EDITORIALS. OPINIONS, LETTERS TO THE EOITOR
Terminally ill patients
wounded by ‘concern’
■ OUR OPINION Re •
of assisted suicide
minimizes choice
If (loath ho not proud,
limn ()regunl<ms should
rejoice ahoul judge Michael
Hogan's ruling last week
that tin' state's doctor-assist
od suit ido law is unconsti
tutional. Unfortunately, pr«*
venting suffering people
from ending their lives in a
dignified and peaceful man
ner is nothing to celebrate.
Judge Hogan rejected the
law, saying it violated the
h!th Amendment right to
equal pratm lion of the laws
Terminally ill patients, he
said, would be denied the
same protection afforded to
all other Oregonians. IK mg
people would not !«• pro
tot ted from being assisted in
an act of self-destruction.
This argument is based on
an all-too-frequent assump
tion that any person should
or i an be prottK ted from
him or herself that the
slate needs to guide its (iti
/oils in issues regarding the
individual buds While the
state has a legitimate inter
es! jn protecting the people
from the negligent malice
and stupidity of others, to
apply that standard to pro
dieting dying people from
themselves is. at best. mis
guided.
All people should have
the right to do with their
bodies whales er the\
choose as long as that action
does not harm the body or
property of another Oppo
nents of tiic measure say
that terminally ill patients
are not in a stable state of
mind to make a reasonable
judgment about their lives
Yet, who but the dving has a
better perspective on life
'
If the assisted suicide law
is eventually approved, no
one will he required to par
ticipate in the patient’s sui
i ide ,(gainst bis or her wish
es i’he only pis»ple making
a life end-death de< ision for
an adult will be both the
actor .will rei esser of tlmt
dei ision. Under reasonable
restrictions, bow and when
Oregonians i house to die
should he none of the state’s
business
Legislature gives public
transport the green light
■ OUR OPINION: I M md«.
light rail is both positive
and progressive
I'lm Oregon l-egislalure
surprised many politic al
t yni< s last week !>\ passing
tin* light rail funding pat kagu
in tin* l tth hour of tin* ses
sum At its (mart, tin* bill
deposits $375 million into
stall* and local transportation
coffers and allots tin* same
amount to tin* expansion of
Portland's light rail system,
rhe expansion ol light rail
into the slightly sprawling
suburbia surrounding the
state's largest tits- is faith
savvy and forward thinking.
While l.ugeneans spend
countless hours debating
whether growth is good and
what can be done to
deter/eiuourage it. Portland
offic ials have at copied the
inevitable. Growth happens,
and uur big sister is propar
ing for her future,
Sandwk hod between
please-mnve-here Seattle
anti ploase-don't-stay
Eugene, Portland has adopt
ed a practical approac h to
the growth conundrum By
n*( ognizing that they < annul
control who ami how mam
people enter (or leave) tin?
city, Portlanders have
directed their attention It)
making sure that their home
remains dean, safe and as
free of two-hour traffic jams
and fat torv closings as pos
sible While this rational
response may not sell a! a
Eugene City Council meet
ing. it just goes to show
what we can learn from an
older sibling
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OPINION
One family’s search comes home, at last
I've been blessed in my hfe
to be sumxuiM by
remarkable people —
(Honda and family mem
bers who live with strength
ami dignity, without tannin or
fame Hy some astounding
stroke of luck, these same peo
ple have invifod me into their
lives, have shared their pain
and their Joy. and allowed me
to bear witness to their daily
sorrows and < elebrations They
ore all old friends to me They
are friends for life, friends that
matter
One of my dearest friends
returned home n*< ently to < el
ebrate lus father's 87th birth
day He had come from the
hast Coast for the event, and
Ins older brother and sister
had also traveled great dis
tances to celebrate their
father's life One year ago they
had made the same journey to
scatter their mother's ashes
and to see what remained of a
i hildluHxi home destroyed by
fire Yesterday, thev arrived for
a party, a < oming home and a
coming together
Through the years etn h of
these i hlldren had run avvav
from home in search of some
thing They had fled their
father's life for reasons they
could no longer ns all. Free
dom, maybe Too many rules
Or maybe they felt they could
no longer hear their voices
They had each journeyed
around the world, in and out
of the military, in and out of
poverty, in and out of favor
with the man they left behind
Little by little, fences were
mended through tune mid
•idem-v So much was never
said Bygones went bygones
After years of Christmases
missed for whatever reason,
and birthday songs sung In
speaker phone, they arrived at
one place at one time for one
reason.
As they sat on the de< k of o
new home, holding nothing of
Stem
Smith
tli(*ir past, tin'
three c hi 1
drwn, now in
their lute ZQs
and early
'30s, laughed
with each
other, telling
old stories,
rebuilding
memories
Their father,
a stately. sice
M . ex-military
man, juseu ana leaseti.
wmimirng thorn of who tho\
wore ami are f to hail begun to
dato again, a lovely woman
who had been a friend of the
family for nearly two decades,
and whose husband had been
killed a few years before
As the mist of an Oregon
summer liegan to drizzle down
on the redwood table, the
laughter stopped One by one
they turned toward their father
and said, for the first time,
what was in their hearts
"It's so wonderful to see you
happy, l ather
“You deserve to he happy.
Daddy,”
"1 support you in whatever
derision you make. Dad.”
The father sat silently and
listened to the adult voir os of
his children. Not one was
angry that he had started n
relationship so soon after their
mother’s death. Not one
blamed him. challenged him.
resented him As he struggled
to speak, his oldest son
stopped him.
"Dad. 1 know 1 didn't turn
out to be the son you always
wanted I haven't done things
your way or followed your
path But 1 just want you to
know that you have always
been my hero, my only hero '
The rain began to fall, gath
ering in small puddles on the
table, dripping on to the dis k
1 he father wiped ins eves
nentna ms gout-trained bifo
cals .is his i hildren turned
their soft smiles toward him.
“I will be." he said, "forever
grateful to you kids and the
lose you have shown me !
mas not have always agreed
with the way you've lived your
lives, but I have never stopped
los ing you."
As their tears mixed with
the rain on their cheeks, a Jam
ils moved together, toward
their father, toward their cen
ter
Somehow, out of the ashes
of everything they had lost,
they had come to this place
and had found, at once, the
origin and object of their
search. They had, at last,
found each other They had
come home.
Sean Smith is tin associatr t-Ji
tar for tin■ Emerald
LETTERS
Pro-pooling
Oregon needs exjmnded mass
transit. ospei inlly along the
Interstate-5 corridor connecting
Eugene. Corvallis, Albany.
Salem and Portland. Mass tran
sit saves individual costs in
gasoline, car maintenance,
insurance and parking. It
reduces traffic congestion and
helps tin- Earth's environment
(air quality) breathe, while gn
ing commuters ease.
Northbound shuttle buses am
tieginmng but there are current
ly no van pools, buses or trains
1 tan locate heading south
This, of course, does not
include the state's shuttle buses
from Portland to Salem. For
example, one can take a van
pool from Salem to Portland
State University liut not to the
University of Oregon. Mass
transit linking cities along 1-5
could really make a difference
for businesses in those cities
K.C. Primbs
Journalism