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Page A4
April 25. 2007
O pinion
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
How Do We Keep Missing the Signs?
refused to give any personal infor­ the impact of mental illness on one's mentative with odd behavior, may
mation about himself. He was also life as well as those mentally ill be suffering from clinical depres­
described as a loner with few if any people we come into contact with. sion, such as bi-polar disorder that
As we listen to the news cover­ can contribute to both homicidal
who knew much about him. It al­
most appears that there were signs. age of this horrific event and other and suicidal thoughts, feelings and
behaviors. These individuals can
also be present with psychotic think­
ing | hearing voices| and paranoia,
which can cause them to feel threat­
ened or fearful, resulting in the need
to protect oneself from the world.
Others may be suffering from a
thought disorder, such as paranoid
schizophrenia, and without the
benefit of medication of either of
those disorders, one can be at risk
of harming him or herself and/or
although subtle, that this troubled events of this nature throughout others.
young man could have really been history, it is much easier to view the
Thus, it is often our propensity
in trouble and in danger of hurting perpetrator as a depraved animal to simply write these folks off as
himself or others.
with a lack of regard for human life crazy or odd, and neglect making
So the question for the day is than it is to view him or her as a sure they are receiving consistent
how do we keep missing the signs? mentally sick individual who some­ treatment for their problems. Fur­
Without placing blame on anyone, how slipped through the cracks of thermore, in a society where folks
I think it is very easy to miss the a faulty mental health system.
are much too busy to check up on
signs and symptoms of mental ill­
Persons who tend to be isolated one another, even in academic in­
ness because we tend to minimize and alone, easily aggravated, argu­ stitutions where therapy has been
Fallout from the
Virginia Tech
Massacre
We continue to be in
denial about the realities
o f mental illness, how it
develops, and how it can
be treated.
by G loria
M orrow
At Virginia Tech, the
liv e s o f th o u sa n d s
were changed drasti­
cally when a troubled
23 year old man acted
out everyone's worse
nightmare.
A ccording to the
Associated Press, the shooter dis­
played signs of mental instability.
For example, he was described as
"troubled," with a past history of
writings that may have raised red
flags about his mental stability and
overall mental well-being.
He was referred to the counsel­
ing center on campus, but refused
to give permission for counselors
to review his writings and other
pertinent documents, and he also
recommended, it is easy for some­
one who is really sick to fly beneath
the radar. When people (especially
young people | are isolated and their
only friend is a violent video game,
they may be more at risk of acting
out in violent ways, especially if
they are not doing well emotion­
ally.
What can we learn from this trag­
edy?
We must admit that there are
people who are suffering from men­
tal illness in our society. We con­
tinue to be in denial about the reali­
ties of mental illness, how it devel­
ops and how it can be treated.
Rather than w riting hurting
people off or ignoring them, we
must work harder to get them the
appropriate help. Once referrals
have been made, good follow up
must occur to make sure they are in
treatment and their progress is
monitored.
Second, we must help people to
become connected to other people.
Everyone needs a good support
system in order to survive. Man
was not designed to live alone and
those who have no one to provide
them support and nurturance may
be highly vulnerable to giving up
hope. When one gives up hope, the
chances become very slim that one
will be able to exercise compassion
and care for others.
Third, we must do more to fight
the sale of guns in our country.lt is
amazing to me that an already vio­
lent society makes it even mote
possible for unstable people to
purchase tools to promote violence.
I am saddened because of the
tragedy at Virginia Tech, but I be­
come saddened every time I hear of
a senseless killing on a small or
large scale, both for the victims and
the perpetrators; because I know
that somewhere along the line, we
keep missing the signs.
Gloria Morrow is a licensed
clinical psychologist in private
practice in Upland, Calif.
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Reform Ex-Felon Voting Laws
Bans weaken
democratic spirit
by J vuge G reg
K-4 in 2007, growing to K-8
Learn more at our upcoming Information Session:
Saturday, April 28th, 2-3:30 p.m. • Kenton Firehouse,
8105 N. Brandon Ave.
www.portlandvillageschool.org
503-490-7362
M athis
In 13 states, a felony
conviction can result in
loss of voting rights even
after a sentence has been
completed; those rights
are often for life.
In one of the most ex-
treme eases, individuals convicted
of a felony in Florida are stripped of
their civil and voting rights, even
after they complete their sentences.
■
Forexample,a22-year-old
in Florida, with no prior
record, who is convicted of
felony drug possession will
permanently lose the right to
vote unless he can obtain
win a pardon from the gover­
nor.
SEASONS
M a $10 ai f t rip,IOn &
Card.
AT A R B O R L O D G E /
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V \Ne. fill p r e s c r ip tio n s — in c lu d in g a n tib io tic s ,
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W e h a v e k n o w le d g e a b le , frie n d ly p h a r m a c is ts
w h o h a v e th e tim e to s h a r e in fo r m a tio n .
O u r p r ic e s a re c o m p e titiv e W e a c c e p t m o s t
in s u r a n c e p la n s a n d a re a d d in g o th e r s a s
re q u e s te d .
•r W e s p e c ia liz e
in c u s t o m c o m p o u n d in g
M e e t y o u r P h a r m a c is t.
M e lin d a B u tle r
Y O U R L O C A L L Y O W N E D , N E IG H B O R H O O D P H A R M A C Y A T A R B O R L O D G E
N IN T E R S T A T E A V E N U E & P O R T L A N D B L V D • 5 0 3 .4 6 7 .4 8 4 8
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I
state to autom atically restore
felo n 's civil rights after they fin­
ish their sentences. This could
restore civil rights to as many as
1 m illion ex-felons in the state. In
M aryland, a bill that would end
the three-year w aiting period and
lifetim e voting ban on certain
felony convictions aw aits the
g o v ernor’s approval. In North
C arolina, a bill that would reform
that state’s felon’s voting laws
has been introduced.
These states are taking an im­
portant step in re­
storing true democ­
racy to this country,
e n su rin g
every
A m erican has a
voice.
IfFlorida’sex-fel-
ons were allowed to
vote, the controversial 2000 presi­
dential elections could have turned
out very differently. Perhaps this
country, 7 years later, would not be
wasting money and sacrificing lives
in Iraq, protecting the wealthy with
tax breaks, while neglecting the poor
and squeezing out the middle class.
The work of groups like the
American Civil Liberties Union and
the Sentencing Project, along with
the support of Americans who saw
the injustices these laws wrought,
have forced these states to see it is
time to reform their antiquated felon
voting laws.
Hopefully, governors in other
states that disenfranchise ex-fel­
ons will follow suit. Thanks to the
power of protest, America is one
step closer to becoming the democ­
racy she longs to he.
About 13 percent o f the
country s disenfranchised
voters are black men.
M AR K
Pharmacy
Such controversial bans have
served to disenfranchise millions
of Americans - most of them Af­
rica-American - and have served to
weaken the nation’s democratic
spirit.
Florida’s Republican Governor
Charlie Crist, however, has shown
great courage by publicly announc­
ing he will push his state legislature
to reform the felon voting laws.
Other states are taking similar steps
to restore ex-felon’s voting rights.
It’s about time.
It is estimated that more than 5
million Americans arc unable to vote
because of laws that prohibit vot­
ing by people with felony convic­
tions. While such policies have
existed in some form or another
since America was founded, many
of the laws that disenfranchise ex­
felons were used to keep recently
freed blacks from voting.
In some southern states, for
exam ple, legislators restricted
voting privileges by passing laws
that restricted voting privileges
for individuals who com m itted
crim es that were believed to be
more likely com m itted by blacks.
And those laws, no m atter how
old, continue to keep blacks away
from the polls: about 13 percent
of the country's disenfranchised
voters are black men. M any
states, folding under the pres­
sure of ci vil rights organizations,
are now working tooverturn laws
that disenfranchise ex-felons. In
Florida, the governor wants the
Judge Greg Muthis is national
vice president o f Rainbow PUSH
and a national board member o f
the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.
I