Tax editorial goes too far

The April 2 editorial “Sin tax cross oard,” is some of the faultiest economic reasoning I have ever encountered.
The writer mentions “people whose behavior could damage their health” and suggests that cigarette smoking is an example of such a behavior. Perhaps this is true. Perhaps the same is also true of many other activities, such as driving automobiles or playing recreational sports. Look at the number of fatalities related to automobile accidents. According to the writer’s reasoning, a similar tax ought to be levied against those individuals who endanger their lives by choosing to drive. Millions of dollars are spent every year treating sports-related injuries, so why not tax tennis or golf?
The writer also mentions that these behaviors may “burden the nation’s health care system.” This fails to mention that without government-run “health care,” the very real costs of engaging in certain behaviors would be borne solely by the individuals who freely choose to do so.
I wonder if the writer has given consideration to the proposed “fast food tax.” I suspect that like the cigarette tax, the cost would be borne by the poorest Americans, many of them members of minority groups. Economics show that attempts by government to raise the opportunity cost of a given action through taxation are largely ineffectual when dealing with a good for which the demand is fairly inelastic (the case here).
A fast food tax would not necessarily mean that Americans buy less fast food, but that they continue to buy fast food and spend less of their income on other things.

Matthew Walther
sophomore, English

Lack of coverage disappointing
We, as a committee would like to express our extreme disappointment with the North Wind.
We fail to see how an event like Relay for Life, which has so many student participants, that raises money and awareness for diseases that will impact 1 in 3 people in their lifetime, does not merit coverage in our student newspaper. We understand that space and time constraints cause you to be selective about what is printed. However, we weren’t asking for a front page story. We were simply asking for some recognition for the more than 600 students and community members who gathered to honor those who have won their battle with cancer and remember our loved ones who were not so lucky.
The Mining Journal felt that our 24-hour event that raised $26,303, — $3,000 more than last year and $1,000 more than our goal — warranted a full feature story with pictures. We are disappointed that we’ve received more coverage from the Marquette community, than we’ve received from our student paper.
Though our event is attended and supported by community members and local businesses the actual event is solely planned and executed by NMU students. Whereas many of the survivors honored at Relay are from the Marquette area, there are students right here on campus who are survivors themselves.
We plan this event for students because we know that at Northern, virtually 3,000 of us will be effected by this disease in some way over the course of our lives. We’ve never run into this resistance from the North Wind before and are quite baffled and deeply disappointed in the lack of support for such a significant event.

Northern Relay for Life
Committee

Words from ASNMU president-elect
On Monday I will be sworn in as your next ASNMU President. Many thanks to the 1,618 of you who voted in this year’s election, and, to the people who worked tirelessly on my campaign, words are not enough. I am very pleased with the election of the progressive candidates who ran with me, and I would like to extend congratulations to everyone who was elected to board of the Associated Students of Northern Michigan University (ASNMU) this year.
My first task as your president will be to assess every aspect of Northern and determine what we need to work on, what we need to improve, and how to make NMU a better place to be. I will work my hardest to stand up for the students whom I represent. I do not want to speak for you, the students of NMU; I want you to speak through me. My goal is to be the most accessible ASNMU president we have ever seen. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas throughout this upcoming year. Please contact me at any time at [email protected].

Jason Morgan
junior, political science