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Steve & Mia: How many sex partners is too many?

Q: I'm starting my freshman year in college and am leaving my high-school boyfriend behind. I expect to find new romantic partners, but I don't want to get a bad reputation.

Q: I'm starting my freshman year in college and am leaving my high-school boyfriend behind. I expect to find new romantic partners, but I don't want to get a bad reputation.

How many sexual partners is too many? If I have more than a dozen, am I a slut? What's the average for a normal woman?

Mia: The number of men you choose to sleep with is between you and God, if you are a believer. Don't worry about what your high-school boyfriend thinks, and forget about what society says.

Do remember why you are in school: to get an education. But also have fun, stay safe and be true to your morals. That's all you have to worry about.

Steve: Wait. You can have too many partners? Forget about the number, but be choosy. Remember Steve & Mia's Rules of Romance No. 7: "Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas."

Q: Last semester, I drank too much and wound up in an emergency room. My roommates said I was talking crazy, so they called 9-1-1.

My discharge papers from the ER had "psychosis" on them. I never followed up like they told me to. I just stopped drinking until exams were over.

I didn't drink all summer while I was home, either. Now I'm worried that, with school starting up, I might be tempted to party again and overindulge.

Mia: You are smart to be concerned. What you experienced may be a onetime thing or a sign of other problems. Continue laying off the booze until you get evaluated again.

Your first stop should be the student health center. It can steer you toward a professional therapist or maybe a program to help with the drinking.

Steve: Before heading back to school, visit your family physician for a discussion about alcohol. Alcoholism can be genetic, and some people need to be more careful than others.

Your doctor can help you craft a drinking strategy that lets you party without ruining your health.