Wednesday, May 2, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Sen. Wyden ‘listens to the future’
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
Senator Ron Wyden
(D-OR) engaged in a wide-
ranging question-and-answer
event with 60 Sisters High
School juniors and seniors at
a “Listening to the Future”
session on Friday, April 27.
Wyden, who was here
for a series of nine town
hall meetings throughout the
state, made a special point of
coming to Sisters after four
SHS girls who made a trip to
Washington D.C. in March
had been unable to meet at
length with him due to his
attendance at committee
meetings in D.C. (See story
on page 1.)
He told the students he
started the listening series in
2013 when the government
had been shut down. He lik-
ened the Senate at that time to
“people acting like children
arguing over the sand box.”
“I’m going to go home to
talk to some adults in Oregon
– high school juniors and
seniors,” he reported saying.
He started the Friday ses-
sion telling the students,
“This is time for you to edu-
cate me. I’m so proud of the
Sisters students. It’s impor-
tant to have the informa-
tion come from the bottom
up.” He encouraged them to
get involved and speak out.
Wyden assured the students
no question was off limits.
After some shy hesita-
tion from the crowd, the first
question came from a young
man who asked the Senator,
“At what point did you know
you wanted be a Senator?”
Wyden’s response was
very personal, saying he was
“dribbling my way through
life” with dreams of being
an NBA basketball player.
Lacking the necessary height
and speed, that dream faded,
but while working at a senior
citizen lunch program, he was
encouraged by the people he
helped to run for Congress.
He became the youngest
person from Oregon to be
elected to Congress, and he
became an advocate for the
poor elderly.
The students went on to
cover the waterfront with
their questions: mental health;
gun violence; school funding;
climate change; immigration
and DACA; tax reform; mili-
tary spending; leadership;
net neutrality; environmen-
tal protection; foreign policy
regarding South and North
Korea and Syria; and afford-
able college.
One student wanted to
know what had been the reac-
tions from other Senators to
the student walkouts follow-
ing the Parkland shooting.
“They are waiting to see
how much grassroots change
is going to take place (on the
state level). I think many of
them are on the fence, watch-
ing. That is why we have to
push so hard right now (on
gun violence),” Wyden told
the students.
In response to an inquiry
about funding for Oregon
schools, Wyden explained
that the Federal govern-
ment owns a large portion
of the state due to national
forest land and BLM lands.
Because of that, the timber
on those lands can’t be sold
to fund schools like in other
states where more timber is
in private hands. Wyden is
currently working on a bill
titled Secure Rural Schools
that would provide additional
Federal funds for schools in
states like Oregon where the
U.S. government owns much
of the land.
Several students asked
questions regarding mental-
health issues, some in con-
nection to gun violence.
Wyden cautioned the students
to not fall into the trap of the
“created false dichotomy.”
He said the two topics are
not an either/or situation but
rather, both issues must be
addressed.
Wyden shared his own
personal story about his
brother Jeffrey who “died
way too young,” after expe-
riencing schizophrenia. He
told the students that not
enough is done for those with
mental-health issues because
they have no political power,
no money, and no political
action committee.
Wyden believes requiring
background checks before
any gun purchase in the U.S.,
with no exceptions, would
be a watershed moment. He
would like to see the restric-
tion placed on bump-stocks.
However, he thinks getting
an outright ban on all assault
rifles is “a heavy lift.”
“Your generation will
not accept gun violence
anymore… We can’t allow
mass shootings in schools to
become the norm,” he said.
The Senator was clear he
does not support the adminis-
tration’s proposal to include
a question regarding citizen-
ship on the 2020 census.
“We are a better, freer,
stronger nation because of
legal immigration. I am
in favor of justice for the
DACA children. I think it’s
outlandish to spend $33 bil-
lion on a wall,” Wyden said.
“However, we will compro-
mise in order to get justice
for DACA.”
In response to Wyden’s
question asking if 16-year-
olds should be able to vote,
the students were about
equally divided in the
affirmative and negative
responses.
Wyden encouraged the
students to think locally and
act locally to bring about
change. He told them to
engage with local businesses
about where their energy
comes from. Start conver-
sations on issues and share
knowledge and opinions, he
told the students.
“Members of Congress are
trying to read whether young
people are going to partici-
pate in the government. Are
they going to stay involved?”
he said.
“This is your generation,
your time as it relates to per-
sonal safety. We can’t just sit
by and do nothing,” Wyden
reminded the students. “There
wasn’t a bad question in the
house. I am walking out of
here feeling the students are
going to lead the way. This
conversation is not ended —
to be continued.”
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Three Outlaws ventured to
Jesuit High School last Friday,
as invited guests for one the
most high-powered track
meets in Oregon, the Nike/
Jesuit Relays.
Distance runners Jordan
Pollard (1,500 meters), Anna
Bartlett (1,500), and Kate
Bowen (3,000), got to line up
against other accomplished
runners from throughout the
Northwest, and the high qual-
ity of the competition lead to
some blistering times, includ-
ing one school record.
Pollard found himself in
the middle of a field of run-
ners that all had top credentials
in the 1,500, and he stayed in
the hunt throughout the race,
finally finishing fourth with a
personal best of 4:01.76, the
fastest time this year among
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4A runners by over 6 seconds.
The winner, Andrew Payton of
Tualatin, finished in 4:00.26, as
26 runners finished under 4:10.
Bartlett also got pulled to
a personal best in her 1,500
race, lowering her career time
by 5 seconds to 5:00.97.
Then, it was Bowen’s turn
to shine. The sophomore went
out hard and held on to place
10th, totally demolishing the
previous Sisters High School
record held by Aria Blumm,
with a time of 10:19.88.
The previous mark stood at
10:43.01. Bowen is ranked
second among 4A runners in
Oregon behind senior Linnea
Kavulich of Scappoose, who
finished ahead of Bowen at the
meet with a time of 10:05.46.
“These races give our dis-
tance kids a real chance to
meet their potential,” said
Coach Josh Nordell. “You
can’t run that fast by yourself.”
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