Jessica Dellen's column in the Collegian ("Living at all costs is a flaw of our Western society," March 3) misstates several facts regarding Terri Schiavo's condition.

Rather than being in an unresponsive state and receiving life support, Terri consciously interacts with her environment and only requires a feeding tube to deliver food and water necessary for life.

The death that would result from removing the feeding tube and ceasing to give her food and water would be a slow one of starvation and dehydration, rather than a dignified one. Just because she has shown no improvement in 15 years is no reason to end her life: many non-verbal individuals with disabilities are still able to lead a happy and healthy life given proper therapy.

The question of whether life in a coma is better than no life at all is a dilemma that we all have thought about at one time or another.

However, the answer to that question ultimately is a choice between an individual and their higher powers. State-mandated euthanasia as described by Dellen does not respect this personal choice.

Therefore, in the absence of a living will or statements to the contrary, we should not be so callous as to claim that we know what is best for those unable to communicate their desires. You do not need to believe that death should be avoided at all costs to respect the right of an individual to choose his or her own fate.