In their final meeting of the semester, members of the Graduate and Professional Student Council reviewed the progress the organization has made this year. GPSC President Rob Saunders, Treasurer Heather Dean and the chairs of each of GPSC's subcommittees reported on how successful they had been in accomplishing their objectives.
The year has been marked by increased efforts to publicize the organization and reach out to other graduate and professional student groups and to help them solve problems they face on such issues as parental rights and rising health insurance costs, Saunders said in his Presidential Report.
Saunders cited joint meetings with Duke Student Government and high-profile administrators such as Provost Peter Lange and Executive Vice President Tallman Trask, increased funding for the 70 graduate and professional student groups that have become affiliated with GPSC over the past year and vigorous efforts to control health insurance costs as some highlights of the Council's accomplishments this year.
Health insurance has been an especially salient issue for graduate students in the past few years, with premiums rising on average 20 percent every year. In March, graduate students anticipated premium increases of more than 28 percent, but two weeks ago, representatives from Blue Cross/Blue Shield informed members of the Health Insurance Advisory Committee that the increase would be only 21.9 percent.
"With health care and health insurance, in the future we can help control costs by taking a wellness approach," Saunders said. "With costs rising, we have to look at preventative care, and hopefully in the long run that will lead to lower health insurance costs."
IN OTHER BUSINESS:
GPSC basketball subcommittee co-chairs Andy Baraniak and Jeff Kovacs presented next year's basketball policy. There were only slight modifications to the current policy, which outlines the procedures for the annual three-day campout. Each year, about 500 students win the lottery for the opportunity to buy season tickets for $150, and nearly all the students who win chose to buy the tickets. The new policy states that only full time graduate students are eligible for the campout, which will take place Sept. 10 to 12.
Treasurer and President-Elect Heather Dean presented the year's final budget. Funding for GPSC affiliated groups increased from $10,000 to $25,000 over the past year. As her first act as president, Dean created a new position to oversee the affiliation of these groups and appointed Council member Jenny Woodruff to the position.
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