Harrigan had spent a week at the academy, and he had endured all the rigors that a typical student there goes through. He woke up at 5 a.m. each day. He performed exhausting amounts of push-ups and sit-ups and long runs. He took on the obstacle courses at the academy. And he loved every minute of it.

“When I got back, I realized that I want to be challenged,” Harrigan said. “I don’t want to go to college and just skate through. It was exhausting, but once I got back, I just thought about how I wanted to go back and do it all over again.”

Harrigan is one of the many high school seniors these days to have made up his mind at such an early date. According to a story in an August edition of the New York Times, high school seniors, including some of East’s own, are applying to colleges earlier than ever before.

Counselor Laurie Carter has been at East for ten years, and she has seen the upward trend in admissions firsthand. She attributes this spike to the improving overall awareness of students toward the application process.

“School [admissions] are getting more competitive,” Carter said. “The value of a college education has increased. People get it more so than they did in the past. There is a huge value in having a college diploma so that you can get a job.”

Madison Loeb, an admissions representative at Kansas State University, feels that college applicants have become “smarter consumers,” leading to the increase in earlier admissions.

“It seems like students are smarter about knowing what’s out there,” Loeb said. “They start searching around their sophomore or junior year, so by the time they get to their senior year, they want to get everything taken care of early.”

Loeb sees a chain effect that pays off for the student when they apply earlier. The sooner the applicants turns in their admissions, the sooner they can apply for housing and scholarships, which can help Loeb out on her end.

“It makes it easier so we can make sure they have everything they need,” Loeb said. “We want students to get scholarships just like they do, so we can follow up and help them through the process with more time if they apply earlier.”

Jessica Walters, a senior admissions counselor at the University of Kansas, says that she has seen a definite increase in phone calls and e-mails from potential applicants. She sees the trend as a sign that students not only want to figure out their future education as soon as possible, but also organize their future financial commitments.

“Their parents are trying to figure out how much it’s going to cost, and they want to plan for it as soon as possible given the economy,” Walters said.

Both KU and KSU have rolling admissions, so the schools can return a quicker decision to students that apply earlier.

While Loeb sees no true drawbacks to an earlier application, Walters has seen cases in which the applicant could have dedicated more time to the process.

“If a student applies early and rushes through their application, they might have some errors and it might not be as concise and neat as it could be,” Walters said. “I don’t want them to apply early just to apply early. That’s the only drawback.”

While Carter said that determining whether a student is applying too early is judged on a case-by-case basis, she can see some of the ways the recent trend has benefited her personally.

“We encourage the students to let us know [where they’re applying],” Carter said. “Last year, I wrote 34 recommendations. It takes awhile.”

Senior Alissa Pollack already knows where she’s headed next fall. She attended a Junior Scholars Program at Miami of Ohio this summer, and now, according to Pollack, her acceptance at the school will be a mere formality.

“I applied in March for this program, and you go to school all summer and you take classes,” Pollack said. “If you meet all the requirements, you still have to apply but you knew that you get in by August 1. I already know that I got in.”

Pollack filled out an entire college application to the school and sent it in, and she will get her letter in the mail on Dec. 22. By keeping a 3.5 grade point average during her seven-week stay this summer, Pollack assured herself of a spot at the university in Oxford, Ohio.

Unlike Pollack, Harrigan has just begun a lengthy application process to gain entry to the Naval Academy, which had a 10 percent acceptance rate last fall, according to US News.

“It’s like getting into an Ivy League school, just as hard,” Harrigan said.

Since his dad was in the Marine Corps for 21 years, including service in the first Gulf War, Harrigan was able to clear his first hurdle: a nomination from either the president, a congressman or another acceptable alternative – in this case a retired Marine. Now, he’s currently working on securing a congressional nomination to the academy in order to improve his chances of admission.

Harrigan sees the benefits in applying to colleges at an earlier date, but he said it hasn’t softened the workload.

“It kind of makes things easier that I don’t have to think about it anymore,” Harrigan said. “But right now, I’m not even working on homework. I’m working on writing to congressmen and trying to get letters of recommendation. That’s really replaced my homework.”

Pollack has enjoyed the relaxation that comes with knowing what the future holds. Other seniors haven’t quite made it that far in their college search. Senior Peter Bautz is currently working on applications for 10 different schools, and he estimates that the process, which he began nearly a month ago, has added up to around 20-24 hours of total work. Instead of lounging around before bedtime, Bautz works on supplements to each school’s application, along with essay writing for his common application.

“It definitely changed my evening routine,” Bautz said.

However, Bautz—who has a current top five of Harvard, Princeton, Amherst, Grinnell and Macalester—hopes that the work that he puts in now will pay off in the long run.

“It’s probably going to stay stressful for the next couple of weeks, but I’m hoping to avoid major stress by not waiting until the last minute to submit everything,” Bautz said. “I’ve had the luxury of time to be able to sit down without being rushed to write in a week, as opposed to having two months to write a good essay.”

Pollack is past the rigor of college applications, and she’s not looking back.

“It takes so much stress off of senior year,” Pollack said. “Everyone’s worrying about where they’re going to apply, and I don’t have to think about it anymore.”

Brazil: It’s rare to not see Brazil on the contenders list. As five-time winners of the coveted Cup, the Samba Kings seem to have a pedigree of excellence born into their players, demonstrated by the likes of Pele, Rivaldo and Ronaldo. This year’s crop (featuring Kaka, Alexandre Pato and Maicon to name a few) is as deep and talented as ever.

England: As soccer’s birthplace, England would be expected to be perennial contenders for the sport’s greatest competition, right? Wrong. Traditionally, England has been an underperforming squad, save their 1966 World Cup triumph, which took place in England. Not qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament has thus far provided extra inspiration to new manager Fabio Capello and his squad.

Spain: Coming off a European title at UEFA Euro 2008, Spain will need to evade upstart squads like matadors eluding angry bulls. A big red target on their uniforms may not be enough to stop perhaps the most technically-skilled team in the entire tournament, however. With a midfield that has a tough time finding a place for Cesc Fabregas, arguably the best player in the English Premier League, Spain will be more than a tough out for hungry opposition.

How we got here

Obama’s plan is taking a step towards a more controlled banking system, much like the United States between had 1933-1999 under the Glass-Steagall act. This act, sponsored by Congressmen Carter Glass and Henry Steagall, separated banking into two distinct forms — commercial and investment. The commercial side of banking was backed by the government under the FDIC, while investment banking remained unregulated by the government. Commercial banking was safe, but according to Dan Bolen, the chairman of the Bank of Prairie Village, people were more interested in investment banking.

“Most people considered commercial bank boring, and the salaries were not extravagant,” Bolen said. “Investment banking were the guys who bought and sold companies and issued stocks and bonds.”

With the public interest shifting toward more high-return, un-regulated banking, Texas senator Phil Gramm spearheaded the idea of allowing the combination of commercial and investment banking, as well as insurance companies. From this idea came the Graham-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) — much to the appeasement of most large banks and insurance companies of that time — which allowed for the consolidation of these three industries.

“Clear lines between commercial banking and investment banking became blurred,” Bolen said. ”

Less than ten years later, the U.S. was plunged into one of the worst financial crises since the Great Depression.

How?

With the GLBA, large companies were able to form and become so important in the the U.S. financial market that their failure would greatly affect the public. Just the opposite of what Glass and Steagall had proposed back in 1933.

Obama’s new plan consists of five main points, or goals, that must be reached in order to prevent another financial crisis on the national scale.

1. “Promote robust supervision and regulation of financial firms.”

Obama is beefing up watch on big companies, stating in the bill that “Financial institutions that are critical to market functioning should be subject to strong oversight.” The plan calls for the creation of a Financial Services Oversight Council (FSOC) and stepping up the Federal Reserve’s authority over the larger financial institutions.

2. “Establish comprehensive supervision of financial markets.”

This section of the plan would bring all financial institutions that could threaten financial stability if they went under government regulation – even institutions that do not own banks. KU Financial Markets Professor Robert DeYoung uses the example of AIG’s selling of over-the-counter (unregulated) credit default swaps (CDS).

“When AIG went bankrupt their customers couldn’t collect on these CDS contracts,” DeYoung said. “If they had been sold on a regular exchange, the exchange would’ve stood behind them and made those contracts good.”

3. “Protect consumers and investors from financial abuse.”

Say goodbye to the page long financial statements with lines and lines of legal fine print. With the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed in this section, consumers would be protect from “unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices.” In financial terms, the transparency of statements will be increased.

“The CFPB would be in charge of making sure when some got a credit card, the rules and obligations were very clear,” DeYoung said. “They would printed in large type and simple language, so the person getting the card knew exactly what the rules were.”

4. “Provide the government with the tools it needs to manage financial crisis.”

Going under the idea that increased accountability will limit the chances of having to resort to bailouts, regulators would check up more regularly on the big financial institutions according to this section of the plan. With these check-ups, DeYoung explains, regulators and the FDIC would be able to recognize problems earlier and resolve the problems before it came to a point of either bailout or failure.

5. “Raise international regulatory standards and improve international cooperations.”

With the first four points of the plan focusing on the improvements and additions to the U.S., this last point makes a request to the rest of the world: “So, as we work to set high regulatory standards here in the United States, we must ask the world to do the same.” Simply, the plan asks the rest of the world to follow our lead and begin financial reform.

“I think it’s highly ironic because our regulatory system didn’t do a good job and now we’re trying to tell the international community that they should do the things we’re doing,” DeYoung said.

What’s missing?

One issue that isn’t completely covered in Obama’s plan is reducing or completely removing the incentives that made way for the “too big to fail” companies. Not only did they become too large, according to DeYoung, too complicated.

“[“Too big to fail” banks] have a lot of financial instruments that are difficult to keep track, their positions can change overnight and they can get into trouble in a hurry,” DeYoung said. “And for that reason, we have to bail them out. We have to bail them out because if we let them fail then that causes all sorts of problems in the financial system.”

Instead of working to remove these incentives, DeYoung explained, the plan instead has large companies set aside their own money to be used in the time of another crisis. The “too big to fail” problem isn’t exactly being eliminated through the plan; rather there will be a change of whose pocket the money for the bailouts is coming out of.

Wait-lists function as insurance for universities, according to Collegeboard’s Web site. Colleges can admit a certain number of students each year; admit too many or too few and the budget will be unbalanced. So colleges put together a list of qualified students that can be back-ups if all of the initial applicants don’t accept their spot at the school.

Wait-listing has become an increasingly common practice over the last few years. A 2009 National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) study reported that 35 percent of colleges use the wait-list and each year half of those colleges report an increase in students placed on the wait-list. Additionally, the report states that of selective colleges, those that accept fewer than 50 percent of applicants, 78.2 percent utilize the wait-list.  An average of 30 percent of wait-listed students eventually get accepted, but at “selective schools” that number drops down to 13.2 percent.

That figure is only exacerbated by the recent increase in applications to selective colleges. According to a recent New York Times article, Dartmouth College, Stanford University, and Duke University all reported “sharp increases” in their applicant pools this year. Harvard University’s applications increased 5 percent, and their acceptance rate dropped to the record low of 6.9 percent. East counselors Lilli Englebrick and Laurie Carter could not provide specific statistics but reported that East has also seen an increase in applications to selective schools.

David Hawkins, director of Public Policy and Research at NACAC, said there are two main reasons for the increase in applications to Ivy Leagues. First, more students are graduating from high school, with 2008 being an all-time high. Second, individual students are submitting more applications.

“The most selective colleges often see the biggest increases, mainly because students are inclined to ‘aim high’ in their application process,” Hawkins said. “In addition, the most academically ambitious students, who tend to apply to the most selective colleges, are also more likely to submit more college applications per capita.”

Senior Alexa Schneiders was one student who applied to many selective universities this year. Among her several selections were Yale University, Brown University, and University of Pennsylvania. The Ivy League’s process of solely offering need-based scholarships and grants, rather than loans, was a big part of Schneiders’ decision in applying.

“The opportunities that come from Ivy Leagues to score internships or grad school or study abroad, they’re a level above other schools,” Schneiders said. “Because I don’t really know what I want to do, I want to have all of those offered.”

Schneiders was wait-listed at UPenn, Notre Dame University, and Washington and Lee University. Because she expects many applicants to turn down their spots at the schools, she made the decision to wait until one accepted her. She will know sometime between the middle of May to the end of June where she will be attending next year.“I’m really glad you can get wait-listed because you can get a second chance to get into schools that didn’t accept you right away,” Schneiders said. “But, at the same time, being wait-listed sucks. It’s a waiting game… it’s basically going to be find out where I’m going to school then get on a plane and go.”

Senior Haley Dagleish is not as confident that she will make it off a wait-list. Dagleish accepted her position on the wait-lists at Stanford and Vanderbilt University, but said that if she still does not know by June she will accept elsewhere. Texas Christian University and Wake Forest University are her top back-up schools.

“It’s really stressful because I can’t get excited about where I’m going because I never know if one of the other wait-list options is going to come through,” Dagleish said. “But I still think it’s an honor to be on a wait list somewhere rather than get rejected.”

Hawkins said that two basic principles go into how a college chooses students to admit from off their wait list. The process is similar to how colleges admit students during regular decision: student interest is key, as well as specific skills or interests. For example, if most prospective Sociology majors turn down spots at first, the college would choose students from the wait list with that major in mind. So, for students put on the wait list, there is little to do but…wait.

“An admission offer is always better than a wait list offer, which is common sense, so if you have already been accepted to a college in which you’re interested, taking that offer is usually a better bet,” Hawkins said. “But for students whose ‘dream’ school has wait-listed them, we urge students to communicate with the school and let them know that you are holding off all other suitors in favor of that institution.”

But Englebrick said there are several things a wait-listed student can do to show the colleges that they are good choice. First, the student should make a deposit at a school they did get into. If they get into the wait-listed school, they will forfeit the deposit, so it all depends on how willing they are to take the gamble.

Wait-listed students also can’t fall into the trap of “senioritis.” Englebrick says many times colleges look to third and fourth quarter grades when making final decisions. All-in-all, Carter and Englebrick agree that students should make their interest known to college admissions.

“In my mind, wait list means they want you but they had to make a choice between you and someone else and that other person was picked first,” Carter said. “It must be like deciding between two houses or puppies that you want to buy.”

The brief- The recently passed health care bill, known commonly as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, contains a large variety of measures designed to reduce spending and increase coverage. In a March 21 New York Times piece, Rep. James Clyburn, it was “the Civil Rights Act of the 21st century”, while House Republican leader John Boehner declared “shame on us [for passing this bill.]” Whatever side you lean towards, here are the facts.

What it means for you- The most immediate effect for teenagers is that they will be able to stay on their parents’ insurance policy until they’re 26 years old. Previously, laws varied state by state. Most states did not require insurance companies to allow children to stay on their parents’ plans for that long.

One of the bill’s most important and bipartisan provisions that will take effect in 2010 is that insurance companies will not be allowed to deny coverage to children with pre-existing conditions. Insurers are also prevented from dropping people when they become ill. By 2014, that rule will be extended to adults.

For the time being, adults with pre-existing conditions will be able to join a temporary high-risk insurance pool . Basically, a group of people who are “high risk” (likely to collect on insurance payments) buy insurance in a group. By doing so, they’re able to get lower prices – similar to buying groceries in bulk.

In 2014, those high-risk pools would be replaced by health insurance exchanges, created and managed at the state level. The health insurance exchanges are actually marketplaces for people without insurance, and also small businesses. Theoretically, this will keep prices lower for those consumers.

The individual mandate – which says that most Americans must have health insurance – is one of the most controversial aspects of the bill, and will also take effect in 2014. For families without insurance, the fine will be either 1 percent of their income or $95 for each uninsured person (capped at $285) in the family. This mandate is also one of the foundations for the legal challenges to the bill. According to a March 23 Yahoo News article, attorneys general from 13 different states plan to challenge the bill.

Besides health insurance exchanges, several other measures are designed to provide health care for more Americans. Medicaid, government funded healthcare for the poor, will be expanded so people who are 33 percent over the poverty line can still apply for it. Tax credits will be given to employers with less than 25 employees who help pay for their employees’ health care.

Funding for the bill will come primarily from cuts in Medicare and Medicaid benefits, as well as payments to those who treat patients in those programs. More funding will come from tax on “Cadillac insurance plans”, which are simply high-cost plans.

Economy

The brief- The US recession was, and is, an extraordinarily complex series of events. Nevertheless, there are some widely agreed upon factors.

One major factor was the subprime loan crisis. In very simple terms, here’s what happened. As New  York Times business journalist Gretchen Morgenson said in an NPR interview, the crisis can be explained simply as “very lax lending and extremely large uses of borrowed money.”

In the real estate market, banks began to loan money to people with poor credit — people who may or may not have been able to pay back the loans — so that those people could buy houses. One reason for this is that, like in the Great Depression, the housing market was rising, and houses became more valuable. People who bought houses that they couldn’t afford assumed that, since prices usually went up, they could just wait for their houses to become more valuable. When their houses rose in value, they would be able to pay back the loan.

The downfall- For a while, this theory was accurate. But eventually, the prices stopped rising and leveled off. Homeowners worried that prices would go down, so they began to put their houses on the market. But far too many houses were put on the market. This created too much supply and not enough demand — there were more houses on the market than buyers, and so, just as the homeowners feared, their houses were worth less.

Thus, banks worried about their investment and began asking homeowners to pay back their loans.  Many of those homeowners either couldn’t sell their house at enough value or couldn’t sell it at all. Banks then became more reluctant to loan money, and continue to be reluctant to do so, which makes it difficult for the economy to grow.

Afghanistan

The brief- In a speech given by Pres. Barack Obama on Dec. 1, 2009 at U.S. Military Academy at Westpoint, he announced an additional 30,000 troops will be deployed in “the first part of 2010,” and troops will start to come home by July 2011. Obama defined the goal to “disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaeda,” and outlined the three ways that goal would be met:

Partnership with Pakistan-Obama said in his address that we must recognize that the stability of Pakistan is tied to success in Afghanistan. This stability will be achieved by helping Pakistan to fight extremists and foster democracy.

According to the Supreme Court’s official website, Citizens United brought the case to court. Citizens United, a non-profit political action committee, funded a film entitled “Hillary: The Movie.” The film features and analyzes New York Governor Hillary Clinton. When Citizens United wanted to charge for seeing the movie, the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) took issue, citing the McCain-Feingold Bill’s $2000 limit on political funding. Citizens United felt this was unfair and brought the case to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled that corporations cannot have limited spending on a political campaign.

The Court ruled that it is extending the rights and protection of the First Amendment to corporations, meaning the government cannot limit political speech in terms of monetary donations.

Marketing teacher Rebecca Murphy is passionately against the ruling. She fears that politicians will not pass legislation based on the good of the people, but instead in the favor of those who fund them.

“In economics, we subscribe to the theory that everyone acts in their own self interest,” Murphy said. “I’m not sure having corporations act in their own self interest will result in decisions that are in the best interest of our citizens.”

Senior Nathan Goldman also feels that this self interest is not in citizens’ best interest.

“I’m willing to bet most of the richest corporations in America aren’t necessarily concerned with getting kids the best education possible,” Goldman said.

Goldman keeps himself informed with political happenings and is afraid of the repercussions of the bill.

“We could see some fascinating and horrifying things happening,” Goldman said. “Say, corporations being allowed to vote. It seems ridiculous, but it’s a step in that direction.”

The decision was made by just one vote: five Justices for Citizens United and four Justices against. President Barack Obama expressed disapproval for the Court in his State of the Union address on Jan. 26. Obama feels that this new decision will allow other countries to influence the elections that should solely depend on American citizens.

“The Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests — including foreign corporations — to spend without limit in our elections,” Obama said in his State of the Union. “[Elections] should be decided by the American people.”

Goldman sees the Court’s ruling as a return to Gilded Age politics of the early 20th century, where corporations were granted the same rights as people and democracy was corrupted by big businesses who used lawmakers as pawns.

“Rich businesses will own any politician who can be bought,” Goldman said. “Those who can’t be bought will probably not get the financial support they need to get elected.”

Though the McCain-Feingold bill capped corporate donations to campaigns, individuals were allowed to spend freely. According to the Federal Elections Commission, Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts spent over $5.5 million dollars campaigning. Over $2 million came from businesses.

“Politicians are supposed to be accountable to the American citizenry as a whole,” Goldman said. “After this, we are going to see an increase in politicians who are accountable only to corporations.”

Junior Peter Bautz has also been following the case. He sides with Obama and predicts that the ruling will be overturned.

“The court decision is either going to be mitigated or overturned,” Bautz said. “The Obama administration wants to mitigate it, and there is a big countermovement against corporations because of the financial crisis.”
Discontent with the government among citizens has been prevalent since Obama was elected. Throughout 2009, Tea Party protests and the Tea Party movement oppose “big government” have been orchestrated by conservatives who call themselves the “Tea Party Patriots.” The Tea Party movement’s mission statement posted on their website is “to secure public policy consistent with… fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government and free markets.” They are organized based on the core values of the Constitution and demonstrate their dissent with the government through planned protests, marches and rallies.

If Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commision is not overturned, Bautz and Goldman believe there is a danger of political candidates being “bought” by corporations, thus disallowing the people’s say in democracy.

“The real question is what is the freedom of speech, and if it applies to corporations,” Bautz said. “These rights have never been applied to corporations before, and the question is if they should be.”

The Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation projects that the tax would raise 2.7 billion dollars over the next 10 years to use toward providing health insurance for more Americans. The tax would also serve as a “sin tax,” raising awareness of the harmful effects of tanning. In the past, taxes on substances like tobacco and alcohol have decreased usage, according to Dr. June Robinson, a clinical professor of dermatology at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

While many dermatologists are major proponents of the proposed tax, it has local tanning salon owners outraged. The tanning industry is mostly made up of small businesses, and owners such as Vickie Flowers of Sunseeker’s Tannery in Leawood don’t think the tax would be fair to her business and others.

According to Flowers, tanning is not a black-and-white issue, and legislators should not tax tanning just because of the opinion that tanning is harmful.

“The tanning industry has come a long way since when our parents [were tanning],” Flowers said. “The products we offer and kinds of beds we use are different.”

Though tanning has evolved over the years, sunbeds emit predominantly UVA and some UVB rays, both of which, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), can damage the DNA in cells of the skin.

Sophomore Maddie Collins, a regular at Sunseeker’s, is aware of the effects of tanning since both her parents have been diagnosed with some form of skin cancer. However, she thinks that people will always overlook the warnings if they want to tan. In her opinion, the proposed tax would be no different.

“I think that everyone knows what tanning does, but they just look past it because you just kind of believe what you want to hear,” Collins said. “That’s not what a lot of girls want to hear, so they just let it slide.”

Senior Ellie Kessinger also tans frequently and is an employee at Sunseeker’s. Kessinger believes that the slight difference in price that would be a result of the tax wouldn’t phase customers.

“People make it a priority to tan and it’s a part of a lot of people’s routines,” Kessinger said. “I don’t think that [the tax] would change that.”

Junior Madison Haverty has seen the effects of basal cell skin cancer from her mom. She also lost a close family friend to melanoma. Last Spring, another family friend asked her to model for a local organization called Pasty By Choice, which promotes skin protection and discourages tanning. She supports the tax because she is in favor of anything that could discourage tanning. Also, she hopes other people will make the healthy decisions she has chosen to.

“I’ve seen the effects it’s had on people that are really close to me,” Haverty said. “I have blonde hair and blue eyes and fair skin, and every single older person who is like that, who i know, has gotten skin cancer, so i think that its important to protect my skin. The fact that they are putting that tax on it is labelling it as something negative.”

As a cancer nurse at the Kansas City Cancer Center for twenty years, Carol Are has seen the implications of melanoma–the most dangerous type of skin cancer–and its treatment. Though some, like Collins, don’t think of skin cancer as a big deal because most instances of basal or squamos cell cancer can be treated by excising the spot, Are asserts that skin cancer should not be a matter taken lightly.

“Melanoma is an ugly disease that is not curable if it spreads past the little spot that it first becomes,” Are said. “Once it spreads into deeper tissues and gets into other parts of your body, it is not curable.”

According to Are, even the more minor types of skin cancer can leave ugly scars or lesions.

The tax was proposed with the idea in mind that it would reduce health care costs by hopefully reducing skin cancer in the future.

According to the WHO, tanning actually costs the government money due to the substantial costs of screening, treating and monitoring skin cancer patients.

“I think the tax is biased against our industry,” Flowers said. “At this point, why don’t we tax drugs or alcohol?”

Currently at East, there are five honor societies — NHS and National Art Honor Society, and the French, German, and Spanish National Honor Societies. All together, over 165 students are involved, with each type of honor society having its own membership requirements.

French and Spanish honor societies require that juniors have all A’s and seniors have all A’s and B’s in their language class. German Honor Society mandates that members have 3.6 GPA over three semesters of German and a 3.0 cumulative GPA. NAHS membership is determined through art scholarship, service, and character.

NHS has the most criterium for membership:  applicants must have a 3.6 weighted GPA, pass an administrative review of discipline, complete 20 hours of community service, and demonstrate leadership. These requirements are a step-up from last year, and next year the bar is expected to rise even higher. Next year’s applicants will need to have a 3.5 non-weighted GPA in order to be considered for membership. Murphy thinks the new GPA requirement will predominately affect those students who are getting mostly B’s in honors classes, who, with the previous weighted scale, would have been eligible for induction.

“We’re looking to induct the best kids that we possibly can,” NHS sponsor Rebecca Murphy said. “[The students] that are self-motivated, that can meet deadlines, that can advocate for themselves.”

According to Murphy, Principal Dr. Karl Krawitz requested that the requirements be reviewed when he first arrived at East. A panel of five anonymous teachers, a board that rotates from year to year, worked on revising the standards so they would best exemplify NHS’s four pillars — character, service, leadership, and scholarship.

In order to preserve honesty in applications this year, it was decided that students, like SHARE chairs, could no longer sign off on services hours and that the hours must be validated at the time of volunteering. Leadership, an important factor to Dr. Krawitz, entails writing an essay detailing two instances of leadership, one of which must be at East. Character used to involve students finding five people in the building to vouch for them, but this was far from an ideal solution for Murphy.

“You could cheat on a test in one class, but if you got five other teachers to [vouch for you], you could still slide through,” Murphy said. “…We feel that kids need to have good character everywhere, not just where they feel they’re going to be evaluated.”

Now, the entire faculty can provide input on an applicant’s character. However, Murphy assures that no “black-balling” will occur. If a behavioral incident is brought up by a faculty member, the panel will vote on a candidate’s induction. If the inductee feels their exclusion was unfair, they can file an appeal.

Still, Murphy feels that the size of NHS isn’t what is making colleges disregard the program—it’s the enormous variation in requirements for NHS chapters across the country. Murphy says that East has quite a bit of leeway in choosing criteria for NHS membership. East focuses primarily on the NHS pillars, wanting to include all students who demonstrate good character, leadership, and service. This isn’t so for all schools.

“I doubt there is any college on the planet that would put a kid into their college solely because they’re an NHS member, and I doubt there is anybody that would keep you out solely because you’re not an NHS member,” Murphy said.

Other honor societies at East are facing the same problems. French National Honor Society (FNHS) sponsor Laure Losey is disappointed with student commitment to their respective honor societies. Losey feels that FNHS should be another outlet for students to learn and experience French culture and enrich what they learn in class.

“I just think people come to put something on their résumé,” Losey said. “I don’t think people are very serious and part of it is because they’re involved in way too many things.”

FNHS meets about once a month in school and once a month out of school. The eight members will get together to do a French culture activity, such as boule, the French equivalent of bocce ball. Once, members acted out an entire French play, Le Borgeois Gentilhomme. French food is always involved.

But, according to Losey, getting meetings actually scheduled has been an issue. Meetings had to be moved to the mornings because many members couldn’t make the ones after school. Losey feels that, while the initial requirements are suitable, the attendance policy should be stricter.

“A lot of people skip meetings or they can’t agree what to do,” Losey said. “Even if the officers have a plan and great ideas, it doesn’t mean that people are going to follow, which to me is very sad.”

Junior Natalie Parker is a member of FNHS and is applying to be in NHS. Parker joined FNHS because she was invited and she’d heard it was fun, but is mainly involved in honor societies for college applications. Though Parker feels that getting into honor societies is fairly easy, she doesn’t think that the requirements should change.

“I think it’s good that a lot of people can get in,” Parker said. “A lot of people work hard and the people that get in work hard, so I don’t think it needs to be any more selective.”

Senior Tara Raghuveer, co-president of NHS, believes that membership requirements could be slightly stricter, but feels that the additional standards added this year are a big step in the right direction. Though Raghuveer feels that the NHS members in her grade all deserve to be there, she is doubtful that membership means much to college admissions.

“I think a lot of colleges recognize that the standards for getting into NHS differ between schools and thus don’t take it into much consideration,” Raghuveer said. “…It’s helpful to have on your applications, but it’s not necessarily a deciding factor.”

While KU Admissions Counselor Nathan Mack feels that honor societies have not lost any of their prestige, he warns that simply filling an application with honor societies is not enough.

“We want to see that a student takes their experience in the honor society and makes something of it during their high school career,” Mack said. “Admissions offices know when a student puts down a club for the sake of merely looking impressive.”

One way of making the most out of NHS is through the volunteer opportunities, which was the initial reason Raghuveer joined NHS. As co-president, she helps organize NHS service projects. Raghuveer and senior Haley Dalgleish are in charge of the NHS peer tutoring, setting up tutoring days and organizing tutors. Murphy thinks that projects like these help instill life-long traits that ultimately overcome any short-comings of NHS.

“I think that the pillars of National Honor Society and how you carry those ideals into other organization,” Murphy said. “It will give you a background that will make colleges more receptive to your admission.”

Gardasil protects against the human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted disease that can cause genital warts in men. HPV can be spread through genital contact, most often during sexual intercourse. And it can lead up to cervical cancer in women. According to Dr. David Holleman, a pediatrician at St. Luke’s Hospital, genital warts may not be life-threatening but can cause discomfort.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are 40 types of HPV that can cause cervical cancer in girls. After a successful female vaccine, Gardasil, a branch of the pharmaceutical company Merck, is coming out with a male version.

There was controversy surrounding the release of the girls vaccine and now the same dilemma confronts teenager boys. Some parents worry that giving their children this vaccine is encouraging an active sex life. However, Dr. Jeff Young, father of sophomore Jeremy Young, believes that the Gardasil vaccine is a blessing.

“[The vaccine] doesn’t mean you can go out and have rampant unprotected sex,” Dr. Young said. “It just means that I’m trying to protect you in case there is some mistake you make at some point in your life.”

The HPV vaccine protects against only one type of STD in men and against certain types of cancers in girls. A vaccinated patient may not be getting genital warts but still faces the risk of contracting another type of STD.

Age has been an issue with this vaccine. The latest report done by the CDC says that the vaccine should be for boys from ages 9-26. That is the ideal target range because that is when men are most sexually active.

The female version of the vaccine has been going strong since its release a few years ago. According to ABC News, 25 percent of all girls from ages 11-17 have received the vaccine. If the girls’ version of the vaccine has been this popular, then people should be expecting the same enthusiasm with the male version.

The female vaccine is administered in a series of three shots and the male vaccine will most likely be administered in the same way. The FDA has approved the boy vaccine so it will most likely be coming out later this year or the year following.

Safety is a common concern with vaccines, and the HPV vaccine is no different. So far, the only side effects from the vaccine have been minor in trial testing. These include headaches, vomiting, swelling, and fainting. Compared to other vaccines, this is a fairly safe one.

“I think if, there is anything that you can give your child to decrease the risk of a life threatening illness like cancer, then I think its worthwhile to get the vaccine,” Dr. Young said.

Harry Truman, John Kennedy, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton all worked towards it.

Now the goal of health care for all Americans is back on the national agenda because President Barack Obama has made it a priority. In his address to the Joint Session of Congress on Sept. 9, Obama outlined his plan to bring health insurance to the over 46 million Americans who are uninsured. In his address, Obama talked about the efforts of Presidents before him and his determination that this time their goal will be reached.

“I am not the first President to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last,” Obama said in his address to Congress.

Three health care reform bills are currently being debated by Congress: HR 3200 from the House of Representatives, the Senate HELP Committee’s bill and the Senate Finance Committee’s bill.

Political-Democratic

U.S. Representative Dennis Moore, of  the 3rd District of Kansas, believes the time for health care reform legislation is now.

According to Moore, there are two reasons we need to fix our health care system this year: the over 46 million uninsured Americans and the increase in funds needed as that number continues to rise.

Moore said that it’s important for people to understand that current health care reform legislation, like HR 3200 from the House of Representatives, is still subject to change.

Although Moore expects many changes to HR 3200, he hopes a public option will be discussed.

“The biggest benefit to the public option is to provide competition for some of the insurance companies and to make sure that we’re getting the best and most cost efficient health care we can for the American people,” Moore said.

Moore has high hopes for legislation, but he’s also concerned that the focus of lawmakers has shifted away from health care reform.

“Eighty-five percent of what we do up here, shouldn’t be about Republicans and Democrats,” Moore said. “ It ought to be about taking care of our people and our country.”

Political-Republican

The day after President Obama’s address, Senator Sam Brownback responded by laying out proposals of his own.

According to Senator Brownback’s Press Secretary Becky Ogilvie, Brownback feels that reform is moving too quickly and that current plans from the House, Senate and the President do not include enough details. Ogilvie said that Brownback hopes for  “more incremental reforms as opposed to a government overhaul.”

In his press release on Sept. 10, Brownback outlines ways to meet his goal for health care reform: lowering costs. Ogilvie said that the Senator’s proposals of tort reform and the opportunity to buy insurance across state lines all work towards his goal of price reduction.

Brownback’s press release explains that because malpractice insurance costs have risen, health care costs have also risen for patients. According to Olgilvie, the goal of tort reform is to prevent doctors from spending money on tests, medicines and referrals simply to defend that they did what was right if a lawsuit is filed.

Currently,  people buy insurance from companies in the state they live in. According to Ogilvie, the goal of state deregulation is, “ finding a plan that works better for you than what is currently allowable for you to buy.”

Ogilvie emphasized that when Brownback said that “ the outcomes are too doubtful” to continue with Obama’s plan, he was calling for more details to be explained as work on legislation continues.

Professional-Health

Remake. Overhaul. Start from scratch.

According to Executive Director of the Kansas Health Consumer Coalition Corrie Edwards, those approaches won’t affectively reform the health care system. Edwards said following the public programs already in place is the best option.

“Why would we waste the time and money to reinvent an infrastructure when we’d just as easily could go off of what we know works,” Edwards said.

For the public option to work Edwards said a Health Insurance Exchange should be created and paying for reforms needs to be kept in mind.

According to Edwards an Exchange would give choice to consumers and add competition into the market, lowering prices.

In recent months Edwards  has started to think more seriously about how reforms will be paid for. Although the concepts of reform are key, she hopes that people will consider the practical side of the debate.

The debate about health care has involved our whole nation. Edwards said that for reforms to be effective, everyone must buy into the health insurance system, including young people.

“We need young people in the pool,” Edwards said. “Without young people there is no one healthy enough to spread the cost and the risk to.”

Professional-Insurance

In crisis. That’s how President Obama and many legislators have described the health insurance system in America in recent months. But Executive Director of the Kansas Association of Insurance Agents (KAIA) Larry Magill disagrees with that description.

Although Magill feels the term “crisis” is an overstatement, he does agree that the cost of health insurance is too high. However, Magill said Congress and President Obama’s attempts to fix health care with one bill will not only be  “budget busters” but they won’t be effective.

Magill and the KAIA are advocating two solutions to lower health insurance costs, Consumer Directed Health Care (CDHC) and an individual mandate.

In the CDHC system, people would have Health Saving  Accounts (HSAs) to save pre-tax money towards paying for part of their health care coverage. For CDHC to work, Magill said people need to stop relying on health insurance to pay for every trip to the doctor.

According to Magill, an individual mandate is needed because  too many people don’t buy health insurance until they get sick or injured.

Magill’s main concern is that the government will push insurance agents out of the market with a Health Insurance Exchange. Magill said that having the government oversee a market where people shop for their health insurance may sound like a compromise, but it’s not.

“People can do that today if they want to.” Magill said.” You don’t have to have a government bureaucracy doing it.”

Student-Freshman

Freshman Emily Sneed had heard statistics about the uninsured before, but it was a movie that helped her understand the human element behind the numbers.

Michael Moore’s documentary “Sicko” got Emily thinking about the way people were affected by a lack of health insurance. When she saw people unable to access procedures, Emily started thinking about the need for change.

Emily’s mom, Dena Sneed, hopes for a public option, which she calls “an American plan.” Dena said that because insurance companies currently make a profit from denying care, an unfair market exists for consumers.

Dena said her views stem a lot from her personal experience with health insurance. Dena and her husband, Brad, are both self-employed, so every year they are forced either to buy a new insurance plan or scale back on benefits to keep costs reasonable.

Although the three of them are healthy now, Dena worries about what would happen if one of them got seriously sick.

“Even though we’re fortunate right now, we always think about tomorrow and what changes are going to happen in our future,” Dena said.

Dena and Emily both hope for health care legislation that will help cover all Americans.

“[Reform should] provide adequate health care for everyone,” Emily said. “So everyone has access and so people in poverty can get it easier.

Student-Senior

Some believe the status quo is preferable to the chance of more government involvement in the system. Senior Adele Daniel and her mom Jill Daniel think adding a public option to the system would decrease efficiency and cause prices to rise.

“Doing nothing is better than the public option,” Jill said.

Adele said educating people about buying health insurance is the best type of reform.

“We need to educate people so we don’t get young couples not paying for health insurance because they think that they don’t need it,” Adele said. “ We need education out there so that they will get it and the system won’t have to absorb their costs.”

Although Adele thinks more people should buy health insurance, she is against an individual mandate. Adele said that anytime the government imposes requirements it “inherently reduces freedom.”

Encouraging personal responsibility for health insurance seems like the answer to Jill. Jill said this could be taught through Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), because they let people choose how to buy their insurance with pre-tax money.

Adele and Jill agree that increasing government involvement in health care can’t be effective.

“I can’t come up with one [government program] where they’ve shown efficiency,” Jill said. “. . .Medicare itself is even in trouble.”