Spartans’ tests increase draft stock for NFL
Study shows Michiganders are not happy tweeters
Winter storm brings snow to East Lansing
SPORTS, PAGE 6
CAMPUS+CITY, PAGE 3 CAMP
CHECK STATENEWS.COM THROUGHOUT TODAY
Junior running back Le’Veon Bell. STATE NEWS FILE PHOTO
Weather Snow High 37° | Low 30° Michigan Mic i higan State University’s in independent voice | statenews.com | East Lansing, Mich. | Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Three-day forecast, Page 2
A LOSING BATTLE MSU community reaches out to those with eating disorders
A D M I N I S T R AT I O N
HEALTH CARE PLAN COST TO INCREASE By Samantha Radecki radeckis@msu.edu THE STATE NEWS ■■
Misconceptions Bokram said eating disorders
The cost of MSU’s health care plan will continuously increase throughout the next six years to meet the new requirements of the Affordable Care Act, or ACA. At Tuesday afternoon’s University Council meeting, Renee Rivard, the director of benefits with MSU Human Resources, or HR, presented the impacts the ACA will have on MSU from 2012 through 2018. Increased health care costs will affect any employee who receives a W-2 form from MSU, she said. The ACA also will affect any student who is on MSU’s health care plan. According to HR, some of the definite 2012 and 2013 changes include increases to group health plan fees, while adding coverage of women’s preventative services, such as generic contraceptives. Rivard said the total cost of ACA’s impact on MSU’s health care will not be known until HR deciphers what is certain for 2014 through 2018. According to HR, the cost should be finalized by late March. Projected changes after 2014 include additional increased fees from various factors, such as individual insurance mandates and the movement of additional employees onto MSU’s health plan, and a 40 percent excise tax on high cost coverage, among various other changes. Group health plan fees cost MSU approximately $30,000 in 2012 and are predicted to cost $60,000 in 2013, while women’s services will cost MSU $150,000-200,000 annually, according to HR. In 2013, the plan also will decrease what MSU gains from the FICA tax from $5,000 to $2,500. The FICA tax is a social security tax. According to HR, MSU potentially could pay an additional $2.3 million to $6.1 million annually, increasing
See BODY IMAGE on page 2 X
See HEALTH CARE on page 2 X
JULIA NAGY/THE STATE NEWS
Nursing senior Alex Tricozzi poses for a photo Tuesday at her apartment in East Lansing. Tricozzi described going through her eating disorder as an “isolating” experience.
By Isabella Shaya shayaisa@msu.edu THE STATE NEWS ■■
ollege students deal with many stresses in their lives — from friends to school work to parties — but Alex Tricozzi also faces a disorder that has dominated her life since her sophomore year of high school.
C
The nursing senior is one of 1 percent of MSU students diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. according to the 2012 National College Health Assessment for MSU students. About 0.8 percent of MSU students are diagnosed bulimia nervosa. “This past fall, I was concerned
with the amount of food I was eating to the point (where) I was in tears,” Tricozzi said. “When I feel like life gets crazy, I start eating crazy.” She took the initiative and sought treatment, something 85.9 percent of students diagnosed with anorexia nervosa and 82.5 percent with bulimia nervosa receive, according to the survey. This week, people across the nation are learning about and understanding those who struggle with an eating disorder during National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. MSU joined the effort last week, holding several events to promote healthy body image, said Ronda Bokram, Student Health Services staff nutritionist in the Health
Education Department and lead event organizer. “It’s easy to give someone body image issues by making them feel like they need to be something different than what they are,” Bokram said.
How it begins After losing about 30 percent of her body weight her sophomore year of high school, Tricozzi went to an inpatient treatment facility and was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, which comes from the word “anorexia,” a Latin term meaning “lack of appetite.” Her problems followed her to college, where she began binge eating. Tricozzi said she went through a vicious cycle of gaining and losing weight during college
GOVE R N M E NT
More online … To hear an MSU nutritionist talk about eating disorders, visit statenews.com/multimedia
and exercising excessively. “In high school, I was really just restricting to the point that I was way too thin,” she said. “In college, I lost a lot of weight and I realized I needed to gain more weight, (and) finally this year it became difficult to do school work.” More than 50 percent of the risk for developing a disorder is because of genetic risk factors, according to the research of Kelly Klump, a professor in the Department of Psychology, past president of the Academy for Eating Disorders and an expert in genetic and biological risk factors for eating disorders. Klump said the genetic risk is determined by multiple genes,
and a disorder is developed when both the inside and outside factors come together. “It is a psychiatric disorder that has significant biological and genetic contributions,” Klump said. “We know that the cultural pressures for thinness — those are harmful — particularly harmful if you have a genetic risk for the disorder.” Tricozzi said she is not aware of eating disorders in her family, although she said some members of her extended family have struggled with their weight.
ACADE M ICS
Spending cuts put students at risk Summer enrollment expected to continue rising By Kellie Rowe
By Samantha Radecki
rowekell@msu.edu
radeckis@msu.edu
THE STATE NEWS
THE STATE NEWS
■■
■■
The $85 billion in federal spending cuts expected to affect thousands of Americans on Friday could mean the end of Zachary Ray’s job. The computer science sophomore is an assistant in the MSU Office of Financial Aid through the College Work-Study Program. But Ray’s position, other workstudy programs, students receiving financial aid and thousands of others could be in jeopardy if Congress can’t negotiate a way to avoid billions in spending cuts slated to take effect late this week. According to information from the White House, 1,300 work-study programs in Michigan alone are on the chopping block should Congress fail to reach a compromise. “If this gets cut, I might just have to go to work at a Subway shop doing mindless work to pay the bills,” Ray said. Workers nationwide are bracing themselves for the impact of
After absentmindedly missing an exam in his online TC 201 class, Jacob Shutty is reevaluating his summer academic plans. The media and information freshman is one of many students who are considering taking a summer class — a move becoming more common among MSU students, according to the Office of the Registrar. According to the office, throughout the past 10 years, total summer class enrollments have increased steadily, reaching 48,695 total enrollments in summer 2012 — an increase of 2.5 percent from summer 2011. For the first time in summer 2012, the number of undergraduate student enrollments in online classes, which was 16,301, surpassed the number of undergraduate enrollments in face-to-face on and off-campus courses by a mar-
DANYELLE MORROW/THE STATE NEWS
Computer science sophomore Zachary Ray edits an HTML code Tuesday in the Office of Financial Aid, located in Student Services. Ray has been working for the office for a semester and a half in order to gain experience.
the automatic across-the-board spending cuts, often referred to as the sequester, meant to reduce the nation’s $16 trillion debt. The White House released numbers and facts Monday regarding how the sequester could affect each state. In Michigan, many college students could lose opportu-
nities to use university resources to pay tuition. If the spending cuts take effect, about 2,490 fewer low-income students would receive financial aid, according to the data. Ray said although he has had See CUTS on page 2 X
Summer enrollment numbers Last summer was the first time more students were enrolled in online classes than physical classes. Increase is planned for 2013.
50,000
40,000
30,000 ‘02
‘03
‘04
‘05
‘06
‘07
‘08
‘09
‘10
‘11
‘12
INFOGR APHIC BY DREW DZWONKOWSKI | SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE REGISTAR
gin of about 2,500. The numbers illustrate an upward enrollment trend in online summer courses, University Registrar Nicole Rovig said, predicting numbers to increase in summer 2013 as well. Summer 2013 enrollment opens on March 11. “I do expect it to increase based on the past years’ trends,” she said. “I don’t see anything that would keep that trend from going forward.” When spending the summer off campus, Associate Provost for
Academic Services Linda Stanford said students are likely to enroll online for various reasons, such as getting ahead for graduation, wanting to take a course in a more condensed format or students such as Shutty who need to retake a course. Although Shutty recognized the convenience of online courses, like many other MSU students, he said he was unsure how to pace himself. He prefers receiving a See ONLINE on page 2 X