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Show The Daily Utah Chronicle OPINION 4 - The Daily Utah A Africa Boot bVthOjDAM is Joe. Winn Was Wrong; College Is Important vdu 0p CAj4 Editor: We have reached the pinnacle of cynicism. Brandon Winn's manifesto on col- 'Involvement' Shouldn't Cost Arm and Leg lege has proven this. Winn begins his article by manipulating us through the use of a fictional story about his imaginary friend, Tina. He used this story to sway our emotions so we would agree with the rest of what he had to say. It did not work with me, due to the fact that it was stupid. Winn complains Tina cannot get a job with a good salary because she does not have a college education. Apparently, she docs not have a high school education, cither. If she works two jobs (which at 14 is very odd considering child labor laws), going to high school and getting a diploma would be impos- starving down your noodles for a minute and listen to the plight of some of the less fortunate. The poor candidates running for student body office. But they're poor only in the figurative sense of the word. You sec, they don't get to use the piteous label "starving student" anymore. Not since they started running for office in a campaign where gross spending is allowed and even encouraged. Each ticket president and vice president can spend up to $1,500 on campaign activities and materials. And, because they're in charge of the party they make up, they get to decide how to spend the $1,500 the party is allowed to plunk down. Three thousand dollars goes a sible. I do not understand what point Winn is trying to illustrate in his story. One cannot be a busincsspcrson without rudimentary knowledge of the business world. One cannot be a school counselor without some background in child psychology. One cannot be a high school teacher without graduating from high school and, even then, teaching high school requires knowledge far beyond the Magna Carta, "Hamlet," and seminary. Companies hire college graduates because they realize it is to their advantage to have highly educated people working for them. Many companies have tuition assistance programs for their employees who are not college long way. Candidates this year have websites, glossy posters, color photographs and more. In past years, they've made like the Salt Lake Organizing Committee with "gifts" of pencils, candy and by the dozens or hundreds. We'll take the pencils and the but not without thinking how rich you must have to be to raise the dough for such goodies. It's a problem that stretches from our little campus straight to Washington millions are necessary to pay for enough TV spots to really run. And candidates either have to hawk their mothers-in-laor promise their votes to nasty (but rich) special interests. Where do the citizens come in? Only at the other end of the television and the ballot box. But try to get involved past a yea or a nay, and you'll face a wall built of twenties. realize candidates for sti dent body president aren't go ng to have to fly to New H; mpshire and Iowa soon. Hut for students struggling to pay to live and learn, $3,000 might as well be $3 million. It's wrong for the race to go to the ri'ch or the ones most skilled at selling out. And candidates don't need that much money to reach the few students who will care enough to vote. By comparison, most races for the Utah Legislature or local county office spend only around $15,000 or $20,000 and that's REAL government. If these candidates really to want everyone "get involved" as they all invariably try to do every year, they should make the Associated Students of the University of Utah a place for every student, o or not just the well-to-d- graduates because they understand educated people are intelligent people and intelligent people make better employees. Why does Winn not realize this? College is not necessary. But only for Brandon Winn. Winn certainly has found plenty of ways to avoid learning in his time at the University of Utah. Not everyone crams the night before. Some study more than that because they want to learn, not only because they want to get a degree. I am here because I love to learn. I want to know everything. This was the best way for me to do that. I am here to learn. I am here to grow. And, some would say most importantly, I am here to drink an unhealthy amount of alcohol. An education and a fun time is what I am after. Winn, it appears, is just here so he can get a good job. If that is all he wants, there are plenty of trade and technical schools around that concentrate only on the skills needed in one's future occupation. Maybe he should go to the Skills Center at Salt Lake Community College. Maybe he should change his major if he hates it so much. However, the one thing that is certain is this: unless he has a solution for the problem he presents, he should shut up and stick to the sports page. Complaining alone will not fix anything. Jacob Johnson Junior, Theatre Insurance Should Cover the 'Cover' method among college-agewomen and runs about $35 per month without insurance. This cost is at least doubled by the mandatory visit to the doctor to obtain a prescription. If insurance companies covered the pill, the amount would drop considerably to about $7 per month. This price is far closer to the means of ge-aged sexually active women. Lower costs will allow more women to use effective methods of birth control instead of settling for the cheapest means of prevention. With the liberty to choose more efficient means of protection, unwanted pregnancies will decrease while the practice of safe sex will increase. Opponents of the bill in the senate argued that insurance rates would rise and make health plans too expensive for Utahns. The proposed bill would have raised insurance rates only $3.08 per year. This small cost would have been more than compensated by the decrease in pregnancy rates and prenatal care. It is ironic that most health care companies provide for obstetric care, sterilization, and prenatal care, yet refuse to compensate and cover various forms of female contraceptive products and services. Health care providers are operating under the illusion that they will make money by forcing women to pay directly from their own pocket for birth control. The problem with this is that providing birth control is much more cost effective than paying for all of a pregnant woman's needs. Women have the right to choose between a variety of products to care for their bodies. Denying this opportunity is discriminator' and irrespon d colle- Kelly Zeigler Chronicle Opinion Columnist w Wc February 23, 1999 Letters to the Editor Chronicle Editorial Attention Tuesday, editorchronicle.utah.edu Shawn Parker Bailey, Opinion Editor: Chronicle Last week, Utah senators killed Bill 31, which would have insurance companies birth control in health plans that provide coverage for other prescription medicine. This sudden reversal in legislative opinion, which originally looked favorably upon the bill, was a shock to supporters and an unfortunate step to cover female backward in the fight for equal repro- ductive health care for men and women. If a health insurer covers prescrip- tion drugs in its plan, it should also wide range of female contraceptives to close the unequal health care gap between the sexes. The supporters of the bill recognize the truth: seven out of ten young women are sexually active and arc in need of contraceptives. Women generally pay 68 percent more for health care services and products than men. Contraceptives intended to promote safe sex and improve women's health cover a should be made more available and affordable. Insurance companies that cover some contraceptives fail to compensate for the most effective and popular means of contraception. The "pill" is the most widely used birth control sible. How can safe sex be promoted if the means arc not practically available? Utah stood only to benefit from this bill. Economically, the state would have less young, unwed mothers to support on welfare. Responsible family planning would become more common, and the exponential population boom we've been experiencing in our state would drop. Utah has one of the highest teenage birth rates in the country. The youth need more than sex education to understand safe sex; they the proposed solution to preventing unsafe sex. The state will neglect its youth if it continues to delude itself into thinking that young people will abstain from premarital sex. The numbers prove state leaders wrong, and legislators need to provide an economical means of protection to those who choose to be sexually active. Lawmakers shouldn't be concerned that less expensive birth control will promote sex among young people. It's wrong to prevent women from obtaining different methods of birth "If a health insurer covers prescription drugs in its plan, it should also cover a wide range of female contraceptives to close the unequal health care gap between the sexes." need a means to obtain the necessary products to practice it. It's time to change Utah's image as a state. Powerful institutions, such as the LDS church, have issued statements that allow for the use of birth control, even if only between married couples. It's not the 1800s anymore; families do not need to be in the double digits to survive. Utah should advocate practical and economical family sizes. In the past, abstinence has been baby-makin- g control. It's endangering women's health and making safe sex difficult if not impossible for some. If you arc concerned with women's reproductive rights in health care coverage, check with your insurance provider to sec what birth control is covered. This won't be the last time this issue comes to the surface in Utah. Tell your insurance provider and your legislator how you feel about equal coverage for women and men. Unsigned editorials reflect the maiority opinion of the Daily Utah Chronicle Editorial Board. Editorial columns and to editor are strirtlv the oninions of the author. "Letters to the Editor" is an open forum for the community of the University of Utah. Letters of an indecent o ous naturV, or vidual or group because of race, sexual orienta ion or religion will not be considered. Letters must be brief. Letters will be edited for style and spce ber must be submitted with every letter for verification purposes. letters to editorchronicle.utah.edu or drop them off at Union 240 K AVE |
