Page A4
August 16, 2000
(Elje }JorHanb © bseruer
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Politics as usual; Libertarians, Reformists and Greens, oh my!
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R E P R O D U C T IO N IN W H O L E O R IN
P A R T W I T H O U T P E R M IS S I O N IS P R O
F a LST
T he P ortland O bserver
With the elections coming up in
N o v e m b e r m an y p e o p le are
wondering who will be our next
president. A lot o f other people just
d o n ’t care.
R e p u b lic a n s and
Democrats alike are wondering why
so few Americans vote. People want
to know why A m ericans are so
indifferent when it comes to politics.
Many people claim that they don’t
see much difference between the two
main candidates. Even comedian Bill
M aher refers to them as Bore and
Gush. America’s boredom has helped
other political parties grow.
Although many American just don’t
notice, we have more than two political
parties in the United States. This is
q u ite norm al. M ost E uropean
countries have three, four or even
five or more political parties. Itmakes
some sense, too. How can so many
people in such a large country always
be left to choose either left or right,
apples or oranges? What if you like
mangos, peaches or kiwis?
Slowly the idea o f having more than
two parties to choose from has been
gaining a lot o f attention. The Green
Party, the Reform Party and the
L ibertarian Party are the largest
grow ing political parties in the
country. They could, m part, get
disillusioned Americans to take more
o f an interest in the political system
The Green Party claims to be the
fastest growing party in Oregon.
W hich makes sense because they
ascribe to the same values that many
people consider quintesscntially
O re g o n ia n :
e n v iro n m e n ta l
s u sta in a b ility , c iv il rig h ts and
personable privacy and freedom.
The Green Party’s 2000 presidential
candidate is Ralph Nader. Some
democrats fear Nader will attract votes
away from Gore. If Nader wins 15
percent o f the vote in Oregon the
Pacific Green Party will be that much
closer to gaining major party status.
On the national level, ifNader can win
5 percent o f the vote in the next Green
presidential candidate in 2004 will
receive nearly $15 million in FEC
funds. The National Reform Party
has gotten a lot ofpublicity. With Pat
B uchanan as th e ir p re sid e n tia l
candidate, the Reform Party want to
re-establish trust in government.
They support lobbying reform ,
limiting gifts public officials can
accept, a new and smaller tax system,
they are opposed to abortion and gay
rights and want to get rid o f the
electoral college to allow a direct vote
for president. Buchanan says, as
president he w ould use “m oral
authority” to make all his presidential
decisions.
Controversy has not left the Reform
Party alone. This past week they held
their National Convention in Long
Privacy: if technology is a
problem, technology is a solution
More and more, it looks like protecting
privacy is the number one challenge
o f the 2 Is'century.
Granted, there may be more pressing
problems that face us on the national
and international stage, but this does
not diminish the concerns we all have
about our own and our families’
privacy. W ith the growth o f the
In tern et, co rdless and w ireless
telephones, and databanks managed
by insurance companies, e-commerce
firms, and the government, we have
good reason to worry about where
and how our personal and financial
information might be found.
What once was a dry topic discussed
a m o n g c iv il lib e rta ria n s and
g o v ern m en t atto rn ey s has now
reached our kitchen tables. Even high
school students are now looking into
p riv a c y issu e s. T h is y e a r’s
interscholastic high school debate
topic calls for the “federal government
[to] significantly increase protection
o f privacy.” This attention reflects
the real-world concerns that will keep
policymakers busy for years to come.
In a recent W ashington Post article,
former Undersecretary o f Commerce
D a v id A aro n w rote: “ P riv a c y
advocates, who used to be worried
m ost about governm ent privacy
violations, are now more concerned
about private-sector abuses.” Recent
reg u latio n s have addressed the
problem o f commercial web sites
collecting information from children
under the age o f 13. A large majority
o f A m ericans hesitate to m ake
purchases over the Web, afraid of
compromising the security o f their
credit cards.
One major concern is medical
privacy. H ospitals, clinics, and
physicians’ offices hold files with
extraordinarily personal information
that literally turns us inside-out.
These files include notes about the
drugs we take, our dietary habits,
e v e n o u r u rin a tio n c y c le s.
E m b a rra ssin g stu ff, at le a st
potentially. W hat’s more important,
such information falling into the
wrong hands could affect our chances
o "employment, our ability to quali fy
for health or life insurance, and our
credit ratings.
M edical, as w ell as financial
inform ation is our m ost sacred
property. We should not give these
up freely and certainly do not want to
give them up to hackers and passers-
by.
Wisely, Congress in 1996 addressed
these concerns by passing the Health
In su ra n c e
P o rta b ility
and
Accountability Act (HIPAA), which
begins to take effect this month.
Health care providers who fail to meet
the new law ’s requirements will face
thousands o f dollars in fines or
(potentially) millions o f dollars in
lawsuit settlements if they do not
protect patient privacy. This little-
known piece oflegislation might affect
us more positively than any law
passed in the last decade.
Ironically, while the case o f privacy
pro b lem s is te c h n o lo g ic a l, the
solution, too, stems from technology.
W hile the task might look daunting,
technological solutions to enhance
communications and data privacy
offer hospital administrators, clinic
managers, and physicians across the
country significant cost avoidance
and a rescue from red tape.
Only a few years ago, patient records
were kept on paper in a locked cabinet
in a doctor’s office, accessible only
to the doctor and his trusted staff.
N ow they are routinely kept on
computers and transmitted by fax or
Internet.
Moreover, in an effort to cut costs,
many physicians have outsourced
their billing and record-keeping tasks
to independent contractors. When
we receive a bill today, it is quite likely
that it comes form the basement o f a
stay-at-home mom, using her own
computer, commercially available
billing software, and an Internet
connection to dozens o f doctors’
offices, seeking to make a few extra
part-time dollars while still caring for
her children.
This is what should concern us. Our
bills and other records should be as
private as a face-to-face conversation
with our doctors in the confines o f an
examination room. While it is a good
thing for doctors to reduce their costs,
it is risky to do so if the price might be
the violation o f our privacy and a
breach in the integrity o f the doctor-
patient relationship.
It is not so much that the doctors
cannot trust the contractors who do
their billing. Instead, we should focus
on the lack o f com m unications
security found in the home-office
environment. It is still too easy to
" e a v e s d ro p ”
on
In te rn e t
transmissions.
No doctor - or, for that matter, no
b u siness o f any kind - should
contract out billing and record
keeping functions without first being
assu red that the contractor has
in s ta lle d b a sic In te rn e t and
communications security measures.
This could be encryption software,
or it could be any o f a number o f easily
ob tain ed hardw are devices that
protect the privacy o f patients and
physicians alike.
W ith the advent o f HIPAA, health
care administrators will feel stronger
pressure to enhance security and
privacy. Even w ithout the law,
however, they should adopt new
technologies to protect the bond
between physician and patient. This
will both reduce costs and renew
trust, so that everyone wins.
Thomas D. Trapasso is president o f
I-data international, Inc., in Arlington,
Virginia, which manufactures devices
for printing and communications
security.
B each, C alif. The conv en tio n
eventually split into two conventions
because some Reformists oppose Pat
Buchanan’s nomination. The anti-
Buchanan Reformists say Buchanan
has taken over the party, and they
su p p o rt John H agelin as th e ir
presidential nominee.
Governor Jesse Ventura ofMinnesota
was formerly in the Reform Party, but
also left because he did not support
Buchanan. He is now encouraging
the Minnesota’s Reform Party to
disaffiliate from the National Reform
P arty and change its nam e to
Independence Party o f Minnesota.
The Libertarian Party claims to be the
third largest party in Oregon. They
also say they are the fastest growing
political party in the United States.
Libertarians profess a commitment to
freedom. They think that a free-market
economy and free trade would make
the co u n try m o st p ro sp e ro u s.
L ib e rta ria n s
d isa g re e
w ith
government interference with civil
liberties. While they support giving
crime victims more rights, they do not
believe that some “victimless crimes”
should be illegal. They support the
legalization o f drugs, the freedom to
bare arms and the right to protect
property and self-defense.
Harry Browne is the presidential
candidate for the Libertarian Party.
According to at Libertarian Party
press release Browne has caught up
with Buchanan in popularity polls. It
also claims that Browne is taking
conservative votes away from Bush.
The Democrats and the Republicans
may not be very afraid o f these other
parties, but they are growing. Maybe
they will start to get nervous four
years from now. They don’t want to
lose the power they have in this
country, but maybe Americans need
to take power. A m erican’s need to
take back the most basic o f our
freedoms: the freedom o f choice.
U of O A lumnus
The University of Oregon
Office of Multi-Cultural Affairs
Is sponsoring
A Business A fte r-H o u rs Party to fo rm a U o f O
A lum nus o f C o lo r Reunion C om m ittee
The party will be at
BILLY REEDS RESTAURANT
2808NE.M LKJr.Blvd.
A ugust 24th, fro m 5:30 - 7:00 p.m.
For questions or to RSVP, please call Danny at (f03) 288-0033
Or Carla Gary at 1 -800-BE A DUCK
All Alumnus are Welcome
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