PRESIDENT'S CORNER - February 10, 2017 | School of Public Health

Healthcare: Having recently spent 5 days in the lovely new wing of Ruby Hospital, I got to see some of our state-of-the-art medical technology in action, including the wonderful, patient care of the doctors and nursing staff. Then, this morning, I was reading through the AARP’s little newspaper about Medicare and the coming challenges presented by the new administration. Notwithstanding all of the assurances that Medicare will be protected, I keep recalling FDR’s final State of the Union speech, not long before he died. He outlined his plan to extend the Bill of Rights. Here’s what he said:

We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. "Necessitous men are not free men." People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of station, race, or creed.

Among these are:

The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the Nation;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being. [Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1944]

President Truman tried and failed to pass these measures and subsequent presidents have also tried, often in a marked bipartisan manner, to enact changes. Medicare is the most obvious success in 1965…and then the Affordable Care Act, now under attack. My intent today is not to make some political screed but to ask a simple question: why is the richest nation on earth the only developed country NOT providing universal health care, a livable wage, quality education, often through college, and other seemingly obvious benefits? I’m just asking…

Other stuff:

One more week in Winter term, weather permitting. Planning is well along for the spring term.
“Lion” has finally made it to local cinemas. It has had rave reviews for its tale of a small Indian boy that got lost on a train and ended up being adopted by Australians and 20 years later, with the help of Google Earth, finding his birth parents. Dev Patel stars.
Film Forum gets back in action on March 1. I’ll put the schedule in the Bulletin later this month.
The next Met in HD opera is a new production of “Rusalka” starring Christine Opalais and directed by Tony winner Mary Zimmerman. You can see it on screen on February 25 at 1 PM at the Regal Hollywood cinema.
The Oscar telecast is set for February 26. It looks like a very few films have eaten up most of the nominations, so it could be a tight race. But will “Moonlight” get here before then???

OK, that’s all I’ve got for this cold day. Be well, take care of yourselves, and know that spring IS on its way.

Jim Held, President