4A | SATURDAY EDITION | SEPTEMBER 29, 2018 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 NED HICKSON , EDITOR Opinion | 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM C The First Amendment ongress shall make no law respecting an es- tablishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. “I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800) USPS# 497-660 Copyright 2018 © Siuslaw News Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the National Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Periodicals postage paid at Florence, Ore. Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. 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Jenna Bar tlett Ned H ickson Erik Chalhoub Publisher, ex t. 318 Editor, ex t. 313 Co n s u l t i n g E d i to r 8 3 1 -7 6 1 -7 3 5 3 echalhoub@register-pajaronian.com M ar k e t i n g Di re c to r, e x t . 3 2 6 O ffice Super visor, ex t. 312 Pro d u c t i o n Su p e r v i s o r Pre s s M a n a ge r Su s a n G u t i e r re z Cathy Dietz Ron Annis Je re my G e n t r y DEADLINES: Wednesday Issue—General news, Monday noon; Budgets, four days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Monday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Monday noon; Boxed and display classified ads, Friday 5 p.m. Saturday Issue—General news, Thursday noon; Budgets, two days prior to publication; Regular classifiedad,sThursday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Thursday noon; Boxed and display classified ads, Wednes- day 5 p.m. Soundings, Tuesday 5 p.m. NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In Lane County — 1-year subscription, $76; 6-month in-county, $52; 10-weeks subscription, $23; Out of Lane County — 1-year subscription,$99; 6-month out-of-county, $65; 10-weeks subscrip- tion, $29; Out of State — 1-year subscription, $125; E-Edition Online Only (Anywhere) — 1-year subscription, $71. Mail subscription includes E-Edition. Website and E-Edition: TheSiuslawNews.com Letters to the Editor polich Ending abuse requires a commitment to each other appearing tough and “manly” nesses. among your peers while still It means never using your holding on to the part of you strength — physically or ver- that is thoughtful and caring bally — to harm the women feels contradictory to what in our lives, whether it be your we’re taught about being a wife, girlfriend, co-worker, man. mother, daughter or neighbor. The stereotypical definition A real man provides pro- It wasn’t until becoming a of manhood was in movies, tection, safety and acceptance; father that I realized how a advertising and music: Being a a weak man dishes out pain, childhood of witnessing verbal man means being in control. insecurity and denial. and physical abuse by the men In charge. In either case, they are in my family — specifically, In command. reflections of our inner self. my father and brothers — had Of life and our relationships. The question is: What kind of impacted me and left wounds Seeking true equilibrium reflection do you want to see which had never truly healed. I know this because I occa- sionally saw reflections of my father and brothers in myself Ned Hickson as I fought to avoid making the same mistakes with my own children. As much as we want to tell is even more difficult today when you look in the mirror ourselves we can choose not because, unlike 35 years ago, each day? to take any baggage with us the unhealthy stereotypes Every year, our local Siuslaw on our journey through life, that define “manhood” are Outreach Services (SOS) there is no getting rid of it relentlessly perpetuated assists literally hundreds of completely — only a conscious through social media and the victims of domestic abuse, decision to leave it circling on near-constant presence of ad- including 299 in 2017. In the carousel. vertising that sells body wash, addition, SOS provided shelter Ultimately, it is always music, movie tickets, clothes for 1,358 victims of abuse last somewhere. Circling. Waiting and video games by depicting year, including 13 victims of to be claimed. what it looks like, sounds like sexual assault. This is especially true for and feels like to “be a man.” As wonderful as our com- young men in their teens and It is baggage our culture has munity is, it isn’t immune early 20s, when they are defin- been carrying for generations, to domestic violence against ing themselves and establish- repackaged and presented in women, children and men. ing their place in what is still a more ways than ever before. There’s no denying that the male-dominated culture — all The fact is, being a real man cultural threads of domestic while simultaneously trying does mean being in control. violence are woven into the to understand the intricacies But not of others; it means fabric of our society. of communicating with those being in control of your- Though we have made they love. self enough to understand, strides in some areas by recog- Even as a teenager some 35 acknowledge and accept your nizing and discussing matters years ago, I can tell you that strengths as well as your weak- of physical and verbal abuse, From the Editor’s Desk that baggage is still out there circling on the carousel. Tomorrow, Florence will recognize the start of Do- mestic Violence Awareness Month with an End Domestic Violence march presented by SOS, beginning at 12:45 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Park on Bay Street. Whether you are a survivor of domestic abuse or want to show your support for those who are, I hope you will par- ticipate — either in the march itself or by showing your sup- port along the sidewalks as the march winds its way through Old Town. As a culture, each of us must make a commitment to avoid claiming the baggage that perpetuates violence on our families and each other; as a community, we must make a commitment to each other to support — and when necessary speak up for — our friends, family members and neighbors who we suspect may be victims. Most importantly, to end the cycle of domestic violence, we must be willing to carry on with that commitment well beyond the last, crisp evening of October. Death is nothing to be afraid of no matter what your belief, we all have to do it. It’s not death but the dying that is what I and many others fear — particularly for those suffering for years with debilitat- ing conditions and diseases. I for one do not want artificial mea- sures keeping me alive past my God-giv- en expiration date. Too much money is made by keeping people alive. Roughly 37 million baby boomers will turn 65 over the next decade, bringing the percentage of people aged 65 or older to 20 percent — or more than 71 million people by the year 2029. In addition, 42 percent of people who live to the age of 70 will spend time in a nursing home be- fore they die, half of them for two years or more. Today, 1-in-9 people over age 65 suffer with Alzheimer’s. By 2050, the number of those with Alzheimer’s is expected to grow to 13.8 million. If you include other dementias, neuro- degenerative diseases, autoimmune dis- eases and cancers, the number of people considering an end-of-life decision is going to grow exponentially. Therefore, something needs to be done about expanding our end-of-life choices and making our end days more comfortable. A survey done a few years back of Oregon hospice and palliative care doctors and workers noted that pa- tients that had their Death with Digni- ty Provisions in place had a much more comfortable quality of life. Just the knowledge they had that they would not have to suffer was a great comfort to them and their families. In 2019, there will be a couple bills in front of the Oregon legislature to expand Oregon's end-of-life choices. Non-profit organizations like End Choices were cre- Political/Election Letters: Election-related letters must address pertinent or timely issues of interest to our readers at-large. Letters must 1) Not be a part of letter-writing cam- paigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2) Ensure any information about a candidate is accurate, fair and not from second-hand knowledge or hearsay; and 3) ex- plain the reasons to support candidates based on per- sonal experience and perspective rather than partisan- ship and campaign-style rhetoric. Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the editor column to outline their views and platforms or to ask for votes; this constitutes paid political advertising. As with all letters and advertising content, the news- paper, at the sole discretion of the publisher, general manager and editor, reserves the right to reject any let- ter that doesn’t follow the above criteria. Emal letters to: nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com WHERE TO WRITE Note: Victims of domestic abuse can call the SOS hotline at 541-997-4444; abusers seeking help can call SOS at 541-997-2816. LETTERS End-of-life choice is about compassion The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor as part of a community discussion of issues on the local, state and national level. Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or typed letters must be signed. All letters need to include full name, address and phone number; only name and city will be printed. Letters should be limited to about 300 words. Letters are subject to editing for length, gram- mar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaran- teed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumentative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or documented will not be published. Letters containing poetry or from outside the Siuslaw News readership area will only be published at the dis- cretion of the editor. ated to educate Oregon citizens on the re- strictions of the current death-with-dig- nity law, advance directives and the need to expand them. I encourage everyone to educate themselves on how they can help make Oregon more compassionate. —Bruce Yelle Florence More skin in the game I believe mothers, daughters and granddaughters of Republicans should be worried. Apparently, allegations of groping or attempted rape are mere badges of manhood — leftovers from youthful exuberance, unworthy of con- sidered scrutiny. And later, if you're considering a run for President, they are lifestyle orna- ments, subject to non-disclosure agree- ments. —Kathryn and Rand Dawson Siltcoos Lake Pres. Donald Trump The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, D.C. 20500 Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 FAX: 202-456-2461 TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213 www.whitehouse.gov Oregon Gov. Kate Brown 160 State Capitol 900 Court St. Salem, Ore. 97301-4047 Governor’s Citizens’ Rep. Message Line: 503-378-4582 www.oregon.gov/gov U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden 221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg Washington, DC 20510 202-224-5244 541-431-0229 www.wyden.senate.gov U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley 313 Hart Senate Office Bldg Washington, DC 20510 202-224-3753 FAX: 202-228-3997 541-465-6750 www.merkley.senate.gov U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (4th Dist.) 2134 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515 202-225-6416 541-269-2609 541-465-6732 www.defazio.house.gov State Sen. Arnie Roblan (Dist. 5) 900 Court St. NE - S-417 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1705 FAX: 503-986-1080 Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@ oregonlegislature.gov State Rep. Caddy McKeown (Dist. 9) 900 Court St. NE Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1409 Email: rep.caddymckeown @state.or.us West Lane County Commissioner Jay Bozievich 125 E. Eighth St. Eugene, OR 97401 541-682-4203 FAX: 541-682-4616 Email: Jay.Bozievich@ co.lane.or.us