Let’s break for a quiz: What was the biggest health care breakthrough in the last 40 years in the United States? Heart bypasses? CAT scans and M.R.I.’s? New cancer treatments?
No, it was the cigarette tax. Every 10 percent price increase on cigarettes reduced sales by about 3 percent over all, and 7 percent among teenagers, according to the 2005 book “Prescription for a Healthy Nation.” Just the 1983 increase in the federal tax on cigarettes saved 40,000 lives per year. (Link)
Kristof goes on to support the proposed NY tax on soft drinks!
As the panic deepened, ordinary Americans suffered terribly. A cigar maker named Samuel Gompers who was young in 1873 later recalled that with the panic, “economic organization crumbled with some primeval upheaval.” Between 1873 and 1877, as many smaller factories and workshops shuttered their doors, tens of thousands of workers — many former Civil War soldiers — became transients. The terms “tramp” and “bum,” both indirect references to former soldiers, became commonplace American terms. Relief rolls exploded in major cities, with 25-percent unemployment (100,000 workers) in New York City alone. Unemployed workers demonstrated in Boston, Chicago, and New York in the winter of 1873-74 demanding public work. In New York’s Tompkins Square in 1874, police entered the crowd with clubs and beat up thousands of men and women. The most violent strikes in American history followed the panic, including by the secret labor group known as the Molly Maguires in Pennsylvania’s coal fields in 1875, when masked workmen exchanged gunfire with the “Coal and Iron Police,” a private force commissioned by the state. A nationwide railroad strike followed in 1877, in which mobs destroyed railway hubs in Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Cumberland, Md. (Link)
Lehigh continues to fight racism in a reactionary cycle. Only when a terrible event occurs does the community respond. The response is mere lip-service to the event, only lasting long enough for students to forget. The events in 2008 will reappear in 2010 and 2012 and 2014 unless we — the whole Lehigh community — become proactive.
Will it take another Jeanne Clery for Lehigh to change? I hope not.
The Movement, a group of students at Lehigh who came together in 2005 in reaction to racist, sexist, and homophobic events on campus, is taking advantage of the current crisis at Lehigh: racist remarks towards black, female students in the wake of the historic election last week. I am a big supporter of taking advantage of crises to further the goals the group, kind of like Obama’s new Chief of Staff: “never let a good crisis go to waste.” However, the original goals of the Movement have been skewed over the past few years. The current Movement does not put the elimination of racist, sexist, and homophobic remarks as priority number one, but instead only cares about self-preservation. The Movement has had a difficult time recruiting: in the absence of terrible, public remarks on campus, students do not feel the urge to participate in the Movement on a regular basis. Now in a time of crisis, rooms are flooded with support from campus. But instead of tackeling the hard issues (e.g., pointing out the hypocrisy of some of the fraternity men in the room who, on the one hand, are in support of the elimination of racist remarks on campus but, on the other hand, still hold sexist parties on the weekend), the Movement wants to simply retain membership.
Deep thought: when self preservation is goal number one, the group becomes as useless as the actions they decry.
The reaction to the historic campaign on Tuesday at Lehigh was not positive. It should be understood that Lehigh is a deeply conservative institution. Case and point: in 1936 almost 70% of students’ parents voted for Alf Landon, the republican candidate who ran against FDR. He only earned 37% of the popular vote and 8 electoral votes. Now this: Lehigh students react against Obama supporters in what the President calls racists acts. Below is the letter from Lehigh’s President, Alice Gast, informing the community about the incidents.
Members of the Campus Community,
There have been several reports of racist and hateful comments directed at some of our students in the aftermath of the presidential election. I met with a group of students this morning and was disturbed to learn that some feel unwelcome and unsafe on their own campus.
This cannot be tolerated. We must come together as a campus community to demonstrate that the hateful and ignorant actions of a few will not be allowed to hurt or intimidate our students or anyone else.
I thank the students who brought these incidents to light, and urge anyone who has information about these or similar incidents to contact the Dean of Students Office, Lehigh University Police, the Council on Equity and Community (chaired by Professor Michael Raposa and Carolina Hernandez), or any university administrator or faculty member. The identity of anyone who reports such behavior will be kept confidential.
Each reported incident is being actively investigated. I assure you that anyone found responsible for these hateful acts will be charged with the appropriate criminal offense and referred to the University student judicial system with a recommendation for suspension or expulsion.
I am deeply saddened by the incidents that have been reported to me. They are a threat to the individual and our entire community. Rather than celebrating a landmark event in American history, we are addressing hateful acts of racism and ignorance.
We each have an individual responsibility to stand up for fellow community members who feel threatened. Our community must come together and create an environment where such behavior is not tolerated. Moments of adversity provide opportunities for change. We must resolve to affirm that such behavior is abhorrent at Lehigh and is unacceptable.
There will be a town hall meeting at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 11 in the Perella Auditorium in the Rauch Business Center, as well as additional events and actions to address these incidents and to allow us to show each other what we value as a community. I urge you to take an active role.
Sincerely,
Alice P. Gat
Lehigh University President
It took him 21 months to perfect, and he nailed it last night. Most importantly, it wasn’t a speech to gloat, or simply celebrate his victory. It was a speech that was humble, somber, and burdened the responsibility for moving beyond the Bush years. It was a speech that looked forward in cautious, optimistic, and pragmatic terms.
I have supported Obama for four years. After his 2004 convention speech, I even made a T-Shirt in support of an Obama presidency. Last night was a true, long-awaited celebration for me. But today, right now, we all must begin to hold Obama accountable. Although I was an avid supported of Obama for the last four years, I will now be a careful critic. The long election made me believe. Yes We Can. Now its time for action. In four years I want to say, “Yes We Did.”
Will Brehm, a recent graduate of Lehigh University with a B.A. in International Relations, is actively involved in social justice issues on campus through his work in multiple student organizations. Aside from his work on campus, Brehm teaches a summer English course in Taipei, Taiwan, and serves as a Representative for Youth Challenge (Singapore) at the United Nations. He currently attends Lehigh University as a graduate student working on a Master's of Education in Comparative and International Education.
