Wh e n i tcomes toprotectingPhiladel-phians from
the most violent criminals,the mayoral contendershave a hard act to follow inMayor Nutter and his topcop, Police CommissionerCharles H. Ramsey.
The murder rate is downsharply, and all the city’sviolent crime has declined— as it has nationally.
Also on Nutter’s watch,the city has taken the leadin spurring efforts to stemthe tide of illegal gunsacross Pennsylvania. Whilehandguns — the weaponsused to commit most mur-ders — remain readilyavailable in inner-cityneighborhoods, the mayor,joined by City Council, ush-ered in new gun limits thatwere potent enough tospark a fierce and continu-ing legal battle with the Na-tional Rifle Association.
For Nutter’s successor,moving the needle on ille-gal guns and the culture ofviolence they feed willmean taking up the reinson some of the mayor’s ini-tiatives, such as the pushfor Harrisburg to mandatereporting of lost and sto-len weapons.
But Philadelphia’s nextleader should also be ex-pected to stretch theboundaries of what’s beingdone in targeted policing,violence prevention, andsocial safety net programsthat steer teens in particu-lar away from violentcrime.
With a clear policy focuson stemming gun violence— Anthony Williams pledg-es to go so far as assigninga top aide to the task — anew mayor can signal thecity’s determination totake these efforts to thenext level. What Jim Ken-ney and Williams wiselyrecognize as the provenmethods of “focused deter-rence,” which seeks toidentify the relativelysmall number of people
likely to be caught up ingun crimes, should be ex-panded — preferably toreach every troubled cor-ner of the city.
And just as it’s impor-tant to jump-start and ex-tend violence preventionstrategies, the work tofind ex-cons jobs andskills that Kenney sug-gests, the police sensitivi-ty training that Doug Oliv-er touts, the after-schoolprograms that MelissaMurray Bailey promotes,and the broader policy ef-forts to address the causesof crime that Nelson Diazsuggests would take aimat the problem in usefulways.
From an enforcementperspective, it’s a widelyshared view that crackingdown on straw gun pur-chasers is vital. LynneAbraham can point to ex-perience with that as aformer district attorney,as can Williams, whohelped found a gun vio-lence task force. It’s lessclear that the gun buybackprograms pushed byBailey make much of animpact.
Primary voters could beforgiven for coming awaywanting more from thecandidates on gun vio-lence. And much of whatthe city can achieve is de-termined some two hours’drive from City Hall. Har-risburg’s antipathy towardany gun policy opposed bythe NRA will remain oneof the greatest hurdles forthe next mayor.
That means the new ad-ministration must marshalaverage Pennsylvanians’evident support for moresensible gun laws. In themeantime, the mayor willhave to lead the city in go-ing it alone with the smart,aggressive, local antivio-lence strategies within itspower.
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Markers at the scene of ashooting in the city’sNicetown section lastmonth. JOSEPH KACZMAREK
Smoking, said King James Iin 1604, is “loathsome tothe eye, hateful to thenose, harmful to the brain,dangerous to the lungs.”
Three years later, he planted a colo-ny in Jamestown. Its tobacco en-hanced the royal treasury until Vir-ginia produced a bumper crop ofrevolutionaries, including the tobac-co farmer George Washington.
King James might have been lesscensorious about “vaping,”which almost certainly isless harmful than inhalingchemicals produced by thecombustion of tobacco. Us-ers of e-cigarettes inhale va-pors from electronic stickscontaining a liquid with nic-otine, which is addictiveand perhaps particularlyunhealthy for adolescentbrains. Between 2013 and2014 the use of e-cigarettesby middle- and high-school studentstripled, and it now exceeds that co-hort’s use of traditional cigarettes.
E-cigarettes, sometimes flavored totempt the immature (“Unicorn Puke,”“Stoned Smurf,” “German ChocolateBeefcake”), might be “gatewaydrugs,” leading to tobacco cigarettes.Currently, however, e-cigarettes oftenare substitutes for them. So, preparefor regulations combining high-mind-edness and low cunning.
E-cigarettes raise public health is-sues but also illustrate the unhealthyprocess by which public policy oftenis made. They illustrate a familiar phe-nomenon, the cooperation between“bootleggers and Baptists,” meaningmerchants and moralists — those mo-tivated by profits and those motivatedby social improvement.
In 1983, Bruce Yandle, then aClemson University economist whonow is at George Mason Universi-ty’s Mercatus Center, had an epipha-ny: Regulations often come from acounterintuitive convergence ofpressures from two groups, the ear-nestness of one providing cover forthe other’s avarice. In his example,
Baptists wanted laws closing liquorstores on Sundays to promote piety,and bootleggers wanted such lawsto create an unserved market.
Today, New York has the higheststate cigarette tax ($4.35 per pack —plus a $1.50 New York City tax) andNorth Carolina has the sixth-lowest(45 cents), so naturally Interstate 95is a corridor for smuggled ciga-rettes, which in 2013 were nearly 60percent of New York’s cigarette mar-
ket. Proclaiming moralitywhile practicing cupidity,states have tried to hit thesweet spot of cigarette tax-es — high enough to maxi-mize revenue without ex-cessively discouragingsmoking.
States addicted to tobac-co taxes need a large andrenewable supply of smok-ers, so they wince whenev-er an e-cigarette displaces
a traditional cigarette. As Yandleand three colleagues explain in thecurrent issue of Regulation quarter-ly, state governments are now boot-leggers masquerading as Baptists,and many are in a bind.
In 1998, acting on the dubious prop-osition that smoking costs govern-ments substantial sums (actually, ciga-rettes are one of the most heavilytaxed consumer products, and one inthree smokers dies prematurely, be-fore fully collecting government medi-cal, pension, and nursing-home entitle-ments), the tobacco companiesagreed to pay 46 states $206 billionthrough 2025. Some states, impatientto spend their windfall, securitizedthe future revenue in tobacco bonds.Now, as vaping supplants some smok-ing, there is a new cadre of bootleg-gers — the holders of tobacco bonds.They are supposed to be paid from arevenue stream from smokers (dispro-portionately low-income and low-infor-mation people), so they will urge regu-lations that discourage e-cigarettes.Or that bring e-cigarettes under the1998 agreement, perhaps by declaringthem “tobacco products” because the
nicotine can come from tobacco.In exchange for the big cigarette
companies’ payments, the 1998 agree-ment gave them tobacco marketingrestrictions, which they welcomed.The restrictions impede the entranceof new competitors into the field, andhinder smaller companies from usingcigarette advertising for its primarypurpose, which is not to create newsmokers but to capture a larger mar-ket share of existing smokers.
E-cigarettes can expect similarbootlegging regulations, couched inmoralistic cadences. Also, manufac-turers of nicotine-replacement thera-pies (e.g., nicotine patches and gum)will be bootleggers seeking regula-tions that will discourage peoplefrom thinking e-cigarettes are a rela-tively safe way to enjoy nicotine.
Yandle’s hypothesis is given manyillustrations, from environmentalregulations to Obamacare, in a newbook, Bootleggers & Baptists, coau-thored with his economist grandson,Adam Smith. Yandle’s hypothesis ex-pands “public choice” theory, whichdemystifies and de-romanticizes gov-ernment by applying economic anal-ysis — how incentives influence be-havior — to politicians and bureau-crats. It rebuts the fiction that suchofficials are more disinterested thanactors in the private sector. Yandledoes the same thing regarding manyof those who seek regulations.
Life would be sweeter if peoplewould forgo the pleasures of inhal-ing smoke and vapors that do notimprove the air, which is plentifuland untaxed. And governmentwould be better if more peoplewere clear-eyed about how Baptistsand bootleggers collaborate.
George Will is a Washington Postcolumnist. [email protected]
By Donald E. Morel Jr.and Larry Dubinski
P hiladelphia has long beena city of scientific achieve-ment. Today, we are a hub
for many technology-based in-dustries, especially pharmaceuti-cals and aerospace. Our collegesand universities are educatingthe next generation of doctors,engineers, researchers, and sci-entifically literate citizens. Weare home to a wide range of busi-nesses inventing new productsand processes, encouraging in-novation, and employing thepower of science to heal, create,educate, and entertain.
Today, the Franklin InstituteAwards celebrate 10 of theworld’s most accomplished menand women in science. These in-ternational luminaries join a leg-acy that stretches back 191years, to 1824. In 1990, we addedawards for scientific leadershipand business and philanthropy,recognizing that taking newproducts to market and fundingresearch are essential parts ofthe process by which scienceand technology change theworld. Albert Einstein traveledto the institute to accept theFranklin Medal, as did Marieand Pierre Curie, Jane Goodall,Orville Wright, Alexander Gra-ham Bell, Bill Gates, andStephen Hawking. The NobelPrize has the honor of sharing
116 of our laureates.This evening, we will add to
this distinguished list. Amongthem will be Jean-Pierre Kruth,a Belgian scientist, for his pio-neering research in additivemanufacturing — otherwiseknown as 3-D printing — andElissa L. Newport, a researcherat Georgetown University Medi-cal Center, for her work on lan-guage development and on im-proving methods for language re-covery after damage to thebrain. Two recipients showcasetalent at the University of Penn-sylvania: Charles L. Kane andEugene J. Mele share the 2015Benjamin Franklin Medal inPhysics with Shoucheng Zhangof Stanford University.
There is not room here to rec-ognize all our award winners,but it is difficult to overstate theimpact of science and technolo-gy on our lives. We recognizethese achievements not only topraise these remarkable individ-uals, but also to help us appreci-ate the power, possibilities, andchallenges of science and tech-nology.
That is why we follow theaward ceremony with Friday’sstart of the fifth annual Philadel-phia Science Festival. This re-gion-wide celebration convenes210 partners from nonprofit, aca-demic, and corporate fields topresent more than 100 eventsover nine days that bring Phila-
delphians together around sci-ence in parks, restaurants, andneighborhood centers. The festi-val fosters collaboration amongour region’s science and technol-ogy stakeholders and allowstens of thousands of people ofall ages to interact with both sci-ence and scientists.
Philadelphia is having a renais-sance in many ways. Brightyoung people are attracted toour arts and culture scene, andour economy is forging ahead.Now let’s add celebrating Phila-delphia as a city of science tothe list.
From improving public health,to developing diverse and sus-tainable energy sources to appre-ciating the wonders of the nightsky, we can harness science andtechnology to enrich our lives.Science can bring us together,help us know ourselves better,and connect us to the world. Acity that celebrates science isone that values curious, in-formed, and engaged citizens.
Benjamin Franklin once not-ed, “An investment in knowl-edge pays the best interest.” Incelebrating science and the ac-complishments of our laureates,that interest is compoundedmany times for the benefit of all.
Donald E. Morel Jr. is the chair ofthe board of trustees at the FranklinInstitute (www.fi.edu). Larry Dubinskiis the institute’s president and CEO.
COMMENTARY
Philly’s celebration of science
Trudy Rubin’s Worldviewcolumn from Erbil, the capitalof Iraqi Kurdistan, will appearFriday.
SIGNE WILKINSON | [email protected]
Inquirer.com/opinion"@PhillyInquirer
GEORGEWILL"@GeorgeWillRSS
Underthe gun
By Lynn McMaster
P hiladelphia’s literacy gapis jeopardizing our collec-tive future. We know that
students who don’t read at profi-cient levels by fourth grade aremany times more likely to fallbehind and drop out of school;that 85 percent of minors in thecourt system are illiterate; andthat Philadelphia has one of thelowest reading proficiency ratesamong major U.S. cities.
Bridging these gaps is a hot-button issue in the mayoral raceand at the top of school agendas— but it will never happen un-less we, as a city rich in cultureand conviction, work together toharness the power of nontradi-tional education.
The ecology of learning doesnot get the attention it deserves.Research shows, and most learn-ing professionals agree, that 80percent of learning happens out-side the classroom, which is ex-actly why we need to cultivatehighly accessible educational ex-periences that complement for-mal schooling — opportunitiesthat support literacy as the gate-way to a more promising futurefor Philadelphia.
For decades, developing earlyliteracy skills has been core toour work at the Please TouchMuseum. This weekend’s 30thannual Book Awards and Story-book Ball is an example. Andwhile we’re proud to be the first
children’s museum in the coun-try to honor outstanding chil-dren’s literature, our work goesfar beyond promoting a lifelonglove of books and learning. Itexemplifies how fun, interactiveactivities can build a strongfoundation of language, cogni-tive, and emotional skills thatare fundamental for success inschool and later in life.
Learning through play is oneof the most powerful experiencesa child can have. It excites. It’seffective. Its importance is hardto overstate. But it cannot func-tion alone, just as formal educa-tion cannot succeed in isolation.
Only by recognizing the signifi-cant merits of nontraditional ed-ucation and strategically lever-aging its potential will we makemeaningful progress in closingthe city’s literacy gap. Promisingefforts are underway across theregion, but we can’t each go italone.
We must take an inclusive ap-proach to cultivating younglearners and work together asteachers of all types — class-room educators, business andcommunity leaders, politicians,parents, and neighbors — to fos-ter a cohesive learning ecosys-tem that will enable the next gen-eration of Philadelphians, andour city, to flourish.
Lynn McMaster is CEO of the PleaseTouch Museum(www.pleasetouchmuseum.org).
Other paths to learning
On bootleggers and Baptists
| EDITORIALWhat the next mayor can doto protect Philadelphiansfrom violent crime andillegal firearms.
A14 | THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER | THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015 C | PHILLY.COM
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