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Wednesday, November 13, 2013
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Today’s class schedule follows a Monday schedule. This is due to the Veterans’ Day holiday recognized on the Monday of this week.
Astronomer finds earliest galaxy ever Discovery came during new survey By CeCilia Prado Collegian Correspondent
Evan SaHagIan/cOLLEgIan
This boy won the halftime race at Tuesday’s basketball game.
Breaking down Obamacare Act aims to make insurance affordable By Catherine Ferris Collegian Correspondent
With the recent passing of Obamacare, many people are left wondering what this means for them. Officially known as the Affordable Care Act, it was signed into law in 2010 and aims to make it easier and more affordable for Americans to get insured. According to Obama-care. org, “(with) right around forty-four million Americans not being able to get health care coverage this law was created to change that.” The law was created with low
income Americans in mind, but every American will need health care insurance by Jan. 1, 2014, or face a penalty. If someone is charged with a penalty, it is important to know that simply paying the fine does not dismiss this person from acquiring coverage; everyone ultimately still remains responsible for getting health insurance. Some of the key facts about the new Health Insurance Marketplace explained by marketplace. cms.gov include the “sixmonth enrollment period,” which is Oct. 1, 2013 until March 31, 2014; the fact that coverage begins as soon as Jan. 1, 2014; and the fact that “individuals may be eligible to get lower costs right away
to help … pay for insurance in the Marketplace.” According to a CBSNews. com article, roughly half of the states in the country are still debating whether to embrace or reject a major portion of the law that expands Medicaid. CBS News also reported that fewer than one in five uninsured Americans have visited the state-based online marketplaces since they opened Oct. 1. In a USA Today article, Deputy Director at Young Invincibles Jennifer Mishory said there will be three significant ways that students will be affected by the online marketplace: “Students who earn less than about $46,000 … may be able to access free coverage through Medicaid
Settlement reached in airline antitrust case Deal will allow the merger to continue By andrea ahles Fort Worth Star-Telegram FORT WORTH, Texas — American Airlines and US Airways have reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice in its antitrust case, both sides announced Tuesday. The deal, which will allow the merger between American and US Airways to go forward, includes the airlines divesting 52 takeoff and landing slot pairs at Washington Reagan National Airport and 17 slot pairs at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. The carriers are also giving up rights and
interests to two airport gates each at Boston, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas Love Field, Los Angeles and Miami. “This agreement allows us to take the final steps in creating the new American Airlines,” American Chief Executive Tom Horton said in a statement. With the deal, the airlines should complete their merger in December and American will emerge from bankruptcy about two years after it first filed for bankruptcy protection. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said the deal has the potential to “shift the landscape of the airline industry.” “By guaranteeing a bigger foothold for low-cost carriers at key U.S. airports, this settlement ensures airline
passengers will see more competition on nonstop and connecting routes throughout the country,” Holder said. American and US Airways also agreed to maintain its hubs in Charlotte, N.C.; New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport; Los Angeles; Miami; Chicago O’Hare; Philadelphia; and Phoenix for a period of three years in order to settle the antitrust concerns of state attorney generals who had joined the Justice Department’s lawsuit. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott pulled out of the lawsuit last month after the carriers agreed to keep its headquarters in North Texas and see
AIRLINES on page 3
or discounted coverage through monthly tax credits depending on the state and their exact income level” and “(new) plans will provide free preventive services, annual checkups, prescriptions and substance use disorder services.” Students nationwide will find themselves in a very similar situation to each other. They have an option to purchase their own health insurance plans while in school, but many who have the opportunity will opt to remain under their parents’ insurance until they become employed or until age 26, when they legally must adopt a new plan for themselves. see
oBAmAcARE on page 3
University of Massachusetts astronomer Mauro Giavalisco, along with scientists from several other institutions around the globe, has successfully identified the most distant, and therefore earliest, galaxy ever studied, according to a UMass press release. The discovery came during a new survey of the distant universe conducted from the NASA Hubble Space Telescope. Although previous Hubble-based observations have been able to identify other distant galaxies in the early universe, this is the farthest and earliest galaxy whose span can be clearly confirmed with continuous observations from the Keck I telescope, according to the release. The survey was the largest investigation of the early universe ever made with the Hubble telescope, and two special cameras were required to measure the distance of the galaxy. The research team consisted of scientists from Israel, Italy, Arizona, Maryland, California and Kentucky, as well as scientists from UMass and the University of Texas. The team used a technique that Giavalisco helped develop in the early 1990s called “Lyman-break selection,” which involves enhancing the apparent colors of galaxies in order to deter-
mine their distance. This technique was useful in differentiating this distant galaxy from closer galaxies that obscure the light of other celestial objects. This technique, however, can only provide vague distance estimates. Therefore, Giavalisco and his team had to calculate the distance of pre-selected, far-off galaxies, and estimate the age at which they are being observed. This was necessary to date the galaxy properly and measure its mass, luminosity and starformation rate, according to the release. In the release, Giavalisco said that colors can be indicators of a variety of physical processes happening inside a galaxy—for example, whether or not the galaxies form stars and how much dust is in them. Giavalisco said that dust makes the color of stars more red because it dims stellar light. According to the release, the team required very powerful spectroscopic telescopes to detect the Lyman-alpha emission line. This is a specific spectral feature emitted by hydrogen in a particularly narrow range of ultraviolet wavelengths, which is invisible to the human eye, the release said. The Lyman-alpha emission was necessary in order to measure how far away this galaxy is from our own. The telescope used in the study was the Keck 10-meter telescope in Hawaii, one of the most powerful spectroscopic instruments available. It was used to detect the Lyman-alpha emission and see
GALAxy on page 2
Workers struggle to reach typhoon victims Many remain in far-flung locations By sunshine de leon and BarBara demiCk Los Angeles Times MANILA, Philippines —Four days after Typhoon Haiyan blew away their homes and livelihoods, most Philippine victims remain in far-flung flooded coastal communities where they so far have been unable to obtain assistance, aid workers say. The United Nations on Tuesday launched an appeal for $301 million to help victims, while U.S. and British warships headed toward the region.
In its appeal for funds, the U.N. estimated that more than 11 million people have been affected by the typhoon, one of the strongest storms ever to hit land, with 660,000 left homeless. The official death toll passed 1,700 on Tuesday and is expected to rise substantially. However, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III downplayed estimates that 10,000 or more people may have died, telling CNN that the death toll would more likely be about 2,000 to 2,500 people. Arriving Tuesday in Manila to coordinate the efforts, U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said that money was needed for
“food, health, sanitation, shelter, debris removal and also protection of the most vulnerable.” Before her arrival, the U.N. released $25 million in emergency funds. Other governments have pledged more than $35 million. On the hard-hit island of Leyte, there is only one major airport; it’s in the devastated city of Tacloban. Aid workers say that the road from the airport into the city is so clogged with debris, interspersed with the now-putrefying remains of the dead, that it takes three hours to get from the airport into the city center. Roads leading inland are see
TypHooN on page 3