EDITORIAL
Van project could
offer drunks a ride
Ii was announced recently that the old. brown Saferido
van has boon rotirod after years of transporting women at
night. However, the vehicle will continue to be a famil
iar sight around the University, as it will soon ferry home
intoxicated students safely .
Call it the drunk bus or Safe Drunk, but despite the
jokes by detractors, the idea is an excellent one, It has the
potential to save lives.
The issue is not whether drinking is right or wrong or
whether additional steps need to Ih» taken against minors
wno drink. I he tact in
thoro will always be
some college students,
regardless of age, who
will choose to drink and
get intoxicated. Some
thing needs to be done to
ensure that they can get
home safely when they
are drunk
A van to drive the
Avan to drive the
intoxicated would
provide yet another
way for drunks to get
home safely, rather
than becoming a grue
some statistic the next
morning.
intoxicated wonto pro- ~— ........
vide yet another way for drunks to get home safely, rather
than Ixxomtng a gruesome statistic the next morning. Tak
ing into account the number of students who frequent
i(>< .li drinking e-,t:»blishn .is \% *-i; as th>.se attend
ing parties on the weekend, it s not difficult to imagine
the potential demand for a program like this.
Drunk driving is a national tragedy, and intoxicated
people have no business behind the wheel of a car. Thou
sands of people have been killed by drunken drivers. Even
those who have had a few drinks and feel comfortable
behind the wheel shouldn't be driving
However, having a drunk person walk or bike home
aren’t necessarily smart alternatives, either. Intoxicated
people are less able to defend themselves and are more
likely to get disoriented on the way home than their solier
counterparts. The last thing that the community needs is
for drunk pedestrians to get hit by intoxicated drivers.
A number of safe options are available to drunks desir
ing to go home. The intoxicated can call a taxi, have a
sober friend drive them or take tho bus. They also can
decide to sloop tho night wherever they are — a potential
inconvenience to some, but a much more pleasant
prospect than winding up injured or dead from n pre
ventable collision
The van will be another option for those who need safe
and reliable transportation home. The success of the pro
gram, much like that of Saferido, will depend on how
well-known the program is and whether people take the
time to use it. Promotion of the program will be key in
determining whether transportation for the intoxicated
will succeed as a project.
It also might work to a broader goal of making people
feel comfortable in admitting that they are too drunk to
get home without help. Students need to know that
resources are available to help them when they need to
leave a party or a bar intoxicated. Their lives might depend
on it.
Oregon Daily
Emerald
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■ OPINION
Firefighter deaths shock small community
Rmkoca Muuutt
Rob Johnson was an
accountant who took his
summon off to fight fires
Jon Kelso was about to warn an
engineering degree. And Tanii
Bickett had )ust bought a house
with her fiancA.
Johnson. Kelso and Bickett
were among nine Oregon fire
fighters who worst trapped and
died in a Colorado wildfire last
summer. These young men and
women grew up in smalt com
munities such as Burns,
t-ehanon and Roseburg. and they
attended Oregon colleges. One
of them. Kathi Bock, was a psy
chology major at the University
Their love for protecting
nature and taking risks brought
them to my hometown.
Prineville. to be members of the
elite Hotshot crew. In a small
community where no one goes
unnoticed, their deaths were a
painful shock. If you didn’t
know someone who died, you
knew family members and
friends whose lives were imme
diately scarred with pain.
The week they died was the
week of our annual Crooked
River Koundup If* usually
Prinevillo's grandest ©vent of the
year — the only time that local
motels fill up But at the rodeo
parade, when members of the
U.S. Forest Service led nine rid
erless horses symbolizing the
fallen firefighters through Third
Street. the town grew silent.
Even former Gov. Barbara
Roberts couldn't hold back tears
that afternoon when she spoke
at a memorial service at my high
school footliall stadium No one
was untouched by this tragedy.
No one could understand how
nine young, brave individuals
( ould to si* Uiiir lives in what nt
first seemed to lie a routine fire.
As an intern for the newspa
per tn nearby Bend, I was chal
lenged to find out more about
these individuals 1 was
assigned to call some of the sur
viving family member* to find
out who they were, what they
had accomplished and what
made them special enough to be
included among the highest i.al
il>er of firefighters in the Forest
Service.
Nervous because 1 was rub
bing elbows with reporters from
People magazine. The New
York Times and other national
media and saddened because I
felt the suffering of an entire
community, I quickly realized
the importance of my assign
ment .
I talked to one father. Gene
fohnson of Kosehurg who had
two sons. Rob and Tony, bat
tling the Colorado blaze Rob
died but Tony made it home.
Gene Johnson c ried when he
talked about Rob's iong list of
accomplishments and his caring
nature 1 couldn't even begin to
understand how much pain he
was experiencing
But after talking to him and
other relatives, his ton became
much more than just a name on
the deceased list lie was an out
door enthusiast, an intelligent
CPA. a fraternity brother, a soc
cer player and a leader He stood
out among hi* peers. But so did
the rest of the dead firefighters
— that's why they were chosen
for the elite Hotshot crew that
was sent to the most dangerous
fires
For w««b after the deadly
blaze, thousands of blue ribbons
attached to car antennas, shrubs
and shirts served as a sobering
reminder of our town’s mourn
ing. Flags across the nation were
flown at half-mast for 14 davs —
one day each for the nine
Prineville firefighters and for the
five other firefighters from Col
orado. Idaho and Montana w ho
also died on Storm King Moun
tain. It was impossible to drive
through Prineville or any of the ’
neighboring communities with
out feeling a loss.
Firefighters from across the
>tate went to the nine funerals.
Some of the families held
memorial services in amphithe
aters and high school auditori
ums to accommodate hundreds
of mourners. After Bonnie Holt
!>y's funeral in Redmond, more
than 100 oars followed the
hearse to Prineville where she
was laid to rest.
Just as the town was starting
in heal, a report of the incident
released late in the summer
deepened wounds. According to
some media, the report seemed
lo blame the firefighters for their
deaths Escape routes were
planned in case the fire explod
ed but the firefighters didn’t use
them. The report also tailed the
firefighters cocky and overconfi
dent. according to the media.
For survivors suffering an
incredible loss, that report was a
somber reminder of the tragedy.
It left families and friends with
more questions unanswered. It
seemed even more impossible to
make sense of the accident.
After all, aren't firefighters sup
posed to 1h) confident?
Last week the Occupational
Health and Safety Administra
tion cited the Forest Service and
the Bureau of Land Management
for procedure violations that
contributed to the firefighters'
deaths. The administration's
investigation found that "plain
indifference" toward the health
and safety of employees from
management is to blame for the
accident. Firefighters weren't
given adequate safety zones,
escape routes, weather forecasts
and information on expected
fire behavior.
i m giao mat mis tragedy
wasn't forgotten and hopefully
the families of victims can find
some relief Someone has to take
responsibility to make sure this
never happens again Nine lives
was a terrible price for my com
munity to pay.
Rebecca Merritt is the news
editor for the Emerald.