October 17, 2007 - 12:01am
By Mao Ye
In his commencement speech this year, President David J. Skorton called for other universities to join Cornell in launching a New Marshall Plan to reduce worldwide poverty and inequality. As President Skorton said, “These inequalities will affect all of us directly and personally.” I was greatly inspired by his ambition and compassion. But in order to fight injustice abroad, we must first focus on inequalities on our own campus. On Sept. 19, I wrote an article informing the whole community about the problem of uninsured student dependents at Cornell — a lack of affordable health insurance for some segments affects everyone in our community. Uninsured people may defer their health care and can risk spreading disease. This should especially cause concern for universities where people are in close contact with one another. Everyone can be affected even if they are not infected.
