Newspaper Page Text
2 Tuesday, March 23, 2004
NEWS
The Spelman Spotlight
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Editor-in-Chief
Kenisha Everette
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Health Editor
Ekua Assabill
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FDA delays OTC status of emergency contraception
Press Release
In a final push to win non
prescription status for emer
gency contraception (EC), the
Feminist Majority Foundation is
urging college students—espe
cially young women—to protest
the FDA's move to delay action
in making EC available over-
the-counter (OTC).
On December 16, 2003, the
U.S. Food and Drug
Administration's reproductive
Flealth Drugs Advisory and
Nonprescription Drugs Panel
voted overwhelmingly 23-4 to
recommend approval of OTC
status for the emergency contra
ceptive Plan B.
However, buckling under
pressure from pro-life members
of Congress, the FDA
announced that it would delay
by 90 days its decision on OTC
status for Plan B. The decision
was originally slated for
February 20 of this year. The
FDA claims to need more time
to evaluate the use of Plan B,
despite the recommendations of
the FDA's own expert panel that
Plan B should be approved for
over-the-counter status without
a prescription.
The scientific evidence and
health benefits to women pro
pelling this request for OTC
emergency contraception
access are undeniable. "Access
delayed is access denied," said
Eleanor Smeal, President of the
Feminist Majority Foundation.
"We are urging college students
to protest the FDA delay and
send an unmistakable message:
For the sake of women whose
lives and futures are at stake,
the FDA's decision on OTC sta
tus should be based on scientif
ic merit - not politics."
With the largest pro-choice
college activist network in the
U.S., the Feminist Majority
Foundation is working with stu
dents and campus health centers
to maximize access to EC on
the nation's campuses and to
mobilize student support for a
final FDA decision to allow
OTC non-prescription status for
EC.
Celebrity endorsers of this
campaign include Amy
Brenneman (creator and pro
ducer of Judging Amy), Camryn
Manheim (The Practice) and
Lisa Gay Hamilton {The
Practice), all having recorded
special 30- and 60-second radio
public service announcements
for campus radio to increase
publicity on EC.
Campuses nationwide are
participating in the national
Back Up Your Birth Control
Day campaign on March 22 to
make a unified push for EC
access and to educate their cam
puses.
EC is a method of prevent
ing pregnancy after unprotected
sexual intercourse. When taken
within 72 hours of unprotected
intercourse, EC lower a
woman's risk of becoming preg
nant by 75-88%. Taken within
24 hours, EC is up to 95%
effective.
Access to EC is often limited
on college campuses because
college health centers do not
offer EC or have limited hours
of operation. A nationwide sur
vey of EC access from campus
health clinics found that only
61% provide EC or prescrip
tions for EC, and only 16% of
those campus health centers
were open on weekends.
For more information on EC
and campus action strategies,
log onto www.feministcam-
pus.org.
News in Brief
■ Bomb destroys
Baghdad hotel;
kills 27
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car
bomb tore apart a five-story
hotel catering to foreigners in
the heart of Baghdad on
Wednesday night, killing 27
people and showing the contin
ued vulnerability Of civilians to
terror attacks just days before
the anniversary of the start of
the Iraq war.
There was no official word
on who carried out the attack
but a U.S. counterterrorism
official, speaking anaymously,
said Jordanian Islamic militant
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is
among those suspected of play
ing a key role.
■ Ohio sniper sus
pect caught
LAS VEGAS - The man
wanted in a deadly string of
sniper shootings that terrorized
Ohio drivers was captured at a
motel Wednesday after a tipster
spotted him at a Las Vegas casi
no reading a newspaper story
about himself.
Charles A. McCoy, Jr. was
arrested without incident less
than 36 hours after Ohio author
ities released his name as a sus
pect in the attacks.
McCoy is suspected of com
mitting 24 shootings in the
Columbus area since last year.
■ Group claims
truce with Spain
CAIRO, Egypt - The Islamic
militant group that claimed
responsibility for last week's
Madrid train bombings has
called a truce with Spain to give
the new government time to
withdraw troops from Iraq, a
London-tLisifid Arabic-language
newspaper, said Wednesday.
The A1 Hayat daily newspa
per said it received a statement
from the Brigade of Abu Hafs
al-Masri, which earlier said it
orchestrated the bombings to
punish Spain for supporting the
U.S.-led war in Iraq. The blasts
killed 201 people.
■ Kerry criticizes
Bush's Iraq policy
WASHINGTON - Democrat
John Kerry assailed President
Bush on Wednesday for cling
ing to a failed policy that leaves
Americans mired in Iraq "with
the target squarely on their
backs" while Vice President
Dick Cheney argued that his
boss' rival lacks the judgment to
be commander in chief.
Kerry delivered a broadside
to the incumbent's strategy
toward Iraq, focusing on the
unending hostilities, alienated
allies and the loss of lives.
Cheney, speaking on the
other side of the country,
praised Bush's victories in the
war on terror and portrayed his
boss as a strong, decisive leader
— characteristics required for a
wartime president and ones, he
argued, that the Democrat
lacks.
■ Eight killed in
Kosovo ethnic
violence
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA,
Serbia-Montenegro - Ethnic
Albanians traded gunfire with
Serbs on Wednesday after
blaming them for the drownings
of two boys. The clashes left
eight dead and more than 300
injured in one of the worst days
of Serb-Albanian bloodshed
since the end of the Kosovo war
in 1999.
Riots broke out in virtually
every city in the province —
and in at least four enclaves
where Serbs live — illustrating
the failure of U.N. and NATO
efforts to snuff out ethnic
hatreds and set the province on
the path of reconciliation.
■ U.S. minority
groups on rise
WASHINGTON - For as
long as there has been an
America, whites have made up
a clear majority. But that will
change by 2050 when minority
groups will be 49.9 percent of
the population, the Census
Bureau says.
Asians and Hispanics will
see the most dramatic increases
between now and midcentury,
when the U.S. population will
have grown by almost 50 per
cent to reach 420 million,
according to bureau projections
being released Thursday.
America will get older, too.
Nearly 21 percent of its resi
dents will''be age 65 or older,
compared with 12 percent now.
■ R. Kelly child
pornography
charges dropped
TAMPA - R. Kelly escaped
child pornography charges in
Florida when prosecutors
announced Wednesday they
were dropping all 12 counts
against the top-selling R&B
singer.
The decision followed a
judge's ruling last week that
detectives illegally seized pho
tographs allegedly showing the
singer having sex with an
underage girl, meaning they
could not be used against him.
Prosecutors decided not to
appeal the ruling by Circuit
Judge Dennis Maloney, choos
ing instead to abandon the
charges.
The 37-year-old Kelly —
whose real name is Robert
Sylvester Kelly —still faces 14
child pornography charges in
Chicago.
LOVE, from page 1
decade, relationships are sur
rounded by sex," said
Muhammad.
Different aspects of relation
ship and life were discussed,
including self-love. Topics
ranged from sexual relation
ships to relationships with God.
According to Muhammad, peo
ple need to give up the external
factors and baggage in order to
be equally compatible and
focused on the relationship.
"Safety in the relationship is
also an issue, because women
do not need to let strangers into
their homes and souls.
Everyone needs to identify their
purposes, or else their souls will
not be at rest," said
Muhammad.
PULSE member Rebecca
Chattman felt that the main
point of the event was for the
education of women on rela
tionships.
"I wanted the lecture to show
the ladies that they do not
always need men in their lives.
It was great that he talked about
working out the problems in
relationships," said Chattman.
Muhammad stressed that
college students need to be
more patient with love and put
God first.
According to Muhammad, a
couple should value unity, their
minds, souls and their bodies.
Muhammad has appeared on
the Ricki Lake Show and is a
professor of psychology at
Clark Atlanta University, has
contributed to JET and Ebony
magazines, is a radio personali
ty and author of two books.