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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 2000)
Editor in chief: Laura Cadiz Editorial Editors: Bret Jacobson, Laura Lucas Newsroom: (541)346-5511 Room 300, Erb Memorial Union P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403 E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu Monday January 31,2000 Volume 101, Issue 86 Emerald Choice in pur chasing, includ ing the option to not purchase at all, is a fundamental American principle. A proposal being considered by the Oregon State Board of Higher Educa tion, which would require all stu dents in Oregon public universi ties to be covered under some ba sic health care insurance, is a bad idea and \J Giovanni Salimena Emerald f should not be passed. The current plan under con sideration, though still a long way from being passed, would require students who are not covered by private insurance to buy insurance through the school they attend at about $14-17 per term. While that isn’t a very large sum compared to many other fees students incur to matricu late at a university, the fact that the fee would be manda tory is a big problem. Obvi ously buying insurance at a low rate makes sense for those who don’t have private insur ance. In fact, it’s not very smart to go without it when the coverage is so inexpen sive. And we certainly advo cate everyone having the best coverage possible. But to make its purchase manda tory is ridiculous. People should have the choice to spend their money in the way they see fit and to not be forced into an expenditure they don’t prioritize high ly The result of making the insurance mandatory for all uninsured students will be the subsidization of the few people who already use it heavily. In fact, that is one of the reasons that some want this plan to be passed. The ris ing costs of health care force premiums up for those in the University plans and create a need for more purchasers, hopefully those who will not use the services much, to cov er the costs for the few regu lars in the health offices. That scenario, described by Elizabeth Dickenson, a risk manager for the Oregon Uni versity System, is called “ad verse selection.” The argu ment she makes is that when health insurance is voluntary healthy people generally choose not to purchase it. Wow, imagine that. People actually making their own de cisions of what to buy or not to buy. The logical conclusion is that consumers know best what makes sense in their lives. The adverse selection argument is an illogical reason to tax many students who choose to use their money in a different fashion. It is arrogant and irresponsible to assume that the board of higher educa tion knows how to spend our money better than we do. Those uninsured students who wish to remain unin sured should have their in tellect and decisions respect ed. If approved, it is estimated that the plan will be imple mented anywhere from fall term 2001 to five years from now. But it shouldn’t be ap proved at all. There is no valid reason to charge all students a mandatory fee to cover the cost of some students’ insurance. The choice of whether or not to purchase insurance should be long to the individual. This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial board. Re sponses may be sent to ode@ore gon.uoregon.edu. Letters to the editor , All students have right to Saferide I would like to make some com ments on the article about a grievance over Project Saferide (ODE Jan. 19). As we know, Saferide is funded by student fees, therefore it should be available to all students. However, it offers rides only to women. One evening, I had to walk my friend home, who had broken his leg, because we were denied the service since my friend was male. I understand their concern on the rape issue, but men can be raped or robbed as well, and when you are in jured, you don’t want to walk home. As for the legal issue, depriving men of access to a service seems to be a vio lation of Federal Statute Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on sex. As I understand it, this grievance is not about eliminating Saferide, but to make the service available to all students. All of us pay student fees, and we all deserve bene fits resulting from student-funded ser vices. Manami Imaoka, Graduate student, College of Education LGBT more than "homosexual community’ While I was pleased to see “Gay Day: Building a Queer Community at the University of Oregon” included in * the Emerald (ODE, Jan. 28) I was dis traught to see the phrase “homosexual community” used repeatedly throughout the article. While some might easily overlook the error, members of the LGBT com munity would be quick to point out that “homosexual community” is a misnomer. “Homosexual” is a term that specifically denotes an individ ual whose sexual orientation is pri marily individuals of the same gen der. However, the LGBT community is actually much more diverse and in cludes many people who don’t iden tify as “homosexual” (hence the “B” for bisexual and the “T” for transgen dered, to start). We are lesbians and gays, yes, but we are also bisexuals, transgendered folks, people who identify themselves as “queer” and the partners, children, siblings, friends and supporters of LGBT peo ple. Part of the goal of “Gay Day: Build ing a Queer Community at the Univer sity of Oregon” is for LGBT people and their allies to recognize and re spect the differences under that acronym umbrella, and to create new ways to make our community even more inclusive. We celebrate the broad spectrum of people included under the term LGBT, and the “homosexual commu nity” just doesn’t do the diversity of our community justice. Molly J. McClure LGBT Issues Coordinator for the Women’s Center Thumbs To a new campus garden, admission age 21 The Student Sen ate last Wednesday approved a ballot measure to build a beer garden on campus to be funded by student incidental fees. Since the Collier House and Clancy Thurber’s Pub closed in Septem ber there hasn’t been any venue on campus where beer is served. The plans must still be approved by the ASUO Constitution Court and voted on in the upcoming ASUO student elec tion. To the pot patch easing cancer pains The American Can cer Society is fund ing a $361,000, three-year grant for researching whether a mari juana patch could ease the pain, nau sea and vomiting of chemotherapy patients. To zebras quieting of the crowd With 1:02 remain ing in the men's basketball game against USC last Thursday the Ore gon crowd went so wild in their cheer ing they shook the basketball rim during the Trojan's Brandon Granville’s free throw attempt. The referees awarded Granville an extra free throw, which he made. To starting a bad habit too early According to the first national sur vey of middle schools, almost 10 percent of stu dents smoke ciga rettes. Apparently kids do like Joe Camel!
