The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, February 27, 2009 Page: 3 of 20
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Op-Ed
Natural diversity would benefit campus
Let's have a frank discussion about
the ecological desert Rice has become.
1 refer to the lack of native biodiversity
on campus that has only increased
with the new construction.
Claire Krebs
The most frightening thing is that
for the most part, we don't even notice
the absence of life. We simply assume
that shorn grass, oak trees, and fat
squirrels are Mother Nature in all her
glory, when in fact a healthy environ-
ment should overflow with insect, am-
phibian, reptilian, avian, aquatic and
mammalian presence.
We could hove a zoological bou-
quet by simply investing in a diversity
of native plants, which require much
less water and care than nonnative
species such as the ever ubiquitous
St. Augustine grass. There is actually
already a botany garden on campus,
hidden between the Biology and Earth
Science buildings, which showcases
a variety of such plants. There are
also organizations such as the Native
Plant Society of Houston which have
huge, easily accessible online lists of
beneficial native plants. Why don't we
capitalize on this knowledge when
landscaping new construction?
Now is an excellent time for us to re-
plant with this sort of sustainability in
mind. But there is no evidence of any-
thing in the works to replace wild areas
such as the Harris Gully Natural Area
(the little thicket behind Wiess) and the
overgrown land next to the observatory,
much less anything to increase the eco-
logical diversity. And let's not even talk
about the palm trees next to Autry.
Investing care in our natural en-
vironment would increase campus
creativity and productivity. Not only
would our learning environment be
more vibrant, we could study nature
herself to find solutions to the prob-
lems that we face today. Think of it as
a whole new "Who knew" campaign:
Who knew vine tendrils spiral first
clockwise and then counterclock-
wise to dissipate torsional stress?
Who knew that without investing in
native habitats for indigenous bees,
the world's food economy would col-
lapse? Historically, much inspiration
has been drawn from the natural en-
vironment. After all, where would
we be now if not for the apple that
landed on Newton's head?
a
Investing care in our
natural environment
would increase cam-
pus creativity and
productivity.
99
Of course, it would be unfair to
criticize the University without ac-
knowledging the care that we have
given to environmental diversity. The
campus vegetable gardens are a won-
derful joint venture between students
and faculty, strengthening our bonds
with nature. The botany garden and
the Wiess Grove, an area of native
plantings between South Plant and
Wiess, are both steps in the right di-
rection. These are admirable begin-
nings, but we must not stop here. And
there are already plenty of people on
campus who feel this way.
What if instead of planting pretty-
but-inhospitable, we planted pretty-
and-functional plants? Instead of
Brochstein Pavilion's monoculture
beds of horsetail, native yet toxic to
many species, and butterfly iris, non-
native and barren, why not include
plants that provide habitat as well as
beauty? Virginia sweetspire is a na-
tive shrub with fragrant white flowers
in the spring, brilliant red foliage in
the fall, and also provides nectar for
insects. Elderberry is a hearty native
small tree which is a food source for
many insects and animals, producing
beautiful white flowers and blackber-
ries. But these aren't the only options.
An online search will reveal hundreds
of other native plants to suit the loca-
tion and match the architectural style.
Because of course, only planting one
type of native would perpetuate the
same type of mistake; every ecosystem
starves without diversity.
Instead of installing and reinstall-
ing elaborate drainage systems, why
don't we go with the flow and let the
area next to the pavilion become a
natural wetland with a permanent
reservoir of mosquito fish? All of a
sudden, Monarch butterflies, ruby-
throated hummingbirds and neon col-
ored dragonflies would make this new
campus hotspot even more popular.
What an addition this symphony of
life would make to the area!
Couch this issue in any other terms,
and we would have addressed it long
ago. A lack of diversity, overcrowd-
ing of the population, supporting our
values as a university; all of these are
catch phrases that we've read in the
communiques we regularly receive
from the administration.
Rice already promotes sustainabil-
ity and green living through its course
work, organizations and lecturers.
With our natural diversity disappear-
ing, it is high time for us to extend that
spirit to the environment around us.
Claire Krebs is a Hanszen
College senior.
RUPD deserves respect from students
When students think about ev-
erything they appreciate at Rice Uni-
versity, a lot of things probably come
to mind: the residential college sys-
tem, the abundance of on-campus
social activities, the great academic
opportunities. Unfortunately, stu-
dents tend to focus on what directly
affects them on a day-to-day basis,
sometimes ignoring the people who,
underneath the surface, help them
along the way. While v.e are often
absorbed in our own lives, ihere is
one group at Rice whose efforts are
often overlooked: the Rice University
Police Department.
Christine Pao
From the Campus Watch Pro-
gram to the lost and found service
to the night escort, it is evident that
RUPD goes to great lengths to pro-
tect us and our property. We might
get frustrated and annoyed every
now and then when RUPD hands us
a parking citation, but deep down we
realize that we probably did some-
thing wrong to deserve it (most of the
time, at least). And the recent policy
that allowed RUPD to take our pos-
sessions preemptively may have been
frustrating, but it reminded us not to
leave our belongings lying around
with the risk of being stolen.
Ultimately, I believe that RUPD is
genuinely concerned about the safe-
ty of Rice students, and the members
of RUPD deserve our respect and ap-
preciation for everything they have
to put up with.
For example, look at underage
drinking. A couple of times, both dur-
ing on- and off-campus parties, 1 have
witnessed RUPD escorting excessively
intoxicated, underage students back
to their dorm rooms. The problem is
not that these students are getting
drunk; rather, it's that they're getting
so drunk that they no longer have the
ability to function or even stand, let
alone walk to their rooms alone.
RUPD has long been known to be
lenient towards underage drinking on
campus. Although they do not by any
means condone underage drinking,
the widely acknowledged, yet unspo-
ken, policy is that if RUPD doesn't see
any alcohol, they won't go out of their
way to actively search and punish you
for it. This is a major privilege that stu-
dents at other universities lack. How-
ever, I often see underage students at
raunchy parties drinking within view
of the outside world, a clear abuse
of our privilege, yet RUPD rarely
goes out of their way to punish them.
The immunities that RUPD be-
stows upon us need to be handled
responsibly. Too many times, I have
witnessed RUPD caring for those
who have consumed too much alco-
hol to perform even basic functions.
If RUPD is willing to be so lenient
towards our student body's current
drinking habits, then we should at
least show them some respect by let-
ting them know that we are mature
enough to handle the freedom they
grant us by not drinking ourselves
into idiotic stupor.
I am not suggesting that all under-
age drinkers are irresponsible - in
fact, most aren't. Nor am I suggesting
that we stop drinking altogether. I am
merely arguing for a little more respon-
sibility shown on the part of those who
get themselves inebriated to the point
where they can no longer care for
themselves because someone else will
inevitably have to. Don't make RUPD
be the one to clean up after you.
U
From the Campus
Watch Program, to
the lost and found
service, to the Night
Escort, it is evident
that RUPD goes to
great lengths to
protect us and our
property.
99
It's not hard to imagine that Rice
would be in a more chaotic state than
it is now without the presence of RUPD
to remind us of the rules and regula-
tions. Still, they give us the benefit of
the doubt when it comes to underage
drinking, recognizing that we, as a
collective body of college students,
should be responsible enough not to
take advantage of it. By simply being
aware of our limits when it comes to
the consumption of alcohol, we can
show RUPD that we do deserve the re-
sponsibility they grant us.
Christine Pao is a Martel College
freshman and Opinion editor.
Health care reform need not
break America's fiscal budget
Now that the President has been
elected and the stimulus package
passed, Washington is once more at
war over American health care. The
range of policy proposals made by
Democratic and Republican lawmak-
ers has been predictable. More govern-
ment spending. Insurance mandates.
Tax credits. Tort reform. Information
technology updates. Prevention and
education programs. And, of course,
more government spending.
Sahil Gujral
Certain key problems with these
ideas are already well understood.
They would raise America's fiscal
burden during a time of growing mac-
roeconomic uncertainty. They could
erode monetary incentives for top-
flight doctors and researchers to prac-
tice in the US. They might outspend
or "crowd out" private sector com-
petitors, even if actually less efficient.
And, they may foment rationing. Alas,
amid these common critiques, the
most obvious issue is lost.
We need more competition in
American health care insurance, not
less. The current round of political
proposals is unlikely to get us there.
More competitors means more afford-
able policies for more Americans, just
as it does in other industries. Such
competition doesn't cost the taxpayer
a dime, preserves incentives for doc-
tors, gives patients more options, and
might make an entrepreneur very rich.
So why haven't we seen it already?
The historical record gives us a clue.
Between Dec. 31 of 2001 and Dec. 31
of 2007, the stock price of WellPoint,
which operates as Blue Cross Blue
Shield in many states, outperformed
the S&P 500 by more than 210 percent.
The company's free cash flow grew
nearly 400 percent. In a scandal that
would rock any lesser business due
to other concerns it would raise about
management's integrity, WellPoint's
CFO resigned in 2007 under allegations
that he slept with employees while fil-
ing for divorce. The shareholders didn't
seem particularly fazed. The story is
much the same with companies like
UnitedHealth or Humana.
An 2004 paper in Health Affairs by
James Robinson found that in 47 of the
50 major U.S. health insurance mar-
kets, the top three providers controlled
more than 50 percent of the market. A
recent NBER paper by Leemore Dafny
finds convincing evidence of price dis-
crimination by the big health insurers,
a classic hallmark of monopolies.
This isn't the behavior of typical in-
surance, an industry where competi-
tive advantage usually stems from be-
ing the low-cost leader of conservative
risk pricing over time. In auto insur-
ance, GEICO isn't just a profitable busi-
ness for its owners. It's quite cheap for
policy holders as well. But, in health
insurance, the rub is that insurers
not only price risks but can mitigate
them after the fact. They have enor-
mous bargaining power. In economic
lingo, these derive from informational
asymmetries in claim negotiation, the
inelasticity of the supply and demand
for health goods, a lack of price trans-
parency, and network externalities.
The information gaps are powerful.
Imagine if most American car mechan-
ics were employed by GEICO. Would
they recommend you get as many re-
pairs? Many HMO and PPO services in
America perform an analogous, "ra-
tioning" function. Most cynically, your
HMO primary provider is a private in-
vestigator paid to determine what is not
wrong your health. Similarly, the legal
mandate for auto insurance in the U.S.
means most accident settlements are
negotiated between professional auto
insurers. However, most health claim
disputes are between non-medical con-
sumers or small businesses and spe-
cialist companies like WellPoint.
Regarding elasticity, the rigors of
medical licensing and communal trust
issues means that the physician sup-
ply in most U.S. regions is not nearly as
sensitive to demand as that of car me-
chanics. To an extent, you can learn car
repairs on the job. Try that as a doctor.
Similarly, most people who are seri-
ously ill do not forgo health care simply
because the cost has increased.
On price discovery, medical infor-
mation is rapidly evolving and requires
a high degree of specialized knowl-
edge to intelligently consume. There
is a reasonable sense of what you are
covered for in a typical GEICO policy.
Things are rarely as clear in health
insurance. Even veteran doctors fre-
quently find themselves shocked at
the things insurers refuse to cover.
Finally, network externalities apply.
Neither providers not patients can af-
ford an infinite number of insurers. So
patients tend to pick those that offer the
most doctors. Doctors tend to pick those
that offer the most patients. It is hard to
be a new player in such a system.
So, how to encourage more compe-
tition? The answer is not antitrust suits
or government subsidies. I propose a
new class of unleveraged securities,
modeled after catastrophe reinsurance
bonds. To review, in catastrophe rein-
surance bonds, investors receive regu-
lar coupons in exchange for accepting
insurable risks. Part or all of the princi-
pal that the investor paid for the bond is
deducted when an insured event tran-
spires. Here, customers seeking insur-
ance would pay most of their "premi-
ums" as coupons to investors who have
assumed certain of their health risks.
The remaining part of the stream
would fund independent claim admin-
istration companies. They would parse
claims and handle payments. The pro-
spectus and filings of each bond issue
would contain aggregate information
on the insureds' age, obesity, race, ill-
nesses and smoking preferences - the
sorts of information we already provide
our health insurers. The pay-out and
claim characteristics of different is-
sues would be regularly disclosed. The
bonds could trade publicly.
These would allow competition
in the underwriting of health care
risk without necessitating entry into
the health delivery business. Given
the current market turmoil, billions
of investable dollars might enjoy the
opportunity to invest in a new, uncor-
rected asset class. Investment banks
might find a new line of business to
tide them through the shriveling of
the securities markets. And the op-
portunity to compete on risk pricing
is real. As WellPoint states on page
28 of the 10-K portion of their An-
nual Report for 2008, "our health care
products that involve greater poten-
tial risk tend to be more profitable
than administrative service products
and those health care products where
employers assume the underwriting
[insurance] risks." Straight from the
horse's mouth: There is plenty of room
for new competitors to drive down the
prices of health care policies.
I admit that this idea may have
been "pie in the sky" a few decades
past. But, computer technology and
financial markets have evolved to the
point where it is now eminently doable.
Market transparency revolutionized the
economic landscape of the 20th cen-
tury. It may now allow Americans to live
healthier lives as well.
Sahil Gujral is a Martel College senior.
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Michel, Casey. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 96, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, February 27, 2009, newspaper, February 27, 2009; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443030/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.