Signs and Wonders 02.24

"Morning after" pill vending machine. Really. Federal regulators are investigating a small public college in Pennsylvania for allowing students to purchase the pregnancy prevention drug known as the "morning after" pill from a vending machine. Students at Shippensburg University can buy the drug, also known as Plan B, for $25 without talking to a pharmacist or medical professional, even though the drug is not supposed to be available over the counter. Pro-life advocates say Shippensburg administrators are downplaying the drug's potential side effects, and even medical professionals who support its availability say allowing students to take it without any input or advice is a bad idea. To which we add: "You think?"

New Jersey legislature passes same-sex marriage bill. The state legislature passed a bill seeking to make New Jersey the eighth state to pass a same-sex marriage law. It's the latest in a rash of such bills. The only good news here is that Gov. Chris Christie has promised to veto the bill. Nonetheless, New Jersey Family Policy Council President Len Deo said, "Obviously we need to pray. We need to be involved. We need to push back. It's not a slam dunk. It's going to be a difficult road for us here in New Jersey." As it is becoming everywhere.

An icon worth a thousand words. In a sign that both the real estate market and the IPO market are loosening, the iconic Empire State Building is going public. Malkin Holdings LLC, which controls the New York landmark, filed Feb. 11 for an initial public offering for a real estate investment trust (REIT) for the building, along with two other Manhattan properties it controls. The filing puts the estimated value for the Empire State Building at $2.5 billion. This IPO, plus the earlier Facebook filing, are signs that investors are moving back into the markets, and that-say analysts-is a good sign for the economy.

Gas up. If you've filled up your gas tank lately, we don't need to tell you that gas prices are rising. The nationwide average is $3.53 a gallon. That's up 25 cents since Jan. 1. Experts say they could reach a record $4.25 a gallon by late April. The reasons for the rise are a cold snap in Europe, tensions in the Middle East, and rising demand from developing countries. Economists say a 25-cent jump in gasoline prices, if sustained over a year, would cost the economy about $35 billion. That's only 0.2 percent of the total U.S. economy, but it's a meaningful amount at a time when growth is only so-so. The economy grew at an annual rate of 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, a rate considered modest following a recession.