Student Pugwash USA (SPUSA) hosts various discussions regarding hot-topic issues throughout the summer. From energy and environmental policy to the social impact of technology, the events are meant to help educate D.C. interns over the summer and promote free thought. The most recent one involved the connection between healthcare policy and socio-economic status.

  What could have been a riveting panel discussion about the problems and solutions to the ever increasing discrepancy of healthcare between the rich white-folk and the poor black-folk, turned into tired locutions about the obvious problem of healthcare discrepancies in the U.S. When questioned about solutions to the problem at hand, one of the speakers informed the audience that since her group was non-partisan, non-advocacy, she could not suggest if any of the policies being proposed or currently on the books would help solve the problem.

 While the effort by SPUSA is appreciated, the discussion more or less trivialized a very serious issue that needs to be discussed in serious detail and with greater insight. While the speakers were probably very knowledgeable in their field, that knowledge was ill communicated to the audience. Info about SPUSA and lists of their upcoming events can be found at http://www.spusa.org/