DAILY LOBO new mexico
Wacky wardrobes see page 6
October 6, 2010
wednesday The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
HR to audit eligibility of insurance dependents by Ruben Hamming-Green rhamminggreen@gmail.com
Robert Maes / Daily Lobo Kevin French, a “Zebra,” gives the OK for two hot air balloons to ascend Sunday at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. The Zebra Crew serves as ground control for more than 600 balloons during the weeklong event.
Students split over whether fiesta still an event to behold by Shaun Griswold shaun24@unm.edu
It’s the largest North American event of its kind, and more than 25 million photos are shot each year, making it as the most photographed event in the world, according to Kodak. Yet many UNM students have mixed feelings about the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Some said it’s a crowded, expensive hassle which they plan to view from their rooftops, but others are still enthusiastic about waking to the balloon-blotted morning skyline. Count student Kyra Roybal among those absent from the Robert Maes / Daily Lobo event.“Getting up to see all the designs used to be my favorite thing Pilot Mark Trillanes directs his balloon upward as his son, Anthony, pushes on his father’s gondola during liftoff at the about the balloon fiesta, but I don’t balloon fiesta. Several UNM students said the annual event has lost some of its appeal and many will not attend. like getting up that early anymore,” she said. the SpongeBob SquarePants balloon. We “I’m not from here, but I asked my But to student Desiree Sandoval the took almost 20 pictures in front of thatbal- friends who are and most people say it’s balloon fiesta is a fall tradition as impor- loon,” she said. really not worth getting up so early,” Holztant as roasting green chile. Even student Evelyn Killsback, a er said. “Most people told me I should “I know some people who really like Albuquerque transplant who have nev- only go once. I’m able to see them from to go and make it a point to go every year. er been to the balloon fiesta, said the early- my house. The first time I saw them I was They are proud of the balloon fiesta,” she morning trek isn’t worth the investment. like, ‘Oh my god. The sky is filled with said. “The biggest issues for me are parking, balloons.” Weather permitting, mass ascension, traffic and time,” said Even if the balloon fiesta is solely a where hundreds of balloons fill the sky, Killsback, an Albuquerque resident for tourist attraction, Sandoval said she still takes place at approximately 7:15 a.m., ac- three years. “I don’t know much about plans to attend a popular evening event. cording to the balloon fiesta website. balloons to feel obligated to wake up that “My favorite part is the balloon glow, Student Claire Pestak said the event is early, especially when I can see them from where they light up the balloons when it geared toward children. my house.” gets dark,” she said. “I’ve been there, done that. Maybe if Student Keely Holzer said friends who you have kids, you might go a second or have gone to the event discouraged her third time, so they can see the balloons, from attending. but I don’t have kids,” she said. She said some of her friends were Janie Palacio, an Albuquerque resident, forced to go with their parents growing up, said she took her kids to the event because and they resented being dragged out of they enjoy the special shapes balloons. bed and into the cold morning, all in the “My 6-year-old couldn’t get enough of name of family bonding and tradition.
DL
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 115
issue 33
Birdland roosts in ABQ See page 3
Know your campus coordinates? See page 2
UNM Human Resources is requiring all employees with department health insurance to complete audits verifying dependents’ eligibility on their plan. HR Vice President Helen Gonzales said this is a first for her department. She said in a letter to employees that medical costs have risen 104 percent since 2000. “The University is protecting the solvency of the medical plan and its employees from unnecessary increases in the cost of health care,” she said. “A dependent eligibility audit is the best way to ensure that University funds are only supporting eligible employees and their dependents.” Gonzales said an estimated 3-8 percent of listed dependents are ineligible for coverage. She said each dependent costs the University about $3,000 per year. “The financial impact of these ineligible dependents is significant,” Gonzales said. “It has been estimated that UNM will save approximately $500,000.” Gonzales said that the audit is the latest step in HR’s attempt to keep health insurance premiums low. “For the last three years, we’ve only had to increase employee premiums by an average of 2 percent,” Gonzales said. “This contrasts with a national average of almost 10 percent.” Gonzales said employees who do not fill out the audit form by the Oct. 26 deadline or who enter inaccurate or incomplete information will have their dependents dropped from their health insurance plans, even if they were eligible. She said employees have been notified about the mandatory audit through e-mails, letters sent to home addresses and by department heads. In addition to the questionnaire, some employees may have to submit birth or marriage certificates and federal tax returns, Gonzales said. Faculty Senate member Gautam Vora, who filled out the forms for his wife and sons, said the audit was complicated. “The instruction sheet was not exactly comprehensive, and so during the survey much more information was asked,” Vora said. “One had to struggle to get it. It wanted a large amount of information that a lot of people might actually forget, such as the time and the place of marriage, especially when there are multiple marriages one might get easily confused.” Vora said HR shouldn’t just drop people haphazardly. “I hope our HR department (will do) some homework before it drops anyone automatically, so that employees, who for one reason or another, who didn’t get the chance, who didn’t fill out the information completely and correctly, get some notice before action is taken,” he said. Steven Yourstone, another Faculty Senate member who had one listed dependent, said the questionnaire was easy. “It was pretty simple and quick,” he said.
COMMENTS? VISIT US ON OUR WEB SITE
WWW.DAILYLOBO.COM
TODAY
78 |56