TheVanderbilt Political Review F I I N HE I E E S I L L NG T P C Spring 2011 TheVanderbilt VPR | Spring 2011 Political Review Table of Contents Spring 2011 • Volume 4 • Issue 2 President Matthew David Taylor 3 Interview with Dr. William Turner Vice Presidents Allegra Noonan Interview conducted by Britt Johnson Nathan Rothschild and Sid Sapru Editor-in-Chief Libby Marden 4 Alumni Perspective: Assistant Editor-in-Chief Sid Sapru A Conversation with President George W. Bush Online Director Noah Fram Wyatt Smith Events Director Leia Andrew Zaid Choudhry College of Arts & Science and Secretary Hannah Jarmolowski Peabody College Treasurer Ryan Higgins Class of 2010 Public Relations Melissa O’Neill 6 The Red Sea Art Director Eric Lyons Nick Vance Director of Layout Melissa McKittrick College of Arts & Science Community Outreach Nick Vance Class of 2014 Print Editors Eliza Horn 7 The Unfinished Revolution: Egypt’s Transition to Vann Bentley Civilian Rule Nathan Rothschild Sloane Speakman Christina Rogers College of Arts & Science Hannah Rogers Class of 2012 Andrea Clabough Emily Morgenstern 9 A Hopeful Pakistan, A Hopeful America Nicholas Vance Sanah Ladhani College of Arts & Science Online Writers Megan Covington Class of 2012 Mark Cherry 10 Wrapped in the Flag and Carrying a Cross Adam Osiason Eric Lyons John Foshee Jillian Hughes College of Arts & Science Jeff Jay Class of 2014 12 The Libyan No Fly-Zone: A New Paradigm for Events Staff Michal Durkiewicz Humanitarian Intervention and Reinforcing Democracy Jennifer Miao Atif Choudhury Caitlin Rooney College of Arts & Science Kenneth Colonel Alex Smalanskas-Torres Class of 2011 13 Who Failed Our Country’s Children? Faculty Adviser Mark Dalhouse Zach Blume College of Arts & Science Class of 2014 Vanderbilt‘s first and only multi-partisan academic journal 14 Exorcising the Boogeyman featuring essays pertaining to political, social, and economic events that are taking place in our world as we speak. Andrea Clabough Vanderbilt Political Review is an affiliated division of Van- College of Arts & Science derbilt Student Communications, and a member of the Alliance of Collegiate Editors. Class of 2011 Wondering what you Want more exclusive content from can use this code for? VPR? Make sure to check out Use your Smartphone’s barcode application to view articles and post comments on Vanderbilt ONLINE POlitical Review Online. VPR 2 VanderbiltPoliticalReview.com behavioral health, like me, but I got se- changed as much as this views on the Interview with Dr. lected. I then went off to Washington and pragmatics of how you make it happen. spent six months at the National Acad- William Turner emies of Science, and after interviewing Q: What do you see as the strengths Interview conducted by with different Senators and congressmen and weaknesses of the final healthcare Nathan Rothschild and Sid Sapru on Capitol Hill, I ended up interviewing legislation passed by Congress? with Senator Obama and was selected A: Well, I think it has a lot of strengths, by him to come and work as his health even though you might not necessarily policy fellow and adviser. I was a part of know that if you watch the news. I think his health policy team, which was a real- nobody can deny the fact that it is impor- ly interesting group of people. His chief tant to cover as many uninsured as pos- health policy adviser was a physician, sible, and I think the healthcare bill goes who is actually a graduate of Vanderbilt a long way towards doing that. Although Medical School as well as the Harvard we don’t have the sort of public mandate School of Public Health. I think I was that mandates insurance for everybody, brought on board because they were re- we do cover a substantially larger por- ally interested in looking at legislation tion of the population than has ever been that dealt with behavioral health, with covered before, and I think that’s a great families, and with health disparities -- all thing. The fact that we know longer have areas in which I had a great interest. to worry about pre-existing conditions to Q: Can you give us a brief overview of the extent that we once did is an extraor- your background and experience? Q: Given your experience working dinarily important change, too. The fact with then-Senator Obama on health- A: Well, I’ve been a university profes- that young people can now be covered on care, do you feel that his views on the sor for about 20 years. Currently, I am their parents’ insurance through age 26 is issue have changed substantially over the Betts Professor of Education and a really important thing. I have a daugh- the years? Human Development in the Department ter who just graduated from Vanderbilt of Human and Organizational Develop- A: I don’t know that they’ve changed, this past May and though she will be ment in Vanderbilt’s Peabody College. but I think he probably has a much more starting graduate school soon, it’s been My academic interest is in family stud- pragmatic approach to how he handles really nice knowing that she can still be ies and marriage/family therapy, but I’ve legislation. Back in 2008, even though covered under my insurance for another done a lot of work in the healthcare area he was a Senator, he was also a presi- five years. These are very real changes as well. After doing lots of different re- dential candidate, and discussions about that are happening today that make a search studies over the years that had real healthcare legislation were beginning huge difference. In terms of the weak- implications for people in the real world, both in his office as well as through the nesses of the bill, I personally think that, I became very interested in learning how entire Senate. Toward the end of my in some ways, it didn’t go far enough in to translate research into policy. It’s one time in Washington, after he had become terms of covering the uninsured; there are thing to publish research in an academic nominee, the legislation Obama was pro- still a lot of uninsured individuals in the journal and to have it read by other scien- posing seemed much broader than what country and I don’t know that we have a tists and other academics who can take it we actually ended up with. It was truly particularly great plan on how we are go- and do something with it, but to apply it healthcare reform, not just health insur- ing to cover them. I think more needs to to the real world you need to take things ance reform. We were looking not only be done there. I think the fact that we did in a different direction. I got really inter- at how we pay for healthcare, but also at focus so much on how to pay for health- ested in working on policy when I was how healthcare was delivered, how we care and didn’t look more broadly at the a professor at the University of Minne- educated future physicians and health- larger healthcare system was unfortu- sota, where I became a part of the Hubert care providers, how information technol- nate. In fact, if we do a better job train- Humphrey Policy Center there. I started ogy was altering healthcare. All of these ing physicians and recruiting physicians to work with policy writers and makers were parts of his future plans to revise to the right areas of focus, we can actu- and decided I wanted to have a more the healthcare in this country as we knew ally lower the costs of healthcare overall. thorough experience with it, so I applied it. However, I think once he began Presi- So many physicians these days are go- for a Robert Wood Johnson faculty health dent, the realities that he had to deal with ing into specialties that don’t necessarily policy fellowship back in 2007 on the -- of a Congress who has to pay for these reach the masses. We don’t have nearly outside chance I would be chosen. Gen- ideas, of a party that was very opposi- enough primary care physicians, people erally speaking, they choose physicians tional to what he was doing -- made him who are on the front lines (even though and other people in the healthcare arena compromise a lot, and realize that things we have an awful lot of specialists who who are involved in much more direct have to be taken incrementally. I’m not make an awful lot of money). I under- ways than perhaps someone researching sure his views on healthcare reform have stand why they go in that direction, but The Vanderbilt Political Review | Spring 2011 3 I think that there needed to be some real ing it, but I think a lot of it has to do with A: That’s a really good question. I have change there. In short, I don’t think the our willingness to provide better pre- had periods where I’m very optimistic; bill went far enough. Some of that was ventative care for lower-income folks. for example, when healthcare legislation for pragmatic reasons; the President was They are disproportionately provided first came on the table. I think in those forced against the wall by those who also care through emergency rooms, when early days, it seemed like mental health had a say in the matter. I also think they things are already out of control. If you was going to be treated very similarly to could have done a bit better job of com- could do something to provide early care, physical health.