Educating UW women about options essential
Coalition for Choice extends its praise to The Daily Cardinal for its staff opinion (""Awareness may avert pregnancy tragedies,"" Feb. 7). The death of 19-year-old Karen Hubbard on the bathroom floor of her own dorm is enough to shock the women of any university. The opinion emphasized that it is important for students to know that at UW-Madison, the University Health Services Women's Clinic offers many affordable services for family planning, from birth control pills and condoms to emergency contraception. Yet, many of these services remain a mystery to UW-Madison women.
Many women don't know, for example, that emergency contraception is one of the many family planning measures available through UHS. Emergency contraception can prevent pregnancy if taken 72 hours after unprotected sex by preventing a potentially fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus. Emergency contraception is not to be confused with Mifeprex, (aka ""the abortion pill""), which terminates an already established pregnancy.
Promoting awareness of the services offered to women students by the Women's Clinic at UHS is a good first step towards preventing Karen Hubbard's tragedy from occurring at UW-Madison. Her story tells us, in no uncertain terms, the importance of educating women about their options in family planning services. Ignorance is not bliss, and it may very well get a woman killed. What happened to Karen Hubbard must not happen again.
Service important, but one must be cautious
I appreciated Andrew Miller's reflections on the value of volunteerism (""'Volunteer' ideals may be misguided,"" Feb. 7), as it recently has been an issue I have been thinking about as well.
Last week, President Bush set a new agenda for the American people: to serve.
During his State of the Union address, he called on us ""to commit at least two years, 4,000 hours over the rest of your lifetime, to the service of your neighbors and your nation,"" and I applaud Bush for pushing a sense of responsibility and an orientation of action towards the American public. However, I cannot be satisfied until a disclaimer is inserted.
Service is a noble and rewarding calling, but it entails a commitment to a great challenge. It should be practiced with the greatest humility: Successful servers don't have (or provide) answers for those whom they serve. They ask, 'What can I do for you?' as opposed to 'What can I teach you?'
I spent last year in Kenya, and witnessed an organization collapse after a Peace Corps volunteer left. Having contact with both the corps member and people in the organization, it was obvious that everyone meant well. The corps member was so dedicated that an unsustainable dependency relationship resulted.
Despite Bush's decree that ""we have no intention of imposing our culture,"" my experience has been that intentions don't hold water, and often the recipients are the ones left to repair the leaks. Bush's semantics of humanitarianism cannot overlook the unforeseen consequences that typically result.
However, God knows our world needs more people to commit themselves to service. Indeed, serve. But do so with a self-critical mind, a humble spirit and a reflective judgement on the larger impact that your service may have.
