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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, September 8, 2004
She’s a big lady who’s had a facelift, but she looks
great despite her age.
She is the USS “Midway,” a “City at Sea” for the
crews of 4,500 she carried during a 47-year career: mak-
ing “Midway” the longest-serving carrier in the U.S.
Navy. Her service ranged from World War II to the lib-
eration of Kuwait in Desert Storm. During her nearly
five decades of service, some 225,000 U.S. military per-
sonnel served aboard.
We were in San Diego County a few weeks ago for
the second birthday of granddaughter Natalie Kaplan, a
sparkling jewel of a child. And as we had learned about
“Midway” being turned into the floating San Diego Air-
craft Carrier Museum, we just had to go visit. She was
decommissioned in 1992.
The museum website advises setting aside an hour
to 90 minutes for a visit. It took me closer to four hours,
but I am a curious guy (no nasty comments needed
here). The ship is at Navy Pier, not far from the foot of
Broadway in Downtown San Diego.
Upon boarding, visitors are issued headphones and a
radio device. At various numbered stations, you push
the appropriate number, and hear recordings by a narra-
tor and former crewmen about the area you’re viewing.
Pretty neat.
My dear wife, Jan, spent a lot of time on the hangar
deck, where it was fairly cool. Meanwhile, her maniacal
husband roamed the vessel, hustling up and down stair-
ways (ladders); through doorways (hatches); and into
various rooms with metal walls (bulkheads). I somehow
resisted the temptation to enter closed areas and face
either keel-hauling or being launched from the flight
deck without an airplane.
I thoroughly enjoyed the visit, including having
some refreshment at the Fantail Café. That’s where the
business end of jet engines used to be directed during
testing. The area where the engines were located is now
a gift shop, (I bought a shirt).
Many parts of “Midway” are closed, but visitors are
given access to enough of the ship to get a real feel for
what it was like. The hangar deck is open; as is the flight
deck with its 4 acres of landing space; and the island
(that tall thingie that sticks up on one side of the flight
deck). We also were able to visit a typical enlisted per-
sonnel berthing area, including shower stalls with a na-
ked mannequin (except for a towel for modesty); the
post office, galley and mess deck, and the machine and
metal shops.
“Midway” is 1,001 feet long; she weighed 74,000
tons at decommissioning. There are more than 2,000
compartments (we saw a thimbleful).
At sea, some 13,000 meals were served daily, more
than the kids at my high school could eat. “Midway”
carried 1.24 million gallons of jet fuel, and produced
240,000 gallons of water daily.
Her top speed was 33 knots or about 49.5 mph.
Twelve boilers produced 212,000 horsepower, and
enough electricity was generated to support a city of a
million residents. “Midway” has come a long way.
And she’s still ship-shape.
Illinois Valley News
An Independent Weekly Newspaper Co-owned and
published by Robert R. (Bob) and Jan Rodriguez
Bob Rodriguez, Editor El Jefe
Entered as second class matter June 11, 1937 at Post
Office as Official Newspaper for Josephine County and
Josephine County Three Rivers School District, published
at 321 S. Redwood Hwy., Cave Junction, OR 97523
Periodicals postage paid at Cave Junction, OR 97523
Post Office Box 1370 USPS 258-820
Telephone (541) 592-2541, FAX (541) 592-4330
Volume 67, No. 25
Staff: Cindy Newton, Chris Robertson,
Michelle Binker, Becky Loudon,
Shane Welsh & Kacy Clement
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people by replacing the
swimming dock.
Anybody who gives
money or helps me in any
way, shape, or form, will
be highly appreciated and I
am going to try to help get
their name on a plaque on
the beach next to the dock.
Donations can be sent
to 305 N.E. Sixth St.,
Grants Pass OR 97526.
New Selmac platform
Dislikes Bush
From Michael Rosenberg
Grants Pass
About four years ago,
there was a swimming
platform on beautiful Lake
Selmac. I swam all the
time from that dock and so
did a bunch of other kids
including adults; it was a
great dock.
Unfortunately the ca-
bles that held it in place
broke after many years of
use and wear, and Jose-
phine County Parks Dept.
did not find the time to
replace the dock. It was
not a good thing for any-
body.
When they announced
that they weren’t going to
put another one back out
there in the lake, I instantly
knew that I would rebuild
a dock for my Eagle Scout
project, and that day has
come.
I am from Selma, but
we moved, and I attend
Grants Pass High School,
and I am going to be a
sophomore this coming
year. I am a part of the
Grants Pass Marching
Band and Auxiliary and I
am a respectable Boy
Scout with Troop 80 out of
Grants Pass.
I also represent my
district, as well as the other
four districts in the Crater
Lake Council as Chief Al-
lowat Sakima and ordeal
master in the Order of the
Arrow (the National Honor
Society in the Boy Scouts
of America).
I am also in a program
called “College Dreams,”
which, if I keep good
grades, will help me fund
my way to college and get
me scholarships, and I
have already received three
of them. This is just a sum-
mary of my accomplish-
ments in my life so far.
I am not sure if you
know what an Eagle Scout
is, but I can tell you. It is a
boy who has earned the
highest rank in scouting.
An Eagle Scout is some-
one who has lived up to
the virtues of life and kept
the fire of mankind lit at
all times. An Eagle Scout
is a person who will make
something of himself one
day and be an asset to this
society. That’s what an
Eagle Scout is.
And that’s what I want
to become. I am well on
my way down the Eagle
trail. There is only one
thing holding me back:
$3,000.
I don’t mean it costs
$3,000 to become an Ea-
gle, I mean that’s what it
will cost to build and rein-
stall that dock that was
once an incredible feature
at Lake Selmac.
I want to give that
dock back to the people
and I want to make it last,
so I chose to build the
whole project out of Trex
decking, and stainless steel
bolts and fasteners. Not
regular wood that is going
to rot after a couple years,
and I am not going to let
money hold me back from
replacing that dock.
I need help publicizing
and letting the people
know about what I am do-
ing for the community so
that I can raise enough
funds to give back to the
From Sue Lily
Cave Junction
It is important to re-
member following last
week’s Republican Con-
vention, protested with
more permitted demonstra-
tions than any event in
NYC history; that in 1968,
demonstrators surrounded
the Democratic Conven-
tion protesting America’s
war in Vietnam.
The Bush Administra-
tion’s “compassionate con-
servatism” policies have
killed more than 11,000
people since 9/11 with no
end in sight, and weakened
us socially, financially,
academically and diplo-
matically.
Demonstrating neither
compassion, education nor
skill, these policies have
resulted in torture, moral
decay, weakness at home,
increased poverty, job loss
and depression -- the oppo-
site of their claims. Ac-
tions speak louder than
words.
In the Boston Tea
Party American tradition,
people again are taking
unpaid time off work to
protest those Bush admini-
stration policies because:
we can do better.
County pay
From Dusty Ann Bouchard
Selma
The Josephine County
commissioners have a
Compensation Advisory
Committee to advise them
as to whether managers
receive compensation
comparable to public and
private companies.
They have also hired a
Medford resident for
$15,000 to collect these
statistics. I have a better
proposal.
All reading this should
write the commissioners
and advise them what sal-
ary and benefits you re-
ceive, and whether you
feel the county managers
are compensated fairly.
The average county
manager salary alone is
$55,000 yearly, and there
is only a 3:1 labor/
management ratio. Nice
work if you can get it. The
Human Resources director
makes $94,000 a year.
We have three psy-
chiatrists on the county
payroll who each are paid
$150,000 per year. All
managers have a very non-
standard nine weeks of
paid leave to enjoy that
life. Pity the poor commis-
sioners, they only make
$68,000 (but they don’t
have any job performance
standards, so I guess that is
OK).
Yet all the surveys of
local wages show the aver-
age annual wage per
worker in Josephine
County is just above
$20,000 a year. It is their
taxes which are going to
pay for the county man-
agement’s nine weeks of
paid leave.
We should write our
commissioners at Court-
house, 500 N.W. Sixth St.,
and let them know if this
sounds fair. In the mean-
time, consider voting for
(Continued on page 3)
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