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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, January 17, 2007
All this talk about our current home menagerie has
put me in a mind mode of memories about pets through
the years. Back in the Olden Days, my family lived on
Hyatt Street in the Linda Vista section of San Diego, and
I recall having a gold fish and a hamster, although not
simultaneously.
Unfortunately (for the fish), I was too young to un-
derstand about the need for gilled critters to stay under-
water. My experimenting with “fish out of water” was
fatal (for poor Goldie). The hamster, who was unnamed,
escaped from his cage, and then darted outside when
my Mom opened the back door, eliciting several shrieks
(from my Mom, not the hamster.) Some time later, my
Dad recaptured the rodent, and I think he (the hamster)
was given to a neighbor.
A few years later, we acquired a bow-legged, oddly
shaped Chow. He was the runt of the litter, and I named
him Yankee Clover, having stolen the name from my
Mom’s perfume bottle. Yankee and I had some great
adventures in the canyons that then existed in Linda
Vista. He used to follow me to Chesterton Elementary
School too, and my Mom would have to trudge there to
get the pet. The canyons are all filled now and covered
with houses and stuff. After we moved to Dunlop Street,
some nasty person made up stories about Yankee, and
we had to take him to the Humane Society. Too bad. I
loved that little guy.
On Dunlop, maybe to make up for the loss of Yan-
kee, my Dad got me a white rabbit. That was a mistake,
as all he wanted (the rabbit) was to get outside. We had
little room in the house, so the bunny was relegated to a
small space between the refrigerator and the kitchen
counter. Mr. Bunny was not happy, and kept crashing
against the chunk of plywood that served as his cell
door. I don’t remember what happened to the carrot
chomper. Maybe he was given to a neighbor?
We’ve had a Google number of cats and dogs, es-
pecially when we lived in rural Poway. Uncaring folks
would dump unwanted felines and canines nearby, and
quite a few managed to escape becoming coyote en-
trees; then live with us.
Also in Poway, we had a terrific Standard Poodle
named “Sheba,” several other dogs that were mostly
insane, plus a donkey and two Shetlands; and we raised
rabbits, chickens, and a milk goat. We also had a white
rat and a tarantula. Fortunately, as I have herpetopho-
bia, none of our children or their friends brought us any
snakes. But we did have some lizards as temporary
guests. I don’t mind them; it’s snakes that creep me out.
If you have pets, you’ll need vets, which can lead to
debts and sometimes nets. But the happiness they bring
lessens the sting. And that’s enough rhyming and
alliteration for this week, except to say that we enjoy the
features of our creatures. Sorry.
Mon-Thurs, 6 am-7 pm
Fri, 6 am-8:30 pm
Sat, 7 am-8:30 pm
Sun, 7 am-7 pm
Downtown Cave Junction
COUNTRY STORE & DELI:
Boneless Pork Loin
R OASTS OR C HOPS $ 2 79 lb.
Lean & Tender!
Lean, Tender
B EEF S TEW M EAT $ 2 79 lb.
Warm up your belly!
BREAKFAST
& LUNCH:
HUGE MENU!
Delicious & Nutritious Big
Breakfast... C HICKEN
F AJITA B URRITO ,
just $ 3 50 each
At our processing plant we will cus- Have breakfast & lunch
tom cut & wrap your farm animals for with us!
59¢ per lb. Call 592-4185 for details.
WEEKEND DINNER & MUSIC:
Join us for great food and fine live entertainment.
Steaks, Seafood, Specials, and more.
Friday Music: Dale Hopper, great country fun
Saturday Music: Ross & Sam; acoustic guitar, flute, & vocals
Illinois Valley News
www.illinois-valley-news.com
An Independent Weekly Newspaper Co-owned and published by
Robert R. (AKA Bob or El Jefe), Editor and Jan Rodriguez
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
Email: newsroom1@frontiernet.net or newsdesk@illinois-valley-news.com
Volume 69, No. 44
Staff: Michelle Binker, Zina Booth, Josiah Dean, Scott Jorgensen
Millie Watkins, and Tina Grow
Member: Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association
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Possibilities
of layoffs at
RCC studied
Administrative staff at
Rogue Community College
(RCC) have been meeting
since August to evaluate
suggested staff and program
cuts necessitated by a de-
cline of nearly $2 million in
state funding from fiscal
year 2006 to FY ’08.
Some faculty and staff
members have received
“unofficial” layoff notices,
the college announced, in
advance of the anticipated
June 30 cut-off date.
“We have great concern
for our employees and want
to provide as much notice as
possible,” said RCC Presi-
dent Peter Angstadt, “so
staff members can plan for
their future.”
Official notice of lay-
offs will be issued this
month, after which faculty
and classified staff will have
30 days to comment and
discuss alternatives, the col-
lege said.
RCC is facing a 10 per-
cent reduction in staff and
faculty positions, due to low
enrollments, and has said it
will furlough the diesel tech-
nology degree and electron-
ics programs. College offi-
cials also are considering a
reduction in the number of
days the college is open.
The budgetary crisis
stems from the increased
expense of personnel costs,
utilities, fuel, materials, and
services, as well as a state
funding formula that uses a
“rolling average” of current
and past years’ enrollment.
Low student numbers dur-
ing the 2001-2002 recession
still figure into the funding
RCC receives from the state,
Angstadt said.
Even though there has
been a 12.3 percent upswing
in enrollment this year from
last, the student full-time
enrollment is down more
than 900 from 2000-01.
The recent upturn in
enrollment, according to
Angstadt, “reflects a con-
tinuing demand for RCC
services.”
The previous decline in
students, Anstadt believes,
was a result of reduced of-
ferings and increased tuition
due to budget cuts.
RCC is working with
legislators to enact changes
in the allocation formula,
especially the stipulation
that locally raised property
tax revenue be sent to the
state for redistribution
throughout the state com-
munity college system.
“RCC is one of a num-
ber of community college
districts with a high level of
support through local prop-
erty taxes,” said Dr. Kevin
Talbert, board chairman.
“The unfortunate conse-
quence of the state board
decision (to include all prop-
erty taxes in the state com-
munity college support fund
for redistribution) is that
Southern Oregon taxpayers
end up subsidizing other
community colleges ...”
As a result, Talbert em-
phasized, Rogue Commu-
nity College is left with
fewer general fund dollars
and higher tuition costs.
Should the state im-
prove the funding picture for
community colleges, Ang-
stadt said, staff would be
recalled.
“(We) may not know
until June what the state-
wide level of community
college support will be,” he
concluded.
Education’s purpose
is to replace an empty
mind with an open one.
- Malcolm Forbes -
(Editor’s Note: Views and
commentary, including state-
ments made as fact, are strictly
those of the letter-writers.)
* * *
Typed, double-spaced let-
ters written solely to this news-
paper are considered for publi-
cation. Hand-written letters that
are double-spaced and legible
also can be considered.
‘Thank you’ submissions
are not accepted as letters.
gaze dreamily out the win-
dow thinking about how
righteously religious we all
are? American the Beauti-
ful. Family values and all.
It is happening down
the street and just across the
ocean. A few hours away by
jet. A few hours away. Not
far, far away. Close enough
to almost touch. As close as,
say, Iraq.
As of this writing, as far
as I know, Omar Al Bashir
still runs Sudan. I am not
sure of the status of Charles
Taylor. I believe he is still a
free man, or should I say
monster. Not hanging with
-- but still hanging out.
* * *
Still hanging out;
he cites two more
From William Schneider
Cave Junction
They hung Saddam in
late-December. Big deal.
There should have been
two more bodies dangling:
Charles Taylor, of Liberia;
and Omar Al Bashir, of
Sudan, whose regimes are
responsible for much of the
terror happening in Africa.
Between 2003-2006,
400,000 dead and more than
1 million displaced.
Terror far more heinous
than a clean gassing of the
multitudes of Kurds. Sad-
dam’s acts are almost clini-
cally sterile compared with
what is happening in Africa.
Rather than go into
detail, I urge that we be-
come informed as to the
literal Hell-on-Earth that is
Sudan and other places on
the continent where gold
and diamonds are awash in
blood, and babies are
thrown into fires while
mothers are raped and
hacked to pieces with 15-
cent machetes made in
China, and child soldiers
shoot their parents and sib-
lings with AK-47s (made in
China and Russia).
Where the Jangaweed
ride through villages hack-
ing and shooting anything
and anyone while rounding
up girls for sex slaves and
boys, 5-, 6-, 9-, 12-years old
for soldiers, whose first acts
are to shoot their parents, in
many instances. All under
the guidance and watchful
eyes of some world leaders
who are not dangling with
Saddam, but still carry on
their terror as I write.
Family values? War on
Terror? Empty echoing
rhetoric.
When we think of dia-
monds and gold let us re-
member Africa, littered with
the corpses of hundreds of
thousands of our fellow hu-
man beings. When we pray
in our churches, maybe ask
what is our share of respon-
sibility by the money we
spend and things we don’t
do for the suffering of others
not so far away.
If we saw it down the
street, a baby being hacked
to death while its mother is
being unmentionably abused
and tortured, would we still
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TWO LOCATIONS
TO SERVE YOU
Cave Junction Office
218N. Redwood Hwy.
(541) 592-6580
Grants Pass Office
1619 N.W. Hawthorne Ave.
Suite 109
(541) 476-2502
Jeff Wood, M.S., P.T.
Luz Moore Presents:
Low-Income Housing Workshop
Friday, February 9, 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the
Cave Junction City Hall Council Chambers.
Financing is available
for up to 100% of
value with no down
payment required for
purchase of a new or
existing home in rural
areas. Eligibility
based on household
size, income, credit
history, & debt to
income ratio.
Depending on household income,
mortgage payments may be
subsidized to as low as 1% inter-
est. Eligibility requirements & area
income limits will be discussed at
the workshop.
Those needing help with credit
scores should attend the Credit
Repair Workshop.
Guest Speakers:
Sponsored by:
Bret Dixon, Area Director of
Luz Moore
the United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture
with
Susan Cherry
Century 21,
Harris & Taylor
Seating is limited.
For registration, call
(541) 415-1961
The Kerby
Transfer Station
is open to help you...
Hours: Mondays -
Saturdays
9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
For more information
phone (800) 922-1025