As the passionate debate surrounding health care reform reaches a fever pitch on Capitol Hill, countless pundits and politicians on both sides of the issue are crowding the airwaves with their opinions.
Now, Colgate students are weighing in, thanks to a unique podcast project — “The Health Care Reform Debate: Undergraduate Voices” — that is part of visiting professor Suzanne Holland’s bioethics course.
“As far as I can tell, no one has stopped to ask college students for their considered and informed opinions on which way we ought to go with reforming health care — until these podcasts,” said Holland, NEH Professor of the Humanities in the Department of Religion.
“The podcasts,” Holland noted, “represent the very first collective responses of college students to the health care reform debate going on in the country right now.”
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When Holland discovered the technological resources inside the Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology — including audio and television studios, she revamped the Basics of Bioethics course syllabus to integrate new technology into her students’ learning experience.
After extensive research on a specific health care issue, students recorded 13 podcasts in the Case-Geyer audio studio.
“I’m very concerned about what’s happening because the final health care reform bill will have a big impact on my generation,” said Leigh Herzog ’13.
In episode one, Herzog and John Murmello ’11 explore the economic implications the current health care bill has for the 18- to 29-year-old age bracket. They also talk about the current and proposed systems for health insurance, and discuss key vocabulary in the ongoing health care debate.
“I hope the podcasts are informative and show college students the myriad of reasons why they should care about a topic that may not seem important at first glance,” added Herzog.
Other podcast episodes include discussions about health care for elderly and minorities, a comparison of international health systems, and the potential impact the proposed changes could have on doctors.
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I am very much impressed but the principle of full disclosure requires me to say that Dr. Holland is my daughter. That wouldn’t bring me to compromise my integrity by praising her work falsely. I hope. Fortunately, such falsity is neither possible nor necessary since she continues to do everything so well.
May each of you have offspring of whom you may be so proud.
Terry Holland