Opinion and Knowledge Debate

The liberal smoking policy of the government is as good as abandoning smokers to their fate. Once investment in smokers who want to stop decreases, the numbers will rise again. Although there is no immediate public interest, it is definitely up to the government to help this group of addicts break free from the cigarette. This is the opinion of health scientist Prof. Arie Dijkstra of the University of Groningen. He is specialized in addiction. ‘As far as I’m concerned, no-one has to quit smoking, but something extra needs to be done in order to reach smokers. After all, in most cases it’s an addiction.’

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Since 1800, the Virgin Mary has appeared more often than ever before: hundreds, maybe even thousands, of times. Whereas Mary used to like nothing better than to appear to a high-ranking man, women and children now have her preference. These are often somewhat marginal figures: poor, ill or with a history of domestic violence. In choosing them in particular as messengers, the Virgin is giving a voice to the voiceless, to those to who are not heard in church and society, says Mathilde van Dijk, lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Groningen.

The Top 2000, which will be broadcast on Radio 2 from Christmas Day onwards, is full of near-plagiarism. At least this is the opinion of Dicky Gilbers, linguist at the University of Groningen and music buff. ‘Recording artists think that they have thought up their own work, but in their quest for the perfect melody, they actually all fall back on the same song structures and chord schemes. You can’t really call it plagiarism, but in many ways, they’re singing the same song over and over.’ Gilbers sees interesting parallels with human language. ‘We wouldn’t be able to make head or tail of language or music without the simple structures on which they are based.’

Cutbacks in spending on disaster relief and development aid will cost the Netherlands a lot of money in the long run, thinks Joost Herman, University Reader in International Relations and International Organization at the University of Groningen. Not only does Herman want to keep the current budget for development aid, he also wants to see a larger portion of the resources for disaster relief spent on programmes aimed at preventing natural disasters and armed conflicts.

Op 24 november j.l. publiceerde psychologe Guldberg op de opiniesite www.spiked.com een stuk over pesten, dat ook op de NRC-website verscheen onder de titel “Pesten is gezond, ook voor de slachtoffertjes” (28 november). In één dag leverde dat al meer dan 60 reacties op. Maar klopt Guldbergs analyse van pesten wel, vragen Gijs Huitsing en René Veenstra zich af?

The predictions of a potential ‘horror winter’ that keep cropping up in the media are totally unfounded. It is not possible to predict weather more than ten days in advance. However, great importance is attached to such predictions – while at the same time global warming scepticism seems to be on the increase. Wim Klaassen, a meteorologist at the University of Groningen, believes that meteorologists should be very concerned about this. ‘There is no doubt that the climate is changing, viewed in the long term. Meteorologists need to learn to explain this better.’

The proliferation in the number of grants that central government pays out to local authorities must be halted. Cutting back on the number of separate grants would result in considerable cost savings and remove many uncertainties. ‘The present government grant system is inefficient,’ says Maarten Allers, professor of the economics of sub-national government at the University of Groningen .

Het debat over de weigerambtenaar kreeg de afgelopen week een nieuwe wending. De Tweede Kamer nam een motie aan om de weigerambtenaar uit het publiek domein te weren. Het besluit roept herinnering op aan het religiedebat over ritueel slachten. Is het nu gedaan met de godsdienstvrijheid in Nederland? “Een ‘beroepsverbod’ tegen autochtonen (lees: SGP-ambtenaren zal leiden tot een nóg grotere onverdraagzaamheid tegen allochtone minderheidsgroeperingen”, was de strekking van de bijdrage van CDA’er Arie Oostlander in Trouw. Volgens Fokko Oldenhuis, hoogleraar Religie en Recht aan de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, raakt Oostlander daarmee niet de kern van het probleem.

Meat substitutes based on lupini are delicious, sustainable and healthy. This makes the beans of the lupin plant an ideal raw material for making our food more sustainable, according to Rob van Haren, director of the Kiemkracht innovation alliance and Professor of Product Innovation and Knowledge Transfer in Agribusiness at the University of Groningen.

Religion and spirituality can fulfil a beneficial role in our success-obsessed culture, says university lecturer in psychology of religion Hanneke Schaap. The age of tall stories and ideologies may be past, but only being concerned about yourself does not give satisfaction. When all’s said and done, people want to be part of a greater whole. On 15 November, Schaap will be giving a public lecture on this subject at the University of Groningen.

The Dutch housing market is stagnant and there are hardly any instruments available to get things moving. It’s not only homeowners and banks that have their backs to the wall but government as well, according to Arno van der Vlist, professor of real estate development at the University of Groningen. ‘It’s slowly dawning on us that real estate does not just increase in value. For years we have profited from rising real estate prices but now we must reserve for write-off and depreciation. The declining consumption will harm the economy.’

Around the world, the number of children growing up in foster families is increasing. Nevertheless, we know very little about how foster children feel. Their voices are hardly ever heard. Hans Grietens, professor of Remedial Education, is calling for more research from the perspective of the foster children. Ethics should form the basis of the research. ‘Our goal must be to really help foster children.’ Grietens will be giving his inaugural lecture today on this subject, entitled Kleine stemmen, grote verhalen!? [Tiny voices, tall tales!?].

If the province of Drenthe wants to prepare the way for creating wind parks in the Veenkoloniën (Drenthe peat region), then it must show the inhabitants that they are also in their interest. Possibilities include making the locals part-owners, or pointing out the added value of windmills in the landscape, and certainly by turning the area into an energy region the inhabitants can be proud of. This is the opinion of Prof. Gert de Roo, professor of Planology at the University of Groningen. ‘A slick image of what it will all look like in twenty years’ time is deceptive manipulation. It’s simply pearls before swine, because everyone sees through it.’

The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) should be as reticent as possible in providing guarantees to European member states, banks and other financial institutions, says Michael Koetter, Professor of Global Economics & Management at the University of Groningen. ‘It must be made clear that the fund will only take effect in the worst-case scenario. And not only the banks, but individual savers and investors must accept their responsibilities too.’

The effectiveness of development aid benefits from field experiments. Before a development programme is implemented on a large scale, whether or not it will work should be tested on a small scale using what is known as a randomized intervention. Such interventions, where there is often close collaboration between academics and NGOs (non-governmental organizations), provide a much clearer picture of what works and what does not, according to economist Prof. Robert Lensink of the University of Groningen.

Do people who consider their lives to be ‘completed’ have the right to euthanasia? Debate in society on the subject is once again on the rise. A pivotal requirement in the Dutch Euthanasia Act is that a patient should be suffering unbearably and with no prospect of improvement. In recent years, however, just what this entails is being interpreted less rigidly. Nowadays an accumulation of geriatric afflictions may also qualify as unbearable suffering within the meaning of the Act. This in itself is not a bad development, according to researcher Dr Donald van Tol of the University of Groningen and the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) . However, pressure on doctors to provide euthanasia should not become too great. ‘Euthanasia is not a patient’s right, nor a doctor’s duty. Physicians are not required to cooperate. It’s in everyone’s best interest that doctors have complete freedom to decide whether or not they will perform euthanasia.’

Director Klaus Jungmann of the KVI (Kernfysisch Versneller Instituut) completely understands why his colleagues at CERN in Geneva have publically announced their observations of neutrinos, which appear to be faster than light. Partly thanks to that publicity, the results will quickly be tested all over the world.

Top sport has degenerated into a huge entertainment industry. The club with the best talent scouts no longer heads the league table but the one with the largest purse. This has led to a shift in the balance of power with players going where they can earn the most, even if this means transferring to a previously insignificant club.  ‘To a certain extent, success can be bought’, says Ruud Koning, professor by special appointment in Sports Economics at the University of Groningen.

Private individuals who disseminate images of suspected burglars, raiders and other suspects via the internet are guilty of taking the law into their own hands. The fact that it is possible does not mean that it’s legal to do it. The Dutch Data Protection Authority should therefore strictly monitor breaches of the law. Shopkeepers and other victims who have images of suspects should simply take them to the police, just as in the past. This is the view of Mathieu Paapst, university lecturer in Law and IT at the University of Groningen.

The local and regional governments of the three northern provinces must immediately stop enacting laws and issuing rules and regulations for business and try their hardest to reduce the regulatory burden. University of Groningen economist Dr Gjalt de Jong bases this statement on large-scale research. In the rest of the Netherlands an average 3.6 percent of earned money is spent on administrative charges, but here in the North it’s nearly 5 percent of the Gross Regional Product. De Jong: ‘The regulatory burden in the North is a serious problem. It hampers small and medium-sized enterprises from growing into the bigger companies that the region is so in need of.’

Will there be anybody left to tend to the elderly or to keep up our pension schemes in the future? Should we produce more offspring? No, a limited decrease in population in Western countries can be addressed effectively. ‘Governments should definitely not pursue a birth-encouraging policy’, says Clara Mulder, professor of Spatial Demography at the University of Groningen. ‘It would be highly inappropriate to tell developing countries that their population should not grow while, in the meantime, stimulating reproduction in our own countries. We will need to re-arrange society.’

The debt crisis has forced the member states of the European Union (EU) to bring their financial policies more in line. It’s about time that Dutch politicians – Prime Minister Rutte in particular – inform the Dutch public of this, according to Jan van der Harst, professor of History and Theory of European Integration at the University of Groningen. ‘Europe having more financial say does not have to pose a threat to the Netherlands, and the prime minister should state that more clearly. In fact, the strict financial policy that the Netherlands has always called for could now be introduced.’

Now that the dust has settled in the United Kingdom, British politics must learn from the tumultuous events of last week. ‘Dismissing the rioters as lawless louts who need to be punished as severely as possible won’t solve anything’, is the opinion of social psychologist Dr Martijn van Zomeren of the University of Groningen. ‘If Prime Minister Cameron wants to prevent more riots, he must enter into dialogue with the lower classes in society, which is where the rioters came from. He should also tackle misuse of power and unnecessary sabre rattling by the police. That was the direct cause of the unrest.’

The financial rescue plan agreed last week by the EU does not go far enough. That is the opinion of Jakob de Haan, professor of political economics at the University of Groningen and Head of Research at the Nederlandsche Bank (DNB).He wants countries that do not have their financial affairs in order to be dealt with more severely, for example by introducing an equivalent to ‘Article 12 status’, a Dutch municipal guardianship order, for these EU partners.

The Christian Democratic party CDA is in the middle of a three-pronged crisis: electoral, strategic and personnel-related. Prof. Gerrit Voerman, historian at the University of Groningen, sees few opportunities for the CDA to climb up the ratings within the foreseeable future. ‘The grassroots support is evaporating, the position of the party within Dutch politics has become unclear, and there is no widely accepted party leader.’ The party is disoriented and divided. Voerman does not rule out success completely, however. ‘The electorate is in flux. Don’t forget that in 2008 the VVD was just as low in the opinion polls as the CDA is now.’

The funding of the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials and NOVA, top research schools, will be continued, State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science Halbe Zijlstra announced on 1 July. In these times of cutbacks, that is good news for the institutes.However, Prof. Thom Palstra, scientific director of the Zernike Institute, is still worried.‘I am delighted for these two research schools.However, in the long term this cabinet’s focus on innovation will damage top research – and thus eventually the Dutch economy as well.’

Sometimes an individual can change the entire face of sports. One such man was sprinter Usain Bolt. For ages the archetypal sprinter was short and broad-shouldered, until Bolt at 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) hit the scene in 2009, breaking every record. ‘His height turned out to be an advantage. Running much faster that Usain Bolt is hardly possible for a human being’, says Bert Otten, professor of Neuromechanics and Prosthetics at the University of Groningen. Nor will humans be able to run faster in the future. ‘We are now nearing the built-in limits of the human body.’

Government could increase citizen involvement if it were to organize deliberative polls, according to Marc Pauly, researcher at the University of Groningen. ‘Participants in a deliberative poll receive balanced information from scientists and often first discuss the subject with people with a very different opinion on the subject. This is a major advantage in comparison to other forms of civil participation. The choices made in a deliberative poll are made much more consciously.’

It is worthwhile for both advocates and opponents of nuclear power to vent their arguments as much as possible, says Linda Steg, Professor of Environmental Psychology at the University of Groningen. Ever since the problems at the Fukushima 1 Japanese nuclear power plant many people have been unsure whether they are for or against nuclear energy, as a study by Steg’s PhD student Goda Perlaviciute reveals. Arguments could win over these doubters to one of the two camps.

Researchers and policymakers should pay more attention to everyday events in the lives of the elderly. An eye for detail could help improve their wellbeing. This has been stated by cultural geographer Dr Bettina van Hoven of the University of Groningen. ‘It may not sound spectacular or earth-shattering, but in-depth interviews and walks with elderly people could result in very valuable and academically extremely relevant insights.’

It is incorrect to assume that children never forget their mother tongue. This assumption can at times lead to the wrongful exclusion of refugees who, according to the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND), cannot prove their origins because they are unable to speak the language of their country of birth. Particularly for children who leave their country and language behind before the age of twelve, there is a chance that they will have forgotten the language entirely after just a few years. Conversely, it is also true that someone can sound like a ‘native speaker’ without being one. Hence the unreliability in many instances of the language analysis conducted by the IND. This is what Professor Schmid will demonstrate during her inaugural lecture as Professor of English Linguistics at the University of Groningen.

The long-awaited letter outlining the Dutch cabinet’s plans for ‘coffee shops’ (where cannabis products are sold) was sent to the House of Representatives on 27 May. As far as the government is concerned, coffee shops will become private clubs catering to the local market, only accessible to members. The maximum number of members will be set at national level. Mayors will have to decide how many coffee shops will be needed to meet local demand. Only adult residents of the Netherlands will be able to visit a coffee shop, where they will have to identify themselves with valid ID and provide proof that they are residents of the Netherlands. Membership must be for at least one year. According to Jan Brouwer, professor of Legal Methods at the University of Groningen, this proposed new policy will create at least three new problems.

Half of the teachers in senior general secondary and pre-university education do not pay enough attention to the differences between their students. This is one of the findings contained in a report recently published by the Education Inspectorate. But they are not to blame, according to the professor of educational science and head of the teacher-training department of the University Centre for Learning & Teaching at the University of Groningen, Wim van de Grift. ‘The quality of teachers has not changed over the years, while the work has become much more demanding. I would argue the case for introducing nationally standardized exams and providing more coaching. This would help teachers to gear their teaching to the needs of individual students.’

IT megaprojects such as road pricing and electronic medical records are doomed to failure from the outset, because the many problems associated with them – cost, length of time and the conflicting interests of those concerned, for instance – are wildly underestimated. Government and industry should not therefore set their sights on megaprojects of this kind; at most they could be targets to work towards organically. This is the message that Albert Boonstra, Professor of Information Management at the University of Groningen, will put across today in his inaugural lecture on innovative information technology.

Dutch companies are running way behind where innovation is concerned. This is a dangerous development, according to Erik Frijlink, Professor of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmacy at the University of Groningen. ‘If we continue down this road, a knowledge economy will be impossible. Actually, we’re well on our way to becoming Western Europe’s poorhouse.’

According to Rafael Wittek, sociology professor at the University of Groningen, the aspiration of many Dutch universities to secure a high position in the international rankings is nonsensical. ‘Using rankings as an indicator for quality is a hype. Not wanting to lag behind is purely a reflex on the part of managers.’ The battle to reach the top of the rankings is creating a culture of unhealthy competition, says Wittek. ‘It shouldn’t matter whether researchers work together in the same department, in different faculties or even in different universities. Cutting back on interuniversity research schools is such a waste.’

The case against Geert Wilders and the Chipshol affair are important stress tests for the Dutch legal system, according to sociologist of law Prof. Marc Hertogh of the University of Groningen. ‘It’s one thing for the legal system to function well in fine weather, when no-one challenges the authority of the judges. Now, however, it has to prove that it can also function adequately in a storm.’ Hertogh is convinced that the judiciary must reform itself. ‘We need an open public debate on this subject because the legal system is too important to be left to the judges alone.’

The support for a national grant policy for the arts is very frail. This has nothing to do with what arts institutions have been doing over recent years, but rather with a changed mentality, thinks Quirijn van den Hoogen, lecturer in arts policy and sociology of art at the University of Groningen. In his opinion it is clear that something has to change. ‘But then take things to the logical conclusion and transfer responsibility for arts policy to a government layer that clearly has more affinity with it – municipalities.’

It’s high time that Dutch energy policy concentrated on energy again. That’s what Prof. Bert Scholtens, professor of the Economics of Sustainability at the University of Groningen says. ‘In the Netherlands, factors like geopolitics and earning money are currently playing far too great a role in energy policy.’

Lovers of a walk in the countryside will start noticing the negative consequences of the nature policy of State Secretary Henk Bleker of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation within a few years. In particular, his cuts to organizations that manage nature, such as the Society for the Preservation of Nature in the Netherlands (Natuurmonumenten), the Dutch Countryside Association (Landschapsbeheer Nederland) and the National Forest Service (Staatsbosbeheer), will immediately lead to woods, heaths and other nature reserves running wild. This is what Prof. Theo Spek, professor of History of Landscape at the University of Groningen says. He is in favour of a ‘soft landing’ for these organizations.

She was the first female minister in the Netherlands – Anne Zernike. Her debut in the pulpit, exactly one hundred years ago this year, was the cause of much commotion at the time. However, the discussions were not about the biblical commandments, as is usually assumed, but about the female psyche. This is asserted by Froukje Pitstra, a PhD student at the University of Groningen, who is working on a biography of Zernike.

Make high-speed internet available throughout the Dutch countryside as soon as possible – otherwise inhabitants and businesses will leave rural areas and the population will shrink even faster than it is already. This is the message Dirk Strijker, professor of Rural Development at the University of Groningen, wants to convey.

In the healthy ageing debate, Minister of Public Health Edith Schippers has chosen to hold people responsible for their own lifestyles. Dr Mirjam Plantinga, researcher at the Ethics in Healthcare Expertise Centre of the University Medical Center Groningen, thinks this is a dangerous development. ‘People should not be made solely responsible. The government should set norms’, thinks Plantinga.

Few secondary school pupils choose German as an examination subject and even fewer go on to study it –far too few in the opinion of Dr Anne Bollmann. More attention should be paid to the importance of the German language and culture for the Netherlands and for Groningen in particular. ‘The Netherlands is missing out on billions of euros every year, in part due to miscommunication with German trade partners.’ 

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A TV programme broadcast by SBS 6 on 27 February 2011 revealed how the Miracle of Love sect grossly misleads people who participate in their seminars. Undercover journalist Alberto Stegeman and his team spent a year infiltrating the Dutch branch of Miracle of Love. Fokko Oldenhuis, Professor of Religion and Law, was asked to comment during the SBS programme. ‘It is very difficult to take steps against sects because they often label themselves as a religious community, thus laying claim to related freedoms, such as the fundamental right of freedom of religion.’

Deep under our feet the amount of activity is increasing. In addition to oil, gas and salt, here and there heat is also being extracted, gas is being pumped into the ground and there are discussions about CO2 storage. These activities can get in each other’s way. What is missing is a clear system to determine which activity has priority. That must be organized better, is the opinion of earth scientist Rien Herber. He is in favour of a decision-making model for setting priorities.

The Cabinet wants to introduce a ‘grass pass’ to reduce the number of drugs tourists. According to Minister Ivo Opstelten, that should even be fast-tracked in Brabant because of a number of recent violent drugs-related incidents. That’s strange reasoning, thinks Jan Brouwer, professor of Legal Methods at the University of Groningen. ‘The “grass pass” is intended to keep foreigners out of coffee shops. The Minister is now suddenly behaving as if the pass will help fight crime.’

Plenty of research is being done into how robots can provide support to us. Developing cognitive systems is relevant to everyone, although few are aware of this, according to Tjeerd Andringa, associate professor of Auditory Cognition at the University of Groningen. ‘The process can go either way: we control technology or technology controls us. We have to choose whether the robots of the future are butlers or wardens.’

With great panache, Gerd Leers, Minister for Immigration and Asylum, announced new, stricter asylum legislation. But closer examination reveals nothing innovative about these new regulations. Prof. Heinrich Winter of the University of Groningen is on his guard. ‘Leers is in a legal straitjacket. His decisive presentation is intended to distract attention from his lack of room to manoeuvre.’ Statements by the minister in the media should be monitored critically, is Winter’s opinion. ‘We should constantly ask ourselves just how serious Leers is exactly. And what is his agenda?’

Dutch people are far too gloomy about the ageing population, according to economic demographer Leo van Wissen from the University of Groningen. ‘Obviously it will cause problems. But that is only half the story’, says Van Wissen. ‘It is time we looked at the positive side of an ageing population.’

Doctors, judges, lawyers – many professionals think that rules make their work impossible. Philosopher of law and ethicist Anne Ruth Mackor has a different opinion. Limiting autonomy does not necessarily conflict with practising a profession, she thinks. In fact some professional groups need more rules – one example being the judiciary. This week Mackor will be holding her inaugural lecture as professor of professional ethics at the Faculty of Law of the University of Groningen.

The city of Groningen is desperately in need of a public building that makes an architectonic and planning statement, states Gert de Roo, professor of Planning at the University of Groningen. In De Roo’s opinion, this is why it is so important that the plans for the Forum in the Groningen city centre go ahead.‘Pulling the plug would be a disaster for urban quality.’

The role played by religion in people’s lives is not getting any smaller, but the religious field is currently organized differently, states Kocku von Stuckrad, professor of religious studies. In his opinion, many people are misled by the steadily emptying church pews in Western Europe. According to von Stuckrad, we should be looking at different things. ‘Maybe natural scientists have taken over part of the role of the church.’

‘Using the government as a safety net for unforeseen damage is a thing of the past,’ says the Groningen legal expert Professor Fokko Oldenhuis. He thinks that the Supreme Court ruling last month on the dike failure in Wilnis will also have consequences for road users who turn to the authorities for compensation for frost damage, for example. ‘Recouping your losses from the government is no longer a matter of course because the financial framework, i.e. government decisions, can affect liability.’

More and more anti-bullying programmes are being used at Dutch schools but it is unclear whether they actually have any effect, asserts sociologist René Veenstra of the University of Groningen. Aside from the potential waste of money, what’s even worse is that the programmes may actually be counterproductive. ‘First find out which programmes actually work,’ says Veenstra.