The Times from Shreveport, Louisiana • Page 6

CONTACT US We welcome comments on editorials, columns, other topics in The Times. Letters must include name, address and day and evening phone numbers. Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Times, Box 30222, Shreveport, LA 7113a 0222; Fax: (318) 459-3301; E-mail: shreveportopiniongannett.com. She ULimes 14 I sEiroueporttimss TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 2010 6A 1 I rWWIUPOCVIE'lL Eugene Robinson amicAU-Tfi5TRcs. TODAY'S EDITORIAL Van Thyn's wor must continue "TV liiAM I (S Rose Van Thyn's survival of the Holocaust meant succeeding generations would hear of humanity's capability for darkness.

But her life also illuminated mankind's great capacity to heal, to find hope and purpose in the indelible marks of tragedy. Just as the passing of each World War II citizen soldier robs us of living reminders of the nobility of sacrifice for a greater good, so does the DOME. Z-J passing of Holocaust survivors separate us from the eyewitness testimony to horrors we forget at our own peril. "People tell me I was lucky. That is really not the word," the 88-year-old Auschwitz death camp survivor told attendees at April's Holocaust Remembrance Service.

"Lucky is when you win a lottery. I did not win anything. I was given something, the most precious gift, a second chance at life." We count it fortunate Just as the passing of each World War II citizen soldier robs us of living reminders of the nobility of sacrifice for a greater good, so does the passing of Holocaust survivors like Rose Van Thyn separate us from the firsthand testimony to horrors we forget at cur own peril. the vaccinations eiaiTflcusH vfw any a California licalth officials recently announced an unexpected uptick in cases of the mumps. Nine cases have been reported in I.os Angeles this year.

Since 2007, the number in a particular year never had exceeded seven. And more recently, mumps which can cause debilitating swelling and fever swept through Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn, N.Y. But this isn't a problem confined to Los Angeles or Brooklyn. As-most parents know, a vaccine can easily protect a person from contracting the disease. Yet some people clearly aren't getting immunized.

Most parents ensure their children are vaccinated, but many adults avoid getting their shots. In I.ouisiana. for example, rates for childhood immunization have steadily increased over the past few years. Adults, though, aren't getting their shots. With the MINI vaccine for the "swine flu" the vaccine rate actually was among the worst in the country.

By improving the vaccination rale among adults, America's leaders can stem the rise of costly, completely preventable diseases, improve public health and even help revive the economy. Consider the human papillomavirus (HPV). It's the most common sexually transmitted infection in this country and one of the leading causes of cervical cancer. Yet just 10 percent of the population that is most at risk of contracting HPV women ages VTfil the that after Nazi death camps, northwest Louisiana and businessman A.A. Gilbert were able to provide a fresh start to the Dutch couple, Rose and her husband, Louis Van Thyn, who died in 2008.

In return, they gave back productive lives and friendship. More important, they taught any who would listen the value of justice and compassion, having witnessed a society thai lost both. The Holocaust claimed 11 million victims, 6 million of whom were Jews. Despite their passing, the Van Thynsmission will continue not just in the memories of those they reached but in the halls of academia. The Rose and Ixju'is Van Thyn Endowed Professorship is being established at Centenary College in Shreveport, a chair that will focus on issues related to the Holocaust.

More than a half century after her liberation from Aushwitz, where she was subjected to medical experimentation and beatings, Van Thyn wrote as a survivor of that "hell on earth" that her mission was to speak for those who could not, "to educate as many people as we can so that the truth will be known." Her work is'done. Ours continues. OPINION Byrd's life tracked the times "End of an era" is an overused trope; but, in this case, it's appropriate: The last of the old Southern Democrats is gone. Sen. Robert Byrd had long since repented, of course.

The West Virginian, who died Monday at 92, deeply regretted his segregationist past, which included a year as a Ku Mux Klan member and at least several more years as a Wan sympathizer. He eventually became a passionate advocate for civil rights and was one of the most vocal supporters of legislation making the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. a national holiday. But that was after Byrd's personal enlightenment.

Amid what is sure to be a flood of heartfelt encomiums to his lifetime of public service, it is important to note that his is a story of change and redemption and that Byrd and his party had a shameful past to overcome. In Byrd's first campaign for the House in 1952, his opponent released a letter Byrd had written to the Man's imperial wizard in 1946. The date is important because Byrd claimed to have cut ties with the racist organization today we would call it a terrorist group in 1943. The Klan is needed today as never before, and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia," Byrd wrote. This was in the days when the South was a solid Democratic stronghold and when the default position of Southern Democrats was to advocate separation of the races.

In 1964, Byrd joined other members of his party in trying to kill the Civil Rights Act. Back then, would-be obstructionists were required to actually stage a filibuster rather than just threaten one. Byrd held the Senate floor for 14 hours in an effort that ultimately was as futile as Pickett's Charge. "Men are not created equal today, and they were not created equal in 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was written," Byrd declaimed. "Men and races of men differ in appearance, ways, physical power, mental capacity, creativity and vision." Byrd also opposed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and most of Johnson's anti-poverty programs, saying "we can take the people out of the slums, but we cannot take the slums out of the people' From 1961-69, Byrd chaired a Senate subcommittee that had vast authority over local affairs in the District of Columbia.

He supported more federal funding for local services but angered activists with a high-profile crusade to remove ineligible recipients from welfare rolls. "His tongue was smoother than butter," recalled the Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy, D.C.'s first nonvoting representative in Congress, "but war was in his heart." That martial spirit was evident in 1968 when riots broke out following King's assassination. "If it requires the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, we should put the troublemakers in their places," Byrd said.

Well, he did have a way with words. Byrd's trajectory from bitter segregationist to beloved dean of the Senate actually is a hopeful, quintessentially American story. He was a man of his age, and his views on race closely tracked the views of the constituents he so loyally represented. There was a time when separate but unequal was a mainstream position among whites in the South, and the fact that his early words and acts are so shocking is a testament to how far the nation has come. Byrd's career also is a reminder that no political party has a monopoly on wisdom or virtue.

Southern Democrats tried desperately to deny equal rights to blacks. The votes of northern Republicans helped pass the landmark legislation. Southern whites switched parties and made the South a GOP bastion. This has been the situation for decades, but it won't last forever. Last week in South Carolina, a black named Tim Scott defeated Strom Thurmond's son in the GOP primary for a House seat.

The GOP nomination for governor was won by Nikki Haley, who is of Indian descent and was called a "raghead" by one of her good ol' boy critics. In Alabama, Rep. Artur Davis failed to become the first black to win the Democratic nomination for governor largely because he took the black vote for granted. Byrd's amazing career reminds us that times really do change. And so do people.

Send e-mail to Eugene Robinson to eugenerobinsonwashpost.com. TO tOYOJWAWTTo IpfcHEBHOVW'P OlflTlWWGfVW; iRRiTPnoM avoid Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan OPINION rfi miirf i ii i ii rfl 18 to 26 has been vaccinated. Consequently, more than (3 million young women arc infected with HPV every year.

Overall, two-thirds of women and about a quarter of men have been infected. The medical cost of caring for these people totals S-l billion annually. Influenza the common flu is another disease that could be controlled by increased vaccination rates. Modern science has developed preventive vaccines for both the regular seasonal flu virus and "mutant" strains like H1N1. Despite the widespread availability of these options, about 40,000 Americans die every year as a result of complications brought on by influenza.

The costs associated with medical care and lost productivity for those infected with influenza reach nearly $100 billion annually. Dozens of other, lesser well-known illnesses continue to compromise public health simply because adults haven't received the proper shots. So why aren't grown-ups getting their shots? For starters, insurance coverage for vaccinations is spotty at best for most patients. Most private plans don't cover routine adult immunizations. When policies provide coverage, high Lt.

Cgl. i Iaiiii I rfi ri OPINION iC'rMf much better chance of winning a conviction. To counter this trend, the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission is working with judges, district attorneys, and police in various parishes to sponsor "no refusal" periods. During these periods, judges are on standby to approve search warrants, based on probable cause, that authorize police to take blood samples from suspects who refuse to submit to a blood-alcohol concentration test. When told a search warrant will be applied for, most suspects yield and submit to the lest even before the actual warrant is issued.

Results have been impressive in parishes where no refusal periods have been implemented. For example, officials in Jefferson Parish conducted a no refusal period over this year's Memorial Day holiday. This resulted in only one refusal compared to 16 over the same period in 2009. State District Judge Thomas M. Yeager, of Alexandria, pioneered the no refusal concept in Louisiana.

When Yeager implemented a no refusal policy in Rapides David Fitzslmmonscaglecartoons.com gettm deductibles and co-payments often discourage people from following the recommended vaccination schedules. Paying for these treatments on their own is simply not feasible for many people. Without insurance, a one-time vaccine can cost upwards of $300. There's also the issue of availability. Production levels of popular vaccines sometimes are inadequate to provide protection to all those who need them.

Americans witnessed this problem firsthand last year, when the demand for HINT vaccines far outstripped supply. Another problem is a lack of awareness even-among doc- tors about the vaccines adults should be getting. Apathy on the part of adults and indifference on the part of their caregivers has led to unacceptably low vaccination rates. Adults overwhelmingly insist on having their children up to date on their shots but are not so keen on getting their own. Increasing the adult vaccination rate is a common-sense way of improving public health in Louisiana and the rest of this country, (ierting people immunized would help prevent serious illnesses, conserve scarce health care dollars and fuel economic productivity.

Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan is the founder and president of the American Council on Science and Health, a public health and consumer education consortium of scientists and physicians that has its headquarters in New York. tactic to Parish, the refusal rate dropped from percent in 2007 to nearly zero last year. Earlier this year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration presented Judge Yeager with one of its highest honors: the Public Service Award.

The Louisiana Highway Safety Commission provides training and grants to pay overtime hours for law enforcement officers who participate in no refusal programs. The programs usually are conducted over weekends and holiday periods during which drunken driving is more prevalent. The enforcement sometimes includes sobriety checkpoints at which officials have a fax machine available to send a search warrant request directly to a judge. The judge reviews and signs it if it is in order and faxes it back to the officers on the scene. DWI is a serious problem that is being addressed in a variety of ways in Louisiana and elsewhere throughout the L'nited States.

In recent years, the Louisiana Legislature has passed a number of laws that stiffen DWI penalties, especially for multiple offenders. The no refusal program has proved to be effective in helping provide district attorneys with the solid evidence they need to win convictions in court. Lt. Col. John LeBlanc is executive director of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission.

La. working on new r4 i ft 'ft i VC V-vit I fa 7 strengthen DW! prosecutions Jim HudeisonFiieTne limes Rose and Louis Van Thyn sit together in their south Shreveport home in 1995. Rose is wearing the star that she was forced to wear in the Auschwitz concentration camp. VIEW A PHOTO GALLERY TRIBUTE TO ROSE VAN THYN AT SHREVEPORTTIMES.COM. SSL' Africa Price Executive Editor agpricegannett.com Craig Durrett Editorial Page Editor cdurrettgannett.com ASSI tDITCRIA! PAGE EDITOR CURTIS HEYEN 459-3280 cheyengannett.com Pete Zanmiller President ad Publisher Rod Richardson Managing Editor The effort to rid Louisiana roads of drunken drivers involves multiple levels of cooperation that range from educating motorists to enforcing the tough IHVI laws already on the books and prosecuting offenders.

Louisiana's rate of alcohol-involved highway crashes remains stubbornly high, accounting for 409 deaths in 2009. Many motorists and probably those most inclined to drive after consuming alcohol refuse to take the blood-alcohol test after being stopped on suspicion of DWI. Almost 8,000 of the about one third drivers arrested for DWI in 2008 refused to take the test. They did so even knowing that their refusal could cost them a 180-day suspension of their driver's license, if it was their first offense. The Louisiana Highway Safety Commission recently has been working with law enforcement agencies, district attorneys and judges on a project to overcome a significant obstacle in successfully prosecuting drivers charged with DWI.

that obstacle is the large number of suspects who are stopped on suspicion of driving while intoxicated but refuse to submit, as the law requires, to tests that measure the alcohol content in their blood. The reason so many refuse is simple: With such a test in hand, district attorneys have a Editorials reflect the views of The Times Editorial Board. Staff members: Craig Durrett, Africa Price, Curtis Heyen and Pete Zanmiller. Community members: Lynn Cawthorne, Shannan Hicks, Aubrey Lurie and Don Spalding. CONTACT INFORMATION EDITORIAL PAQE EDITOR CRAIG DURRETT 459-3281 cdurrettgannett.com 222 LateSl.

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