14
Wednesday, August 24, 1977
University Daily Kansan
Watkins has birth control, VD information
Rv JANICE EARLY
Staff Writer
Students seeking information about venereal disease and birth control can find help at the Student Health Service at Watkins Memorial Hospital, Raymond Schwegler, a health service physician, that said students were encouraged to visit Watkins for this type of information instead of seeking help at community agencies.
The Student Health Service tries to fulfill students' needs and answer questions concerning birth control and venereal disease.
we like to chat with students to determine their problems and need them." Then they we can
what they Warfield did. Schweger said Watkins had a complete laboratory and treatment arrangement for venereal disease. He explained the disease in its three main forms.
Gonorrhea, which is carried by a gonococcus microorganism, causes the infection of the genitourinary tract. This venereal disease is difficult to detect because blood tests are ineffective and a bacteria culture must be tested.
Symptoms usually occur within three to eight days after contact and take the form of a white discharge or a burning sensation during urination. 80, per cent of affected women and, men, affected men show no symptoms.
If untreated, gonorrhea can cause scarring, sterility, blindness and heart disease. In extreme cases, it may lead to death.
From June 1975 to July 1976, Watsons Hospital had 52 reported cases of gonorrhea.
Syphilis, another common venereal disease, is caused by a germ called a spirochete. Symptoms include chancres and rashes around the genital areas. If not treated, syphilis
can cause infection and disablement of bones, muscles and nerve tissue.
A third type of venereal disease is caused by herpes simplex virus type II. The disease is characterized by blisterlike lesions on and around the genital area. An individual who has this type of venereal disease will often have a reocurrence of symptoms because the virus is extremely hard to get rid of once it is in the body.
The virus can become dormant and continue to live in the body cells, without causing symptoms, for the rest of the person's life.
Blood tests and some laboratory work for venereal disease are free to students, but there is a fee for medicines. Treatment is confidential.
Birth control information and methods are also available at Walkins Hospital.
oenschweger said a student could discuss the subject with a physician to determine which method would be most appropriate.
A blood pressure check and a recent pelvic examination is needed to obtain birth control, Schwegler said.
Birth control pills and diaphragms are the most popular forms of birth control, he said. Condoms, contraceptive foams and jellies and instruction in the rhythm method are also available.
The hospital doesn't insert intraterine devices (IUDS) Schweiger said, because the doctors at Watkins had not favorable responses to them. He said, however, that if a woman was interested in an IUD, the hospital could help her find some place that would insert it. Watkins Hospital would check its placement periodically, he said.
The full health fee included in the University's fees covers most necessary care at Watkins Hospital within the
academic semester at no additional charge. Schweider said that the health fee covered most laboratory work done in connection with birth control and venereal disease, such as HIV, was paid to a nominal $apm. Performers at Watkins at a nominal ppm费.
Lorna Grunz, assistant dean of women, said anyone who called the KU Information Center about birth control or venereal disease would be referred by phone to the Human Services Department. Personal conferences can also be made by appointment.
Grunz said the counseling network provided information, not advice, so that a student could make informed choices. They are prepared to answer questions regarding various aspects of human sexuality.
Referrals for information and discussion of sexuality are available 24 hours a day by calling the Information Center, 864-3506. All conversations are confidential.
The counseling network also can provide information and help a student organize questions that he may want to ask a teacher.
"It's important to figure things out before you go to a doctor," she said.
The Emily Taylor Resource and Career Center for Women, 220 Strong Hall, has pamphlets, magazines and books, which can be checked out, and reference materials concerning control, venereal disease and many other sexual issues.
A staff member is available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday to talk with students.
The University also provides student counseling services through the Mental Health Clinic in the Central and District Universities, including 10 in Bailey Hall.
Utility deposits have silver lining
By CHRISTOPHER COX
Staff Writer
The cost of coming to school in the fall can be staggering to many students, especially when they're confronted with so many expenses, some of which are unexpected.
One unexpected expense is the utility deposit.
These deposits are a necessary expenditure for the renter or home owner when he begins service with the gas, water, electric or phone companies. In Lawrence, deposit totals can run from $35 to more than $100.
Students must look down a long list of other expenses, such as apartment security deposits, rent, tuition and related school costs that have to be paid, too. But the crunch caused by the utility deposit is lessened somewhat because Kansas law requires all utility companies to refund deposits with 3 per cent interest.
The Lawrence utilities pay up to 6 per cent.
New customers seldom have credit ratings established, so they usually have to pay a deposit. The only way a customer can avoid paying a deposit is if he has had service with the particular utility before and maintained a good credit standing.
Utility company spokesmen indicate that a deposit can serve as an incentive for a customer to pay his bills promptly. The more punctual a person is in paying his bills, the companies benefit and improves with the deposit with the company and the sooner his deposit will be refunded.
It's fairly safe to say that anyone moving to a new residence in Lawrence will pay at least $500.
The Lawrence Water Department said that $15 deposits were required from all renters but that home owners weren't asked for one unless their credit rating was poor.
Deposits are usually kept for three years, the department said, and earn 3 per cent of the company's profits.
department said, it deducts the interest gathered during the year and applies it toward the May bill, making the bill 75 cents less.
If service is terminated before the three-year period is up, the refund pays the final bill and the customer receives the leftover money.
If a deposit is required by the Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., the charge is $55, according to Ron Bothwell, Lawrence-Ottawa unit manager. If the customer has obtained a another city and a good credit rating, he said, he usually didn't have to pay a deposit.
Bothwell said the $55 fee was a flat minimum rate charged in Lawrence and was based on an average of two months' service. A customer's account is reviewed after a year of service and if the credit standing is good, the computer automatically prints out a check for the deposit, plus 6 per cent interest.
Bothwell said a letter of guardancy could be used instead of a deposit. The letter allows a person with a good phone company credit to borrow money for the new customer's possible default.
The letter of guaranty is popular with students, Bothwell said, but as about many students pay deposits as use letters of guarantee to the student, on how independent the student wants to be.
Letters of guarity are popular among freshmen, Bothwell said.
The utility deposits at the Kansas Public Service Gas Co., Inc., are based on the prices charged by the company in winter in the area the customer lives, William Salome, vice-president and general manager, said. Salome said January would be used as a basis for setting deposits this year.
Accounts that show year-old deposits are refunded with 4 per cent interest. If service is terminated before a year is over, he said, the deposit is applied to the payment of the final bill and the remaining money is returned to the customer.
Although gas bills for January were high, Salome said, deposits would probably range between $15 and $20 for all new customers. Customers who had have previous service
usually don't pay deposits unless their credit rating is poor, he said.
Fred Bryan, Lawrence division manager of Kansas Power and Light Co., said that in May, the Kansas Corporation Commission issued an order to the power company saying that deposits would now be based on twice the average monthly bill instead of twice the highest monthly bill for the residence the customer lives in.
Bryan said residences that didn't use all-electric heating probably would pay a $3 deposit; all-electric residences probably would pay a $5 deposit. He said residents of Shouffer Place, the place where he works for married students, could probably expect to pay a $2 deposit.
Although these utility deposit rates should
hold in most cases, Bryan said, it is possible to have either a higher or lower deposit.
“The thing to remember,” he said, “is that the customer is paying the equivalent of two bills.”
Deposits are held by the power company for a year and refunded with 6 per cent interest, provided the customer has paid his bills promptly. Bryan said all accounts were review annually by computer for deposit and occasionally customers were "missed."
For the most part, he said, deposits are recouped about 13 months after a customer returns an item.
When service is terminated, the deposit plus interest is sent to the customer. Bryan said that many customers had found it difficult to keep up with the deposit and keep what was left over.
Bryan said that utility deposits weren't designed to be unreasonable or to penalize but that he realized students coming to school would become frustrated at having to pay them.
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