The daily collegian. (University Park, Pa.) 1940-current, May 10, 1979, Image 7

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    ''' Gives women a feeling of control
Home pregnancy tests marketed
By NANCY BOYD
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
Childbearing has increasingly been
viewed as an experience that should be
Made as personal and natural as
pOisible. Midwives have regained a
Prominent place in some communities.
Couples have opted for methods of
Ai natural childbirth, free from the at
mosphere of the hospital, viewed today
as artificial.
' In January 1978, Warner/Chilcott put
• h' 'home pregnancy testing kit on the
national market. It is called "e.p.t."
early pregnancy test. Soon after the
P"-introduction of the e.p.t., three other
companies came out with in-home
testing kits, all with varying degrees of
'success.
The popularity of these tests reflects a
'woman's desire to be in control of her
'body, according to Cheryl Jorgensen,
4 graduate coordinator of the Peer Con
traception Education Program. She said
some women no longer want to depend
entirely on gynecologists for detection of
their pregnancies.
The test used is the same as performed
in laboratories and hospitals. The results
are based on a hormone that, when
' l r present in a woman's urine, causes a
ring to form in a test tube solution.
Jorgensen said that, should the test
come out positive, the results are correct
97 percent of the time. This corresponds
'with the accuracy of a lab test.
However, the test is only 80 percent
accurate when the result is negative,
:according to Jorgensen, which means
'that 20 percent of the times when a
, Palestinian
film will be
presented
.4 1 "The Palestinian," a film produced
and narrated by Vanessa Redgrave, will
be shown at 7:30 tonight in 112 Kern,
sponsored by the Organization of Arab
Students.
:• Academy Award-winning film "The
D'ay of the Locust" will be shown at 7:30
tonight in Eisenhower Auditorium.
Cinematographer Conrad Hall will also
be on hand for the celebration of film,
sponsored by the Student Film
Organization. Admission is free.
• Food Service and Housing Ad-
ministration 410 will serve a Penn-
. sylvania Dutch meal at 5:45 this evening
It ) in the Maple Room in Human
Development Building.
• John J. McDermott, professor of
philosophy at Texas A&M University,
will speak on "Quo Vadis America?
A Towards a Celebration of Transiency"
II at 8 tonight in the HUB Assembly Room.
The speech is the 10th of the Dotterer
Lecture Series, created to honor the late
professor Ray Dotterer, 'Head of the'
Department of philosophy from 1938-
1947.
.0 Geoffrey Godbey, associate
professor of recreation and parks, will
speak on "How Avocational Interests
Can Help or Hurt Your Career" at 7:30
tonight in 111 Chambers. His appearance
l ig, is sponsored by Delta Sigma Pi.
• HOPS and Metropolitan Community
Church will hold a coffeehouse from 9
p.m. to midnight tonight at 415 E. Foster
Aye.
Collegian
notes
• The Penn State Lacrosse Club will
have a final, mandatory practice at 3:30
p.m. today at the IM Building field.
Members are reminded to bring dues.
, • "Euthanasia
. Past and Present"
will be presented at 7:30 tonight at the
Wesley Foundation, 256 E. College Ave.
• Phi Mu Alpha will hold a mandatory
meeting at 9:30 tonight in 117 Music
Building.
• Free U's New Games will meet at 6
tonight at the Wesley Foundation and
move to the HUB lawn, weather per
mitting.
• • The Agronomy Club will hold their
:last meeting of the term at 7:30 tonight
•ih 301 Agricultural Administration
Building.
,q. •
• The social welfare department will
hold a meeting about fall term
preregistration for all social welfare
majors at 7:30 tonight in 64 Willard.
4 . 0 The Penn State Model Railroad Club
*Will meet at 7:30 tonight in 309 Boucke.
woman finds she is not pregant, she may
be. Jorgensen said that an incorrect
result could keep a woman from seeking
further assistance from her doctor.
Dr. William W. Potter, a State College
gynecologist, said the inaccuracies are
sometimes a result of neglecting to
follow directions properly. The ring
takes two hours to appear in the bottom
of the test tube, but sometimes an
anxious woman might not wait the full
time, he said.
Also, Potter said the hormone might
not appear in the urine until nine days
after conception, the time suggested by
most of the testing companies. Many
times the woman tests herself early,
only to receive negative results
erroneously. •
Mary Lukiewski, PCEP student
director, said other drawbacks to the
home test method are psychological. '
"Imagine that a woman is by herself
when she does the testing. She gets a
positive reading and might be very upset
about being pregnant, but there is no one
there to talk with," she said. "The
presence of a physician can sometimes
be reassuring."
William Logan, public relations
director for Warner/Lambert, the
parent company of Warner/Chilcott,
based in Morris Plains, N.J., said the
purpose of the in-home testing is not to
replace the physician, rather to get
women to their doctors earlier. In most
cases, he said, a gynecologist must
make a pregnancy test regardless of
'whether a woman has made one
previously.
FREE FREE
MEASLES and RUBELLA
IMMUNIZATION
THURSDAY - MAY 10th 10-4 PM
Located in
THE HUB BALLROOM
FREE FREE
Jorgensen said this is one of the
financial drawbacks to the testing kits.
Taken alone, the kit costs from $8 to $lO,
about the same cost as incurred by a lab
test. However, if the result is positive
and the woman goes to her doctor, he
will make a second test, doubling the
cost. And, if the result is negative, and a
woman tries a second test, as suggested
in the kit's directions, the cost is again
increased.
Despite these disadvantages, women
continue to purchase the kits, here and in
other countries. Logan said tests have
been successfully marketed in 13
European countries for eight years. Test
kits hive been available to American
women 'on a limited basis since 1976, and
nationally for 2 1 / 2 years. Advertising for
the product appeared in magazines by
March 1978.
Logan said the e.p.t. has been more
successful than the three other major
kits Answer, Acu-Test and Predictor
because it was the first on the market.
"The first product in a new category,
if good, dominates the market for a
considerable amount of time, if not from
then on," he said.
The e.p.t. kit sells better than the other
three tests in State College. Most drug
stores carry the two or three brands and
place them on shelves in the pharmacy
section. •
A pharmacist at McLanahan Drug
Store, 134 S. Allen St., said the e.p.t. sells
better than the ogler kits, even though
the store sells each brand for an iden
tical price.
TOTHECH::::'''%,..:' . UoIONS.
- IT WAS A
SUPER
Raise a toast to the 1979 Pabst National
Collegiate Women's Bowling Champions...
the Pennsylvania State University Lady Lions.
. Congratulations to:
Liz Baude, Valeri Bright, Tina Clark,
Heidi Derk, April Long, Paula Richley, Coach Don Ferrell
and to everyone at Pennsylvania State University on their outstanding
competitive performance. They_really bowled them over this
year, and are truly National Champions. We hope to see
them again at next year's Pabst National
Collegiate Bowling Championship finals.
From the Pabst family of naturally brewed quality beers:
Pabst Blue Ribbon, Pabst Extra Light and Andeker.
01979 MIST BREWING COMPANY Milwaukee, Wis., Peoria Heights, 111., Newark, N.J., Los Angeles, Cal., Pabst, Ga
Collegian photo
Milton S. Eisenhower
Review board formed by USG
The Undergraduate Student Government Senate has created
a new board to increase efficiency in reviewing executive
appointments to USG positions, Town Senator David Winkler
said.
A bill establishing the Senate Appointments Review Board,
submitted by Winkler, was passed at the last Senate meeting.
The board, which will consist of 11 senators, will meet with
nominees to USG offices prior to the Senate meeting when the
nominees are to be presented for approval, Winkler said.
He said the board will use a standard format for questioning
the nominees, varied slightly according to the USG position
involved.
At the Senate meeting where the nominees are presented for
approval, the board will give a brief report on each nominee
Eisenhower to speak
at spring graduation
Milton S. Eisenhower, former
University president, will speak at the
Spring Term commencement at 10:30
a.m. May 26 in Beaver Stadium
More than 5,000 graduates —the
In a governmental career spanning
largest group in University history
eight presidential administrations,
will receive degrees. Including
Eisenhower was special ambassador to
graduates at Commonwealth campuses,
Latin America, a vice counsel to
approximately 6,900 diplomas will be
Scotland and chairman of five
awarded.
presidential commissions. He also
Eisenhower served as University
served as an official in the U.S.
president from 1950 to 1956. Before
Department of Agriculture and the,
coming to the University, he was
Office of War Information.
president of Kansas State College, his
alma mater, for seven years. One of his books, "The President is
During Eisenhower's administration, Calling," assesses the presidents he
Penn State formally became a ' worked under. Milton S. and Dwight D.
university. Also, the HUB opened ani Eisenhower were brothers.
ground was broken for the Helen Eakin
Eisenhower Chapel.
The Daily Collegian Thursday, May 10,1979-
and senators will have the opportunity to ask questions of the
board and the candidates themselves.
"With the old method," Winkler said, "the senators never
really got to know much about a person up for an ap
pointment." '
He said the procedure up to this point has been to present the
nominees to the Senate, allow the senators to ask questions,
and have them vote. He said this has sometimes been a
problem because nominees do not always show up at the
meeting.
Winkler said the board will begin operation at the start of
Fall Term.
In 1956, Eisenhower left the University
to accept the presidency of Johns
Hopkins University, where he served
until 1971.
In 1974, the Milton S. Eisenhower
Auditorium was dedicated in his honor.
—by Pamela MacLeod