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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (March 13, 2019)
4A | WEDNESDAY EDITION | MARCH 13, 2019 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 NED HICKSON , EDITOR | 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM Opinion The First Amendment C ongress shall make no law respect- ing an establishment 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 Govern- ment 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 2019 © Siuslaw News 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 Pub- lishers Association. Periodicals postage paid at Florence, Ore. Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax 541- 997-7979. All press releases may be sent to PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com. Jenna Bartlet Ned Hickson Susan Gutierrez Cathy Dietz Ron Annis Jeremy Gentry Publisher, ext. 318 Editor, ext. 313 Marketing Director, ext. 326 Office Supervisor, ext. 312 Production Supervisor Press Manager DEADLINES: Wednesday Issue—General news, Monday noon; Budgets, four days prior to publica- tion; Regular classified ads, Monday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Monday noon; Display classified ads, Friday 5 p.m. Saturday Issue—General news, Thursday noon; Budgets, two days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Thursday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Thursday noon; Display classified ads, Wednesday 5 p.m. Soundings, Tuesday 5 p.m. NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In Lane County — 1-year subscription, $79; 6-month in-county, $56; 10-week subscrip- tion, $25; Out of Lane County — 1-year subscription, $102; 6-month out-of-county, $69; 10-week subscription, $35; Out of State — 1-year subscription, $134; E-Edition Online Only (Anywhere) — 1-year subscription, $65. Mail subscription includes E-Edition. Website and E-Edition: TheSiuslawNews.com Letters to the Editor policy What is Multiple Sclerosis and ‘MS fatigue?’ (Editor’s Note: March is Na- tional Multiple Sclerosis Awaraness month, with March 10-16 designat- ed as National Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week) D uring our latest Multiple Sclerosis (MS) support group meeting, one member, Sue, de- scribed MS fatigue. Before I share with you her description, I will give you the short version of what MS is. Your body is regulated by your central nervous system (CNS). The CNS is made of the brain and spinal cord. Sensory nerves travel to your brain. What you see, hear, feel, smell and touch use the CNS. Once a sensory nerve signal reach- es the brain a response via a motor nerve is activated. For example: If you touch a hot stove, the sensory nerve ending in your finger sends a message to the brain. The brain analyzes the in- put and responds with a message through the motor nerves and you move your finger. The nerves are protected with a myelin sheath similar to the insu- lation on electric extension cords. MS is an auto immune disease, which means it is caused by our own immune system. MS attacks the myelin coverings of the nerves. This causes scars often referred to as “lesions.” Nerves affected by these scars make communication to and from the brain disjointed or not at all. Guest Viewpoint By Lloyd Little Florence resident If your extension cord gets dam- aged you can buy a new one; if our nerves get damaged, they are inef- fective transfers of information. Sue describes MS fatigue, one of the most common conditions of MS, as “Our brains steering messages around pot holes in our brains.” When the area of the brain responsible for reading has lesions, or potholes, the brain will work harder to interpret the words on the page. This extra brain activity requires more energy and is tiring. My fatigue theory is related to the shortage of muscle stimula- tion by motor nerves. You and I have an equal number of muscle fibers. Each muscle in our legs has many nerve stimulating junctions to contract muscles for movement. When you walk, 100 percent of the muscle needed to walk is engaged through nerve stimulation. Lesions in the brain of a person with MS may disrupt the cycle. If only 50 percent of the muscles get stimulated, the MS person will need to work harder and tire soon- er. If all five of your sensory nerve endings are affected, imagine how difficult and tiring it is to find the right pathway for the seeing, hear- ing, smelling, tasting and touching we do every day. A person with MS has no visible sign of disability. The scars and le- sions I have described are located on nerves. Accident victims and soldiers using handicapped park- ing spaces usually have their dis- ability recognized. According to the National Mul- tiple Sclerosis Society, MS is the most widespread neurological condition disabling adults. Even if there are no outward signs of disability, the MS fatigue can make daily life challenging. If you are someone with MS in the Siuslaw Region, the Florence Self-Help Group meets the second Friday of each month, beginning at 1 p.m., at the Florence Senior Cen- ter, 1570 Kingwood Street. For more information, contact me at Lloyd.f.little@gmail.com or the Oregon Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society at 1-800- 344-4867. The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the edi- tor 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 sub- ject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of let- ters received. Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumen- tative, 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 pub- lished at the discretion of the editor. 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 campaigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2) En- sure any information about a candidate is accu- rate, fair and not from second-hand knowledge or hearsay; and 3) Explain the reasons to support candidates based on personal experience and perspective rather than partisanship and cam- paign-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 newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publish- er, general manager and editor, reserves the right to reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above criteria. Email letters to: nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com WHERE TO WRITE 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 @oregonlegislature.gov 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
