This is in reference to the article "FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome) impact lasts a lifetime" in the Dec. 30 Sunday edition. Perhaps someone can explain to me why we allow alcoholics and druggies to give birth to several babies.

One only has to read about Justin Scott, who was born with a .237 blood alcohol level, who cannot speak and whose mobility and eyesight are limited, not to mention all the other unfair disabilities he lives with, to question why his mother, who was an advanced alcoholic, was allowed to bring him into this world.

The article tells us that "Justin was her third child born with effects from her drinking. Justin's older sister would end up in a mental health facility. His other sibling ended up in the care of his mother's family."

According to the article, Justin's biological mother was "living in a tent near the Alaska Native Medical Center when she went into labor and a fellow homeless person told her to go to the nearby hospital. She was so intoxicated it took her newborn two days to dry out." And the mother returns to the street to conceive yet another FAS baby. This is in the name of freedom. What about the freedom of the children or the freedom of the taxpayers who care for them?

The story is just the tip of the iceberg. These children are everywhere struggling to live in a world too difficult for them to cope with. Many of them end up in prison because society doesn't understand what to do to control them.

My nephew and his wife adopted two children, one an FAS baby and one a druggie baby. Their journey with these children has been extremely heartbreaking and expensive, with no end in sight.

Lilly Harper

Albany

Judge's anti-gay activism shows in delay on partner law

Federal District Judge Michael W. Mosman, who was appointed by the Republican Bush administration in 2003, is acting as a judicial activist to stop implementation of our state domestic partnership law that was recently passed by the Oregon legislature and signed into law by the governor.

Oregon voters passed a constitutional amendment in 2004 to eliminate the equal rights of same-sex couples to marry under Oregon law, but the amendment permits legislation to grant the lesser benefits of domestic partnerships. Oregon's pending domestic partnerships will carry no legal authority in other states nor will the federal government recognize them.

The openly Mormon Judge Mosman was also responsible for the 1986 Supreme Court's faulty decision upholding laws against certain consensual sex acts done by adults in private. Justice Lewis Powell's deciding vote was based on Mosman's faulty legal advice. After retiring, Powell publicly regretted his decision.

Fortunately, Mosman's ruling doesn't affect a companion state law that took effect on Jan. 1, which bars discrimination against gays in work, housing and public places. However, the opponents of domestic partnerships also want to legalize discrimination against gay people with a ballot initiative.

Thomas Kraemer

Corvallis

She deserved stiff sentence under Oregon's Measure 11

This letter is in response to Hasso Hering's Viewpoint Sunday, Dec. 30 ("This sentence is too severe"):

Did you vote for Measure 11? Sounds like you didn't, by reading your views on State v. Rodriguez. You state that "it's pretty clear that the result is wrong." In 2000, Measure 94 was put on the ballot in an attempt to repeal Measure 11. This measure was defeated 387,068 to 1,079,275. Does that make the voters wrong?

Mr. Hering misses the big picture in this case - that the child's head was in her bosom, they went on trips just the two of them and e-mailed back and forth assuring each other of their "love."

Ms. Rodriguez is a 25-year-old adult, the boy a pubescent 13 years old. She used her power of authority - a worker at the Boys & Girls Club - to seduce and groom this young boy.

We all know that if the role was reversed - say, a 25-year-old man and a 13-year-old girl, and he was a counselor at the boys and girls club for at-risk youth - the sentence probably would have been longer for him because he would be portrayed as a pervert. In her case, everyone feels sorry for her because she is just a poor naive 25-year-old adult.

The part Mr. Hering is missing is that she was a trusted counselor for at-risk youth who took her professional relationship with the boy to a whole different, unacceptable, unprofessional level.

Scharee Lunn

Albany

Emergency: We must cut carbon emissions now, not later

In this new year let's get serious - I mean exceedingly serious - about the global climate emergency. This is truly an emergency. Our planetary life support system is more than threatened. It is already in severe decline.

The levels of CO2 and other global-warming gases in the atmosphere are already too high, and we continue adding more. We can't afford to add any more than is absolutely necessary, as many of the consequences are horrible and others impossible to predict.

The amount of CO2 in our atmosphere will continue to increase, even if we are successful in slowing the rate of increase. As the frozen tundra melts, it is now releasing huge amounts of methane gas, one of the worst global warming gases. The polar ice is melting faster than predicted and forest fires have become far larger, both adding to global warming. With weather patterns shifting, how safe is our food supply?

To slow global warming, we need to immediately launch an all-out national campaign to drastically reduce our use of carbon-based energy. We must act now with powerful energy conservation methods we already have at hand. We can create convenient, accessible mass transit systems with incentives for their use, extra incentives for weatherizing homes and installing the most efficient heating systems.

We must not keep acting like lemmings ignoring the fatal path we are on. Let's tell Senators Wyden and Smith and our congressional representatives to act responsibly right now; our children's future is at stake.

Rachel Ozretich

Corvallis

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