WORLD NEWS February 15,20§6 3
Case of the Cross Town
RIENEKE FARROW
Staff Writer
This past Saturday, Feb
ruary 11th, the Meredith
Angels went across town to
Peacc College to face the
Pacers. The rivalry between
our Angels and the Pacers
brought out quite a crowd.
When I arrived, the gymna
sium was so full of spectators
that 1 couldn’t even make it
in the door. Unfortunately,
our Angels didn’t fare too
well during the game. The
Rivals
Angels were plagued with
bad calls and bad plays in
their 20 plus point loss to the
Pacers.
During the first half our
Angels kept the score close.
The first ended close with
our Angejs being down by
only six points. However,
upon their return to the court,
the Angels lost their mo
mentum. Nothing seemed to
be going right and they just
couldn’t get the momentum
back in their favor. The An
gels and the Pacers split the
two games they played this
season; with Meredith win
ning the first meeting.
On a side note. I saw that
our student body was rep
resented at the game. Keep
it up Angels! With support
from the student body, I am
sure that our Angels will
prevail in the last few games
of the season. Make sure you
comc out and support our
Angels Monday the 13th at 7
pm and Wednesday the 15th
at 7 pm, Both games will be
at Meredith.
Take Out the Middleman
ALISON LANGFORD
Contributing Writer
Health insurance in this
country has reached a state
of emergency. It is all due to
one thing; greed. Most vot
ers in America do not want
a tax raise so that innocent,
sick children can receive
the medical care they need.
Pharmaceutical companies
are raking it in by the mil
lions from the ever rising
costs of prescription drugs.
Healthcare companies are
making a killing as well, all
resulting in fewer and fewer
businesses being able to sup
ply their workers with cov
erage, and people must fend
for themselves. The average
cost for a family to be in
sured is about $600-900 a
month, an inordinate amount
for a nation whose average
household is in debt.
The truth is that all Ameri
cans will pay for it in the
end. With less people re
ceiving health insurance,
the price must rise for those
who do have it. Coverage
will eventually be available
to only a small, wealthy
group of people. Blue and
white collar workers will not
receive the health care they
need resulting in more sick
days taken, fewer mentally
and physically healthy em
ployees, and people who are
at work when they are sick
anyway. Thus, productiv
ity will take a turn for the
worst, costing the company
and eventually the consumer
extra cash. In extreme cases,
some of the workforce might
have no choicc but to quit
working altogether without
the prescriptions and treat
ments they need, resulting in
company costs of hiring and
training new employees.
The government and not
the corporations themselves
should be the institution
to supply aid. It is our first
source of protection against
our enemies, microscopic
or not. Medicare is a gov
ernment run healthcare pro
vider, and unlike many other
government agencies, actu
ally runs more efficiently
than commercial providers.
Once the government forc
es corporations to provide
coverage to their full-time
employees, they will be less
likely to continue further for
the coverage rights of oth
ers. Those who are left out
are our part-timers such as
students, those without jobs
such as stay-at-home-moms,
and our children. It could
even lead to higher drop
out rates and fewer people
in college in order to get a
full-time job and receive
the benefit. Corporations are
also extremely good at find
ing loopholes to soothe their
avarice. They will strongly
resist any bill for such a law,
and even if passed, they will
resist it until they have their
way. As the most powerful
force in the world, they will
not go down without a fight.
So why fight them? The
goveinmcnt often serves as
a middleman for the link be
tween citizens and compa
nies. The process would be
much more efficient if the
government simply provid
ed healthcare itself to all its
citizens. It will be paid for in
taxes, but it will all be paid
for somehow; through com
panies raising prices due to
poorproductivity, companies
racing prices to provide their
employees with coverage, or
through our taxes. The more
power that stays closer to the
people the better. Contrary
to the popular tone of ineffi
cacy in many citizens, we do
have the power to make this
happen. We elect officials,
and we should have the say
in what our government does
for us. After all, we pay for
their health insurance. Even
tually the problem will get so
bad that the government will
have to take some course of
action. The question is how
bad will we let it get before
we fight for our rights?
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina
PRESIDENTIAL LECTURE SERIES
MEREDITH
COLLEGE
Doctors Without
Borders U.S. Executive
Director
NICOLAS
DE TORRENTE
''Humanitarian
Responses to Conflict'
and Crisis”
February 16 at 7 p.m.
Jones Auditorium, Meredith College
Cost: Free (limited seating)
3800 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC27607
Phone: 919-760-8600 .www.meredith.edu
The
I) Staff
Editor in Chief. Maria Santore
herald@meredith.edu
Managing Editor. Amber Littesy
Layout Editor Megan Rice
Copy Editors Amy Kay Nickerson
Rita Hendrick
Staff Photographers Laura Marshall
Terri Richards
Business Manager. Stephanie Harrington
Advertising Manager. Kristi Arthur
Faculty Adviser. Dr Rebecca Duncan
Staff Writers.
Melinda Bowling
Stephanie Justice
Rieneke Farrow
Jacki Bullock
Rachel McElwain
Emelia Dunston
Joy Strickland
Lauren Stanfield
The Meredith Herald is published by the College
throughout the academic year. The paper is funded by the college
and through independent ad,vertising- All advertisements should
be sent to herald@meredith.edu, attention Natalie Braswell.
The opinioiis expressed in the editorial columns do not necessarily
rcflect those of the college administration, faculty, or student body.
Published by Hinton Press