.

On Spring Break, however, once you get off the plane at your final destination, you’re in it for the long haul. Though you anticipate your vacay being the highlight of the semester, it can be grueling to go all day, every day, and, being far from home, there’s a lot that can go wrong. Nothing is suckier than getting sick in a foreign place, fighting with your tripmates, or getting into a sticky situation in an unfamiliar place. Make sure you make it back to school in one piece this spring, by taking a few simple precautions.

1. Do your research.

Get some maps, or travel guides with tips, before you leave. Ask people you trust if they can recommend a good hotel. Try to brush up on the local rules or laws of the place you’re headed. The last thing you want to do is get lost, check into a lodging that is reminiscent of hostel, or get in trouble for something you didn’t even think was wrong.

2. Pack wisely.

Flip flops might be a necessity, but what about when you take a day trip that requires walking around all day to take in the sights? Pack a comfortable pair of shoes just in case that long night of clubbing wore out your feet. And even if you think you’re going somewhere tropical and plan to be in a bathing suit all day, it can’t hurt to throw a sweater in your suitcase for when the temperature drops after dark. Read More »

If you’ve read any news blogs or even watched a televised newscast in the last week and a half, chances are that you’ve heard the tragic story of Annie Le, the Yale grad student who disappeared ten days ago. Her body was found hidden inside a wall at the building where she worked last Sunday—which was to have been her wedding day. Now a lab technician named Raymond Clark has been charged with Annie’s murder.

This whole saga has been unbelievably upsetting and awful, and our hearts go out to Annie’s family and her fiancé. It’s also spurred a lot of interesting discussion about safety on college campuses—and why the media is curiously fascinated by crimes that occur on Ivy League campuses.

Slate editor Jack Shafer observes that the New York Times has written five stories about Annie’s case so far, while the Boston Globe has run at least six. A quick search shows that CNN.com has a whopping 14 stories about the murder. The media frenzy has been so… well, frenzied that an NBC producer was trampled when journalists and camera-people rushed to speak to a New Haven police spokesman on Tuesday. Read More »

According to every single headline I’ve seen this morning, it seems that there is an outbreak of something called the Swine Flu. I don’t really know what it is (or what pigs have against us…besides the fact that we only like them for their fatty and delicious goodness), but my finger started hurting last night and I can only assume I have caught it.

Schools and businesses are being closed because of this sitch, and people from NY to Chicago are walking around town with SARS masks on.

But while the rest of the world is freaking out, I couldn’t be happier.

Seriously, schools and businesses are closing? Holla back, y’all. This swine flu is the perfect excuse for just about anything this week and I plan to milk it for all it’s worth: Read More »

When I found out that 25% of college students have a Sexually Transmitted Disease, I laughed. Surely that statistic referred to the more promiscuous students, or those who were dumb enough not to use a condom during sex.

Then I found out that two of the eight girls living in my house (25%) had contracted an STD. These two girls weren’t promscuous – one was a virgin! – and the other was always safe. And that was when I realized just how serious STDs were for all women on college campuses.

The problem with STDs is that people don’t talk about them. We all think that by practicing safe sex – using a condom – we are safe from everything and because we have this false sense of safety, many of us never get tested. And that is why 1 in 4 college students currently have an STD.

April is STD Awareness Month and in conjuction with that, we at CollegeCandy decided to stop regular posting and turn today into STD Awareness Day. We have teamed with with many experts in the field – doctors, nurses, STD specialists, etc. – to bring you the information you need to protect yourself and start a necessary dialogue on a serious issue.

We urge you to learn a little bit and make an appointment to get tested!

Below are some pretty serious and scary facts about STDs that we never knew. Chances are, you don’t know about them either and that is dangerous. Knowledge is power and when it comes to STDs, it is the power to protect youself: Read More »

I am a firm believer that there is nothing worse on this earth than the pain of having a large patch of hair torn out of my bikini line. I’ve had many bikini waxes over the course of my lifetime (I’m a Jew – we’re hairy people!) and as much as I try, I cannot get through one without letting out a blood curdling scream. Poor Russian wax lady always feels so guilty.

Still, I keep going back for more.

Or less. Hair, that is.

The Brazilian, thanks to Samantha on Sex and the City, has become my wax of choice.  As most women would agree (and those of you who don’t really need to reconsider), having a little forest poke out of my bathing suit/undies/mini skirt is not my idea of hot. A tiny landing strip – regardless how painful – is. Read More »

Ready for Spring Break? Yes, I am even talking to the 50% of you college students who are staying home this year. And why not? You don’t have to be off in Mexico doing really stupid things to have a good time. You’ve all been working hard and everyone deserves a little down time to let loose with a good book or an even better playlist.

Just because there is a little recession doesn’t mean you can’t have fun too. Or get a tan (and some D). Or, if nothing else, see a really bad movie.

If you are leaving town, don’t forget the essentials to take, the things you absolutely should not take, and the souvenirs you must bring home. And make sure to bring along the beach bag. God forbid you should be stuck on a tropical beach without your Blackberry, Us Weekly, and extra swimsuit.

Oh, and be sure to brush up on everything you need to know about Spring Break survival. Like the fact that everything that happens on Spring Break makes it way back to campus…with tons of exaggeration. Including STIs.

Don’t make the same mistakes we did in the past and be prepared. With a hot body and a cute dress.

You’ve been killing yourself all semester to tackle mountains of coursework while finding time to hit the gym and develop the perfect bikini bod to show off in Cancun, the Dominican Republic, Miami Beach…or wherever Spring Break 2009 finds you. When the day finally arrives, you’re ready to leave all of your woes behind. In a tropical hotspot hundreds of miles away from your RA, your professors, and your “Good Girl” reputation, you’re ready to let loose.

But be careful, ladies, because there’s still plenty of ways that your spring break behavior can come back to haunt you. Read More »

As college students, we pretty much think of ourselves as invincible, I know I certainly have. Until recently that is. I’ve been in car accidents, including one where my car hydroplaned off a cliff. I’ve drank myself to the point where I should have gone to the hospital. I’ve had my life threatened. But those things never quite hit me to the point where I realized I could have died.

On January 2nd, I woke up at 4:30 in the morning with a searing pain in my left lung and back. It felt like two cinderblocks were pushing on either side of me and every breath felt like a knife going through my lung. I have a low pain tolerance, but this was the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my entire life. I managed to walk to my parents’ room to wake them up as I was gasping for air. My mom helped me back into my room while my dad furiously researched the new medication my dermatologist put me on, convinced it was a side effect. I eventually fell back asleep, but when I woke up again I was greeted by pain that was even worse than before. My mom came in to check on me, and I told her I needed to go to the hospital.

In the emergency room, one of the doctors listened to my symptoms and said “I think you may have a blood clot in your lung.” What? A blood clot? In an 18-year old? I was so confused and scared; I immediately started bawling. They quickly took blood out of my left arm while putting an IV in the other, and I woke up in the middle of a CT-scan. They did ultrasounds on my legs to make sure there were no clots because that’s where most clots originate. About an hour later, another doctor came in and told me they did find a clot in my lung.

I was terrified. Read More »

With a month off between fall and spring semesters and neurotic parents that drive you absolutely crazy after three months of freedom in the dorms, many students opt to take a winter break vacay. Whether it’s a road trip to the closest city, or a flight to the tropics, finding romance is a great way to de-stress after finals (and Christmas dinner with the entire extended fam). Looking for a super New Year’s Kiss? Here are some tips to get your blood rushing, even in freezing temps.

The most important rule for finding a fling is to open yourself up to opportunity. Hell, even if you’re stuck in your hometown, you never know if you’ll hit it off with a former high school classmate who grew up (in more ways than one) while away at school. If you are traveling, be outgoing! Talk to the bartenders, the hotel staff, everyone. They can probably give you advice on the hottest hangouts for the locals, and perhaps even introduce you to some of their fine friends. Besides, if things go sour, you can always jet back to school and pretend it never happened.

That said, be spontaneous. What happens in Vegas…. right? If a cute guy compliments you on the street, it’s okay to talk to him. Just be sure you have a friend or authority figure in sight. You can even agree to meet up later, provided it’s in a crowded, well-lit venue. Yes, there are sketchy peeps out there, but there are also plenty of friends you haven’t met yet. Trust your gut, and give it a chance…again, in a crowded, well-lit venue. Read More »