LETTERS IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Soy fights prostate cancer 

Although it may not be the most appetizing item on the menu in a man's diet, soy does help in the fight against prostate cancer, contrary to how The Associated Press reported on a recent study by the American Heart Association.

Quite simply, the study states, "Soy ... prevent(s) the development and growth of prostate cancer in animal models. In prostate cancer cells, genistein (the active ingredient of soy) reduced the synthesis of prostate-specific antigen, a marker of prostate cancer development."

To go a step further, the National Cancer Institute completed a study showing that a soy-based drug, phenoxodiol, significantly delays tumor progression in men suffering from late-stage prostate cancer. Soy also reduces hormone levels and exhibits weak estrogen and anti-estrogen-like qualities, which promotes hormone treatments for both prostate and breast cancers, according to researchers at the University of Michigan.

Just look at diet. Millions of Asian men can't be wrong. Soy is a staple food in most Asian countries, and it's not a coincidence that prostate cancer in Asian countries is a fraction of what it is in America.

Prostate cancer is the second-deadliest cancer in America. Annual early detection and eating nutritious meals with helpings of soy can make the difference in the fight against prostate cancer.

RICHARD ATKINS, M.D., CEO 

National Prostate

Cancer Coalition

Washington, D.C.

Reject Franklin/I-5 interchange

In the 1950s, it was common for politicians to play with maps and pencils, envisioning freeway connections bisecting and soaring over cities. Some of these misguided projects were the San Francisco Embarcadero Freeway, the Seattle Alaskan Way viaduct and the Portland Harbor Freeway.

A few seconds of travel time saved was considered more important than the city's appearance and connection to its waterfront. The politicians talked of economic benefits and opportunity. In each case an eyesore was built at great expense and later regretted. In each case the mistake was, or is being, demolished at even greater expense.

The Interstate 5 and Franklin Boulevard interchange was not proposed by engineers or traffic professionals but by politicians. It would be expensive, make little travel sense and be counterproductive to traffic planning, park land and river access goals.

A full interchange wasn't built at Franklin 45 years ago because of the cost and the difficulty. Over the years it hasn't gotten any easier, it hasn't gotten any prettier and it certainly hasn't gotten any cheaper. The $100 million this unneeded boondoggle would cost should be spent on other construction projects that address actual problems.

It is time to put away the day-dreaming, look at the reality of this project and reject it as an idea that just doesn't make sense. Otherwise, we will join those other cities in regret, spending once to build it and spending again to tear down our mistake.

RICH HAZEL

Eugene

Story play raises questions

The Jan. 26 front page of The Register-Guard carried a large headline and story about how the avowed terrorist group Hamas received a majority of the votes in the recent Palestinian elections.

Only a day or two previously, our nearest and largest neighbor nation, Canada, voted in a conservative government after years of having liberal leadership. This story was placed on the second page in a rather small, easy-to-miss article.

I didn't really expect anything otherwise, but doesn't the disparity in placement of similar stories strike people as a bit odd, even for The Register-Guard?

ED GALLUP

Florence

Soy study has limitations

The front-page article on "Soy being nearly useless in paring cholesterol" (Register-Guard, Jan. 23), left me seeing red. Although The Associated Press release was technically accurate, I found the logic and presentation of the information misleading and suspect.

The health of human beings, like the nature of people themselves, is multidimensional. Science can study and conduct research on a single factor or component of something like cholesterol, but the results will only reflect the limitations of the narrow margin of focus. For something like cholesterol, substitution (soy for animal products) is a major factor in the discussion.

How many people truly believe that there are magical foods that will singly cure or reduce something as substantial as cholesterol? I realize that a major focus of the research and the article was to offset advertising claims, but the manner and language in which this is done ads to the confusion and deception of what is truly in consumers' best interests.

Dietary remedies can never be evaluated in the same light as pharmaceutical drugs. Don't be deceived by the form and sensation of how health-related information, from advertising or scientific research, is conveyed. In my opinion, a large part of the health care crisis and solution is taking responsibility for evaluating how we assimilate information about what is or isn't in our best interests.

KAREN E. KIPP 

Eugene

Missed point on salvage logging

While I very much appreciate the well-thought-out logic that Keith Comstock (letters, Jan. 24) brought to the discussion about salvage logging, I feel there is one point that both he and everyone else seems to be overlooking. To me, it's the most important one of all: For every salvaged log taken, a living tree is left standing.

Since the main objection to salvage logging appears to be the lack of diversity in the replanted forests, wouldn't it be better to demand a mixture of species be replanted on burned land after it has been logged, rather than to go all out trying to save a bunch of dead trees while still-living trees are being cut?

LAWANA GRAY

Marcola

Fear threatens basic liberty

Charles Phillips (letters, Jan. 24) stated that we need to give up some of our freedoms in order to avoid having people dying in a terrorist attack.

I've been hearing this argument from conservatives lately, and it bothers me. Those who make this argument seem to forget Patrick Henry's famous words, "Give me liberty or give me death."

In the past, conservatives proclaimed that they would rather die than give up their freedoms. Now they apparently have no qualms about discarding those freedoms for fear of terrorist violence. Phillips mentioned wiretapping and holding suspects indefinitely. Unfortunately, the loss of our freedoms goes much deeper than that.

The USA Patriot Act, which was rushed through Congress with the stated goal of fighting terrorism, lets the FBI search the private purchase, medical and library records of any American, whether or not that person has any connection to a terrorism investigation. These searches happen without the knowledge of those being investigated.

Those who agree with the policies of this administration are probably safe from these searches. But those of us who oppose these policies just have to assume that we are under investigation, since these fishing expeditions often target people who peacefully protest government policies.

I, for one, would rather risk the possibility of dying in a terrorist attack than discard the constitutional rights for which Patrick Henry and his contemporaries risked so much to bequeath to this nation.

CAROL McBRIAN

Eugene

The dog poop wars continue

And so, the dog poop wars rage on in Eugene! One person did not want the poop put in her trash can, another didn't care whose can it went in as long as it was off the street and yet another's child fell into it to emerge a stinky mess. And so it goes.

But the one that really defies all logic is the dog person who picks up the poop in a plastic bag, ties it carefully and then drops the bag back on the sidewalk. I really can't understand the reasoning behind this action.

Does this dog owner think the plastic bag will disintegrate in the weather? Does this person plan to pick it up the next time around the loop? Is it believed to be better to step on poop in a plastic bag? Or is the idea that someone (like me) will eventually pick up the mess and dispose of it in her own special way?

JUDIE BORG

Eugene

Don't sell any part of dune

The excellent editorial on the `80 acres" in the Florence dunes (Register-Guard, Jan. 26) went right to the guts of the matter: The entire parcel should - must - be reserved as parkland.

It is up to the Lane County Board of Commissioners, as the editorial says, but one commissioner whose vote is crucial is wavering: Faye Stewart. He needs to be convinced that he should not vote to allow the forested portion to be developed into commercial housing.

He does not bend that way. He voted to sell the fairgrounds and recommended they be replaced next to Mount Pisgah.

Though my background in years past was as a builder, the idea of housing on the 80 acres or development surrounding our beloved Pisgah is repugnant to me. We should see to it that Stewart does not vote with the money interests and does vote for keeping the treasures of our county preserved.

JIM WEAVER

Eugene

Tone of letters has improved

I can't help but notice that lately, letters in the Mailbag have been toned down - a whole lot. I haven't seen the venom and the hatred and the name-calling that distinguished so many of the earlier writings. I'm sure the sentiments still exist out there, so what became of all those negative letters?

Did the writers, finally, hear the quiet voices that rose against their hate-filled essays and decide for themselves that nothing constructive comes from diatribe? Or did The Register-Guard in its wisdom arrive at the same conclusion and begin to cull wheat from chaff?

Whatever, a blanket thank you from those of us - and I'm certain we're the majority - who truly believe cool heads prevail to whomever is responsible for this very welcome change. Let the real dialogue begin!

BERNIE McJUNKIN

Eugene

Let young people work more

I wholeheartedly agree with the Jan. 23 letter by James H. Peterson!

I was one of those Oregon youths who picked strawberries. I also helped inventory books at my junior high school and worked at the snack bar and lunchroom in my high school, all before I turned 16. It allowed me more responsibility, independence and self-esteem. And it was fun!

Now, because of child labor laws, our youth sit around with idle hands, and that has led to graffiti, gangs and destroyed property. It doesn't make sense that 12-year-olds are given the responsibility to care for younger children but are not allowed to bag groceries, bus tables or pick produce. There is no downside to giving our youth the option to work. Stop letting the government fix things that aren't broken - like our assisted suicide law!

DONNA LENTZ

Springfield

LETTERS LOG

Letters received in past week: 182

Letters published: 56

What's on readers' minds: Objections to the potential sale of the University of Oregon's Westmoreland housing complex and to the prospect of having the city of Eugene use its powers of condemnation to aid private developers were the top topics in this week's letters. Other subjects receiving multiple letters included President Bush's State of the Union address and his use of warrantless wiretaps to spy on Americans suspected of communicating with terrorists.