THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
“Little good is accomplished without controversy, and no civic evil is ever defeated without publicity.”
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Wednesday October 16, 2013
Volume 126, Issue 41
www.THEDAONLINE.com
WVU alters family planning services By Summer Ratcliff City Editor @SummerRatcliff
For years, WELLWVU: The Students’ Center of Health has offered family planning services to the students of West Virginia University. Now, because of changes mandated by the Affordable Care Act as well as a restructuring of WVU Student Health, some female students may no longer be eligible to enter the federally funded Family Planning Program. The Family Planning
Program through WELLWVU offers female students routine annual gynecological exams, explanation sessions for various contraceptive methods, and a year’s supply of a contraception selected by the patient for a total cost of $55. With federally mandated changes to health insurance coverage via the Affordable Care Act quickly approaching, WELLWVU is taking precautionary measures to ensure only eligible female students eligible are accepted into the Family Planning Program.
“Under the Affordable Care Act, most students will have insurance through their parents because they can be covered until they are 26, unless they are married,” said Dr. Jan Palmer, director of Student Health, WELLWVU. “Therefore in that case, students would have coverage for the services that student health would typically offer.” Palmer explained female students who have already enrolled in the Family Planning Program at WVU would continue to be accepted. Additionally,
What if you could purchase a pair of headphones you’ve saved for and simultaneously give back 10 percent of your purchase to your favorite charity or cause? Matt Strauss, a senior finance student at West Virginia University, is currently in the process of creating a mobile application that will allow you to do just that. WeeVu, What Matters To You, is a free app that allows the customer to buy from any business while also giving back to the community. “WeeVu has two parts. I am the business side, and my sister, Stephanie, is the organization side,” Strauss said. “I will get all of the businesses on board, and my sister will get all nonprofits and organizations on board.” Strauss will bring businesses from every industry to become a part of the app program, including restaurants, clothing stores, and automobile dealers. Consumers will then have the opportunity to donate a percentage back to a charity or organization they care about. “You will take a picture of your receipt and type in the subtotal and tax amount,” he said. “Then the app will give you the option to donate a percentage of that total back to a
funding assistance covering it, the student’s insurance will cover the costs,” he said. “We don’t want it to come across (as) that we are cutting services. We are changing the services but not cutting them as of right now.” The new system for the Family Planning Program will be fully functioning by the time Student Health moves into the new CPASS building in fall 2014. To schedule a family planning appointment with Student Health, call
see HEALTH on PAGE 2
cause of your choice.” To get organizations and nonprofits on board with the idea, Strauss said he and his sister will be campaigning at local churches and temples by showing consumers they can potentially give back through an iPhone or Anroid application. “Businesses will be attracted to this application because it will bring in new customers to their stores and it will improve their image,” Strauss said. Strauss said he came up with the app idea six months ago, when he was coaching a boy’s soccer team. “I wanted to fundraise for the soccer team that I was coaching, but then I realized I could impact the whole world a lot more and especially the University,” he said. Another aspect of the app Strauss said he hopes to implement is the ability for users to donate back to their universities, including West Virginia University. “A lot of current students and alumni would like to give back to WVU but they can’t afford to or don’t have the time, so this will be a really simple way to do it,” he said. Strauss said after conducting research, it is projected 95 percent of all Americans will be using smartphones in five years. He also said he found 52
see BUSINESS on PAGE 2
Shannon McKenna/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
Staff Writer @DailyAthenaeum
provide proof of income. Dr. Palmer said WELLWVU wants to ensure students understand the family planning services were not cut and will not be denied to any student. The services will continue to be available even to students who have insurance. For patients with insurance coverage, the services will be covered through the patient’s insurance like how any typical doctor visit would be covered. “We will continue to offer the same services to all female students, however, instead of federal
A CIRCUS
Student launches app to give back BY Evelyn Merithew
enrollees will also be accepted into the program on the conditions of a lack of insurance coverage or low income levels. “Students who are in the program right now can continue to be in it; however, in preparation for the new procedures, we now ask them about their insurance,” Palmer said. “New patients are also still accepted without insurance or with low income.” All students who desire to enroll in the program are asked if they have insurance coverage, and all new enrollees are also asked to
SEE A&E page 3 for complete coverage of ‘the pink circus’ fashion show
WVU Homecoming on-campus polling locations cut to two BY Sam Bosserman Correspondent @DailyAthenaeum
Due to parliamentary issues, the homecoming elections code passed by the West Virginia University Student Government Association will not come into effect as originally intended for this year. The homecoming election code itself contains a clause, which states the code and any changes may only go into effect 15 days after its passage. Since the elections start today,
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INSIDE News: 1, 2 Opinion: 4 A&E: 3, 6 Sports: 7, 8, 10 Campus Calendar: 5 Puzzles: 5 Classifieds: 9
the Oct. 2 date of passage means implementing the code this year would have violated the clause. Ultimately, a decision was reached to delay the implementation of the code until next year in an effort to stay consistent and set an appropriate precedent. Because the approved homecoming elections code will not go into effect this year, the number of polling locations has been reduced from three to two. If the elections code had gone into effect, there
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would have been a minimum of three separate polling locations on each voting day. The locations specified in the new code are the Mountainlair, the Student Recreational Center and the Health Sciences Center. Under the negotiated compromise between the University’s Student Organization Services and the SGA, there are now only two polling locations, with the Health Sciences Center being removed from the list of locations. According to SGA Vice
President Benjamin Seebaugh, the compromise was a pragmatic deal that represents the best result of a less-than-ideal situation. “When it comes down to it, this is a staffing issue, a cost issue, and I think we’ve been very fortunate to have Student Orgs work with us to reach this compromise,” Seebaugh said. “I’ve been told that next year Student Orgs will go forward with the elections code as written with all three polling places.” Seebaugh also said the compromise truly does re-
flect the interests of both the SGA and Student Orgs, which originally suggested the idea of having just one polling location at the Mountainlair. “(Student Orgs) weren’t able to give us everything we wanted in the elections code, but they were able to compromise with us and increase the polling places from one to two,” Seebaugh said. Ron Justice, director of Student Organization Services, endorsed Seebaugh’s statements, and said the compromise was the re-
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ON THE INSIDE City Council voted to lease the Woodburn Elementary property to WVU. NEWS PAGE 2
sult of constructive negotiations that ended in a manageable solution. “The staff here, for a lot of good reasons, including staffing issues, had suggested that there be only one polling location,” Justice said. “From my understanding, everyone came away from the negotiations satisfied with the compromise of the two sites.” “It would have been very difficult to put the staffing together for three polling locations in the
see POLLING on PAGE 2
5-OH-SOPERFECT The No. 6 WVU women’s soccer team is undefeated in Big 12 play. SPORTS PAGE 7