Volume 2.
Issue 9.
The Falcon
A Keen Eye For News
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Monday, March 25th, 2013
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The call for sanitation
National Waffle Day Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 KYLE JONES Housing/Res. Life Luau March 27, 4:30pm – 6:30pm Main Quad UPC Laser tag too Something On a Stick Day Thursday, Mar 28, 2013
Sherlock Holmes Society Interest Meeting March 30, 7pm – 8pm Hill House Greek Week Begins Monday, Apr 1, 2013 SGA Elections on Blackboard April 1, 8am – 9am Blackboard Through April 3 at 3 p.m.
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Editor-In-Chief | @TheUMFalcon
A recent UN report announced that of the seven billion people on Earth, six billion of them have cellphones, but only 4.5 billion have proper sanitation facilities such as toilets. UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson is reaching out to the global community stating, “I am determined to energize action that will lead to results. I am calling on all actors – government, civil society, business and international organizations – to commit to measurable action and to mobilize the resources to rapidly increase access to basic sanitation." This initiative is in an effort to bring 2.5 billion people worldwide proper sanitation facilities. As of now 1.1 billion people
defecate in the open, under bridges or trash dumps, all while making phone calls or checking their facebook. Eliasson also added, “Let’s face it – this is a problem that people do not like to talk about. But it goes to the heart of ensuring good health, a clean environment and fundamental human dignity for billions of people – and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. With just over a thousand days for action before the 2015 MDG deadline, we have a unique
window of opportunity to deliver a generational change.” The UN reports that the countries where open defecation is most widely practiced are the same countries with the highest numbers of under-five child deaths, high levels of under-nutrition and poverty, and large wealth disparities. Eliasson’s plea will not set up any new structures or funding mechanisms, but instead will focus on a global grassroots campaign of information and action by impacting one community at a time.
Three years later Obamacare is still here KYLE JONES
Editor-In-Chief | @TheUMFalcon
It’s been three years since the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), or otherwise known as "Obamacare" was passed. The ACA healthcare reform program ensures that by 2014 every tax-paying citizen will be covered by an insurance plan. Since its inception the act has received its fair share of opposition from politicians and citizens alike. But what has the act accomplished thus far? Through Obamacare, young people have been allowed to stay on their parents healthcare until they are 26 years old, this has directly impacted about 3 million people. In a time of financial hardship, this has been crucial to young people receiving the healthcare they need. Michele Bachmann claims that the ACA “literally kills women, kills children [and] kills senior citizens.” Though, because of Obamacare the act requires all
health insurance plans to cover birth control with no co-pay as well as other women’s preventative care options at no out of pocket fee. As well as aiding young people, The Health and Human Services Department announced this week that more than 6.3 million people with Medicare have saved over $6.1 billion on prescription drugs because of the law. Overall, the country is still very torn over the issue of national healthcare, with 37 percent of Americans having a favorable view of the law and the opposing unfavorable view garners 40 percent says a poll conducted by the nonpartisan, nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation. With a little under four years left in office it will be interesting to see how the healthcare debate and legislation will develop. Let us know your thoughts via twitter by tweeting us @TheUMFalcon.