Election Forum Gives Students, Staff, and Faculty an Opportunity to Discuss Important Health Care Issues
 
On October 20th, over three hundred Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) students, faculty, staff, and friends gathered in Alumni Auditorium for the CUMC Election Forum. The Election Forum was an opportunity to discuss the important health care issues at stake in the 2008 election. The discussion illuminated where Senators John McCain and Barak Obama stand on the issues and helped audience members make an informed decision before casting their vote.
The highlight of the Forum was a panel moderated by Professor Sreenath Sreenivasan, Dean of Students at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a technology reporter with WNBC-TV. Dr. Elise Gould, a Health Care and Labor Economist with the Economic Policy Institute, spoke about and in favor of Senator Obama’s plan. She was followed by Dr. Robert Goldberg, Vice President of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, who extolled the virtues of Senator McCain’s plan. A very lively back and forth with questions from the audience followed.
Before turning the podium over to Professor Sreenivasan, P&S second year medical student Brett Youngerman welcomed everybody and discussed the importance of the upcoming election to medical students. Executive Vice President and Dean Lee Goldman then talked about the importance of voting and staying involved in the political process. He also spoke about work he had done for his thesis on national health insurance during the Nixon Administration. The final speaker before the panel was Ross Frommer, Associate Dean for Government and Community Affairs, who gave an election overview.
The CUMC Election Forum was made possible by the generous support of Dr. Robin Cook, a P&S alumnus, and Country Bank and Joseph Murphy. The event was co-hosted by the CUMC Office of Government and Community Affairs, the P&S Office of Curricular Affairs, the American Medical Student Association, the Center for Bioethics, the School of Nursing, the College of Dental Medicine, the Mailman School of Public Health, and the Columbia Political Union.
 
 
 
Election Forum Presentations and Articles
Experts Spar Over McCain, Obama's Health Care Plans
Columbia Talk by Elise Gould
Goldberg Article in the Daily News
2008 RAF Election Forum 1020
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