EDITORIAL
Dr. Death sways the
right to live or die
•‘1 follow the dictates of the Nuremberg Court: Any
Immoral law must be disobeyed. If society obeys it soci
ety is immoral," said Dr. Jack Kevorkian.
Although Dr. Jack Kevorkian, perhaps better known as
Dr. Death, has been spending some time behind bars
surely contemplating such issues as the right to live,
he has. with a bit of a "God complex,” aided in suicides
across the country. To many he is doing a service to peo
ple on their death bed, with little will left to live and a
terminal illness that unless cured by a miracle is. with
out a doubt, going to take away what life is left.
Miracles are an alternative to suicide for the termi
nally ill. We don't hoar much about those miracles any
more. especially ones like this:
"With no sign of recovery they decided to switch off
the machines.
That's when it happened.
Within 35 minutes. the patient began to respond. Over
the next few hours his vital signs gradually strength
ened. Three miraculous days later, he walked out of the
hospital under his own power.”! The Oregonian, Sept.
13. 1993)
But lot's paint a different picture. Let's say this "mir
acle" was happening under a different set of circum
stances. Let’s say instead of the man's family members
standing by to unplug his life support system. Dr. Death
was standing by waiting to inject his lethal potion that
will send the terminally ill into sleep that can never be
disturbed. There doesn't really seem to be much differ
ence. but society weighs heavily on the two: yet mira
cles are still seen as an important factor.
Though Dr. Death may at times seem to be a person
that is not in soc.loty’fc best interest to be walking around
with lotJisnl drugs, ho does stand for a cause that is very
personal to uipny. A cause that Oregon voters are likely
to face in the-next year.
The right-to-die groups have begun drafting an ini
tiative aimed for the 1994 ballot that goes beyond that of
passive euthanasia by allowing doctors to participate in
the suicides of terminally ill patients. There are many
powerful arguments to this sensitive discussion.
Euthanasia is a personal choice that under many cir
cumstances is not loft up to the individual simply
because he or she is in a state where a decision cannot
be made.
Whether wo agreo or not, surely Dr. Death's boliof and
cause will influence society to the possibility that
desired suicide is a very real alternative. It is the per
son's life and not society's after all. With the option of
going to the polls in 1994 there seems to be too person
al of an issue to let society sway individual opinion.
The issue should not be tagged suicide but instead
an answer to a terminal illnoss whore there is no will
to live. It is an ethical issue whore the ones deciding the
outcome, if it is not their own. will have the responsi
bility to shoulder for the rest of their lives.
Oregon Daily
PO ttO
Emerald
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iiitiiiai
Hello!?!
(win anybody trai k down the
lad in charge of layouts? For
some odd reason. I've no! seen
a crossword in the Emerald on
a regular basis for the past cou
ple of weeks In case it is not
common knowledge. I have let -
lures live tunes <t week This
means I need n crossword to
work on five times a week So
then, do we understand the need?
It's just plain negligence. I've
only four words for y'all: "Dude!
You're killing me!" Please rem
edy the situation.
Billy Peffley
Psychology
Mobilize
By llto lime this letter is pub
lished. the sales tax measure will
have been defeated for the ninth
time. I would like to encourage
both sides of the measure to write
the governor and Legislature to
express their ideas and concerns
in regard to what they believe
would lie an appropriate way to
face Oregon's school funding
problem.
It is time Oregonians mobilize
to face this crisis. If the state is to
lie competitive in the future, we
cannot afford a second-rate edu
cation system. (Since when has
average been acceptable?) Our
decision will not only affect us
anti our children, but generations
to come as well.
Ron MacKenzIe
Eugene
Democracy
When will we have the next
riots in the United States? All we
really hear is "crime is up," "out
of hand," "build more prisons."
“enforce the death penalty with
out appeal... " No one asks why
all this is happening across the
United States and why we have
become the most violent country
in the world.
People are fed up! They were
under Reagan and Bush and even
now, under Clinton, they see no
hope for real change. The
appalling abyss between rich and
poor persists, chances of better
education and jobs have evapo
rated, and hopes for changes in
the system have dried up Ghet
tos have not improved; in L.A.,
nothing much has changed since
the riots
How long can we continue to
ignore poverty anti homeltvtsness
and feel safe? Crimo i9,not up —
profits are up. All the wealth,
iron bars and gated communities
will lie no match for the people's
fury The myth of "democracy
goes on.
NAFTA is a joke. The rich
made their pile because of the
crass tax-breaks under Keugun
and Bush, not because they
worked harder. As long as that
tax gap continues. America will
languish in decay while a hand
ful enriches itself. Will they enjoy
this world? Not much longer. It
may explode!
Hilde K. Cherry
Eugene
KWhat?
From what I've hoard of
KWVA, it seems like a basic col
lege station, playing mostly
unheard-of alternative bunds tho
majority of the time. Under
standably. tho purpose of a col
lege radio station is to break in
new bands (where would R.K.M
be now if it weren't for college
radio in the early to mid-1980s?),
but 1 wonder if that is KWVA's
main purpose. Because if it is, I
think there could be room for
improvement.
Most of the time I listen to
KWVA, 1 end up changing sta
tions after awhile because I bare
ly ever recognize a song that the
station plays. 1 like all kinds of
music, including college/alter
native. but I just can't get into lis
tening to song after song I've nev
er heard before. Most people I
talk to agree with this and don't
listen to the station because of it.
And so. if indeed KWVA is
interested in its audience, or
potential audience. I would sug
gest that it intermix more recog
nizable songs into the play list. I
understand the station doesn't
want to play "music that can be
heart! elsewhere for free," but a
couple of recognizable songs by
respectable (former college-only)
artists like The Cure, U2, Living
Colour, Depeche Mode, etc.,
couldn't hurt. That way the sta
tion could further appeal to the
average college student without
selling out its alternative sound.
would a I so help the station
to roach its purpose of bringing
new bunds to larger audiences
Philip Abraham
Journalism
Strength
We should tirsi strongmen our
own s»x:ial structure, which is the
root of gangs and even violence.
Individuals are distantly sepa
rated. apart from others and the
earth — due in part to the capi
talistic system.
Because of this same capital
benefit, it was in the best inter
est of the American hierarchy to
send its children off to the plea
surable death of warfare, so that
sheiks (and those who they give
kick-backs to), despite not being
directly involved in the possible
loss of their own lives, could gain
extra advantageous dollar-billod
statistics. It allows them to con
tinue to he above and to not face
what they can so quickly order
of lessers: to create bloodshed
and death for their equal mortal
brothers.
The United States shouldn't
tell other countries how to run
things, nor should they step into
war-provoking situations like aid
ing both Iran and Iraq at intervals,
or walking unheeded into foreign
conflicts and problems when the
problems in our own country
should already have been dealt
with by such energetic altruism
Our main concern should be for
ourselves, not for foreign expe
ditionary involvements. With our
own problems stabilized, other
countries would be given greater
aid. For the more important need
of nature and human welfare, the
capitalistic system should also
be questioned.
Solomon Ludwig
English