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NOVEMBER 3, 2017, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5 KeizerOpinion KEIZERTIMES.COM Sex reporting will do more harm than good Salem-Keizer School District’s decision to enforce a standing Or- egon law is causing quite a stir. The law the district is instructing its teachers and staff to follow is Or- egon statute 163.315, which says a person under the age of 18 is inca- pable of consenting to a sexual act. The child abuse man- datory reporting guide- line requires teachers and other school employees to report if they believe two students under the age of 18 are having sex, even if one of their own children is involved. The renewed focus on this issue came after a member of the com- munity asked for clarifi cation of the statute. Every story has two sides. The school district responded to a ques- tion and decided that the exist- ing state law needed to be heeded. Teachers were informed by the school district that they would need to take additional mandatory reporting training. The response from teachers and students alike was swift and gener- ally opposed to the school district’s focus. Rightly, some teachers expressed that many students turn to them or school counselors to discuss inti- mate details of their lives including sex. That’s because some house- holds do not welcome discussions of sex, especially discussions of gen- der identifi cation. Teachers invite and welcome discussions with students because they understand how home life can be for some kids. Some par- ents think the schools should take the lead on sex education; others think that sex education should stay at home. The point is moot: what some think should happen is not happening and everyone needs to adjust accordingly. Many students feel that their teachers, coaches or counselors are the only adults they can discuss topics such as sex with. That trust should not be shunted aside so the school district can tell the commu- nity they are following the letter of the law. What would a reasonable per- son think? Kids shouldn’t be hav- ing sex? That train left the station centuries ago—heck, even Romeo and Juliet were in their early teens, you can bet no medieval adult was reporting them to the throne. Underage people having sex with each other is not new. The parents of every generation dat- ing back 75 years have lamented their children’s lascivious ways. For a reasonable person who is con- cerned about teen pregnancy, statis- tics show that rates are down sharply over the past decade. Research also shows that the Mil- lenial Generation is putting off many things that defi ne a person as an adult, and includes sex. Mandatory reporting laws are good when it concerns victims. An underage person having consensual or non-consensual sex with an adult is illegal and should be reported and prosecuted. The truth is that in 2017 our kids are facing more deadly issues, especially the nation’s current opi- oid/heroin problem. We can ask our teachers to report when they hear of kids having consensual sex, but we would rather our teachers report on drug use. Oregonians may not be dying at the hands of heroin and opi- oids at the rate of some other hard hit states, but the danger is very real here. It is not just opioids and heroin on which we must remain vigilant—still, too many kids help themselves to prescriptive drugs they fi nd in their home. We don’t think underage sex is harmless. There are sexually trans- mitted diseases to be concerned about. There is the shaming and bullying that girls are subject to when words gets around that they are active. There are gender iden- tifi cation issues as well as body is- sues that can be negative. Those can create long-term, low self-esteem issues that can last for years. No, underage sex is not harmless, but it needs to be put in perspective. The message, like don’t do drugs, is don’t have sex. We should work very hard to keep our kids away from and off of drugs. Parents and our schools should work in tan- dem to talk to their kids and their students. That will work best if our kids feel comfortable talking to their parents or an adult, otherwise the whole issue is shoved under- ground where we can’t get at it. —LAZ our opinion Real news about a fake dossier By DEBRA J. SAUNDERS After months of going after “fake news,” President Donald Trump has found a story about a “fake dossier” that he clearly takes to be real news. Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn this week, Trump said that a Washington Post story connecting Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign to a dossier that alleged his 2016 campaign had ties with Moscow was a “disgrace” and “a very sad commen- tary on politics in this country.” The president has long main- tained that stories linking Vladimir Putin’s Russia with his campaign were “fake news” and that investi- gations into possible collusion be- tween Moscow and his camp were part of a “witch hunt.” On Tuesday, the Post tossed some fuel into that fi re when it report- ed that the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee had paid for opposition research by the fi rm Fusion GPS, which had commissioned a dossier that alleged Russian operatives had “been cul- tivating, supporting and assisting” Trump for at least fi ve years. The dossier—really a collec- tion of memos that included un- confi rmed salacious gossip about Trump—was written by former British intelligence agent Christo- pher Steele. According to news re- ports, the FBI has confi rmed por- tions of the 35-page document, but information about a “clandestine meeting” between Kremlin repre- sentatives and a Trump lawyer in Prague has been discredited. The Post story sent ripples through Washington. Shortly af- ter the story went online, New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Kenneth P. Vogel took to Twit- ter to grouse about Democratic op- eratives lying to them. “I do think it’s weird that the DNC never ‘fessed up,” observed Republican political consultant Mike Murphy. DNC Communica- tions Director Xochitl Hinojosa told the Post that Chairman “Tom Per- ez and the new leadership of the DNC were not in- volved in any decision-making re- garding Fusion GPS, nor were they aware that Perkins Coie (a DNC and Clinton campaign law fi rm) was working with the organization.” Be it noted Perez did not become chairman until February 2017. Former Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon tweeted, “I regret I didn’t know about Christo- pher Steele’s hiring pre-election. If I had, I would have volunteered to go to Europe and try to help him.” There’s a mystery in the story— who is the Republican client who hired Fusion GPS to gather dirt on Trump during the contentious GOP primary? According to The Washington Post, the opposition re- search fi rm later passed the infor- mation on to Perkins Coie attorney Marc E. Elias. Murphy, who ran a super PAC that supported former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the 2016 primary, said he does not believe rumors that a Bush supporter was the original contractor. “If it was JebWorld, I think I would have known about it.” “How does something like that end up on the desk of the FBI?” other views asked Mark Corallo, a GOP com- munications strategist who briefl y worked on Trump’s private legal team. “It’s a political document, please.” The FBI has some explaining to do. Former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump later fi red, took the dossier so seriously that he stayed behind after a Jan. 6 briefi ng to discuss it with then President- elect Trump. In addition, both The New York Times and Washington Post have reported that the FBI had agreed to pay Steele to continue gathering more information on Trump and Russia. The FBI ended the arrangement after news reports outed Steele. Tom Fitton of the government watchdog group Judicial Watch tweeted, “Hmm, Clinton campaign operatives talk to Russian offi cials to fi nd dirt on @RealDonaldTrump... is that collusion?” While the Post article is based on anonymous sources and there has been no investigation, Trump seems to have already made up his mind about the story. “Well, I think it’s very sad what they’ve done with this fake dossier,” Trump said. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, whose bid to discover who was paying Fusion GPS may have set into motion The Washington Post story, responded, “Now that we know who funded the Steele dossier, the next step is for the FBI and Department of Jus- tice to comply, quickly, with the Intelligence Committee subpoenas for documents showing how intel- ligence agencies used information from the dossier and what steps they took to verify its veracity.” (Creators Syndicate) Is our democracy under threat? Keizertimes Wheatland Publishing Corp. • 142 Chemawa Road N. • Keizer, Oregon 97303 phone: 503.390.1051 • web: www.keizertimes.com • email: kt@keizertimes.com MANAGING EDITOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR Derek Wiley news@keizertimes.com SUBSCRIPTIONS ADVERTISING Paula Moseley advertising@keizertimes.com PRODUCTION MANAGER & GRAPHIC DESIGNER Andrew Jackson graphics@keizertimes.com legals@keizertimes.com EDITOR & PUBLISHER Lyndon Zaitz publisher@keizertimes.com BUSINESS MANAGER Laurie Painter billing@keizertimes.com One year: $25 in Marion County, $33 outside Marion County, $45 outside Oregon PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY Publication No: USPS 679-430 POSTMASTER Send address changes to: Keizertimes Circulation 142 Chemawa Road N. Keizer, OR 97303 RECEPTION Lori Beyeler INTERN Random Pendragon facebook.com/keizertimes tral and state governments are being pushed and shoved around by the special interests that receive their marching orders from corporations and other special interests and it’s the lobbyists from these and them- selves that end up telling our rep- resentative what to do and actually writing far too many of our new laws and policies. Reforms in this area of operations are long overdue to preserve what’s left of our threat- ened U.S. democracy. The worst of these abuses today can be seen in the industries of banking, energy, in- vestment housing, defense and arms contracting, corporation agriculture and high-end real estate dealings. What some of us see close to dominating all public life in these United States is called kleptocra- cy. Essentially, it is a term used to describe a form of government so cor- rupt and incompetent it’s totally opaque. Although a pejorative term, klep- tocracy denotes a govern- ment wherein the com- mon people are burdened with heavy taxation so that those in charge, the rulers and their cronies, can amass more and more enormous amounts of money in their personal accounts. A kleptocratic regime ends up with a major portion of govern- ment funds in the hands of a few corrupt offi cials with lip service or no service given to the needs of the state and its people. Creeping authoritarianism is allowed to hap- pen when more and more citizens grant absolute and unquestioning authority and provide obedience to the ruling authority. Such a regime guest column Eric A. Howald editor@keizertimes.com LEGAL NOTICES By GENE H. McINTYRE Ideally, if democracy in practice is the mainstay of a functioning government, the power must come from and remain with the people. Elections are held and citizens are able to vote for the candidate they feel will best represent their wants and needs. The central principle behind a democracy is that of rep- resentation. It was the foundation for the U.S. Constitution as that was the character of the nation they intended after a revolution that freed the people from venal and corrupt British monarchical rule, conditions the founding fa- thers did not want to re-establish in their new country. Freedom is a large part of democ- racy. Freedom of thought, worship, speech and action (as- suming action is peace- ful and within the limits of established law) are the backbone around which our government is built. Freedoms in the American context have been those by which individuals can grow and develop and pursue their per- sonal dreams and goals. A democ- racy seeks to foster growth in the arts, sciences, literature, invention and innovations of all kinds, believ- ing that when people are free to work as they see fi t they will have the opportunity to contribute to their community and the society- at-large. Some of us, including this opin- ion writer, are inclined to see seri- ous threats to our 200-plus year effort at establishing and sustaining a democracy. We see that the cen- Periodical postage paid at Salem, Oregon twitter.com/keizertimes starts as duly elected but slowly and surely gravitates to all means pos- sible in control of the state and its people. Ultimately, the upshot of all this is that radical groups form to stop the corruption and denial of services to most, including now, as mainly hate groups like White Na- tionalists, Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis, Breitbart News and others as well as al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, Haqqani, ISIS, Taliban and others overseas that intend to overthrow established order. When a nation’s elected and ap- pointed leaders continue to hold onto their investments and appre- ciate huge gains in their private wealth, when the personal-gain fi nancial transactions that people in power carry out go unnoticed and ignored, when money transfers are placed in secret bank accounts overseas, when tax facts are hid- den, when subordinates are com- promised into silence by payoffs and gifts, when family members of the ruler become the arbiters of power, status and privilege, and those per- sons in charge, and at the ruler’s strict direction plunder for them- selves and their wealthy pals, the na- tion’s money and resources it spells kleptocracy. Take a long and hard look around my fellow Americans. (Gene H. McIntyre lives in Keizer.) Share your opinion Email a letter to the editor (300 words) by noon Tuesday. Email to: publisher@keizertimes.com