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a publication of the Pacific Union College Student Association
vol. LXXXIX
Silverado Brewing Co. Closing By Alex Blum NEWS pg. 3 The Silverado Brewing Company is closing Nov. 25 after serving PUC students and locals alike since its July 2000 opening.
Around the Hill By James Shim, Daniella Rodriguez and David O’Hair SPORTS pg. 4 Recaps and updates from Pioneer sports as the volleyball, cross-country and soccer seasons come to an end.
The Great Health Plan Debate By Tosh Giles and Alex Belko OPINIONS pg. 6 Writers flesh out the pros and cons of the new program.
Season Showdown By Amanda Navarrete, Edgar Momplaisir, Tosh Giles and Webbo Chen OPINIONS pg. 7 Winter, summer, spring and fall vie for popularity points.
THURSDAY, 15 November 2012
no. 3
Election Day Fever Hits PUC Campus decisive victory, securing his place in the White House for one more term. Upon the announcement, Obama supporters in the Campus Center roared, chanting “Four more years!” while triumphantly waving and passing around “Obama Territory” signs. “It was just really exciting for me to see how many people were excited about voting and the democratic process,” said SA Executive Vice President Danielle Hagood, a senior psychology major. “I had been getting mixed media messages, so I didn’t know how [the election] was going to fall. I only had my hopes.” Obama’s 332 electoral votes topped Romney’s 206, and the former also beat the latter in the popular vote by nearly three million. Speculation over swing states provided drama in the final Jonathan Soto and several other students cast their votes at the fire department. Hollie Macomber hours. Romney was victorious in North Carolina (15), while Obama took Ohio (18), Virginia (13), Wisconsin (10), Colorado (9), Nevada By Colleen Uechi (6) and Iowa (6). Florida, another swing state that Obama Throughout the morning and early evening of Nov. 6, eventually won, garnered unwanted attention when ballot PUC students flocked to the waiting shuttles for a trip to counting became so backed up that official results were the polls. Later that night they crowded into the Campus not submitted until Nov. 8, well after the rest of the nation. Results also came in on a PUC-related item on the Center to watch the vote counts build across America. Napa County ballot: the controversial Measure U. President Barack Obama, the Democratic incumbent, kept Continued on pg. 3 Gov. Mitt Romney, the Republican challenger, at bay in a
Breaking Down the New PUC Health Plan By Brooke Hiebert This year, Pacific Union College implemented a new student health plan. This health plan covers all services under the health services and the career and counseling center, which together is now the health clinic. “PUC health clinic is designed now to provide [students] with professional delivery of services,” said Michael Jefferson, Director of the career and counseling center. This academic year, students will find that there is a medical doctor and a physician’s assistant available during the week at health services and a psychiatrist at the career and counseling center on Fridays. Students can receive prescriptions without leaving campus. The 12-month plan (Sept. 1-Aug. 31) covers students while on campus or anywhere nationwide. When students are outside a 50-mile radius of PUC, they go to www.myfirsthealth.com, enter a zip code and select a doctor. However, when students are outside the 50-mile radius, they will still need to call in and get a referral from health services. Last year, PUC spent between $100,000-200,000 in un-budgeted health care costs for students. When the California State Department of Health and Human Services said that health insurance companies needed to provide better plans for students, PUC reviewed many possible options and hypothesized that “we can do better,” as Gayln Bowers, director of human resources, said. “Across the country many changes in health care are happening,” said Sandy Sargent, a registered nurse and director at health services. “Enrolled students may have carried their own plan in the past, but we found that in attempting
to provide comprehensive care many of these plans were not accepted in our area, creating a barrier to accessing necessary services.” PUC is charging $600 a student per year. Though some feel the new fee is rather high, others argue that it is cheaper, as the average fee across the U.S. for student health coverage is between $850 and $950 a year. Jefferson said that PUC spent months negotiating the terms for this plan, so that students are ultimately paying what an employee at the St. Helena Hospital would pay. Between 50 and 70 percent of colleges and universities across America have health plans built into their tuition. Bowers said that instead of raising tuition, PUC decided to only implement the health plan costs. Tuition is typically raised four percent, but the health care costs only account for a two percent increase in costs. Some health plans have coverage for St. Helena Hospital or the Queen of the Valley in Napa, but many have Kaiser Permanente. The nearest Kaiser hospital is in Vallejo or Santa Rosa, resulting in a longer drive to appointments. The new plan allows students to phone a nurse ready to give a quick triage and medical direction 24/7. Each health plan card carries the necessary phone number. The clinic still offers free nurse check-ups and can contract with any doctor necessary. An appointment and fee is required to see the general practice physician and/or physician’s assistant, who are on-site daily. Sargent added that, in the future, health services also hopes to include more specialized care options, such as physical therapy and massage, orthopedic care and gynecology. Preventive care is also fully covered under this
plan. Vaccines, check-ups, immunizations and all other preventive services are at students’ disposal on campus. If ADHD, depression or other mental health conditions are suspected, students can make an appointment at the career and counseling center. These actions are all considered preventive care. At the beginning of last year, PUC told students to show proof of insurance by the start of school. Bowers said that 70 percent of the student body didn’t respond to this. Thus everyone is being automatically enrolled in the plan, an action which is prompting students to better understand how health plans work. Bowers called it an “opportunity to understand [yet] another component of their education process.”
The new plan looks to expand the health clinic’s reach. Allison Regan