I n d ep en d en t
Issue no.
S t u d e nt
V o ic e
o f
B o is e
S tat e
Sin ce
1933
42
February 2013
Volume 25
w w w.arbiteronline.com
Boise, Idaho
11
First issue free
Top Stories
Campus Canvas
Stephanie Couey explores teenage angst through her poetry.
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page
Got herpes?
Students may have more STDs than they realize.
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page
Lasso’d up
CODY FINNEY/THE ARBITER
Flash mobbin’ “ Corral members, students and cheerleaders ‘make it rain’ during the second annual flash mob.
Dancing students support their team during The Corral flash mob on Saturday. Staff Writer
Men’s basketball defeats Wyoming 68-61 Saturday night.
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The stands were filled from top to bottom with students on Saturday. Moments before, many of them had been in the lobby rehearsing. The basketball game against Wyoming had them riled up and chanting in unison. At five minutes and 14 seconds, the music started to play and the students broke into enthusiastic synchronized dancing. The second annual Corral flash mob was a basketball game success students, and fans said. It helped get students excited and entertained the crowd. “It’s for student involvement,” said Jordan Watters, political science major. “(It) gets the students more into the game, (and) it builds basketball support.” But the flash mob didn’t happen overnight. It was planned weeks in advance. Members of The Corral spoke about how they
After last year, we knew there was going to be a lot of excitement this year. There’s been a lot of anticipation building up over the season. —Max Forkner
organize and anticipate the event. “After last year, we knew there was going to be a lot of excitement this year,” said Max Forkner, senior communication major and one of the original Corral members. “There’s been a lot of anticipation building up over the season, so it’s going to be bigger this year. We started thinking about it in November and started getting the songs together.” According to students, planning paid off and dancing with a horde of fellow students was fun. “I never knew what it was until there was the first one, and then I loved it,” said Daphne Jalley, junior kinesiology major. “I thought it was super fun,
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Mckenzie Perkins
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Staff Writer
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What’s Inside News Briefs News Opinion Sports The Arbiter
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so I think they should keep doing them.” It wasn’t only the students enjoying the flash mob though. In an account from one fan, there were even a few unexpected onlookers. “I think the players were enjoying it,” said Brock Nelson, Boise State fan and husband of Boise State alumnus Sadie Nelson. “I noticed some of the Wyoming players kept peeking up to take a look at it. I thought it was a good experience all around.” Plans for a third flash mob haven’t started, but The Corral members said they are hoping to put together another one for future students and fans of Boise State basketball.
CODY FINNEY/THE ARBITER
Students participate in The Corral’s flash mob.
Federal mandate trumps state board
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Danielle Davidson
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Megan riley/THE ARBITER
Having insurance isn’t optional. Getting sick may be.
According to University Health Services, the national implementation of the Affordable Care Act makes the State Board of Education mandate useless. Health Services believes the state mandate requiring all fullfee-paying students to have health insurance is a point of aggravation for both the health center staff and university students. “If everyone has to be insured, why do you have to have a state mandate?” asked Libby Greaney, the executive director of University Health and Recreation. “Why do you have to use up employee time processing all these waivers?” According to Greaney, nearly 80 percent of all of full-time students who are automatically
enrolled in the Sudent Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) opt to waive that insurance in favor of a different plan. “We could be spending our time with the other 20 percent, helping them find a good insurance product,” Greaney said. With the total implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Jan. 2014, the state mandate will become more of a hindrance than a help to students. The mandate requires all full-time students be automatically enrolled in SHIP, but beginning in 2014, a majority of students will already have nationally-mandated insurance, meaning more students will need to go through the process to waive SHIP. “We have complaints from parents and students; they don’t like the fact that they’re automatically charged for the
SHIP product they did not ask for,” Greaney said. The Affordable Care Act will enable students to remain on their parents’ health insurance until the age of 26, but there will still be students coming into the university in need of insurance. For this reason, SHIP will still exist but in a different form. Health Services would be able to work with students to provide insurance through a broker in the community who can help the student find a plan that caters directly to him or her. Alternately, Health Services can enroll students in the SHIP program, which is already fully compliant to the requirements listed by the Affordable Care Act. For a temporary period, students can be legally covered by SHIP. Greaney suggested the mandate be amended to reflect the changes in health care, eliminating automatic enrollment and replacing it with the option to waive into the SHIP arbiteronline.com