LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 14, 2003 - 3
CAMPUS
Vagina Monologues
author speaks, work
to be performed
Eve Ensler, feminist author of the
"Vagina Monologues," will speak in
1800 Chemistry today at 3 p.m.
The talk, titled "Imagining V-
World," will discuss a world without
violence against women.
, The V-Day College Campaign
will hold two performances of the
Vagina Monologues at the Power
Center Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7:30
p.m. Tickets cost $15 or $10 for stu-
dents and can be purchased through
the Michigan Union Ticket Office.
Lecture covers
civil rights and
new security acts
A forum titled "Know Your Rights:
A Forum on Civil Rights" will be
held in the Michigan Union Ballroom
Monday at 7 p.m.
The forum will cover topics such
as the USA PATRIOT Act, the
Homeland Security Act, immigra-
tion issues, labor rights and civil
rights.
Tango club to
host free lessons
and open dance
Bring your dancing shoes for a free
tango lesson followed by an open danc-
ing session in the Pendleton Room of
the Union tomorrow. The lesson begins
at 8 p.m.
The event is open to all and spon-
sored by the Michigan Argentine
Tango Club and Rackham Graduate
School.
Film society will
screen Japanese
anime selections
The Michigan Japanese Anima-
tion Film Society is sponsoring a
free anime screening marathon in
the Modern Languages Building
tomorrow at 5 p.m.
Selections will include Abenobashi
Magical Shopping District, RahX-
ephon, and Hack. All films are subti-
tled in English.
Taubman College
hosts guest
architecture lecturer
Lindy Roy, an architect with Roy
Design, will give a lecture in audi-
torium 2104 of the Art and Archi-
tecture Building Monday at 6 p.m.
The Taubman College of Archi-
tecture and Urban Planning is spon-
soring the lecture.
The Ark presents
storytelling series
and family concert
A festival designed to celebrate
the art of storytelling will take
place at the Ark on 316 S. Main St.
Events will start at 8 p.m. today and
tomorrow and will conclude with a
family concert Sunday at 1 p.m.
Tickets are $15 for today and
tomorrow, $10 for Sunday and can
be purchased at the Michigan Union
Ticket Office.
Storytellers include Irish story-
teller Batt Burns, "the Catholic Gar-
rison Keillor" Ed Stivender, and
many others.
Music faculty to
perform in
chamber group
The Michigan Chamber Players, a
music faculty ensemble, will give a
free performance in the Music School
Recital Hall at 1100 Baits Dr.
The performance takes place Sun-
day at 4 p.m. Selections will include
Martinu's Madrigals, Schonefield's
Trio and Kahn's Serenade.
Count Basie
Orchestra to play
at Music School
The Count Basie Orchestra, led by
Grammy-award winning trombonist
Grover Mitchell, will perform at the
Power Center tomorrow at 4 p.m. Tick-
ets are $18-30 and can be bought at the
door or in advance.
Call 764-2538 for ticket information.
The University of Michigan Jazz
Ensemble, led by Dennis Wilson, will
open the concert.
Early physics
lecture looks at
Reflective moment
New oral birth contraceptive
reduces number of periods
By Erin Saylor
Daily Staff Reporter
A new concept of birth control could be a
dream come true for women sick of tampons
and cramps. Developed at Eastern Virginia
Medical Center, Seasonale, an oral contracep-
tive, reduces the number of menstrual cycles
from 13 to four a year.
Normal oral contraceptives follow a 21-
day cycle while Seasonale runs on an 84-
day cycle before allowing a week for
menstruation.
"Women have been stuck, with a 21-day
cycle of birth control since the 50's," Patrice
Malena, Seasonale studies coordinator and
family nurse practitioner said. "It's time for a
change."
Seasonale is being reviewed for
approval by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration and could be on the mar-
ket by the end of the year.
Combining lower doses of two hormones
commonly used in oral contraceptives, Sea-
sonale works similarly to birth control pills.
But instead of keeping the lining of the uterus
thin, Seasonale suppresses its growth entirely.
"Women are always really concerned to
know where the blood goes," Malena said.
"But the fact is, there's no blood being
made."
Studies showed that Seasonale does not
cause heavier periods and helps reduce the
risk of pregnancy by limiting the number
of days before and after menstruation
when the body is most likely to release an
egg, Malena said.
Women who are traveling or who suffer
from diseases that flare up during their period
have been using birth control to delay men-
struation for years.
If approved by the FDA, Seasonale will
be available to the public as the first pack-
aged drug designed specifically to delay
menstruation.
"Side effects are similar to those of regular
birth control, Malena said.
"The biggest problem reported by
women using Seasonale was unscheduled
bieeding or spotting."
No long-term studies on the effects of
Seasonale have currently been conducted,
Malena added.
Despite medical advancement, University
Health Services Director Robert Winfield said
menstruation is necessary for maintaining a
woman's health.
"Periods shed the lining of the uterus and
prevent increased thickening of the uteral lin-
ing which can lead to buildup which can
cause problems," Winfield said.
"Women either love the idea or they feel
uncomfortable with not having a monthly
period," Malena said. "We're just offering
them another choice."
While many female students said that it
would be great only having four periods a
year, they were concerned about draw-
backs.
"It makes me a little nervous, messing
around with the body's cycle," said LSA soph-
omore Melanie Skemer.
Some students said there would be concern
among women who use their monthly periods
as an indication of pregnancy.
"If you don't know you're pregnant, you
have to wait longer to find out," LSA sopho-
more Jessica Welt said.
John Reese sits outside the Wedge Room
yesterday before speaking about the West Bank.
New classes study
global-scale health
By Carmen Johnson
Daily Staff Reporter
Never before has the global economy
served as a connection between the
American desire to buy tennis shoes and
the health of Indonesians. Nor could a
local health issue like the risk of lung
cancer for children in Detroit be investi-
gated by looking beyond national tobac-
co policies.
Increased globalization in the last
decades calls for new studies that
explore the connections between cul-
tures, epidemiology Prof. Mark Wilson
said. Wilson will direct a global health
program to address and teach School of
Public Health students about the new
health issues contributed to by globaliza-
tion. The program, which begin this fall,
will allow students to take special cours-
es relating to global health. Students will
also travel away from the classroom set-
ting to various countries where they will
participate in intervention and policy
development..
"In the past, international health was
based on anolder model of developed
countries helping underdeveloped coun-
tries, but while that is still very impor-
tant, we have to look at the larger issue
here," Wilson said. "We have to look at
the causal links of any part of the
world." New ways of studying health
problems on the global scale can be
applied to disease outbreaks such as the
West Nile Virus, caused partly by mass
travel. However, stopping outbreaks will
still be complex.
"Finding solutions for these problems
is a difficult process but the benefits in
researching these causes can help us
anticipate potential problems that we
should be concerned with," Wilson said.
Epidemiology student Janet Jackson,
who has been working to coordinate the
new program, said she expects the glob-
al health program to be successful
because it targets the need for the
exchange of cross-cultural support.
"Diseases don't know any boundaries,
"Jackson said. "The impact others have
on our health and the impact we have on
other people's health knows no bound-
ary either."
Scholars involved in the public health
sphere can also help global health by
other means. The unprecedented infor-
mation age and the influence theUnited
States has on polices abroad should
motivate scholars to become proactive
and assist policy makers,,Wilsorrsaid!
Wilson serves on an Institute of Medi-
cine panel on emerging diseases.
"More government officers are asking
for information and we should respond
simply as people who care about other
people,"Wilson said.
GEO
Continued from Page 1
laughed at her, Picard said. "They're
really frustrated," she said.
University spokeswoman Julie Peter-
son was unable to comment when con-
tacted last night.
The librarians will protest and hand
out literature during the picket, encour-
aging students to consider what the Uni-
versity is doing to affect the quality of
residence hall libraries, Picard said.
But the picket will not resemble last
year's GEO protest, Shoup said. "We
won't be withholding our labor and we
won't be trying to keep people from
entering buildings," he said. "But we
will be trying to express our anger, to
embarrass the University and to inform
the community."
Another issue GEO plans to bring up
during the picket is the privatization of
prescription drugs for graduate students
under the University's MCare program,
Shoup said. Instead of managing the
benefits using University programs,
administrators outsourced prescription
plans to a pharmacy benefit manage-
ment company called AdvancePCS, said
Rackam student Pete Soppelsa, a mem-
ber of GEO's health committee.
"They're trying to cut costs or maxi-
mizing profits by'traising our prescrip-'
tion drug costs" he said. "We don't feel
this should be a for-profit enterprise."
But the University is still offering its
old prescription plan, which allows
generic drugs to be bought at low prices,
to certain University trade unions,
including housing officers, he said.
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Correction:
The rate of effectiveness of the Plan B contraceptive was incorrectly reported
on page 1A of yesterday's Daily. The contraceptive reduces the risk of pregnancy by
89 percent. Also, UHS is open on Saturday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon.
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