Opinion 5

Student perspective: Plans for a healthy tomorrow

at competitive prices. It will also cre- student status is usually required. financial support.”
By SARAH DUCKER ate a public option, which will assure Obama’s plan will allow all young Money seems to be the main fac-
Guest columnist quality affordable health care and a adults to remain on their families’ tor preventing widespread support
On Sept. 9, President Barack variety of choices for all Americans, policies as dependents until the age of for this plan, but Obama insists that
Obama stood before Congress and as well as foster greater competition 26. inaction will only result in a higher
spoke about his plan for the future of between compa- Moreover, the plan will take into deficit.
health care in the United States. His nies. account the dif- Opponents of this plan also argue
plan, he explained, addresses three Perhaps most ficulty of paying that it is a step in the direction of so-
goals: to provide security and stability importantly, for health insur- cialism and that Obama is effectively
to those who have health insurance, Obama promised This is the first in ance as a young stealing from the rich to give to the
to provide insurance to those who “the plan will a series of columns adult by lowering poor.
don’t, and to thwart the growth of not add to our that will explore the cap on out-of- Mark Agate is against the plan too,
health care costs for all Americans. deficit.” political issues pocket expenses but instead because he thinks the tim-
Here is what you need to know In fact, he to keep Sequoia that insurance ing is wrong.
about Obama’s plan: for those who assured it will companies can “It is a good idea,” he says, but “the
have insurance, Obama claimed this reduce the deficit
students informed government already has enough on
charge young
plan will end discrimination against in the long-term. about the outside adults. its plate...a national health care plan
people with pre-existing conditions So what does world. Laura Wolff, a should be kept on the back burner for
and prevent insurance companies this mean for high senior at Sequoia a later time.”
from dropping coverage when people school students who recently Whatever your opinions are about
are sick. and young adults? After all, young moved here from Germany, believes President Obama or his plan for
Additionally, it will cap out-of- adults from ages 19 to 29 have the that Germany’s universal health care national health care, it is important
pocket expenses and eliminate extra highest uninsurance rate of any age system is “generally good” and that to stay informed because this issue
charges for preventative care. group. Obama’s plan is “definitely a step in affects all of us.
The plan will create an insurance In our current health care system, the right direction.”
marketplace - the Exchange - which only some states allow young adults Senior Asad Haider agrees, though
will allow people without insurance to remain on their families’ cover- he doesn’t foresee the plan’s success For more information, visit www.
to compare and buy insurance plans age plans past age 18, and full-time unless it is “given enough time and whitehouse.gov/issues/health_care.

COLUMN from page 4
2. We have some very different words and
phrases. I already found myself in a compromis-
ing situation when I was looking around for an
eraser during my first week of school. If I ask you
for a ‘rubber’, I am not coming on to you. I need
to eradicate pencil work.
3. Halloween Is A Big Deal. People start decorat-
ing their houses in September and whole stores
dedicated to Halloween spring up everywhere.
When you go into one of these stores, expect to
pay a lot of money for a costume that covers…
well, not a lot. What is with the whole non-scary
costume thing anyway? I struggle to find the
fright in a bunny outfit. Maybe I’ll end up pull-
ing a Lindsey Lohan in ‘Mean Girls’ by sticking
to the true ideas of Halloween. Or not - it didn’t
turn out so well for her.
4. It is super important to bring a friend around
with you at all times to translate. It turns out that
people can’t understand me when I order food
in a restaurant or when I call someone for the
first time. I need someone to be like, “yeah, she
wants a turkey sub” when I get tired out trying to
pronounce ‘turkey’ properly.
5. It costs money to receive a call or a text mes-
sage? So, if someone is really irritating you, or
bombarding you with inbox spam – you’re pay-
ing for it? Cool.
6. If you hear about something you want to
watch on TV, you need to plan out very
carefully how to go about watching it.
STEP ONE: You have to memorise the combi-
nation of letters that is in fact the name of the
channel (KQED/ABCD/EFGH/WTH?).
STEP TWO: Figure out what time it is on. Nor-
mally you will be told that it is on at 9/8c. First
of all, what good is it giving me two different
times to choose from? And then, what about the
third time zone? It’s probably best to give your-
self a good three hours around 8-9pm and then
just hope that it comes on before you fall asleep
waiting. WARNING: do not get side-tracked
or press the wrong channel. Commercials in this
country are brutal and you might find yourself
buying the latest thigh-sculptor/apple-peeler/
facial cleanser.
7. We may not have a uniform at school, but I’m
not allowed to wear matching colours? Is it just
me that’s weirded out by the prospect of being
punished for being aware of colour co-ordina-
tion? Turns out that the fashion police do exist,
after all.
8. Expect everyone to think you to drink lots of
tea, and say things from Harry Potter. I do like
tea, but it’s rare that you’ll hear me say “Lord
Voldemort is here!” without being asked to first
by people who discover my accent.
9. Jack-in-the-Box drive-thrus are open 24/7.
This is one of the best things ever to happen to
me.
10. In California at least, it’s sunny most of the
time. So, the one day it rains hard, we get to leave
school early. I love this! If we’d got school off
whenever it rained in London, I would likely still
be in 3rd grade. It rains in England. A lot.
So, if you see me in the hallway, don’t be afraid
to bring me a milkshake from Jack-in-the-Box or
let me know exactly when to sit down for Gossip
Girl. Maybe in return I’ll invite you for tea and
cakes. Cheerio.
Julia Onken is a junior and will be a regular
Raven Report columnist.
Review: “Dracula”
has a dark bite,
worth seeing
By ROY MELGAR
Staff reporter
The dark and mysterious mood combined with
the great acting of students created a great perfor-
mance of Sequoia’s fall presentation of Dracula.
The play premiered on Saturday Oct. 24 at 7 p.m.
with two additional performances on Sunday Oct
25 at 2 p.m. and Friday, Oct. 30 at 12 midnight.
Students were fortunate enough to experience
a promising performance of the Dracula teaser
during their third periods on Thursday Oct. 22;
however, the entire play was much more entertain-
ing and energetic.
Senior Nathan Lindley took on the role of
Dracula and played it very well: he put on a be-
lievable performance and at times he “became”
Dracula himself. Abraham Rico, Quinn Hopp, and
Raphael Rinderer also put on immensely satisfying
performances with their roles as Dr. John Seward,
Mina Murray Harker, and Heinrich Abraham Van
Helsing. The cast as a whole demonstrated a lot of
talent and preparation with their performances.
The mood of the play was heavily assisted by
the great lighting of the play. The “dark scenes” of
the play were produced very well and contributed
significantly to the entire mysterious and dark
mood of the play. The play as a whole was a very
entertaining and immensely satisfactory experience
and besides a few errors in the actors’ lines that did
not distract from the central plot of the play, it was
an enjoyable performance.
I recommend that anyone who is already inter-
ested in watching the play go and see for themselves
the good performance that the Sequoia students
put on and anyone who is not yet interested in
watching it, reconsider and don’t miss the chance
the vast talent that Sequoia has to offer.