GRADUATION GUIDE / THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2011 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
ALTERNATIVE PROGRAMS
Wide range of options available for new graduates
BY CLAIRE MCINERNY editor@kansan.com
As some seniors are preparing for jobs and planning their lives after school, some students are experiencing a different scenario: the end of college panic.
Four years of classes and one degree later, some students do not know what they want to do post-college, and instead of turning rig'
er. One opportunity that enables students to make that happen is through Teach for America. Teach For America is a program that allows recent college graduates to teach in public schools in low-income communities. The assignment lasts for two years.
Gina Littlejohn, the campus campaign coordinator for Teach For America, said the program accepts people of all majors, and apa way to prolong having to find a job, but rather look at it as a way to find new opportunities and new ways for students to use their passions. She said a lot of politicians who now work in Congress were in the program and are now fighting for education rights.
Like Teach For America, the Peace Corps is another way for
PEACE CORPS
Wiechman spent his two years in Saint Lucia doing community development. He helped a farmers' cooperative develop a grant proposal to get funding for a composting project from the United Nations and also taught reading and music at a school.
The Peace Corps was an attractive option for Wiechman because he did not have a clear direction for his future at the end of sol
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 2011
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
HEALTH
Birth control pill top choice, but needs improvements
BY MEG LOWRY editor@kansan.com
The pill is the most popular contraceptive choice with students, said Miranda Myrick, communications director for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, but more than half of women who use it are unsatisfied with its hormones and their effects.
Although hormonal birth control is widely used, more than half of women who use it say they aren't satisfied.
ANSAN FILE PHOTO
Last year, a study published by the Journal of Family Practice found that 57 percent of women using the pill weren't happy with it. Reasons for reported dissatisfaction included depression, decreased libido and health concerns such as blood clots or stroke.
Despite the disadvantages, the Food and Drug Administration lists the pill as the most used form of contraception by women in their 20s, even more popular than condoms.
"Women use the pill because it allows them to control their own fertility," said Sue McDonald, a registered nurse in charge of the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department's Family Planning and Sexually Transmitted Disease Program. "It's the most popular method, especially for younger women who have not had children vet."
The pill works by combining estrogen and progesterone that allows women to control their fertility.
The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department provides contraception to more than 4,000 women a year.
"The pill is our most popular contraception," Lisa Horn, communications coordinator for the Health Department. "We offer other services, such as measuring for diaphragms, but those really aren't common anymore."
Although the pill is the most common contraception, it is not always the safest or the most effective, according to some health officials.
IUD,has a more promising outlook.
"Many women experience mood changes or nausea," McDonald said. "More serious, but rare, risks include blood clots and stroke."
Since its approval in the 1960s, the science behind the pill has remained relatively unchanged. Additionally, according to the FDA, with typical usage, the pill has an 8.7 percent failure rate.
In contrast, a relatively new contraceptive, the intrauterine device, or
"The failure rate for the IUD is less than one percent," McDonald said.
cent of health care providers offer it to patients.
Despite its effectiveness, less than two percent of women who use contraception use the IUD. Only 58 per
Mai Hester, a spokesperson for Watkins Memorial Health Center, said that Student Health Services offers the IUD and its insertion.
"No matter the kind, there is one huge advantage to female contraception," McDonald said. "And that is controlling fertility, with or without a partner's participation."