.Editorial
Student insurance
should offer more
The ASl'O group health 111sur.in< e plan olfered
through Thu Prudential (!o om r seemed like .1 great
deal for .ill students Iml rising premiums and falling
benefits have made il less attractive
The reasons for all tins have been documented in
depth ("between The Hock and a Irani place ODE,
()i t 2). and the current deteriorating situation paints a
downbeat picture for the future ol the
AM ’() Prudential plan.
It s easy to understand Prudential's need to in
crease the premiums lor the last two years in whit h
Prudential has offered the plan, the company has lost
money l ast year it lost more than $21)0.000
You also have to credit Prudential for working
with the Student Health Insurance < ommittee When
negotiations began to settle this veai's plan. Prudential
was asking toi more than a 150 percent ini lease in pre
miums at loss tin' hoard After working with SI 11( . that
increase was lessened to about a 50 percent hike loi
students \\ ith no dependents
Hut students are students and rate iiu reuses are
rate increases II this group plan is going to Ik. the
people purr basing the plan have to feel thev re getting
their money s worth
It has been pointed out that the AS! < )'s group plan
is not a good linanri.il venture lor Prudential, bet ause
the only students purc hasing the plan are those who
most need it and are therefore more likely to collect
Students able to sec ure another, better-paving agree
ment will certainly go elsewhere
As the rates increase, the number ol part it ipants in
the ASl’O Prudential group plan will decrease, and
dec reasing pool of partic ipants will make the whole
system less and less tenable.
The only wav this system will work, if Prudential
continues to raise the premium, is if the 1 ompany t an
offer better services. There are two weaknesses to the
ASl’O Prudential plan that have been roundk 1 rili
cizeil: 11) Contrary to what is implied in the1 brochure,
there are no refunds foi students w ho wish to leave the
plan, and (2) students are required to pay a lump sum
for the insurance, and t annul pay in monthly install
ments.
Adding these two services would go a long wav to
ward easing the concerns of foreign students, who art1
required to have health insurant e to stuck here, and
graduate teac hing fellows, who are lacing c atastrophic
financial t rises These two services would also help re
store the damaged reputation ol P1udenti.1l as a compa
ny willing to work with students Without that reputa
tion. students defer ting to other bettei plans will chip
away at The Rock until the plan ceases to exist
not again
■mis
CHEMICAL WEAPON
WAS BOUGHT RIGHT
ACROSS THE STREET
FROM THE
WHITE HOUSE!
Rape awareness week, right on target
(dnupus student groups are again e\
pressing their corn ern. interest ami imukr
menl in soi i.11 issues I Ills \\t'l'k (he ASI ()
Women s ( (‘iitrr is sponsoring a rape aware
ness week (ailed "(dealing a Rape I lee I11
vironmenl
Although tile title of the week may lie
more ol an ideal than a realitv the effort
these people are making is more than net es
sar\ Rape is nothing new m our sot iet\ and
,is we enter the If 1st century. more informa
tion about rape is t.timing to the siirfat e
An ini reuse in violent crimes against
women mm be part of the reason for a
change in attitudes In the past feu years
women have been arming themselves with
handguns, getting trained in how to use
them and carrying them on their person
Sell-detent e t lasses ol all sorts have been till
the rise and women are the inujoi part it i
p.mis There is even a free self-defence class
t ailed Self Defense for Women, whit h is til
lered on t ampus Women are t,iking some
serious at lion to protet I themselves.
Since the early Iliads there has been a
drastic change in women's roles in society
The stereotype al fem.de role of mother, u ife
.iiui homemaker is no longer a realiU lor
mam women in America. Many women
now see themselves as all ot the above in ad
dition to career women As women have tak
en on more individual responsibilih it is
possible that men's roles have changed in
the process This mav have caused men to
harbor some aggression and resentment to
ward women and it seems th.it little etfort
has been made to help men adjust to the
slidt in roles.
We as a community need to address the
dillerences caused In sexual role changes
and there are groups in the area that are
working to solve the problem of rape, such
as the Rape Crisis Network. Womenspace
and Men Against Rape Community forums
counseling and events such as this week's
"< beating a Rape l-'ree Knvironment" make a
great deal of difference in ( ommuniU aware
ness of rape
The \\ omen's (lentwr is to be i ommend
ed for i renting and sponsoring such a valu
able event It has produced a schedule
wTii h includes sin h topic s as sexual c rimes
and the judicial system, self defense, date
rape and sexual assault.
Letters—
Not thought out
I llllllk Mill lilt till' 11.1 iI mi till'
lie.ill In titling I ’.it i u 1.1 I .mi
belts letter [01)1 Sept 2T|
Stereotype ” t)iii i* again. tlif
(’.reek svsti'in is tlif target ol
i i itii.isin th.it was oln imish
onl\ half n.iv thought nut
I .1 g 11 "l • tll.lt till' SVStelll nt
Kush used In snrnritii's tnd.n is
nut III dull' .mil lU'i'ds to Ilf If
fV.ilu.itfd I .dsn bflifVf til.it
thfsf women v\ hn .iff our lu
tun* leaders deserve .i morf
digtulifil introdui linn to the
( ill'I'k s\ stf 111 .lllll w li.it it i .in
nfff r them
llmuivrr, I vfhfnifntlv dis
agree with, .mil vfiv much re
sfiit. thf implication that he
i ,msf .i woman is .i sororitv
ineinher. or Ihh ause a woman
i hotisi's to dress .i i frt.iin \va\ .
shf is going to hf the vie tint ol
rape
K.ipe does not oi t III due to
sexual desire, blit rather it is an
at t ot violent e. and no one spe
i iln group ot women is singled
Dill
I also leel sliongly about tin
i oinmritt tli.it llir "sorority
Hirl" imago is .1 staple ut pur
tlographv Is it our tault tliat
tins industry lias perverted and
exploited what hi1 stand lor?
I’nlortuuatelv. it is very hard to
hrisik Irei' ol llir nnsi 0111 ep
lions and storeoly pus which
have been impost'll on soi n't\
Yet anyone who really knows
ns realt/es that we are In no
means sorority girls We are
women who share the 1 onnnon
bond ol a sorority and yye are
striving to meet the higher and
broadet demands ol mature life
whit h 1111 lodes battling tin
fair stereotypes
Kac hue I I ester
Kappa \!pha Theta
No justification
I apprec iated avowed "con
servative” Mark Salvo’s views 1
DIM Sept JH| regarding the
madness ut assault rifle availa
bililv
However uni- statement Sal
vu made bol hurt'll me vm
mm h. and I i an t let it pass 1 le
said, ini tit mi t it will all good in
tention. that "nubod\ can pisti
l\ am sort of domestic assault
rdli’ use llii' implication is
that non-donu'stii (i c outside
our national borders) assault ri
tie use ma\ be justifiable It is
well past time to i ballenge that
assumption
Rambus gor\ exploits not
withstanding. 1 think we owe it
to ourselves to vividly imagine
the effei Is of assault weapon
proje< tiles on innocent human
llesh. and realize that these oc
cur with horrendous regularil\
around the globe
Often, genuine and net essarv
liberation struggles are nranip
ul.ited through I in rative
weapons imports into bottom
less pits of self destruction tor
those oppressed peoples lo
them, certainly, the effects of
these weapons are 'domestic
U ea polls like IDIISI lulls
ness enslaving drugs (to make ,i
distinction). are simply tools u!
i hnice lur ,i world view rooted
in thr notion ot ilm primal \ ot
violfiu c lhere is .inothi'r para
digm another wav to regard
uni roles and possibilities on
I mill a wav that does not re
suit in the use ot weapons
against llesh and psvi he
Students ot lite w ho wish to
i onsuier the alternative may
w ish to i hei k out War Kesisters
League U'l l.afa\ette St. \'i t
10(112 It s one of the oldest
and most effective pai itist or
gani/ations in the world
V ip Short
Kugene
Sit down
I would like to eni.ourage
freshmen, and anyone else, to
sit down and examine the
kinds of groups they could he
involv ed w ith this year There
are iii<i11\ groups on ( ampus
whii h "gather people" in su< Ii
.1 wav as to allow tor the build
mg of friendships
I have found that ut us not
ordv important to make friends
hut to evaluate the basis ol
Iriendships So main Iriend
ships are based on "what can
you do for tne?" These do not
last when a strong conflict ol
interest comes up.
Consider, in contrast, .1 true
C Christian Slit h ,1 person lol
lows Christ's commands such
as "Love your neighbor as
yourself.” and "Love your en
emies " Imagine what it would
be like to sever a friendship
with such a person! And what
better place to meet these pen
pie than in a group meeting he
cause of their common triend
ship with the author of Love I
found Campus Crusade foi
< dirist to be one such group
Boh U iegel
Student