The Current Online

by Alisha Dunn

During college, many students have a level of comfort because if we’re ever in need of medical attention, our parents’ health insurance has it covered.

Then the day comes when we are too old to have that coverage. So what’s next? Does my school have a health care program? Or will my job pick up the slack? Or maybe I should try individual health care insurances with a major provider?

Sad to say, all of these questions have the possibility of a bad answer. Recently the Metropolitan Community Colleges began offering a Student Injury and Sickness Insurance policy. With an annual fee of $1,034, students can be covered for a full year or they can pay by semester. If you’re transferring out to one of the area college such as Rockhurst University, UMKC, Johnson County Community College or the University of Kansas, all have some form of healthcare programs for their students.

UMKC houses a health center that provides physical examinations, STD testing, well-woman exams and many other basic needs. Although they don’t charge for visits and assessment, they charge for outside testing.

Rockhurst University Health Center provides everything for their students except surgery. Each student is charged differently, depending on what type of treatment they receive. They’re also billed later for the cost.

The University of Kansas has a health center that employs from eight to 10 physician for their students’ needs. You most be a full-time student in order to qualify for this program. At JCCC, the school doesn’t have a healthcare program but they do have information on different providers in the area.

As for the job, most students work only part-time because of a heavy study load. In most cases, this means students do not qualify for any employment benefits.

That leaves us with individual health care. Individual medical insurance can start as low as $69.95 a month with an unknown provider and up to $200 a month with a major provider like Humana One. But does the United States have a program that would help students?

Lucy Torres, training technician for Family Support Services, said that the United States does not offer such a program run by state or federal governments.

“It’s because of budget reasons,” she said.

It does offer a wide variety of other very hopeful programs like Medicaid and Medicare. Medicare is a federally funded program run through the Department of Health and Human Services. To qualify, you most be retired, over 65 years of age and receive Social Security. Medicare offers health care, disability benefits and income benefits for the elderly.

Medicaid is a federally funded program that differs from state to state. In the state of Missouri, Medicaid, or Federal Support Services, is a health care program for families or children and pregnant women. The program provides other services as well health care.

Through FSS, Missouri provides food stamps, temporary assistance for needy families, cash benefits, medical assistance for the elderly, blind and disabled and assist in paying Medicare primary. FSS also has a program for immigrants to qualify – it all depends what status they have entered the United States with. For example, if you come to the U.S. seeking refuge, you would have immediate services that include Medicaid benefits.

Medicare and Medicaid are both great programs. Unfortunately, neither can help most college students. Maybe one day our country will offer a health care program for poor college students like us.

by ALISHA DUNN

Singer/songwriter/lo-fi legend Elliot Smith died at the age of 34 on Tuesday Oct. 21 from a supposed self-inflicted knife wound to the heart. He was found in his Los Angeles apartment by a female friend. He was pronounced dead an hour later at the Los Angeles County University of Southern California Medical Center. Services for Smith were held in New York City at Tompkins Square Park on Sunday Oct. 26, at 5:00 p.m. A memorial concert will be held on Nov. 3 at Henry Fonda Theater in Los Angeles featuring Beck, Beth Orton and more.

by ALISHA DUNN

4/7
* Eight of the bodies found with Pfc. Jessica Lynch in an Iraq hospital were identified as members of her unit.
* U.S. forces sieze two of Saddam Hussein’s palaces – one is his new presidential palace.
* British announce they have control of Basra. When they entered the city, they did not encounter resistance.

4/8
* Five journalists killed, three in a coalition fire and two in the main hotel that the media occupied when it was hit by a shell.
* U.S. marines take control of a Rashid military airfield.

4/9
* Statue of Saddam Hussein comes toppling down. Looting begins in Iraq’s capital.
* Iraqis welcome U.S. marines but there is still some fighting in the city.

4/11
* Iraq army surrenders when the U.S. Special Forces and Kurdish enter Mosul.

4/12
* Iraq chief scientist Gen. Amer Hammoudi al-Saadi surrenders to U.S. forces in Baghdad.
* Looting continues in Baghdad and Iraq.

4/13
* U.S. marines enter Saddam Hussein’s hometown, Tikrit.
* Seven U.S. troops who had been missing were found alive on a road from Baghdad.
* Watban al-Tikriti, Saddam’s half-bother, was captured.

4/14
* Oil fields in Iraq are secured by coalition forces.

4/15
* The first of many political talks took place at an airbase outside of Nassiriya.
* Seven Iraqis were killed when U.S. troops tried to restore order during a protest in Mosul.
* First official meeting for the planning of Iraq’s future.

by ALISHA DUNN

What was Longview like in 1973?
Andy Geohegan: Did you ever see one of those WWII movies about German POW camps? That is pretty much what our campus looked like…..a collection of single-story, wood-frame buildings, poorly insulated and nowhere for students to congregate. There were learning communities everywhere because you not only could hear what was going on in your classroom, but you could hear some of the lecture in the adjoining classroom as well. The “student center” looked like your typical low-end summer camp recreation hall: an open space with some vending machines, a few tables and chairs, and maybe a video game or two.
The first graduation ceremony I attended was held in the faculty parking lot. The highlight of that event occurred when one of our faculty members almost set himself on fire with a dropped hot cigarette ash.
There was a basketball team for awhile, but I think it must have been hard to recruit good players when they found out that the athletic teams were called the Slugs.
Maybe it’s a little too nostalgic, but there was a sense of camaraderie then that doesn’t exist today because we had to focus on good teaching to make up for inferior facilities and technical support. I remember the gym was a room the size of your typical Winterset Estates rec room with a universal gym in it. Tuition was $10 an hour. One of my first jobs was to provide Admissions counseling for students in a converted Winnebago that we would drive around to area shopping malls and Wal-Marts.
Our current beautiful campus has certainly made things more comfortable, but I think that what happened in the classroom was just as good then as what today’s students experience.

Was it easier to get here before the lake was built?
AG: Third Street did extend all the way over to Raytown Rd, but I would say it was only easier to get here if you lived in the Hickman Mills area. It’s much easier to get here now with the better roads from Lee’s Summit and the I-470 exit to View High Drive. Our child care center was originally located in a converted residence on a cul de sac streetoff of Longview Road on the west side of the lake.