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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The contraceptive reduces the risk of pregnancy by 89 percent. Also, UHS is open on Saturday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon. m m