Any publicity is good publicity.

Whether news sources want to negatively approach events or issues in order to make a better story or not, well that is a role they need to thoroughly consider.

It is that very decision that separates a good journalist from a not so good one.

Students and faculty members of Shippensburg University have been subjected to a variety of jokes and comments made this week and last.

The comments were references to the not-so-new Plan B vending machine.

Though the machine has been on campus for two years, the media has only received word of it for about two weeks.

They have thus only had two weeks to create a widespread mockery of the concept of the machine.
As an SU student, I do not take offense to these jokes. I laugh at them.

When would a central Pennsylvania-state school ever be discussed on leading comedy shows nationwide?

Well, the answer is two years after that school installs a vending machine that dispenses a range of health-related products.

Some of these products include emergency contraceptives or Plan B, condoms and cough drops.
As a state school, SU may possibly be a back up or a “plan b” for students.

Simultaneously, the Plan B pill is a back-up for students.

This contraceptive has ultimately been misconstrued as a “plan a.”

Rather than considering this a responsible decision, many critics consider it the opposite.

They are negatively viewing the machine on campus without recognizing the different generation which students are now.

Most of those have lived under different morals and thus a completely different lifestyle.
The generation we are now among finds more of these things acceptable. In my own defense, I believe college students are forced to be more responsible and mature once their schooling begins.

Is that not where the criticism begins? Are the negative comments and views consumed by the idea that college kids are simply not mature enough to have this type of access to such a powerful drug? While Plan B is a powerful drug, it is just that. A drug that is a back up for birth control.

It has never been considered “the abortion pill” by its creators, so why has that slang recently clung to it?

Another failed-to-mention characteristic lost among the shuffle of assumptions and sensational jargon is the fact that the students have demanded this type of service.

Again, any publicity is good publicity. That cannot be expressed enough.

If journalists are seeking a really thorough story, they should observe the number of applicants before and after various outlets have received the SU vending machine story.

Surely the numbers have varied.

Whether this story has encouraged or discouraged students to apply, it has nonetheless gotten students nationwide to know a little more about SU than he or she did a few weeks ago.

Many of us no longer have to refer to SU as being located near Harrisburg or in the middle of nowhere, but rather it is already suggested.

We are the state school that offers Plan B in vending machines.

So while comedians and news stations are challenging the strength of the university and the reputation of the school, we should in turn be thanking them for the amount of publicity we are receiving.

Share