Friday, April 24, 2009
F.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press: or the right of the people peaceably ti
1- assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances .
Letter from the editor
By Jennifer Juncosa
perspectives editor
jdjso6l psu.edu
Three weeks ago
the editor in chief
wrote a letter for my
page about the
Beacon. Towards
the end of the year,
most editors write a little somethin'
somethin' and because this is our last
issue before the year-in-review, it's
my turn.
I've learned a lot of things this
year. But the most important was
that no one would write for the
Beacon if I just put a box on my page
saying to do it.
For some reason, this year is the
first time in a long time that we
could have had a letter to the editor
Government stewardship
A SUBMISSION FROM PROFESSOR
NESBIT'S PUBLIC ECONOMICS COURSE
By Benjamin Gilson
economics student
bcgl43otpsu.edu
During uncertain economic times,
criticizing the government is uncon
structive, however, it is essential to
assess our current position. How we
got here, and what role we want gov
ernment to play in our society. With
combined local, state, and federal
expenditures amounting to 4.7 tril
lion dollars in 2008, the average
American was taxed at an effective
rate of 34 percent. 1.9 out of that 4.7
trillion dollars spent was simply
transferred from some citizens to
other citizens via social welfare pro
grams, according to the Bureau of
Economic Analysis. Most govern
ment expenditures do have some
positive impact on society. Too
often, however, expenditures cost
more to society than they return in
benefits.
For an example of what I mean,
let's look at Behrend as a micro
economy where each student has a
budget he or she plans to spend on
entertainment. Each dollar can be
spent in two ways: The student can
decide how it is spent or the money
can be pooled via the Student
Activity Fee (SAF) and spent on stu
dent activities. What percentage
would want it to go to the SAF?
Before you answer let me propose
two events:
1) An SAF funded comedian that
costs 35 cents per Behrend student.
Any student can watch, but 15 peo
ple show up to the event.
A SUBMISSION FROM PROFESSOR NESBIT'S PUBLIC ECONOMICS COURSE
By Clay O'Dana
economics student
cholo3@ psu.edu
Is having universal healthcare cov
erage the right thing for our country
right now? Does universal healthcare
make our country's citizens better
off in life with better healthcare and
lower prices? We already have some
form of national healthcare insur-
ance in our country with Medicare
and Medicaid. Currently under our
system, people overconsume health
care and we pay higher prices for it
than any other country. Americans
spend more on healthcare per person
than any other country, according to
Nation Master. U.S. citizens currently
spend about $6,700 per person every
year on healthcare which is much
higher than the average of $3,100
per person for the developed coun-
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published almost every week. I
would have been happy with one let
ter a month but the amount of letters
has obviously exceeded my expecta
tions. We even had the opportunity
to have four consecutive letters
about one topic. Last year, we had
two letters to the editor (maybe) in a
whole year. This year, I get at least
two a month.
I would love to say that it's my
doing, that my page is just that awe
some, but obviously it's not. The
whole staff is why we have letters to
the editor. Matt is the reason people
pick up the Beacon because he edits
the first thing people see, the front
page. Rachel and Connor are the rea
son people actually want to read our
paper because 99% of the time, they
are the ones finding people to write
about events. Evan is the reason peo
2) A Pittsburgh Penguins ticket
that costs $5O plus $4O for gas with
out the use of SAF funds (pretend
this is your top entertainment prefer
ence).
While attending a Penguins game
is preferred, spending 35 cents to see
a comedian seems to be a better deal
than spending $9O to watch a 2 hour
hockey game. This is often how
politicians view pet projects or entire
programs without looking into the
cost to society. Let's assume option
one was deemed a favorable expen
diture and thus funded. As a result
roughly 4285 out of 4300 students at
Behrend paid 35 cents to do nothing.
The total cost of this expenditure in
our micro-economy was $1,500
($lOO/attendee). In our example
society paid $lO more for each
attendee to go to a less preferable
event resulting in a loss of welfare
due to government intervention.
Now consider what happens to a
society's welfare when thousands of
such net-loss-programs are funded
per year.
While not every government
expenditure results in a net loss,
many (if not most) do. With this in
mind, why doesn't the government
simply stop funding net-loss pro-
grams? Part of the problem is that
often no attempts are made to calcu
late society's net change in welfare
due to each program. In the private
sector costs and benefits are continu
ously measured because firms that
provide a greater benefit to society
than costs they incur are profitable,
while all other firms are forced to
A universal healthcare plan is not the answer
tries. Healthcare prices have
increased due to overconsumption
and the system being inefficient.
People will consume more if they
do not have to pay the entire price of
what they consume. Our current sys
tem is inefficient because govern
ment has little incentive to provide
the most cost effective one; all they
need to do is give enough benefit so
they can be elected. The government
does not generally bargain for the
best prices since it can run a deficit
and raise taxes.
There are so many people in our
country today who want the U.S. to
adopt a universal healthcare system.
Without thinking about the effects,
this proposed system seems like a
good idea; who would not want to
have guaranteed healthcare coverage
provided to them? We already over
consume healthcare because the
costs do not always affect us directly
Submission Guidelines:
Letters should be limited to 350 words and commentaries 700 words. The more
concise the submission, the less we will be forced to edit it for space concerns and the
more likely we are to run it.
The Beacon does not publish anonymous letters. Please include your major, faculty or
administration position, and semester standing. Deadline for any submission is 8 p.m.
Wednesday night for inclusion in the Friday issue.
The Behrend Beacon reserves the right to edit any submissions prior to publication.
Please keep complaints as specific as possible.
Email submissions to jdjso6l@psu.edu or drop them off at the Beacon office.
PERSPECTIVES
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
ple know about movies and plays on
campus and it's Nick and Christine
that get people more interested in
sports
The campus has started voicing
their opinion more this year than
ever. Don't stop. You didn't like the
road block on Old Station Road?
Write about it. Don't like the condi
tions on campus? Write about it.
Don't like the food on campus? Write
about it. The facility and staff at
Behrend read the paper every week
and they look to see what the cam
pus has to say. Take advantage of the
opportunity to voice your opinion.
Soledad O'Brien visited Behrend last
year and said, "there is nothing
worse than doing nothing and saying
nothing when your voice is needed."
Your voice is always needed. Write
letters to tell people what you want.
adapt to meet society's higher value
expectations. The government, on
the other hand, faces few incentives
to gauge the costs and benefits of
expenditures and policies.
Expenditures all have some benefit
and do cost money, which all politi
cians get, but still "bridges to
nowhere" are allocated funds. When
costs and benefits seem unmeasure
able to politicians, decisions are
often made on emotions or values at
the expense of the general public.
As a taxpayer, there are few incen
tives to fight net-loss-programs.
Going back to the Behrend SAF
example, the incentive for a student
to oppose the $1,500 expenditure is
the 35 cents he or she could save if
successful. At this small amount no
one student should be expected to
make mucll effort to•voiqf opposi. )
tion.
The benefactors, in contrast,
receive a value roughly equivalent to
the total cost of watching a show at
Junior's Last Laugh, therefore hav
ing a much greater incentive to lobby
for the funding of this event. Over
the past 70 years, our system of lob
bying for expenditures without col
lective opposition may have been the
driving force behind the government
incrementally increasing our effec
tive tax rate from around 20% to
where it is today, 34%. Somewhere
in U.S. history, I feel our government
moved from facilitating economic
opportunities with a sense of securi
ty to infringing on its society's ability
to increasingly thrive.
and we only pay a small percentage.
That being said, under universal
healthcare, people will still consume
more than they should because the
government is covering part of the
costs. This overconsumption will fur
ther drive up prices and spending on
healthcare. Having a universal
healthcare system does not solve the
inefficiency issue either.
Evidence of why we should not
adopt a universal healthcare system
can be seen by looking at how much
each country spends on healthcare
and what type of system they have. It
is possible that a country's spending
on healthcare could greatly increase
after the adoption of a universal
healthcare plan due to the idea of
more people being able to afford
healthcare while they tend to over
consume.
For example, before Brazil adopted
their universal healthcare system in
College fun < Major
By Neil J. Peters
staff writer
njp50831 , / psu.edu
Today, as I walked
'rough Bruno's, I
noticed a troop of
'ide-eyed high
'hool students tour
' our beautiful cam
pus. They clutched their bags of
pamphlets and goodies tightly,
absorbing all the sights. Girls would
cluster together and gossip when an
attractive college boy would walk
past; juxtaposing the boys who open
ly gaped at passing women, quoting
countless films. All the while, an
upperclassmen marched at the head,
giving her insanely optimistic speech
on the wonders and magic of college
life.
It was at that point that I realized
what huge suckers we had all been.
As I eavesdropped and laughed to
myself, I wondered when anything I
had imagined college being had actu
ally come true and why it had not.
Before college, I imagined it being a
magical land where geeks were
kings and friends simply fell from
the sky. I even literally thought that
I would bump into my future wife on
Orientation weekend and live the
next four years in absolute bliss, fol
lowed by an amazing job and bright
future.
What a steaming pile of horse crap
that was. Since I have been college
student the only things that have
changed in my life are an extreme
drop in sleep. friends, social life, and
self-esteem.
So why is this? I have friends at
University Park that laughed them
selves to tears when I said that I
spend my Friday and Saturday
nights doing homework. However, I
also have friends in Perry and Almy
Hall who tell stories of chaotic week
ends and drunken fun. So if it's not
the campus, then it must be my
major. Which leads me to the conclu-
The Beacon needs writers
for next semester.
All you have to do is email
cisso6o@psu.edu or stop by
the Beacon office in the
basement of Reed.
1988 they spent about $5B per per
son during the period of 1982
through 1989. The International
Development Research Centre then
reports an almost two-fold increase
in spending to about $lOl per person
for the period of 1990 through 1995.
According to Nation Master, seven
out of the top ten countries who
spent the most per person on health
care have some type of a universal
healthcare system. Examples of
these countries would be Japan,
Denmark, Germany, France, Iceland
and Luxemburg.
An argument is made That these
countries with universal healthcare
provide some of the best healthcare
services in the world and life
expectancies are greater. On the
other hand, there are countries that
have high life expectancies, better
healthcare, and a non-universal
healthcare coverage system. For
The Behrend Beacon 7
sion that the fun you have college is
directly related to your major. My
friends who are undeclared or politi
cal science majors have a blast on
Friday nights. I, however, slam my
skull against a wall in frustration at
my lack of comprehension reading
my calculus book.
Within five minutes of starting this
article, my roommate called me, ask
ing if I'd like to pray a game of pick
up soccer. Cursing my poor deci
sion-making skills, I am forced to
decline, due to a looming chemist!) ,
test. It has gotten to the point that
my roommates don't even ask it' I'd
like to be involved in certain activi
ties. Whether it is driving to
Walmart or random trips of
McDonalds, I'm trapped in the study
room doing homework.
I'm also noticing a dramatic slump
in my "game." I've found that most
women are not interested in hearing
about differential equations or
Newton's Third Law. The only
exception to this rule are the women
in the engineering program, which I
can count on my fingers. However, in
most cases those women are smarter
than me, so the conversations usual
ly aren't very productive. They typi
cally involve her saying things like
"No, it's not magic," or "all you have
to do it integrate," and "get down off
that ledge. You have so much to live
for."
I swore that I would never say this
phrase (which is why I'm writing it):
I miss high school. I used to he
respected, appreciated and accepted.
Now I'm strung out, lonely, sleep
deprived, and slowly loosing my grip
on sanity.
So now that the walls are talking
to me, I can't help hut wonder if
there is a way to change my college
experience. I've come the conclusion
that I have two options. I can either
change my major and get a degree
that will not get me a job or continue
on my current path and be miserable
but rich... Crap. Pop open that text
book. It's time for more calculus.
example, Switzerland does not have
a universal system but it is consid
ered to provide the highest health
care in the world. Three of the top
five countries with the best health
care, ranked by The World
Healthcare Organization, do not pro
vide universal healthcare coverage.
So is adopting a universal health
care coverage system a good idea for
the U.S.? After looking at the evi-
dente and understanding the possi
ble effects, it can be concluded that
universal coverage will not lessen
our problems. If anything, a univer
sal system could make things \vorst ,
by encouraging more consumption
which could drive prices and spend
ing, along with taxes, even higher.
Since the coverage would he provid
ed by the government, this would
also greatly increase the countiT's
deficit.
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