College Life
4 The Rambler
Insure the future Martin Garcia NEWS EDITOR
The mounting pressures of joining the (non-existent) workforce for college graduates is creeping on the doorstep of those who plan to walk the stage this May. Many questions are looming as to whether students will be able to find stability in an ever-changing society. But, beyond the worry of getting out on your own—away from mom and dad’s house—is the healthcare issue. The majority of insurance companies drop dependents from the parent policy once he or she walks the stage into immortality—or is it mortality? Depending on the insurance company’s policy, students may be dropped from plans anywhere from age 22 to 25. Also, once students are no longer enrolled in school, university coverage plans are no longer active. So in light of the fast-approaching judgment day, college graduates must soon make decisions as to how they’re going to take care of self and obtain the appropriate healthcare coverage. Since job offers are anything but automatic right now, in addition to perfecting their résumés, students must work towards finding the best low-cost health plan; the last thing a starving graduate needs is health issues without a policy. eHealthInsurance serves more than one million consumers, according to ehealthinsurance.com, and urges people in the market to find higher deductibles. Although this means more money paid before insurance ultimately kicks in, a plan with a higher deductible will ensure a lower monthly payment. They also remind students that location says a lot about how much they’re going to pay for their premiums. “Rates vary across much of the country, and cities that have higher costs of living [surprisingly] have cheaper health insurance rates,” its Web site reads. State rules also vary from state to state, affecting competition. Students are urged to remember to check rates
before they move off and settle in a new location. Other options include self-reliance, motivation and getting started early. Think tanks such as the National Center for Policy Analysis emphasize and encourage everyone to pursue consumer driven health care initiatives. CDHCs prompt medical consumers to use health savings accounts and other investment-type programs to pay for the high (and rising) cost of medical care. NCPA claims that CDHCs give the consumer more power over their medical decisions and more leeway regarding the attention they receive. But again, this approach takes a lot of discipline. Since students would be paying medical expenses directly (if they had an HSA), the funds to pay for care come from the contributions people are willing to make. It’s basically like having normal savings account—just one geared primarily towards health care costs. In the spirit of competition—and with the reasoning that competing markets benefit the consumer—graduates can also turn to online medical brokers who help them find the best options and rates. Student Health Insurance has a database of multiple companies and rates available for review and comparison at StudentHealthInsurance. com. Healthcare is something that all must take into serious consideration upon entering the so-called real world. It’s imperative that graduates find the right program to be medically secure and ultimately promote personal health. By taking care of the issue today, graduates will have one less thing to worry about in their future endeavors. Graduation is almost here; are you insured?
April 8, 2009
Soon-to-be graduates struggle to obtain adequate health coverage
College graduates often find themselves uninsured, losing eligibility for their college plans and their parents’ plans upon graduation.
Malt shops and bobby socks
Nostalgic Wesleyan traditions characterized campus with a’50s flare Rene Edwards STAFF WRITER
We modern students attending Wesleyan all have very unique college experiences. It is inevitable considering we have so many choices and responsibilities as young adults, and students our age 50 years ago didn’t have so many. How would you feel if everywhere you went on campus you had to sport a green hat with a number on it like you were cattle? What if the only jewelry you could wear was a wedding or engagement ring? Silly or not, that was just a few things students 50 years ago got to experience at Wesleyan. For most students attending Wesleyan, student life on campus was their only life. In the 1950s, there were college students who were more swamped in campus activities and homework than real world work. If you take a peak in the archives of The Rambler and TXWESCO, the university yearbook that was published for more than 50 years, you will find that student life and school spirit thrived and spread over more students than it probably does today. The most important annual event on campus, besides graduation, was Fish Week. New students had to go through endless trials and tribulations to earn their coveted position as an honored new member of the Wesleyan student body. Earning their keep, freshmen couldn’t walk on sidewalks, shave or be late to class. A few things they could do (which were actually mandatory) were wear a string around their necks with a toothbrush attached, refer to upper classmen as Miss and Mr. and wear their clothes inside out. “Freshman weekend was an experience of all out war!” said alumnus W.L. Hailey in the Texas Wesleyan Centennial.
“Our goals were to raise the Freshman Flag, to protect our Queen from the capture, and to kidnap the sophomore officers. We fought fiercely, but when the weekend was over our sense of belonging was greater than ever.” Post-war optimism led to more progress and excitement on campus, which in turn resulted in endless clubs to join, including six exclusive boys’ and girls’ societies – similar to sororities and fraternities – called Social Clubs. They had unusual names like Autiss, Sons of Sakkara, Entre Amis and Illotus Doudecim, to name a few. In 1953, enrollment was approximately 1,600 with tuition at $24 an hour. Considering inflation, that is approximately $190 for today’s currency. There were four dormitories, two Courtesy of communications office for girls and two for boys, The “Wedding of Friendship” as well as living quarters for faculty and staff’s families on campus. The multi-unit house at 3228 E. Rosedale across from the Poly United Methodist Church was one of those facilities. The most enthusiastic of all campus traditions was the “Wedding of Friendship.” Every year a ceremony was held resembling a real wedding with a freshman female representing newcomers to Wesleyan and a male who represented the upper class students who exchanged vows of friendship. The purpose was to “further the friendship of students on the campus through closer student activities,” according to a timely edition of the campus newspaper. The front page of The Rambler covered the story as if it were a real wedding between two students. It stated that the ceremony was performed by the president of Wesleyan and the bride was given away by the dean of students. In this ceremony, the bride even had the traditional white wedding dress with an illusion veil and a bouquet like any excited young bride. The paper went into full detail describing her dress and tiara as having French lace adorned with pearls and sequins. There were 11 bridesmaids and candle bearers, 14 ushers, as well as a soloist and organist from the music department to entertain. The next time you are wishing there were more hours in a day and wondering how you were going to finish all that you have on your plate, crack yourself up and be thankful you didn’t have to wear your toothbrush around your neck, or “friendship marry” that annoying, know-it-all neighbor in class.
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