Terri Schiavo, the Florida woman whose 15 years on life support played out in national courts, died Thursday, 13 days after her feeding tube was removed.

Schiavo, 41, died shortly before 10 a.m. in the Florida hospice that has been her home for the past four years. Schiavo collapsed from heart failure in 1990, leaving her in a persistent vegetative state.

Students on the Syracuse University campus, like many across the nation, have strong convictions about the Schiavo situation.

‘It was such long time,’ said Nori Wieder, a sophomore public relations major. ‘It was time to end it.’

The constant media and legal attention-Schiavo’s case had traveled through Florida courts, the U.S. Supreme Court, and even reached the Vatican-had long worn on the public’s mind, said many students.

‘It’s a family decision,’ said Emily Legro, a sophomore retail and consumer studies major. ‘Looking at her suffering-the issue was definitely a private one. It’s a shame it had to be so controversial and public.’

Senior biochemistry major Stephen Okaine followed the case in its early months, but became disgusted as it constantly appeared on TV, he said. Schiavo’s case, though, has allowed people to realize what it means to be pro-life or pro-choice, he said.

‘It’s not a right or wrong issue,’ he said. ‘It’s a complex issue.’

The case is a tough one that both sides have a right to argue, said Roland Saad, a graduate student in the computer science program.

‘I would have preferred it if the feeding tube stayed in,’ said Saad, who is pro-life.

Schiavo’s husband, Michael Schiavo, pushed for the removal of his wife’s feeding tube, while her parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, fought to keep her alive, insisting that her recovery was still possible.

The Schindler’s actions were excessive, and wasted time that could have been spent with Terri Schiavo, said Jessica Blinn, a senior French language, literature and culture and music industry major.

‘I totally understand where the family was coming from, but I believe they were clinging at nothing. They wasted time instead of spending time with their daughter.’

Watching Michael Schiavo make the decision about their daughter’s life must have been very difficult and seemed like murder to them, said Elizabeth Lopez, a senior fashion design major, though she believes Schiavo’s death is the best for her.

‘Her biological mother and father who nursed her and raised her had to watch someone else decide for her to die,’ Okaine said. ‘He (Michael Schiavo) should have released her to her parents.’

Though still legally married, Michael Schiavo has been living with a Jodi Centonze, with whom he has two children.

‘You went on, you married someone else, you had kids. You obviously stopped loving her,’ Lopez said.

Michael Schiavo’s actions were as if he wanted his wife out of his life, Okaine said.

‘What is he getting out of having her dead?’ Lopez said. ‘It doesn’t compare to the loss her parents are going to feel.’

In addition to raising passions on both sides of the right-to-die divide, Schiavo’s life and death has also made students wonder about the necessity of living wills.

‘Maybe they should require everyone to have a living will to retry to avoid this in the future,’ Wider said.

Okaine, a native of Ghana, would have a hard time saying what should be done to him both before and after his death. Culturally, he said, to do so would seem as if he were wishing for death.

Living wills would make such situations easier, Legro said. Not having one put more burden on Schiavo’s family, and took away from her condition, she said.

‘I wouldn’t want to live in that state and not be able tom communicate with my family,’ Legro said. ‘It’s awful.’

STAFF WRITERS HEATHER COLLURA AND ERIN FITZGERALD CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT

Published on March 31, 2005 at 12:00 pm