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___Vol. 89 No. m ¥/
■Abnormal Pap smears increasing at UNL
Iiy C.J. Schepers
faff Reporter
¥71 ollowing a national trend, col
¥i lege campuses are reporting
an alarming growth in the
jmber of abnormal Pap smears, and
ie UNL campus is no exception,
xording to Dr. Charles Curtiss of
e University Health Center.
The incidence of abnormal Pap
near results at the University Health
enter has risen from 1 or 2 percent in
>84-87, to 5.7 percent in 1988 and to
percent in 1989.
A Pap smear is a screening test for
rvical cancer that involves collect
g a cellular sample from the woman’s
rvix. Experts try to determine un
r microscopic examination if any
pe of histological - or tissue -
normalities exist
According to Curtiss, varying
grees of tissue abnormalities can
found. Problems such as inflam
ation and yeast infections are ex
jded from the study’s number of
normal Pap tests because they usu
i»ny are not significant to the develop
■ment of future cancer.
Abnormalities that can be consid
ered precancerous include inflamma
tory atypia, the first clue that tissue is
i “not quite normal,” and genital warts
|, of the cervix, along with several other
stages of premalignancy, he said.
Because of the rise in abnormal
f tests and the continued increase in
sexually transmitted diseases, UHC
officials conducted a random cam
puswide survey of 200 women in
October to determine how many
women were actually receiving Pap
smears annually.
According to the survey, 58 per
cent said they had received a Pap test
within 12 months, according to Greg
Barth, information systems manager
for the health center.
Twenty-one percent of respondents
said they went to the University Health
Center for their exams, about 67 per
cent said they went to private clinics,
either in Lincoln or their hometown,
and the rest said they went to Planned
Parenthood of Lincoln.
But the survey also showed that 42
-4 4
We would say that
all women over the
age of 18 should
have a pap smear.
Curtiss
University Health Center
doctor
* f”
percent had not received a test in the
past year. Seventy-one percent of those
said they never had a Pap smear.
That means about 3,200 of 10,600
female students at University of
Nebraska-Lincoln never have had a
Pap smear, according to the survey. A
large majority of those women are
between the ages of 18 and 20.
“They would be the ones most
reluctant to start a new doctor/patient
relationship, and they would be the
less mature woman," in terms of
knowing about adequate health care,
Curtiss said.
Medical experts are linking the
rise in abnormal Pap smears to the
increase in sexually transmitted dis
eases — particularly condyloma, also
known as genital warts of the cervix,
Curtiss said.
“Genital warts generally are in
creasing a great deal, and that in
cludes both the warts of the genitalia,
as well as the warts we find on the Pap
smears,” he said.
In the last five years, the percent
age of Pap tests indicating condy
loma has increased more than 12-fold
from .219 percent in 1984 to 2.82
percent in 1989, according to the health
center’s statistics.
“The implications of this is that
we may be seeing more and more
cancer of the cervix again because of
the rising number of abnormal Paps,
which basically are a reflection of the
rising number of sexually transmitted
infections,” he said.
The number of women dying from
uterus cancer has declined from about
27,000 in 1945 to 7,000 deaths in
1988, according to American Cancer
Society statistics.
During the last 45 years, the de
cline in uterine cancers has been at
tributed to the development of the
Pap smear procedure. Developed by
Dr. George Papanicolaou in 1943, the
Pap smear often delects tissue abnor
malities of the woman’s cervix that
can lead to cancer.
“The good news is the marvelous
decline in cancer deaths over the years
as a result of the value of the Pap
smear.
* ai Schaben Daily Nebraskan
Shadow play
Long shadows follow women softball players as they run through agility drills
Thursday afternoon at Memorial Stadium
elaying tactics hurt image, Labedz says ,
' ebate on abortion bill continues
a .a a a . J — f —- * 1 — aL - V aA * n a MA AAA Ua/> ■ PA
Iiy jerry lauemner
taff Reporter
tale Sen. Bernice Labedz of
Omaha said Thursday she is
^ worried [_^|
hat the image of
lie legislative j
cssion is "going [ y i
lown the drain"
tecause of con
inucd delaying f yl
attics on the frpt|
parental notifi- p—H
nation bill she h,*J
ntroduced 1uI
Monday.
several senamrs ca^icsscu smmai
concerns that LB769 is keeping law
makers from discussing other impor
tant issues. Senators, as they have all
week, continued debating the bill,
which would require parental notifi
cation for minors seeking abortions.
The bill survived several attempts
by opponents to postpone debate, but
senators adjourned Thursday with
another motion to delay pending.
Labedz urged senators to advance
the bill, saying she was concerned by
the image legislators were project
ing.
Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha
said Labedz should not worry about
Ult/ LA/^maiUlV J UllUgV, I/VVUU.7V/
senators who introduce controversial
issues like abortion know what they
are getting into.
But Chambers said he did agree
with Labedz that the bill is dividing
senators.
* * Brothers and sisters of the Legis
lature are behaving like Cain and
Abel,” he said.
Chambers suggested that if La
bedz really is concerned about the
Legislature’s image, she should with
draw LB769.
Sen. Elroy Hefner of Coleridge
See LEGISLATURE on 3
By Michelle Paulman and Andy Manhart/Daity Nebraskan
* The bad news is it might be going
back up again," Curtiss said.
Fearing revivals of what was once
a No. 1 cancer killer of women, doc
tors are worried about women who
don’t receive annual Pap tests that
help detect early stages of cervical
cancer, he said.
The survey also reported that of
the women who had not received a
Pap smear within the last 12 months,
close to half said that they had never
thought about it or felt they did not
need it. About 20 percent said they
did not know why they had to have it.
And lack of time was given as a
reason by close to 16 percent.
About 5 percent said they did not
See SURVEY on 3
UNL officials predict changes
for college students in 1990s
By Jennifer O’Cilka
Staff Reporter
More students in the 1990s will
be nontraditional, in the lower
or middle class and more
concerned about how to finance their
higher education, say some UNL
officials.
Some officials say students will
congregate in higher-paying profes
sions to pay for die increased cost of
education and have no time to devote
to social issues.
Others say they will be concerned
about social issues, especially those
dealing with the environment, racism
and poverty.
The price of education is expected
to skyrocket in the ’90s, leaving many
students and parents scrambling to
finance their education, said John
Beacon, director of the Office of
Scholarships and Financial Aid.
Because the price of education will
continue to rise in the ’90s, many
students and parents will be concerned
with ways to finance their educa
tions, Beacon said.
“In the ’80s, college costs gener
ally increased at twice the rate of
inflation and faster than increases in
the rate of pay,” Beacon said.
James Griesen, vice chancellor for
student affairs, said tuition and fees
obviously will continue to increase,
but the Nebraska Legislature and the
University of Nebraska Lincoln will
feel a lot of pressure to keep costs
down or provide more financial aid.
Beacon pointed to what he called
the “vanishing middle class” as a
reason why paying for college will
become more difficult.
He said the United States will see
more families with high incomes and
low incomes. That will mean more
financial aid will go to low-income
families, he said.
“So, middle-class families will have
to come up with some creative ways
to finance their child’s education,”
Beacon said.
Beacon suggested parents of young
children should start saving now. He
recommended putting money into tax
free college savings bonds and pre
payment programs.
Thirteen slatesalrcady sell the tax
free bonds, and 18 state legislatures,
including Nebraska’s, have discussed
the idea, Beacon said.
He said it is possible the federal
government will introduce a tax-free
federal college savings bond similar
to U.S. Savings Bonds.
Griesen said he thinks the public
and the U.S. Congress will continue
to call for an end to abuse of financial
aid.
High loan default rates and gen
eral abuse of the system in the ’80s
caused public outcry for change,
Griesen said. Unless the problems are
corrected soon, the outcry will inten
sify in the ’90s, he said.
Chris Kimball, assistant professor
of history, said that as the price of
education increases, students will be
most interested in getting value for
their money. That means they will
demand belter programs and teach
ers, more diverse courses, more sec
tions of certain courses and demand
that professors teachers spend more
time on teaching rather than conduct
ing research.
Beacon said universities will con
tinue to see more nonlraditional stu
dents as costs increase and students
have to work to pay for school. Those
students will take fewer credits and
stay in school longer, raising the median
age of college students.
Also, the average age of the U.S.
population continues to rise as the
large population of the “baby boom”
grows older, he said.
Griesen agreed that more people
will return to school for graduate
See 19908 on 6