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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (June 29, 2018)
JUNE 29, 2018, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5 KeizerOpinion KEIZERTIMES.COM The kids are watching I don’t understand discrimina- tion, racism or prejudice. I know what the words mean, it’s just that I can’t wrap my head around the people who harbor such views. As human beings we all have our biases, we generally are uncomfort- able with things that are different or unknown to us. It is tragic that peo- ple are subjected to verbal threats, taunts and physi- cal harm. Where does hate for another person come from? We certainly are not born with hate in our hearts and minds, so it must come from the environment. Chil- dren copy what they see either at home or in public. If a child sees that a negative behavior has no con- sequences the only conclusion for that child is that it is alright to call someone by a slur or threaten harm. These days some misguided peo- ple are letting law enforcement do their discriminating. It is beyond the pale to think that a white person would call 9-1-1 to report a black person doing what people do all the time: barbecuing in a park, waiting for a friend at a restaurant, taking a nap in a public library or even sell- ing water in front of their home. It is troubling when people who call the police in such situations don’t express remorse or say they were wrong for calling law enforce- ment.Some jurisdictions have laws against frivously calling a 9-1-1 ser- vice. What could be more frivolous that calling the police on a little girl selling water in from of her own home to fund a trip to Disneyland? Pundits write that people are worried that their ‘way of life’ is ebbing away as minority popula- tions grow in this country. Remem- ber that “I want my country back” was a rallying cry during the 2016 presidential campaign. That senti- ment hurts my sensibilities. America used to proudly boast that the United States was a great melting pot of people from all cor- ners of the globe. This country has always had a tough stance against all immigrants. The Irish were not welcomed with open arms, nor the Italians. Asians, especially Chinese, were dealt a particularly harsh hand in the 19th century, even excluded by Congress and the courts. It is not much different today for people arriving from our neighbors to the south or from the Middle East or Africa. Do bad people get into the United States? Sure, as it has always been. That doesn’t justify hating a whole people due to the actions of a small percent- age. Diversity and inclusion is good for anything— countries, companies, communities. I spent this past weekend in Seattle. It was Pride Weekend and tens of thousands of people of different colors, genders, sexual orientations and ages mixed effortlessly on the streets of the city, including the four-hour pride pa- rade downtown. No city, regardless of how big or small, is immune from acts of racism and discrimination.So it was won- derful to spend a weekend in the big city where a rainbow of people mix together, all sharing a message of inclusion, acceptance and toler- ance. It is harder to be frightened or wary of someone who is differ- ent if you know them. There was a shared energy on the tightly packed sidewalks during the parade because they all shared a message—everyone is important. People who are different from us are not dangerous, they are not out to harm us; we all want the same thing: to live in peace for ourselves and our families. Anyone will recip- rocate in kind when treated with respect and fairness. My way of life is not threatened because a Sikh wears a turban or a Saudi-born woman wears a burqa. I have learned from living in other areas that diversity is important, my life is richer because I have known and befriended those different than myself. How? I have gained respect for traditions and customs other than my own. I have learned that things I take for granted are not al- ways good for others. Social change begins with each of us. We can lessen discrimination, racism and sexism in our society by remembering that our kids mirror what we do. Accept others with re- spect and tolerance and our future generations will too. on my mind Vaccine rates not bad at all (Lyndon Zaitz is publisher of the Keizertimes.) Oregon’s unvaccinated rate is 7.5 percent. This is simply untrue. In a 2018 memo to the Governor, OHA stated, “The vast majority of Oregon par- ents choose to fully im- munize their children.” According to the memo, the uptake for every school vac- cine is well over 90 percent. Why did OHA then issue a press release with the foreboding title of sharply increasing exemption rates, picked up by newspapers statewide? Is it to pave the way for an attempt in 2019 to remove Oregonians’ medi- cal freedom, under the guise of an emergency? Darcy Rapoza Salem letters To the Editor: Recently, there have been multiple newspa- per articles sounding the alarm that Oregon’s vac- cine exemption rate for kindergarten students has sharply risen. Is this true, or is there more to the data than people understand? The truth is that 22 vaccines are required for school. Someone receiving 21 of 22 shots, is still captured by the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) as exempt. “Ex- empt” quickly morphs to “unvac- cinated” in the press, and the pub- lic’s mind. According to the OHA Immunization Program, for 2018, the numbrer of K-12 students with a non-medical exemption to all 22 required vaccines is only 2.6 per- cent. But that is not the number that is reported anywhere. Many legislators misstate that Share your opinion Email a letter to the editor. Deadline is noon Tuesday. Email to: publisher@keizertimes.com Separation anxiety By DEBRA J. SAUNDERS It’s June and the crush of undocu- mented immigrants at the U.S. bor- der with Mexico has hit a crisis point. Government offi cials are housing migrants in tents and separating some children from their parents. Tens of thousands of unaccom- panied minors attempt to cross the southern border; some 90,000 are expected to be apprehended by year’s end. A former top admin- istration offi cial defends the government’s policy: “We have to send a clear message. Just because your child gets across the border, that doesn’t mean your child gets to stay.” The year was 2014. Barack Obama was president and the quote was ut- tered by Hillary Clinton, Obama’s secretary of state from 2009 to 2013 who also plainly stated that thousands of children “should be sent back” to their families. So why are news outlets treating the 2018 border crisis as if it is the worst? First, President Donald Trump is the fi rst president in recent memory to push strong enforcement of feder- al immigration law. His “zero-toler- ance” policy announced in April di- rected immigration offi cials to charge and detain all undocumented immi- grants apprehended at the border, which led to mass family separations. The Obama administration split families and housed migrants in tents, but it also released many apprehend- ed at the border while giving them orders to appear before an immigra- tion judge. This is the system Trump derides as “catch and release” -- a system discredited by the high number of benefi ciaries who don’t show up at court. According to federal statis- tics, 25 percent of the 186,434 immigration cases completed for 2016 were decided in absentia -- meaning the undocu- mented immigrant didn’t show up. Second, Trump’s rhet- oric is infl ammatory and words have consequences. When he announced his candi- dacy in 2015, Trump described im- migrants from Mexico as criminals, drug dealers and rapists. Just last week he said immigrants “infest our coun- try.” Trump didn’t enhance his cred- ibility when he blamed Democrats for forcing family separations, trying to paper over the fact that “zero tol- erance” was his administration’s deci- sion. Also, the point of the family sepa- ration is to deter more families from making the dangerous trek to the border -- but that’s the point Trump low balls. Third, politics and media bias lean against enforcement. Broadcast news outlets have aired heart-breaking scenes of children crying for their parents -- with no context. News organizations ran photos of a crying two-year-old Honduran girl who represented victims of family separa- debra j. saunders Wheatland Publishing Corp. • 142 Chemawa Road N. • Keizer, Oregon 97303 phone: 503.390.1051 • web: www.keizertimes.com • email: kt@keizertimes.com Lyndon A. Zaitz, Editor & Publisher SUBSCRIPTIONS 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 Periodical postage paid at Salem, Oregon (Creators Syndicate) We need to assure we have clean, potable water Generalizations about us don’t al- ways apply to all humans. However, it’s generally recognized and agreed upon that a human body can go two to three days without water and 30 to 40 days without food of any kind. Water is clearly the most important requirement with an average of eight to ten cups of water needed to re- plenish what the human body loses each day. Unfortunately, water supplies all over the world are more and more often polluted and thereby a danger to health and a threat to life itself. Western Oregon has been often recognized, due to the state’s forested regions, mountain ranges and dependable and suf- fi cient annual rainfall, as one of those places on the planet whose water supply would remain healthy and drinkable even if the re- mainder of humankind had to heav- ily fi lter the water or desalinate it. That may remain true for places out- side of Portland and Salem but not now in Oregon’s “Rose” and “Capi- tal” cities. Locally, it could cost millions to make Salem’s water potable again. However, some argue that long-term, less costly and much more practical solutions to consider must include phasing out industrial tree plantations that work by clearcutting, chemicals and fertilizers. Industrial logging practices are one of several underlying causes of the toxic blue- green algae (cyanobacteria) outbreak contaminating Detroit Reservoir and North Santiam River. Coupled with climate change, latter day practices destroy otherwise perfect drinking water conditions. Common knowledge on the sub- ject comes to us from science. Toxic algal blooms thrive in warm, slow moving water contaminated by nu- trients and chemicals that assist in their growth. Then, too, clearcut wa- tersheds lose their soil moisture and provide less water during periods of low rainfall while any streams run slower and warmer—often by 2.6 degrees—than in those under nor- mal full-forested conditions. These conditions have been studied and it has been proven that heavily logged watersheds have at least 50 percent or less water in them during dry and drought durations. Thus, algae thrive in nearby lakes and streams. Another cause for algae come from chemicals and fertilizers liberally used on tree-growing plantations. Applications of herbicides and atrazine always fi nd their way in rivers and lakes. The use of them in Lake Erie brought Toledo, Ohio, to near closure four years ago. Nitrogen fertilizers like urea are most common used in Oregon and are recognized as a chief culprit in turning wonder- ful watershed water into something that looks awful, tastes awful and can send a person to the hospital and an early grave. By this point here, the reader must gene h. mcintyre Keizertimes tion. Problem: She and her mother were not separated. Do the parents have a legal claim to asylum? Not an issue. Also not an issue, the fact that crit- ics are complaining that Trump is en- forcing federal laws they have failed to change. Consider the push for a path to citizenship for undocumented im- migrants brought into the country when they were minors, also known as Dreamers. Obama provided them with temporary legal status with his Deferred Action for Childhood Ar- rivals in 2012. But Obama failed to keep his 2008 campaign promise to pass a big im- migration bill in his fi rst year, when Democrats controlled the White House and Congress. When there was a vote on the Dream Act in 2010, it failed to get the 60 votes needed to pass in the Senate. Democrats now say they won’t vote for GOP legislation to protect DACA recipients because they object to Republicans using DACA recipi- ents as hostages. It’s as if they’d rather have the issue than the win. When it comes to the Dream Act and family separation, argued Mark Krikorian of the pro-enforcement Center for Immigration Studies, the left’s goal “is to make sure the parents also are released. They want children to be human shields so that if you bring a kid with you, you get a get- out-of-jail-free card.” recognize the obvious: The solution is to stop the application of chemi- cals and fertilizers and industrial scale clearcutting to any area where Ore- gonians now or later get their drink- ing water. Timber plantations must be controlled and monitored for compliance with Oregon laws made to address this very serious challenge to our health and safety. The matter is even more urgent at present than at any earlier time in Oregon as cli- mate change is a fact, bringing ever drier conditions in a new, no longer deniable, world we humans have in- herited. Arguably speaking, there probably are some things, perhaps a modern gadget or two, we Oregonians can live without. However, I would ar- gue that clean-tasting, uncontami- nated, drinkable, disease-free water is not among those items we can do without. Therefore, it would seem high time that those Oregonians who want to protect drinkable wa- ter would let Governor Kate Brown and our legislators (state and federal) know how important it is to them. After all, for the sake of human sur- vivability on planet Earth, this matter falls into the life or death category.
