Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1996)
VIEWPOINTS t PIT ORIAL S OPINIO MS IfTTfRS TO THE EDITOR Folks in nursing home? You might have to pay ■ uUH OPINION: After we failed to help defray Med»ca«d costs, a new taw just might make us pay up (kiod 'ol Mom and Dad. For the firm IS years of your life, they fed. court wiled and clothed ymi They changed your diapers and mentTed your ikinnnd knees when you hit the ground. They taught you the wisdom of the work ethic, but gave you an allowance anyway. They showed you how to ride a bicycle and dried your tear* after your first crash without the training wheel* They survived the stress of teaching you how to navigate the highways in Ihe family sedan and for gave you when you bai k<*d into the mailbox Someday, you'd like 10 be able to pay them back for ail their love, devotion and financial support That day may come soon er than you think. After the years have taken their toll and Mom or Dad is in a nursing home, you might just get an official request from the state asking you to help pay for your parents’ health care. A provision within the Republican seven-year bal a mod budget plan that over hauls Medicaid would give states the |>ower to require adult children of nursing home fiat tents on Medicaid lo help cover the cost of their parents' care The pay-for-care proposal is aimed specifically at mid dle Income ami wealthier Americans or any adult child earning more than the slate median household income. It shouldn't require a law to forc e us to subsidize our parents' lives It should be a moral obligation to taka cam of our pamnu after ihey’v* passed through their healthy, independent year*. After alt, for many of us. Mom and Dad paid for the fir*t 18 year* of our live* - why ahouidn't we pay for the lati 18 year* of their*? It used to be that one or more of the aging patent* would move into their chil* dren's home* for together neaa. health or safety mason* Norman Rockwell paint ing* and Thr Waltons aside, extended or immediate-fam ily living arrangements like this often contributed to a "sense of belonging'* for the parent, and brought in an additional income source (parent's Social Security check! for the adult child Hut that was then and tins is now Today, for example, peo ple live longer Thanks to modem medicine, the elder ly can live on despite linger ing or debilitating illnesses. This arguably can pul a financial burden on a family that could otherwise survive »ls monetary' pressures In addition, many adult chil dren of nursing-home hound parents do not have the necessary living space, let alone medical expertise, lo accommodate a health care-needy parent within the home Hut warm luxate* and monetary realities will always fall victim lo the human trend of bending (he rules. Proponents say the Med icaid plan would allow states lo curtail the practice of wealthy individuals transferring their assets lo their children in order lo qualify lor Medicaid Didn't we learn to play fair when we were children? Ha■;***» at*lauiiMHii MMm*m Ma#•at** *xnt•»«Mi nm am ’■‘mma am lamatti «*n ■» mm—i »» — (aagm Cm, itmm Cm m m •» JMna « :*«*«* — » a» »n m low m»am i'i»«ht «ii » a» nwnn —> *a«Mnailt4lk>wvwi «*t («•*» » p*m» ***»% n» mwx'—«» » am m m** a iinmiim w n a» MMQtt mm»u Mirti Pat tervtl ~— tAEDfCARP i ’‘XiWW GHAvff UTTERS Wasting resources I would tike to encourage all student* to become a warn of the amount of paper product* we wa*l« mich day Specifically, I've observed many time* that after people wash their hand* in the bath room* they tend to automati cally — that >a. without thinking — pull the paper towel lever three or more time* Absent mlndediy cranking out two feel of paper to dry on# pair of hand* is incredibly wasteful We live in a society of wealth and abundance, but that does not mean that we should remain oblivious when we are consum ing more than we need In addition to tmnlimiting the amount of paper towel* land napkin*) we use. we can also bring out own paper, plastic, or cloth grocery bag* to the store, again practicing awareness of our consumption In my experience, once a per *on gets used to reusing and recycling materials, it tee time* a natural and easy way of life Student*, let's plana* be aware of our consumption! Dorothy Gppenbetmef EngfUh Ait? After exiling lb# University's Muwum of Fine Art a* rapidly and a* pissed off as I could get . I mil down with eeveral friend* and triad to discuss the exhibit I trustingly stumbled across Somewhere on the upper lev el* of the museum are several glass-encased display* of over used tampons ever-so-needy laid out on white pillows with a typed letter in a font so small you have to put your face next to the "art" to read it. Pardon me if I leh the message was not worth reading Why is this kind of display «omuiered art. and what kind of message is being sent? Why on ««*rth did the artist wanna be fust not crap on a pillow and name it "injustice of humanity”? It may have related to a larger audience. Obviously, anal abun dance is one of her more distinct (rail* III worn her acquaintance. I would avoid sharing any went*. Why don* the artist think thal exposing a vitual image that turn* oil more than il turn* on will send a positive or support ing message about the tribula Hon* women deal with7 My family wa* coming to vis it, and one of our stop* was going to be the museum Not anymore I am embarrassed lor my culture Valerie Stilwetl vtoomaliam Feeling puckish When I left my home to Cana da. I assumed that the transition to American culture would be smooth, and lor the most part it was tHiring my I'irsl American autumn. I ncperuei: ed only mild palpitation* caused bv cultural ankiety Alter all, 1 had to adjust to watered down beer and tile without Ike kitty Night — a Sat urday night Canadian institu tion Not uniil mid January did I experience my fire! real shocker of cultural difference* Lo and behold, it happened on a Satur day night, watching hockey on Fox television I betaine t*ary-«yed with no* talgia. as Fox was showing the NHL all star game The event is popular and entertaining in spite of its goofy celebrity context (i.*. hockey players do not respond well to questions by awkward sports festers who attempt to be funny while displaying an obvioua lack of knowledge about the game). My rapture was quickly rup tured though, when I saw that there was a large purple glowing diac in the place where the puck used to be. If someone fired a shot or mad# a pass, the disc trans formed into a long, red comet. I blinked hard, but it didn’t go away Fox was using new tech nology — a computer chip inside (he puck — to enhance viewer pleasure of the world’s fastest game Well, I watched the game; I watched a native of Quebec, Raymond Bourque, acore the game winner in hit “home town" of Hutton Soon I will go home and tit around with my friends on a Sat urday night, clutching strong beer and watching Hockey Night I hiring intermission (we don't talk while the game ia under way!. one of them might ask me what it's like to live in the States and I will tell them about the mysterious purple disc and enchanting red comet that Fox t elevision is using to attract new fans to hockey in America They will say: "If it takes stu pid tricks like that to promote the game, then maybe it's time to send it back to where it is appreciated, eh!" Kristian Olsen Graduate Journalism Questionable politics The Oregon Supreme Court should he applauded fee it* unan imous din ision Jan !», which derailed the legislature's S750 million funding tall that includ ed Portland's latest light mil bid By doing so, the court upheld the integrity of the Oregon Con stitution and allowed us time to review less costly transportation options for our state The bill was unconstitutional because It violated the "single subject" rule That rule protects us from the kind of horse trading for votes that apparently went on in Salem last summer. Pesticide laws, shooting-range noise, cor morant protection end other related sublets were “log rolled" into one bill with trans portation funding. What came io be known as the "Christmas tree bill" was, in real ity. politics at its moot crass. The court, to its credit, put a stop to it The rule will make for clean er politics in a stale that pndes Itself on such things. Steve Bucks tern President. Cascade Pokey Institute Portland
