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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 7, 1995)
Suicide laws gain little support PORTLAND (API Four months after Dragon voter* approved th«> world's first assisted sui cide law, the law has failed to spread a< mss the nation as supporters hoped and opponents feared. Since January, legislators in JO states have intro due ed or promised laws similar to Measure JO. the so-c alled "Death with Dignity Ac t,” passed hv a slim .'ll pert ent majority on Nov B Hut all of tile bills fare tough opposition In three states, they have already expired in subc ommittees "There aren't that many people willing to step up to this issue at this time," said Republic an state Sen Lugeiie Prince of Washington The dot tor assisted suic ide bill he < c> sponsored was tabled in the Health and Long-Term {'.are Committee last week "Things in this legislative proi ess need to be here and dist ussed for quite a few years before they move." Prince said, "espec tally if it's as emotional or controversial as this " Measure Hi has attracted powerful opponents, including the American Medical Assoc iation. the Roman Catholic Church and National Right to Life "One of the predictions was if Oregon goes, it will sweep the country,” said Richard Doerflinger, a spokesman for Roman Catholic bishops 'But it's not even sweeping Oregon las euse of the lawsuit A federal judge in December bloc ked Measure 18 from going into effect after a National Right to Life attorney filed a lawsuit, arguing the low violates constitutional protections At a hearing last Tuesday in Kugenu, the case was delayed again until the judge and a federal appeals panel can establish jurisdiction. The constitution al arguments probably won't be heard until April IH On Friday. the American Civil Liberties Union said it would ask the U.S Supreme Court to rule that a Michigan assisted suicide ban violates the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and its guar Anti*v of individual rights But the high court mav not take on the issue until there are more lower court decisions. a< cording to legal analysts Meanwhile, right-to-die activists are reorgan u mg "There w as great joy over the v ictory in Oregon." said Derek Humphry, author of the beat selling Final F\it and head of the Euthanasia Research A Guid ance Organization, based in function (itv Now it has settled down to tile realization that we have a long way to go " Humphry is trying to do his (>nrt through " Death NET.'" con not ting nght-to-d»e advocates around the world through the computer Its hnology of the Inter net More than «.(KKI people have used the ■> rvic e so far Assisted-suu ide opponents have their own plans The Ament an Medical Asm* lation has formed a task fun e to fight state assisted suicide propos als Dr Thomas Reardon of Portland, an AMA board memlwr heading the task force was in New Mexi co last week to lobby against a bill that would have gone beyond the Oregon measure The New Mexico proposal would have allowed assisted suicide for those with "chronii or intractable pain” that is not fatal The Oregon lavs allows only terminal patients with less than six months to live to ask a doc tor for a fatal presc rip lion. The New Mexico lull was tabled hv a ti-1 vote of that state's Senate Judiciary (loinmitlee las! Mon day Redeployment plan will imDrove fire resDonses Suzanne Marta OMpon owv The Eugene Cits Council voted Monday to spend 377.000 to move into the set ond phase of its fire rede plovment plan The second phase includes •building a new "master' station in the Chambers Con net tor area which would also int little a training fat ili ly, drill field and smoke tower, a logistics facility and a district t hief quarters, and • building a new neighbor hood station with an "emer gent v operations t enter and district t hief quarters in the Coburg Willttknnztc area t he first phase of the rede ployment plan opened it fire station on Hatley Mill Koftd. and fully staffed the station at 17th Avenue and Agate Street The redeployment plan is designed to improve the city's emergency response to life threatening incidents to a four minute standard The standard is based on the fact that irreversible brain I damage ouurs after four minutes without oxygon. A four-minute response is a fire industry standard to prevent 'flash over." or simultaneous i mnlnistion of everything in the fin' area This standard is < ummtlv unmet in some areas without ( lose emergency servil es or fully staffed existing stations Council woman Barbara Keller said she had ( on< t«r:is with the plans for a fire train ing fm dity. "A lot of us were feeling like it was going to he a Uis norland for fire fighters." Keller said I iigono City Manager Mike Gleason said the training facilities were nei essnrv for emergent v services training "It s an integral part of operations in the i tty," Glea son said "It s not like train ing for a supervisor or a manager You have to have adequate facilities Gleason said different envi ronmental conditions were ins ess.iry to adequately tram firti fighters New AlUb ads attempt to improve self-esteem SEATTLK (AP) — Self-esteem, not education, may be the key to getting gay men to practice safe sex, and advocates are betting $100,000 on a commercial television campaign to encourage the practice. "People won’t take care of themselves if they don't care for them selves." said Robert Wood, director of AIDS < ontrol for the Seattle King County Health Department. "A lot of studies show most gay men know what they need to do." Wood said. "Knowledge is not lacking, but what is lacking is self esteem among many and a sense the community cares." The television campaign, designed by the Northwest AIDS Foun dation. is in response to what appears to be a second wave of HIV/AIDS on the West Coast .is many gay men, some fatalistic about their prospects of survival, revert to unsafe sex Thu television campaign is the first time gay pride lias iieen used to motivate gay men to prat tice safe sex and HiV/AIDS prevention, its promoters say. The 30-second commercial shows soft toned pic turns of men as an announcer says: "He is tall, ho is short, he is dark, he is light. He is strong and weak . He is sexy, he is shy." The common ial ends with the announcer saying "He is gay, and he is proud. Eliding AIDS begins with pride." The commercial will be aired on television show s viewed widely by young men. including The Simpsons,The X Files, Saturday Sight Ijvv and even Hush Umbaugh. " Phis campaign is about staying alive and the need to value your self,... to make people relate to their humanity in order to protect it." said Martin McCombs, a psychologist who heads the foundation’s education program. The campaign was financed with private donations raised by the Northwest AIDS Foundation. The ads will !»• shown during tfie first half of March and the last half of June Television stations have supported the ads, agreeing to reduced rates and promising to provide a portion of the air time free, said Liz Smith, the foundation's communications director OPENING Continued from Page 1 Recent polls havt» shown (ha! 5H percent of [leopie {Killed waul ed the council to submit a plan for the street's reopening Councilwornan Laurie sup ported the council's move "Spending inordinate funds to design a street before finding out if the voters actually want it opened would lie a waste of mon ey." she said. Swanson-Gribskov said refer ring the issue to the voters would enable the council to concentrate on other important issues such as public safety and fire rede ployment. Councilwornan Barfiaro Keller was the only council member to oppose the plan, "We don't know exactly how much it's going to cost or how it's going to look." siie said Keller said she was not opposed to reopening the street til general, hut to the "flawed process' that leaves many quits ttons unanswered "1 would I* more supportive if the private sector, who will be reaping the majority of the fiene fits from reopening the street, were paying for the majority of the costs," she said Under the current plan, the pri vate sector is estimated to con tribute approximately $100,000. with the rest of the costs fund ed by the Urban Renewal Fund and the Lane County Road Fund. (juomtos historv wooth Sporwm'd by tb<- ASUO Wunicn'*. C Vnt«*r TODf)VJ> (V(OTS •V OOORKSHOK I «bun Relationships, Kathy Sullivan it Kobin Holmes Counseling!. enter/ Oak Room, 11 (*>-12 (10 Self Help Slide Show, Feminist Women's HealthCenter/Ben Linder, 12 00 2 00 Highlights in lesbian History, An Exhibit by LCBA/CedarB, 1200 200 Independence was the Wage of Sin: Prostitution in Amerii a (1M0-1920I It. F churning a Voice from the P<i*L- Birth I rauma on Black Mesa, A/ (At) W0-11 SO) Papers presented by Heather Miller and IX *4; Seefeldt/ Cedar D, 1200 1 10 Sesual Harassment, UO it l aw, Ken Lehrman Affirmative Action Maple Kvx>m, I 00-2 10 I durational Issues for Non-1 raditional Women, Deb Casey. Donna Wong, Evan Smith from Ft >!’/( >ak Room. 2 00 100 f coteminism, Irene Diamond/ Fir Rixim, 200 1 00 Women It Aids, Icanne Block HIV Alliance/Maple Ki»*m, 100 S00 Asian American Women and the Media, Linda Liu. ShoShigeokga, Al’ASU/ Oak Room, 4 00 s ui Self tkefense for Women, Susan 1 rests/Walnut Ri«»m. 1 10 6 00 Women in C ampus Politics, AS IK»elected students/Maple Room, 600-7 .10 BOT/HOSPITOLITV ROOfT) Fir Rcxwn/11 (Warn -6.10pm Women's Art Display Sponsored by the YWc A/11 00-MU) Native American Women Dance I roupe Sponsored by N ASU/V00-4 .10 Amy Caudia an EcofeministSinger, Song writer/5:00-6 10 flUT) StRltS Ben lander Kcom /11 00 a m Noon, 2.00-8 <*) p m fOB KTOILS Stop by the Women's Center, Suite \ EMU or call 346 4!**/TDD 3460641
