Amira Robinson, a Staff Writer with The Clipper (Everett CC’s student newspaper) wrote this article that was published on 10-24-08. 

Death with Dignity: EvCC Volleyball players share their angles on the controversial initiative 1000

EvCC Trojan women’s volleyball players spoke their minds on presidential candidates and initiative measure no. 1000, the Washington Death With Dignity Act coming up on the ballots on Nov. 4.

The initiative, according to the Secretary of State website, involves an optional and premature death arrangement for those in the final stages of a terminal illness and are predicted to have less than 6 months to live. These people are likely to be suffering physically from that illness.

On this campus, the most commonly used phrase during a discussion about Initiative measure no. 1000, The Death With Dignity Act, is “It depends.”

This term has come from not only those who have already decided whether they are for or against the initiative, but it also has been used to put limitations on, or even to broaden the various scenarios in which a person might believe this act to be appropriate.

After three unfavorable matches against the EdCC Tritons on Oct. 15, the Trojan women’s volleyball players and Coach Snow gathered in the locker room for a meeting to discuss the night’s most well-played moments and the biggest mistakes made on the court.

The Trojans started the season off great with victories against Grays Harbor and Centralia colleges, and the players seem confident that will have a great end to the season as well. But even after 3 tough volleyball matches on Oct. 15, the players were enthusiastic about sharing their thoughts on the controversial initiative 1000.

“A person should have the complete right or say, they would know themselves better than anyone,” Kelsie Luchini said teammate Karissa Tri agreed with Luchini.

Tri first expressed her opinion of John McCain by commenting from a different angle as her teammates smirked, “John McCain is 23 years older than Alaska,” she said playfully.

She then went on to add, “It [assisted suicide] is not what I would do personally, but I wouldn’t take that right away from someone else,” Tri said.

This form of assisted suicide could be by an orally consumed pill or by a self-given injection. Though the patient’s signature is required for the procedure, it is also not uncommon for people with terminal illnesses to suffer from depression, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The idea that people suffering from depression are being given the option of death has created conflict.

This seems to be where the act is forming most of it moral controversy in the state of Oregon, which enacted the Death with Dignity Act on Oct. 27, 1997. Even in the ballot votes the initiative won 51% to 49%, expressing a closely split set of beliefs among Oregonians. And now, Washington will vote on Nov. 4.

Trojan women’s volleyball MVP Korissa Clevish has a great love for volleyball, the game is her “passion” and her dream goal “is to someday become a coach,” she said.

Clevish also shared her opinion on the presidential election as well as the Death with Dignity Act. “I agree with a lot of what Obama says, but then McCain has some overriding experience…but you have to be open and just listen to both sides.”

When it comes down to the Death With Dignity Act, Clevish added, “I would want my well-being of life [being self-sufficient] to be something [good] to remember.”

Clevish was not alone. A majority of the students stated, in different ways, that the last days of our lives are the most memorable. Death With Dignity, it’s all a matter of angles, and the close percentages in the Oregon results mean that the decision may be just as difficult for Washingtonians.