Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / Sept. 29, 2005, edition 1 / Page 1
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the Tim Burton's 'Corpse Bride' re- vists the world of 'Nightmares' pages Thursday | September 29, 2005 Serving UNC Wilmington since 1948 Volume LVII I Number 5 Meet the new Freshman Class President, Kaitlin Helms Kate Turner Staff Writer As of Sept. 15, Kaitlin Helms was elected Freshmen Class President. It seems this young stu dent who resides in Cornerstone Hall has set high ambitions for herself in student government, as well as in life. After being inducted into the SGA, Kaitlin has set three top priorities as president, and has already begun to make progress on them. Helms has reported that her first priority will be to advocate a free laundry plan for students living on campus. “I have been commu nicating with representatives from ECU because they have the cost of laundry built into the tuition. 1 do already know that their rates for room and board are cheaper than UNCW, and that microwaves and refrigerators are provided in every dorm room.” Helms said. Her first mission is only beginning, but Helms intends to see it through. “1 want to speak with Dick Fauson (Director, Auxiliary Services) and whomever else 1 can in order to find out how the money students spend on laundry each year is used for the university.” Hehns said. The second priority for Helms is to support the students wish to have a UNCW football team. “1 would like to create a campaign for a football team here, even though it will be a long-term goal, I at least see ELECTION page 2 Student Health Center improves sexual and reproductive health services Hollan Peterson Assistant News Editor Over the past year UNCW’s Student Health Center has taken many steps to ensure that the cali ber of its services matches that of its new facility. One particular area in which the SHC has made considerable efforts to improve has been sexual and reproductive health issues, specifically sexu ally transmitted diseases and emergency contra ception for women. Emergency contraception, com monly referred to as the “morning after pill,” has caused much contro versy since becoming legal in the United States. Just last month, after much effort, the SHC was able to switch its brand of emergency con traception from Lo/Ovral to Plan-B, which has the potential to be 89 per cent effective if taken properly. “We have always wanted to use Plan-B because it is simpler, more effective, and there are less side effects,” Dr. Peter Meyer, Medical Director for the Student Health Center said. Although the SHC does not keep statistics on the number of students that request emergency contracep tion, there has been a significant demand for it. According to Dr Meyer, at least several women each week request EC. “We try to make the access to Plan-B as easy and as stream lined as possible, and we expect the demand to increase,” said Meyer. Last year students made 10,805 visits to the Student Health Center, and the numbers for this year have increased significantly, from 768 visits in August 2004, to 1,044 in August 2005. The most common STD treated by the SHC last year was Chlamydia, with 23 reported cases. Herpes was second with 15 diagnoses, followed by four cases of HPV, and one case of gonorrhea. There were no diag noses of syphilis, or HIV. According to Dr Meyer, these statistics do not accurately reflect the rStes of sexually transmitted infections on campus. This is main ly due to the fact that many students Nolan Dean I THE SEAHAWK The Student Health Center recently moved from Friday annex to newly remodeled facilities in Westside Hall. The SHC has made several recent attempts to improve services in the area of sexual health. receive medical attention elsewhere such as Urgent Care, clinics or fam ily practices. Unfortunately, another reason is that in many cases infected persons can remain asymptomatic for years after being infected. It is estimated that one-fourth of people with HIV are unaware that they have contracted the disease. “UNCW is not a hotbed of sexu ally transmitted infections, but it is still an area of concern that we need to closely monitor,” Dr Meyer said. Until recently the SHC did not conduct HIV/AIDS tests for students which was of notable concern con sidering the fact that North Carolina had the fifth highest number of new HIV infections in 2003 (among states with confidential name-based reporting), yet ranked only 12th in the rate of sexually active persons that reported having been tested for HIV, at just under than 50 per cent, according the Kaiser Family Foundation. However, last year due to a grant from Friends of UNCW, a volunteer organization aimed at helping the university, the SHC was able to launch an HIV/AIDS testing ser vice and give 160 free tests to stu dents. Currently, an HlV/AIDS test see HEALTH CENTER page 2 Comparison of sexually transmitted infections: UNCJVvs. U.S. * New cases reported in 2003 based on initial visits to physicians offices. Sexually Transmitted Infection UNCW cases 2004-05 U.S. cases; Chlamydia 23 877,478 Gonorrhea 1 335,104 Syphilis 0 7,177 Genital Herpes 15 203,000* Genital Warts/HPV 4 264,000* HIV/AIDS 0 902,223
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