Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
PO. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online Edition:
www.dailyemerald.com
Monday, November 12,2001
Editor in Chief:
Jessica Blanchard
Managing Editor:
Michael J. Kleckner
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Editorial
Assisted-suicide
ruling threatens
patients’rights
Isn’t it funny how Republicans love to preach sov
ereignty for states, except when they disagree with
laws the states have passed? Attorney General
John Ashcroft is trying to nullify Oregon’s Death with
Dignity Act, an assisted-suicide law passed by Ore
gon voters in 1996 and 1998. Ashcroft is bullying
doctors and patients into following his moral values,
and he needs to leave Oregon alone.
On Nov. 6, Ashcroft’s Justice Department issued a
letter to the Drug Enforcement Agency instructing
federal agents to pursue physicians who prescribe
lethal quantities of drugs to assist terminally ill pa
tients in suicide. This new interpretation of the fed
eral Controlled Substances Act overturns a 1998 de
cision by former Attorney General Janet Reno. Reno
said the government did not have the authority to
pursue or prosecute doctors.
The viability of Ashcroft’s proposal is murky at
best. He is merely quibbling over a few pills; assisted
suicide opponents usually offer end-of-life care with
sufficient prescribed medication as an alternative.
But thanks to Ashcroft’s action, it may become more
difficult to offer higher doses of controlled sub
stances. The loss of patient rights will have a chill
ing effect on pain care for all Americans facing the
end of life.
The federal government is interfering with the will
of Oregonians for no apparent reason. At a time when
the country is supposed to be united in the wake of
tragedy, Ashcroft is blatantly dividing America to ful
fill his own moral agenda. Ashcroft and his hypocrit
ical cronies are hurting the sanctity of democracy
and needlessly angering a lot of people at a very in
opportune time.
It’s disturbing that Ashcroft would override the
will of the voters in this way, and we hope that when
Ashcroft reaches the end of his life, his choices aren’t
as constrained as the Oregon voters he’s opposing.
fins editorial represents Ifie opinion of the Emerald
editorial board. Responses can be sent to
WtefS@dailyemeraW.com. Letters to the editor and guest
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t information. The Eroen
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feedback about the pci questions and resufti
3 votes
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Preaching up the wrong tree
As I was walking past the EMU
Amphitheater a couple of weeks
ago, I saw an older man standing
center stage with a wooden cross. He
had his Bible propped open and was
yelling to passing students that they
had better come follow Christ and be
saved, or they would go to hell. I’ve
always found these sort of religious
disputes interesting, so I decided I
woma sxay awnue
and let myself be
amused by the
bickering that was
certain to take
place.
While listening
to the man rant
about being saved, I
could hardly take
| anything he said
f seriously. The way
he yelled out to no
one in particular,
even contradicting
the very message of
Christianity,
seemed almost comical. People began
to gather around, and whether offend
ed or just egging on the man, they
responded by yelling harsh comments
at him in return.
Based on what he was saying, I
could understand why people might
be offended. After all, it seems logical
that if one bluntly tells someone
they’re going to hell, one risks offend
ing them. Although I didn’t let his
words get under my skin, I did find the
man’s attempt at preaching the gospel
rather pitiful.
I may be wrong, but doesn’t the con
verting of someone to a particular faith
involve something called “spiritual
enlightenment?” I highly doubt if any
one in the crowd was feeling enlight
ened or even comforted by the man’s
message. Instead it only created bitter
ness with the people listening. He was
attempting to win people over by
invoking guilt and fear, which I think
is an inappropriate approach to take in
today’s society.
Things only got worse when another
guy appeared on the scene with a sign
around his neck that said something
along the lines of burning in hell if one
doesn’t follow Christ. The “burning in
hell” part was nicely done, with red
and orange flames coming off of it. I
heard him say, “Come get your tickets
to heaven,” and he had little papers in
his hand that he was trying to hand
out. I had had about enough; to me this
was more a mockery of Christianity
than an actual attempt at spreading the
gospel. Tickets to heaven? What is that
all about? Do these people have noth
ing better to do than come to the Uni
versity campus to annoy students?
Yet, the irony was that both seemed to
enjoy the contentious debate they were
conjuring. It was almost as if they want
ed people to yell harsh comments back
at them. I could just see them thinking,
“Yes! Send out your fiery darts oh, ye
wicked ones! I will be a martyr! ”
I had to wonder, do these men really
think they are going to change anyone’s
outlook on life? The only thing they
were doing was giving people more
reasons to shim any sort of religion in
general. They had the stereotypical
preacher countenance of being better
than “thou” and having the only “truth
and light,” which I think many people
find irritating.
I’ll admit that this sort of thing can
be entertaining, but for the sake of
those who really believe in Christian
ity, these preachers need to sedate
their egos a bit, take a long walk and
really mull over life’s great questions.
If they really want to extend anything
like a Christian message, maybe they
should volunteer somewhere and
actually help the community. The
preachers should take those nice
wooden crosses and go build some
one a fence, because as far as I can
tell, they aren’t doing any good on
campus.
Tara Debenham is a columnist for the Oregon Daily
Emerald. Her views do not necessarily reflect
those of the Emerald. She can be reached
at taradebenham@dailyemerald.com.
w. VMww
Tara
Debenham
Columnist
Peter Utsey Emerald
Letters to the editor
China Blue being forced out
I am responding to your article about dis
putes between China Blue and the University
Bookstore (“China Blue, University Book
store working out insurance conflict,” ODE,
10/19). The claim by the bookstore that Chi
na Blue is an unsafe operation is completely
untrue. The fire of last year was quickly ex
tinguished and caused no one any physical
harm. The bookstore has also stated that it
has had trouble communicating with China
Blue. This is because the owners do not un
derstand English well, resulting in times of
non-compliance, and in no way reflects un
willingness to comply with the bookstore’s
requests.
China Blue feels that it has been bullied by
the bookstore and pressured to leave because
of future plans for the space China Blue cur
rently leases. China Blue’s lease ends August
of 2005 and will not be renewed, which has
implications that there are future plans for
the space. The bookstore has claimed that
China Blue has defaulted on the lease, citing
code and lease violations. The bookstore has
also gotten city officials involved increasing
the pressure on China Blue to comply.
I am sure that many restaurants in Eugene
are violating city code and don’t even know
it. In order for China Blue to comply, it must
spend thousands of dollars in upgrades.
This is an enormous cost considering that
there are less than four years on the lease.
They are trying to make running China Blue
so costly that we are forced to leave and va
cate the space.
Ted Tsui
son of China Blue co-owner
Seattle, Wash.
CORRECTION
In a story about Holiday
. Market ("Homemade for
the Holidays, ODE,
11/S £6
111 the mat ket
was incorrect. Holiday
!$arketwllf begin Nov. 17.
in a story about Academic
U iff if j $« ■ • . "
offers tutoring options,” 1
ODE, 11/9),the location
was incorrect. ALS is
located in the basement
of Prince Lucian Campbell
the mistakes.
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