Elections are next Tuesday, November 7! Cast your vo^
the
M ' ^
Volume LII, Number 15
Inside
This
Issue...
Election Guide
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for? Check this handy refer
ence, and look at a ballot / 4
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Serving UNC-Wilmington Since 1 948
WWW.THESEAHAWK.DRB
NOVEMBER 2, ZOOa
CoU^e campuses refuse to dispense RU-486
Heather Grady
Staff Writer
Colleges across the country have
already announced that they will not
offer the recently approved RU-486
abortion pill in campus health care
centers.
UNC Wilmington is among many
other universities, including Emory
University, The University of Geor
gia at Athens, Boston University and
Florida’s entire public university
system, that will not dispense RU-
486. The universities that have re
fused the drug cite either moral or
logistical reasons, such as not hav
ing the personnel and trained phy
sicians required by the Food and
Drug Administration stipulations.
“It’s not something that we would
carry. We would never get into [car
rying and administering RU-486] in
any respect, strictly based on medi
cal reasons. We are not equipped to
give that level of care here,” said
Albert Abrons, M.D. of Westside
Health Center at UNCW, According
to Abrons, the drug is expected to
be covered by insurance companies
eventually.
ething that
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RU-486]
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^are here, ”
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It s not
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-Albert A
RU-486, also known as
Mifepristone, is a steroid hormone
that closely resembles the structure
of the naturally produced hormone
progesterone and effectively termi
nates pregnancy in the first nine
weeks. Created for use in a French
pharmaceutical company in 1980,
RU-486 is one of the first creations
of a new breed of birth control drugs
known as antiprogestins.
The procedure of administering
RU-486 involves a medical screen
ing before a doctor at the clinic
gives the first dose of RU-486, typi
cally three tablets. 48 hours later,
the woman must return for a second
dose of prostaglandin to complete
the abortion. Over the next 10 to 12
days bleeding equivalent to a heavy
period occurs.
The drug works by preventing the
progesterone receptors in a woman’s
uterus from gaining progesterone.
Without the hormone, the lining of
the uterus breaks down and simu
lates normal menstruation. The drug
also causes the cervix to contract
thereby pushing out the embryo.
RU-486 has been used in France
since 1989, as well as in multiple
other European countries and ac
counts for a significant amount of
foreign abortions.
“We really feel [the arrival of
RU-486] is a historical moment
much like the introduction of birth
See RU-4B6, Pabe’T
Illusionist Craig Karges per
formed in the Hawks Nest/14
Base
jumpers
take
flight
,;^from the
New
River
Gorge
arch
bridge in
West
Virginia/
15
UNC system awaiting bond referendum results;
$3.1 billion at stake, $108 million for UNCW
DAN Guy
INDEX
Campus News
OP/ED
Classifieds.......
A & E
The Scene
Sports
ASS’T. NEWS EDITCDR
Citizens across North Carolina will
vote next Tuesday, Nov. 7 on the $3.1
billion higher education facilities
bond. If approved, UNC Wilmington
would receive more than $108 mil
lion over the next six years. The uni
versity would spend nearly $72 mil
lion for new facilities, more than $27
million for the modernization of sev
eral existing buildings and more than
$9 million for other proposed projects.
The university’s top priority would
be a new building to house the Watson
School of Education and Educational
Resource Center. The building would
allow UNCW to almost double the 315
teachers it graduates annually.
“Southeastern North Carolina needs
more teachers,” Chancellor James R.
Leutzesaid. “It’s part of UNCW’s mis
sion to serve our area, to work with pub-
□ther-
B.4%
9 MIULION
MaOERNIZTION-
25.1 %
$27.2
MILLION
lie schools and produce ex
cellent teachers who will go into the
classroom. That’s why the facility for
the Watson School of Education is a
pressing concern.”
The new School of Education build
ing is planned as an 80,500-square-foot,
three-story building that would cost
$18.7 million. It would also house the
Office of Service to Public Schools, the
Principal Fellows Program, the Pro
fessional Development System serv
ing schools in Southeastern North
Carolina, the Center for Teaching
Excellence, the Curriculum Materi
als Center, the Science and Math
Education Center and other support
and outreach activities.
According to Dr. Cathy Barlow,
dean of Watson School of Education,
the building will give the program
much needed space to serve the com
munity and campus.
“Currently we have to find places off-
campus to hold meetings and conduct
training,” Barlow said. “We also have
SEE BOND, Page ~