I’d like to express my condolences for the members of the Virginia Tech community and everyone else touched by the violence last week. I was personally very disturbed by what happened and I’m hoping to start a discussion about the ramifications for us at Berkeley. We had an opportunity to discuss the tragedy in one of my classes and I was astounded to hear from my GSI that absolutely no emergency training (for earthquakes, fires, attacks, etc.) is given to the Professors or GSI’s. My dorm this year offered no information on emergency preparedness or procedures. While the University has stated that they will revisit their emergency policy, I wonder whether this vague guarantee is enough. Although I am not sure that what happened at Virginia Tech could have been prevented, it brings to light some weakness of University emergency response processes, particularly regarding communication between administrators and students. What do you know about Berkeley’s emergency response policies? What improvements could be made at Berkeley?

Having come home from Spring Break in Costa Rica I find myself as impressed by their commitment to good social policy as by the gorgeous rain forest and beaches. Costa Rica became a Republic in 1838, and the first free elections occurred about 50 years later. Since then the country has been very peaceful with the exception of a 44 day Civil War fought in 1949 over a disputed election. At the conclusion of the war, the winning party abolished the military and drafted a new Constitution guaranteeing free elections. The lack of a military in Costa Rica is something many Costa Ricans I talked to were very proud of and sure to mention to American tourists in particular. 48% of Costa Rican households were in poverty in 1982, however, by 1995, only 15% of households lived in poverty. While the country still exhibits a substantial disparity between urban wealth and rural poverty, this dramatic change in a short period of time suggests the government must be doing something right. Costa Rica boasts a phenomenal universal health care system with very low cost coverage both to citizens and immigrants (Costa Rica has a immigration problem primarily with Nicaragua which very much resembles ours with Mexico). Costa Rica currently has the 3rd highest average life expectancy in the world, leading the US. The country offers a social security package similar to ours as well as many other programs aimed specifically at aiding impoverished women and children. One interesting program I learned about is a free government run day care service offered to single, working parents. In the realm of education, Costa Rica offers free preschool through high school education and extremely cheap University education for all citizens. A relatively high percentage of agricultural workers are well educated. Cool, huh?

Since we’ve spent the last month discussing the problems existing in the American healthcare system as well as possible reforms, I thought it might be useful to consider the highly successful Japanese healthcare system as a model. While Japan spends 5.4% less of its GDP per year on healthcare than the Unites States, unlike the US, Japan provides universal coverage to Japanese citizens. The Japanese system requires all citizens to purchase health insurance. Insurance companies pay privately owned service providers directly at rates set by the government. All employees in Japan are provided health insurance by the Social Insurance System (SIS). Employers shoulder between 50-80% of the cost of insurance, while the remainder is covered by premiums paid by employees based on their financial ability. The average worker’s premium is 4% of their salary. Citizens who are not employed are covered by National Health Insurance (NHI). A third insurance agency caters specifically to the healthcare needs of the elderly. Patients are allowed to choose their own doctors and preferred facilities. This system seems to integrate private healthcare providers with government subsidy quite effectively in a way that might appeal to insured American voters preoccupied with maintaining the freedom of choice they have with private insurance companies. While the Japanese system is highly successful on a whole, primary problems include long waits to see doctors and a shortage of doctors and medical facilities in rural as compared to urban areas.