LETTERS IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Who are the 'mentally ill'?

As a mental health worker, I find it unfortunate and disturbing to find the phrase "the mentally ill" so readily applied in the media. This sound bite is no more descriptive than "the physically ill," but it carries a profound stigma. Who are "the mentally ill?"

If you have been prescribed medication for anxiety or depression, you likely have been given a psychiatric diagnosis. If you are seeing a counselor paid for by your health plan, you have likewise been diagnosed, so that the insurance company will provide payment. While there is a continuum of emotional and psychological distress, and some people are much more impaired than others, this can also vary significantly in an individual over a lifetime.

In his Jan. 3 guest viewpoint, Gary Crum states "severely disturbed and especially, mentally ill individuals usually do not make rational decisions." Should we presume that a mentally ill person in crisis is going to make irrational decisions?

Certainly, persons experiencing severe mental and emotional problems sometimes make irrational decisions. But I believe we need to be very careful with our assumptions and generalizations, particularly since we are the ministers of sanity to "the mentally ill."

Crum states, "Mentally ill people are not going to react to confrontations like the general population would. They may, and usually do, react irrationally, unpredictably, and in ways clearly not in their best interest." Gee, it's reassuring to know the general population doesn't react that way.

IRA ARONIN

Eugene

Which leader has more blame?

In light of recent events in Iraq, I ask myself two questions:

Which world leader has been responsible for the greatest number of Iraqi deaths? And which world leader was just executed for his role in the killing of thousands of Iraqis?

It is disconcerting to me that the answer to the first question may not be Saddam Hussein.

WHITEY LUECK

Eugene

Payday loans a useful choice

The Dec. 29 editorial "Close lender loopholes" lacked any consumer perspective. Payday loans are but one product in the short-term credit market. While the product is misunderstood by critics who may have a vested economic interest in seeing it banned, consumers understand and appreciate this option.

Storefront payday loans can be a less costly alternative to the rest of the unsecured, short-term, need-money-until-next-paycheck market such as bounced checks, late fees, overdraft protection and unregulated offshore Internet lenders.

The hard reality is that employed, well-meaning Americans sometimes fall short of cash between paydays, and efforts to prohibit or limit the supply of products in this market hurt consumers. Prohibiting payday lending only forces consumers to use other, more costly products.

The Center for Responsible Lending, a front group that works to ban payday lending, is among those set to benefit greatly if payday lending is restricted or banned. CRL is the creation of the Self-Help Credit Union. Without payday loans, credit unions stand to make a windfall from bounced check fees, overdraft protection scams and late fees on credit cards.

It makes no sense to eliminate one short-term credit product - unless, of course, you own a credit union. We recognize there are inherent problems associated with short-term lending and we will continue to support state policymakers in providing responsible regulation that protects consumers and their access to credit.

DARRIN ANDERSEN

Community Financial

Services Association

Alexandria, Va.

Ask yourself: Is the child safe?

Is the child safe? When a 12-year-old girl's arm gets broken at a treatment center for disturbed children, that child is not safe. Neither were the two other children who broke bones at the SCAR/Jasper Mountain Center over the past year. Neither was 5-year-old Lacey Folenius, beaten to death by her father's partner while her family was under Children's Services Division supervision (Register-Guard, Dec. 31 and Dec. 17).

Defending SCAR/Jasper Mountain's director for his integrity and spiritual qualities misses the point (guest viewpoint, Jan. 2). The center showed a pattern of neglect, defied a judge's order, and locked out investigative teams and the children's own attorneys.

A director who has done much good can slip behind and let bad things happen. Caseworkers can dismiss scary warnings, especially when caseloads average 20 children, 50 percent above recommendations. A father may sincerely mourn the daughter whom his partner murdered. But look at the actions. Is the child safe?

We must push this Legislature to pay for child welfare that meets national standards. We also can volunteer to review children in foster care through the citizen review boards (Oregon Department of Justice, 686-7853, www.ojd.state.or.us/osca/cpsd/ citizenreview). It takes 14 hours per month. Or we can help an abused child by becoming a Court Appointed Special Advocate (984-3132, www .casa-lane.org) for 25 hours per month.

Congratulations to reporters Bill Bishop and Diane Dietz for covering these pitiful scandals.

MARY ERBAUGH

Eugene

Iraq war coverage is one-sided

The Register-Guard, like most newspapers, seems more interested in publishing almost exclusively one side of the Iraq war situation. Much is very troubling in Iraq, but there are also many advances and successes happening there.

Every day, if even one American soldier dies in Iraq or one bomb goes off, it is reported. But almost every day, none of the many great successes are published.

One might suppose that such one-sided reporting is the product of laziness. Certainly it is easier to report the number of people killed than to do honest research about any of the many ways our military has helped the people in Iraq. Doing more than superficial reporting on negative events could be more expensive, too. And there are not enough reporters embedded in the military in Iraq to provide the positive accounts that newspapers could share with us.

The real problem, however, is that reporters in general don't want to tell us the whole truth.

They don't think we are smart enough to respond properly to the whole truth, so they tell us the one side they want us to know to engineer our decision-making. What they report is not the news, not the whole truth, but propaganda.

They believe the ends (political agendas) justify the means (dishonest reporting).

Does The Register-Guard have the integrity to publish the full truth about the war? Believe in the wise guidance truth provides. Seek it. Then respect us enough to share it with us.

RICK McCLAIN

Eugene

Zero-access Nazis win at Waldo

In the wake of the release of the Willamette National Forest's decision to eliminate motorized boats and additional restrictions at Waldo Lake (Register-Guard, Jan. 2), I find the further restricting of activities within everyone's national forests extremely disappointing.

I had hoped that under the Bush administration, the U.S. Forest Service would reverse many of the restrictions that have come about over the last 20 years concerning access and use of the national forests. But it appears that Forest Service policies still are being dictated by the sandal-wearing crowd who have idealistic and extremely narrow views of how public lands should be used and who should be allowed to use them.

The cave-in on the motorboat issue and other pending restrictions only emboldens the zero-access Nazis to further their methodical attempt to eliminate virtually all motor and general public use of our forests. Wrapping this poor decision in the warm blanket of "protecting the environment" doesn't change the fact that it is a poor decision that rewards the actions of a very vocal (yet very small) minority of people and further erodes the birthright of Oregonians to live, work and enjoy our forests as each may see fit.

Shame on the Forest Service and all those who work so hard to lock up public lands from the general public.

TIM POLLARD 

Springfield

Learn about Down syndrome 

I have firsthand experience that knowledge is helpful when welcoming your precious newborn into the world. As the article "Down syndrome test advised for all pregnancies" (Register-Guard, Dec. 31) states, "It's not just a question of whether to continue the pregnancy."

I believe it's the parents' right to choose the course of a pregnancy, but the truth is the termination rate for prediagnosed Down syndrome is 80 percent to 90 percent! How often is this a truly informed decision?

We need to take a look at the responsibility of medical providers and the information that is provided with the testing results. They should be prepared to provide information in a positive manner. This information needs to be accurate, but too many times providers only inform parents of the hardships of having a child with special needs.

This article gives such a tiny slice of life with Down syndrome. This child may be an avid reader, gifted at music or the most loving person you'll ever have in your life. Today, our kids with Down syndrome have so much opportunity, thanks to early intervention and available therapies.

If you receive prenatal diagnosis of DS, please take the step of learning about it before making hasty decisions. That unknown world I was so terrified of 3 1/2 years ago has turned into a wondrous place.

GAIL UDELL, co-president

Emerald Family

Down Syndrome Network

Eugene

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