Dartmouth College has experienced a recent rise in the number of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) reported on campus--much like the similar rise experienced by Harvard last November.

Earlier this month, Dartmouth Health Services disclosed what Janice Sundnas, director of the school's womens' health program, said was a "a small bump" in the statistics for reported cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea over the past six months.

In response to the news, many members of the Dartmouth student body are organizing personal screening for these and other diseases, while some other students have sent e-mail messages blaming the new Class of 2004 for the rise in occurrences.

But Sundnas said that there are fewer than 10 total cases on campus--no more than one might expect at a school of Dartmouth's size.

"The college is a microcosm of the population at large," she said. "Our [statistics] for STDs are probably the same as the rest of the population."

Last year, Harvard also experienced a similar rise in the number of cases of gonorrhea, from four in 1998 to nine in 1999.

Donna Campbell, a University Health Services (UHS) infection control nurse, said there were 20 reported student cases of chlamydia in 1999 and 16 so far in 2000, along with 9 student cases of gonorrhea in 1999 (considered a "blip") and only 2 this year.

No rumors or scares were associated with the release of those numbers.