EXCELS ORv ROOSEVELT INSTITUTE @ GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY Issue 3 // 2015
Copyright Notice Permitted Uses; Restriction on Use Materials available in this publication are protected by copyright law and have been published by the Roosevelt Institute @ Georgetown University, a chapter member of the Roosevelt Institute. Copyright Š 2015 Roosevelt Institute @ Georgetown University Think Tank All rights reserved. No part of the materials including graphics or logos, available in this publication may be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, or reduced to any electronic medium or machine-readable form, in whole or in part, without specific permission. To request permission to use materials, please contact our editorial team at gu.roosevelt@gmail.com. Distribution for commercial purposes is prohibited unless prior agreed upon with the Roosevelt Institute @ Georgetown University. Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in the articles that form this publication are those of their respective authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of Georgetown University. The authors of the articles retain full rights of their writings and are free to disseminate them as they see fit, including but not limited to reproductions in print and websites. Roosevelt Institute @ Georgetown University does not endorse, warrant, or otherwise take responsibility for the contents of the articles.
Katie LaScaleia editor-in-chief // 2014-2015
Letter from the editor As the finished product of Roosevelt @ Georgetown’s third and newest edition of EXCELSIOR emerges, I continue to be amazed and inspired: not only that someone who considered herself technologically inept managed to cobble this journal together, but also because the policy pieces within these pages have been authored with the amount of passion and thoughtfulness and hardwork that can be channelled to bring about meaningful, lasting change in our world. With an increased emphasis on translating policy to action in the coming year, Roosevelt @ Georgetown will undoubtedly be a powerful catalyst for change driven by the committed and conscientious students with whom I have had the pleasure of working over the past few months and whose thoughts are published in this EXCELSIOR journal. Some thank yous are certainly in order: to the incredible team of Anashua Dutta and Anna Nesterova for their tireless work designing, interviewing, editing, and tracking down all the bits and pieces that go into a
journal like this one; to Robin for his expertise and reassuring guidance throughout this whole process; to the members of Roosevelt @ Georgetown for their contributions and patience as we sent them a million follow-up emails; and finally, to you, the reader, for your excitement to engage with the presented ideas and expand the important dialogue taking place on the pages. My editorial board’s role has been merely facilitating the presentation and distribution of these policy ideas, and this journal is simply a starting point to making these proposals a reality. I am enthusiastic about the coming year and eager to see these policies translated into action. Just remember: you read them here first.
Robin Go President // 2014-2015
A Word from the President “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Each semester, fifty to eighty passionate students choose to allow Roosevelt Institute @ Georgetown to be part of their college careers. Our members hail from different backgrounds and bring with them a wide array of interests that has and continues to astound me. A common thread, however, that seems to bind these disparate group of students is the willingness to form a particular habit. By devoting an hour or two a week to Roosevelt in their already busy schedules, our members choose to form a habit of believing two simple but important truths: that their voice matters and that a solution exists. Most of our members are becoming politically conscious at a time when wage inequality continues to rise, when racial and sexual discrimination continues to divide, and when climate change continues to be left unanswered. By themselves, these societal problems already seem insurmountable. Coalesce these issues together into one lifetime, however,
and these obstacles become unimaginable. Although not all of these policy pieces will be translated into reality, our members, in writing them, form a habit that acts as a prophylaxis to the dangerous intellectual calcification of cynicism and complacency. I am confident that when my members tackle these seemingly insurmountable problems in the very near future, they will not need a constant source of motivation to keep them on their feet, a fountain of inspiration to stave off self-defeat. They will continue to write and to advocate and to change for a simple reason: It’s just a habit. A big congratulations to Katie and her team for producing the third installment of EXCELSIOR Their indomitable commitment to the publication shines on every pica of each page. Thank you for celebrating three years of EXCELSIOR with us.
ENSE&DIPLOMACY IPLOMACYDEFENS
CYDEFENSE&DIPL SE&DIPLOMACY
Defense & Diplomacy
Fighting an enemy: The gunless threat to Ukraine’s existence Ukraine requires stringent anti-corruption assistance from Western countries to become a flourishing democratic and economically viable state. JOSEPH CIFRINO (COL ‘18)
"Y
ou don’t grease - you don’t ride.”1 This proverb describes the Ukrainian way of business, which features pervasive corruption as a common obstacle for law-abiding businesses. Ukraine ranked 142 out of 175 countries on Transparency International’s 2014 rankings of national corruption. The study reported that 34% of Ukrainians paid bribes in 2010, 93% agreed that corruption had not decreased from 2007, and 59% characterized their government’s response to its ongoing domestic crises as ineffective.2 Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Shortly after independence a class of “oligarchs,” wealthy men who entered politics and created informal systems of power and influence known as “the system,” emerged.3 4 The Soviet system left Ukraine grappling with leftover bureaucratic and regulatory systems mixed with economic troubles. These vestiges of the ancien regime allowed bureaucrats to selectively enforce regulations5 and, due to onerous government restrictions, promoted the rise of an underground economy recently estimated at 50% of GDP.6 Despite corruption’s growing prevalence, discourse surrounding Ukraine mainly focuses on Ukraine’s military campaign against eastern pro-Russian separatists or its economic collapse. The Ukrainian currency lost half its value against the dollar in 2014 and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) provided a $17.5 billion emergency loan package to Ukraine to avoid government default. The Ukrainian economy also contracted 7% in 2014.7 There will be no hope of a major economic recovery if corruption is not addressed as a root cause of the country’s financial woes.
Ukraine ranked 142 out of 175 countries on Transparency International’s 2014 corruption rankings. The country’s underground economy accounts for 50% of GDP. The Ukranian government has created an AntiCorruption Bureau, but needs Western support to resist entrenched opposing interests.
Ukrainian corruption exists in many forms, including bribes, misuse of state authority, tax extortion, and informal patronage networks that pad oligarchs’ pockets with state funds. Low-level bribery and tax extortion often target foreign firms and Ukrainian citizens.8 Oligarchs capitalize on legal loopholes and siphon billions of dollars from the state procurement budget through “competing” shell companies that close out all legitimate competitors and win state contracts at vastly inflated prices.9 Despite the 2010 passage of a law forcing the state to publicize its procurement contracts, corruption remains endemic.10 This system is only reinforced by a judiciary that has paradoxically grown more corrupt after legislation protecting its independence passed.11 Corruption erodes economic growth and widens social inequality while threatening the foundations of a democratic society as citizens lose faith in their government. To help Ukraine defend against Russia, the West must provide moral and financial support to bolster Ukraine’s economy and dissuade the corruption that weakens so many other post-Soviet nations. The West must support Ukraine’s territorial integrity against separatists and their Russian allies and work to achieve a lasting peace that will allow reform. 04
ANALYSIS Western nations must provide capital and technical expertise in greater quantities and focus on tackling corruption. Ukraine will remain impoverished and broken even without international conflict if this aid is not received. Western institutions should monitor Ukrainian corruption, prevent Western banks from storing the stolen money of thieves in Ukraine, and use currently ignored anti-laundering laws to recover and return Ukraine’s money. If the West truly desires to help Ukraine, it must expend great efforts now and in the future to kill the parasite that has lived within Ukraine’s government and citizenry for decades. Ukraine’s current government created a new Anti-Corruption Bureau to replace its ineffective predecessor and strengthened state laws that monitor officials’ spending and reduce procurement abuse.12 It has demonstrated commitment to reform through painful reductions in gas subsidies during an economic recession, in line with IMF conditions. These efforts, however, need Western backing to overpower the entrenched interests of the oligarchy.
“If the West truly desires to help Ukraine, it must expend great efforts now and in the future to kill the parasite that has lived within Ukraine’s government and citizenry for decades.” NEXT STEPS The West must vastly increase its assistance to Ukraine to help it fight corruption and regain its stolen wealth. Ukraine requires monetary and human assistance in the fields of anti-corruption, economic development, and military assistance to stem the advance of the separatists, whose rebellion saps reforms. Western banks must not be allowed to shelter the money of Ukrainian oligarchs and make recovery of these funds nearly impossible. While Western nations have rules that prevent laundered money from entering their banks, these rules are not enforced and allow the corrupt system in Eastern Europe to continue. Western nations must zealously use anti-laundering regulations such as the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative to stem the stream of laundered money leaving Ukraine.13 This policy could recover billions of dollars and reaffirm Western support of Ukraine.14 Going forward,
the West needs to exert itself in helping Ukraine purge itself of corruption and assist it in recovering its rightful wealth.
1
Taras Fedirko, “Corruption and ‘Rules of the Game’ in Ukrainian Economy,” Portal on
Central Eastern and Balkan Europe, 2013, accessed March 5, 2015, http://www.pecob.eu/corruption-ukraine
2
“Corruption by Country/Territory,” TransparencyInternational.com, accessed March 5, 2015, http://www.
transparency.org/country#UKR_Chapter 3
Lucan Way, “Pluralism by Default in Moldova,” Journal of Democracy 13 (2002): 1-89.
4
Fedirko, “Corruption and ‘Rules of the Game.’”
5 Ibid. 6
“Ukraine and Russia: Why is Ukraine’s Economy in Such a Mess?” The Economist (March 5, 2014). Accessed
March 9, 2015.
7
International Monetary Fund, (2014). IMF Annouces Staff-Level Agreement With Ukraine on a New US $17.5
billion Extended Fund Facility Arrangement [press release], Retrieved from http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/
pr/2015/pr1551.htm 8
Jamila Trindle, “Culture of Corruption”, Foreign Policy, April 3, 2014, http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/04/03/
culture-of-corruption/ 9
Oliver Bullough, “Looting Ukraine: How East and West Teamed Up to Steal a Country, ” Legatum Institute
Transitions Forum: Institute of Modern Russia (July 2014). Accessed 27 February 2015. http://www.li.com/docs/
default-source/publications/ukraine_imr_a4_web.pdf 10 Ibid. 11 Ibid. 12
“New Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Law Takes Effect Establishing a Public Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement
Bureau,” Akin Gump: Strauss Hauer and Feld LLP, January 29, 2015, http://cdn.akingump.com/
images/content/3/4/v2/34879/FCPA-Antibribery-Alert-New-Ukrainian-Anti-Corruption-Law-Takes.pdf 13
Bullough, “Looting Ukraine.”
14 Ibid. Image: Katie Hyland, COL ‘18
06
Defense & Diplomacy
Human rights crisis in North Korea: Protection and justice for female defectors In order to protect female North Korean defectors from facing torture when repatriated by Chinese authorities, the United Nations should label them as political refugees and prevent China from sending them back to North Korea. LYNN LEE (SFS ‘18)
N
orth Korea is a totalitarian state in which the supreme leader employs imprisonment, executions, and torture as state policies to maintain his power.1 The targets of these harsh punishments mainly consist of repatriated North Korean defectors.2 Repatriated females in particular are subject to sexual degradations. The prison guards not only rape them, but also force all women who have possibly been impregnated by non-Koreans to receive abortions, often performed without doctor’s supervision, in an attempt to preserve ethnic “purity.”3 Despite such human rights violations, the Chinese government labels North Korean defectors as “economic migrants”4 instead of refugees, and aids the Kim regime in transporting them back to North Korea.5 Without any legal protection or assistance, 90 percent of female defectors fall into the hands of traffickers who sell them to Chinese “husbands” or force them into prostitution.6 7 As the UN suggests, North Korean defectors should be treated as refugees.10 The UN General Assembly (GA) should pass a resolution that clearly defines all North Korean defectors as political refugees. Next, the Human Rights Council (HRC) should establish shelters near the North Korean-Chinese boarder in order to provide basic care to the defectors and to carry out the investigations suggested by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights (COI).9 ANALYSIS In response to his crimes against humanity, the UN COI has suggested referring Kim Jong Un to the International Criminal Court (ICC).10 However, this is not a feasible solution due to the UN’s inability to summon a state leader to the ICC. Therefore, the UN General Assembly should pass a
resolution recognizing North Korean defectors as political refugees. NEXT STEPS Action by the UN is justified and necessitated by the COI Report’s conclusion that North Korea is a totalitarian state that uses inhumane methods to secure power. Changing the legal status of North Korean defectors would force China to treat them in accordance with the 1951 Refugee Convention and thus grant them fundamental human rights and protections.11 If given these rights, defectors would be protected from human trafficking and could seek for asylum without fearing capture by the Chinese police. The United Nations General Assembly should immediately pass a resolution that defines North Korean defectors as political refugees escaping from the statewide persecution. The United Nations Human Rights Council should then work in tandem with South Korea’s Unification Department, Chinese law enforcement, and relevant non-governmental organizations to build shelters along the Sino-North Korean border. Governmental and non-governmental organizations should initiate advocacy and awareness events in order to secure monetary resources for the refugee shelters from donors.
China labels North Korean defectors as economic migrants and helps North Korea repatriate the defectors.12 Repatriated North Koreans face torture, forced labor, imprisonment, and possibly execution, and female defectors are further subject to rape, sexual degradation, and forced abortion.13
1
Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic people’s Republic of Korea (United
Nations document A/HRC/25/63, 2014), p. 270, para. 845, pp. 365, para. 1212.
2
Ibid, p. 317, para. 1011.
3
Ibid, p. 117 – 120, para. 415-422, p. 122, para. 426.
4
Ibid, p. 130, para. 447.
5
Ibid, p. 127, para. 435.
6
Ibid, p. 144, para. 491.
7
Kyla Ryan, “The Women Who Escape from North Korea,” The Diplomat, November 24, 2014,
http://thediplomat.com/2014/11/the-women-who-escape-from-north-korea/. 8
UN COI Report, p. 140, para. 473.
9
Ibid, p. 370 - 371, para 1225.
10
Ibid, p. 361, para. 1201.
11
UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Fact Sheet No. 20, Human Rights and
Refugees, July 1993, No. 20, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/4794773f0.html [accessed 2 December
2014], p. 4.
12
UN COI Report, p. 127, para. 435, p.130, para. 447.
13
Ibid, p. 117- 120, para. 415-422.
10
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT
Garrett Hinck
Tell me a little about yourself. Alright, I’m a freshman in the School of Foreign Service. I lived in Texas most of my life though I really wouldn’t consider myself from there. If people were to ask me, “what’s your home state?” I’d say I don’t know but I guess Texas is good enough. I’m someone who’s very interested in international affairs. I’m kind of a news junkie. I like to read Foreign Policy and The New York Times. I also like to read longer novels though in college I’ve kind of fallen off that wagon. Any favorite book? Favorite book? People always ask me that, and I’m never sure what to say. For a while it was Infinite Just by David Foster Wallace. Really good. The Stranger by Albert Camus is probably one of my favorite books as well. So what do you like do for fun? I like to watch movies, read, I like to play the video game Civilization 5 when I can, although hours and hours go into that because once you start a game, you have to finish a game. I really like Archer and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I like to push boundaries with movies—I guess it kinda started when I took a film class in high school and I got into more artsy-type, indie films. I like classics from the past as well, I like the idea of being literate in films. It really is a kind of literature I think. In your opinion then, what’s one movie you think everyone should watch? Pulp Fiction—it’s a classic. Describe your idea of the worst icebreaker. Tell us your most embarrassing moment. It makes everyone uncomfortable. There are some people who like that, who like being the center of attention but that’s not me, because then you have to choose something that’s not actually your most embarrassing moment, but something acceptable. So you mentioned you’re from Texas - what do you miss the most about it? Non-Texans don’t really know this, but there’s a fast food chain called Whataburger, pronounced water-burger, that makes this really delicious food. They have these things called honey butter chicken biscuits—it’s like a piece of fried chicken with honey butter on it and two biscuits. It’s a very southern thing. It’s really good. I also miss barbeque and ribs—can’t get that here. Also, good Texmex. People say, “oh, Chipotle is great”, but it’s not good food. It’s just not. If people say they like Taco Bell, I’d just like to take this opportunity to tell them that they are wrong.
12
Why did you come to Georgetown? So many things. I love being in DC and the School of Foreign Service itself is great. Sometimes I just geek out by looking at all of the classes I can take here. I also like the character of the school—it’s not just one thing, there’s a lot of different aspects to it. And why did you decide to join GURI? I hadn’t heard of it before I came here. I thought it was a really interesting thing to be involved in. When you try to get involved as a young person in politics, often it’s volunteering or interning where you’re never going to do something substantive or deal with any interesting issues. In GURI, you get to choose what you’re interested in and do your own research and actually write policy. I also really like the focus on trying to promote policy as well. What are you involved in besides GURI? I’m a member of the Philodemic Society which is a great group of people—it’s a really fun place to do debate. I also write for The Georgetown Heckler and I’m a member of the Secular Student Alliance. Favorite piece you’ve written for the Heckler so far. I’d have to choose between “Hoya Flies to China to Teach Locals the Importance of Energy Conservation” and “Junior Asks for Midterm Extension due to Crop Failures.” Where’d you get the idea for that one? I always like the idea of people making up these bizarre excuses to miss midterms like “my great-aunt second-twice-removed died and I have to go to the funeral” or “something crazy happened that I think is the sign of the impending apocalypse.” That one was really fun to write because I got to use a lot of biblical imagery. I really like to blend a mystical sense of the occult with sort of everyday occurrences. With the Heckler, it’s more about the headline because that’s the idea for the article. If you write a really good headline, the story kind of writes itself. Now about your policy piece that argued for a shift in government focus from biodefense to biosecurity: what prompted your interest in this field? Last summer, I was really interested in these emerging diseases, particularly Ebola due to the outbreak. I actually wrote a paper criticizing an article about US security policy involving Ebola for my International Relations class last semester. That prompted me to do a bit more reading which all seemed to indicate that we’re spending a lot of money on these very specific programs designed to
combat very exotic diseases—like anthrax, even Ebola, smallpox—and their possible use as weapons , which is very unlikely. It’s actually detrimental because it now encourages the creation of all these different high security labs and there are a lot more chances for the disease to leak out accidentally or even to be stolen. Just to clarify, you aren’t calling for a complete halt in research into rarer, advanced biological agents? No, absolutely not. I just think the focus needs to be on our own security in terms of these labs. The research should be targeted in proportion to the threat. And I think very vivid portrayals of a vile weapon attack, which is very very unlikely, cause this kind of panic. If we actually prioritized spending on natural diseases like the flu or something like that, then it’s much more effective—bigger bang for your buck. What do you think is the most pressing current events issue? The conflagration of conflict in the Middle East that’s drawing a lot of the world’s attention and a lot of the world’s resources that, in a way, has unbalanced strategic commitments around the world. The United States is putting a lot of resources into defending against and defeating ISIS. We’re involved in Yemen and in Libya, in the peace process in Israel, and in nuclear talks with Iran—we put a lot of our focus on that region and then we keep getting blindsided by events in other regions, like Russia and China and the Senkaku Islands. It’s also taken a lot of resources and effort away from ongoing issues, like climate change. I think the challenge is, how do we articulate a strategic vision? Where is the United States’ place in the world? David Rothkopf, the editor of Foreign Policy, always harps on that—the United States’ lack of a strategic vision. We respond to things as they happen but we’re never proactive—it’s always a response.
ANASHUA DUTTA ROBIN GO 14
Defense & Diplomacy
Rethinking biodefense: Shifting towards biosecurity The U.S. biodefense program has encouraged the proliferation of labs researching high-containment biological agents, increasing the possibility of an accident or a malicious incident. Many of these labs should be placed under federal oversight or redirected towards less dangerous research. Federal funding should be channeled instead to public health research. GARRETT HINCK (SFS ‘18)
A
fter the attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the anthrax scare that followed, policymakers focused on preventing terrorist groups from acquiring biological weapons. In 2004, Congress passed the Project BioShield Act, providing billions of dollars in funding directed to countermeasures for bioweapons agents.1 Since 9/11, the American government spent over $55 billion on new “biosecurity” research and the building of high-level BioSafety labs to develop new countermeasures
against advanced bioweapons.2 The number of BioSafety Level-4 (BSL-4) labs, which work with highly dangerous agents, including smallpox and hemorrhagic fevers, has tripled from 5 in 2001 to 15 today. The number of BSL-3 labs dealing with “select agents” – substances such as tularemia and anthrax– is now at 1356.3 No single federal agency has oversight over these labs, and private entities run many of them. With the proliferation of dangerous substances the chances of an accident or misuse have multiplied. In light of a recent incident in which an unsecured vial of smallpox virus was discovered at the NIH, it is clear these agents are not always handled safely.4 The U.S. research program into dangerous, genetically modified bioweapons has lacked oversight and diminished overall security. The U.S. government should redirect its biodefense policy towards biosecurity. BSL-4 labs not managed by the federal government should either be closed or repurposed to focus on less dangerous pathogens that infect large populations, such as antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis. Portions of funding currently earmarked for research into defense against technically advanced, genetically modified biological agents should be redirected towards research into combatting naturally occurring infectious diseases. A new regulatory agency should be created to oversee research and labs dealing with dangerous biological agents. ANALYSIS
There is no single federal agency regulating research into dangerous, highly infectious biological agents such as Ebola, smallpox, and anthrax. Of the $60 billion the United States has spent since 9/11 on biodefense, only 2% has gone into laboratory safety and basic security upgrades.8 Before 1990, there were only two BSL-4 facilities in the United States. There are now fifteen, with six outside the control of the federal government.9
Despite the doomsday prognostications of many leading officials, the risk of a bioterrorism attack is extremely unlikely. Jessica Stern argues that government officials have overreacted due to the vividly horrific consequences of a bioterrorism attack, despite its low probability.5 Currently, thousands of individuals work in BSL-4 and BSL3 labs. Putting all BSL-4 labs under federal control would reduce the likelihood of these individuals accidentally or deliberately misusing dangerous agents through uniform, strict protocols. Even though the NIH conducted an investigation of its facilities after the smallpox incident, they did not challenge the fundamental basis of the U.S. biodefense program.6 Only a thorough revision of U.S. policy will address these deep issues. Direct oversight with a clear focus on safety is essential to solving these problems. Research into aerosolized compounds, novel agent delivery, and genetic engineering of bioweapons, all of which have been conducted by the BioThreat Characterization Center, 16
should be stopped.7 A new regulatory agency governing research into dangerous agents would make the process transparent and nonthreatening to other nations. The redirection of funds towards infectious disease research will better enable the researchers to develop new vaccines for viruses such as Ebola and prepare for a naturally-occurring disease outbreaks.
“Putting all BSL-4 labs under federal control would reduce the likelihood of these individuals accidentally or deliberately misusing dangerous agents through uniform, strict protocols.� NEXT STEPS Congress should rewrite the Project BioShield Act to redirect NIH and CDC funding towards research into preventing natural infectious disease outbreaks. President Obama should issue an executive order for a comprehensive review of the safety practices of all federally managed BSL-4 and BSL-3 labs. Ultimately, Congress and the President should pass and sign into law a bill creating a new regulatory agency governing research into highly dangerous biological agents.
1
Lynn C. Klotz and Edward J. Sylvester, Breeding BioInsecurity: How U.S. Biodefense is
Exporting Fear, Globalizing Risk, and Making Us All Less Secure (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009), 84.
2
Andrew Thibedeau, “Book Review: Breeding BioInsecurity and Germs Gone Wild,” Council for Responsible
Genetics. 3
Keith Rhodes, United States Government Accountability Office “High Containment Biosafety Laboratories:
Preliminary Observations on the Oversight of the Proliferation of BSL-3 and BSL-4 in the United States”
(testimony before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Energy and Commerce,
House of Representatives, Washington D.C. October 4, 2007).
4
Jen Christensen, “CDC: Smallpox found in NIH storage room is alive,” CNN.com, July 11, 2014.
5
Jessica Stern, “Dreaded Risks and the Control of Biological Weapons,” International Security 27 (2002): 106.
6
Lauren Neergaard, Associated Press, “Forgotten vials of ricin, smallpox and plague uncovered in NIH labs review,
PBS, September 5, 2014.
7
Ibid, 90.
8
Gregory D. Koblentz, “From biodefence to biosecurity: the Obama adminstration’s strategy for countering
biological threats,” International Affairs 88 (2012).
9
Rhodes, “High Containment.”
Image: Katie Hyland, COL ‘18
18
Defense & Diplomacy
Israel-Egypt cooperation: Improving Gazan livelihoods
ALBERT ZENG (SFS ‘18) & ALEC PHARRIS (SFS ‘18)
The recent upswing in Israel-Egypt relations should be used to create an Israeli-funded and Egyptian-run construction program in the Gaza Strip. The purpose of the new Gaza Reconstruction Project (GRP) would be to promote prosperity and economic development while rooting out corruption endemic to the United Nations Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism.
F
ew in the Gaza Strip can remember a time without war and conflict. Israel’s War of Independence in 1948—also known as the nakba (catastrophe) by Palestinians—marked the beginning of decades of territorial disputes, one of which included the controversy over the status of the Gaza Strip. The general welfare of Gazans deteriorated in later decades and Hamas, the more radical arm of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), grew in political influence. Following the 2005 withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and Hamas’s military occupation of the same area in 2007, Israel’s government instituted a blockade of the Gaza Strip. Officially, the blockade aims to keep weapons and material from falling into the hands of Hamas. This measure has turned Gaza into one of the poorest regions in the world. Often described as an open-air prison, the Gaza Strip is home to 1.8 million people living in an area the size of Washington D.C.1 Approximately 21% of Gazans live in abject poverty and do not have reliable access to medical care.2 The long-standing economic deprivation, historical persecution, and political struggles of inhabitants of the Gaza Strip create a seemingly insuperable status quo that has led many Gazans to join Hamas and other radical groups. Since the 2013 military coup d’état that removed Egyptian President and Muslim Brotherhood member Mohamed Morsi and the presidential election of former military chief Abdel Fateh el-Sisi, Israel and Egypt have experienced a strong and sustained growth in their political relationship. Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel and President el-Sisi of Egypt have created a number of defense agreements, leading to the destruction of thousands of Hamas-built tunnels on the borders of the
Gaza Strip. The increased cooperation between Israel and Egypt is driven by a shared desire for regional stability. Egypt is combatting terror groups in the Sinai Peninsula who receive support from the Gaza Strip. For reasons of self-defense and humanitarian concerns, Israel seeks to develop the Gaza Strip with the caveat that Hamas does not benefit from its aid. ANALYSIS The Gaza Reconstruction Program (GRP) is an envisioned construction agreement addresses the desperate plight of the Gazans and capitalizes on the current softening in Israeli-Egyptian relations. This plans proposes that Egyptian construction crews work with Israeli-provided materials to create new large-scale public facilities in the Gaza Strip. There have been two other major programs implemented that bear some resemblance to the GRP: the United Nation’s GRM and a more recent program by Qatar to construct a thousand houses using local work crews. The UN’s GRM program was designed with Israel, Hamas, and the Palestinian Authority (PA) after the 2014 Israel-Gaza war. The program consists of PA-led works on large-scale projects and UN-led works on basic shelter and amenities.3 However, the GRM has suffered from substantial corruption and Palestinian political infighting. These obstacles have delayed achievement of the program’s goals, the most notable category of which is the PA large-scale works.4 Though Hamas agreed to enable PA security forces and work crews to construct their large-scale projects, the group has balked at this provision for its surrender of some political control to PA forces. The new GRP will focus on constructing these large-scale works in a timely fashion. Another flaw of the old GRP is its inability to stem the blackmarket sales of UN-subsidized concrete to Hamas from Gazan homeowners, who received the material as part of the UN program.5 For people surviving from day-to-day, immediate money for food and medicine is worth far more than a home that may be destroyed in the future. Due to worries about corruption, GRM donors have only provided a small portion of the $5.4 billion in funding pledged to the program.6 In contrast, the Qatari program has enjoyed near full implementation because it is effectively able to monitor Gazan construction crews while they build new homes.7 It is a much more direct initiative that does not require significant
The UN states that there is a shortage of 70,000 households in Gaza, and even more after the 2014 war.10 Over 700 tunnels were destroyed in 2013 by Egyptian forces, and the ones that are left are mainly used to transport construction materiel and fuel.11 Egypt has a 29% youth unemployment rate and plans to rejuvenate its construction industry by expanding the Suez Canal and building a new capital city.12 Only a small portion of the $5.4 billion of donor aid for reconstruction in the Gaza Strip has actually been provided.13
20
agreement between the PA and Hamas. The proposed GRP follows this example by directly utilizing Egyptian work crews and by only requiring a safety guarantee from Hamas. NEXT STEPS The GRP is a political compromise requiring sacrifices from the Gazans, Egyptians, and Israelis. Egypt’s 29% youth unemployment rate could be alleviated by employment of its construction companies.8 Using only Egyptian work crews decreases the likelihood of materials being diverted or misused as the Egyptians would have little knowledge of the local black market and would be paid by their construction progress. As an act of support for the GRP, Israel would need to provide the lion’s share of funding in the form of construction materials. Israel would benefit by knowing that only construction materials are being transported into the Gaza Strip. Though Israel is hesitant to provide aid to the Hamascontrolled Gaza Strip, it has already devoted extensive development funds for the UN’s GRM. With success, Israeli funds for the GRM can be transferred to the GRP. The seemingly simplest part of the compromise, and perhaps the most difficult to achieve, would be attaining dual Palestinian Authority and Hamas backing for the plan. Diverse Palestinian political support would give legitimacy to the agreement and enable the construction crews to work more or less in safety. An agreement between the PA and Hamas is possible as shown in the UN’s GRM program. The GRP program’s design attempts to work around the power struggle of Hamas and Fatah by circumventing the fractious Palestinian base and using Egyptian work crews. The proposed GRP plan draws its strength from direct utilization of construction materials for public project construction, avoidance of entanglements in the Palestinian power-struggle, and from its recognition of political realities. It understands that Hamas desires to rebuild Gaza, Israel desires to stabilize the region, and Egypt desires to weaken Sinai Peninsula groups. The proposed GRP, which will be at least as large as the Qatari program, will likely cost close to $400 million. The funding would provide for new hospitals, badly needed utility sites, and schools. The GRP will affect nearly all Gazans by improving their healthcare system, fixing their constant utility issues, and increasing their access to safe education. The $1.6 billion in aid provided after the 2009 IsraelGaza conflict added almost 3% to Gaza’s GDP.9 Though the GDP effect of GRP will not be as large, the humanitarian benefits will be strong. The GRP offers humanitarian and security benefits to all parties involved and promises substantial progress on an intractable global issue. Yet, the real long-term progress will have to occur in the Gaza Strip. Gaza Strip’s neighbors have no obligation to care for Palestinians if Palestine’s leaders are not willing to compromise and care for their own citizens.
1
“How Israel is turning Gaza into a super-max prison,” Jonathan Cook, accessed March 17, 2015, http://www.
thenational.ae/opinion/comment/how-israel-is-turning-gaza-into-a-super-max-prison. 2
“Life in the Gaza Strip,” British Broadcasting Corporation, accessed March 17, 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/
world-middle-east-20415675. 3
“Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism,” Office of the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process,
accessed March 17, 2015, http://www.unsco.org/Gaza%20Reconstruction%20Mechanism%20Fact%20Sheet%20
9%20October%202014.pdf. 4
“Gaza Reconstruction Stalled by Fatah-Hamas Deadlock,” Neri Zilber, accessed March 17, 2015, http://www.
washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/gaza-reconstruction-stalled-by-fatah-hamas-deadlock. 5
“Corruption hampers effort to rebuild Gaza after summer conflict,” Peter Beaumont, accessed March 17, 2015,
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/25/corruption-hampers-effort-to-rebuild-gaza. 6
“Blaming Israel for Gaza’s reconstruction delays is willful ignorance,” Daniel Taub, accessed March 17, 2015,
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/06/blaming-israel-gaza-reconstruction-ignorance-
palestinian. 7
“Qatar Starts Project to Rebuild Homes Hit by War in Gaza Strip,” Majid Al Waheidi, accessed March 17, 2015,
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/11/world/middleeast/qatar-starts-project-to-rebuild-homes-hit-by-war-in-gaza- strip.html?_r=1&gwh=62073667F1318463540D81ADD2451CF0&gwt=pay. 8
“Youth employment rises to 29% in 2014: CAPMAS,” The Cairo Post, accessed March 17, 2015, http://www.
thecairopost.com/news/121714/news/youth-unemployment-rises-to-29-in-2014-capmas. 9
Hakeem Etalla & Luc Hens, “The Economic Impact of Donor Aid to Reconstruct Gaza” (paper presented at the
GARNET Conference “The European Union in International Affairs,” Brussels, Belgium, April 22-24, 2010).
10
“Life in the Gaza Strip.”
11 Ibid. 12
Youth Unemployment Rises to 29% in 2014: CAPMAS.”
13
“Qatar Starts Project to Rebuild Homes Hit by War in Gaza Strip.”
22
Defense & Diplomacy
Popular election of the U.S. delegate to the U.N. The United States’ delegate to the United Nations should be determined by popular election rather than appointment, in order to strengthen international governance in an increasingly globalized age. CLARK ORR (SFS ‘18)
I
nternational politics, dominated and governed by individual states since the 1648 onset of the Westphalian system, is being reshaped by the forces of globalization. In almost all aspects of global society, national borders and allegiances are losing their relevance. Security, economics, the environment, human rights, and myriad number of other areas of political concern can no longer be debated solely on the national level. Accordingly, states are unable to solve some of the most pressing challenges they face today by acting independently of one another. Climate change, population growth, human rights, peace and security, and economic inequality and development pose challenges that must be solved on the global scale, yet governance has failed to keep pace with societal changes. Without a change in international institutions, the global community cannot move forward toward effective solutions for the most pressing contemporary issues. The United Nations resembles a confederation of state governments more than a true, representative, global governance. Delegates to the U.N. General Assembly, who constitute the U.N.’s primary deliberative body, are appointed by heads of state rather than by popular election of each state’s populace. As a result, the U.N. functions as an assembly of state governments which deliberates based on national interests and considers issues primarily on a state-centric level. Even delegates from democratic nations such as the United States are appointees selected by officials who win national elections focusing on national issues. As the highest election in which the American people vote is for national office, American political engagement centers on national interests and issues.1 With little opportunity or incentive to consider international politics, the public remains disengaged from international issues and increasingly unwilling to support U.S. cooperation with the United Nations.2 The people they elect reflect this disengagement.
This popular disregard for global issues, which are in fact some of the greatest difficulties the U.S. faces, contributes greatly to the failure of the U.S. to engage effectively with international challenges. ANALYSIS In response to the pressing need for engagement in global affairs, the U.S. should elect, rather than appoint, its delegate to the United Nations. A popular election of the U.S. delegate to the U.N. would require the American people to consider issues on a global level which would address the crucial need for public engagement in global affairs. The U.S. delegate would no longer be beholden to state-level officials, allowing him or her to represent the interests of the people directly. Because the interests of the people are clearly best served by productive American engagement in global affairs, a popularly elected U.N. delegate would result in more effective and beneficial U.S. foreign policy. Historically, the U.S. has disregarded and even opposed many international agreements that would benefit the populace, such as the Kyoto Protocol (capping carbon emissions)3 and the International Criminal Court (prosecuting war criminals and human rights violators).4 Public disengagement in international affairs has allowed U.S. national officials to flout the U.N. but an independently-elected U.N. representative would increase accountability for national officials. Furthermore, increased public engagement in international affairs would affect U.S. federal elections and force a more internationally focused and engaged political agenda. The European Union provides a compelling example of the relationship between democratization and public engagement. This regional international organization is more established and democratized than the United Nations, a global international organization, and can serve as a case-study for the United Nations. Members of the European Parliament are popularly elected, which requires voters of different nationalities to engage in European affairs. Scholars contend that popular engagement in panEuropean affairs, and the formation of a European identity, are directly related to the democratization of the European Union. This relationship between democratization and public engagement in the regional example of the European Union, applies to the U.S. delegate to the U.N. If the delegate were elected popularly, the public engagement
According to a Pew survey, 76% of Americans believe we should not think so much in international terms, but focus more on our own national problems. Some of the most pressing challenges we face today - peace and security, climate change, population growth, human rights, economic development, etc. - must be solved on the global scale. A popular election for the U.S. delegate to the U.N. would increase Americans’ engagement in international affairs, and improve American foreign policy.
24
in international affairs would rise.
“With little opportunity or incentive to consider international politics, the public remains disengaged from international issues and increasingly unwilling to support U.S. cooperation with the United Nations.� NEXT STEPS The debate on changing the method of selection for the U.S. delegate to the U.N. from appointment to popular election would likely originate in the Senate Foreign Service Committee, specifically in the Subcommittee on International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International Economic, Energy, and Environmental Policy.6 Some may argue that the U.S. populace is too ignorant of international affairs to elect its delegate to the United Nations. Though public ignorance of international affairs will remain problematic in the short-term, this difficulty would solve itself as the public becomes more interested in and informed about global politics. Once the U.S. institutes a popular election for its delegate to the U.N. General Assembly, it should begin to pressure other nations to do the same to strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the United Nations. Furthermore, if the U.S. pressures other nations to elect their U.N. delegates, this policy could foreseeably act as a conduit for spreading and strengthening democracy across globe.
1
Kohut, Andrew. “American International Engagement on the Rocks.” Pew Research Center. Published July 11,
2013. http://www.pewglobal.org/2013/07/11/american-international-engagement-on-the-rocks/.
2 Ibid. 3
“Status of the Ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.” United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/status_of_ratification/items/2613.php.
4
“US Opposition to the International Criminal Court” Global Policy Forum. https://www.globalpolicy.org/us-un-
and-international-law-8-24/us-opposition-to-the-icc-8-29.html. 5
De Beus, Jos. “Quasi-National European Identity and European Democracy.” Law and Philosophy. 20, No. 3.
(2001): 288.
6
“Subcommittees.” United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. http://www.foreign.senate.gov/about/
subcommittees/.
26
Defense & Diplomacy
More scholars, not soldiers: Rethinking cultural diplomacy
GARRETT HINCK (SFS ‘18) & ALEXANDRA WEISSMAN (SFS ‘18)
The U.S. should reinvigorate its cultural diplomacy plans by expanding the Fulbright program, emphasizing cultural exchange, and revitalizing its public diplomacy efforts to bolster its soft power and influence around the world.
S
ince the end of the Cold War, U.S. cultural and public diplomacy programs have suffered from budget cuts; relegated to the back burner, while military operations have poisoned public perceptions of America abroad. Critical tools in cultivating a favorable public image, such as exchange programs, cultural centers, and public broadcasting, currently remain either altogether absent in allied countries or drastically scaled back. The chief victim of this new policy is the world-renowned Fulbright Program, one of the most valuable American policy tools for fostering cultural exchange, understanding, and education. The Fulbright Program scholarship program provides US students and researchers from across the country with grants to study, teach, and conduct research in over 160 countries;1 since its inception, it has funded over 360,000 Americans2 and produced 53 Nobel Prize winners, 29 MacArthur Foundation Fellows, 80 winners of the Pulitzer Prize, 30 individuals who have served as a head of state of government, and a man who walked the moon.3 However, in 2014 Congress cut Fulbright’s budget by over $30 million or 13 percent, from $234.7 to $204.2 million.4 The program constitutes less than 1 percent of U.S. budget requests for foreign aid assistance, and 49 other countries share the costs of their individual programs with the U.S.5 As Congress cuts funding to one of the flagship programs of America’s cultural exchange system, the lack of a central agency directing cultural affairs, such as a ministry of culture, has become starkly apparent.6 All items and programs relating to culture go through the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), which oversees the Fulbright Program. Moreover, the ECA is responsible for numerous exchange programs, cultural diplomacy and, most importantly, the promotion of mutual understanding abroad.7 However, the ECA can only
allocate funds to not only a certain number of programs, but also only to a certain pedigree of programs, like the Fulbright Program - a purely international program. Opportunities for enhancing national culture and outreach are left in the lurch as the resources needed for these endeavors are disparate, underfunded, and uncoordinated. In the past, U.S. outreach highly valued public diplomacy. During the Cold War, the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) managed Voice of America, a broadcasting service that sent American news and cultural messages around the world, including to Soviet occupied Eastern Europe through Radio Free Europe.8 Yet at the end of the Cold War, cultural diplomacy programs were gradually cut back. The USIA was folded into the ECA, Foreign Service positions were cut and American Centers abroad were closed in a move to reduce personnel and person-to-person contact in favor of electronic communication.9 United States foreign policy staples like person-to-person diplomacy, regional specialists, and scholarship exchange programs have been eclipsed almost entirely by US military adventures abroad. ANALYSIS
Decreased emphasis on cultural diplomacy since the end of the Cold War has forfeited America’s soft power and influence around the world. Funding international exchange programs, especially in nontraditional locations, would improve the U.S.’s image overseas, engage the American public in global issues, and increase national security.
Scholar Joseph Nye is most famous for his doctrine of “smart power”—the effective combination of hard and soft power. Today, it seems that while we possess overwhelming hard (military) power, the United States’ soft power has become startlingly deficient. In his article “Public Diplomacy and Soft Power,” Nye argues that since the end of the Cold War, American public diplomacy has failed to foster the kind of goodwill necessary for success abroad. Moreover, in her testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee in 2013, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton argued that, “Our Broadcasting Board of Governors [the overseer of the VOA] is practically defunct in terms of its capacity to be able to tell a message around the world. So we’re abdicating the ideological arena, and we need to get back into it.”10 For example, before September 11, 2001, only 2 percent of the Arab world was listening to Voice of America compared to the 70-80 percent who were listening in Eastern Europe during the peak of the Cold War. This statistic shows the miniscule impact of contemporary American public broadcasting on public opinion.11 While radio may have a small relevance to contemporary life, the changing nature of technology does not mean the U.S. should abdicate its role as a beacon of 28
hope, freedom, and excellence in scholarship around the world. Given the allure of poisonous ideologies like those espoused by ISIL, the United States must increase its efforts to spread its narrative and win hearts and minds abroad; It is imperative that the United States reinvigorate programs such as Voice of America, the Fulbright Program, and cultural exchange programs that harnessed the great sway of American culture. Cultural exchange and engagement with the world not only increases support for the United States abroad, but also cultivate a more knowledgeable and engaged American public. The opportunities to study and work abroad should be made available to the best students in the United States; the students who represent our nation’s ideals of hard work and understanding through dialogue and education, not only the ones who can afford it. Knowing more about the world can only better future diplomats, government officials, civic leaders, and businesspeople. Senator Fulbright’s reflection on his program expresses this sentiment: “Fostering these--leadership, learning, and empathy between cultures--was and remains the purpose of the international scholarship program that I was privileged to sponsor in the U.S. Senate over forty years ago. It is a modest program with an immodest aim--the achievement in international affairs of a regime more civilized, rational and humane than the empty system of power of the past. I believed in that possibility when I began. I still do.”12 NEXT STEPS In light of the massive benefits of exchange programs, the US Congress should increase the budget of the Fulbright Program by $100 million, restoring the cut funds and expanding its reach, with further budget raises in the future. The increased funds should be used to send students and researchers to less traditional destinations, such as China, India, Ethiopia, and Peru. The Broadcasting Board of Governors should receive a mandate from the U.S. Congress to develop an expanded vision for Voice of America that reinvigorates its outreach, especially in the Islamic world, through an online publication and social media outreach. Efforts should be made to broadcast to remote areas; its budget should be increased by $50 million to allow it to refocus on promoting US values and culture. Finally, within the State Department, a new undersecretary position should be created for Educational & Cultural Exchange. This would emphasize the renewed importance of ECA’s mission and substantially increase funding by $50 million beyond the allocation for the Fulbright program, which would allow for expansion of the miscellaneous exchange and cultural
96
diplomacy programs run by ECA. Such increases could be funded by cutting simply a few military expenditures. In the future, the US should consider itself part of the world community, committed to fostering relationships and educating its citizens to engage with the world through cultural exchange, not in army deployments.
1
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. “The Fulbright Program: Facts and Common Questions.”
Accessed March 28, 2015.
2
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. “The Fulbright Program: About Fulbright.” Accessed March 28,
2015. 3
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. “The Fulbright Program: Fulbright Alumni.” Accessed March 28,
2015. 4
Elizabeth Redden, “Save Fulbright.”
5
Karen Attiah, “Fulbright and the Decline of America’s Cultural Diplomacy.”
6
John, Brown, “America as a Shopping Mall? U.S. Cultural Diplomacy in the Age of Obama.”
7
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. “About ECA.” Accessed March 28, 2015.
8
Nye, Joseph. “Public Diplomacy and Soft Power.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social
Science 616 (2008): 94-109.
9
Helena K. Finn, “The Case for Cultural Diplomacy,” 14-20.
10
BBG Watch, “Hillary Clinton Bemoans Decline of U.S. Outreach Abroad Through Voice of America,” July 31, 2014.
11
Nye, “Public Diplomacy,” 98-99.
12
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. “The Fulbright Program: J. William Fulbright Quotes.” Accessed
March 28, 2015.
30
ONOMICDEVELOPM PMENTECONOMIC
MENTECONOMIC CDEVELOPMENT
Economic Development
Combating DC food deserts: Subsidizing healthy dietary options
ALBERT ZENG (SFS ‘18) & ALEC PHARRIS (SFS ‘18)
Properly designed subsidies for the mobile food industry, farmers’ markets, and healthy grocery stores will boost the presence of small businesses in food deserts in Washington, DC, and ameliorate the problem by providing nutritious and cheaper dietary options.
U
rban food deserts are geographic areas within cities that have limited access to affordable and nutritious food. This phenomenon is more prevalent in low-income neighborhoods and socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, including black and Latino populations. Food deserts tend to have larger concentrations of convenience stores that can provide cheap meals that have high amounts of sugar, fat, and salt, but have few numbers of healthy grocery stores that offer affordable prices. Numerous studies have exhibited a positive correlation between food deserts and the higher rates of health-related problems among residents of food deserts, including diabetes, health disease, and obesity.1 Food deserts appear to be a problem mostly endemic to the United States, as a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention displayed via a side-by-side comparison of food deserts between high-level income nations. While the study showed that food deserts clearly existed in the United States, there was little evidence to support the existence of food deserts in other wealthy English-speaking countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Countries.2 The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federal aid program that assists low-income Americans in buying food. It is the largest nutrition program in the United States, and is the government’s answer to food deserts. While SNAP undoubtedly provides economic relief and effective food welfare to low-income families, its major weakness is not emphasizing the purchase of healthy and nutritious food. As fruits and vegetables are both more nutritious and more expensive, SNAP recipients have limited access to healthy options, and more inclined to buying unhealthy foods. There are more efficient solutions to solving food deserts than by subsidizing food for the consumer.
ANALYSIS It is an embarrassment when food deserts are such a prevalent problem in Washington, DC, the very capital of the United States. Statistics show that of the city’s 43 supermarkets, “only two are located in Ward 4, four in Ward 7, and three in Ward 8.”3 Ward 3, DC’s highest-income ward, has eleven supermarkets. There appears to be a direct relationship between poverty and food deserts. Implementing a successful solution to the issue of food deserts in DC would serve as a model for other major American cities to follow. A major reason for the continued existence of food deserts in the United States is the low profit margin for selling healthy foods and produce. Although cigarettes and alcohol are exorbitantly taxed, it is much more profitable for a store owner to sell such goods. With the lower incentive to sell healthy produce that is relatively expensive and perishable, it is no wonder that store owners choose to sell goods that generate negative externalities in low-income food deserts. Whereas SNAP provides subsidies to the consumers, a more viable solution to ending food deserts is to subsidize the back-end of the food industry, the producers and suppliers. The federal government should implement subsidies for the mobile food industry, farmers’ markets, and healthy grocery stores. These overarching subsidies comprise of general tax and corporate income tax deductions.
Only three of Washington, DC’s farmers markets are located east of the Anacostia River.4 Of Washington, DC’s 43 supermarkets, only two are located in Ward 4, four in Ward 7, and three in Ward 8; Ward 3, DC’s richest ward, has eleven supermarkets in contrast.5 In 2013, 13.4 percent of households in in DC experienced food insecurity.6
NEXT STEPS For the healthy mobile food industry, which includes food trucks, food carts, and food kiosks, the government could possibly offer specific subsidies for gas mileage, operating costs, and licensing costs. The licensing process for food trucks is complicated, and the government could expedite the licensing and regulatory process, allowing for more jobs and healthy food trucks roaming around food deserts. For supermarkets and grocery stores, the government could offer subsidies to those locations that stock healthy produce on their shelves, and offer such healthy food at affordable prices. Over time, tax incentives and subsidies would encourage the growth of the healthy food industry in food deserts. Simultaneously, a subsidized mobile food industry, farmers’ markets, and more healthy grocery stores would provide employment opportunities for these socioeconomically 34
disadvantaged communities.
The federal government should implement subsidies for the mobile food industry, farmers’ markets, and healthy grocery stores. While there are inevitable costs for health certification and the costs of the actual subsidies, this solution can be more effective than SNAP and other food welfare programs by directly addressing the problem at the back-end of the industry.
1
“Community Action Guide: Changing Food Deserts into Food Oases: A Resource for States and Communities,”
National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, accessed April 2, 2015, http://depts.washington.edu/
waaction/tools/docs/HEC_Food_Desert%20FINAL%202%2025%2011.pdf. 2
“A Systematic Review of Food Deserts, 1966-2007,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accessed April
2, 2015, http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2009/jul/08_0163.htm.
3
“Eliminating Food Deserts and Improving Food Access,” DC Central Kitchen, accessed April 3, 2015, http://www.
dccentralkitchen.org/eliminatingfooddeserts/. 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid. 6
“Facts on Hunger in D.C.,” D.C. Hunger Solutions, accessed April 2, 2015, http://www.dchunger.org/about/facts.
html.
36
DUONEDUCATION UCATIONEDUCAT
NEDUCATIONEDUC TIONEDUCATION
Education
Reforming urban school reform: Keeping Chicago schools open Chicago Public Schools (CPS) should adopt the Finnish education reform model and dedicate more resources to improving existing school facilities, teachers, and leadership and eliminating the use of charter and magnet schools. ALEXANDER FELTES (COL ‘18)
U
nder former CPS CEO and current Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, CPS’ Renaissance 2010 initiative sought to open 100 schools by 2010 by closing public schools and opening charter schools. However, during the early 2000s the student population of CPS dropped by more than 20,000.1 Budget shortfalls and subpar student performance have consistently been concerns for CPS. Chronic budget shortfalls, declining student enrollment, and poor academic performance led to annual school closings, culminating in the 2013 closure of 49 elementary schools and one high school.2 3 In the period from 1997 to 2010, the CPS system underwent reforms based on five different models.4 One of the models relied solely on school leadership replacement and training. Three other models focused on replacement and training of both leadership and teachers at underperforming schools. The fifth model, the Closure and Restart model, closed down underperforming schools for a year and enrolled their students in other schools.5 Former public schools were reopened one year later as charter schools with admissions determined jointly by applications and lottery selection. Student achievement in math and reading improved significantly in those schools that underwent reforms based on staff and leadership replacement and training.6 Finland has faced similar issues to Chicago in past decades, particularly with lackluster student performance. However, Finland has taken a much different approach to school reform. Rather than focusing on school choice as a model for reform, Finland has doubled down on struggling schools. The country invests more resources in and requires more intensive training of its teachers, who go through a far more selective hiring process than their American counterparts. Teachers are required to hold a master’s degree and the certification program for teachers is one of the most
selective professional certification programs in the country. Rather than compete, Finnish schools cooperate. Finnish schools strive to provide equitable education regardless of where students live or their socioeconomic status. The 2012 PISA standardized test ranks Finnish students as some of the best in the world; a result which affirms the ideal that students across the socioeconomic spectrum can be equally successful. ANALYSIS CPS and its students would benefit from the adoption of the Finnish model. Many of CPS’ recent closures have affected Chicago’s historically low-income, majority-minority South and West sides. These areas contain the city’s highest concentrations of black and Hispanic residents who are disproportionately affected by CPS’ closures.7 CPS’ goal of replacing public schools with charter schools ultimately works against students in these areas. A recent 13-year study of closings in Chicago concluded that “concerns about who the [new] schools serve are valid… Schools under the Closure and Restart model experienced substantial changes to their student body composition, serving more economically advantaged students [and] students of higher prior achievement.”8 In other words, these new charter schools are displacing the students they are meant to help and attracting students from the alreadysuccessful North side of the city. Furthermore, the study showed “displaced students in Chicago tended to transfer from one low-performing school to another.”9 These students are left to shoulder the emotional burden of transferring to a new school and a new social environment while also adjusting to a new curriculum. Thus, closing schools and displacing students has significant educational costs to CPS students. Financial costs incurred as a result of keeping existing schools open could be dealt with the annual CPS budget. Any financial gains made by closing schools would be offset by the additional funding needed to cover increased staffing and resources at receiving schools. Closing schools would likely not be financially beneficial to CPS and would adversely affect many students at closed schools. Chicago’s past reform successes which drew on leadership and teacher replacement mirror the success Finland had in its efforts to improve school equity. Finland’s focus on
Only 21% of CPS students affected by the 2013 closures ended up in the best Level 1 schools which have proven to help children perform better. 4% of CPS students affected by the 2013 closures enrolled in a charter school the following year. Over 1000 teachers and staff were laid off as a result of CPS’ 2013 closures. In the past three decades, the income achievement gap has grown while the black-white achievement gap has shrunk.
40
equity and method of reform contrasts with its neighbor Norway which has invested in a quality-based model similar to CPS’ Renaissance 2010 initiative. While Finland has achieved significant success, Norway has not. Both Chicago and Finland have shown that investment in leadership and quality teaching benefits students and schools alike while school closures ironically disadvantage the intended targets of such reforms.10 Although students would benefit the most from this change in policy, parents and the Chicago Teachers Union would be the most involved in fighting for change. Parents can lobby to keep the schools open on behalf of students while the Chicago Teachers Union can handle any matters relating to school resources or the school day. The Chicago Board of Education, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett could be pressured to bring about change. NEXT STEPS Parents and the Chicago Teachers Union should lobby the Chicago Board of Education to keep existing schools open. In cases of struggling schools, they should lobby the Chicago Board of Education to employ one of the three models CPS used during its 1997-2010 reforms. Since these models were proven to significantly raise student achievement in math and reading, no additional research is required to distinguish an effective method for reform in low-performing schools. However, CPS should still monitor the performance of students in reformed schools to identify the best of these three reform methods. CPS can assuage concerns about what will be done with charter school students by phasing out their charter schools. The current charter school students should be allowed to finish their education there with plans established to transition the institution to a public school. Students at the new public schools will be admitted based on existing CPS zoning. CPS should invest in additional teacher and leadership training for existing schools. Any efforts at school reform should be directed to increasing equity in education. By following the Finnish example, CPS can increase equity in education and remove competition for resources and students from the education system. If existing schools are kept open with the mission of improving already-existing resources, collaboration can replace competition to better the quality of education for all CPS students.
1
The School Project, Chicago Public Schools: Closed, directed by Bob Hercules and Melissa Sterne (2015;
Chicago; The School Project; 2015), Web.
2
Marisa de la Torre, Molly F. Gordon, Paul Moore, and Jennifer Cowhy, “School Closings in Chicago:
Understanding Families’ Choices and Constraints for New School Enrollment,” The University of Chicago
Consortium on Chicago School Research, January 2015.
3
The School Project, Chicago Public Schools: Closed.
4
Marisa de la Torre, Elaine Allensworth, Sanja Jagesic, James Sebastian, and Michael Salmonowicz, “Turning
Around Low-Performing Schools in Chicago,” The University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School
Research, February 2012.
5 Ibid. 6 Ibid. 7
Sean F. Reardon, “The Widening Income Achievement Gap,” Educational Leadership 70, no. 8 (2013): 10-16.
8
Marisa de la Torre et al., “Turning Around Low-Performing Schools in Chicago.”
9 Ibid. 10
Joshua Furgeson, Moira McCullough, Clare Wolfendale, and Brian Gill, “The Equity Project Charter School:
Impacts on Student Achievement,” Mathematica Policy Research, 24 October 2014.
42
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT
Leila Izquierdo
Tell me a little about yourself. I’m a freshman in the college. I’m thinking about majoring in government and economics. Government’s a pretty definite thing, as it is for a lot of people here, and I’m still looking at economics - I think I’ll wait and see what happens at the end of the year. I’m also thinking about psychology. I’m originally from Peru but I moved here when I was five so it kind of feels like I’ve been here forever. I live in Arlington, Virginia, so just a little past the bridge. I really didn’t want to go too far because I’m very close with my family. It’s nice that I can be in D.C. and in the Georgetown bubble but still have home very close. One of my favorite hobbies is drawing. I haven’t been able to take an art class here yet, but I’d love to take one in the next four years. It’s always been a passion of mine, but I guess I get so caught up with other things, career-wise, drawing gets kind of pushed to the side. But it’s really my way to de-stress. Georgetown can be a pretty stressful place. Do you do anything else besides drawing to relax? I can go to the movies every weekend and I’ll love it every time. I also like walking around D.C., we live in a really nice area. My friends and I love to try different places to eat. I have a great group of friends here. I was really worried coming here that I wouldn’t find people who are a lot like me, and initially, it was really overwhelming, but I feel really settled now. How did you end up getting involved in GURI? I’ve always been interested in education and I never really knew what to do with it. I went to a public school and I’ve always been interested in the public school system and thinking about what its faults and merits are. Since I lived so close to D.C. I would hear all these harsh comments about the D.C. Public Schools System. I think the criticisms are worse because it is the nation’s capital. People are always like, it could do so much better. I wanted to see if there was any way to fix it or make it better. That’s really why I went with the Education policy center. It was exciting to me that I could write something that could actually make an impact, or at least, that would get me thinking about what changes I can make. Have you always had an interest in education policy? It started when I learned about affirmative action. Affirmative action helps minority students who come from difficult backgrounds and low incomes and who don’t necessarily go to the best schools. It helps students progress and end up at schools like this. This got me thinking about what was going on in these public schools in D.C. that required us to have these affirmative action policies and about what could be done to really make students more competitive. I just feel like you don’t need to be at a private school to get an awesome education - the public school system can be so much better. That’s when I started thinking about the differences between the D.C. Public School System and my own 44
school system in Arlington. Did you see these kinds of policies enacted in your own school system? I love the way our public school system is and I think we should try to model what Arlington does in D.C .to try to bring DCPS up to that level. I wanted to see if the way they [Arlington public schools] run things could be adopted by D.C. In D.C. the ratio of students who go to juvy to students who to go college is far too high. It’s the definition of the school to prison pipeline phenomenon. Where did you get the idea for your policy piece? My policy piece was focused specifically on school lunches. I saw the free school lunch program play out in my own school and experienced it myself. Many times I wouldn’t eat what they gave us, and so many people would do that too. It’s a very simple thing and it might not change the lives of students directly but it certainly will make students happier to be at the school which is a great start. If students are actually excited about going to school, and they’re healthy and their minds are working, they can focus in class. And so, going back to my high school, lots of students weren’t eating, and throughout the years, our funding for food decreased and food got worse from freshman to senior year. That caused a lot of problems because a lot of us would go through the school day not really eating. We would just go to the McDonalds or the Wendy’s which was terrible because first, it’s expensive, and second, it’s not healthy at all. We would eat that every day because there was really nothing else. And if you think about it, most of us were under free lunch so none of us could really afford this in the first place. My community was relatively affluent but this whole phenomenon got me thinking about neighboring communities like D.C. and what could be done to help students there. I started looking at stats for D.C. that reported that more than 70% of students can’t afford lunch. I came across this article written about the Milwaukee Public School System and its participation in the Community Eligibility Provision. The program will give free lunch to all students in a school where over 50% of its student body is eligible for free lunch. The USDA funds this program so participation would come at no cost to the schools involved. There’s a stigma that comes with free lunch and students who are eligible are often scared to say that they are on such a program. The Community Eligibility Provision has solved that because now anyone at a participating school can get free lunch and no one is singled out. Do you think it’s possible that DCPS will apply to this program in the future? I saw something about it last month that said how couple of schools have become part of it. It’s still really new but D.C. has definitely become aware of it.
What takes up your time besides GURI? I’m the Executive Director for GUSA Senate. I write meeting minutes and I handle voting but I wish I could have a bigger voice. I think I might run for GUSA Senate for next semester so I can do more. I’m also a part of the GUSA Multicultural Council. My role there involves trying get more diversity councils held here. I did the marketing for GAMBL (Georgetown Aspiring Minority Business Leaders) which just held a big diversity council with Shaquille O’Neal. That was an amazing experience. I’m also a part of the Day Laborer Exchange program. We’re trying to organize a worker’s center in D.C. at the Home Depot. Day laborers stand outside the Home Depot and look for work daily. More than half of them are undocumented, many don’t speak English, and a lot don’t get paid because they don’t understand the system and their employers don’t know them or think they can take advantage of their employees. Basically, a workers’ center would organize all of that. Between all of your activities and classes, what’s been your best moment at Georgetown so far? Listening to Shaquille O’Neal speak. I got to sit in the front row because I was helping to lead the conference. He seems like such a different person when you see him as a businessman. He’s had a very interesting life and he talked about how hard it was for him to be taken seriously as a minority and as a basketball player later on in life, and a lot of those feelings applied to people I know and what they’ve gone through. I know it sounds cheesy, but there’s something about having someone right in front of you talking about these issues that was amazing.
ANASHUA DUTTA ROBIN GO 46
Education
Providing all students with access to free lunch and breakfast in DCPS To prevent public schools from losing daily Department of Agriculture funding, Washington D.C. should provide all students with free lunches.
LEYLA IZQUIERDO (COL ‘18)
I
n the D.C. area, families have to complete an application to be eligible for free lunch. The District of Columbia Public School (DCPS) system has an estimated 78 percent of students enrolled in its free lunch and breakfast program.1 However, 24 percent of those students do not eat the free lunch that is offered to them.2 Free lunches are skipped daily in the city because there is a stigma associated with receiving free lunch in school. Students in the program are worried of being labeled “poor” by their classmates because they cannot afford school lunch.3 Due to this stigma, some students go out of their way to buy lunch from local stores and restaurants. As a result, public schools in the D.C. area suffer competition from other food providers. Each time a student eligible for free lunch does not take his or her lunch, DCPS loses $3 in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funding per student each day. This trend has resulted in DCPS forgoing $26,901 daily—more than 20% of the $108,717 the USDA contributes each day.4 Without enough federal subsidies from USDA, school
operations become increasingly expensive and schools cannot pay their cafeteria staff or buy expensive items on their lunch menus.5 In order to increase lunch participation rates and prevent the district from losing USDA funding each day, DCPS should apply to the Community Eligibility Provision program. The program would provide schools with the possibility to provide free lunch to all their students depending on the percentage of students already enrolled in their free lunch program. ANALYSIS In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, all students who attend public schools are eligible for free breakfasts and lunches. This initiative was implemented in August 2014 with the help of the Community Eligibility Provision program, funded by the USDA, after a study estimated that 83 percent of students in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) needed free lunch.6 This program provides free lunch to all students by eliminating the school lunch application process for individual schools or entire school districts with at least 40 percent of their students demonstrating need for free lunch.7 At Ronald Wilson Reagan College Preparatory High School, the program has removed the stigma of receiving free lunch and increased the overall number of students that eat lunches provided by MPS.8 DCPS would be eligible for the Community Eligibility Provision program because of the high percentage of students that receives free lunches in the district, a statistic comparable to Milwaukee’s. As the program is new, DCPS would have to petition to make the program available in D.C. If DCPS was chosen, the program would be of no cost to the district. The program multiplies a schools identified number of students enrolled in the free lunch program by 1.6.9 DCPS’ 78 percent of identified students would allow the school to serve free lunch to all students.
36,239 out of 46,393 DCPS students are enrolled in a free lunch program.12 At Ronald Wilson Reagan College Preparatory High School in Milwaukee, the number of students eating school lunch has increased from around 650 to about 900.13 Schools in DC would save the $26,091 that they otherwise lose each day.14
NEXT STEPS Before applying to the Community Eligibility Provision program, DCPS should identify the financial impact of its decision by using the free online No Kid Hungry School Calculator. This calculator provides decision makers in schools and districts with a business model that explains the financial feasibility of expanding school lunch and breakfast 48
programs.10 The results provide schools with the estimated amounts of annual reimbursements and costs.11 If the DCPS system finds that this program is financially feasible, it should apply for the Community Eligibility Provision Program at the start of the next school year. Since this program is new, DCPS should select specific schools to apply for the program and monitor the progress of the program in those schools. If after one year, DCPS receives positive feedback from schools about the program, the program can then be implemented in more schools and possibly the entire district.
1
MacFarlane, Scott. “Thousands of Free School Lunches Skipped Daily.” NBC4 Washington. May 28, 2014.
Accessed November 25, 2014.
2 Ibid. 3
“DCPS at a Glance.” DC Public Schools, Washington, DC. Accessed November 20, 2014.
4
MacFarlane, Scott. “Thousands of Free School Lunches Skipped Daily.”
5 Ibid. 6
Stephenson, Crocker. “All Students at MPS Now Eligible for Free Meals.” All Students at MPS Now Eligible for
Free Meals. August 18, 2014. Accessed November 20, 2014.
7
“WI Child Nutrition Programs (FNS).” Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). Accessed November 20, 2014.
http://fns.dpi.wi.gov/fns_cep. 8
MacFarlane, Scott. “Thousands of Free School Lunches Skipped Daily.”
9 Ibid. 10
“Community Eligibility Option | No Kid Hungry | The Center for Best Practices.” Accessed November 30, 2014.
11
MacFarlane, Scott. “Thousands of Free School Lunches Skipped Daily.”
12 Ibid. 13 Ibid. 14 Ibid. Image: Leyla Izquierdo, COL ‘18
50
Education
Project-based learning in Philadelphia The Philadelphia School District, consistently under-funded and struggling to adequately educate students, should switch from a traditional, test-based learning model to a project-based learning model to better educate students. PAUL SELLING (COL ‘18)
S
truggling to provide an adequate education for its students, the Philadelphia School District (PSD) has required state corrective action for ten consecutive years in the form of school dissolution, school takeovers, and funding restrictions.1 Federal funding has diminished, state funding has decreased, and pension and health care costs have risen.2 The PSD faces an annual budget deficit and steadily rising student-to-teacher ratios. Despite gubernatorial promises to increase state funding by as much as 50 percent, overall funding is not expected to reach federal stimulus package levels due to political opposition.3 Furthermore, the PSD employs test-based learning methods for student evaluation, which
are no longer appropriate for the PSD. One PSD school, the Science Leadership Academy (SLA), uses a projectbased learning (PBL) model and recently made the US News &World Report’s Best High Schools list.4 Rather than relying on tests to assess acquired knowledge, PBL should assess students through the use of targeted projects that facilitate learning new concepts and information. Projects should expose students to a wide range of disciplinary frameworks, meet state education goals, and provide real world skills. Projects should include both group and individual components to maintain individual accountability.5 Ensuring individual accountability is a key component of PBL. Examples of projects include “Census at School,” which develops statistical analysis skills, “Crossing the Border into…,” which teaches marketing and communication skills, and “El Misterio de los Mayas,” which examines the rise and fall of civilizations.6 ANALYSIS Perennial low scores without significant improvement in the PSD have resulted in penalties ranging from funding cuts to school dissolution. Rather than constantly restructuring schools, the PSD should seek test score gains by switching to PBL. In Iowa, for example, a switch to PBL in low-performing areas boosted school test scores in reading by between 15 percent and 90 percent.7 A Boston public school, which served predominantly minority students, placed eleventh in mathematics and seventeenth in reading out of seventysix public schools over a six-year period after a similar switch.8 Results in Maine suggest that score increases are lasting and that results are not exclusive to mathematics and science.9 PBL participants had greater self-confidence in skills outside the classroom such as self-directed learning, problem solving, and research.10 PBL participants, students and teachers alike, also reported higher levels of learning and teaching satisfaction respectively.11
PBL programs boost test scores for many cultural and demographic groups within the U.S. More than 80 percent of SLA students are proficient or advanced in reading and mathematics.16 Less than half of Pennsylvanian students passed state tests in those areas.17 Students and teachers report higher satisfaction levels with PBL programs when compared with traditional learning programs.18
NEXT STEPS The School Reform Commission (SRC) of Philadelphia should institute a PBL curriculum. This curriculum should focus on projects possessing four defining characteristics: realistic problems, structured group work, multi-faceted assessments, and professional learning networks.12 The SRC should ensure that projects have defined content and 52
identified contexts, that projects are chosen through rigorous critical analysis, that students’ tasks are clearly outlined, and that teachers frequently evaluate student progress.13
“PBL participants had greater selfconfidence in skills outside the classroom such as self-directed learning, problem solving, and research.” To secure the necessary funding for implementation, the SRC should apply for grants such as the Economic Development Assistance Programs grant which is “designed to develop initiatives that advance new ideas and creative approaches to address rapidly evolving economic conditions.”14 Additionally, the SRC can apply to work with Expeditionary Learning, one of the first PBL-promoting organizations. The components they promote, which include staff training and curriculum development support, are necessary for devising a successful curriculum and to start an outreach program to garner parental support.15
1
Pennsylvania Department of Education. Academic Achievement Report: 2011-2012.
Harrisburg, PA: 2012. Accessed November 8, 2014.
2
Caskey, John & Kuperberg, Mark. “The Philadelphia School District’s Ongoing Financial Crisis.”
EducationNext14, no. 4 (2014). http://educationnext.org/philadelphia-school-districts-ongoing-financial-crisis/
and Dale, Maryclaire. “Philadelphia Schools Ax Teachers’ Contract.” Huffington Post, October 6, 2014.
Accessed November 9, 2014. http://huffingtonpost.com/.
3
Tom Wolf on Education. On The Issues, 2014. Accessed November 9, 2014. http://www.ontheissues.org/
Governor/Tom_Wolf_Education.htm. 4
“Science Leadership Academy Overview.” U.S. News & World Report, 2012. Accessed November 8, 2014.
5
Project-Based Learning Research Review: Evidence-Based Components of Success. Edutopia. Last modified
December 3, 2012. Accessed November 9, 2014. http://www.edutopia.org/pbl-research-learning-outcomes.
6
“Welcome to Census at School – United States.” American Statistical Association. Accessed January
12, 2015. http://www.amstat.org/censusatschool/, and “Crossing the Border Into…” Teach 21 Project
Based Learning. Accessed January 12, 2015. http://wveis.k12.wv.us/teach21/public/project/Guide.
cfm?upid=3733&tsele1=1&tsele2=110, and “El Misterio de los Mayas.” Intel Education. Accesssed January 12,
2015. 7
Thomas, John W. “A Review of Research on Project-Based Learning.” Bob Pearlman, March 2000. Accessed
November 9, 2014. http://www.bobpearlman.org/.
8
Ibid., and Expeditionary Learning. “History.”Accessed November 9, 2014. http://elschools.org/about-us/history
9
Ibid., and Yetkiner, Z.E., Anderoglu, H., & Capraro, R.M. (2008). Research summary: Project-based learning in
middle grads mathematics. Retrieved November 9, 2014, from http://bie.org/object/document/pbl_in_middle_
grades_mathematicshttp://bie.org/object/document/pbl_in_middle_grades_mathematics. 10
Strobel, J. and van Barneveld, A. “When is PBL More Effective? A Meta-synthesis of Meta-analyses Comparing
PBL to Conventional Classrooms.” Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning 3, no. 1 (2009). Accessed
November 8, 2014. http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1046&context=ijpbl.
11 Ibid. 12
“Project-Based Learning Research Review.” Edutopia. Last modified December 3, 2012. Accessed November 9,
2014. http://www.edutopia.org/pbl-research-learning-outcomes.
13 Ibid. 14
U.S. Department of Commerce. EDAP2014 FY 2014 Economic Development Assistance Programs. Accessed
November 28, 2014.
15
Expeditionary Learning. “Whole School Transformation.” Accessed November 28, 2014. http://elschools.org/
working-with-us/whole-school-transformation. 16
Ibid., and “Science Leadership Academy Overview.” U.S. News & World Report.
17
Graham, Kristin. (2014). “Districts, Parents Sue PA. Over Education Funding.” Philadelphia Inquirer, November
10, 2014. Accessed November 29, 2014.
18
J. Strobel, and A. van Barneveld. “When is PBL More Effective? A Meta-synthesis of Meta-analyses Comparing
PBL to Conventional Classrooms.”
Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CrayonLogs.jpg
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ERGY&ENVIRONM EMENTENERGY&E
MENTENERGY&EN ENVIRONMENT
Energy & Environment
A national standard for assessing the true “value of solar” By creating a standardized index to quantify the true “value of solar” into a single rate, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission can help forge a middle ground between solar advocates and utilities and provide states with needed information as they design local policy. MARK NOLL (SFS ‘17)
O
wnership of solar photovoltaic systems in the United States has expanded rapidly in recent years thanks in large part to a policy known as “net metering.” Currently in place in over 43 states and the District of Columbia,1 net metering forces electric utilities to pay solar customers at retail rates for the electricity that their solar arrays produce. However, most utilities oppose net metering on the grounds that it allows solar customers to avoid paying for grid maintenance costs, which they argue will force them to raise electricity prices in the long run.
But numerous reports and studies have shown that net metering raises electric rates only minimally – as solar systems continue to grow, however, utilities are at danger of more significant losses for their shareholder profits.2 3 In response, utilities across the country have used net metering as an excuse to clamp down on the spread of solar. Wisconsin’s We Energies, for instance, recently levied charges of $3.80 per kilowatt per month on solar arrays (doubling the payback period for the average system) and blamed costs imposed by solar owners for a decision to raise electricity rates by 77% for all customers.4 5 If successful, tactics like these will undermine broader public support for solar and unnecessarily hamper the growth of the solar industry.6 As such, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) should establish and implement a nationwide standard “Value of Solar” (VOS) index to serve as a potential alternative to net metering. VOS would quantify both the benefits and costs of solar to utilities into a single dollar amount, and states would be able to use this information to implement more informed solar policies.
One new solar system is installed in the U.S. every two and a half minutes8 A value of solar index tariff would pay customers for their solar electricity generation at a rate that reflects the costs and benefits of solar energy
VOS would quantify both the benefits and costs of solar to utilities into a single dollar amount, and states would be able to use this information to implement more informed solar policies. ANALYSIS Last year, Minnesota approved the country’s first state-wide VOS, which was comprised of eight separate value-adding components, including avoided costs for fuel, avoided costs for additional generation capacity, and an avoided environmental cost.7 The final tariff of 14.5 cents per kilowatthour represents the “true” value of solar energy to utilities, which they have the option to use to pay to solar customers instead of the retail rates required under net metering. VOS is a more transparent way to price solar electricity and represents a fair rate for both solar owners and utilities. Because strong utility opposition to net metering may lead 58
to policies that unnecessarily curtail solar ownership on a more widespread level, FERC should offer a standardized VOS methodology for states to draw on as they craft their own unique energy policies. NEXT STEPS Fortunately, VOS should attract support from both solar and utility interests because it represents an objective valuation of solar energy and would not require any policy changes by itself. The Solar Electric Power Association in particular could be powerful in advocating for this idea at the federal level, as would those who have experience designing VOS tariffs. Finally, a FERC-commissioned VOS would provide assistance to any state that seeks an alternative to net metering but does not have the resources to create its own specific index like Minnesota did.
1
North Carolina State University Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency. “Net Metering.”
Accessed 15 November 2014.
2
Satchwell, Mills, and Barbose. “Financial Impacts of Net-Metered PV on Utilities and Ratepayers: A Scoping
Study of Two Prototypical U.S. Utilities.” Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Environmental
Energy Technologies Division. September 2014. 1-6.
3
Price, Snuller, et al. “Nevada Net Energy Metering Impacts Evaluation, Prepared for State of Nevada Public
Utility Comission.” Energy and Environmental Services, Inc. July 2014.
4
Pyper, Julia. “Wisconsin Regulators Vote to Raise Fixed Charges, Add Solar Fees,” Greentech Solar. Accessed
25 November 2014.
5
Tomich, Jeffrey. “In Wis., renewable energy advocates reluctantly take on under dog role.” Accessed 16 January
2015. 6
Pyper, Julia. “Wisconsin Regulators Vote to Raise Fixed Charges, Add Solar Fees,” Greentech Solar. Accessed 25
November 2014.
7
Farrell, John. “Can a Northern State’s New Solar Policy Defuse Distributed Generation Battles?” Institute for
Self-Reliance, April 2014. 3.
8
Lacey, Stephen. “A Solar System is Installed in America Every 2.5 Minutes.” Greentech Media. 12 January 2015.
Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/3730751907
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QUALJUSTICEEQU UALJUSTICEEQUAL
UALJUSTICEEQUA LEQUALJUSTICE
Equal Justice
Integration of child refugees: International academy models in D.C. public schools With the influx of unaccompanied minors from Central America into the U.S., D.C. Public Schools should widely integrate international academy models to help young refugees transition with better language support and cultural immersion.
SHIYU LIANG (COL ‘18)
S
ince 2011, there has been an ever-growing number of unaccompanied minor refugees from Central America. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the number of unaccompanied minors apprehended at the border soared from 4,059 in 2011 to more than 68,000 in 2014.1 2 Though a program that promises to grant refugee status to minors from Central America was implemented in December, social welfare provisions and refugee integration efforts have yet to be improved.3 Currently, the School Impact program under the Office of Refugee Resettlement serves a subsidiary function by providing funding to relevant initiatives.4 As more minors will obtain refugee status under the recent White House program, D.C. public schools should actively institute substantive policies to serve the educational needs of these children. An international academy is a program integrated within public schools that provides strong additional language, academic, and development support for English language learners (ELL).5 Based on the expertise of the non-profit organization Internationals Network of Public Schools (INPS), Cardozo Education Campus in Columbia Heights launched its new international academy this year.6 The impetus was the big shift in
demographics — 90 more non-English speaking immigrant students in the 2013-2014 school year.7 DCPS should expand Cardozo’s integrative model into other D.C. public schools.8 ANALYSIS Cardozo’s international academy has now 165 ninth and tenth graders, over 90 percent of whom are native Spanish speakers.9 Unlike a traditional language immersion program, the international academy format allows ELL students to work in their native languages in small settings. In this way, students are not self-conscious of their limited English ability and are more willing to collaborate with one another and practice their language skills.10 Moreover, integrating international academies into public high schools allows for cultural immersion through interactions with native-English speaking students in school and in various after-school programs. In future years, the academy will also help students find internships and make their college or career plans.11 The combined model is also more cost-efficient compared to establishing separate international schools as it allows for teachers and resources to be drawn from a common pool. Manhattan International High School, an independent school for ELL students, spent a total of $16,832 on each student between 2011 and 2012.12 In comparison, Cardozo Education Campus has projected to spend $12,831 per student in fiscal year 2014.13 Finally, DCPS can seize this opportunity to honor its commitment to “better schools for all children” in the D.C. community.14 The program could successfully increase the graduation rates as offering language support decreases the likelihood of non-native speaking students dropping out. Increased income after graduation would also help the economy and benefit the society as a whole. NEXT STEPS The project should be proposed in annual DCPS public budget hearings where principals, parents, NGOs and community leaders can further determine the program’s scope and funding appropriation. To apply professional pedagogic knowledge, DCPS should work closely with INPS to monitor the performance results. Admission of students should not be limited to D.C, but should also include adjacent areas if need be. Collaborating with Office of Refugee Resettlement,
Of the 37,000 children who have crossed the border since January 2014, 7.56 percent of them have ended up in the D.C. area, a disproportionately large number for the area’s size15 INPS has established 17 schools for immigrant children over 30 years. In 2011, students in INPS schools in New York had the lowest dropout rate (9 percent) among ELL students in NY (20 percent) and those in public NY schools (21 percent)16 From June 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011, INPS spent $610,967 on new school development, 25.3 percent of its annual expenses. In comparison, model dissemination cost ($508,064) was 21.5 percent and professional training ($592,006) 24.5 percent 17
62
which runs under the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services can also generate monetary and data support.
1
“Children on the Run: Reports.” UNHCR Washington, accessed October 15, 2014.
2
Haeyoun Park, “Children at the Border.” The New York Times, July 14, 2014, accessed October 15, 2014.
3
Luis Alonso Lugo, “US to Grant Refugee Status to Some Children”, ABC News, November 14, 2014.
4
“School Impact,” Office of Refugee Resettlement, accessed November 26, 2014.
5
“School Models,” Internationals Network For Public Schools, accessed November 6, 2014.
6
Melissa Salmanowitz, “DCPS Creates New School Academy to Support Growing Population of New Immigrant
Students”, District of Columbia Public Schools Press Release, September 24, 2014.
7
Ibid.
8
“A Capital Commitment—Better Schools for All Students by 2017.” District of Columbia Public Schools, accessed
November 20, 2014.
9
“School Impact,” Office of Refugee Resettlement, accessed November 26, 2014.
10
Stephanie Ramirez, “DC high school creates ‘International Academy’”, WUSA9, October 1, 2014, accessed
October 3, 2014.
11
Melissa Salmanowitz, “DCPS Creates New School Academy to Support Growing Population of New Immigrant
Students”, District of Columbia Public Schools Press Release, September 24, 2014.
12
“Expenditure, Statistics & Budget,” Manhattan International High School, accessed November 6, 2014.
13
“Fiscal Year 2014 School Budget Allocation Worksheet, Cardozo Education Campus,” District of Columbia Public
Schools, March 25, 2013.
14
Stephanie Ramirez, “DC high school creates ‘International Academy’”, WUSA9, October 1, 2014, accessed
October 3, 2014.
15
Pamela Constable, “Area Schools Scramble to Meet the Emotional Needs of Undocumented Children.” The
Washington Post, September 7, 2014, accessed November 2, 2014.
16
“Student Results, NY Schools with Graduating Classes”, Internationals Network for Public Schools.
17
“Annual report 2012 2013, Statement of Activities: Fiscal Year July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011.” Internationals
Network for Public Schools, accessed November 23, 2014.
Image: https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4084/5073552229_3dd9459eeb_o.jpg
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Equal Justice
Incentivizing paid parental leave in the U.S. private sector The United States is the sole country among nations designated as “developed” that does not guarantee its workers paid time off following childbirth.1 The U.S. should incentivize private corporations to institutionalize paid parental leave as the new norm for all workers. ANNA PRIMOSCH (COL ‘18)
E
xisting U.S. legislation guarantees minimal parental leave. The 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) states that new mothers may take up to 12 weeks, unpaid, off from their jobs to accommodate the “birth and bonding” period after the birth or adoption of their child.2 The FMLA also applies to those who need time off to care for an immediate family member, workers who are gravely ill themselves, and other extenuating circumstances. In effect, the FMLA ensures that workers can prioritize their family and medical needs without penalty of unemployment. The U.S. government should establish economic benefits for companies that voluntarily implement leave policies by offering short term grants to these private corporations; in effect, subsidizing the initial cost of offering paid parental leave. This program would incentivize the private sector to treat paid parental leave as a cost-saving measure that increases employee retention, reduces retraining costs, and attracts the best job candidates (in the same vein as employer-arranged healthcare). ANALYSIS Multinational telecom conglomerate Vodafone has pioneered an innovative form of tiered maternity leave that other companies should emulate. Rather than simply offering compensation for a brief period following the birth or adoption of a child, Vodafone allows new mothers to work four-day (30 hour) workweeks while receiving fulltime pay for six months after returning from their government-issued maternity leave.3 Vodafone recognizes the critical adjustment period that new mothers need in pursuit of an attainable work-life balance.4 The Vodafone model is also practical from a budget-balancing perspective. Citing the turnover opportunity cost of recruiting and training new hires to replace employees who elect
to leave their jobs after having a child, Vodafone estimates that it will save $19 million in 2015.5 The gains are impressive, especially in light of the fact the vast majority of Vodafone employees receive the benefits on top of generous paid leave mandated by European governments.6 As illustrated by the following example, companies that offer paid parental leave increase worker productivity and save money in the long run. NEXT STEPS The U.S. can reclaim paid parental leave as a basic worker’s right by giving one-time subsidies to private corporations that initiate the process of offering innovative parental leave solutions. This is an issue of equal access to economic mobility and job security for all parents. The government is responsible for intervening where the free market fails to promote good fair working conditions for its employees. Government intervention will in turn help firms accrue economic benefits.
Only 59% of working women benefit from the FMLA7 One FMLA clause clarifies that only companies that employ at least 50 people, all of whom must live within 75 miles of their workplace, are obligated to provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave 8 Across the European Union, member states must provide at least four months of leave to new parents9
1
Hall, Katy, and Chris Spurlock. “Paid Parental Leave: U.S. vs. The World.” Huffington Post, 4 Feb. 2013. Web. 13
Mar. 2015.
2
U.S. Department of Labor. “Employee Rights and Responsibilities Under the Family and Medical Leave Act.”
Department of Labor. Feb. 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2015.
3
McGregor, Jena. “An Unusual New Policy for Working Mothers.” The Washington Post, 6 Mar. 2015. Web. 13
Mar. 2015.
4
Brown, Heidi. “U.S. Maternity Leave Benefits Are Still Dismal.” Forbes, 4 May 2009. Web. 13 Mar. 2015.
5
Marketwired. “Vodafone Pioneers Global Maternity Policy Across 30 Countries.” Yahoo! Finance UK and Ireland.
Web. 13 Mar. 2015.
6
McGregor, “An Unusual New Policy for Working Mothers,” 2015.
7
Jacob Alex Klerman, Kelly Daley, and Alyssa Pozniak. Family and Medical Leave in 2012: Technical Report.
Fortune. Web. 13 Mar. 2015.
8
Zillman, Claire. “America comes in last place on paid maternity leave.” Fortune. N.p., 15 May 2014. Web. 13 Mar.
2015. 9
European Social Partners. “Parental leave.” Europa Summaries of EU Legislation, 2 June 2010. Web. 13 Mar. 2015.
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ALTHCAREHEALTH CAREHEALTHCAR
HCAREHEALTHCA REHEALTHCARE
Healthcare
Mandated coverage for diabetes screening through Medicaid in the District of Columbia
DEREK ALTEMA (NHS ‘15) & SAUMYYA BOLLAM (COL ‘16)
Preventive diabetes screening as a mandated coverage benefit through Washington, D.C. Medicaid will minimize long-term costs associated with treatment of late-stage diabetes and related complications, and hinder the progression of diabetes to enhance patient welfare.
T
ype 2 diabetes is a preventable illness that has become increasingly prevalent in America. A 2014 National Diabetes Statistics Report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 9.3 percent of Americans have diabetes.1 The Community Health Needs Assessment, released by the District of Columbia Department of Health (DOH), shows this number has increased from the 8.7 percent of Americans afflicted in 2010. During the same year, 8.3 percent of Washington, D.C. residents had diabetes;2 in Wards 4, 5, 7, and 8,
diabetes rates were well above the 2010 national average. Lower-income residents with higher morbidity risks inhabit these medically underserved areas. Screening is utilized to detect early onset of diabetes. The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends that people who are over age 45, have high blood pressure, or have high cholesterol get screened for diabetes.3 Although 85 percent of deaths attributable to diabetes occur in victims above age 55,2 diabetes is a progressive disease that worsens over time and is exacerbated by poor lifestyle habits. Medicaid provides health coverage for low-income people from communities at greater risk for developing diabetes. The National Conference of State Legislatures database shows that Medicaid in D.C. provides coverage for direct treatment and treatment supplies for those diagnosed with diabetes, although screening isn’t expressly covered.4
27.8 percent of the US population remains undiagnosed with diabetes.1 Healthcare costs for diabetic patients increased by 40 percent in five years.1 Diabetes screening in high morbidityrisk populations decreases overall health care costs.
Blood sugar testing, a prevention strategy used for early detection and mediation of diabetes, is critical for minimizing long-term health costs. Expanding Medicaid coverage to include diabetes screening could hinder the progression of diabetes in higher-risk populations. ANALYSIS Mandatory coverage of diabetes screening through Medicaid in D.C. will help reduce healthcare costs. In 2007, estimated healthcare costs due to diabetes totaled $174 billion; the D.C. DOH estimated $346 million was spent on diabetes-related healthcare in the District in the same year.5 Medical expenditures for people diagnosed with diabetes increased 40 percent over a five-year period.1 Diabetes elevates risk for hypertension, heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, retinopathy, and lower-extremity amputation. Early diagnostic screening can curtail progression to such severe conditions. While costly treatments and procedures are included in benefit coverage, preventive screening is not. In D.C., where healthcare expenditures per capita exceed all 50 states according to the Kaiser Family Foundation,6 a reduction in healthcare costs is warranted. A study from Chatterjee et. al. suggests diabetes screening exhibits cost-efficacy in populations with higher morbidity risk.7 Over a three-year period, healthcare costs decreased 7.3 percent for those with a body mass index (BMI) of 2570
35 and 21.5 percent for those with a BMI over 35. Similarly, screening cut costs by 8.1 percent for adults age 40-55 and by 17.1 percent for adults over age 55. Because of cost and inefficiency, implementation and screening are likely deterrents for coverage expansion. Nonetheless, cost reduction can be observed in the short-term while diabetes becomes less burdensome on the healthcare system in the long-term.
“In D.C., where healthcare expenditures per capita exceed all 50 states . . . a reduction in healthcare costs is warranted.� Medicaid should expand benefit coverage to include diabetes screening. Out-of-pocket expenses for diabetes screening may discourage lowincome Medicaid enrollees from getting screened. Medicare covers diabetes screening for enrollees, as older patients greatly contribute to health costs for diabetes treatment. Screening at earlier stages in higher risk populations can alleviate treatment costs by preventing complications in older patients altogether. NEXT STEPS A proposal from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to federal and D.C. governments is necessary for extending Medicaid coverage to include diabetes screening. The exclusion of screening from Medicaid coverage is not explicit in legislation, so discretion is left to CMS to expand benefit coverage. For this benefit to require minimal out-of-pocket input from enrollees, the program should wholly cover the costs of screening while financially incentivizing providers to perform blood sugar tests. This is important to promote diabetes screening in higher-risk communities.
1
Center for Disease Control – National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. 2014.
“National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2014.”Accessed December 1, 2014. http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/
pubs/statsreport14/national-diabetes-report-web.pdf. 2
District of Columbia Department of Health. 2013. “District of Columbia Community Health Needs Assessment,
Volume 2.” Accessed December 1, 2014. http://doh.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/doh/page_content/
attachments/2nd%20Draft%20CHNA%20%28v4%202%29%2006%2004%202013%20-%20Vol%202.pdf. 3
US Preventative Services Task Force. 2014. “Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2) in Adults: Screening.” Accessed
December 1, 2014. http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/uspsdiab.htm.
4
National Conference of State Legislatures. 2014. “Providing Diabetes Health Coverage: State Laws & Programs.”
Accessed December 1, 2014. http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/diabetes-health-coverage-state-laws-and-
programs.aspx#. 5
District of Columbia Department of Health. 2011. “Diabetes in the District of Columbia.” Accessed
December 1, 2014. http://doh.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/doh/Diabetes%20in%20the%20District%20
of%20Columbia%20Fact%20Sheet%2011052012.pdf. 6
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 2014. “Health Care Expenditures per Capita by State of Residence.”
Accessed December 1, 2014.http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/health-spending-per-capita/#map.
7
Chatterjee R, Narayan KM, Lipscomb J, Jackson SL, Long Q, Zhu M, and LS Phillips, 2013. “Screening for
diabetes and prediabetes should be cost-saving in patients at high risk.” Diabetes Care 36:1981-7. Accessed
December 1, 2014. doi:10.2337/dc12-1752.
Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/59937401@N07/6127243966
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Emily Lau
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT
So aside from the Equal Justice policy center, you’re also involved with the Education and Healthcare policy centers. What prompted your original interest in GURI and what keeps you coming back? I was at SA fair and I wandered past the table. Someone asked me if I was interested in joining a think tank and I just thought, “okay, cool.” That probably doesn’t sound good enough for , but I just saw the list of available centers, and Healthcare, Education, and Equal Justice were the ones that really jumped out to me. I signed up for the e-mails and started going to all three meetings. It was interesting to have people to talk to about these kind of issues, and they’re all topics that I think a lot about in my free time, so just to be able to have such a structured conversation is nice. I also used to be a huge cynic. I thought things were the ways they were, and that nothing could really change. But over the years, I’ve gotten fairly optimistic about the way things work. If you believe nothing you do will make a difference, then clearly nothing will, so I have made a conscious decision to be more optimistic about people’s abilities to impact the world, and that’s why GURI really resonates with me. These are other students who are really interested in making a difference in the world and who think that having a discussion once a week for an hour will eventually amount to something. Those are the kinds of people I want to be around. So a little more generally, who are you? If someone asked you that question, how would you respond? I am from California, Sacramento specifically. Obviously California is pretty liberal, but actually I come from a very conservative family, so I just assumed I was conservative, too. But the more I thought about it, the more I become critical, and the more I found it in my politics to be liberal. I am also a transfer student. I went to community college last year, which is not that common as far as transfers go. So why did you choose Georgetown? I was looking for health care management/policy programs and public health programs. I went on Georgetown’s website and I kind of just fell in love and got a little bit obsessed—or a lot obsessed—and I just knew the summer that I graduated that I really wanted to go to Georgetown. Aside from GURI, what are you involved with on campus? I think I spend most of my time working on the Georgetown University Journal of Health Sciences (GUJHS). I am the assistant director of op-eds, which means I read people’s op-eds and bring them to a publishable state. I also work with the marketing team on fliers and graphics, so if you see GUJHS fliers around, they probably came out of my computer. I am active with the marketing team for Active Minds; I like to table for them. I also do STRIDE – we mentor highschool students through the college application process, so you get to know a 74
student very well. I also run the Facebook page for Georgetown Speech Writing Advisory Group. Your article is about reducing work-place stigma against people with mental illnesses. What prompted your interest in private sector discrimination against mental illnesses? In general, I am interested in mental health issues – my Healthcare policy piece was also on mental health. I know people who have dealt with mental health issues in the workplace: a friend of mine got a degree from a very high-ranking university, got hired for a job, and when she disclosed to her boss that she was on medication for a mental illness, her boss told her to resign. And when she refused, her employer and her fellow employees began to harass her in her workplace until it became such a toxic environment that she had to resign. So there are clear issues of discrimination in the workplace: despite the antidiscrimination rules, they still exist just by the nature of there being stigma against mental illnesses in society. I want to address these issues, especially for larger institutions that have more power to hire people with mental illnesses and other disabilities. Implementing training programs has proven to be effective. Are anti-discrimination trainings in the private sector common? In California, there are gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment training programs, so I would say that in California, where my policy is targeted, it is fairly common. Police officers also get anti-discrimination training, and that’s where the data on the two-years comes from: it’s from studying police officers and how long training actually has a lasting effect. So do you think eliminating stigma against mental illnesses is best approached through workplace training sessions? I do not think it’s necessarily the best way to approach it, but from a policy angle, it is. There are already laws against discrimination, so this isn’t a legal problem. Societally, we have stigma, and we have issues of discrimination, but there’s no way to legislate people’s points of views. You cannot legislate how people think and how they feel. So going through training programs that try to give people a different perspective on recognizing discrimination and recognizing that they’re being discriminated against empowers people and makes them aware of the biases they hold. Just like with issues of media, you cannot just go into society and tell it to stop holding biases. But in the workplace you can bring the issue to the forefront and make people think about it. And when you think about your own biases, and you encourage people to work against them, at least you can stop workplace bias, which is a huge issue because people with mental illnesses tend to be underemployed.
wYour policy is formed around the need to remove existing stigma against mental illnesses, but what are some of the more long-term solutions to completely avoid breeding these biases in the first place? In your piece, you mention lack of education and poor media representation regarding mental illnesses. How does society move forward from there? There are a lot of problems associated with mental health in society. There is a lot of stigma in general that arises from the fact that mental health has not always been something that could be openly discussed, or something that we even had hard data on. I think as more people understand that mental illnesses stem from chemical imbalances in the brain, there will be more acceptance of people who deal with them, as opposed to in the past when they would just be thrown into mental asylums because no one understood the social and scientific issues behind the illnesses. It’s like what happened with neurological issues: those have become more accepted as more scientific research has been released. I am optimistic that there will be less stigma in the future, although we have a pretty good understanding of physical disabilities and yet there is still a lot of stigma surrounding them. There’s also the issue of the media. We typically do not see fictional representations of mental illnesses in popular culture, but then in the news we see a lot of the bad things that happen, and not the good things. When someone with a mental illness does something noteworthy, no one says they also have a mental illness, because it seems irrelevant, but the moment they do something negative, mental illness always makes its way into the dialogue. And that has an impact on how people view mental illness, because if you only see it in the news as something bad, you subconsciously associate mental illnesses with crime and danger. How would you rate Georgetown’s efforts to decrease stigma and increase awareness regarding mental illness on campus? I actually did a survey on this for a class, and a lot of people identified stigma as something that exists on campus. There are organizations on campus that work against this, like Active Minds, which not only works to decrease stigma, but also promotes general mental wellness. Georgetown does not address discrimination in the campus training programs that all students have to take, and I think it’s just an issue that in many ways is much harder to talk about, because it’s not always obvious. It’s obvious when someone is coercing someone with a drink or binge drinking, but when you think about your own internal biases, many of these things are things that you are not aware of, so it’s a harder issue to tackle. I think it’s problematic that it isn’t tackled, because many people feel that their peers will judge them if they seek help. And also, on-campus resources for mental health are not adequately advertised. Everyone knows about CAPS, but there are other resources where you can seek help. If we make it more acceptable for students to seek help and seek resources, maybe there will be a better dialogue on campus. ANNA NESTEROVA ROBIN GO 76
Healthcare
Mind net: Early detection and treatment of mental illness California primary care providers should be mandated to provide mental health screenings at physical checkups to promote early detection and treatment of mental illnesses. EMILY LAU (NHS ‘17)
U
ndiagnosed and untreated mental illnesses can have a huge negative impact on physical health, job productivity, and overall health and social outcomes due to stigma, lack of access to mental health resources, or insufficient mental health education. One in ten people suffering from schizophrenia and nearly one in five people suffering from bipolar disorder will commit suicide.1 Four out of ten of the leading causes of disability in developed countries are mental disorders.2 Mental illnesses lead to as many lost work days as physical illnesses.3 While primary care providers (PCPs) are in a prime position to identify
and address mental illness, screening and early intervention services tend to be lacking at the primary care level.4 A study showed that 90 percent of people who committed suicide suffered from mental illness, and of that 90 percent, 40 percent had seen their PCP within a month of their suicide, but their mental health statuses often went unaddressed.5 In order to better diagnose and treat people with mental illness, there needs to be a transition towards a system of wellness and early intervention and away from crisis management through a program of early detection and treatment.
The economic burden of depression, which can be primarily attributed to lost work days, is estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars in the United States alone.12
California PCPs should provide mental health screenings during or before physical checkups to identify possible symptoms of psychosocial ailments that patients might be experiencing. Using any of the recognized primary care mental health screening tests, PCPs can quickly evaluate the mental health of their patients and either perform appropriate psychosocial interventions such as problemsolving treatment with the patient or refer the patient to a mental health provider.
The median delay between the presentation of symptoms and the treatment of mental illness is 10 years.13
ANALYSIS Instituting mental health screenings at the primary care level means that all people who go to a physical checkup are screened. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA)6 combined with California’s Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) makes California a prime location to institute ground-level mental health intervention services.7
Earlier interventions can prevent the cumulative effects of mental illness and can result in a greater capacity for recovery.14
Studies show that short mental health screening tests such as the five-item version of the Mental Health Inventory (MHI5) are just as effective as longer tests, making mental health screening an easy addition to typical physical checkups.8 Many screening tests with evaluation instructions are available for free from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).9 If symptoms are identified, the PCP can refer the patient to appropriate mental health services. Additionally, there is evidence that interventions by general practitioners are an effective mental health wellness practice.10 Early diagnosis and treatment of mental illness would cause a decrease in lost work days and result in increased economic productivity.11 NEXT STEPS The mental health screening mandate would need to be 80
introduced as a bill. Analysis of how California’s MHSA funds are being used for intervention and innovation should be done to establish what funds may be available to support the development of a new system of detection and intervention. Additionally, a study should be conducted to evaluate different screening tools and their efficacies by collecting data from PCPs that already conduct mental health screenings at checkups. After the mandate is instituted, studies should be commissioned to evaluate the effect that screenings have on increasing early detection and intervention as well as whether screening done by a PCP leads to appropriate referrals and follow-up by mental health specialists. Continued evaluations of the policy’s outcomes should inform physicians on which screening tools to use and how to use the results to best serve their patients.
1
Treatment Advocacy Center. “Consequences of Non-treatment.” Treatment Advocacy Center: Eliminating
Barriers to the Treatment of Mental Illness. January 1, 2011. Accessed November 15, 2014.
http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/resources/consequences-of-lack-of-treatment/violence/1384. 2
54th World Health Assembly, “Mental Health: A Call for Action by World Health Ministers.” (Geneva, Switzerland:
World Health Organization, 2001),16.
3 Ibid. 4
The President’s New Freedom: Commission on Mental Health. “Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental
Health Care in America.” (Washington, DC, US: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,
2003), 59.
5
Ibid., 60.
6
“Key Features of the Affordable Care Act.” United States Department of Health and Human Services. November
18, 2014. Accessed November 20, 2014.
7
Feldman, Saul. “The ‘Millionaires Tax’ and mental health policy in California”. Health Affairs 28, no. 3(2009): 809–
815. 8
Berwick, Donald M., Jane M. Murphy, Paula A. Goldman, John E. Ware Jr., Arthur J. Barsky, and Milton C.
Weinstein. “Performance of a Five-Item Mental Health Screening Test.” Medical Care 29, no. 2 (1991): 169-176.
9
“Screening Tools.” SAMHSA-HRSA Center for Integrated Health Solutions. Accessed January 17, 2015.
10
Huibers, Marcus, Anna Beurskens, Gijs Bleijenberg, and Paul Paul Van Schayck. “Psychosocial Interventions by
General Practitioners.” Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2007. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/.
11
“Prevalence, Severity, And Unmet Need For Treatment Of Mental Disorders.”
12
Wang, Philip S., Gregory Simon, and Ronald C. Kesslar. “The economic burden of depression and the
cost-effectiveness of treatment.” International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research 12, no. 1 (2003): 22-33.
13
“Prevalence, Severity, And Unmet Need For Treatment Of Mental Disorders.” (Olympia, WA, US: Department of
Social and Health Services, Mental Health Division, 2002), 2.
14
The President’s New Freedom: Commission on Mental Health, 57.
Image: Emily Lau, NHS ‘17
82