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Thursday, November 14, 2013
The Red & Black
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Welfare drug testing a waste of time, resources
OUR TAKE
Local business dwindling in the Classic City
Erin Mauffray
Guest Columnist
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thens is distinctive for many reasons, but especially for its abundance of locally-owned businesses. Consider downtown — aside from Mellow Mushroom, Starbucks, Five Guys and most recently, Insomnia Cookies, most establishments, such as DePalma’s, Barberitos and Jittery Joe’s, call the Classic City home. Lately, however, there have been a number of local businesses forced to close due to national competition. Always Baked just closed its Jackson Street storefront, shared with Athens Bagel Company, to revert back to Bulldawg Food delivery, an online ordering service, with very limited hours of 7 p.m. to 2 a.m., Fridays and Saturdays. Jill Furman of Margo Sterling Silver, located on Clayton Street, recently told The Red & Black that a similar stress that might force her to close Margo’s doors. “I haven’t had an employee for three years because of the shrinking economy,” Furman said. “I’ve been telling my customers that if [Margo] doesn’t start selling stuff soon, then we’ll be closing in January.” Avid Bookshop, located on Prince Avenue, has also mentioned the possibility of closing in January. But there is more at stake here than just businesses. Opened in October 2011, Avid Bookshop frequently hosts author showcases, trivia nights, book clubs and more. If forced to close in January, we’d lose not only a charming local bookshop, but a venue which hosts cultural events that bring the community together. We can’t forget Weaver D’s, planning to close its doors in a few weeks. “It’s part financial, part being tired, part the economy,” Weaver told The Red & Black. “We’ve been here so long that we’ve gotten tired. And business is not what it used to be.” Last year, when a proposal for a downtown Walmart was presented, there was an uproar of protest, and the complex was never finalized. But watching smaller stores close down around town should be of an equally great concern to residents. Support our local businesses. No one wants to see Athens evolve into another cookie cutter town that is filled with places you can find at any exit off a highway. New businesses are fueled by creativity and a desire to fill a previously unknown niche in the community, so let’s allow those entrepreneurs a chance to succeed here before another national brand runs them out. — Caroline Brown for the editorial board
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COURTNEY WILLETT
Dietary discrimination: Getting in shape could get you the interview
Y
ou have perfected your résumé, gotten all the experience hours, even lived in the library for the past four years to get that perfect GPA — now the only thing holding you back is your weight. Today, being healthy can make you a better candidate for a job. With an increase in employer-based insurance, companies are paying closer attention to the health and future medical cost of their employees. “I have taught employment workshops and I will say, look in the mirror and ask yourself: ‘Am I someone that I would want to hire?’” said Michael Kofoed, a doctoral student studying economics at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. Kofoed studies the relationship between obesity and labor markets. Kofoed’s research highlights a growing trend of discrimination in the workforce. His research looks at the relation obesity has to employment and wages, by comparing the employer-based health insurance in the U.S. and single-payer health insurance in Canada. “What I have found in the United States is that there is a negative penalty for being obese,” Kofoed said. While experience and education are still the most important determinants of employment, a person must consider how their
Kathleen LaPorte Guest Columnist
health could impact their chance of getting hired. Obese workers are seeing discrimination both in hiring and in reduced wages. The fact is, obesity costs employers both in increased health insurance cost and losses in productivity. “One in three U.S. adults is obese, and researchers say the impact on business can be boiled down to a number: $1,000 to $6,000 in added cost per year for each obese employee, the figure rising along with a worker’s body mass index,” reported National Public Radio in their series “Living Large: Obesity in America.” If you are at risk for expensive health conditions like heart disease, stroke or Type 2 diabetes because of your weight, employers will be more hesitant in considering hiring you because you are more likely to cost them in expensive health care. Obese workers also cost companies in reduced productivity due to missed work days and being less physically fit to perform their job. “Your health is going to determine your productivity in the labor market, which in turn is going to determine your wage outcomes,” Kofoed
said. Weight is a sensitive topic that often is seen as a personal lifestyle decision — but in a changing labor and insurance market, your weight is not just the concern of you and your bathroom scale anymore. Employers want to hire the best and most cost effective workers to be part of their business, and obese workers are just not making that cut. In addition to education and experience, health may be the next determinant in hiring. Kofoed encourages people to watch their health, which will translate into better employment outcomes. He said, “the big thing is your health does matter in the labor market.” Today, companies are investing in workers as more than just tools for carrying out their business; they are investing in the entire well being of the person and their future health. To make yourself the best investment for a company you have to have the education, skills and health to be able to perform the best job possible. — Kathleen LaPorte is a senior from Decatur majoring in journalism and public affairs
am dreadfully tired of seeing people “like” and debate the argument for drug testing welfare recipients on social media. Please, stop. I don’t believe in drug testing welfare recipients, like people so adamantly demand, for the same reasons I don’t believe in drug testing anyone. Drug testing is an industry, and the amount of bureaucracy involved in collecting urine samples and testing them is vast. Accountability and bureaucracy are absolutely necessary for our government, but I think people wanting to drug test welfare recipients are sorely mistaken about what they’re asking. That is not a place where we want to add another layer of red tape. Our system is imperfect, but requiring drug tests for those who receive types of governmental aid is ridiculous. Hardworking people are frustrated with Uncle Sam taking out humongous chunks of their paychecks — with good reason. Any kind of social welfare system is going to be abused in some way, but if you truly believe that most people choose to be dependent upon government assistance, I suggest trying to look at the big picture as a whole instead of rumored cases. All kinds of people get government assistance for various barriers to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — particularly life. Elderly citizens who can’t work need help; disabled persons need help; children — hungry children — without the luxury of an able caretaker need help. Everyone needs help at some time or another. Why should our government spend millions of dollars to add another layer of bureaucratic red tape to drug test welfare recipients for marijuana? When Florida passed a bill to drug test welfare recipients, the policy only lasted four months. Of the 4,086 tested welfare recipients, 106 tested positive for illegal drugs — only 2.6 percent of applicants, according to an article by The New York Times. And as for drug testing employees, I think if someone who works for you has a drug problem, you would probably be able to tell by the quality of work, or lack thereof. What a waste of resources. Quit demanding that we drug test welfare recipients — maybe we could put some capital into man power to help an already backbroken social welfare system, but that’s another column in itself. Investing in better-trained, better-paid workers and resources for those workers to do their jobs in Social Services well would be way more effective in combatting system abuse than investing in thousands of drug testing kits and processing. — Erin Mauffray is a graduate student from Gulfport, Miss., with a degree in Spanish
OPINION METER: The week that was
ROLE REVERSAL: After having
radically different 2012 seasons, the Bulldogs may lack confidence in their match up against Auburn. Does this make Georgia the underdogs this weekend? Maybe not, but the rankings breed skepticism in the most dedicated fans.
SEX-ED: According to the Trojan
Sexual Health Report Card, UGA ranks 12th in the nation for available sexual health resources on campus. High school health classes are no longer doing the trick, so the University Health Center is stepping in to educate students.
Opinions expressed in The Red & Black are the opinions of the writers and not necessarily those of The Red and Black Publishing Company Inc. All rights reserved. Reprints by permission of the editors.
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HAIRY DOGS: “No shave November” encourages guys to stash that Bic razor and let their facial hair transform them into shaggy mountain men. While their female counterparts don scarves and cardigans, beards are a fall must-have for guys.
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