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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 25, 2002)
Page 7 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR 97523, December 25, 2002 The first of September 2000, I began writing “Nifty Tidbits” for “Illinois Valley News” and have continued, with a few breaks, up to this one. They began as a continuation of what I have done for years as a science teacher at Illinois Valley High School. In school we had a daily tidbit which was usually my effort, but the students frequently had ideas and objects to contribute to the daily routine. The road-kill skunk was a real hit, as well as a flat frog mounted on a varnished board and covered with ure- thane. Sometimes the tidbits were news items such as: the Chal- lenger Space Shuttle Disaster or the eruption of Mount St. Helens. Usually one item at least was the name of a scientist, or a his- toric Oregon person who had a birthday on that date. My motiva- tion for this daily ritual came from a quote from Sir Isaac New- ton. When asked how he could accomplish so much in a very short period of time, he said, “The reason I could see so far was because I stood on the shoulders of giants.” I wanted my students to understand and maybe even appreci- ate the people who had made contributions to their lives. So today my goal is the same, to help the people of Illinois Valley to un- derstand this marvelous area in which we live and to learn more about the pioneers of Oregon and the pioneers in medicine, geol- ogy, astronomy and especially biology. The fields of chemistry, physics, and electronics are beyond my scope of knowledge and experience. Isaac Newton, born on Dec. 25, 1642 in Woolsthorpe, Eng- land, was raised by his maternal grandparents. His father died before Newton was born; and his mother remarried an area minis- ter, and left him with her parents. She lived in the vicinity and still had contact with her son, but his grandparents raised him as an orphan. He attended area schools and did well enough to be admitted to Cambridge Univer- sity, which he entered in 1661.He did not shine as a scholar, but he read a lot of the writings of mathematicians and philosophers, which he found in the extensive Cambridge Library. From 1665 to ‘67, because of fears of plague, Cambridge University closed, and Newton returned to his home in Woolsthorpe. In those two years he discovered and recorded in notebooks his main scientific accomplishments, which were later refined and published. He discovered that white light is made of all colors of the spectrum, and he observed the effect of prisms and lenses on light. He developed the reflecting telescope, which uses mirrors to magnify objects. He determined that light is made of tiny particles which he called “corpuscles.” Newton also developed and used a new branch of mathemat- ics which is called calculus, but he had major legal conflicts with another person who claimed the same ideas. He developed the laws of motion, which explain how the solar system operates, and then his famous discovery of the law of gravity which explains why the planets and the moon move as they do. The story of the apple falling on his head was probably polished up a bit because his ideas had already been recorded in his notebooks at that time. All these ideas took years to be explained and published be- fore he was recognized as an important scientist. Newton was knighted in 1705 and buried in Westminster Abbey with the great leaders of England. He died in 1727. Today, Newton’s discoveries and theories are widely recog- nized and he is considered by some people as the greatest physi- cal scientist of all time. Couple’s sleep interrupted by I-5 carjackers At approximately 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 17, officers from the Oregon State Police (OSP)/Roseburg, OSP/Grants Pass and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office responded to an attempted carjacking at the southbound Cow Creek rest area (milepost 81.5) on I-5. Michael Allen and his wife Rebecca L. Osterback, both 48, of Mead Wash. had parked their vehicle at the rest area and were preparing to sleep when two white men in their late teens to early twen- ties pounded on the side win- dow of the couples vehicle, and threatened them with a shotgun, according to Oregon State Police (OSP). The couple exited the ve- hicle after being ordered to by the suspects, but not before the couple was able to remove the vehicle’s keys without the suspects knowledge, said OSP. While the two men en- tered the couple’s vehicle, the two ran towards the rest- rooms, yelling for the police, causing the carjackers to panic and run into the woods, said OSP. A search of the area was conducted and area residents were notified.. The two men were de- scribed as: White; late teens to early twenties; 5’8” to 5’10”, 150 to 160 pounds and wear- ing dark-green-colored jackets with hoods. Anyone with information regarding this case can contact OSP/Roseburg at (541) 440- 3334. Senior Nutrition Menu Sponsored by Four students from Illinois Valley have earned academic honors for the fall term at Ore- gon State University at Cor- vallis. Jessica R. Hendrix, a freshman in the university exploratory studies program, earned a straight-A-average. She is from Cave Junction. *Also from Cave Junc- tion, Jody C. Martin, a senior in the bioengineering pro- gram, earned a 3.5 or better grade-point average (GPA); as did Jed C. Pennell, a sen- ior taking exercise and sport science classes. *Tiffany D. Aria, a freshman from O’Brien, achieved a 3.5 or better GPA. She is majoring in his- tory. Why is ‘abbreviated’ such a long word? Happy Holidays! Restaurante Family Discount >>> Kids Menu <<< 99 ¢ Sunday thru Wednesday Lunch or Dinner - 12 and Under - No Take-Outs IF SOMEONE’S DRINKING IS AFFECTING YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AL-ANON CAN HELP 1-888-794-7683 Merry Christmas from Bridgeview Community Church 5181 Holland Loop to Illinois Valley Join us for Christmas Eve Worship Service (541) 592-2126, 474-5440 Meals are served in the CJ County Bldg. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27 King ranch chicken bake, Oregon bean medley, steamed spinach, oat bran bread and pineapple nut cookie MONDAY, DECEMBER 30 Western pork stew, Mexi- cali corn, carrot-mandarin- orange salad, honey bran bread and Rhubarb cobbler WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1 Closed for New Year’s Day Tuesday, Dec. 24 - 7 p.m. Tune in to 107.9 FM (KBCC) at 6 p.m. Christmas Day for Christmas Music & Handel’s ‘Messiah’ Make plans for: New Year’s Eve Worship & ‘70’s-style Christian Rock ‘n’ Roll with ‘Common Ground’ 7 to 9:30 p.m. Winter Hours Tuesday - Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Closed Monday) Take-Outs: U-Bet!
