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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (May 30, 2018)
2 Wednesday, May 30, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O N Words matter By Jared Richerson Letters to the Editor… The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer’s name, address and phone number. Let- ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday. To the Editor: In your May 9 edition you featured an article titled “Advocating for those with Parkinson’s Disease,” written by Jane Miller. Hers is a story I have often heard, although as Ms. Miller states, everyone’s journey with Parkinson’s is different. I was diagnosed 10 years ago at age 57. I can identify with almost everything Ms. Miller mentions in her article. I finally decided to try a relatively new treatment for Parkinson’s last year. DBS or Deep Brain Stimulation surgery was performed on my brain (after 3 years of considering the pros and cons). It has been a real positive change for me. It doesn’t mean I am cured, it just means I am able to handle some tasks of daily living easier, thus improv- ing my quality of life for the immediate future. I would like to thank Jane Miller for her advocacy for those of us challenged with PD, their caregivers and families. I would also like any of your readers who have family or friends with Parkinson’s in the Sisters area to join us on June 12 at 1 p.m. for a Parkinson’s Support Group or PWP’s (People with Parkinson’s) titled “Parkinson’s Conversations.” We are meeting the 2nd Tuesday of each month at Suttle Tea at 450 W. Cascade Ave. (near the library). We are a peer-led support group ready to listen and learn about your journey through PD while sharing coping skills and friendship. We are part of Parkinson’s Resources of Oregon and there is no charge to attend. You can contact myself, Lenetta Colbert, at 907- 687-8101 or our program coordinator for Central Oregon, Carol, at 541-668-6599 for more information. Lenetta Colbert See LETTERS on page 23 Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Mostly Sunny Partly Cloudy Sunny Sunny Mostly Sunny Partly Cloudy 68/43 61/37 72/42 79/44 71/40 68/40 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC Website: www.nuggetnews.com 442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759 Tel: 541-549-9941 | Fax: 541-549-9940 | editor@nuggetnews.com Postmaster: Send address changes to The Nugget Newspaper, P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759. Third Class Postage Paid at Sisters, Oregon. Editor in Chief: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Easterling Classifieds & Circulation: Teresa Mahnken Graphic Design: Jess Draper Community Marketing Partners: Patti Jo Beal & Vicki Curlett Accounting: Erin Bordonaro Proofreader: Pete Rathbun Owner: J. Louis Mullen The Nugget is mailed to residents within the Sisters School District; subscriptions are available outside delivery area. Third-class postage: one year, $45; six months (or less), $25. First-class postage: one year, $85; six months, $55. Published Weekly. ©2018 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. All advertising which appears in The Nugget is the property of The Nugget and may not be used without explicit permission. The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. assumes no liability or responsibility for information contained in advertisements, articles, stories, lists, calendar etc. within this publication. All submissions to The Nugget Newspaper will be treated as uncondition- ally assigned for publication and copyrighting purposes and subject to The Nugget Newspaper’s unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially, that all rights are currently available, and that the material in no way infringes upon the rights of any person. The publisher assumes no responsibility for return or safety of artwork, photos, or manuscripts. Editor ’s note: Jared Richerson’s essay was awarded third place in The Bulletin’s 2018 Newspapers i n E d u c a t i o n “ Wo rd s Matter” contest in the high school category. The essay is reprinted here with Richerson’s permission. When the founding fathers convened in the summer of 1787 there were many ideas that were put together in order to create the Constitution that would ultimately govern us for the foreseeable future. One of the most important ideas turned out to be the prin- ciple of free speech because it allows citizens to critique and judge our government’s actions without penalty. As Theodore Roosevelt once said, “To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.” While extremely important, this freedom would also turn out to be increasingly controversial. Over time, free speech has created many issues that have led to changes in our government. This is because the idea of free speech var- ies between people. To me, free speech is the idea that we have the ability to say whatever we want as long as it isn’t directly threaten- ing or dangerous to another person. I agree that there should be limits, but those limits shouldn’t be based on what’s offensive or not offensive, rather what is dangerous or threatening. Free speech is such a valuable resource that we often take for granted in our lives. The ability to speak our minds over our opin- ions, politics, and beliefs is a very unique freedom that many countries lack. While this freedom is extremely important it is also very controversial. Allowing people to speak completely different opinions and views often leads to conflict in which one group or person tries to get the other’s free- dom of speech revoked. This is seen with groups such as the neo-Nazis and the Antifa movement. Both groups hold radical ideas and often speak with hateful intent yet they both try to limit each other’s freedoms. While what both groups say can be extremely offensive, they have the constitutional right to do so. This is why free speech is conflicting, because by allowing one statement to be said allows statements of the opposite nature to be said as well. While free speech in and of itself is controversial, limiting free speech brings conflict as well. Many court cases have been fought over what should be allowed and denied. One such case was Tinker V. Des Moines in which several teens in Iowa decided to wear armbands in protest of the Vietnam war. The principal then sus- pended the children on the basis that because while they were in the school their constitutional freedoms were to be determined by the school itself. The students and their parents then sued the school district, which brought it to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled on a 7-2 majority that students do not lose their constitu- tional rights to speech upon entering school property, and to penalize the students the teachers have to prove that the conduct in ques- tion would “materially and substantially interfere” with the operation of the school. This was a landmark case for the U.S. as it showed that just because something said or done is controver- sial, does not mean that it’s unconstitutional. In conclusion, while freedom of speech is extremely tendentious it is also one of the most impor- tant freedoms we have in the United States. Being allowed to speak our minds and hold our own opinions is the first step in stabiliz- ing a government. With no verbal resistance, a govern- ment can decimate a popu- lation and take control with ease. We’ve seen it happen multiple times throughout history such as during the Holocaust in Germany or currently the North Korean regime. While this freedom leads to conflict it is nearly impossible to limit as it dis- criminates against different people and their freedoms. So, to avoid conflict we must find a way to speak our minds while having empathy for others. Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.
