It started out as a normal Wednesday night study break Twenty-two Wiggles worth students piled into their proctor's cramped living room at 10 p.m. to munch on Oreos and Cheese Doodles But along with the chips, the freshmen passed around birth control devices.

The event was an informal presentation by representatives of Peer Contraceptive Counseling, a group of undergraduates who, under the auspices of University Health Services (UHS), inform students on birth control methods, sexuality, and related health issues.

In an effort to increase awareness of their services, the group has began conducting a series of presentations like the one in Wigglesworth, collectively known as "Freshman Outreach" This was the third session this fall of the about 20 planned for this year.

Sitting in front of a table which displayed almost every common method of contraception, the counselors explain the use, effectiveness and possible side effects of each As they describe each object, including a plastic replica of the female genital affectionately dubbed "Patty Pelvis," they pass them around.

Although there were intermittent jokes and comments, the atmosphere was relaxed and most students listened carefully.

"People paid a lot more attention to this than to the first two orientation meetings I gave," said Proctor-Michael K. Fridkin '81 who said he signed up to host an outreach session because "these are the questions that people want to start asking now, but they're afraid to Sexuality becomes more relevant when people are separate from their families" He adds. "I doubt very many people have been given the opportunity to learn about contraception in at atmosphere where they feel comfortable asking the questions they most want to ask."

"You didn't really feel like people had to say funny things to break the tension," says Diane J. Klein '87, She adds, "I was reluctant to come, because I thought it would be reduced to innuendo and double-entendre, but it wasn't."

Dean of Freshman Henry C. Moses says he feels the outreach program serves an important purpose. "We've been trying to find a way to go and talk to freshman about contraception and sexuality for at least five years, since 1977 when all the freshmen lived in the Yard, male and female, for the first time."

The group asked all proctors to sign up to host presentations at a proctors' meeting with Moses early this fall. Twenty of the approximately 40 present agreed, according to Michele J. Orza '84, one of the counselors and the student coordinator of the counseling group.

Before their discussions of such methods as the condom with foam, the diaphragm, the Pill, and the IUD, the counselors were careful to stress that their group makes no assumptions about the sexual behavior of Harvard students "We're not assuming that everyone here is heterosexual, or that all of you are having sex or that sex includes intercourse," says Orza.

She and Ann Rusnak '85 proceed to outline facts and misconceptions about the different methods of birth control, taking care in each case to describe how to obtain contraceptives from UHS, and what exactly is involved in a visit for that purpose.

Occasionally, the counselors interjected unofficial information. "If you go to the UHS Pharmacy to buy condoms, the pharmacist will probably try to be funny and throw you by asking you what size you want." Orza warns.

"But don't worry," she adds. "One size fits all What he means is do you want a package of three six or 12."

One of the points that the counselors stressed was that contraception is not a concern solely for women. In illustrating how men can be actively involved in the use of such methods as the diaphragm, they called on Fridkin for help.

With a minimum of help from Orza and Rusnak, Fridkin showed, using Patty Pelvis, that men too can insert diaphragms.