Editor, Daily Nexus,

Throughout my four years at UCSB, I have diligently read the Nexus almost every morning, interested to see what is affecting the UCSB campus and its students. Although I have not always agreed with certain story choices or editorial comments, I have always appreciated the fact that there is a vehicle through which these opinions can be expressed to the campus.

I was absolutely horrified, however, to read last Thursday’s ad supplement. Statistically, college students are going to be sexually active. It is essential therefore that they receive accurate information about the choices they make and their consequences. The ad supplement the Nexus included was filled with inaccuracies. The abortion-breast cancer link has repeatedly been refuted, most recently by the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute. The publishers of this supplement falsely state that Emergency Contraception and other commonly used contraceptive methods like birth control pills are “abortifacients,” however the Federal Drug Administration, which approves and regulates all prescription and over the counter drug use in the U.S., is not in concurrence. These are just two of the many falsities.

My intent in writing you is not to express anger over printing anti-abortion materials in the Nexus. I believe that in order for students to make responsible choices about their own reproductive health, they must be presented with both sides of the abortion issue (although there was probably a better way to present this side of the issue). My concern is that as the campus newspaper, it is your responsibility to ensure that the basic scientific facts contained in ads, supplements, editorials, etc. are accurate.

This was overlooked in this supplement, and as a result a large amount of medically inaccurate information was passed on to the sexually active students on this campus. I, like many of my peers, would like to express my deep disappointment that this occurred as well as my fear that I will once again open the pages of the Nexus to find something as inaccurate and deceptive as this supplement was.