It seems as if old news at Shippensburg is becoming new news once again.

SU has made its appearance in Cosmopolitan magazine regarding the sale of emergency contraceptive Plan B in a vending machine in Etter Health Center.

The contraceptive has been in Etter for more than years as the result of the request from students who took a survey about the services provided at the health center.

According Peter to Gigliotti, Executive Director for University Communications & Marketing, the pills had been placed in Etter solely due to the desire from students.

He does not know why this is just now becoming big news to the world outside our campus.

It was nice to see Cosmo be on the positive side of the vending machine drama, as opposed to basically every media outlet that covered the story when it first broke out across the country.

Frankly, I do not know why it is becoming a big deal to anyone, on or off campus, now.

I can remember first hearing about Plan B being available during my freshman year.

I did not even believe it until I saw it my sophomore year.

I was in Etter with a friend who was receiving asthma treatment and I wandered down the hall.
Tucked into a room on the end sat the infamous vending machine.

After that day, I can honestly say that I had not heard another word about the machine containing Plan B until Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, when all of a sudden, and seemingly out of the blue, the now notorious vending machine and its contents were plastered all over the web.

So why is it a big deal that here at SU, we have a vending machine that sells emergency contraception?

The dispenser has been here a few years. Plan B has been approved for use in the U.S. since 1982.

A story on CNN’s website, “Vending machine dispenses emergency contraception,” stated that a survey done by the American College Health Association found that out of 174 schools across the country, 83 percent of these schools have emergency contraception available for students.

Why is SU the only school known for it?

Condoms are sold in the CeDdia Union Building, so why is there not an uproar about that?
Plan B stops ovulation or fertilization of an egg (if used immediately or in the 72 hour time frame) according to WebMd.com.

Plan B does not terminate an existing pregnancy.

For clarification, the actual abortion pill is RU-468.

I think that the sale of Plan B here at SU is in the best interest of the students.

Plan B gives women a chance to potentially avoid a mistake that could affect them forever.
The price is affordable for college students, especially in retrospect of the price of raising a child.

To me, the only difference between condoms and Plan B is the simple fact that Plan B does not protect you from STDs.

We see condoms sold in machines all over the place, so why is it frowned upon that Plan B is sold in a secluded area of our campus health center?

Things happen and we have to learn how to handle situations.

In the event that a woman feels her measures of contraceptive have failed, so her decision on what to do are up to her, not everyone else.

Like the commercial says, this is plan B.

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