The Statesman informing stony brook university for more than 50 years Monday, February 24, 2014
Volume LVII, Issue 19
sbstatesman.com
Sabre Proctor's 26 points leads SBU past Maine
Few health exchange plans at SB Hospital
By David Vertsberger Assistant Sports Editor
side chatter quickly faded in recognition of the dancers, their brightly colored costumes and the soothing dance routine they performed without missing a beat. The first routine, with its white and blue themed costumes, set the tone for the rest of the night as one that would be peaceful yet entertaining. The following set, however, included a more upbeat rhythm that was rightfully accompanied by sun colored dresses that floated as their wearers seemingly glided across the stage with their partners. This change in tempo became routine throughout most of the show, but it did not ruin the performance by allowing the audience to guess what to expect next. Each routine has its own flavor whether it was the rhythm, the costume, or the story.
The Stony Brook women's basketball team had to dig deep to come away with this narrow 73-65 victory over the Maine Black Bears. After controlling the ball game for most of the first half—even going up by as much as 16—the Seawolves gave way to a push by Maine to cut their deficit to just six at halftime. The Black Bears then made it a game, taking their first lead of the game about midway into the second half. Stony Brook responded thanks to some big lategame stops and scores. “I think it was really just about communicating and working through it. We just have to keep pushing through it and keep playing smart because they might make a shot, but then we can make a play next possession” said Brittany Snow, who finished with 12 points on 3-5 shooting from the field. The Seawolves were playing at another level of physicality in the first 17 minutes of the game than Maine, collecting nine of their 13 offensive rebounds in the contest during the first half. Maine—underpowered in this matchup—was forced to foul and send Stony Brook’s women to the line. The Seawolves ended up having to take 32 free throws in the contest, but weren’t phased by the hard hits. “We just wanted to go up strong, make a play and finish it” said Sabre Proctor. “I think we did great in the first and second half with that.” Snow added, “We’ve been practicing a lot [of free throws] in practice, shooting a lot of them in practice actually.” The early scoring burst came from Proctor who scored 17 of her career-high 26 in the first twenty minutes. Proctor was extremely aggressiveness throughout the game, putting up 23 shots and battling for post position on seemingly every trip down in the latter part of the game. “We basically wanted to focus on our defense and maintain their shooters” said Proctor. “Every team goes on a run so we wanted to just stay under control. I think the whole team was mentally focused and we got it done.” Maine’s comeback was fueled by their backdoor cuts, which the Seawolves simply couldn’t defend
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By Ryan Wolf Staff Writer
Stony Brook University Hospital will currently accept only one plan on the New York state health insurance marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act after reaching agreeable terms with just one company. On Friday Feb. 14, the University Hospital announced an agreement with health insurance company Magnacare, to accept Health Republic Insurance of New York plans. Health Republic is one of eight health insurance plans offered in Suffolk County on New York’s health exchange. Hospital CEO Dr. L. Reuven Pasternak said the deal “came as the result of a constructive discussion that resulted in a solution that was fair for the hospital, physicians, company, and most importantly, the patient." A week prior, Pasternak said the hospital would not be accepting any of the Health Exchange plans offered in Suffolk County because of low reimbursement rates. The hospital’s primary concern is that the low reimbursement rate it would receive from some insurance companies will result in a loss in revenue and an inability to continue expensive services. Dr. Kenneth Kaushansky, Dean of the School of Medicine and Senior Vice President of Health Sciences, said: “When the exchange insurance plans were first formulated, the insurance carriers expected us to accept about 30 percent lower reimbursements. If we did that, we would not be able to offer the high quality, unique services at Stony Brook." Pasternak highlighted the unique financial situation of the hospital, saying, “Although we are a state facility, our operational budget is not derived from tax or general state revenue. We support our operations from the revenue that we generate from the care that we give." Because it is the only public hospital in Suffolk County, Stony Brook University Hospital treats more patients than most healthcare facilities. As state-funded hospital, it must be open to treat everyone in the county—insured and uninsured. According its website, the hospital treats about 31,964 Continued on page 3
MEHMET TEMEL / THE STATESMAN
Sabre Proctor drives down the lane for the finish en route to a career high 26 points.
Siberian national dance company performs at Staller By Kevin Urgiles Contributing Writer
Russia has been soaking up much of the world’s spotlight in recent weeks with its hosting of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. However, this attention also comes with a hefty amount of criticism. Reports criticizing Russia’s $51 billion expenditure as well as citizens’ loss of homes to make way for Sochi related services without compensation have both been consistently published in an attempt to raise public awareness. Unfortunately, in trying to report the truth behind the Sochi Olympics many reports fail to emphasize the finer qualities of Russia and its rich culture. Like any land, Russia’s people have a diverse set of talents and traits that make them unique when compared to other groups around
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the world. Stony Brook campus had the pleasure of experiencing this culture first hand. The Staller Center for the Arts hosted the event on Saturday which featured the Krasnoyarsk National Dance Company of Siberia. After performing in more than 60 countries around the world, the group of professional dancers had its first performance on Stony Brook University campus, which appeared to be a highly anticipated one as crowds of enthusiasts began filling up the main stage audience seating long before the actual performance began. One would not have wanted to miss the visual experience put on by the performers from the very first dance piece. The show started off abruptly, lacking any formal introduction, but it did not take long for the visuals, music and dancing to captivate the audience’s attention. Low murmurs of
Arts & Entertainment
Opinions
Sports
Expanded Verizon service on campus
Project Sunshine Masquerade Ball
RSP services insufficient
Men’s basketball beats Maine, 83-79
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4G LTE coverage is now better on West campus.
Hundreds don masks for hospitalized children.
Patrol needs to expand to create a safer campus.
SBU improves to 12-2 in AE with two games left.