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PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, APRIL 7, 2017 KeizerOpinion KEIZERTIMES.COM All share burden to get college- bound students scholarship info This time of year high school seniors are rushing to fi ll out and submit applications for college scholarships. Each June McNary High School releases the names of all the students who have received scholarships. It is overwhelm- ing to see the num- ber of scholarships that are awarded each year. Some students are recipients of more than one scholarship, and good for them, they worked to maintain the grades needed to get a scholarship, plus they or someone they know were aware of where to look for scholarship money. There is always more money on the table to ask for. Some organiza- tions are not very vocal about their scholarship programs, others have a hard time getting enough applicants to make the awarding process com- petitive. There has to be a more effi cient way for the school district in gener- al and McNary High School in par- ticular to spread the message far and wide within the school community of the scholarship money that is available. That should start with an understanding of the requirements of each scholarship—some require certain grade point averages or cer- tain extracurricular activities. Oth- ers are awarded on fi nancial need, while others are awarded on little more than an essay by the applicant. Every student who has a desire to continue their education into college should be given access to all the information about what is available in the way of fi nancial assistance oth- er than federal or private loans. If there are students who be- lieve they can never be eligible for a scholarship, then they are being ill-served. There are any number of scholarships that are awarded more on the basis of character of the stu- dent than their GPA or activities. The school should not bear the burden alone of getting scholarship applications into the hands of stu- dents. Students and their parents/ guardians should educate them- selves on what scholarships are available and not take themselves out of the running before knowing if it is viable option for them. The width and breath of schol- arship offerings are staggering and there is something for everybody. Time is running short for students and their parents alike to research and apply. Every student can be eli- gible for a scholarship, they have to fi nd the right one. —LAZ Fix what’s needed to win championship game. Barring a catastrophe, the Ducks will make another run in March of 2018. What’s needed is a team with disci- pline enough to remain steady and undeterred no matter what, exampled this year by Gonzaga. It is surmised that there’s a hidden-to-the-observer psychological factor that seems to prevail too many times: Is it a team member’s temperament? Are the Ducks not physically in shape suffi - cient to not tire before games’ end? Do they not practice plays and shots equal to the demands of the court? Is there a coaching defect? This year’s Ducks team was made up of outstanding athletes. Yet, something’s not right, and, if not corrected, it’s argued, will most likely result in another shortcoming season 2017-18. Gene H. McIntyre Keizer our opinion letters To the Editor: Supreme sports basket- ball greatness was denied the Oregon Ducks by last Saturday’s game. Mean- while, a loss by one point in the NCAA Final Four surely qualifi es for heartbreak status. Nevertheless, the narrow loss in the fi nal game for the national championship came as no big surprise to this alumnus and long-time fan. How so? Well, Oregon began the past season with a couple of losses that were not expected of a highly- ranked team: one widely believed would do well at basketball compe- tition from Pac-12 to March Mad- ness contests. Then, too, the Ducks came close to losing several games even at March Madness while hav- ing already inexplicably losing to Colorado and then the Pac-12 Share your opinion Email a guest opinion (550 words) or a letter to the editor (300 words) by noon Tuesday. Email to: publisher@keizertimes.com Neil Gorsuch must be a bad man By DEBRA J. SAUNDERS A favorite truism in Washington these days is: “Be careful what you wish for; you may get it.” It tells the cautionary tale of how Republicans who wanted to run Washington got what they wanted and now must gov- ern. I offer my own quote for the swamp: “Be careful what you scorn; you may someday become it.” It has been a favorite pastime of elected Demo- crats to poke fun at the House Freedom Caucus because the rump is ideologically ex- treme and frequently self-destructive. Senate Democrats now seem poised to overtake the Freedom Caucus in the race away from moderation and in the ability to shoot one’s party in the foot. To wit, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is primed to block the U.S. Supreme Court confi rmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch. Gorsuch is the one choice President Donald Trump made and executed fl awlessly. In September 2016, Trump released a list of 21 judges from which he pledged to pick a Supreme Court nominee. Gorsuch, 49, was on the list. Gorsuch has such solid credentials that the American Bar Association unanimously rated him “well quali- fi ed” to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court—its highest rating. In other words, Trump did not pick a fl ame- thrower. George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley, who is no Trump fan, argues that Gorsuch is a smart choice because of the Colo- radan’s intellect. In USA Today, Turley wrote that he does not expect Gor- such to change his “deep and well-es- tablished jurisprudential views,” which are conservative. “However, I expect he will go wherever his conscience takes him regardless of whether it proves a track to the left or the right.” As Gorsuch told the Senate Judi- ciary Committee during his confi rma- tion hearings, “It is the role of judges to apply, not alter, the work of the people’s representatives. A judge who likes every outcome he reaches is very likely a bad judge.” In 2006 the Senate confi rmed Gorsuch’s appointment to the Denver-based 10th Circuit Court of Appeals by unanimous consent. Schumer was in the Senate at the time. So how could Schumer tell The Washington Post on Thursday that it is “virtually impos- sible” to expect him and a majority of the Senate’s 47 other Democrats not to fi libuster Gorsuch and deny him a simple up-or-down vote? In the new Democratic order, Gor- such must be extreme because he is conservative and thus by defi nition lacks empathy. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., captured that view in a statement in which she expressed con- cern “that his narrow view of the law will hurt the most vulnerable amongst us.” Masto continued: “I am not confi - dent that Judge Gorsuch understands how his decisions will impact workers, immigrants, women’s health and eco- nomic security, disabled Americans, and the everyday Nevadans that I am here fi ghting for.” During his confi rmation hearings, Gorsuch took on Democrats who suggested that he should rule based on who might get hurt, not on the law other views itself. “If the law can change so easily as that,” Gorsuch said, “where’s the due process to the individual, the person who doesn’t have an army of lawyers?” That is, Gorsuch made compelling ar- guments for judicial restraint. Compelling arguments don’t cut it in this toxic partisan atmosphere. During Barack Obama’s presidency, Democrats on Capitol Hill frequently bemoaned the obstructionism of the right. Now they try to block whatever Trump wants and call it “resistance”— with a smart, well-respected moderate conservative, in this case, as their target. The worst part is, they know that this maneuver is not good for liberal- ism or the country. Nonetheless, they are prodding Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to extend the “nuclear option” introduced by his Democratic predecessor, Harry Reid, to block a fi libuster and allow an up- or-down vote. They seem not to care that ending the fi libuster would enable Trump to name a much less moderate conserva- tive for the next Supreme Court va- cancy. At a recent fundraiser, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., warned about the dangers of ending the fi libuster. “I’m very uncomfortable being part of a strategy that’s going to open up the Supreme Court to a complete change,” she said. But by Friday, McCaskill an- nounced that she would vote against Gorsuch and support a fi libuster to stop him. Democrats share something with the far-right GOP base of 2016: Their elected offi cials are more afraid of the party base than of voters. (Creators Syndicate) Sexism still lurks in the workplace By MICHAEL GERSON Reading the accumulated sexual harassment accusations against Fox News host Bill O’Reilly and former network executive Roger Ailes is like a quick dip in a sew- age treatment pond. After even a brief exposure, the stench stays with you for days. If the accusations of dozens of women over two decades are correct— and it is hard to dismiss them, as the accused have done, as unbalanced, dishonest or disgruntled—then Fox News is the focus of hypocrisy in the modern world. While preaching traditional values, it has operated, according to former Fox anchor Andrea Tantaros, “like a sex-fueled, Playboy Man- sion-like cult, steeped in intimida- tion, indecency and misogyny.” A recent New York Times story detailing $13 million in payouts to women accusing O’Reilly of ha- rassment depicts a corporate atmo- sphere of predation and enablement. Stories on Ailes present a similar (and even worse) picture of women treated as sex objects and employ- ment benefi ts. All this could be a grand, elabo- rate calumny. But the culture de- scribed by the women coming for- ward rings true. A culture in which powerful, older men exploit, sully and destroy the hopes and ambi- tions of young women for the ben- efi t of their own appetites. Then, over cigars and whiskey, they say things like: “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.” This statement made by Donald Trump describes not the pleasures of the fl esh, but the pleasures of the bully. Not just ridiculous-looking lechery, but genuine cruelty. What emerges in these cases is more than just the violation of standards by an individual; it is a systemic problem, a sys- temic failure. An institu- tion is defi ned by what it accomplishes, but also by what it tolerates. Ac- cording to these reports, Fox News has tolerated a pattern of procure- ment and exploitation. Loyalty has been twisted into complicity. Shameful things have not been treated as shameful. Disqualifying things have not been disqualifying. This should matter in any set- ting, but it matters particularly in the news business. The ethos of a newspaper, cable network or web- site infl uences the fi nal product. At The Washington Post the new motto is “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” At Fox, this ethos has involved, ac- cording to The New Yorker’s Marga- ret Talbot, “the fetishization of hot female news presenters.” And this, it seems, has doubled as a kind of conveyor belt for bright new faces. Can it really be a coincidence that feminism is often dismissed on Fox News as so much political correct- ness? Can a news organization deal adequately with women’s issues when you would never allow your own daughter to work there? It is worth pausing here to admit that my criticism of Fox has been too comprehensive. Any network that includes Bret Baier, Dana Peri- no and Chris Wallace is often worth watching. Fox has been an alter- native to leftward-slanting media, and a place where the worst sorts michael gerson Keizertimes Wheatland Publishing Corp. • 142 Chemawa Road N. • Keizer, Oregon 97303 phone: 503.390.1051 • web: www.keizertimes.com • email: kt@keizertimes.com SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGING EDITOR Eric A. Howald editor@keizertimes.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Derek Wiley news@keizertimes.com One year: $25 in Marion County, $33 outside Marion County, $45 outside Oregon PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY ADVERTISING Publication No: USPS 679-430 Paula Moseley advertising@keizertimes.com POSTMASTER Send address changes to: PRODUCTION MANAGER Andrew Jackson Keizertimes Circulation graphics@keizertimes.com 142 Chemawa Road N. LEGAL NOTICES Keizer, OR 97303 legals@keizertimes.com EDITOR & PUBLISHER Lyndon Zaitz publisher@keizertimes.com BUSINESS MANAGER Laurie Painter billing@keizertimes.com Periodical postage paid at Salem, Oregon RECEPTION Lori Beyeler facebook.com/keizertimes twitter.com/keizertimes of political correctness have been exposed. And the parent company of Fox News is instituting some changes, including sensitivity train- ing. But I bet that Fox would not fea- ture my next argument: Sometimes conservatives need liberals. (Some- times liberals need conservatives as well, which is the topic for another day.) For more than 40 years, liberals have talked about sexual harassment and the need for equal treatment in the workplace. They have organized, argued and sued. And they were ex- actly right. The routine sexism of a previous generation was wrong and oppressive. And it persists. A certain kind of Fox viewer will never fi nd this persuasive. They think that boys will be boys, and men should be manly, and oppo- nents are snowfl akes, and women should just learn to lump it or leave. But it is hard for me to imagine how Christian conservatives—a major Fox demographic—could avoid choking on such rotted val- ues. The way that women are treat- ed in the workplace —or at home, or anywhere else—should refl ect a belief in human equality and a com- mitment to human dignity. And the proper reaction when reading about the cases of O’Reilly and Ailes is re- vulsion. We like to think that this kind of America is behind us -- that only the crusty leftovers of workplace sexism remain. But we are a nation that tolerated misogyny in the elec- tion of our current president. And when you are a Fox star, evidently, you can still do anything. You can do anything. (Washington Post Writers Group)