THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
“Little good is accomplished without controversy, and no civic evil is ever defeated without publicity.”
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Tuesday July 3, 2012
Volume 125, Issue 155
www.THEDAONLINE.com
Storms leave 688k powerless by bryan bumgardner city editor
An intense storm system ravaged parts of the eastern United States Friday, leaving more than 688,000 customers in West Virginia without power. The storm, known as a derecho, was an aggressive thunderstorm consisting of wind speeds of more than 75 miles per hour joined by
heavy rains. The storm damaged power lines and transformers in 53 of West Virginia’s 55 counties. In response, both West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin and President Barack Obama have declared a state of emergency in West Virginia. Gas shortages, high temperatures and communication problems have limited restoration efforts that
continued through the weekend. However, Morgantown has largely avoided the effect of the storm. “We had about 30 calls the night of the storm, 100 percent of which were storm related,” said Lieutenant Robert Cover of the Morgantown Fire Department. He said the two most serious calls were related to downed power lines, which
pose a fatal public safety hazard. “We were required to have personnel watching those, to safeguard the public,” he said. Due to other emergencies, power company technicians were delayed in fixing the wires. “Since they were live wires and the power companies were so tied up, we had people posted at those lines for 27 hours,” Cover said.
A large walnut tree also fell across Virginia Avenue, and it took teams nearly an hour to unblock the street. Most of the fire department’s calls were about downed trees, Cover said. “We had a lack of sleep Friday night,” he said. “Everybody was worn out and covered in sawdust from cutting up trees.” MonPower and Appalachian Power, two of West
Virginia’s power providers, have reported that response teams are working to rebuild power structures throughout the state. Power was restored to parts of Morgantown Monday night. Other parts of the state won’t have power until later in the week, according to estimates from power companies.
see storms on PAGE 2
it’s official
Sunday, West Virginia University officially entered the Big 12 Conference.
Local businesses Supreme Court upholds health care law expect Big 12 to bring more customers by bryan bumgardner city editor
by zak voreh
NEWS CORRESPONDENT
Local businesses are optimistic about West Virginia University’s move to the Big 12 athletic conference, as the new competition will bring more fans and more business to Morgantown. Maggie Charles, a manager of the Euro-Suites Hotel near the stadium, said this year’s game-day reservations aren’t too overwhelming. “There are a couple games that we are already sold-out for, but there are a few games that we are not,” she said. Zach Goetz, general manager of the Evansdale Boston Beanery, is positive about the move. “I think West Virginia fans are more excited about it, so you might get more of them coming that wouldn’t come to a game against a scrubby Big East team,” he said. “Our biggest day in the history of this store was the LSU game from last year.”
Goetz also felt even if the stands weren’t filled by out-of-state rivals, the standings of our opponents will fill the stands with Mountaineers. “Now going into the Big 12 you have Oklahoma, Kansas State – all these teams that are readily in the top 25, so if they don’t bring a big crowd I think our fans will still fill the seats,” he said. The Big 12 Conference consists of 10 teams ranging from as far away as Austin, Texas. The closest team is the University of Kansas, which is still about a 15-hour drive away. Charles was not too concerned about the distance between schools. “I really think that a fan is a fan, and they will do anything to get here. If they want to come they will be here,” she said. Although WVU is losing it’s “Backyard Brawl” with Pittsburgh University, Charles also felt that we would
see BUSINESS on PAGE 2
91° / 70°
Cos Fest
INSIDE
123 to host first annual Cos Fest for victims of domestic violence. A&E PAGE 8
T-Storms
News: 1,2,3 Opinion: 4 A&E: 8,10 Sports: 6,7 Campus Calendar: 5 Puzzles: 5 Classifieds: 9
In one of the most dramatic cases in recent history, the Supreme Court of the United States voted 5-4 to uphold a 2010 law known as the Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare.” The law, which has been a point of political controversy for several years, seeks to decrease the number of Americans without health insurance. The stated objective of the ACA is to “increase the number of Americans covered by health insurance and decrease the cost of health care.” Two of its key provisions are that it prevents insurance companies from turning away customers who may be a liability and it subjects individuals who do not buy insurance to a penalty, which the court ruled is a tax. Many opponents of the bill have challenged its constitutionality, arguing the bill represents a massive expansion of government power. The Supreme Court has dispelled these claims, asserting that the actions of the government are acceptable under spending and taxation powers. Many experts believe the
Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the ACA was both logical and progressive. “One can demonstrate that when the government has been proactive in expanding health care coverage for Americans, that there has been an improvement in health care quality,” said L. Christopher Plein, associate dean for the School of Applied Social Sciences at West Virginia University and an expert on health care policy. Plein was quick to challenge a common claim made by ACA’s opponents – that the government has no right to intervene in health care services. “It’s not like this is revolutionary,” he said. Plein said the federal government has been reforming health care for decades, creating programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, all of which provide millions of dollars in aid to millions of Americans. “There is clearly a precedent for the federal government to take a role in increasing health care access in this country,” he said. “The ACA is literally the latest chapter in a decades-long effort to extend health care services to Americans.” According to a 2010 re-
port by the World Health Organization, the United States ranked 37th in health care quality worldwide while scoring first in the amount of money spent. Plein believes the ACA is the federal government’s solution to these ratings. “The numbers suggest that we have a significant problem with the uninsured and the underinsured in the United States,” he said. “This act is intended to fix those numbers.” The ACA imposes legislation that would create a more consistent flow of money in the economic relationship between hospitals, insurance companies and consumers. “The bill is asking the uninsured to buy insurance, basically,” Plein said. “In doing so, it’s lowering the costs for everybody and lifting the cost risks any individual may have.” Plein said the often-sensationalized bill actually doesn’t differ much from other laws. “As a society, we have lots of rules and regulations. We have to pay property taxes, we have to get a driver’s license,” he said. “Assessing the adequacy of insurance is actually a very normal governmental function.” Perry Bryant, executive
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INSIDE THIS EDITION Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby thinks that the future is bright in the conference after adding West Virginia and TCU. SPORTS PAGE 8
director for West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, believes the ACA is a major boon for the state. “There’s a lot of positive things in the Affordable Care Act for West Virginians,” he said. Bryant said the ACA will help extend health insurance to approximately 150,000 uninsured West Virginians. “We’re going to fundamentally change insurance rules so they’re more fair to consumers,” he said. “This will ensure that insurance companies will spend the greater portion of their income on paying claims.” According to Bryant, these changes will create better rural health care, extensive preventative medicine and financial security for all parties involved. “We’ve had several other similar pieces of legislation, and this is the greatest attempt to make insurance coverage universal and affordable,” he said. WVU constitutional law professor Robert Bastress disagreed with rhetoric that challenges the ACA’s constitutionality. “It’s really not terribly earthshaking as a constitutional concept,” he said.
see COURT on PAGE 2
KJ signs with Cavs Former West Virginia forward Kevin Jones has agreed to a deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers after not getting drafted. SPORTS PAGE 6