PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, FEBRUARY 17, 2017
KeizerOpinion
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Boost academics
Athletics at McNary High School
has a club of boosters—a non-profi t
organization comprised mainly of
parents of the students who
play sports. The choir and
band programs also have
organized boosters. Boost-
ers not only support the
programs but are also a big
source of fund raising.
Athletics and arts should
be supported and boosted.
We call on the administra-
tion of McNary High School to set
the stage for creating academic booster
clubs—after all, students are attending
school primarily to learn and achieve
scholastic excellence.
Imagine the powerful message that
would be sent with the establishment
of a Mathematics Booster Club, or a
Sciences Booster Club. We understand
the school nor the school district are
involved with booster clubs, per se, but
they can certainly voice their support
for the establishment of such organi-
zations.
Additionally, we would like to see
academic booster clubs that have a fo-
cus less on fund raising and more on
encouraging students to embrace and
learn to enjoy math and science—boy
and girl students (the world needs fe-
male scientists, too). Sure, math and
science aren’t as exciting as a Friday
night football game or a spring con-
cert, but those subjects arguably will
have a longer term effect on the stu-
dents over their lifetimes.
All students should have the op-
portunity to do well in the academic
fi elds—teachers work overtime to help
those in their classes that
need a little more attention
or assistance. A Mathemat-
ics Booster Club would be
a good supplement to what
instructors are doing in the
classroom—think tutors on
steroids.
A few ‘Atta girl’s would
go far to give a female stu-
dent confi dence to think they can one
day help put man on Mars. (Hidden
Figures, a fi lm currently in theaters,
tells the true story of the important
contribution of women in NASA’s
endeavor to put the fi rst American
in space in the early 1960s.) The key
work done by women in science and
math should not be footnote in his-
tory or a movie.
Not every student athlete turns
their passion into a multi-million dol-
lar career; not every choir member
turns their love of music into stardom
on the global stage. But, a student with
a love of math, science or another aca-
demic subject has an excellent chance
of continuing their education in col-
lege and perhaps helping put the fi rst
woman on Mars.
That’s what an academic booster
club can do for students today. When
adults are excited about math and sci-
ence, our kids can be, too.
—LAZ
Travel bans, Arrival and Mr. Rogers
editorial
What is needed to jumpstart
economic development in city?
clusters of business types
The editorial in last
would be established. As
week’s paper, Call it a day
the city found out years
for the EDC (Economic
ago with neighborhood
Development Commis-
associations, just saying
sion) refl ects thoughts I
that you are a ‘district’ or a
have had for a while.
neighborhood association
And I agree that a re-
does not make it so. Both
think of the city role in
are organic in nature, born
promoting economic de-
of a common set of values,
velopment, particularly in
goals or concerns.
the context of our Eco-
The common values
nomic
Opportunities
and goals that are already
Analysis in the Compre-
in place are for qual-
hensive Plan, would be
ity business plans, space to
helpful.
grow and park, pricing that
At regional and state
refl ects the local economy
meetings, I hear about op-
Cathy Clark
rather than trying to price
portunities and success sto-
like Portland or Seattle,
ries that make me wonder
if we have missed chances to bring and meeting growing and changing
dollars and programs here to deepen demands for goods and services that
and strengthen our economic base. cater to the emerging millennial gen-
The meeting with Regional Solutions eration’s buying power as well as the
coordinator James Labar was particu- signifi cant baby boomer capital hold-
larly helpful in informing our business ings. These values are not unique to
leaders of the program and services sections of River Road but apply to
available toward streamlining state our entire business community.
I want to thank the members of the
regulatory processes so projects could
commission, each of whom has shared
get done.
The Commission also heard from their time and expertise. There was
SEDCOR and the Mid-Willamette nothing in it for any of them, except
Valley Council of Governments, both the knowledge that they each have
of which provide economic devel- experiences that can help guide and
opment programs and opportunities. shape policies to ensure they are in the
The piece that did not come together best interests of the entire community
was how a city revolving loan funding – business included.
Going forward, we have an eco-
could jump start redevelopment or
expansion of businesses; in the mean- nomic opportunities analysis that will
time, however, the economy has taken guide any urban growth boundary
hold and private investment has sig- expansion for employment lands. We
nifi cantly advanced the business land- have career-technical education pro-
grams that are preparing our students
scape of River Road.
Frank discussions regarding the for well-paying jobs in many indus-
status of the River Road Renaissance tries. We have a growing population
vision made it clear that the foun- that wants a Keizer that provides the
dations of that plan have now been goods, services and amenities that will
incorporated into our development continue to make Keizer a great place
code so each redeveloped property to live. And we have the Keizer way
makes those improvements as part of of facing these challenges and oppor-
the project. However, the further por- tunities and solving them together as
tion of the vision was for sections of only Keizer can.
(Cathy Clark is serving her second
River Road businesses to embrace a
sector identity, with branding and lo- term as mayor of Keizer.)
gos to create distinct districts in which
from the
mayor’s
desk
Don, this is
what we’re
afraid of
Our fi sh and all life
in our ocean is now
contaminated. We are
breathing this and I saw
pictures of the seals,
salmon and other fi sh
with cancer tumors all
over them. What does
this mean to us?
Helen Bibelheimer
Keizer
letters
To the Editor:
Re: Don Vowell’s Feb.
10 column, What are we
afraid of?:
I’m afraid because Fukushima
has poisoned our ocean and the
problem isn’t going away.
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Khawater Hussein (rear) plays in a
Powder Puff football game in 2014.
By ERIC A. HOWALD
I’ve lost track of how many times
the counters on the digital cameras
I use as part of my job have reset
themselves, and the cameras only
reset after 10,000 pictures.
Most of those pictures will nev-
er – thankfully – see the light of
day and the few I do remember
wouldn’t cause me to
extend all fi ve fi ngers
of one hand. But, ev-
ery once in a while,
an image sears into my
memory. One of them
is a photo of a McNary
High School senior
playing in the annual
Powder Puff football
game at the school in 2014.
In that photo, then-junior Gab-
by Jackson is running up the fi eld
slightly out of focus, but with her
best “game face” on. Trailing Jack-
son is then-senior Khawater Husse-
in, bright-faced with a gleeful smile,
under a hijab—the traditional head
covering worn by some Muslim
women. Eight months later, Kha-
water was chosen by her peers to
deliver the commencement address
at graduation. Her graduation cap
rested atop her hijab during the cer-
emony. My heart swelled with un-
expected pride in the students who
found connection in her words and
didn’t let differences in appearance
cloud their hearts.
I thought of Khawater again as
my family and I sat watching Arrival
at a Salem theater recently. Without
offering too many spoilers, here’s
the gist of the movie: aliens de-
scend on earth and it becomes the
responsibility of a university pro-
fessor to help the military decipher
their language and intentions. What
starts as an exploration of the un-
familiar quickly ramps up to crisis
when several other countries, with
their own teams working on the
problem, go dark and stop
communicating with the
other teams putting the hu-
man race and the aliens on
the path to confl ict.
One moment in particu-
lar stuck out to me. Oddly,
it had nothing to do with
the characters in the fi lm.
It was a sweeping shot of
the scene at one of the alien land-
ing sites showing a throng of cars
and campers, civilian onlookers and
gawkers, being held at bay by a mili-
tary barricade with the alien ship in
the distance.
My
13-year-old
daughter,
Ameya, sat next to me during the
movie and some of the implications
of travel bans came into sharper
focus. I couldn’t help but think of
Ameya and Khawater being held
apart from one another. I have no
idea what deep reservoir of strength
Khawater was tapping into on a
daily basis to don an overt symbol
of her Muslim faith, but I am cer-
tain I have never had to plumb such
depths. The thought that my daugh-
ter’s chances to learn from such a
woman – to share each other’s sto-
ries, the very thing that often so ef-
fectively bridges the gaps between
moments
of
lucidity
people of different backgrounds –
would be diminished by something
like the hastily-deployed travel ban
from seven predominately Muslim
countries opened up a vacuum in
my chest.
As I thought more on the movie
and it’s implications, I was remind-
ed of something once said by folk
hero Fred Rogers, aka Mr. Rogers,
whose PBS show was a major part
of my childhood routines, “There
isn’t anyone you couldn’t learn to
love once you’ve heard their story.”
It is possible that a travel ban
might make some feel safer, but it
seems like a fl imsy layer of protec-
tion. Even with the most extreme
vetting, or the most objectionable
of interrogation tactics, it wouldn’t
be enough to stop the most deter-
mined bad actors. Moreover, given
the circumstances of recent mass at-
tacks, bad actors don’t even have to
visit our soil, they need only con-
nect with someone already here and
willing to be infl uenced.
There have already been many
costs associated with the travel ban,
from separating families to a dimin-
ished view of our country in the
wider world, but there is no way
to account for the opportunities
we’ll miss out on if the ban is al-
lowed to stand. The ban prevents –
and excuses – us from doing the real
work of connecting with our fellow
world citizens. As hard as that work
may be, it is likely the only sure path
to security.
(Eric A. Howald is managing edi-
tor of the Keizertimes.)
Sanctuary cities are not a solve-all
Immigration, immigrants, refu-
gees, green cards, and illegals have
often found their way into topics of
discussion. Whether or not in each
case the individual or group of in-
dividuals found acceptance or re-
jection had a lot to do with their
point of origin. A welcome mat for
western Europeans while the door is
mostly shut for Asians.
My third generation Scotch-
American father entered a com-
munity of Finnish
immigrants, married
my second-generation
Finnish-Amer ican
mother, and then
along came me, an
American
who
views the Finns as
among the fi nest peo-
ple on earth while my
wife, a third generation Irish-Amer-
ican, affects my attention by affec-
tion.
In my youth, I lived in Ger-
many as a civilian for more than a
year as a student of their language. I
was treated very well and adopted
a caring for the German people
that’s endured to this day. I lived
in Canada for a few years although
I left due to anti-American senti-
ments. I also lived and worked in
Saudi Arabia for six years and ad-
opted considerably less caring for
the Saudis and other Arabs who
were employed there alongside me.
Although I never fl outed it, things
were diffi cult due to “Christian” on
my passport. Fact is, for everyone,
most of our views depend on how
and where we were “built.”
What’s relevant to all of us and the
quality of our lives here is this: How
many new arrivals can the U.S. han-
dle? And that goes for Oregon, too.
Is it that our nation and state shall be
the world’s dumping ground, fi lled
with overfl owing numbers from
elsewhere who have not been able to
keep their homelands livable. Here’s
my view in direct terms: I don’t care
from where anyone hails, their re-
ligion, their cultural tags, whatever,
we’ve got enough people in Oregon
and there’s very little room for more.
A handy example to underscore
my exploding population con-
cern looks at just one of Oregon’s
metro areas, Portland and its suburbs,
plus those folks who choose
to live in Vancouver and en-
virons, and down from PDX
to Wilsonville and over the
Willamette River immedi-
ately south of it. Then there
are the continuously grow-
ing-more-congested
met-
ro areas of Bend, Eugene,
Medford, Salem and others
underway, the burgeoning growth
around virtually every nook and
corner that’s habitable by the human
species.
When
Portland
is
men-
tioned, Oregonians I know turn
up their noses as they complain
about the high costs of everything,
lack of affordable rentals, the inch-
ing along or stalled traffi c, the gangs
and crime, the homeless and jobless,
the road rage and the infernal dif-
fi culty of getting anywhere a per-
son would want to go in that area.
There are just too many people and
the problems associated with it just
get worse with each passing year, so
much so that governance in most of
Oregon’s places is already in con-
stant crisis mode.
Meanwhile, every time an an-
nouncement is made about allowing
more refugees into Oregon, an addi-
tional number arrive here or nearby.
The impact of a bulging population
(Oregon already attracts the likes of
the Bundy gang, other American
gene h.
mcintyre
supremacists and native-born radi-
cal terrorists) spills over into every
direction. Oregon is now close to
devoured, while homes are built in
fi re-prone forests, farmland turns
into housing developments and the
radicals want to turn wildlife refug-
es and national parks into mining
pits, beef-raising ranches, residential
tracks, golf courses and shooting gal-
leries. Wherever one looks, with a
population of 4.3 million, we will
have reached population infi nity.
Read far and wide is that, if we don’t
get more refugees and increase the
population, we won’t have the brain
power and youth to sustain our way
of life.
At present, we have those who
want to protect and sustain sanctu-
ary campuses/cities/and the state of
Oregon with a no-matter-the-con-
sequences attitude, while our state
borders remain porous, illegals in
number are everywhere, and crimes
are committed in multiples every
day. Oregon’s legislators could work
together to control the state’s po-
litical and economic forces; unfor-
tunately, too many of our Capitol-
ensconced leaders, who could tackle
direly-needed tax reform and con-
trol those charitable groups and
sanctuaries that bring people here
and then place them on taxpayer
support in a state where the trea-
sury’s already depleted, can only pre-
tend to perform good works.
(Gene H. McIntyre’s column ap-
pears weekly in the Keizertimes.)
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