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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 30, 1990)
Emerald Er(Llt01*l<l.l Daily Health center needs * fee to remain open Rising health care fees are not a local problem. On the national level, skyrocketing medical costs are forc ing lawmakers to take a careful and critical look at our current health care system. University students can see the problems in Ameri ca's health care community right in their own back yards. Starting next fall, the University's Student Health Center will institute a $5 fee for each student’s initial semester visit. While the temptation is to meet the new fee with a chorus of "Oh no, not another increase," the proverbi al "Rig Picture" must be taken into account. The $5 fee was not planned: It is a needed increase to keep the Health Center operating. Staff salary increases are part of the reason for the new fee, but the main reason is to cover the $100,000 hole the Health Center put itself in when thousands of students needed measles vaccinations. When the epi demic hit the University earlier this year, administra tors decided to give discounted and free measles shots. At a cost of $ 17-1H apiece, the health center inoculated 0,000 students. It s impassible to criticize the Health Center for try ing to prevent a full-fledged medical epidemic at the University By giving the reduced-cost and free vacci nations. the Health Center thwarted what could have been a very bad crisis. The Health Center deserves praise for its actions, and now it’s the students’ time to help the health center. The $r* fee is a one-time-per-semester deal, so the most a student will pay during the year is $15. Not much, considering what the health center has to offer. However, while students should understand why the fee is being instituted, they should also recognize that the increase is a symptom of the woeful national health care system. For a supposedly civilized nation, the United States’ medical care system is still stuck in the dark ages. Medicare. Medicaid, and similar pro grams are good, but do not even come close to solving the problem. The Student Health Center is doing its part to give students affordable health care. But as medical costs continue to soar upward, it may not lie able to continue its current level of service. If that happens, students may not be able to afford to be sick anymore Millions of Americans can’t pay for health care. If something isn’t done soon, fee increases like the one at the Health Center will become commonplace. This doesn't mean we approve of the crackdown.... Now, how much interrogation and surveillance equipment are you gonna buy?" Occupancy drop should be examined Fur the first time in a long while. Uni versity Housing seems to have plenty of room lor everyone who wants to live in the dorms or in family housing According to figures released List week, the housing department has an 88 percent occupancy rate, compared to '.14 percent .it this time last year. And when several apart ments became available in family housing recently no one was on the waiting list to take them. Administrators in the housing depart ment see a number of different factors pro viding relief in the housing crime h that has plagued the campus area in recent years. The department itself has purchased more dormitory housing, such as Riley Hall, to ac commodate the record-size incoming classes of the last few years The l.TI) free-ride bus program makes it possible for students to take advantage of less expensive housing farther away from campus. And next year’s enrollment cap means fewer students will compete for hous ing. The housing department should take a good look at these factors before moving ahead with its plans to construct more fami ly housing this fall. As more non-traditional students enroll .it the University and the "average” college student becomes older and more likely to have a family, the demand for family hous ing may very well increase. And the University administration’s de cision on the definition of domestic partner ships, which should be released any time, could also boost the demand for housing at the University if the ruling makes unmarried couples eligible for housing benefits. It these events come to pass, the depart ment's plan to build more housing is justi fied and the calculated risk it is taking will likely pay off. Hut if this term's lower occu pancy rates represent the beginning of a trend, housing officials need to reconsider their plan. And the only way to find out if the drop in occupancy represents an exception or a new rule is to talk to current residents, ex amine the needs of incoming students and take a look at national and regional trends. Letters Judging life Ronald Rousseve's sugges turn |()/>/- Mav 1!1) that \vr list* a "quality of 111«*'' premise to support Ixith pro i lion e and pro-euthanasia positions tails to make important distinc tions between the beginning and tile ending of life* furthermore. a polic v of predic ating life* as worthy based on its mate hing "a set of c riteria for human ness " rather than the innate sanctity of life, is wide open to abuse There are at least three differ riici’s between the pro c hoice and pro-euthanasia positions outlined b\ Kousseve first, a woman c boosing to abort is de ciding not to end tier own life, but the life in hei womb Sec ond. unborn life is not suffer mg from a "hopeless condition of painful deterioration " Haiti er. the embryo, then fetus, is developing at an astonishing rate heartbeat .it J4 days, brain waves at -f t days complete ears, fingers, toes at 4‘i days etc Third no tec hnoiogic at marvels of modern medi( ino" are needed to support healths life m the womb Besides, induing life, espe cially someone else's life, to be worth living based on a personhood test is a dangerous tai h We know unborn life is subject to extinction The im plii ation for other lives that fail to demonstrate such "qualities ol actual personhood" as the abilitv to "relate i aringh to others, and the life" is obvious In our i ontemporarv American culture which undervalues its women, children. elderly, poor, disabled and rat ial mi norities, thoughtful people should have grave reservations about the quality of life pose t ions Kathleen Freeman (.raduate student Sex work Feminists have been split tor a while on the issue of porting rapln Is it the exploitation of women who have few other good economic i limccs' Or is it <i woman's right to choose any work she wishes' The first group wants stricter laws and the second is rallying for de i riminali/atinn of all areas ot se\ work I have some loyalty to troth sides Hut what 1 don't embrace is the attitude presented by )en ny Kane \OI)h', May 25) Her tetter is victim blaming, and it perpetuates the idea that if women want to end their op pression they need only "com mand and earn respect " If it were that easy to do. none of us would he oppressed Hut we are! And I think some ot that <an he seen in the por nography industry which is predominantly run by and ser s n ing men, while it is women posing and being berated by the men and women with atti tudes like that seen in Kane's letter Let s think about our sisters when we speak Women should be uniting and supporting each other rather than placing blame on them which ih-en fraih hises us Tiffany Burge Sociology Free will In response to Jeff Sparks lOOt:. May 21). lust because a person expresses a freedom of i hoice doesn't mean the world's best selling book is wrong God gave us free will, you know Karl Gosnell Kugene For Oerther Pollution is largely an eco noink issue llius. the primary wav to make polluters stop their crime is through econom ic sanctions. This takes two forms. First is boycotting prod ucts made from environmental destruction. The second is fines levied against the perpetrators The reason why the second mechanism is not effective is because there are no laws against pollution. It is because existing laws are either not en forced or are enforced with a minimum of fines. Simply, there is no reason for a criminal to stop breaking the law. it the law does not significantly affect the criminal. 1 am glad that at least one candidate for governor, the Lib ertarian candidate Dr Fred Oerther. supports increased fines and stricter enforcement Jason Damisch Eugene -—Letters Policy... ! tic Lmvrahl will attempt to print all letters contain in'.; comments on topics of interest to the University community.