Editorial
Court should grant
people right to die
This week the 1 >.S. Supreme Court takes on iIs first
i .is<* i oncoming voluntary euthanasia
Kuthanasia. llt«‘ right to r ause death so .is to end
suffering. is a topic of great ••motional controversy
Since the first rase in more than ">() cases have
been (ought around the countrv with most states ruling
in favor ol those who would r house to die instead of
liv e in a \ egetati ve state
The r ase before the Supreme Court. Cniy.in t ••
Missouri Ih'p.utnu'nt of Urulll). concerns Nancy
Cruzan. a 12 \oar-old woman who has been in a vege
tative st.ite lor almost seven vents Her parents want
her doc tors to remove the feeding lube whit h presently
keeps her alive I he dot tors sav she c ould live another
If) years in her current < ondition
It is estimated more than 10.0(10 people are being
kept alive in a similar inannni Countless others are
kept alive In mac bines and drugs Still others are el
derlv and ill and gist wish to die
The Supreme Court is not expec led to make its de
cision on Cm/.in cs Missouri Dvfiurtmont ol llrullh
until this suinniei The dec ismn mav dec ide whether
the Constitution protects the right to refuse medical
treatment It also mav make a decision concerning who
• an dec ide to refuse medical treatment — the' patient
.md or family members
Choosing to die rather than suffer from vegetation
or painful illness is a very personal private decision
In the Mill of Rights the "right of privacy" is secured:
the dec ision to end one s life* due to a basic, inability to
live it should be up to the individual
lav mg wills arc* becoming more and more common
in states that allow people the right to refuse medical
treatment and nourishment. These people art! making a
personal and responsible decision People who are
hospitalized for extensive periods of time vv ith no hope
of recovery put a tremendous emotional and financial
strain on family members, not to mention the medic al
system.
Skyrocketing health care c osts are partly due to the
extensive costs me Hired hv people who are permanent
hospital inpatients Most families cannot afford life
time inpatient c are and hospitals often have to pic k up
the bill
If a person can no longer live, use his or her brain
and communicate with others in some wav. why
should his or her body be forc ed to stay alive?
When the* Supreme Court makes its decision this
summer, we hope it will dec.ide on the constitutional
ity' of voluntary euthanasia. Although for some it may
be considered murder, for others it may mean long
awaited peace.
NAVAL ARWd CONTROL...
PROMISE m YOU'LL
THINK ABOUT IT
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AV . H/s. v, ,•% s< A'» ’ t
Earth Day planning needs everyone's input
Their is ,i inert 111(4 going on tonight we
helieve people should .ittend
The l'niversit\ Larth l)a\ < d>.<Iitii>n is
meeting tonight .it ill in the !•!\ 11 lien Lin
del Room I lie in.ililinii is pi,Hilling events
tm Larth I). 1 \ lO'IO on April 22. .ind all are
u eh (line
(liven the growing interest in envimu
inenlal issues and the worsening rnndition
ol the planet we hope people will find time
In show up and partii ipate in planning up
1 (lining I larth I ).n .u livities
Those who attend the meeting will he
given a sliml intruductoi \ spent h about the
da\ itselt and a rough idea ol what events
w ill happen on ( ainpus and in the Lugene
area Then, the meeting will split into small
ei groups with cm li ol the partit ipants giv
mg then input as 111 what events should take
plai e and how tlicv should lie undertaken
Suite the lust Larth l)a\ in turn, much
has happened in the world ol en\iionment
alism The energy that went into Larth I)a\
sparked interest in environmental issues,
and led to the t reation ol the Lnv 1ronme11t.il
I’rotei I ion Agency, and subsequently the
( lean Water and Air acts.
lint concern over tin* environment has
had to grow again following apathy in the
early HOs And the 2()th anniversary ol Karth
I )a\ is as good .1 time as am to reflee t on the
progress of and hindrances to the
movement
This year's coalition is actively seeking
the support and involvement of an array of
i ainpus groups, representing ethnic groups,
women and people of coloi Ian ironment.il
issues affect us all, and Karth Day should re
fleet this bv getting as many opinions as
possible
Karth l)a\ has been celebrated .it the
I'niversity every year it has been in e\is
lent e one of file lew college campuses in
the l ulled States that can make that claim
Kugene itself prides itself on being an "enva
ronmentalK aware” community We hope
this year's Karth I)<iv will continue this tra
dition. and. with participation from a di
verse group ot people, raise some awareness
about this Iragile planet and what we are do
ing to it
Letters
Good /earnin'
kudus lor your \uv 11> edi
linn 1 ley yy ho said \un
i ouIdii t no! sonic good learmn
.it .1 univcrsjtv
I usl oil. yy ho i i>iiId11'I he mi
pressed with those list .tI liners
manning the I Ml board of ill
rei tois I n 111.111 % the I Ml s de
i i s it in to allow the i out timed
sale ol i igareltes looks like real
h.udnosed business
Anyone w ith the slightest bit
of business at timen iiuild east
l\ see how the hoaitl is nothing
more than a hum h ol feathei
weights II the hoard is really
interested in selling dangerous
drugs and making a prolit
then they ought to get on down
to where the real action is and
learn the art ol selling dnngei
ous addii live drugs tor some
bigtime profits That way they
i mild really lower prii es
I let k they probably kneyy
this all along That's v\ hy they
tried to yvin us over with the
appeal lor the rights ol snuik
ers It y\as tom lung to learn
how mm h they cared about the
human rights ol smokers \o
doubt .ill ol these board mem
hers yyere on hand to protest
tin- ( TVs V isit to the f:\ll 'l)r
vv t * n • they ■
Hul say I host* ( ! A hoy s
prnhahh ,iren I .ill ill,it h<ld
lust ask ituise sin uril\ tori e
folks dim 11 in I I Salvadoi in
mavhe tin' mi vs clmvii in ( lull'
Koliert Si hmmer
Inti'niation.il studies
Solution
I vehemenlh .iii'i• that por
nograpln humili.lies,
i ih ji*it i fit's anil dehumanizes
However. to inform Joel
I )ii‘v;l email, |()l )i \m J 1)
there .ire a lew reasons win we
should him essarih disregard
the 1 OHli \ttorne\ (lener.d s
(loin mission on I’ornograpln
I i mi I Report'
II It w as i reated as an instru
ment ot fundamentalist ideolo
g\ and not out ot sound, lines
t igative premises
J| I lie Commission hlatanth
ignored so< nil si iem e resean h
findings which ran against
their preconceived message
t) The report failed to ai
knowledge the increasing ion
senses that it is the violent
i (>in|>>im-nt rather tli.m tlir si*\
U.lIK <• x 111 H it ( < >1111 >< >1II-111 III
iii.iss media imagi-s whir h mr
relates with Milisi*queilt vuili-lil
behavior
"i’lirnograpln is tin* theory,
r.ipt- is tin* prat in <*" is t i*rt.iin
In a message worth heeding
hut also one important enough
to amend as our know ledge ol
the situation ini leases
We now have strong reason
to believe that violent IK! and
N rated films non pornograph
ii magazines. and prime time
ti‘le\ ision are as mue h the
"theory'' behind the ' prai
In e" o! rape as are the offen
sive magazines from the Hook
store and I.Mt' Main Itesk to
v\ tin h Ihegleman objects The
solution isn't i ensorship
While I share Uieglemans
deep objei turn to the dehuman
i/.ation in these magazines I re
llist* to follow Meese and Ills
mem pranksters down tin
dark windy road ol what the
former Attorney tieneral calls
"common sense" prosecution
of pornogr.iphers
Is this the same "common
sense” whii h so sageK die tales
polio\ on abortion, birth con
trol. sev educ ation. and fund
ill)* tin AIDS researi hV Those
i oik erned .lhoul tile
objectification ot women ,md
h.ite i rimes in general should
he nar\ ot i omenient i omplii
it\ with o»m ive government,
no mutter how hnet
I’ll** solution is education,
l et us inform the reader, not
eliminate his reading
Mark fellows
fnglish
No substance
Regarding Bert Tryba's tie
t|iient letters condemning reli
gion
Despite Tryha's claim of reli
am e on reason. Ins views are
lull ot as mam emotionally m
spired opinions, and are just as
open to min ism, .is belief in
the ( aid he dismisses
Belief in t aid .s indeed a mat
ter ot opinion, hut it is a belief
that demands so* nil a* lion.
i underlining apathy Atheism,
i onversely being essentially a
refutation of theist ideas;" has
no substani e or foundation for
i renting a better world
Atheism is a lot ot pseudo-in
tellectual masturbation fester
ing in its own relativist ghetto.
refuting everything and prom
ising nothing Atheism is .1 so
i ml neuter, i.apahle ol making
onh the motions ot soc ial
1 tiange. hut ini apatite ot ai trial
h prodm ing anvthing ol value
Th.roughout historv. it Iras
been tile 1 hurt h w hit h w as the
stronghold ol literature art and
historv itself Kvil Ii.is been
done in the name ot (aid. hut it
has been done b\ individuals
acting in spite ol religious as
sertions. rattier than in accord
am e vv ith them
Hut sin h aberrations are irrel
evant (amsider only what is
liappening lodav right now in
that corner church I hat
church is a good place full ot
good people. doing good
things
Ohurch membership is up
"Mere tradition" you call it
but it is more Religion is alive
Alive not only bec ause we want
it but bec ause we need it And
(aid who graces us with it is
ever more alive, for (aid has at
lowed us to strav . welcoming
our return to discover this truth
oil our ow n
(ason Maas
Kugene