All Entries in the "Awareness" Category
Dancers Celebrate Life with Suicide Prevention Fundraiser
Mark Ballas’ most difficult challenge in life is not teaching Bristol Palin how to dance, or even launching his first solo album as a musician this fall. The challenge that Mark has taken up is speaking on behalf of suicide prevention, a cause close to his heart since he lost his uncle, David Rich, to suicide seven years ago.
“For me, it’s about raising awareness of depression. It’s not like a mood swing. People struggle with it every day. Nothing matters. My uncle’s daughter was everything to him, but it didn’t matter because he was sick. You have to make people aware of it so they can recognize it and help people get better.”
David raised his daughter Mary as a single parent and helped raise Mark while his mother, Shirley Ballas, was pursuing her dancing career. “His daughter was his life. But he was going through a dark time,” says Shirley, David’s sister. In 2003, Shirley’s and David’s mother traveled to Northern England to help care for David after he became increasingly depressed. Mark, then 17, was scheduled to sing at St. Paul’s cathedral in London, and Shirley invited her mother to see the performance – a one-day journey. That day was enough time for David, who was alone, to act on his depression and kill himself. The family was not only left with overwhelming grief, but guilt. “You keep thinking maybe you could have done something,” says Mark.
Dancing and Donations
Three weeks ago when Shirley Ballas called Laura Levinsky, the Director of the Southern California Area of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, she told her she wanted to host a fundraiser. Laura was skeptical. “People talk it, but when they actually go out to do it – they can’t, or they realize that it’s far more work, or their definition of ‘a lot of money’ is a hundred dollars.”
Mark, who is in talks to become the spokesperson for the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, suggested to his mother that she turn her 50th birthday party into a fundraising event. According to Shirley, Mark said “We don’t need gifts, mummy, let’s help our charity, the AFSP.”
Over 200 guests at Monday night’s party in the Millennium Biltmore’s Crystal Ballroom gifted checks to the charity and bid on auction items, like tickets to Dancing with the Stars and private dance lessons volunteered by Mark Ballas, Cheryl Burke, Maks Chmerkovskiy, Tony Dovolani and Derek Hough. At the end of the evening, Laura Levinsky was presented with a $40,000 check.
The total amount raised has yet to be counted since more donations are still coming in. The money will go to AFSP programs and presentations to schools, the military, and other organizations that want to teach people what signs to look for and how to help those who are deeply depressed before they reach the point of killing themselves.
‘All For Nothing’
It’s a heavy subject for a party. Neither Shirley nor Mark Ballas are ones to dwell on sad events. Mark’s positive energy and enthusiasm are as evident through a phone conversation as they are on the dance floor. But when he talks about the suicide of his uncle, the emotions of deep loss make his voice unsteady. He wrote and recorded “All for Nothing,” a song that expresses what he would have liked to say to his uncle before he died.
“You won’t believe the things
That you’ll be missin’
When she talks about her dreams
Did you even listen
She’d love you to see her dance
Walk her down the aisle
How you ever gonna get that chance?
When you’re playing the poor man
Given’ up on hope
Backed into a corner
Tying your own rope”
“All for Nothing” is a hard song to listen to, and for Mark, it’s even harder to sing since he is tied so closely to the real events that inspired him to write it. He performed the song live at the fundraiser, accompanying himself on his guitar, and sang it with emotion and precision perfected over years of training in musical theater. Mark’s first love was music, and he is an accomplished musician as well as a dancer and choreographer. He describes his style as similar to John Mayer, and Mark’s lyrics come directly from his own experiences.
Mark doesn’t perform “All for Nothing” when he plays venues as a solo artist. It’s a little too heavy to bring onto the stage. But that is one of the most difficult parts of promoting suicide prevention. Suicide is difficult to talk about. For those who have experienced the suicide of a loved one, it brings up deep emotions of grief, helplessness, and guilt. It’s a painful circle of “why”s and “what if”s.
Suicide is a taboo topic. When it happens, it is rarely discussed, particularly for religious reasons since some believe suicide is a character flaw or weakness that leads to Hell. Family members are often lead to downplay potential signs, but most people don’t even realize there are signs until it is too late.
Dancing Around the Issue
Sixty percent of Americans will know someone who died by suicide. Twenty percent of those will be family members of the people who took their own lives. In the United States, one person dies by suicide every 15 minutes.
“Suicide creeps up on people, I believe. Everybody is so busy in their lives and [they] don’t take the time to address those who aren’t feeling well. In today’s society, people don’t take that time to check in with friends, to talk to people, to take that ten minutes to listen,” says Shirley Ballas. Taking time to check in with friends and noticing changes in behavior are the first steps to preventing suicide. Socially isolated individuals are most likely to attempt killing themselves.
But, it isn’t loneliness or even depression that causes suicide. The most dangerous feeling is that of hopelessness, and that isn’t something that can be fixed with well-meaning expressions, like “I know how you feel,” or “It will pass.” Suicidal tendencies are often accompanied by a history of mental illness, brain chemistry that is hard to defeat without medication, or even with it.
Taking Action
You don’t have to donate money or go to a fancy fundraiser to help prevent suicide. According to Laura Levinsky, just watching out for your friends and family is enough. But you have to know what signs to look for:
Serious depression and hopelessness
Anxiety
Sleeping too much or too little
Increased substance abuse
Risky behavior
Threatening suicide or wishing to die
Making a plan
Talk to friends or relatives who you suspect may be having a difficult time. It’s ok to ask them if they’ve been thinking about suicide – you won’t be putting ideas into their heads, but you might have the chance to help them out of it. If you know someone who is in trouble, visit the AFSP website for ways you can help.
Most importantly, remember to connect. Reach out to a friend or relative today. Send an email, leave a Facebook message, call or text to remind a friend that you care about them.
The 36th Annual National Suicide Prevention Week is from September 5th – 11th, 2010. We want to thank Mark and Shirley Ballas for giving us the tools and courage to deal with such a difficult subject.
Photos and Song Lyrics published with permission from Mark Ballas
Free Online Education Offers College Alternatives
When students picture their college education they usually see large lecture halls, professionally-manicured quads and, of course, sorority house parties right out of those bad 80s comedies. But between the struggling economy, the rising cost of education and the dismal prospect of post-graduate employment, that picturesque rite of passage has changed drastically over the course of the last decade.
More resources are becoming available for students in lieu of traditional college settings. These virtual outlets, ranging from recorded video lectures from actual universities to text-based web interfaces, are not only increasing in their availability but also receiving critical response for the depth of the material they present.
“Whether you’re a student looking for supplemental learning or you’re in the workforce but thirsty for knowledge, you don’t have to drop thousands of dollars in tuition to enjoy a top-notch education from some of the best schools in the world,” Whitson Gordon writes for Lifehacker on Aug. 18. “While most online resources won’t grant you a college degree, there’s a lot more to the internet than Wikipedia when it comes to learning.”
Some of the resources mimic typical college learning environments, with pre-recorded lectures from actual professors offered while students follow along in the comfort of their own homes. Known as open course ware, the classes available for audit tend to range from business to history to physics. Leading the charge for open course ware platform classes is MIT, which published their first batch of courses eight years ago, eventually forming the OpenCourseWare Consortium in conjunction with dozens of other universities, including Johns Hopksins, Tufts and the University of Michigan.
But why would anyone chose to forgo college in exchange for a learning environment that seems less social and more like Cliff Notes? Part of it is most certainly due to a generation that has greater ambivalence toward college, due in no small part to the stagnant economy and the lack of a guarantee of employment upon graduation. Competition for admission into universities is also factoring in students’ increasing apathy.
“I really focused on trying to get into a good college, but compared to other students, I was pretty average,” Chelsea King, a student from Leawood, Kan., says. “Just having a strong GPA wasn’t good enough. I was competing against students that were getting a 4.0 in harder classes while running student government, editing the yearbook and volunteering three times a week.”
King, a student from the lower-end of the economic bracket, would have easily qualified for acceptance to any of the publicly-funded state universities. But by the time of graduation, King realized she was completely burned out on the academic rat race; intimidated by the idea that she’d have to work even harder to compete at the collegiate level. She also found herself overwhelmed with the idea of needing to navigate through mounds of paperwork to receive financial assistance, and likewise facing the reality that post-secondary education may not pan out to provide her with any more advancement opportunities.
“I couldn’t shake the news reports that I had seen or the articles that I had read, talking about how college was basically a waste of time for graduating high school students,” King says. “It made me afraid to even think about applying for student loans. So I decided to stay home, take a year or two off, and work.”
As a lower-income student deterred from college due in part to finances, King isn’t alone. A report recently submitted to Congress by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance dropped a bombshell last month when it revealed that fewer low-to-moderate income high school graduates are attending college, and fewer are graduating.
“Rising college costs may be keeping out low- and moderate-income students. Enrollment in four-year colleges was 40% in 2004 for low-income students, down from 54% in 1992, and 53% in 2004 for moderate-income students, down from 59% over the same period,” Emmeline Zhao writes for The Wall Street Journal on July 7.
King and countless others are compensating for their lack of a formal classroom by auditing resources available on the Internet. In between her shifts at a nearby clothing store, King spends hours surfing the web. While her friends might be wasting time on YouTube, she’s come to view her computer as her virtual classroom, visiting any number of websites billed as online learning. Her favorite, she says, is Wikiversity, a text-based learning site. King has used a number of the free sites, including OpenCourseWare Consortium, but considers herself more of a self-paced, visual learner. The Wikiversity and its sister site, Wikibooks, is more beneficial for her learning style.
“It’s kind of like a self-paced class, except that I don’t need to worry about receiving a grade when it’s all said and done,” King says. “I never learned well with a teacher just talking at me from the front of the room. I can read until I understand it.”
King thinks that the independent learning she’s doing on a variety of subjects–including chemistry, in preparation for her hope to become a veterinary technician someday–will help keep her intellectually prepared for college when she can afford to go, once the job market has improved.
But online learning resources provide promise to more than just those students who find themselves hesitant due to the unforgiving economy, job market and competition in both. With a wide variety of options available, such free education would also be beneficial to prospective students who are otherwise unable to attend college, such as those with a physical disability. With many universities cutting the number of online classes they’re willing to provide, students have fewer options for resources.
While these classes won’t earn any participant a college degree, they will nevertheless help to promote knowledge, whether the student is seeking to learn for recreation or to supplement learning in between semesters.
Whatever Happened to the Hybrid Car?
Four days ago, USA Today ran an article questioning, “As sales fall, is the hybrid car fad over?” Humorously comparing the hybrid car to bell-bottom pants, the article nevertheless delivers some sobering statistics, including a noticeable decline in interest of key sales areas such as the San Francisco Bay Area. After peaking in 2007, sales fell a staggering 36 percent last year alone and it isn’t likely that amount is going to revive anytime soon.
So, has the hybrid car craze officially run out of gas?
The figures would certainly seem to indicate so. According to The Wall Street Journal, registration of new hybrid cars is down exponentially in the Bay Area, from 27,292 two years ago to just 17,575 last year. The national trend mirrors the grim outlook from the Bay Area as well; registration of hybrid cars plummeted from a healthy 350,701 in 2007 to just 288,952 in 2009. The indication is that the market for hybrids is experiencing a chill, if not an outright freeze.
Sign of the Times
Admittedly, the change in response to the hybrid car is somewhat surprising. Mintel, a market intelligence company, reported in March that nearly one-third of Americans are willing to pay more for products that are environmentally beneficial, or at least more eco-friendly. But the study narrowed the results to personal care products and food items, and a separate Gallup poll found that the concern among Americans for the environment had hit a 20-year low. Of particular interest is that Americans are not only less concerned about the environment, but air pollution in particular has seen a sharp decline in concern.
Gallup concludes that the reason isn’t apathy regarding environmental issues, but a surge of optimism from the perception that environmental concerns are being addressed. However, while it’s still too soon to fully determine how incidents like the recent Gulf oil spill may have undermined that confidence, it remains likely that Americans will continue to have their larger-ticket green choices regulated by other factors, like cost.
Though the government offers a considerable number of financial incentives and tax credits for the purchase of new hybrids, the hefty price tag will deter households that are barely surviving the current economic state of affairs as it is. The highly-anticipated Chevrolet Volt, the new plug-in electric hybrid car from General Motors, will cost $41,000. Even with the $7,500 tax incentive, the leftover amount prices it right out of the affordability of the average American car buyer, according to Charles Lane at Slate. Lane, citing figures from Deloitte Consulting, asserts that for the next decade, only individuals from households earning $200,000 or more a year would be interested in new hybrids or all-electric calls. Specifically, hybrids are a commercial reality for the moderate to very wealthy, like celebrities.
“And that’s my problem with the Obama administration’s energy policy, or at least with his lavish subsidies for the Volt, Nissan’s all-electric Leaf (likely sticker price $33,000), and Tesla’s $100,000 all-electric Roadster: Where does the federal government get off spending the average person’s tax dollars to help better-off-than-average Americans buy expensive new cars?” Lane blasts on July 31.
It’s Not Easy Being Green
Cost is playing another role in keeping consumers from stocking up on hybrid cars. The same stagnant economy leading buyers to tight fist their dollars and cents has also stabilized gasoline prices. With the average pump price being just under $3 a gallon, fuel cost isn’t nearly as much of a priority as during the oil shock days of the Bush administration. Interestingly, as long as the economic recovery remains sluggish, gas prices are likely to remain balanced.
“Consumers continue to benefit from a remarkable pattern of price stability at the retail level,” Chris Plaushin, director of federal relations for AAA, tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Aug. 19. “The drop in crude prices is directly attributable to less than favorable economic news from the U.S. and abroad.”
Even the increase of competition among hybrid cars are not likely to deter the high sticker. While the Toyota Prius once dominated the market, Chevy, Hyundai and Infiniti are all set to introduce their hybrid vehicles in the next year, but will likely be passed over without much fanfare. The biggest roadblock that has yet to be addressed by the countless loans and subsidies given to auto manufacturers is, of course, the battery. Lobbying for support in Michigan, President Barack Obama insisted that advances in technology will drive the cost of batteries down by 70 percent in the coming years. Though other technological breakthroughs, including cellphones and laptop computers, have proven the wisdom behind this claim, Lane is quick to point out there’s a difference between the mass manufacturing of cellphone batters and those for cars.
“But the technical challenges of mass-producing cell phone batteries are relatively modest compared to mass-producing batteries for cars, and for the most part, cell phone and computer industries grew with private, not public, capital at risk,” he writes. “Cutting through the hype and bias that plagues official advanced-battery cost forecasting, a recent study by Boston Consulting Group projects a 60 percent to 65 percent reduction in the cost of batteries to car manufacturers by 2020—smaller and later than Obama’s bullish claim.”
Is Extinction Ahead?
Regardless, the reduction of cost may not be enough to save hybrid cars. Already, people in their 20’s (the key demographic for hybrids) are exploring alternative methods of transportation. A recent survey by the Department of Transportation found that people between the ages of 21 and 30 accounted for just 13.7 of the nation’s total vehicle miles in 2009, marking a decline of over 20 percent since 1995. This, despite the growing number of individuals aging into the demographic, rather than aging out.
This could be the death knell for hybrid cars, which have long catered to two fundamental demands from the 21-30 demographic: technology, and environmental consumerism. As more young people find themselves without gainful employment, economic concerns are likely to overshadow eco-consciousness, making public transportation a more acceptable option than it would have been three years ago.
And the technology is starting to date itself, too. Tom Gillis, a Cisco Systems Inc. executive who lives in Los Altos, earlier this year decided against a hybrid and went for a Roadster by electric-car maker Tesla Motors Inc., according to The Wall Street Journal. The latest development in alternative fuel cost the 45-year-old more than $100,000.
“Hybrids are boring,” Gillis tells the publication. “Electric cars are so exciting. It’s like taking a roller-coaster to work.”
How Bias Influences Activism
Today’s students are more committed to activism than ever before. Between gay rights, college finance reform, gay rights and two armed international conflict, our generation is more determined than those that came before us to create change on a wide array of subjects, interests and causes. If you look at my brief biography that accompanies every article I write for GlobalShift, it identifies that I consider myself a liberal, progressive activist with a particular dedication to anti-rape activism. That’s because, as I’ve identified in several posts since being brought on board with the site, I am a survivor of sexual violence. While the details aren’t relevant to this particular post, how that experience has formed the backbone of my identity as an activist is.
Part of becoming an empowered activist for a cause is recognizing how previous experiences might color our commitment to a given cause or issue. The heroes who emerge at the forefront of a given cause have usually been personally touched by them. Whether it’s John Walsh speaking of his role as the parent of a murdered child to curry favor for the Adam Walsh Act or Michael J. Fox telling a rally of potential donors how Parkinson’s disease has changed his life, these same, life-defining experiences charge us into action.
It’s unlikely, for example, Fox would ever vote for a politician who supports cutting funding for stem cell research, which could hold the key to curing Parkinson’s and other degenerative disorders. To the contrary, the former Alex P. Keaton has taken a hiatus from show business to focus instead on increasing awareness of Parkinson’s, including lobbying to increase funding for stem cell research.
A Question of Propriety
But, simply because someone feels passionately about a certain topic, should that exclude them from becoming involved in it? If, for example, someone has a relative sitting on death row, should they avoid getting involved in the capital punishment debate? Conversely, if someone has had a relative murdered by someone now sitting on death row, should they also avoid taking part of any penal reform?
To answer this hypothetical scenario, it becomes necessary to understand how, on a very basic and cognitive level, bias is formed. Several years ago, a University of Washington fellow developed what he has termed an “Implicit Association Test” to measure and quantify the automatic and impulsive responses we have unconsciously developed. GlobalShift’s own David Ginter initially reported on this phenomena in November.
“It reveals a pension [sic] for stereotyping in our thinking that seems unavoidable. We have racial, religious, sexual, gender, and many other inescapable prejudices and ‘gut’ reactions which happen outside the radar of consciousness,” Ginter writes. “Once these biases are established, the influence they yield can be powerful enough to dictate many of the ‘decisions’ we think we make.”
In plain speak, this doesn’t actually answer the question of whether our bias should prevent our involvement in particular areas of activism. It does, however, paint our biases as powerful influences over our actions and behavior, suggesting that if we hadn’t already formed certain ideas, we wouldn’t be making what are essentially automatic decisions about behavior, such as protesting the decision to invade Iraq if someone believed and adhered to an ideology of pacifism.
In this respect, bias isn’t necessarily negative.
“It [bias] impacts who you affiliate with, and how you present your message,” Ben Cohen, a senior at the University of Kansas, says, dismissing the idea that bias should prevent potential activists from getting involved. “For some people, a cause is more credible when advocated by somebody with a personal stake in it.”
Objectivity Versus Subjectivity
Sometimes, the expressed biases of those we don’t agree with can spur us into action. Cohen, a lifelong Democrat from a Republican background, had such an epiphany after moving away to attend college. Going against the grain of his influence, he began to push for change that conflicted with his own upbringing.
“I realized that one of the biggest reasons so many Republicans continue to get elected in Kansas, despite their incredibly poor track record, is that many people who would vote Democratic have simply grown complacent in their belief that their vote doesn’t count, because they are in the ideological minority,” Cohen says. “My bias in this case is, of course, my partisan interest. I’ve wanted to see a greater Democratic presence in Kansas, and working to increase voter turnout is really the most pragmatic way to do that.”
But the personal stake may very well preclude someone’s involvement in a given issue or cause. Aspiring journalists are taught from their first Intro to Ethics classes that the mark of a good journalist is to be objective, keeping self-biases in check with the obvious exception to this policy being opinion pieces and editorials. There, even the most hard boiled of news reporters could let their proverbial hair down to tell readers what they really thought on a given subject.
“Back in J-school, we were taught — nay, the principle was bored into our tiny little brains that the journalist should strive always to be objective,” blogger Jolie O’Dell writes on July 26. “Our responsibility was to present the reading/listening/watching public with facts and to let those voters/consumers/users make their own choices. Our own political, social, and moral bias was not supposed to affect the issues we covered or how we covered them.”
This long-standing rule has changed somewhat, thanks to the explosion of news blogs that adroitly combine news and opinion, often deliver with a caustic wit. Writers like Steve Benen of “The Washington Monthly” and Jessica Valenti of “Feministing” had carte blanche not only to promote their progressive agendas, but do so without the expectation in place for equal ink to the other side of the issue being critiqued. Yet their biases–Benen’s liberalism, Valenti’s Feminism–have served to usher in a new generation of politically-astute, socially-minded thinkers that rely on their commentary to shape dialogs and, of course, ideology into action.
When to Stay Back
But given Benen’s outspoken support for Democrats and Valenti’s publication of several tomes on modern Feminism, are they the right sources to emerge at the forefront of such activism? Does their commercial interest in the philosophy undermine the credibility for the cause?
In some cases, it can.
“I want to see change happen, but I don’t think I’m the person to bring it about,” Savana Smith (name changed to protect privacy) says. A former sex worker, Smith supports enacting legal protections and would like to see prostitution legalized, but personally works to stay out of the fray, believing her bias would prevent her from accomplishing any change. “There’s my identity and safety to be concerned about, for one thing. For another, because I’ve been down that road, nobody would trust that I was motivated by anything other than personal experience. The facts, the figures, the reasons why, they all become completely moot.”
Whether the pet cause is abortion or gay rights, prayer in schools or campaign finance reform, bias can effect our ability to serve as advocates and activists. As the research shows, bias itself is inevitable, but can be worked with to a future activists’ advantage.
To begin with, learn to identify your own biases. Are they moral, political, or social? Evaluate how those same biases have impacted your life and how they may have influenced your thought process. Most importantly, learn to use those biases for the betterment of those around you. Is there a governmental organization, a charity or a website dedicated to the same end? See about joining their ranks to further your own agenda.
How have your biases influenced your own activism? Weigh in!
Utah Proposes Medicaid Cuts for C-Sections, Epidurals
Women in Utah looking to have their pregnancies covered by Medicaid may need to consider an alternative option in the next year, as one legislator is proposing a cut for all elective Cesarean sections and epidurals.
“These are 90 percent out-of-state students having babies on our dime,” Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, stated on the Senate floor on Aug. 17, referring to the student body of Brigham Young University.
Brigham Young, also known as BYU, is America’s largest religious university, with the faculty and student body serving as active members of the Church of Latter-Day Saints. BYU expects to adhere to a strict honor code, including agreeing to abstain from premarital sex.
But despite this rigorous requirement, Liljenquist, Stephenson and their supporters are insisting that the Mormon university is disproportionately responsible for the number of births Medicaid covers each year.
The Buck Stops Here
According to the Utah-based Daily Herald, the proposed changes reflect a more seismic move to overhaul Medicaid. Epidurals and C-sections have been narrowed out for exclusion due to the concern that out-of-state students attending BYU have the financial means to pay for their births themselves, but are opting instead for state-provided coverage. Sen. Dan Liljenquist, R-Bountiful, has “freeloaders” in his sights, the article contends.
“Liljenquist is targeting Medicaid next year because it has grown by $200 million in the past three years while the state has cut $1.2 billion from its general budget,”Joe Pyrah writes on Aug. 19. “Health services provided by the government should be a safety net, he said, not a provider of first resort.”
The crusade by Liljenquist and Stephenson began, in part, when they received anecdotal evidence about a BYU student who, despite “having a trust fund and a Lexus” gave birth while receiving coverage from Medicaid, according to Pyrah’s article. By cutting funding for epidurals and C-sections, Liljenquist contends, the state can save millions from these births.
But other sources are contending that the push to remove options for birth represents a staggering lack of judgment, compassion and awareness.
“Rich women will be able to afford paying for pain relief and poor and middle class women will not have access to it. It’s about as thoughtful a move as trying to force more women to breastfeed by making formula available by prescription only,” Opposing Views’ expert Unnecesarean blasts.
Abusing the System?
The point is well-made. In the encompassing aftermath of Liljeanquist’s verbal faux pas, he has since come out to insist his comments were meant to reflect only a desire to end coverage for “elective” procedures. However, it’s worth noting that epidurals are always considered “elective.” So, too, is anesthesia. Liljenquist’s focus on epidurals at the exclusion of other methods of pain intervention suggests an ingrained and rampant sexism as the impetus for the proposed “reform,” beginning with sentencing women to carry their pregnancies to term in the first place, Roxann Mtjoy, a freelance writer, charges in her response to Liljenquist on the progressive blog, “Change.”
“If pain management is such a financial drain and not medically necessary, why aren’t these Senators broadening their approach?” she writes. “Why target labor pain, when you can do away with painkillers for broken bones, minor illnesses, and dental care? Oh, that’s right…because men have broken bones, illnesses, and teeth and we wouldn’t want men to suffer needlessly, now would we? Of course not. Let’s just cherry-pick those medical situations in which only women find themselves.”
But this isn’t the only glaring oversight with Liljenquist’s proposal. His campaign began after he heard the story of a college student of a wealthy background who nevertheless gave birth on the taxpayer’s dime, allegedly. As no such student has ever been identified by name, it’s just as easy to assume she doesn’t actually exist, or is the conjecture of rumor and speculation.
However, should the student actually exist, there may be any number of other explanations for why a student from such a background would opt for Medicaid coverage.
One possible scenario is that her health insurance coverage ended when she attended college out-of-state or reached a certain age (the average age of termination from parent policies is 21). While the health care overhaul passed earlier this year has a provision allowing parents to cover their children until they turn 26, it won’t go into effect until September, stranding nearly 1.7 million college students without insurance until then. And her very pregnancy may have kept her from being eligible for any number of other health insurance programs, leaving Medicaid as her only option for coverage for essential prenatal care, as well as the labor and delivery.
An equally important consideration is that BYU’s Honor Code also requires students to have some form of health insurance. For pregnant students with no other reliable form of income, Medicaid may provide the best option, regardless of whether the student is married or single, as the private plan through the university costs more than $200 each semester.
Unsound Policy Decisions
While the existence of the college student is open to speculation, determining the availability of medical procedures and advances shouldn’t be determined by rumor and innuendo. Assuming that there is a serious flux of college students rushing to Utah to abuse the public assistance system by having the babies they could rightly fund elsewhere, how does removing epidurals and C-sections for all women on Medicaid actually resolve this issue?
Simply put, it doesn’t.
Not to overstate the obvious, but not every pregnant woman, even in the state of Utah, is a BYU transfer student. While Liljenquist and Stephenson would have us believe that 90 percent of the 15,000 births handled in the state fit this category, no facts or figures have ever been presented to supplement their claims. The only true figure being thrown around is that Utah already boasts the lowest C-section rate in the country (about 22 percent) so how much money would be eliminating them across the board ultimately save?
There are also larger issues to consider. While the World Health Organization suggests the best outcomes for mothers and babies appear to occur with national C-section rates of five to 10 percent, the question remains whether politicians should be put in the position to erode the choices of any women in labor.
Do you think that the Utah legislature should be allowed to exclude coverage for C-sections and epidurals? Weigh in!
Michelle Obama Inspires Urban Beekeeping
Looking to develop an unusual but environmentally-friendly hobby? Consider getting into beekeeping, the ancient art of tending bees and cultivating honey. Once largely viewed as a novelty of farms and granola ranch owners, interest in the practice has surged recently, particularly among young, urban women.
“Beekeeping classes from Medina, Ohio, to the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and New York are seeing an unexpected shift in enrollment. Numbers are way up as thousands of novices take up the hobby,” National Public Radio’s Allison Aubrey confirms. “And who are these new beekeepers? Increasingly, they’re women.”
The rising enrollment in beekeeping classes aren’t the only indication that there’s a growing attraction to the beekeeping movement. Subscriptions to bee-oriented publications like Bee Culture have spiked, while organizations dedicated to the art of beekeeping are likewise seeing an explosion of member numbers. The San Francisco Beekeeper Association’s numbers have swelled from 75 to over 200 in just the last few years, according to NBC’s Bay Area affiliate.
But why all the buzz about beekeeping?
Initial interest may have piqued with the blockbuster release of “The Secret Life of Bees,” the movie adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd’s hit novel. The Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson and Dakota Fanning vehicle delved into the emotional and physical benefits of honey, bringing a friendlier face to an insect typically feared as aggressive and hostile.
“This popular book about how a runaway and her guardian end up on a bee farm ran by three sisters, contributed to the celebrated honeybee theme,” Marina Marchese, author of “Honeybee: Lessons from An Accidental Beekeeper, writes on Red Bee – company website. “The truth is honeybee design and products are catching on and we can bee sure to see more people buying everyday products with honeybee magnetism on them.”
But some credit is also due to First Lady Michelle Obama. In March, seeking to promote a healthier lifestyle for the First Family, she and First Carpenter Charlie Brandts (now known as First Beekeeper) installed the first of several bee hives on the south side of the White House lawn. Arguably one of the most fascinating First Ladies to take up residence in the White House, Obama’s adoption of the hobby and the concurrent interest among the general population may be mimicking “the Oprah Effect,” with the First Lady commanding the power to influence consumers.
In addition to finding a patron saint in Obama, cities that originally prohibited beekeeping have begun to overturn bans against the practice. New York City became the first just weeks after the installation of the hives on the White House lawn. Since then, city officials in Santa Monica have motioned to overturn their own ban, as well as end the city’s official policy of exterminating feral bees.
The plight of bees has been on the radar for about four years, ever since millions of hives, homes to billions of bees, began to mysteriously die off. Termed ‘Colony Collapse Disorder,’ scientists and entomologists are at a loss to explain what pestilence is directly responsible for the declining bee population, much to the chagrin of professional beekeepers. The lack of healthy hives meant less pollination for California’s nut trees, which are the world’s largest source for almonds.
“Unless measures are taken to protect honeybees, many fruits and vegetables may disappear from the food chain,” The Los Angeles Times asserts on April 26.
Beekeeping is steadily becoming a key part of sustainability. As bees play a critical role in the pollination of fruits and vegetables, Americans are slowly beginning to understand that the dismal produce rates of the last few years may be attributable to the decline of the honeybee population.
“Through their busy work, bees are directly or indirectly responsible for one in three mouthfuls of the average human diet, according to the Agricultural Research Service, the research arm of the Department of Agriculture,” Andrew Keshner writes for ABC News on Aug. 13.
Yet for others, the power of beekeeping lies with the sticky, golden substance that the bees produce: honey.
“Two millenia ago, the Roman historian Pliny the Elder declared honey to be the finest, most health-promoting liquid known to man. These claims are still circulating today, with many folks using honey to try to stave off allergies,” Aubrey advocates. “The local, grow-your-own food movement fuels enthusiasm, too.”
Part of honey’s charm is, no doubt, its versatility. Organic honey can be used to create a number of products, from candles to lip balm, and is an alternative sweetener to sugars. On the whole, today’s Americans consume 19% more sugar than Americans of the 1970s, explaining partly why the number of individuals diagnosed with diabetes is climbing. In addition to sporting fewer calories and more nutrients than sugar, honey’s antibacterial properties make it a popular remedy for burns, colds and ulcers. The ability to create these items at home is likely a motivator in people becoming backyard beekeepers, NPR suggests in their exploration of the subject, “Healing Honey and the Beekeeping Craze,” on July 18.
Beekeeping has become legal in a number of major metropolitan areas, including Atlanta, Chicago and Denver, but remains banned in others — an unwise decision in light of the current economic state. With produce rates proving dismal outlook after dismal outlook, beekeepers present a unique opportunity for cities to generate additional income for the city and taxpayers alike while simultaneously promoting global sustainability.
With nearly 900 commercial beekeepers in the U.S., farmers have a limited selection of professionals to call upon when their farms are in need of pollination, especially as they lose dozens of hives to Colony Collapse. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, recognizing the impact that Colony Collapse has had, approved and handed out $6 million in emergency assistance to professional beekeepers this year. For many beekeeping advocates, the decline of professional beekeepers available to pollinate farms signals the necessity for cities to lift their own prejudices against beekeeping.
Daniel Salisbury, a long-time beekeeper, has been the loudest advocates for repealing the Santa Monica beekeeping ban. Of particular interest to him was the discovery that Santa Monica routinely exterminates feral bees, despite how the loss of bees has impacted produce output.
“Why would you exterminate these bees when farmers in rural areas are begging for beehives?” he asks The Los Angeles Times.
Egg Recall Companies Linked to Multiple Violations
Food safety isn’t usually a topic of much interest to the average American citizen. But due to the recent salmonella outbreak connected to more than half a billion eggs in 17 states, food safety is commanding a stronger spotlight, especially as a company connected to the two suppliers is exposed for having over a dozen violations over the last 16 years.
Earlier today, news sources reported that the two Iowa egg companies at the center of the recall–Wright County Egg and Hillendale Farms–receive chickens and feed from a third company, Quality Egg, which is owned by businessman Austin “Jack” DeCoster. Since 1994, DeCoster’s farms and food companies have over a dozen complaints, ranging from health violations to sexual harassment complaints. More recently, DeCoster’s businesses have been the subject of four immigration raids and an undercover animal cruelty investigation.
“The history of ignoring the law makes the sickening of 1,300 and the forced recall of 550 million eggs shockingly understandable,” William D. Marler, a Seattle attorney for a person who filed suit alleging illness from tainted eggs in a salad at a restaurant in Kenosha, Wis., tells the Associated Press on August 25. ”You have to wonder where the USDA and FDA inspectors were.”
Citizens directly effected by the egg recall are likely wondering the same thing. The egg recall is significant, not only because of the sheer volume of eggs that have been linked to an outbreak of salmonella but because unlike many items typically associated with recalls, eggs are an essential part of life.
“From a breakfast cafe in Denver to the Little Italy that is Boston’s North End, one ingredient is a staple in every major city and the thousands of diners, bakeries and home kitchens in between: the egg,” Justin Juozapavicius writes for The Associated Press on August 25. “The omnipresent oval comes over easy and poached; baked inside pastry crusts and rolled into yellow noodles; mixed into mayonnaise and creamy salad dressings; used in other goods like shampoos and vaccines.”
The versatility of the egg is responsible for the large-scale impact of the recall. Already, prices for eggs from companies not at the heart of the recall have started to creep up, suggesting retailers have started to pass the cost of compensating the loss revenue on to the consumer. Historically, egg prices have increased during the month of August anyway to correspond with children returning to school, but that increase has been about nine percent versus the staggering–in some areas–38 percent.
But the financial burden isn’t the only reason consumers have eggs on the brain, particularly college students.
“I can’t think of a meal that doesn’t somehow involve eggs,” Carrie Davis, a student from Kansas City, says. “When you’re a broke college student, eggs are kind of their own food group.”
Like many other students, Davis and her roommate frequently rely on eggs for several meals to keep their food costs down. Davis estimates before the egg recall, she and her roommate went through two dozen eggs a week, often eating them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Upon hearing about the recall, Davis and her roommate tossed out the remaining eggs in their apartment. They haven’t bought eggs since.
“It’s just not worth the risk,” Davis says, acknowledging that with the absence of eggs from her diet, her food costs have spiked. But it’s cheaper to be making some pricey food decisions, she says, than running the risk of contracting salmonella and dealing with those medical costs.
Davis isn’t alone. While many consumers are looking to organic eggs to satisfy their need for the product, others are avoiding the product completely due to the fear that contaminated eggs could still be making their way on to the market. It’s a reasonable concern. According to The Canadian Press, the same hens at the heart of the recall are still laying eggs, which are then pasteurized to cleanse them of any lingering salmonella bacteria and can be re-sold, either as liquid eggs or as an additive to other products.
“I think that’s just crazy,” Davis says. “It really shows how we need tougher legislation keeping our food safe.”
The Obama Administration agrees with Davis. Last month, the administration enacted sweeping requirements on major egg producers, requiring salmonella testing of both hens and eggs, as well as improved sanitation in henhouses and better refrigeration of eggs, which has been shown to prevent the growth of salmonella. The overhaul is significant, not only for preceding the largest egg recall in history but for generating interest in revamping food safety guidelines, notoriously stagnant legislation that hasn’t been updated in 70 years. In Washington, a noticeable reluctance to modifying established food safety protocol is evident.
“The bill, designed to overhaul a fractured food-safety system that hasn’t been updated in decades, would expand federal regulators’ powers to police food manufacturers. The House passed a version in 2009, but the legislation has stalled in the Senate, despite bipartisan support,” Peter Eisler writes for USA Today on August 25.
But the magnitude of the outbreak, as well as the rising cost being borne by consumers, leaves little question that politicians cannot continue to ignore revisiting and revamping guidelines governing food safety.
“This outbreak creates an enormous public expectation that the Senate is going to react,” Erik Olson, a food-safety expert at the Pew Charitable Trusts, tells USA Today.
Until that happens, consumers will have to sit back and watch what the recall ultimately hatches.
Naked Roller Coaster Fights Breast Cancer
More than 100 people of all shapes and sizes broke the record last week for the biggest naked roller coaster ride. Many of the 102 people that bared all have relatives or friends who have been affected by breast cancer, and felt the event was a good way to raise money for the cause. The ride took place at Adventure Island in the UK and raised more than £22,000 for the Southland Hospital Charitable Foundation’s Bosom Pals Appeal.
The money will fund breast cancer screenings so that more women can be seen and possibly diagnosed with breast cancer. The appeal is attempting to raise £750,000 to purchase two full field digital mammography machines and the associated I.T. equipment. The hospital sees 22,000 women each year, about 450 of which are eventually diagnosed with cancer. This equipment will give them the ability to see and screen even more women.
Going on a roller coaster naked may seem incredibly intimidating, but it’s inspiring to see that the cause meant enough to these people to prompt participation. It fulfilled its purpose by raising quite a bit of money for breast cancer screenings, but the unusual way in which it was done also brought a lot of attention to the cause. How much more money will be donated to the appeal just because people see this story? You can learn more about the breast cancer appeal here or watch this video coverage of the ride:
Have you heard of other unusual ways to raise money? Have you ever participated in an event like this? Share your stories!
TNR: A Better Life for Feral Cats
Commonly referred to as TNR, the Trap Neuter Release method may be the best form of TLC for feral cats.
Feral cats are a common occurrence. Take this delayed demolition in Miami Beach: an old hotel was set to be demolished, but a large colony of stray kittens got in the way. All the cats have to be removed from the area before the building can be destroyed. Up in Michigan, I’ve watched a family of feral cats living in a nearby parking lot. I’ve tossed them my leftovers and even tried to approach a recent new litter, only to find that they had already developed a fear of humans.
But even if I could take one into a shelter, adult feral cats don’t fare well there — they often get put to sleep and are essentially better off taking care of themselves. Still, it’s not good for feral cats to be running around having babies all the time (if you’ve ever lived on a farm, or seen a feral cat colony, you know how fast they can churn out kittens!). The best scenario for these animals, then, is TNR.
Trap Neuter Release often involves a colony caretaker, who feeds the cats and possibly takes them into the vet if they appear to need health care. With all the cats neutered, the population of the colony will not spiral out of control. A cat born into a feral lifestyle does not have the ideal life, but this is the best chance they have. If you have a feral colony near you, look to see whether one of their ears appears to be torn. A common way of signifying if a feral cat has been neutered is by cutting off the tip of one ear, which is a simple surgery that does not affect the cat in the future and that heals quickly.
Keep in mind that TNR is only the best solution for fully grown feral cats. A feral cat will be very scared of humans, and it will be difficult to approach them. A once domesticated cat that ran away from home is referred to as a stray cat, and they will often be rather friendly and approach you. Should you find a stray cat, it is probably best to bring them into an animal shelter where they can be adopted out.
The other exception to TNR is kittens. The life of a feral cat is not ideal, so if you can capture kittens and take them to an animal shelter, it is often advised. Kittens are much easier to adopt out than cats, and much easier to socialize than an adult cat. If you are in the position to, consider fostering kittens or a stray cat, as not to take up room in the shelter.
You can find more information about feral cats at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals website.
