March 20, 2011 - 4:37pm
In Other Ivory Towers: Harvard insurance plan to cover sex changes
BY JENNA SIMARD
Starting Aug. 1, 2010, transgender students at Harvard University will be able to receive insurance coverage through Harvard’s student insurance plan for sex transition treatments including surgeries and hormone therapy, according to a March 11 article in The Harvard Crimson.
According to the article, sex hormones have been covered under Harvard’s insurance plan since 2006. However, in an effort to be more welcoming toward all groups of students on campus, the insurance policy will now cover sexual reassignment surgeries.
Noah Lewis, an attorney for the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, has been working with Harvard’s University Health Services to get the policy passed. Lewis told The Crimson that he knows firsthand the improvement in health that follows gender reassignment treatments.
“For those who want them, hormones and surgery allow transsexual people to feel comfortable in their bodies for the first time,” Lewis said in the article.
ASU TEAM IMPROVES CHEMICAL DETECTION
A team of Arizona State University scientists, led by N.J. Tao of the ASU Biodesign Institute, has developed a new method to detect trace chemicals, the ASU News reported. According to the article, this new technology can be used in areas concerning human health and national security.
This new technology — electrochemical imaging microscopy — has proved to be more advantageous than previous methods of chemical detection. The article reported that Tao and his team were able to detect and identify particles of dynamite weighing less than a billionth of a gram on the ridges of a fingerprint.
WMU INSTALLS NEW ALERT SYSTEM
Western Michigan University installed a new emergency notification system, according to a March 11 article in the Western Herald.
The system consists of 3,546 indoor and 62 outdoor speakers that have the ability to alert students and faculty about emergencies, like an active shooter or tornado warning. The system, which is activated by WMU police, will only be used in extreme emergency situations, the Herald reported.
According to the article, the system has been under construction for a number of years and was first tested on March 4.
WMU Emergency Management Administer Cam Vossen told the Herald that students who walk around campus with headphones on may not hear alerts, ultimately making the system less effective. “We can only help people as much as they help themselves,” Vossen said in the article.
