(The following appeared in Tampa Bay Life in March 1989.)

Condom Machines at USF: Bachelors in Rubberware

By Bob Andelman

Ray King would just as soon not speak to another reporter inquiring about the condom vending machines recently placed in 14 of the University of South Florida's residence hall laundry rooms.

"I have more important things to do than count how many condoms are sold," he says. "It's just another product. I think there's publicity because the public is sex-crazed. For the resident students, it's comme ci, comme ca."

USF was the first of Florida's state universities to follow a national trend of making condoms -- regular and ribbed -- readily available to students living on campus. Alongside the Protex rubbers are small packages of Dristan, Anacin and Alka-Seltzer. Price: 50 cents.

And King was right, it's not really news.The school's bookstore has carried individually wrapped Trojans for years as an "impulse" item at the cash register.And the University of Tampa put vending machines in the restrooms of the Rathskeller pub last summer.The real news is that very few students at either school are buying many at all -- no more than two dozen a week at USF.

"We're probably servicing the machines once a week and putting a couple in," says Jeff Mack, general manager of the University Bookstores. "I can't tell you they're selling like hotcakes. And we sell very few in the store; most people go to the drugstore."

Mack says he can't see USF making condoms into novelty items -- for disease protection or even fundraising ­ as other schools have done."We go to trade shows and that is one of the item that catches a lot of attention," he says. But it's not something we would want to put the school logo on."

As for Ray King, he just wants his machines respected in the morning. "These machines are seen in hotel lobbies across the United States," he says."I've never seen an article about condom machines in Gulf gas stations, have you?I hope this is the the last one."