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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 2001)
Smith asks Bush about assisted suicide policy By Katherine Pfleger The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Sen. Gordon Smith said he asked President Bush if he was considering an executive or der that could thwart physician-as sisted suicide in Oregon, and the president said he may deal with the issue later on. Smith, R-Ore., said Thursday he heard rumors about a possible order and called Bush last month. Though the president said there was “nothing immediate,” he told Smith the issue was something the administration may deal with down the road. Smith later followed up with a let ter to request that any action be care fully considered to ensure that doc tors can still treat pain and avoid retroactive punishments. Smith opposes physician-assisted suicide and says he wants to make ac cess to it “both undesirable and un necessary.” Though executive action is still speculative and its shape unknown, it would most likely revisit former At torney General Janet Reno’s 1998 in terpretation of the Controlled Sub stances Act. Reno determined that federal drug agents couldn’t move against Oregon doctors who help terminally ill pa tients die using federally controlled substances, such as barbiturates. Bush’s Attorney General, John Ashcroft, whom the Senate con firmed Thursday despite liberal op position, could also take steps to re verse Reno’s interpretation. George Eighmey, Compassionate Dying of Oregon executive director, said any executive attempt to reinter pret Reno’s decision, by an order or otherwise, would leave terminally ill patients with “inhumane” options. “If you eliminate access to con trolled substances, you have effec tively overturned Oregon’s law and rendered it unusable,” Eighmey said. The administration would be “forcing people to resort to under ground methods that we found un acceptable.” He said doctors typically prescribe lethal doses of sedatives and sleeping pills. In 1998 and 1999,43 people used the law, according to the Oregon Health Division. Statistics for 2000 are not yet available. Hannah Davidson, Oregon Death With Dignity Legal Defense and Edu cation Center executive director, said any executive action could make doctors question when and how they prescribe certain medications. Plus, she said, it goes against the intent of Oregon’s Death With Dignity law. Oregon’s assisted suicide law went into effect in late 1997. Conservatives have long fought for its mitigation and reversal. Last congressional ses sion, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., thwarted attempts by Sen. Don Nick les, R-Okla., to negate the law through federal legislation. When Smith wrote Bush on Jan. 25, he requested that the president in clude provisions in a possible order to ensure controlled substances are still a “legitimate” way to alleviate pain and discomfort, even if that in creases the likelihood of a patient’s death. Smith also asked the president to avoid modifying or expanding the DEA’s authority, as well as guarantee that doctors will not be prosecuted retroactively. BMX continued from page 1 with police or security guards. “We have nowhere else to go, so we just go where we’re not sup posed to,” Bratton said. BMX riders can’t ride on private property. They can’t ride on govern ment-owned land. They can’t ride on the University campus. They can’t ride at either of the two skate board parks in town. They can ride on the Emerald Val ley BMX track near Alton Baker Park, but that facility was made for racing and not stunt riding. But a new location might open for BMX riders within two years. Eu gene park planners are working to ward building a skateboard park in the Bethal area near Meadow View Elementary School. Though the park will be designed for skate boarders, park planners say they would like to see the facility open to bikers. “We’re going to look at how we can make that facility usable for all users, including BMX freestyle rid ers,” Parks Planner Robin Hostick said. “We’re talking with the freestyle BMX community to dis cuss our options.” We have nowhere else to go, so we just go where we're not supposed to. Nick Bratton BMX rider Jj But there is one hang-up: An in dependent report prepared for the city found that BMX riders damage skate parks. According to the report, the five-inch metal pegs BMX riders attach to the hubs of their wheels gouge the ramps and scratch the rails of skate parks. Hostick said park planners will likely look into that validity of that finding. “Our goal is to make these facili ties accessible to everybody, but on the other hand, we want to preserve these facilities,” Hostick said. Tim Owen, whose son is a BMX rider, said he would support a bike park because he worries that con frontations between bikers and po lice could lead to hostility and criti cism of the sport. “It kind of invites a renegade ele ment by not providing a legal place,” he said. “But it’s really a great thing for kids. I’m glad my kid’s into it.” Kevin Leonard, teen director and outreach director for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Emerald Valley, said a bike park in Eugene would not only give bikers a more enjoyable place to ride but also a safer one. WRC continued from page 1 Gassama said corporations have a strong role in “enduring poverty” in Third World countries, despite pro viding jobs for the people of those countries. He said while the firms do offer some of the only opportunities for gainful employment in the poorest regions of the world, they represent the power structure that left those countries behind in the first stages of globalization during the 1940s. At that time, Gassama said, there was a split in priorities between eco nomic and social development. “Human rights was placed on a second track and considered a junior r partner,” he said. He pointed out that even as the rest of the world is growing steadily rich er, “Third World workers are alienat ed from the fruits of their labor even more.” But Gassama said globalization is Write the most creative message and win a dinner for two at the Outback Steakhouse. Are you shy? You pick the heart, we type the text Stop by or phone 346-4343. You pick the frame and write, draw or scribble your Valentine’s Day message. You must stop by Suite 300, EMU Are you bold? name phone address cash/check/credit card # write message to appear in ad here (if more than 25 words type may be small and hard to read) Oregon Daily Emerald ODE employees not eligible to win 011065 EUGENE 686-5808 IrW*' t/1 SPRINGFIELD 1 jiyeff' 746-7666 fiPIxia X-Tra Large 2-Item Pizza Soft Drinks 00 -.Pipeline’' Plus 2 FREE 22oz Not valid with any other offer. Limited Delivery Area. EXP 2/9/01 $11 km 1-Hem Mm Plus 2 FREE 22oz. Soft Drinks Not valid with any other offer. Limited Delivery Area. EXP 2/9/01 a mixed blessing. While it may have left most of the Third World behind economically, it also has helped fuel political movements in industrial ized nations. One of these was the drive during the 1980s that helped end apartheid in South Africa. Economics Professor Emeritus Henry Goldstein brought two points to the discussion. He argued that for eign investment does not mean high er unemployment in domestic indus tries, and broached the theory that while foreign production jobs may seem horrible by U.S. standards, they are often the best jobs in the Third World. Goldstein explained that by mov ing jobs into other countries, it gives those countries the “wherewithal to purchase more,” thus ensuring a strong demand for production in the home sector. “A nation is capable of generating job opportunities regardless of trade deficits or surplus,” he said. He used the North American Free Trade Agreement as an example, pointing out that the “great sucking sound” that Ross Perot mentioned in his failed presidential bid in 1992 would signify jobs heading south for Mexico that never materialized. In regard to working conditions, Goldstein pointed out that all the jobs in foreign factories are voluntary, and while they may be miserable by stan dards in the United States, they are the most attractive in Third World countries. Anthropology and international studies Professor Lynn Stephen, who has extensive experience in Mexican labor issues, said it was vital that cor porations be held accountable. While foreign companies may offer higher wages, Stephen said the same com panies also drive down the average wage for a country. “We have to look at the total effect of these corporations in the total economy,” she said. “In general, workers in Mexico have lost ground. ” University Senate President James Earl also offered his opinion on the matter by describing his experience of spending a year in a small village in India. He said he soon noticed how the village’s economy and society were based on sustenance and not on amassing large amounts of wealth and possessions. “When I hear ‘India is in need of Nike factories,’ from my own experi ence that just doesn’t compute for me,” he said.
