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Emergency contraception, otherwise known as “the morning-after-pill,” is currently offered at Virginia Wesleyan College. Health Services recently changed the type of emergency contraception from an oral contraceptive named Ovral to a medication designed specifically for emergency contraception named Plan B. “The health services office has been offering emergency contraception for about three or four years,” said Linda Tisdale, director of Health Services. Emergency contraception is different from oral contraceptives, though the hormones are very similar, and oral contraceptives can be used as a form of emergency contraception. It is a hormone combination usually administered in two doses 12 hours apart and must be taken within 72 hours after unprotected sex. It can be effective after 72 hours, but its success rate decreases significantly. It is not recommended for use as a regular method of birth control. Its intended use is for cases when the regular form of birth control has failed (like a broken or expired condom), when a woman cannot remember if she used birth control, or in the case of rape. Choices in emergency contraception formerly were limited. In the past the Health Services office offered females birth control pills which, if taken in the right amount at the right time, can prevent conception after intercourse. The health services office has a list of which pills and in what doses they can be used in this way. The medication used previously was Ovral, a norgestrel and ethinyl estradiol birth control pill. According to the Health Services office, the side effects of this could include temporary nausea, severe abdominal pain, headaches and disruption of the menstrual cycle. This is because of the elevated hormone levels in the two doses, one taken right away and the other taken 12 hours later.

“We followed the guidelines used in Contraceptive Techniques by Robert Hatcher, M.D.,” said Tisdale. “He’s one of the more pro- active practitioners who’s trying to get it into the forefront of women’s health.” This year, Health Services changed the medication that they administer. “We used to use birth control pills, but this year we use Plan B,”tisdale said. Plan B is a form of emergency contraception that is specifically designed to work on an emergency basis, so it requires fewer tablets to take. The benefits of this include decreased occurrence of nausea because it is not a high dose of estrogen and progestin. The other side effects that came along with the Ovral medication might also be lessened with the use of Plan B. The Health Services office charges a $5 fee for the medication. “We just cover the cost of our orders,” said Tisdale. The director has begun to keep a record of emergency contraception cases to determine whether or not Plan B really is more effective at combating the most common side-effect, which is nausea. “We’ve had about 10 cases this year,” Tisdale said. “I just ask them to contact me if any side effects occur.”

Tisdale also mentioned that the office opens on 9 a.m. Mondays, which is still enough time to be effective in most cases if there were an incident on the weekend. It should be noted that emergency contraception works the same way as birth control pills and does not work like RU-486, the “abortion” pill. It will not work if the female is already pregnant. That is to say that emergency contraception works to prevent fertilization, not to terminate pregnancy. If it does fail, there is no scientific data to suggest any increased risks of birth defects due to the medication. “The choices dealing with the morning-after pill are less than dealing with abortion or adoption,” said Tisdale. “We’re putting it back in the hands of the woman.” The health services office has more information on emergency contraception, as well as other methods of safe sex and birth control. For more information call Linda Tisdale, director of health services, at extension 3343.

Wesleyan will say goodbye to longtime history professor Daniel Graf this coming May, when he retires after 32 years of teaching at the college. “I have long-standing plans to use the spring and fall months for travel,” Graf said. “I’ve always been an avid traveler.” Graf’s interest in history reaches far back into his childhood. “My earliest memory is of me sitting on a sun porch looking at illustrations in an encyclopedia of the decorations inside Egyptian tombs,” he said. Graf attended Wisconsin State University in La Crosse, Wis., where he double-majored in history and English, and he received his master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. “I couldn’t decide which one to go to grad school for,” he said. “Fortunately, they complement each other well. Literature is the documentation of the age it was written in.” In addition, Graf took a summer course in Russian literature at the University of Wisconsin because it wasn’t offered as a part of his undergraduate studies. “That almost killed me,” he said. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I mainly did it for reading and study purposes.” In 1970 Graf came to Wesleyan excited at the prospect of teaching in a small school, because all of his previous experiences had been in much larger institutions.

“The personal contacts are so important — that’s why I came here,” he said. Also enticing was the idea of the opportunity to build a history program virtually from scratch, since he arrived as the third member of the department. In addition to the numerous courses he has taught throughout his years here, Graf is glad that he had the opportunity to do quite a bit of team teaching as well. In the past, a semester of classical literature and history was offered by the English and history departments, and next semester “German History Through Cinema” will be team taught with the political science and German departments. “They’re my favorite courses,” said Graf. “You learn so much from your colleagues, and professors are nothing but overgrown students. It’s exciting to get together that way.” Graf also taught Russian literature in English translation and took groups of students on January term trips to the Soviet Union, the last of which was in 1991. “We were in Lithuania when the Red Army attacked the protesters,” he recalled. “After that, I decided it probably wasn’t such a good idea anymore.” With his upcoming retirement, Graf’s plans to travel also mixes with his recent interest in genealogy. “At some point that will probably take me to Ireland,” he said. As far as what will happen upon his departure, Graf hopes for the possibility of bringing in someone specializing in non-U.S. history to join the other history professors. “My other big interest lies right here,” he said of a photo of his grandson. Graf’s two daughters live in San Francisco and Richmond. “Family is important. Now I’ll have time to see them more.” As for Wesleyan fitting into the picture, Graf said, “I might teach a class once in a while. Who knows? When you’ve invested most of your adult life into a place, it’s hard to make a complete break.”