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Randy Cohen argues that it's unethical to donate to Harvard.
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A study of 1,400 couples throughout the U.S. by East Carolina University has found that the sexual orientation of adoptive parents has absolutely no effect on their kids' emotional development. Having sat through hearings on this very topic at the General Assembly, I feel confident that this study will not penetrate one millimeter through the thick skulls of the dopes who oppose adoptions by same-sex couples.
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An Indiana grandmother made the mistake of buying cold medication twice in one week—Zyrtec-D for her husband and Mucinex-D for her daughter. She was hauled away from her home in handcuffs for violating the state law that prohibits buying more than three grams of ephedrine in a week. Her photo was on the cover of the local paper as being arrested in a "drug sweep." Although everybody agrees that she didn't do anything wrong—she wasn't using the stuff to make meth—the prosecutor and the sheriff are pressing ahead with charges. She's got to pay a fine, which the county prosecutor says is a great deal, because they could have given her two months in prison.
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Had the Indiana grandmother paid cash for the medicine, she wouldn’t have come to anyone’s attention. (Unless there’s a procedure in which you have to sign for the stuff.) I wonder if she used one of those “VIP” discount cards that keep track of all your purchases. Even with a cash transaction, using one of those cards makes your buying history transparent.
Janis: You have to sign a log book when you purchase certain medications in these states. That’s almost certainly how her name came up.
as a longtime severe allergy sufferer, I can speak firsthand that Zyrtec and Musinex-D are pretty much the best shit you can get. I’ve been taking Zyrtec for over 15 years (since back when it was a prescription drug), and it’s basically the pill that allows me to breathe every day.
Musinex is a more recent discovery — my allergies have worsened in recent years, and whenever there’s a mold outbreak (roughly once or twice a month, year-round) those things are a lifesaver. I always wondered why they made me sign for them at the counter… now I know!
There’s also the lengthy tale about how I had to pay $100 a month for Zrytec, in the years between when my insurance company stopped covering it, and when the patent expired and it became an over-the-counter… but that’s another story.
Randy Cohen is being very unfair to Harvard and other top universities. A year at Harvard, Stanford, or MIT costs about $50,000, all things considered. A family of five with an income of $120,000 can hardly afford to pay that. It is not unreasonable to make a Harvard education available to bright, highly motivated kids from such families. What’s more, a kid from a family of five making $100,000 can attend Stanford tuition free, and MIT paying virtually nothing. Both schools admit all students without factoring their ability to pay, and then they charge what the student’s family can afford. How is that a bad thing?
On pseudoephedrine purchases, this just demonstrates my point about this ridiculousness. This law just punishes regular users, not meth pushers. Meth manufacturers have just come up with a way to make it with less pseudoephedrine than the limit in a soda bottle. And if they are not making it here, they are just importing it from Mexico. Punishing people with allergies does not solve the substance abuse problem.
And those quotes from the sheriff and the prosecutor are ridiculous. From what I gather, they elect their prosecutors too. I’m stunned by the statements and actions reported. And both of them are Democrats! For shame! If Republicans aren’t using this to fill their election coffers in Indiana, they’re missing a brilliant opportunity.
It isn’t a bad thing IP, it also isn’t Cohen’s point. And before you get in a bunch, I agree with your point. THE point is that far too many kids are paying more to enroll in State universities than their classmates who were accepted into Harvard or MIT. That isn’t Harvard or MIT’s fault, it is our fault.
Cohen does miss an important factor which would probably support his claim. Harvard’s endowment is mind-blowingly huge, but part of the reason, its so large compared to Yale and Princeton is because the endowment exists almost to exist. The school itself can only borrow for certain expenditures because of the rules. Most of the money is stuck in a limbo of sorts and can’t be used. Unless the money is specifically ear-marked, giving money to Harvard is unethical because its not used.
The Boston Globe had a series on this a few years ago.