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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 9, 1993)
P t-; Mike Nartker, - s A&M; Casey r abama-Birmine- »mia;• • gers and Willie na <; BraxlonHid' Western Ken- College; SS - e and Boomer Kentucky ?ers; Mike Barge f-r Vanderbilt; : Jason Thomp- ns, Jr., East Car- 0 / Brigham Wednesday, June 9,1993 The Battalion Page 7 OC, t»oy*>,.. LoW,rvJ©vV... iKiTp -W6 IHnUsvc? If ns made it 5-8 hen Heinrich ma State short- dropped Jem’ I -out double in Hugo with the j ate run. Anin- rto Lopez sin- igo had a run- nd Peter Pro- >-run single to tying run after pinch hit- liked with one -0) retired Jeff under to third h on a called Editorial Regent bill unrealistic Students not suited to serve Board The Student Regent Bill, which vould allow a non-voting student o sit on the Texas A&M System loard of Regents, died at the end of he last legislative session before the House could take a vote. The bill failed for the 22nd time ot because legislators ran out of ime, but because the Student Re gent Bill is completely unnecessary. The bill, if passed, would allow a single student to represent all of the schools in the Texas A&M System. This student regent would not have a vote and would not be allowed to attend closed sessions. But regard less of how powerful the student re gent would be, he or she still has no place as a member of a board that |makes decisions irrelevant to the * daily lives of students. The majority of business items ucwF/LEwrithe regents discuss has little impact Jon the daily life of the student body ’iat the universities the Board repre- nin g; Jsents. The agenda items for the : advice for i|j on g^ ^ r y two-day meetings of the igt is yea lg oarc j ran g e f r0 m reports from the and visit, but‘ Committee for Land and Mineral d put on the 1 Resources to updates on the Facili ties, Planning and Building Com mittee. Few students have the knowledge or interest to give the Board constructive input on the ini tiation of a construction project or the authorization to sell revenue fi nancing system bonds. Much of the business the regents uses sports ( discuss does not involve Texas and it is in nsure a fu- blauch said. | iw a lot of df, miss play-1 d being a } A&M University, but other schools and agencies in the A&M System, which consists of seven schools scat tered across the state and eight state agencies. A student regent from Texas A&M University cannot possibly give advice to the Board about an action bid for structural repairs on the chemistry building at Prairie View A&M University. Further, it would take too much time and energy for a student regent to prepare for every two-day board meeting, which involves the study of pounds of paper work. Students would have to miss two full days of class just to sit in on the meeting, not to mention the study time it would take to review the agenda. It is just not practical. Besides, students are already rep resented within the University on matters that greatly affect them. Student leaders meet frequently with A&M administrators to voice concerns of the student body. It is the job of these university adminis trators to relay student concerns to the regents if the concerns are ap propriate and fall under the juris diction of the Board. It is obvious that a non-voting student with a seat on the Board is nothing more than symbolic. The bill is a waste of time, energy and money. Our legislators have more important matters with which to oc cupy their time and our tax dollars. Single-payer system hikes costs Canadian health care plan offers U.S. no guidance MATT DICKERSON Columnist A s the U.S. health care sys tem undergoes the radical surgery of nationalization this year a lot of health care ideas are being tossed about. The so-called single-payer system, in which gov ernment serves as the insurance com pany deserves comment, if only be cause of resurgent popularity. An April 26 New Yorker editorial, heaving with great purpose, pro claimed "the pile of evidence that a 'single-payer' system — the Canadi an system — works better than any other is by now so high that it is al most embarrassing to have to re assemble it here." The editorial goes on to cite by now familiar statistics that Canada spends about nine percent of its gross national product on health care compared with the United States' figure of 12 percent of its GNP, yet Canada leads in life expectancy and infant mortality. First off, there is little relationship between infant mor tality or life expectancy at birth and health care expendi tures, which tend to correlate to per person GNP, and a study of 20 industrialized countries by economists Rexford Santerre, Stephen Grubaugh and Andrew Stollar found the level of government funding of health care has no signifi cant impact on infant mortality or health care costs. However, among 80-year-olds, there is a significant rela tionship between life expectancy and health care spending comparable to the influence of per person GNP. Eighty- year-old U.S. males and females have on average a life ex pectancy half a year longer and a year longer, respectively, when compared to 23 other industrialized countries. Perhaps no other statistic is so overused and misunder stood in cross-national comparisons of health care perfor mance than health care as a percentage of GNP. It cannot be correctly inferred from this statistic that the Canadian health care system has successfully controlled health care expenditures. Health care as a percentage of GNP is a fraction, and as you have probably learned by now in college, a fraction consists of a numerator divided by a denominator. As a fraction increases over time, we need to know if this growth is caused by changes in the numerator (health care) or in the denominator (GNP). As in turns out, the behavior of the denominator, GNP, explains almost all of the differ ences in health care as a percentage of GNP between Cana da and America. In 1967, health care as a percentage of GNP was virtually the same for the U.S. and Canada, at 6.33 and 6.38 percent, respectively. But between 1967-87, Canada's real per per son GNP grew by 74 percent while the figure for America was 38 percent. If we examine health care spending alone, we find that over this same 20-year period, the real annual percentage change in health care spending per person in creased more rapidly in Canada, at 4.58 percent, than in the United States, at 4.38 percent. And between 1967-87, the medical care and health services price index increased 373 percent in Canada and 302 percent in the United States. Furthermore, America and Canada differ in many re spects that affect health care spending. For example, the U.S. male homicide rate is five times the Canadian rate; for every homicide there are 100 assaults. The U.S. AIDS rate is some three times, the U.S. teen pregnancy rate two and a half times, the birth rate twice, and the abortion rate three times the respective Canadian rates. The United States also has a slightly older population. If such lifestyle and cultur al variables — which are estimated to account for nearly 25 percent of American health care spending — are accounted for, and concealed government overhead costs are factored in (the cost of collecting taxes for health care does not show up in Canada's health statistics, while American health care statistics include the cost of collecting private insurance premiums) Canada would be spending as high a percent age of GNP on health care as the United States. The single-payer or Canadian health care system has the fastest growing health costs on the continent and happens to be one of the most expensive health care systems in the world. The Canadian system freeloads on American tech nology and regularly uses U.S. hospitals as a safety valve. What savings the Canadian system generates rely upon denying care and queuing. Because of these flaws, the adoption of a single-payer system is not likely to solve the problems in America's flawed system, but further magnify them. Dickerson is a sophomore economics major UJtilT JrS. '• to? Hue ; ...ft/oT.... ; me.. ' siKitii,' Vr.x.TgAM . Tex as AuewTJc Cc>rtMt55ft,*/- 7 ~ A t B CAhJ jf Sbe! Yooz, X.PT fLe A se * * r ©CtlfcG. 1 Loss of power provides insight into other side ON id Clinic it, call: re East Ya know, just when you think you've experienced it all, something crops up that blows your mind. Some- I thing that significantly affects a socio- !} logically fixed and personally comfort- | able perspective. Such is most certain- 1 ly my case. \ A few months I ago, a roommate I brought home an / acquaintance from work (hard labor), a case of beer, and carton of cigarettes. John (not his real name), the ac quaintance, was hilarious and told jokes to which we all screamed with laughter until he Went home. This episode was re peated a number of times, and I was al ways talked into joining them (the power of free beer and smokes). One evening John came over when I was the only one home and asked if I Would like to go have a few drinks, since he just got paid and would pick FRANK STANFORD Columnist up the tab. How could I refuse? He drove us to a fairly well-known establishment and proceeded to order drinks for us and volley interesting, amusing conversation until closing. I had a good time, and was feeling even better. Taking the long way home, John began to discuss his general mis trust of women, particularly his ex- wife, and what a hag she was. As would any self-respecting drinking buddy, I replied empathetically and af firmatively to most of his statements. About half-way home John asked me if I ever had a bisexual experience. Since I like to think of myself as toler ant of all beliefs and lifestyles, I merely replied, "No, are you bisexual?" John answered, "No, I'm just plain gay, and very interested in you." Suddenly my evening with one of the guys took on a very different tone. As he drove toward my apartment, I explained my assurance of being straight, and that although I wasn't of fended by his overture, I was most cer tainly uninterested. What was interest ing to me, however, was that because of the elements involved — taken out in his car, drinks bought, being under the influence, propositioned, and taken home — I was a male experiencing a loss of power with another male. But it didn't stop there. John followed me into my house, opened a couple of beers for us, and continued trying to explain the joys of being gay. Following many drinks, an endless supply of cigarettes, and a post-midnight stupor, I will enjoy even an argument with a tree. So, instead of being angry at John, I proceeded to test popular and personal theories of ho mosexuality on the real McCoy. Even though my demeanor was calm and matter-of-fact, John continued to make stronger and stronger sexual overtures, each being met with an equally power ful negation. I decided it was time for him to leave, and politely pushed him toward the door. Upon seeing his car drive away, I acted on an impulse to lock all my windows and doors, then sat down to ponder the evening's expe rience. This is what I decided. Even though I am in no way homo- phobic, and have worked with gay in dividuals on a number of occasions, I was still a little nervous about this giv en situation. On the surface it ap peared that homosexuality was the cause of my anxiety, but upon closer scrutiny, it was the feeling of being pursued and objectified, while in a less er position of control, that truly both ered me. John gained my confidence over a short time, invited me to have drinks, drove me in his car, paid for and pushed drinks on me, propositioned me, took me home and continued mak ing overtures until I pressured his exit and locked my windows. Even in my own home, I felt a little uneasy having to steer furtive glances and forward re marks away from me, as well as to de termine how I had sat and what body language I had displayed. For many men, perhaps, a similar scenario might evoke feelings of fright, hate or violence. But for me, this other wise stressful experience was a fasci nating and enlightening sociological experiment, bearing for me one central thought: Women contend with this type of situation repeatedly . .. Stanford is a graduate student in philoso phy Editor’s note: Applications are available in 013 Reed McDonald for The Battalion Reader’s Panel. The panel will meet regularly with editors to give us a better picture of what our readers want from their newspaper. If you have ideas about the paper — if you want to be involved — stop by and fill out a short application. It’s your newspaper ....