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Show Campus News Page 2 Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012 Doctors urge new policy for teen birth control BY AMINA KHAN Los Angeles Times LOS ANGELES — Doctors should give underage teenagers prescriptions for emergency contraceptives such as Plan B before they start having sex instead of waiting until a young patient's "plan A" goes awry, the American Academy of Pediatrics says in a new policy statement. It says doctors should also counsel teens on the options for emergency birth control as part of an overall strategy to reduce teen pregnancy. The academy is issuing the new position paper, published online Monday by the journal Pediatrics, as physicians and other health experts struggle to reduce the nation's high birthrate among adolescents. Teen pregnancies in the U.S. have declined over the last 20 years, but the incidence is still the highest in the developed world, according to data released this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The birthrate among Americans ages 15 to 19 dropped 44 percent between 1991 and 2010, to 34.3 births per 1,000 women, the CDC reported. But that's still about five times the teen birthrate in France and two times the rate in Canada, according to United Nations data. It also is higher than the rates in China and Russia. Rates of sexual assault are highest among teens and young adults, according to the Justice Department's Office on Violence Against Women. And all in all, nearly 80 percent of teen pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended, occurring after unprotected sex or "underprotected" sex — when the contraceptive method of choice fails. "That's tragic, really," said Dr. Cora Breuner, a physician at Seattle Children's Hospital who helped write the new policy statement as a member of the academy's Committee on Adolescence. "We really can do better. By providing more education and improving access to contraception and more education about family planning, we can do better." It's a pressing issue, Breuner added, because babies born to teens have been shown to fare poorly compared with their peers. Among other problems, they are more likely to do worse in school and suffer behavior problems such as truancy and early sexual activity. Emergency contraceptives such as levonorgestrel, if taken within three to five days, can prevent pregnancy by stopping the ovary from releasing an egg or by stopping sperm from II B providing more education and improving access to contraception ... we can do better" fertilizing an egg. The drugs are also thought to change the uterine lining, thwarting a pregnancy that might otherwise take hold, according to the National Library of Medicine. But emergency contraception pills are most effective when they're used within the first 24 hours after unprotected sex, Breuner said, and teens are more likely to use them if they're readily available. That's why it's imperative to give teens prescriptions ahead of time so that, when condoms break or they forget to take their birth control pills for more than two days, they can get the medication as soon as possible. The drugs are sold under the brand names Plan B and Next Choice, and their possible side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and an untimely menstrual cycle. Young women who are 17 or older can already get emergency contraceptives over the counter, provided they can show proof of age and can cover the cost, which is often about $50, though it varies. Younger teens require prescriptions, and some pharmacies require parental consent, according to the Emergency Contraception Website, a joint project of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals and Princeton University's Office of Population Research. There are no state or federal requirements that parents of teens be notified when their children seek contraception, the site says. Given that teens aren't likely to visit gynecologists for advice, pediatricians must be ready to provide as much information about contraception options as possible, said Dr. Jamie Lipeles, an OB-GYN at Marina Del Rey Hospital in Los Angeles who wasn't involved in drafting the academy's statement. Many pediatricians don't prescribe emergency contraceptives for patients ahead of time, which the policy paper said may be linked to doctors' beliefs about whether it's appropriate for teens to be sexually active. GUITAR: Professor one of 30 to earn national award ►From page 1 go anywhere and study guitar," Christiansen said. "Gradually, we just started adding classes to the curriculum that made it more specialized." Christiansen said he added more classes including style, fingerboard theory and guitar ensemble until it blossomed into a full fledged program. "There are some programs around the country now that kind of similar, but it's still kind of a unique program," Christiansen said. Kellan Tew, one of Christiansen's students, said he deserves the award for many reasons, including the fact he built up the guitar program from scratch. "It is a real testimony to his determination and dedication to make the guitar a more widely viewed art and legitimate instrument," Tew said. "He has put his whole heart into something that has become recognized worldwide." James Smith is a music education major and has been studying with Christiansen for two years. He teaches guitar lessons through the university and said he uses Christiansen's published method books not only for his own benefits, but for his students' as well. "There are guitar players and then there are guitar teachers and then there's Mike, and I think he's both," Smith said. He said some teachers will give a lesson that was just given to another student, but that Christiansen is aware of the personal needs of his students. "Half the time I'll show up to my lesson and he'll have a piece of paper with my name written on it, and I know that he's prepared in advance," Smith said. "He's a phenomenal musician and a great example. I aspire to be a teacher like him." Students describe Christiansen as a relaxed, easy-going teacher who cares deeply about other people and is always willing to help his students. "He goes out of his way to make sure you succeed in certain areas," said Nick Farr, a music therapy and guitar performance major. "Whenever you need help, you don't even have to wait for your lesson. You can e-mail or call and he's always available. He always has that open door." Christiansen said he enjoys performing and recording as well as teaching and that they all have their own benefits. Performing brings instant rewards with the reaction from the audience, and recording gives instant gratification being able to hear it play back. "But with teaching it's a long lasting gratification," Christiansen said. "It's like the students keep giving back to you. Along with being a professor, teacher and publishing technique books for Warner Brothers and Mel Bay, Christiansen performs in with clarinetist Eric Nelson as Lightwood Duo. They perform everything from Jimi Hendrix to Sting to Bach. "Mike is something of a musical chameleon," Tew said. "He can hold his own in any situation." Nicholas Manning said ,, one of the greatest things he's learned from Christiansen is the importance of being versatile and marketable in all genres of music. "And he's taught me how to do it," Manning said. "If you follow his instructions to the T, he gets you there. It's miraculous." Christiansen said the best part of winning the award was hearing the support letters from all his students. "Even if I hadn't have won, just to read the letters from students that I have now, students I had before and colleagues, that alone is enough reward to know you had some kind of an impact on them," Christiansen said. — tmera.bradley@aggiemail.usu. edu RESEARCH: USU faculty collaborate to study air elements ► From USU BIOCHEMISTS ZHIYONG YANG, left, and Lance Seefeldt, right, used genetic engineering to remodel a protein so it can convert carbon dioxide into methane. Photo courtesy of M. Muffoletto/USU College of Science page 1 cal research there are only two or three examples that can do this reaction, but the efficiency is still very low." Yang said the current reaction, however, isn't much more efficient. "The point here is that now at least this one enzyme can do this hard reaction," Yang said. "At the same time, the optical here is about the same as those organic catalysts. It's not huge." What sets this project apart from others is the type of reaction the team is getting, Yang said. "This reaction is unique," he said. "At this time, no catalyst can do this reaction." Yang said although this discovery is important, it is not going to solve the world's energy crisis anytime soon. "To be something to solve global warming issues, I think it's still far away from that point," Yang said. "I really don't want to say we found this reaction and we solved the problem." Yang said in the meantime, the project is 9, "one huge step. — katelinch@gmail.com GREEN: More than $20,000 given to student projects ►From page 1 can't do anything about the hills, and I certainly can't do anything about the weather, but that's something we thought we could help with." Trent Morrison, a senior in communication studies, was awarded $881.10 to implement his Greeks Go Green project, which will start a recycling program in the Greek houses off-campus. Morrison, who is the ASUSU senator for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, said he wanted to keep the cost for his project low. "As I looked at the need, I saw that the cost for me was a lot lower in the long run," Morrison said. Morrison noticed his fraternity's house did not have a recycling program and was looking for ways to start one when he found out about the Blue Goes Green grant. He said after extensive research and price matching, he came up with the exact sum to start a program in all the Greek houses. He said the cost covers the first year, and then the houses will pay for the rest should they choose to continue it. Morrison said since the houses are off campus, Logan City's recycling program will likely be the one they go with. The Greeks Go Green project is more than bringing recycling bins to the houses, Morrison said. He said education will be a big part of the project because it seems like a lot of people are confused about what to recycle. "It's pretty simple," Morrison said. "The education is focused on what's recycled and how to recycle and important aspects of recycling." Morrison said part of his goal is to create a Greek Goes Green committee, comprised of members from each house, to present to other organizations about recycling. "You can look at this as kind of a test group of how education influences behavior, specifically recycling," Damitz said. The fifth grant awarded this fall is to a project that received a grant last spring to build a teaching greenhouse at Edith Bowen Laboratory School. Ethan DeVilbiss, who applied for the grant, said he originally wanted to build a raised-bed garden with a hoop-house at EBLS where volunteers could work in an after-school program teaching the students. However, the project stalled when it became apparent it was too dependent on warm weather and needed a more permanent structure. DeVilbiss applied for and received another Blue Goes Green grant for $4,300 this fall. Construction on the greenhouse is due to start at the end of the week, according to sources at the school. Damitz said two other previous grant projects are still in the works. Development of a solar algae dryer and a solar air heater are in the production phase. Both projects are tied to classes in the College of Engineering and expect to produce prototypes by the end of the semester, he said. — la.stewart@aggiemail.usu.edu |