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BATT
Mark Dore, Editor in Chief
Aimee Breaux, Managing Editor Brandon Wheeland, Sports Editor
Jennifer Reiley, Asst. Managing Editor Carter Karels, Asst. Sports Editor
Lindsey Gawlik, News Editor Shelby Knowles, Photo Editor
Sam King, Asst. News Editor Allison Bradshaw, Asst. Photo Editor
Katy Stapp, Asst. News Editor Meredith Collier, Page Designer
John Rangel, SciTech Editor Claire Shepherd, Page Designer
Katie Canales, Life & Arts Editor
THE BATTALION is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and
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TX 77843. Offices are in Suite L400 of the Memorial Student Center.
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Timothy Lai —THE BATTALION
A&M baseball players shaved their heads on Saturday to raise awareness for cancer. So far they have raised
$17,000, half of which has gone toward MD Anderson.
AWARENESS CONTINUED
Vs. Cancer Foundation, was an
18-year-old freshman at the University
of North Carolina when he was diag
nosed with stage IV brain cancer, but
has been cancer-free for eight years .
Jones said he reached out to head
coach Rob Childress on a whim and it
all took off from there.
“It was kind of a pipe dream, hon
estly,” Jones said. “I’m from North
Carolina, played baseball at UNC but
knew the legacy of A&M and pretty
much shot an email, phone call and a
prayer to coach Childress and he re
sponded. He embraced the idea and
obviously the players embraced the
idea because we’ve raised over $17,000
to date.”
Jones said the money raised would
be split, with half of the proceeds going
to National Child Cancer Research
and the other half to MD Anderson
Cancer Center.
“Within the Cancer Center, we’re
funding things in pediatric oncology
that are going to help kids just be kids
while they go through treatment,”
Jones said. “Like Nintendo Wiis in kids
rooms, just things for kids to feel better
while they go through treatment.”
Childress said the decision to pair
with Vs. Cancer Foundation was an
easy one.
“We were approached by Chase and
just felt that when anyone gives you
the opportunity to help beat childhood
cancer, it’s an opportunity you can’t
pass up,” Childress said. “And Chase,
you know, being a former baseball
player at a great program like North
Carolina, and seeing his light and his
courage — it was something that was
easy to grab ahold of.”
Assistant coach Justin Seely said the
most rewarding part of this event was
knowing the team is helping make a
difference.
“Our guys have a lot of the best
of what goes on in college athletics,”
Seely said. “It’s nice being able to give
back to people that are not maybe hav
ing as easy a time as some of our guys
are having, or maybe some of our guys
are having that go on in their families.
It’s just a great way to respond and help
out. That’s been the best part of it.”
Baseball player and agricultural lead
ership and development sophomore
Lee May Gonzalez said it is great see
ing the outpouring of support from the
fans and community.
“I came from a junior college last
year where there weren’t many fans,”
Gonzalez said. “Just to see this many
people out at an event before the sea
son even starts is really cool.”
BIRTH CONTROL
CONTINUED
targeting the woman’s body.
“Which is easier to control: One
egg per month or 200 to 700 mil
lion sperm every time you ejaculate?”
Rahn said. “It’s easier to control the
one egg per month, so that’s why the
birth control has been mainly geared
toward women. It’s more difficult to
control that many sperm.”
Rahn said the question of how open
men are to playing a role in protect
ing himself and his sexual partners from
pregnancy is one that is not well re
ceived.
“I’ve asked that question to whole
classes that I’ve taught and a lot of the
men in those classes are like, ‘There’s
no way I’d ever take a birth control,
especially if it’s going to affect my
sperm count,”’ Rahn said. “I think in
order for that to happen, there has to
be a lot of education. We’d have to
educate men and women on their sex,
their ability to have children, it’s not
going to affect their masculinity, it’s
not going to affect anything like that.”
Associate sociology professor Sarah
Gatson said although there may be a
contingent of men who are ready and
willing to have this procedure, there
is more of an incentive for women to
use birth control because of how much
more it benefits them than it would
men.
“I think if it was a shot that would
keep men from contracting sexually
transmitted diseases, I think they would
be right there,” Gatson said. “Especial
ly in places where those things are en
demic. But women still physically take
on a higher risk if it’s pregnancy that’s
on the table.”
Because Vasalgel is a multi-year in
jection, men would need to have it ad
ministered every few years as opposed
to, or in addition to, women using
birth control on a more regular basis.
“A shot every five to 10 years is not
the same psychologically as a vasecto-
V
"Which is easier
to control: One
egg per month
or 200 to 700
million sperm
every time you
ejaculate?"
Rhonda Rahn,
instructional assistant
professor in health and
kinesiology department
my,” Gatson said. “And this is as if it
were permanent, but you can reverse
it. And so I think as an option, I think
it would be more popular than a va
sectomy.”
Gatson said the introduction of this
product to the market would call for a
sociological adjustment on how people
view gender roles because of the way
people associate parenthood more to
motherhood.
“Try to think through it more in .
terms of what does fatherhood actually
mean in public discourse, in the law
and in people’s everyday lives,” Gatson
said. “And until you know those things
and the way that they connect and dis
connect in particular situations, I think
it’s really hard to predict whether men
are going to be beating down the door
for a birth control. ”
Leigh Szucs, health and kinesiol
ogy graduate teaching assistant with an
emphasis in sexual health, said the risks
that a man would face if this product
were to be successfully released for use
would be similar to the risks that wom
en take when using contraceptives.
“There’s always going to be a risk
in terms of your reproductive health
when you’re putting anything artificial ?
in your body, whether it be hormonal
or non-hormonal product, whether it
be an injection, a pill, an IED,” Szucs
said.
A worry some birth control users
face is having the freedom to reverse
the effect when they’re ready to repro
duce. Szucs said this concern will still
be felt by some if a form of male birth
control is approved.
“Every person’s body is going to re
act a little bit differently, unfortunately
there’s not a ‘If you take the pill then x
amount of years later you will have no
problems with infertility’ or ‘If you do
this form of birth control, you’re guar
anteed to always be pregnant or not be
pregnant as a result,’” Szucs said.
BEUTEL CONTINUED 1
“Our staff can help consult women
with things such as polycystic ovarian
syndrome, hoimone abnormalities and
even help couples who are students
who are having difficulty getting preg
nant.”
Dannenbaum said the growth has
enabled the clinic to provide female
students with consultations of various
women’s health concerns including
the recommendation and prescription
of birth control contraceptives.
The center now includes two spe
cialist nurse practitioners, two special
ist physicians and one family medicine
doctor.
“Our staff is dedicated to provide
education on all options of birth con
trol,” Dannenbaum said. “All have
experience with helping women to
become aware of forms of birth con
trol and have the knowledge to select
a form.”
Dannenbaum said the forms of birth
control discussed include natural family
planning — a non-hormonal form of
birth control that involves the monitor
of a woman’s ovulation cycle — hor
monal birth control pills, intrauterine
devices or lUDs, nuvaring, Nexplanon
— a hormonal implant inserted into
one’s armpit — and depo provera —
an injectable birth control.
Rhonda Rahn, assistant professor of
health and kinesiology and professor of
women’s health education, said of the
forms of birth control, the most effec
tive form is either the IUD or the depo
provera shot. The most commonly
used form is the oral contraceptive.
Dannenbaum said this common use
can be attributed to patients’ familiarity
with the product as well as its low cost.
At the Student Health Service’s
V
"Barriers such
as privacy [are]
also a factor that
some women
face. Health is
such a personal
issue that some
women just don't
trust healthcare
providers."
Rhonda Rahn,
instructional assistant
professor in the health and
kinesiology department
pharmacy, women can purchase oral
contraceptives for as little as $13 per
month for certain brands of prescrip
tion contraception.
Kevin Randolph, chief pharmacist
at the SHS Pharmacy, said the phar
macy tries to offer students the lowest
prices possible for medications. Ran
dolph said students are able to purchase
lower-priced contraceptives because
SHS does not seek as much profit as
off-campus pharmacies. The operation
and maintenance of SHS is maintained
through student fees of $72.50 per se
mester.
Dannenbaum said these fees do
not pay for any individual’s particular
medicines or visits and only pay for the
service’s operations and maintenance.
Though the SHS has low prices for
contraceptives and a comfortable envi
ronment for women to obtain infor
mation and medical care, there are still
factors that prevent women from seek
ing treatment or medical advice.
“Barriers such as privacy [are] also
a factor that some women may face,”
Rahn said. “Health is such a personal
issue that some women just don’t trust
healthcare providers.”
Dannenbaum said there are still
women on campus who are unaware of
the services that the SHS can provide.
“We have programs and informa-
tionals offered at the New Student
Conference and other such sessions,
but many people can tend to tune out
unless it directly applies to them at that
moment,” Dannenbaum said.
Rahn said one way the SHS could
promote awareness of services is to
reach out to faculty.
“Having been on the faculty side for
three semesters now, I can honesdy say
I have heard nothing from the health
center about their services.” Rahn said.
“I think they could definitely advertise
with the faculty more and then, hope
fully, the faculty will inform their stu
dents.”