Inside Stone Hall's lobby was the makings for any good party: girls, balloons, cupcakes and condoms.

Last night about 15 female freshmen gathered in the freshmen dorm to take part in a safer sex party, a new project launched by Penn State's HIV/AIDS Risk Reduction Advisory Council to promote safer sex and educate students about HIV and AIDS.

Betsy Donaldson, coordinator for the Real AIDS Prevention Project, said the program is a new method aimed to educate and raise awareness about safer sex practices.

"The parties are meant to offer a different interactive atmosphere to learn about HIV and AIDS and focus on things like communication with partners and condom skills," Donaldson said. "It's done in a fun way with a party atmosphere instead of having a lecturer come and present information."

Last night's party followed the typical format for the project.

First the girls took a pretest to gauge their knowledge about sexual issues. They then split up into three teams and competed to earn points by answering questions about sexual health.

LaDawna Jones, the facilitator for last night's party, said she gave her audience interesting facts while adding in a few hands-on demonstrations as well.

"The average male penis is about 5 to 7 inches erect," Jones said. "There's no excuse that a guy is too big for a condom."

To demonstrate this, Jones had the teams race to see who could fill their team condom with a gallon of water the fastest. Then the teams rubbed three different types of lubricant on their filled condoms.

Jones said this was to show that oil-based lubricants increase the chance of condoms breaking during intercourse.

Mary Anderson (freshmen-film) was on the team that used baby oil to lubricate the condom.

"I was really surprised how much water it could hold," Anderson said. "I thought this was really helpful and I had a lot of fun."

The teams also competed in a race to see which group could put a condom on a banana correctly, and remove it while blindfolded.

"Chances are if you're doing this, it's going to be in the dark," Jones said. "Just stick it between your legs if you're having trouble. It helps."

Jones said it's important for females to also know how to put on condoms to protect themselves against sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy.

Donaldson said that as of right now the parties are geared for females, but starting next semester the Real AIDS Prevention Project will be offering parties for the gay male community as well.

"Any female who can get between 10 to 15 girls together can host a party," Donaldson said. "It's like a Tupperware party. People can sign up at www.dontignoreit.com or at our table at the HUB Fridays."

Catherine Hegarty (freshmen-material sciences) said she came out to learn more about safer sex. "I thought it was really interesting and fun," Hegarty said. "I still can't believe how much water that condom held."