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VOLUME 121 ISSUE 71
SICK AND TIRED
The health care hurt
Tanner Willbanks, Lawrence senior, suffers from frequent anxiety attacks. Willbanks does not have health insurance. He can barely afford food at the end of each month as it is, and he's still paying his $2,500 dollar debt for an emergency room visit from three years ago.
BY ALY VAN DYKE
avandyke@kansan.com
At least once a week, Tanner Willbanks wakes up in the middle of the night to a searing pain in his right arm and a tightening in his chest. He's drenched in sweat and can hardly breathe.
Alex Ronham-Carter/KANSAN
The symptoms mimic a heart attack, but that's not it. Willbanks, Lawrence senior, is having a panic attack. And according to him, what's going on in his mind is worse.
"Mentally, you think the worst things in the world are happening to you."
In the grips of a panic attack, Willbanks will hunch over his desk for hours, tirelessly calculating his budget to prove to himself he has enough money to last him the month. Other times he'll stay up all night cramming for a test that is still two weeks away.
But however bad it gets, Willbanks will not go to the hospital. He'll call friends, drink, run the battery out of his calculator, do whatever it takes to avoid professional treatment.
"I've learned ways to cope with my disorder without having to go to a doctor because I can't afford to go to a doctor" he said.
Willbanks doesn't have health insurance. In fact, he's still paying off a trip to Lawrence Memorial Hospital for an anxiety attack that happened three years ago.
DROPPED AT 23
A 30-year-old, part-time employee with unmedicated anxiety attacks, Willbanks embodies just a few of the symptoms of America's broken health care system affecting young adults today.
As employers drop health benefits and health costs skyrocket, young adults are vulnerable to the nuances of one of the world's most expensive, most complicated health care systems.
Still, nearly 19 percent of full-time college students in America didn't have health insurance in 2006, according to the most recent Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.
Considered dependents, most full-time students at the University remain covered by their parents' health insurance until the insurer decides to drop them. The drop age is arbitrary, ranging from 18 to 25. The average age to be dropped is 19.
Almost 22 percent of Kansans ages 19 to 34 more than any other age group by almost 10 percentage points — are without health insurance this year, according to Kansas Health Institute estimates.
Kevin Athey was dropped as a dependent
SEE HEALTH CARE ON PAGE 4A
HEALTH CARE GLOSSARY
Premium: the monthly cost of health insurance
Deductible: the amount of money a policy holder must pay out of pocket each year before insurance will cover any expenses
Policy holder:a person who has insurance
Co-Pay: the fee policy holders must pay each time they obtain a medical service
THE BILLS
About 47 million Americans live each day without health insurance, leaving them helpless in the face of an accident or a chronic condition. The uninsured still get help, but it's mostly in the emergency room. When they can't pay the cost, the insured pick up the costs on their own plans. As Americans demand a better health care system, legislators in Washington attempt to tackle the problems through a massive overhaul. Some say change could come within the next year. For more information about the bills circulating through Congress, see the side bar on page 4A.
STUDENT SENATE
Survey data help pass new alcohol resolution
BY MEGAN HEACOCK mheacock@kansan.com
The alcohol subcommittee charged to analyze the problem created the report, which contained multiple recommendations for encouraging responsible drinking habits. Chairwoman Emily Williams, Overland Park graduate student, said although most of the recommendations came from investigations and studies observed by
A resolution to implement strategies of combating alcohol abuse at the University passed full senate last night.
the subcommittee throughout the semester, the alcohol survey, which asked students about their own drinking habits and current knowledge of University alcohol policy, provided a great deal of insight. This survey was separate from AlcoholEdu and was not required for enrollment.
So far, 1,962 people have responded. Williams said the survey had one important flaw: Because all responses were anonymous, it was possible for people to take it more than once. For this reason,
CAMPUS
Deans prepare for imminent budget cuts
BY JESSE RANGEL
jrangel@kansan.com
Trimming travel expenses, making sure classes were filled to capacity and leaving some faculty and staff positions unfilled were the first steps the University made during budget cuts.
But as University officials wait to hear from the Board of Regents about the next round of cuts — recently announced by Gov. Mark Parkinson as $2 million for all Regents schools — most of the deans from the University's academic departments are deciding what can and cannot be cut.
"The cuts could potentially be very serious," Mary Ellen Kondrat,
dean of the School of Social Welfare said.
And while several deans declined to share specific plans of additional cuts, a few recounted some of the cuts they've already made.
FACULTY, STAFF POSITIONS LEFT UNFILLED
Ann Cudd, associate dean of humanities, said the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences' biggest reduction was in faculty. Cudd said two years ago, the college filled 45 positions, but filled only six last year. She said the 12 hires this year included six promotions from within.
She said the college was currently funding 11 job searches, along
with several others being funded by outside money, such as foundations or special provost funding.
Stuart Bell, dean of engineering, said the demand for engineers allowed the School of Engineering to hire a number of good, new, young faculty members in 2002 through 2006. "Great hires," Bell said. "In terms of our young faculty who came in, very competitive, KU was well-poised at the time, in that there wasn't a lot of hiring going on nationally, and so when you're in that type of a market you're able to track some really great faculty."
Even though hiring at the School of Engineering has slowed in the past three years, Bell said the school is currently searching for at
least three new faculty positions.
"In some cases, those are very large holes on a percentage basis of faculty," Bell said. "And really, they're not all of the positions we might have to recruit for."
Cudd said the college was committed to continuing its searches, unless there's more unexpected budget news. But she said it was about this time last year when it cut those searches. She said the number of searches did not match the number of openings.
"There's so much pent-up demand for faculty — I mean, people retire, people leave for whatever reason — and we haven't been
SEE BUDGET ON PAGE 3A
index
Classifieds...7B Opinion...9B
Crossword...8B Sports...1B
Horoscopes...8B Sudoku...8B
All contents, unless stated otherwise. © 2009 The University Daily Kansan
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