To the Editor: If not now, when? The United States is the only industrialized nation in the world not to provide health coverage to all of its citizens. Don't be fooled -- it's not because we don't need it. According to the World Health Organization, the United States ranks 37th in overall health system performance. These are not statistics belonging to a system that is fine as is. The need for a national health-care plan, a Medicare-for-all, is clear, not only to the 45 million uninsured in our country, but also to medical students and physicians. Though the need is apparent, the candidates are doing nothing. We are currently faced with the largest budget surplus in history, yet we cannot find the money for a universal health care plan? If not now, when? As a medical student, I demand action be taken so I am able to practice in a system where I spend my time treating patients rather than battling with managed-care plans. The people of this country deserve better.
Alexa Edwards Medicine '04
Election Day blues
To the Editor: I am writing to express my disbelief at the scene I encountered at the DRL polling site this Election Day. When election volunteers arrived at the site that morning, they found the doors locked. As it turns out, they would not be let in until after 7 a.m., the mandated time for polls around the state to be open to the voting public. Voters who arrived within that first hour stood by while the volunteers rushed to get the booths open. Those who were not able to wait for that amount of time, like myself, had to walk away with votes uncast. I would hope that in future elections, whoever is responsible for the DRL polling site would make every attempt to facilitate the process. Of course, there is a slim chance that a race this close in which every Pennsylvanian's vote is of such importance will occur in the near future.Jennifer Tosti Wharton '00
Don't slander students
To the Editor: I cannot fathom what motivated you to print malicious lies about me and other students in the "Cultural Elite" section of 34th Street magazine. As a student leader, I have grown to expect and welcome humor and criticism from our University's publications. Mocking the Undergraduate Assembly chairman comes with the territory. But how sad it is for you to stoop to the level of slander by inventing harmful and untrue tales about some of the hardest-working students on our campus. I do not know a single person on the 34th Street editorial board. How can you claim to know a thing about my personal life? Anyone who does know me can tell you that your comments are nothing more than spurious lies. It's a good thing the Undergraduate Assembly was able to get new paper-recycling bins on campus. I know where my copy of 34th Street will be going for the remainder of my tenure at the University.Michael Bassik College '01
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