FOUR JAIL SITES ON FAT TARGET LIST FOR NEXT CHOICE; $?NO BETTER GUINEA PIG THAN A HUMAN BEING $?

Even as they finished paring down a list of 45 possible locationsfor a new medium-security jail to four finalists, members of thesiting committee were hunkering down for an enraged public reaction.Just about anyone who lives anywhere near any of the selectedproperties can be expected to object, and all four of the sitesraisepublic policy questions.

Accordingly, Christopher Sheesley of the county's DisputeResolution Center was properly on hand to advise the 12 members ofthe committee how to deal with the reaction from opponents to any orall of the locations.He suggested that the committee members practice active-listeningskills when they start hearing from the public at 7 p.m. Dec. 11 atClark College. He said a panel member should prepare to tell aloudly outraged supplicant, "I'll listen if you stop using profanityand yelling at me." He suggested that people allowed to "vent andexpress their concerns" will "tend to wear themselves out and calmdown."Perhaps they will, but the tradition in this county for the pastcouple of decades has been that if enough people can keep holleringloudly enough for long enough, the undesired suggestion and itsperpetrators will fade away.Thus we are paying huge prices to have our trash boxed up andbarged to the Oregon desert because a new landfill could not besitedin this county. And general aviation in this county will rely on thekindness of the National Park Service along with the sufferance ofneighbors crowding in on Evergreen Airport because a new airportlocation became an impossible goal.We can't bus all of our crooks and drunkards, perverts and dopefiends to the other side of the mountains, though. Nor can we expectthat the justice system will stop warehousing these problems if wesimply refuse to agree where the next warehouse should be.The siting committee did its work well and diligently. Now it istime not to yell but to make a rational, public decision about whichof the four sites is least objectionable and most acceptable to thewhole community.A summary of The Columbian's 1996 editorial agenda is available onInfo-Line by calling 699-6000, category 1550. For a complete versionof the agenda by fax, select category 1568.No better guinea pig than a human beingNo one familiar with the secrecy, lies and fanaticism that werethe fallout of nuclear research can be surprised by the U.S.government's latest horrendous admission.Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary on Tuesday announced a $4.8 millionsettlement in the case of a dozen people who were injected withradioactive plutonium or uranium -- some without their knowledge oragainst their will -- during the 1940s. Lawyers say the testsubjects suffered a variety of illnesses as a result of theintentional contamination with the potentially deadly toxins; onlyone of the 12 is still alive.Those 12 cases were not, unfortunately, very unusual. ThePresident's Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experimentsestimates that as many as 20,000 Americans were subjected to nucleartests of various kinds between 1945 and 1974, in many instanceswithout being informed of the risk and without giving permission.The Clinton administration is expected to announce additionalreparations during the next few months. O'Leary said that thegovernment must pledge "never again, (to) perform tests on ourcitizens and do so in secrecy."Never, though, is such a very long time. And just to prove thatneither government involvement nor Cold War nuttiness are requiredtofudge ethical lines, Eli Lilly & Co. this week defended its use ofhomeless people as paid human guinea pigs in testing theeffectiveness, and potentially serious side effects, of new drugs.The drug trials aren't secret, and the Indiana-basedpharmaceutical giant denies that it is taking advantage of desperatepersonal and financial circumstances when it recruits the homeless.Not that it seems to be much of an issue: Most critics of thepractice focus on the chance that test subjects who are prone toalcohol and drug abuse and who lack good health habits might yieldinaccurate data about the effectiveness and dangers of new drugs.But the Lily drug experiments, like the government's radiationtests, do prove one thing: that in our often blind, foolish questfora better humanity, we can rationalize away much that is inhumane.

FOUR JAIL SITES ON FAT TARGET LIST FOR NEXT CHOICE; $?NO BETTER GUINEA PIG THAN A HUMAN BEING $?

Even as they finished paring down a list of 45 possible locationsfor a new medium-security jail to four finalists, members of thesiting committee were hunkering down for an enraged public reaction.Just about anyone who lives anywhere near any of the selectedproperties can be expected to object, and all four of the sitesraisepublic policy questions.

Accordingly, Christopher Sheesley of the county's DisputeResolution Center was properly on hand to advise the 12 members ofthe committee how to deal with the reaction from opponents to any orall of the locations.He suggested that the committee members practice active-listeningskills when they start hearing from the public at 7 p.m. Dec. 11 atClark College. He said a panel member should prepare to tell aloudly outraged supplicant, "I'll listen if you stop using profanityand yelling at me." He suggested that people allowed to "vent andexpress their concerns" will "tend to wear themselves out and calmdown."Perhaps they will, but the tradition in this county for the pastcouple of decades has been that if enough people can keep holleringloudly enough for long enough, the undesired suggestion and itsperpetrators will fade away.Thus we are paying huge prices to have our trash boxed up andbarged to the Oregon desert because a new landfill could not besitedin this county. And general aviation in this county will rely on thekindness of the National Park Service along with the sufferance ofneighbors crowding in on Evergreen Airport because a new airportlocation became an impossible goal.We can't bus all of our crooks and drunkards, perverts and dopefiends to the other side of the mountains, though. Nor can we expectthat the justice system will stop warehousing these problems if wesimply refuse to agree where the next warehouse should be.The siting committee did its work well and diligently. Now it istime not to yell but to make a rational, public decision about whichof the four sites is least objectionable and most acceptable to thewhole community.A summary of The Columbian's 1996 editorial agenda is available onInfo-Line by calling 699-6000, category 1550. For a complete versionof the agenda by fax, select category 1568.No better guinea pig than a human beingNo one familiar with the secrecy, lies and fanaticism that werethe fallout of nuclear research can be surprised by the U.S.government's latest horrendous admission.Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary on Tuesday announced a $4.8 millionsettlement in the case of a dozen people who were injected withradioactive plutonium or uranium -- some without their knowledge oragainst their will -- during the 1940s. Lawyers say the testsubjects suffered a variety of illnesses as a result of theintentional contamination with the potentially deadly toxins; onlyone of the 12 is still alive.Those 12 cases were not, unfortunately, very unusual. ThePresident's Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experimentsestimates that as many as 20,000 Americans were subjected to nucleartests of various kinds between 1945 and 1974, in many instanceswithout being informed of the risk and without giving permission.The Clinton administration is expected to announce additionalreparations during the next few months. O'Leary said that thegovernment must pledge "never again, (to) perform tests on ourcitizens and do so in secrecy."Never, though, is such a very long time. And just to prove thatneither government involvement nor Cold War nuttiness are requiredtofudge ethical lines, Eli Lilly & Co. this week defended its use ofhomeless people as paid human guinea pigs in testing theeffectiveness, and potentially serious side effects, of new drugs.The drug trials aren't secret, and the Indiana-basedpharmaceutical giant denies that it is taking advantage of desperatepersonal and financial circumstances when it recruits the homeless.Not that it seems to be much of an issue: Most critics of thepractice focus on the chance that test subjects who are prone toalcohol and drug abuse and who lack good health habits might yieldinaccurate data about the effectiveness and dangers of new drugs.But the Lily drug experiments, like the government's radiationtests, do prove one thing: that in our often blind, foolish questfora better humanity, we can rationalize away much that is inhumane.