**KU Medical Center works to develop men’s birth control**

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS — Birth control pills aren’t just for women, according to Joseph Tash, director of the interdisciplinary center for male contraceptive research and drug development at KU Medical Center. Tash has received national attention for his research in advancement in contraceptives.

For more than a decade, Tash and collaborators developed a compound that blocks sperm production and was originally part of a cancer treatment. The side effects from this included infertility.

The term “infertility” might seem scary, but if men are taking the pill and decide they want to conceive, they stop taking the pill.

“It’s not only 100 percent effective, but 100 percent reversible, which is the holy grail of a contraceptive,” Tash said.

The drug has seen effectiveness and safety for testing in mice, rabbits and most recently, primates. The animal testing has also shown the offspring produced by former users of the drug are normal and without mutation.

—The Daily Kansan
By Marshall Schmidt

**NYPD spies potentially violate student civil liberties**

CALIFORNIA STATE — “The NYPD has been accused of infiltrating Muslim student groups with undercover officers and informants,” according to an article by The Associated Press.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg told the media, “Everything the NYPD has done is legal, it is appropriate, it is constitutional.”

Muslims aren’t the only group the NYPD is suspected of targeting — so are other races.

According to The Associated Press, “Students are also feeling empathy for those outside the university community who are being subjected to the NYPD’s ‘stop-and-frisk’ policy targeting anyone who seems suspicious, mainly blacks and (Latinos).”

—The Daily Titan
By M. Castroflores

**Lesbian denied communion at funeral demands apology**

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON — The Catholic Church is no stranger to scandals, and after a priest’s insensitive decision at a funeral service, the Church has found itself in the spotlight once again.

Barbara Johnson was denied communion at her mother’s funeral in Maryland because of her relationship with a partner of the same sex. The incident sparked controversy, and people are shocked with the priest’s lack of pastoral sensitivity — including the archdiocese. Johnson has spoken to several news sources and shared her story.

“I went up,” Johnson said. “I was standing next to my mother’s casket and he covered the bowl, and said, ‘I cannot give you communion because you are with a woman, and in the eyes of the church, that is a sin.’ I stood there with my mouth open in a state of shock for I don’t know how long.”

Johnson and her family have received apologies from the archdiocese, but won’t be satisfied until the priest, Marcel Guarnizo, personally apologizes and is removed from the parish, “so no one ever has to experience this on the most tragic day of their lives, again.”

So far, Guarnizo has refused to apologize, and despite Johnson’s attempts to reach out to the priest, she has received no response.

—The Daily Cougar
By Lucas Sepulveda