I've spent a considerable part of the past three years in courtrooms, covering the alleged misdeeds of current or former Fresno State athletes, coaches and administrators.

Some of those alleged misdeeds have revolved around sex.

Like it or not, people connected to Fresno State athletics are celebrities. As court documents and testimony have made clear, celebrityhood and sexual opportunism can go together as easily at Fresno State as in Hollywood or Washington, D.C.

And the result just as easily can be heartache and damaged image, for the institution as well as the individual.

I've been asking at Fresno State: Do those in athletics get expert advice on how to avoid the legal, ethical and health pitfalls of fame and sex?

Yes, says Jennifer A. Whyte, coordinator of the university's Women's Resource Center. For example, Whyte says, she speaks to groups of incoming athletes about the dynamics of intimate relationships.

Whyte goes over what constitutes a healthy and mutually respectful relationship. She goes over what constitutes a manipulative and abusive relationship.

Don't stereotype, Whyte emphasizes -- athletes can be victims, too.

When it comes to education in this delicate but important area, Whyte says, "I do think the Athletic Department is trying to go in the right direction."

I've learned two things during all those hours in court.

First, a courtroom is the one place you don't want to be if you want your private life to remain private.

Second, often times the healthiest sexual relationship is the one you walk away from before it begins.