CONTACTING OS
NEWSROOM: ADDRESS:
(541)346-5511 Oregon Daily Emerald
E-MAIL: P.O. B0X3159
ode@oregon uoregon.edu Eugene. Oregon 97403
ONLINE EDITION: www.uoregon.edu/-ode
m—MMiiiiiiiuuiiiiuiiiiiiuiniiflnrannannraniinminiwnniiBiinrninMnTnnnMniirniiniiinnni
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Sarah Kickler
EDITORIAL EDITOR
Mike Schmierbach
NIGHT EDITOR
Carl Yeh
States’ rights focus ends when states are ‘wrong’
Recent GOP efforts have
shown their interest in local
government is more political
than philosophical
We all know the GOP is a firm
supporter of states’ rights.
Proposals to reform welfare,
Medicare, Social Security,
parks and even school lunches have in
cluded so-called “block grants,” in which
the federal government hands a pile of cash
to state governments for vaguely specified
purposes.
Apparently, Republican support for
states’ rights ends when it comes to the
rights of the people within the states. Pro
grams that boost the community or protect
the environment have generally faced con
gressional opposition.
Even more alarming are attempts by leg
islators to override the will of voters within
a state. Congress seems too content to let
state legislatures run free, but it cannot
stand it when the people who elect the leg
islatures think and regulate for themselves.
Two recent congressional efforts demon
strate this mentality and are closely related
to Oregon politics — the ongoing effort to
prevent assisted suicide and the proposal
by Sen. Gordon Smith to deny funding for
medical marijuana.
Federal intervention in assisted suicide
began when a Drug Enforcement Agency
administrator argued that doctors could
not legally prescribe drugs for assisted sui
cide. Thomas Constantine decided that as
sisted suicide is not a legitimate medical
purpose, effectively invalidating two deci
sions by the majority of Oregonians.
Attorney General Janet Reno is evaluat
ing Constantine’s claim. According to The
Associated Press, this “could effectively
block application of the nation’s only as
sisted-suicide law.”
This is where Congress leaps into the
fray. The Associated Press reports that 53
members of Congress wrote a letter to Reno
urging her to back Constantine and punish
doctors who prescribe suicide drugs.
Congress certainly has the ability to regu
# i mf
CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald
All EMERALD EDITORIAL
late illegal substances, but this action is ex
cessive. Worse, some members of Congress
are considering drafting new legislation to
prevent assisted suicide if Reno does not
act as desired.
Assisted suicide was approved by the
voters of the state, does not violate either
the Constitution or the fundamental pur
poses of federal government, and concerns
the autonomy of the individual rather than
the stability of society. Congress ought not
act to restrict the behavior of voters in a
state when those voters have legally grant
ed themselves certain freedoms.
Nevertheless, assisted suicide is not the
only personal choice Congress wants to in
terfere with. Smith wants to stop federal
money from supporting medical marijuana.
Smith’s proposal would block spending
on health programs that allocate marijuana
for medical purposes as well as research on
marijuana. The reason, according to a story
by The Register-Guard on the proposal, is
that Smith worries medicinal use “sends a
mixed message to our children that mari
juana use is acceptable.”
So what? Well, Smith claims “[marijua
na] is dangerous, and it is deadly.” In
stead, he hopes the government will
spend more money on prescription drugs,
despite the fact that overdoses and side ef
fects from “legal” drugs kill thousands
every year.
Smith’s fundamental delineation is that
legal things are good, and illegal things are
bad. Many voters, including those in Cali
fornia and Arizona who have already ap
proved medical marijuana, clearly disagree
with this “logic.”
Voters ought to be able to disagree with
out interference from politicians 3,000
miles away. Marijuana use, like assisted
suicide, is a matter for individuals and
communities to address.
If Congress and the GOP truly support
the concept of states’ rights, they ought to
strive to protect the individuals within a
community. The fundamental premise be
hind state autonomy is that local actors are
more capable of tackling the issues that im
pact that community.
The reality of states’ rights as practiced
by Congress currently is that block grants
and abdicated authority are really an ex
cuse for legislators to pass on to the states
the dirty task of dismantling federal pro
grams the GOP opposes. Republicans are
only willing to hand over their power
when their policies will be implemented at
the state level.
Issues such as assisted suicide and med
ical marijuana clearly prove that congres
sional leaders have no concern about the
views of state voters if those voters are so
foolish as to oppose the divine will of the
Republican Revolution.
This editorial represents the opinion of the
Emerald editorial hoard. Responses may be
sent to ode@oregon.uoreQon .edu.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Abysmal voter turnout
As long as I’ve been a student
at UO, voter turnout in student
elections has been abysmal.
When you think about it. that
shouldn’t surprise anyone. Stu
dent government seems to be
anything but competent or inter
esting, and tuition is rising so
quickly that about 8,700 stu
dents needed financial assis
tance in 1996-97 (and if current
trends hold, that number will
rise to 9,700 by the end of this
year). I think that most students
feel like they’ve got a lot better
things to do with their time than
pay attention to the shenanigans
of pseudo-political wankers.
ASUO is now in control of
about $6.5 million dollars.
That’s a big responsibility, and
most students don’t even know
they pay over $500 a year to sup
port it. ASUO gives students the
ability to create nationally recog
nized conferences, support stu
dent advocacy organizations,
provide students with legal ad
vice, maintain the EMU, and of
fer services that UO either could
not, or would not, provide other
wise.
My point is that ASUO can be
come competent and continue to
offer all these services only if the
people who pay for it voice their
opinion. Voting is an integral
part of voicing your opinion
about ASUO.
Please take a few minutes to
read the Voter’s Guide, talk with
people involved in ASUO or a
candidate, and take the time to
vote in the primary and general
elections (April 15-16 and April
22-23). At a university this size
each vote really does count.
Selena Brewington
Computer Science
Tandem Taxi valuable
Your article on evening safety
transportation options (ODE,
March 31) unfortunately omitted
the Tandem Taxi Service. This
service, which has gained inter
national recognition, is unique
to the UO, but many people still
do not know about us. We use
bicycles built for two and three
to help get people where they
need to go. You can ride on our
bikes, we will ride along side of
you if you are concerned about
riding your bike at night, or we
will walk with you. Call on us
any evening from 8:30 p.m. to
11:15 p.m. The service is free of
charge and unlike the other ser
vices mentioned in the article,
we can usually meet you within
a few minutes of your call.
We want your ideas for ways
to serve even more transporta
tion needs. Please call us if you
would like a ride, have sugges
tions or want more info. Contact
us at 346-TAXI (346-8294) or
bikes@oregon.uoregon.edu.
Look for our table at the Solar
Fair (April 17) and at the First
Annual UO Bike Expo (April
24).
David Niles
Tandem Taxi Coordinator
Pesticide awareness
Ail students at this University
should have an awareness and
understanding of pesticide use
in the United States. Unfortu
nately, the average citizen does
not know of the implications of
pesticide use, nor do they have
the right to know about quanti
ties and types of pesticides used
on foods they eat. How many
people know that most pesti
cides are chemical derivatives of
human-killing nerve gases used
in the world wars? How many
know that pesticides have been
found in our very own
Willamette River? How many
dare think about the millions of
pounds of these chemicals that
are used in this country annual
ly?
On a statewide level, OSPIRG
is currently pushing for the citi
zens’ right to know about pesti
cide use. To do this effectively,
we need the help of the student
body at the University. We need
informed students who under
stand the issues surrounding
pesticides and their use. For the
benefit of students and faculty,
OSPIRG has coordinated a Pesti
cide Educational Forum this
Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the
EMU Ben Linder Room. Anyone
who is concerned about pesti
cides and their human and envi
ronmental effects is highly en
couraged to attend this
informative seminar.
EricColbeck
Environmental Studies
Shifting tax burden
In recent years, I have seen an
enormous shift of the tax burden
to those least able to pay, while
corporations have been given
large tax breaks and are not pay
ing their share.
In addition, we have taken
much of the funding away from
very necessary services such as
schools, health care, protection
of watersheds, child care, sup
port for children (especially
those in single-parent families),
environmental protection (in
cluding protection of our dwin
dling salmon resources) and nec
essary governmental activities.
Instead, we are promoting
more prisons and more harsh
punishments of young people.
Before long, those services that
might address prevention and
encouraging youth will have
been zapped, and we will find
that we can no longer afford the
“law and order” services, in
cluding prisons.
It would be far better to fund
services that would help to pre
vent this sad state of affairs and
help people feel they have a say
in the decisions that affect their
lives.
I hope that we will address
these problems in a positive way
before the situation becomes
even more critical and that we
will distribute the tax burden
fairly.
Portia Foster
Eugene