Commonwealth University Bloomsburg offers free condoms, however is the school really offering free period products as well? A large part of Bloomsburg campus’s population is female, not only students, but staff and faculty as well. Though, for the most part, you still have to pay for necessary feminine hygiene items. Husky Lounge and the Bloomsburg University Store offer tampons and maxi pads for purchase on campus, as well as outside vendors. The cost on menstrual products has been a hot topic for years upon years. If our campus can afford to provide free condoms, shouldn’t they also be able to provide students with free menstrual products? Yes, you can find free pads and tampons occasionally throughout campus, however they have to be hunted down. Continuing, free products in bulk are also nowhere to be found, leaving students to have to purchase feminine hygiene products regardless. Menstrual baskets appear in particular women’s restrooms all over the University. For example, the Arts and Admin women’s restroom has free menstruation products, but all three women’s restrooms in Bakeless have none. These baskets also don’t appear to be school funded due to the products provided being a variation of different brands. Not to mention, they are on a first come first serve basis. This surfaces the idea that the Health Center would have free products for students. Outside of their office, you can find a cart. The bottom drawer is labeled, “feminine hygiene products”, yet all that’s in there is a limited amount of pads. The drawer above that however, is filled to the brim with free condoms. This specific product is also advertised in every bathroom across campus. Not only do we offer free condoms, we also offer free STD tests. During the semester, a neon green sign saying “GYT – Get Yourself Tested” was placed outside of Kehr Union. Walk-Ins for these STD tests are welcome. The female population has also noticed this issue. In the Kehr Union second floor bathroom, the birth control information sign has “you know what else should be free? Pads and Tampons” graffitied onto it. Our sexual comfortability versus our menstrual comfortability is noticeable. At the bottom line, is the female population of Bloomsburg truly provided for? (Gabrielle Drumheller)