Daily £m<?ra/<iEclltOri<ll
New solution may
only be temporary
Pending administrative approval, the ASUO's
problems with student health insurance appear to be
over, at least for now.
1-ast year, the ASUO executive and the Student
Health Insuranc e Committee had many concerns about
the way the question of student insurance was handled
at the University. Participation in the program was vol
untary for domestic students, resulting in a low partic i
pation The plan’s carrier. The’ Prudential Co . said it
was losing money in the deal and raised deductibles,
making the plan even more unattractive to potential
policyholders.
Another problem SHIC saw with the program was
that participation was mandatory for international stu
dents, something the committee believed was unfair.
Their solution to these problems was to recommend
mandatory insurance for all students, international and
domestic, thereby creating a fair system that would
also keep Prudential interested in insuring low-in
come. "high-risk" students. But the student body
overwhelmingly defeated the plan in the April elec
tions. and Prudential announced it was pulling out of
the student insurance game altogether as of this sum
mer.
The ASUO. given the short amount of time they've
had to find a new insurance plan, have done rather
well in their selection. The All-American Life Insur
ance Co. of Woodland Hills. Calif., will cover domestic
students; and for the first time, international students
will have a choice between All-American and a tailor
made plan from the Hartford Insurance Co.
While the new domestic plan has a higher premi
um than its Prudential predecessor, the All-American
version provides $150,000 in coverage, as opposed to
the $20,000 offered by Prudential. The international
student plan benefits are even higher — $250,000 in
coverage.
The debate over mandatory insurance will still
have to be resolved. SHIC members say most colleges
and universities in the United States require their stu
dents to have health insurance, and it appears that, in
evitably, the University will have to follow suit. Al
ready there are reports the Oregon State System of
Higher Education is looking into creating its own in
surance plan, which, of course, students would be re
quired to purchase.
However, it is impossible to provide an easy solu
tion to this question because the students at the Uni
versity — for good reason, we believe — have said they
do not want mandatory' insurance. It is hoped that
SHIC, the administration, and the state board will find
a way to insure students who want to be part of a cov
erage program, and protect the interests of those who
in the April elections said they do not.
Oregon l)uil\ _ _
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IF THERES AWf JUSTICE
IN THE WORLD:
I\E DECIDED
YCU’RE GOING TO
BE.REIN<2RN«ID
ASASfOTTED (M-.
am .
^ /--is
Environment loses to economy at summit
With .ill the debate and ambiguous sig
nals coin erning polii \ toward China, Soviet
aid and Kuropean-farm subsidies coming
from the seven nation summit in Houston
this week, one clear signal has been sent by
the Hush administration ('.eorge Hush is the
ec onoim president
The leaders of the the rest of the world s
richest countries including Great Britain,
France, West Germany. Japan, Canada and
Italy decided not to push for spec ific and
cone rete steps toward reducing or stabiliz
ing carbon dioxide emissions, which are
blamed for global wanning, after Hush told
them he was opposed to suc h measures.
Hush is worried that setting limits on the
amount of pollutants released would halt
growth of the economy and put many citi
zens out of work He is trying to link the1
idea that if the amount of power that indus
try is allowed to use is limited, then the
amount that the economy can grow is also
limited
This attitude stifles any incentive to
move awav from the status quo. By setting
c aps on the amount of carbon dioxide al
lowed to be released into the atmosphere,
governments will force industry to filter out
more pollutants or perhaps the best solution
of all. move' awav from the use of fossil
fuels
This administration seems to live In the
belief that we can destroy and pollute' the
environment until it comes to a c risis point
At tli.it time some miracle of science will
save us Hush is betting the planet on the no
tion that science will be able to repair our
onl\ borne after the damage has been done.
It appears to be a risk\ plan, but it is the
only one Hush has unveiled to date.
There are only so many dead dinosaurs
buried under the earth. Fossil fuels will run
out some time. Why not put limits on the
use of this type of polluting fuel and force
industry to start looking for a reasonable, re
newable energy source before the current
one reaches a crisis point by killing us all or
running dry altogether?
Industry's past history has been to use
what we need no matter what the future con
sequence may be. Industry squeezes its re
sources dry with no concern other than prof
it.
because the day when we will hear cor
porate executives say, “Well, we could
make tons of money, but the environmental
impac t is just too great to proceed’’ is proba
bly quite a way off. it is time for government
to play an important role in making c lean
power and production techniques profitable
No i hange in policy or attitude of an en
tire soc iety is going to come without hard
ship t here will be negative economic im
pacts. Hut industry and big business will fig
ure out how to make a profit off of these nec -
essar\ < hanges
World leaders need to have the neces
sary vision to push c orporations down a new
road.
Violence
Then* is no plate in sot lets
for beliefs which are so strong
that fundamental ethu s of hu
in.nuts are plat etl on hold in
order to at hiese their fulfil
ment 1 am referring of course,
to the emotive .mil inflnmma
lors opinion expressed in the
Inis i editorial that violent e
should not he ruled out as an
option for conflict resolution,
in part it ular for the goal of a
tree (from apartheid) South Af
rit a
While this goal Is limpies
tionablv entirels tiesirahle in
terms of the rights of es ers hu
man being to freedom. I find it
completelv unacceptable that
violent e in anv form should lu
es i n i onditiunallv i.omloneil as
per the tone of this editorial
Warfare is perhaps the social
ai tis its ss hit h most < losely
links us to the animal world.
killing itml maiming to get
what sou want is so blatantly
unethual. immoral, ami to tin'
maiorits ot us. unacceptable to
human values that it should not
under am cm umstam e lie i on
sniered as a method ot resolv
mg (.onflii t Threats or displays
ot physical tone with am mo
live whii h result in harm or
death to individuals i an only
he supported it we are willing
to admit that .is a rai e, the ma
jority ot humans are limited by
harbaru and animal like in
stincts such as greed and power
and are unable to overcome
these traits via our unique "in
telligence and "compassion
I realize the "effectiveness"
ol violence in stifling those
who do not agree with our own
beliefs, hut what kind of atti
tude is this/ I am ashamed to
he a member of a race which
continues to utilize this method
m the wake of so many wars
letters
whit h inflicted (ami still in
flict) sin h carnage, devastation
and heartbreak, on generations
of people 1 also realize the ob
stacles (e g violent South Afri
can police force) tae ing propo
nents of peaceful revolution,
but even these far tors must not
lead 11s to take up arms in
equally despicable brutality
and desecration ot fellow men
I don't pretend to have many
alternatives to violence in the
tight for equal rights apart from
total economic sanction and
continued education of the
world via tours sue h .is Nelson
Mandela's: however. I am con
vinced that violence1 is not all
right under any c ircumstances.
whether by the "good" guys or
the "bad " It contradicts the
most sac red human right at its
most basic: level and that whic h
we are all fighting for the1
ri«hl liv,‘ Belinda Beck
Physic al e-due ation