4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL September 2, 2015
O PINION
Making sure our veterans get
the care they deserve
BY REP. GREG WALDEN
S
everal times a year, I have
the privilege of greeting
World War II veterans who travel
to Washington, D.C. to see their
memorial on the National Mall
as part of the “Honor Flight”
program. These brave men and
women fought to protect our
freedom and defeat tyranny. In
the words of General John Persh-
ing, the commander of American
forces in World War I, “time will
not dim the glory of their deeds.”
He was right. Time will not
dim the glory of their deeds. This
holds true for all of America’s
veterans, from World War II and
Korea to Vietnam to Iraq and Af-
ghanistan. We as a nation owe our
freedom to the men and women
who have served in uniform.
But too often, the Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA) and
other arms of the federal govern-
ment have failed our veterans.
That’s why I’m working hard to
pass legislation and cut through
red tape to improve health care
for veterans and active duty mili-
tary, help them fi nd jobs when
they return home, and increase
accountability and transparency
at the VA.
One of the very fi rst laws passed
by Congress this year was the
Clay Hunt SAV Act, which seeks
to combat the terrible plague of
veteran suicides. The law would
help ensure that the VA’s mental
health and suicide prevention ef-
forts receive independent, third
party oversight. And also it helps
to improve accounting of avail-
able mental health services while
implementing a better, communi-
ty-based approach to delivering
suicide prevention services.
Last year, Congress passed a
law requiring the establishment
of a new “Veterans Choice” pro-
gram to help rural veterans get
care from private providers. This
was a good step, but the rollout
of the new program has hit some
speed bumps along the way. For
example, the law that created the
Choice program says that a vet-
eran living more than 40 miles
from a VA medical facility may
go outside the system for care.
Originally, the agency had cal-
culated that 40 mile distance “as
the crow fl ies” instead of the dis-
tance it took to drive there. That
didn’t make sense to me or many
veterans I heard from in Oregon.
So we passed a law to make it
clear that 40 miles is defi ned by
how far a veteran needs to drive
for care. This will help veterans
get the appropriate care they
need in the communities where
they live.
It’s not just enough to make
sure veterans have health care.
They need jobs too. In July, the
President signed into law the
“Hire More Heroes Act,” which
will exempt veterans enrolled in
health care provided by the VA or
TRICARE from being counted
as part of the 50 full-time em-
ployee threshold for purposes of
the employer mandate in Obam-
acare. This ensures that employ-
ers aren’t penalized for hiring
veterans under the health law’s
mandates.
We also passed a new law to
allow all veterans to get a special
ID card from the VA as proof of
veteran status, eliminating the
need to carry and use their of-
fi cial military discharge papers.
And the House has passed plans
to increase funding for veterans
programs, recoup bonuses from
poorly performing VA executives
who received them based on false
claims, and allow the VA greater
authority to remove employees
if they aren’t up to the job. The
Senate should act on these bills
right away.
I have two veterans on staff
who assist Oregonians with prob-
lems at the VA, and I’ve already
assisted over 5,000 veterans and
their families. If you or a loved
one needs help with the VA (or
any other federal agency), please
call my offi ce toll free from the
541 area code at 800-533-3303.
I’ll do everything I can to get re-
sults for you. And I’ll keep work-
ing to make sure our veterans
get the care and benefi ts they’ve
earned through their service.
Greg Walden represents Ore-
gon’s Second Congressional Dis-
trict, which covers 20 counties
in southern, central and eastern
Oregon.
Offbeat Oregon History
The Unwritten Law: A license to kill
for every (male) Oregonian
BY FINN J.D. JOHN
For the Sentinel
A
century ago, the entire country
was in the grip of a sort of le-
thal mania. You can catch references to
it in old novels by nonplussed Britons
like P.G. Wodehouse – a sense that the
U.S., unlike England or France or Ger-
many, was not really a country of laws.
Oh, laws were fi ne for things like rob-
bery and swindling and claim jumping,
but when it came to crimes involving
“honor,” nothing but cold steel or hot
lead would suffi ce.
The concept was popularly known as
“The Unwritten Law.” It was, essential-
ly, a social sanction for honor killings.
The idea was that when a man caught
another man making time with his wife,
or moving in on his sister, not only was
he justifi ed to seek out the perpetrator
and murder him, he was morally obli-
gated to do so. Of course, he was taking
quite a risk in answering this call, since
murder was punishable by hanging. He
had to commit his deed in the hope that
“no jury in the land” would allow the
law to punish him for it, in his particu-
lar case.
This “right” was essentially for men
only; there were a few cases of women
claiming the protection of The Unwrit-
ten Law after gunning down their hus-
bands’ mistresses, but with one or two
exceptions, they were not successful.
The case for The Unwritten Law is
articulated beautifully in a sympathetic
1890 editorial in the Portland Morning
Oregonian:
“There are certain gross offenses
against persons, against the family
relations, against woman, against vir-
ginity and domestic chastity, against
reputation and the fi ner sense of moral
shame, too impalpable to be measured
by the coarse standards of formal law;
too dependent upon circumstances to
be defi ned by any general code; too
profound and far-reaching in individual
CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS
Cottage Grove City Hall: 942-
5501. www.cottagegrove.org/
Garland Burback, Ward 3:
942-4800
Cottage Grove Mayor Tom
Munroe: 942-5501.
Lane County Commission-
ers:
Cottage Grove City
Councilors:
Heather Murphy, At Large:
942-3444
Faye Stewart, East Lane Com-
missioner
Lane County Public Service
Building
125 East 8th Street
Eugene, OR 97401
Phone: (541) 682-4203
Fax: (541) 682-4616
Jake Boone, Ward 1:
653-7413
Oregon State House of
Representatives:
Jeff Gowing, Ward 2:
942-1900
Rep. Cedric Hayden (REP)
District: 7
900 Court Street NE
Mike Fleck, At Large:
942-7302
cases to be punished adequately by any
penalties prescribed by the law for all
cases alike,” the editor wrote.
The editorial goes on to make the
case that the very illegality of honor
killings was the best guarantee that
the “Unwritten Law” would not be
abused.
“Herein lies the salvation of the prin-
ciple from abuse,” the writer gushed.
“Written only in the moral sense of
society and never given even the popu-
lar sanction of an open jury verdict, it
has never been erected into a precedent
or established as a permanent general
rule. No homicide ever dares plead
this principle in defense … Whether
he shall come out of the court room
a criminal or a rightful executioner of
justice depends upon no formal statute
of general principle, but only upon the
workings of an unconfessed sentiment
in the human mind.”
There is, of course, a fl aw in this
logic. Most murders aren’t commit-
ted in cold blood. For a homicide who,
for example, whips out a revolver and
murders a fellow poker player after be-
ing accused of cheating, the very next
topic his mind turns to is how he might
escape being hanged. For literally
thousands of hot-blooded killers, The
Unwritten Law offered a ray of hope:
could they but convince a jury that they
thought the deceased was surreptitious-
ly getting busy with a female relative,
they might walk free.
And so it was that, in the course of
the 1890s, The Unwritten Law went
from a long-shot throwing of oneself
upon the mercy of a jury, to a habitual
claim of “temporary insanity” for mur-
derers who had killed in anything less
than ice-cold blood. By 1897 or so it
was beginning to become a serious
problem in the Beaver State.
This is almost certainly why, just a
few years after publishing that friendly
editorial, the Oregonian had complete-
ly reversed its position on The Unwrit-
ten Law.
“In America we make a bloody bur-
lesque of justice by saying that any
man may safely slay his fellow if he
can make a jury believe that he believed
his victim was criminally intimate with
his family,” the paper scoffed in 1898.
“Of course, on this plea any malignant
wretch might cunningly contrive suspi-
cious circumstances and situations and
do murder on his pretended conviction
of guilt.”
This implication was almost certainly
accurate. But regardless of whether or
Suite H-379
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: (503) 986-1407
Fax: (503) 986-1130
Email: rep.cedrichayden@
state.or.us
Oregon State Senate:
Sen. Floyd Prozanski (DEM)
District: 004
900 Court Street NE
Suite S-319
Salem, OR 97301-0001
Phone: (503) 986-1704
Fax: (503) 986-1080
Email: sen.fl oydprozanski@
state.or.us
not any murderer successfully dressed
his crime up as an honor killing and
got exonerated on that basis, the period
from about 1896 to 1911 saw a stunning
rise in the number of Unwritten Law
killings. Sometimes, the killer’s claim
was of “temporary insanity”; some-
times they invoked the Unwritten Law
directly. Most of the time, it worked
– until the day came when most of the
time it didn’t. By the 1920s, “unwrit-
ten law” claims were rare. But while it
lasted, the rule of The Unwritten Law
– like that of its close cousin, vigilante
justice or “Judge Lynch” – made for
some very interesting frontier history.
In previous Offbeat Oregon columns
we’ve talked about a couple of these
killings.
There was, of course, the 1906 assas-
sination of Bride of Christ “Holy Roll-
er” cult founder F. Edmund Creffi eld by
the brother of the woman he sexually
“purifi ed” in a religious ritual. Though
he killed in cold blood and made no
attempt to claim insanity, gunman
George Mitchell was found not guilty
and hailed as a moral hero – and, af-
ter his other sister (also a cult member)
later gunned him down in precisely the
Please see OFFBEAT, Page 12A
Eat more often, gain weight
BY JOEL FUHRMAN, MD
For the Sentinel
I
t is well known that in recent
years, restaurant portion
sizes have steadily increased,
and many single meals at fast
food outlets and restaurants pack
in enough calories for an entire
day. Overall in the U.S., we are
surrounded
by calorie-
dense food
all the time.
Today, we
eat
more
and more
often than
we did 20
or 30 years
$ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM
116 N. Sixth Street · P.O. Box 35 · Cottage Grove, OR 97424
ADMINISTRATION:
JOHN BARTLETT, Regional Publisher..............................
GARY MANLY, General Manager................942-3325 Ext.
207 • publisher@cgsentinel.com
ROBIN REISER, Sales Repersentative...............942-3325
Ext. 203 • robin@cgsentinel.com
E. SCURRY ELLIS, Sales Repersentative......... 942-3325
Ext. 213 • esellis@cgsentinel.com
SPORTS DEPARTMENT:
SAM WRIGHT, Sports Editor...................942-3325 Ext.
204 • sports@cgsentinel.com
CUSTOMER SERVICE
CARLA WILLIAMS, Office Manager.................942-3325
Ext. 201 • billing@cgsentinel.com
LEGALS.............................................................942-3325
Ext. 200 • legals@cgsentinel.com
NEWS DEPARTMENT:
JON STINNETT, Editor......................................942-3325
Ext. 212 • cgnews@cgsentinel.com
GRAPHICS:
RON ANNIS, Graphics Manager
(USP 133880)
ago. We eat constantly. Calorie-
dense, nutrient-poor snacks are
everywhere. And many of our
beverages contain enough calo-
ries to be meals in themselves.
However, “eat smaller, more
frequent meals” is common
weight loss advice — suppos-
edly, if we eat more often to
“keep blood sugar stable,” we
will avoid overeating. But does
this really work? Is it sound ad-
vice for reducing caloric intake
overall? The research says no
— eating more frequently actu-
ally appears to promote weight
gain.
Since the 1970s, overweight
and obesity rates in the U.S.
have skyrocketed.
Also since then, the average
number of eating occasions
(meals plus snacks) increased
from 3.5 per day to 5.0 per day,
and the average number of calo-
ries consumed each day rose
from 1803 to 2374.
Calorie intake in the U.S. has
been increasing by an average
of 28 calories per day per year
since 1977. Researchers have
examined three potential driv-
ers of increased calorie intake:
portion size, number of eating
occasions and calorie density of
meals. Although portion sizes
were responsible for much of
the caloric increase up to 1991,
by far, the greater number of
eating occasions was the stron-
gest driver of increased calorie
intake, accounting for 22 of the
28 calories per day per year in-
crease the researchers observed
since 1977.
Snacking for most people is
a reaction to what I call toxic
hunger. Most people snack be-
tween meals to stop uncom-
fortable withdrawal symptoms
from the unhealthy foods that
they eat. The average number of
eating occasions has increased
as our diet has become more
toxic, producing more cravings
and withdrawal symptoms. Un-
healthy food indeed does have
these addictive qualities.
To maintain a healthy weight
we need to eat fewer total cal-
ories; eating primarily nutri-
ent-dense (rather than calorie-
dense) foods and eating fewer
times per day both will help to
achieve this goal. Foods with a
low calorie-density (high nutri-
ent-density) like greens, other
vegetables and fruits are asso-
ciated with reduced total calo-
rie intake, higher nutritional
quality and lower body weight.
Conversely, foods with a high
energy-density are associated
with greater calorie intake. Also,
contrary to the conventional
wisdom, the majority of studies
have not found any weight-loss
or calorie-reduction benefi t to
eating more frequently. Con-
suming a snack has been found
not to cause a compensatory de-
crease in calorie consumption
at the next meal. Ultimately,
snacking most often results in
increased daily caloric intake.
Furthermore, most studies have
shown that there is no weight
loss advantage to dividing a diet
of the same number of calories
into a greater number of meals.
Eat only when you are truly
hungry. For most people fol-
lowing a healthful diet, this will
not be more than three times a
day. The key factor for weight
loss is improving the quality
of your diet. Scientifi c research
has demonstrated has shown
that eating healthy food brings
a greater level of satiety and sig-
nifi cantly reduces or eliminates
the uncomfortable symptoms of
toxic hunger, leading to greater
meal satisfaction, reduced calo-
rie intake and attainment of a
healthy weight.
Dr. Fuhrman is a #1 New York
Times best-selling author and a
family physician specializing in
lifestyle and nutritional medi-
cine. Visit his informative web-
site at DrFuhrman.com. Submit
your questions and comments
about this column directly to
newsquestions@drfuhrman.
com. The full reference list
for this article can be found at
DrFuhrman.com.
Subscription Mail Rates in Lane and Portions of Douglas Counties:
Ten Weeks ............................................. $9.10
One year ..............................................$36.15
e-Edition year .......................................$36.00
Rates in all other areas of United States: Ten Weeks $11.70; one year, $46.35, e-Edition $43.00.
In foreign countries, postage extra.
No subscription for less than Ten Weeks. Subscription rates are subject to change upon 30 days’ notice. All
subscritptions must be paid prior to beginning the subscription and are non-refundable.
Periodicals postage paid at Cottage Grove, Oregon.
Postmaster: Send address changes to P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424.
Local Mail Service:
If you don’t receive your Cottage Grove Sentinel on the Wednesday of publication, please let us know.
Call 942-3325 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Advertising ownership:
All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by the Cottage Grove Sentinel become the property of the
Cottage Grove Sentinel and may not be reproduced for any other use without explicit written prior approval.
Copyright Notice:
Entire contents ©2015 Cottage Grove Sentinel.
Letters to the Editor policy
The Cottage Grove Sentinel receives many letters to the editor. In order to ensure that your letter will be printed, letters must
be under 300 words and submitted by Friday at 5 p.m. Letters must be signed and must include an address, city and phone
number or e-mail address for verifi cation purposes. No anonymous letters will be printed. Letters must be of interest to local
readers.
Personal attacks and name calling in response to letters are uncalled for and unnecessary.
If you would like to submit an opinion piece, Another View must be no longer than 600 words.
To avoid transcription errors, the Sentinel would prefer editorial and news content be sent
electronically via email or electronic media. Hand written submissions will be accepted, but we may need to call to verify
spelling, which could delay the publishing of the submission.