Imagine waking up on a Friday morning, grabbing a cup of coffee and sitting down to check your email.  What's this?  A note from your employer stating that your healthcare coverage will expire in 13 hours and it's up to you to find insurance.  Have a great day!  Hope you weren't feeling pregnant!
#Mizzou #GradInsurance
(http://hellophd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/gradinsurance.jpg)

That scenario played out in real life for graduate students at the University of Missouri last week, when an email from the Associate Vice Chancellor stated that their health insurance subsidy would be cancelled immediately to comply with new rules in the Affordable Care Act (lovingly known as "Obamacare").

The students took to Twitter, using #GradInsurance to raise awareness of their situation and pushing hard on the administration to explain, and reverse, their decision.  In this week's show, we unfold the timeline, and talk to Rachel Zamzow (@RachelZamzow (https://twitter.com/RachelZamzow)) a neuroscience graduate student affected by the change.  It's a powerful story of students standing up for themselves and making a difference on campus.

Don't Cross the Streams!
Also in this episode, we talk about the explosive history of laparoscopic surgery, and we inadvertently attract poltergeists to the studio by drinking Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale (http://www.boulevard.com/BoulevardBeers/tank-7-farmhouse-ale/) from Boulevard Brewing.  We managed to capture photographic evidence of the specter before exorcising the sound board. Spooky!

(http://hellophd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/ghost.jpg)
Resources
The initial announcement of cancelled insurance (http://gradstudies.missouri.edu/about/news-events/news-features/2015/information-about-student-health-insurance/)
The Twitter fire that ensued (https://twitter.com/hashtag/gradinsurance?f=tweets&vertical=default&src=hash)
The students' formal statement of demands (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-tEaIGp9XIiMXUzWDZDOU9jOUE/view)
The reversal (http://chancellor.missouri.edu/news/response-to-graduate-student-demands-and-update-on-health-insurance/)
Audio of Chancellor Loftin (http://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/higher_education/loftin-says-he-learned-of-canceled-insurance-subsidies-on-social/article_3bf501f6-4861-11e5-a3f6-df874d7b659e.html) credit Geoff West of The Missourian
University of Missouri's Graduate Professional Council (http://gpc.missouri.edu)