The best and worst Christmas gifts Read more on page 8
The Hobbit audience survival guide
Read more on page 10
December 6, 2013 Issue 14 echo.snu.edu
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Senior feature: December graduates
Kira Roberts, Editor-in-chief
While most seniors are preparing to graduate next May, a select few are finishing up their undergraduate degree in December. Two of these students are Kaylee Piatt and Brookeana Witt. Piatt is a Sport Management major who will start her MBA in January here at SNU while she finishes her last season of eligibility for volleyball. “I transferred here after playing volleyball for a year at Lamar University. I wasn’t happy with where I was and coming to SNU was the
best thing for me,” Piatt said. “My time at SNU has been the best few years of my life. I have developed relationships that will last for a lifetime and have grown spiritually more than I would have ever thought. I am so thankful that I got the opportunity to be a part of this community; I will always treasure my time here,” she said. Witt ran track at The University of Texas at Arlington right out of high school. She is a Spanish major who plans to start a graduate Continued on page 2
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What the “ObamaCare” act means for you Grace Williams, Business Manager
Photo by Young Invincibless
What constitutes accessible and affordable health care has been debated for decades in the United States. In 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA or as it is commonly called, ObamaCare) became a law with the goal of putting affordable and accessible health care within everyone’s reach. On October 1 2013, the marketplace for purchasing insurance opened and the countdown to the penalty for not having insurance began. For the majority of SNU students there will be no change. Healthcare.gov states, “If a [parent’s] plan covers children, they can be added or kept on the health insurance policy until they turn 26 years old. Children can join or remain on a plan even if they are:
married, not living with their parents, attending school, not financially dependent on their parents and/or eligible to enroll in their employer’s plan.” Traditionally, SNU has required students to purchase a school insurance plan if they were not covered by their parents. However, in order to comply with new healthcare regulations the price for the plan increased significantly and now costs $1,523 for the academic year. Angie Hattler, Registered Nurse from the student health center, said, “This is the first year we have allowed opt outs because of the increased cost. About 80 SNU students opted out.” These students are now required by law to get a health care plan,
unless they qualify for an exemption or hardship. If one meets the following criteria for an exemption he or she can apply for these exemptions through the marketplace on healthcare.gov, which should have applications available later this year, or in some cases on tax forms. According to healthcare.gov, “You may qualify for an exemption if: you’re uninsured for less than 3 months of the year, the lowestpriced coverage available to you would cost more than 8% of your household income, you don’t have to file a tax return because your income is too low (Learn about the filing limit, [check about table 2 on page 4 and table 3 on page 5]), you’re a member of a federally recognized tribe or eligible for services through Continued on page 3