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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us November 10, 2004 Discrimination is now enshrined Did you know gay teens have the highest suicide rate? I have lived is Southern Oregon for five years. In that time I have lost one gay friend to suicide, and have had two friends beaten so bad they were hospitalized. In both attacks, the victims were told it was because they were gay and/or were called derogatory names. In both cases the reaction was the same: "don't tell" and "this doesn't matter." Also, every one of these violent offenders were let off with merely a warning. Measure 36 is going to pave the way for more hate and discrimination to be tolerated. Its passage is a violation of the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection of the laws. This isn't just about marriage, it's about basic rights. There are more than 50 legal rights pertaining to marriage. It doesn't matter how you feel about gay marriage, we can not deny anyone's equal rights. So please, teach peace and respect, not hate and intolerance. Chari Weatherford Ashland Who's who behind the draft Ms. Lacy (Guest Forum Oct. 19) deletes the party affiliation of the men who introduced the draft bills, SB 89 and HB 163. All are Democrats. How does she conclude that the Republicans, who have spoken against renewal of the draft, are "quietly" putting one in place? The House of Representatives subjected it to a full floor vote on Oct. 5. The bill was defeated 402 to 2. Even its primary sponsor, Charles Rangel, voted against it. There is no - repeat no -other draft legislation being considered at this time. If the assertion that there is such a bill in Mr. Rumsfeld's office has any truth, it probably is a reference to the contingency legislation that has been in every Defense Secretary's office regardless of party since creation of the volunteer army. Ms. Lacy asserts the Pentagon has begun a quiet public (is this an oxymoron?) campaign to fill draft and appeal board positions. I checked with a friend who actually serves on a draft board. He says, "The last letter I had from them was November 2000. We haven't conducted our annual board training in three years, and there has been no activation of regions let alone boards. I have not seen anything on filling vacancies." The reason papers are not covering the story is that there is no story. David Churchman Ashland Barone's 'society' is worth a laugh The defense of Bush's so-called Ownership Society by Michael Barone (Oct. 21) brought hearty guffaws and jeers from a party of friends when I read it to them recently. Young people from the middle class cannot afford to buy a home even in Oregon unless they are able to get substantial help from relatives. Even to qualify for the mortgage payments, they must be making good salaries, which most young people are not in Bush's America. Barone goes on to ask, "...the larger question is whether the United States wants to become a society with the problems of Western European welfare states - zero job growth, stagnant economies, ever increasing share of the GDP spent by government." What do we have now in Bush's America? We have a loss of jobs, a stagnant economy, and an ever increasing share of the GDP spent by the government on the war in Iraq. Urban R. Torres Ashland Poverty nothing to take lightly While it may be highly admirable that you should attempt to be a voice for the homeless, your choice of photo on the front page (Oct. 26) looks more like a recruitment ad for impressionable girls. I understand your desire for an appealing poster child, and Tara is indeed a fetching young woman, but hardly a representative portrait of life on the streets. Homelessness, like ghetto-dwelling, should not be romanticized. And any photo depicting it should not look like a fashion layout. I've lived in places where the homeless stuff newspapers in their shoes and down their collars in an effort not to freeze. Where they shuffle along instead of walk. Where they don't talk "animatedly." Where they don't dare look anybody in the face. Where they stink to high heaven for lack of a bath. This is homelessness. You don't stay pretty and you don't stay clean. And nobody wants to take your picture anymore. Homelessness is a serious problem with serious repercussions. In our current economic climate those who fall by the wayside will very probably remain there. In spite of good intentions, this paper is not helping if it gives even one young person the impression you can live on the streets for any length of time and still look "cool." 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