THE PILL

STAFF EDITORIAL

So many options to select from when it comes to birth control: condoms, patches, shots, pills, and of course, abstinence.  But what happens when the pill you have been using loses potency?

A few weeks ago in a news segment on KTVU about birth control pills, they stated that certain pills may not work as well as they used to. The Food and Drug Administration acknowledged that newer pills may not be as effective as previous products because they contained lower hormone dosages to stop ovulation.

Understandably, these lower levels lessen the possibility of serious health problems for the women taking the pill.

But does it mean that lower doses of hormones that prevent health problems are altering the purpose of the pill? That’s scary stuff to swallow. 

The pill is probably the most common choice of birth control for women.  This is why this new information is so gut wrenching.  I am sure most women will and probably already have, called their doctors to discuss the effectiveness of their birth control pill.

The question that they must ask themselves, though, is this: a few blood clots and heart problems, or the possibility of having a child? Which is worse?

Is this something sexually active adults should worry about, or is it just a conspiracy to force the public to practice abstinence until we are ready to care for a child?

e-mail: editorial@theguardsman.com

LOVE IS NOT A BOX OF CHOCOLATE
BY ELIZABETH SKOW
EDITOR

MICHAEL MORGAN / SPECIAL TO THE GUARDSMAN

Signs of its imminent arrival appear long before they are appropriate. For those “in love” these signs are usually warmly regarded. They can be just as coldly spurned by the jilted and jaded. The day is associated with the martyrdom of a saint who was murdered because of his views on marriage, St. Valentine. According to “Wikepedia” it is the second busiest day for greeting card sending worldwide, topped only by Christmas.

Valentines Day depends on the attitude of the celebrant. The disturbing aspects of it are the feelings of obligation it can bring. The inflated price and number of red rose bouquets, the lines of bedraggled-looking significant others seeking tangible tokens of affection and the blaring jewelry store ads offering lines of credit to impressionable paramours. The Mylar balloons and the candy hearts. The Teddy bears festooned with pink and red. Single people scurrying home to their TV dinners and sitcoms –or maybe that’s just me…

Thousands of years of scrutiny have shed no new light into the inky mystery of love. The word has so many different meanings to so many people it’s literally impossible to define. People who go solo might love the opera or their dogs. Some feel overwhelming love for God or their country or art or music. Quite a complex equation, this love thing is.

This Valentine’s Day when the jaded cynic inside me raises its ugly head, I will try to remember that love is not two- dimensional like a paper cut out heart and it almost always lasts longer than a box of candies.

e-mail:managingeditor@theguardsman.com

CONSTRUCTION CACOPHONY
BY MARTHA VALLEJO KAUFMAN
STAFF WRITER

The 300 bungalows on Ocean Campus were torn down to make room for the current project, the Child Development Center. Noisy construction has become the norm in this area of the campus. COURTESY OF TV.COM

Noise can be annoying to the point of madness. Construction on the Ocean Campus has been with us for years -- and it will continue. 

Personal tolerance for noise varies in degree by how much it affects each of us. For those physically close to construction sites it is a challenge to maintain sanity. 

On the bright side and with a minute to spare, watching the construction process can be fascinating.  In the past year construction next to the Rosenberg library has become a kind of beehive.  A year ago the area was pretty much flat, and now all the work is beginning to take shape.  Suddenly there was the skeleton of a building.  The workers moved around like small figures in this metallic shell that swallows their work because of its enormity.

The heavy machinery and its constant mechanical movement are intriguing, running in unison with human energy. One day it will become even more appealing after ways are found to replace the noise with silence.

According to The Laborer’s Health and Safety Fund of North America there are ways to reduce noise.  There is now equipment that is much quieter than the out-of-date and the antiquated. And old equipment can be made quieter by simple modifications, like the addition of new mufflers or sound absorbing materials.  So, hope, continuing innovation and improved technology -- if not now -- in the future will bring sound- proof construction and less stress for those who must endure and live in its presence.

e-mail:mvallejokaufman@theguardsman.com

ON THE RECORD

Has Valentine's Day become a commercialized holiday, or is there still true meaning behind the holiday?

Allyse Heartwell
“It's commercial. Why do we need just one special day to show our appreciation for our loved ones? We should do that everyday."

Angelica Bitar
“Yes. You see it everywhere now - in all the shops. It's all about giving gifts. Who really knows what St. Valentine's Day was originally about?"

Clea Matson
“¥es, it's a commercial holiday. I think that (now) it's mostly for jewelry sales. The advertisements make people feel like they need to go out and buy something."

Jon-Mychal Cox
“I definitely think that it's a commercial holiday. I think that in the past, people have treated it differently, with significant others and all."

Matthew Askren
“Yes, it's a commercial holiday. but don't tell my girlfriend that! I think for the ladies, it still has some meaning, like it did in the old days."

Sean West
“I think it's a day to spend time with someone you love, and not necessarily a girlfriend. All you have to do is express your love for that special person. How you do it is how you do it."

NEECE'S PIECES

BY ANNYSE ACEVEDO
Editor

In recent years I’ve noticed a trend emerging. It only happens during those wee hours of the morning after a long night of drinking too many Madras or sipping too many shots of Patron.  This art form is what cell phone junkies call “drunk texting.”

Years ago, it was common to receive late night telephone calls of affection or even hatred. And, often these drunk-dialing episodes resulted in the receiver of such messages reminding the caller about what was said.

Now with the emergence of “drunk texting,” we have a documented log of the nonsense uttered while one was out of his/her mind.

In fact, I take pride in the creative phrases I come up with after a long night of sophisticated drinking with my ladies. Yet, when I wake up in the morning and realize what I have texted, an apology always ensues, saying: “Please excuse my obnoxiousness.” But at times, after those really bad nights, my apologies become, “Please excuse my raunchiness.”

Is it the alcohol that makes a person bold enough to send these messages? Or is it the mere excuse of the alcohol in one’s system? 

As for me, I apologize in advance to any of you who receive a mindless text from me at 3 a.m. Don’t mind me. Take everything I say lightly and just feel special that you are on my mind at that God-awful hour, especially while my world is spinning out of control.

e-mail:editorial@theguardsman.com