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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 2018)
FEBRUARY 23, 2018, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5 KeizerOpinion KEIZERTIMES.COM The children shall lead them After the massacre of 17 students and adults at Majory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, an affl uent suburb of Miami, survivors and students wasted no time in calling for action. The students de- manded action from Con- gress and the president to stop senseless mass killing sby gun. The call for action has swept the nation like a prairie fi re. Douglas High School student activists have called on their peers around the nation to also demand ac- tion from state and federal legislators. So far two events have been planned: the National School Walk- out on Wednesday, March 14, and the March of Our Lives on Saturday, March 24. As some are pointing out, the shooting in Parkland may prove a turning point in the gun control de- bate. Why? The survivors of Sandy Hook in Connecticut were too young to even conceive of a protest. The sur- vivors of the Las Vegas massacre were varied and not part of a homogenous group that could communicate some- thing like a protest. The survivors in Parkland have something in common: they are all students at the same high school. It is easier to rally with and share a message with one’s peers. The students in Parkland (and across the nation) are saavy enough to use the megaphone in front of them. The students who spoke on newscasts the day of the shooting proved to be articulate, knowledgeable and passion- ate. Our children have learned well. We should cheer the students in Parkland and elsewhere who are tak- ing a stand and protesting for changes in gun laws. When you see your friend or teacher shot down in cold blood, you have credibility when you demand action on guns. Some are saying the student activists are being riled up and led by out- side groups. You know that is not true when you see interviews with students who had no time to get any coaching from outsid- ers before talking to news reporters. The United States has a proud tra- dition of civil protest and civil diso- bidience. When our high school stu- dents take this route it is a teaching moment for us adults: our children have been watching and listening all the time. What do these students want to accomplish? None are advocating an outright ban of guns. They want to see actions that are supported by a major- ity of Americans: background checks on any purchase, limiting or banning assault gun weapons, banning of bump stocks. None of those actions, if en- acted, would take a gun away from an owner. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting is a tragedy and we shouldn’t have to go through some- thing like that again. The student’s ral- lying cry is “Enough is enough.” It’s a cry that should be taken up by those who represent us on the local and fed- eral level. If adults won’t lead on this issue, then we may not have a choice but to let the children lead us. —LAZ Road salt ing road surfaces ice free. But if the transportation agencies insist on the use of salt, then the legislature needs to increase fund- ing to the Department of Enviromental Quality and Department of Fish and Wildlife so that these agencies can begin studies of water bodies likely to receive the salty run- off. It is important to establish back- ground (before salt use) levels of sa- linity and other bio-markers so that future wetland monitoring can detect changes that could spell trouble. As we know, it is very diffi cult and expensive to repair and restore streams, ponds and lakes to good health once damage has occurred. Studies also show that salt damages road surfaces and related infrastructure and vehicles at an annual cost rang- ing in the millions of dollars. Damage from road salt use is far reaching. Jim Parr Keizer our opinion To the Editor: Before the state Depart- ment of Transportation and Oregon cities and commu- nities commit to the use or increased salt as a de-icing agent they should all con- sider the recently released results of studies on the use of salt in the North- east and Midwest. Long term studies in these areas now show that the use of salt on roads and highways has degraded the water quality of ponds, lakes, and other wa- terways into which the salt-laden run- off ultimately drains. And the results are not good. The studies show that there has been a negative impact to water qual- ity resulting in harm to fi sh, inverte- brates, amphibians and plants. In short, most forms of aquatic life have been damaged or are disappearing from the impacted waterways. There is no easy answer to keep- letters Let’s have that conversation By JONATHAN THOMPSON In a recent Keizertimes editorial entitled, Yet Another Conversation, the author appears to take issue with an upcoming event hosted by the Keizer Chamber of Commerce to discuss the future of River Road. The author is tired of more discussion on the topic and wants to see more action. We appreciate the Keiz- ertimes taking notice of our event and we hope they will come cover it. But this event is not happening out of thin air. Some context is helpful. The Keizer Chamber of Com- merce started planning this event late last year as the Keizer City Council was considering a change to city rules which would require businesses in town to put aside an amount equal to one percent of construction or re- modeling costs for “public amenities.” These amenities could have included benches, fountains or contributions to the City’s public art fund. When we at the Chamber started asking lo- cal folks what they thought of the proposed changes, we did not fi nd a lot of support. What we did get, is a lot of good ideas about the future of River Road. These ideas ranged from ways to encourage façade and landscape im- provements to doing nothing at all. We also heard many ideas in between. What was clear is that we need a larger conversation, in- cluding as many mem- bers of the community as possible. This brought us to the upcoming Com- munity Conversation. As the aforemen- tioned editorial notes, there has been a lot of talk around the future of River Road. We do not intend to recreate the wheel. We have invited representatives from the city to take us through that history as a starting point. Many great things have hap- pened along River Road and we want to build on those. We take issue with two parts of the column in particular. First, that “talk is cheap, we’ve talked before.” Talk may be cheap, but if we had not talked to members of our community during the debate on the one percent public amenities proposal last fall we would have never heard some of the voices in our community which have a right to be heard. Good public pol- icy is made by engaging stakeholders. Second, the author of the column guest column Wheatland Publishing Corp. 142 Chemawa Road N. • Keizer, Oregon 97303 Phone: 503.390.1051 • www.keizertimes.com MANAGING EDITOR Eric A. Howald editor@keizertimes.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR SUBSCRIPTIONS Derek Wiley news@keizertimes.com ADVERTISING Paula Moseley advertising@keizertimes.com PRODUCTION MANAGER & GRAPHIC DESIGNER EDITOR & PUBLISHER Lyndon Zaitz publisher@keizertimes.com One year: $25 in Marion County, $33 outside Marion County, $45 outside Oregon PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY Publication No: USPS 679-430 Andrew Jackson graphics@keizertimes.com POSTMASTER Send address changes to: LEGAL NOTICES legals@keizertimes.com Keizertimes Circulation BUSINESS MANAGER 142 Chemawa Road N. Laurie Painter Keizer, OR 97303 billing@keizertimes.com RECEPTION Lori Beyeler INTERN Periodical postage paid at Salem, Oregon Random Pendragon facebook.com/keizertimes twitter.com/keizertimes (Jonathan Thompson is a local small business owner and chair of the Government Affairs Commit- tee at the Keizer Chamber of Com- merce. ) An education overhaul needed to face future A small group of lawmakers in the House and Senate are recognized for pushing forward with serious pro- posals to overhaul the nation’s higher education system. These legislators are known for their track record to make things happen. What they’re looking at is the Higher Education Act of 1965 that includes the en- tire federal loan system that has not been up- dated in more than a decade. Then, too, and perhaps most important, these offi ce-holders in D.C. view the overhaul as addressing economic implications that would ad- dress the skills gap to fi ll the more than 6 million job openings going vacant in the U.S. Further, the effort is very timely as the nation’s colleges and universi- ties seek to redefi ne themselves in a rapidly changing market where they can become more affordable, acces- sible and relevant to the ever-growing number of youth and adults in low- income fi nancial situations. Some of the interest in this matter, too, comes from the need to counteract the trend throughout America where a huge number of high schoolers do not graduate and those who do get to col- lege, fail to stay to certifi cate or degree status. Reports out of Washington on this subject indicate that, in the Senate, Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, who chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and rank- ing member Senator Patty Murray, D-WA, are calling for movement. Of course, these two movers and shak- ers will need the help of many Sen- ate colleagues but have won the hearts and minds of their fellow senators in past efforts to get things of conse- quence accomplished. The pair of senators held fi ve committee hearings last year though they’ve been at the matter for the past four years and thereby have a foundation upon which to build. These principal legislators have already proven once that they can “thread a needle” by crafting the re-write of No Child Left Behind a couple of years ago. Some diplomacy, however, will be required for the “majors” to work together as the confi rmation of Sec- retary of Education Betsy DeVos re- sulted in bad feelings all around. Negativity appears to rule over at the U.S. House of Representa- tives as efforts there have been al- most exclusively along party lines. House Republicans have proposed some non- starters for the Democrats that include the elimina- tion by GOP members of several federal grants, lower cost repayment programs and protection of student loan borrowers who have been defrauded by for-profi t col- leges. The contest in the House has Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., versus Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., so heavy- duty negotiations remain for progress to occur. It has been recognized for years that we’d do better, much bet- ter, at education and training out- comes by combining them as one contiguous activity. A treatise on this subject could be written but suffi ce it to say that we could and should do more to integrate theory with practice from beginning to completion in our schools and, later, colleges and univer- sities. Stating the matter another way, instead of sitting our youth at desks or in lecture halls to exclusive rote mem- ory by lecture and book learning, they would learn at every step and stage of their development to relate what they gene h. mcintyre Keizertimes wants to see action. We agree. While talking is not necessarily action, do- ing something just to look like you are doing something is a great way to end up with a mess. Let’s hear from as many people as possible and listen to the folks who will be paying the bills before we act. At the Keizer Chamber of Com- merce, we are looking forward to hearing from as many members of the community as possible about the future of River Road. Those who may want to see fountains and pedes- trian malls have no more or less right to be heard than those who think River Road is fi ne and do not want to change it. No matter what you want River Road to look like, and whether or not you are a member of the Keizer Chamber of Commerce, we want to hear from you. Join us in the next phase of a discussion of the future of your city. We look forward to seeing you at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at the Keizer Civic Center. learn to practical applications. This kind of route to preparation would of necessity require a close rela- tionship between schools/colleges and work places of all kinds, a coming to- gether that’s found at community col- leges but much less so in K-12 school districts and four-year institutions of higher learning. A process like this requires teachers in schools along with professors in colleges to provide our youth with exposure to jobs and careers that piggyback on interests and aptitudes. Suggested motto for new American curriculum at all lev- els: Heads-engaged always, hands-on ready. Among many other relevant edu- cation and training-related matters is the ability to recognize fact from fi c- tion, truth from lies, reputable sources from propaganda, hyperbole, under- statement and the illogical. The 2016 election proved that many Americans do not recognize false news and gross exaggerations and were infl uenced ac- cordingly by Russian agents disguised as Americans out to sabotage our democracy. If our youth and young adults were able to determine what’s accurate and not accurate informa- tion, we’d be a nation of people safer from devious, insidious manipulations. Education and training is available to teach and practice our youth so that in the future the average Ameri- can is less easily, even seldom, hardly ever, bamboozled and thereby misled. (Gene H. McIntyre lives in Keizer.)
