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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (May 15, 2020)
MAY 15, 2020, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5 Opinion DE ADLINE EXTENDE D! ? t s e i t u c e th t e p r s you Nurses: the superheroes of our time how a bout There are many people across the nation in many fi elds fi ghting against COVID-19. Grocery store employees continue to stock products and check out customers. Teachers hold virtual classes. Scien- tists are working around the clock in laboratories around the world searching for a vaccine for the disease that has now taken the lives of more than 80,000 Americans. Heroes can be found all around us but special commendation needs to be given to the frontline med- ical personnel, especially America’s nurses. Whether thery serve in special wards or emergency departments of hospitals, nurses take their lives into their own hands as they treat pa- tients with the coronavirus or suf- fering from COVID-19 itself. Some nurses have worked arduous hours, at times without all the tools necessary such as ventilators, N95 masks and personal protec- tive equipment. That is the very defi nition of a hero: one who enters the battlefi eld without regards for their personal safety. Nurses are the heartbeat of healthcare. In normal circumstanc- es, a nurse performs just about every task for patients. They help usher babies into the world. They lovingly zaitz writes escort people out of the world. Nurses are humane, they are kind and caring, many are comedians, injecting lightness in what is often a person’s worst day. They shoulder burdens that test mere mortals. During this pandemic nurses are going above and beyond their normal duties. When the history of COVID-19 is written, the world’s nurses will share equal importance with the doctors and researchers. As frontline personnel, it is nurses that people come in contact with fi rst and it sets the tone for their medical journey. Nurses are heroes in normal times, they are superheroes during this health crisis. — LAZ the fun niest? Showing the nation how to vote Oregon has conducted its elec- tions by mail since voters approved Measure 60 in 1998. Since then voter turnout in Oregon has been among the highest in the nation and there has been little—if any—se- rious incidents of fraud. More states are con- sidering conducting their elections with mailed ballots in the wake of COVID-19, amid the need for social distancing. Images of people standing in line to vote at a polling site is unsettling. Wisconsin held a primary election earlier this year with polling sites that forced voters to line-up and wait their turn. COVID-19 will change Amer- ican life in many ways and if one of the changes is that every election will be conducted via mail, all the better. Some don’t want to see elections-by- mail expanded because it increases turnout by voters favorable to the opposition. Supressing turnout in states that hold elections in the traditional way, with voting booths and neighborhood precincts is too easy. The people should demand that their political and government leaders publicly avow their support for vote-by-mail and oppose in the strongest terms opinion possible any move to make it hard for any citizen to vote. Oregon has held dozens of elec- tions by mail on the federal, state and local levels. Vote-by-mail is now baked into our system. A ballot comes into the home several weeks before they are due, giving a vot- er time to carefully go over their choices. One may feel rushed at a precinct. Democracy calls for con- sideration. Washington State also has vote- by-mail. The two states in the northwest corner of the country can lead the other states into a fu- ture of increased turnout in all their elections. That can only be a good thing. — LAZ Everyone should get moving during COVID What’s been noticed already with the coronavirus pandemic is a big change with positive ramifi cations. That change has to do with the great- ly increased number of people who’ve decided to turn off the TV to take walk, jog, shooting of baskets, the hitting of golf balls, the taking of a hike, or whatever inspires the em- brace of physical exercise by personal choice. Thereby, increasing blood circulation, building muscle, fi lling lungs with fresh air, and a hun- dred-fold other benefi ts that can, with enough repetition and improved fi - nesse, reduce excess fat and benefi t the whole body to a more healthy BMI (Body Mass Index) or healthy amount of body fat. History shows that many schools started the day with virtually everyone, including teachers, with a calisthenics routine. These exercises were seen as valuable to awaken students in prepara- tion for the academics of each day. Why this form of stimulation ceased cannot be ascertained by this writer but strikes him as an effective means of preparing anyone, young and old, for meeting the moment of a new day and providing a level of readiness for whatever fol- lows. Calisthenics can include stretching move- ments, running in place, yoga maneuvers, and any- thing else that limbers, loosens and livens the human body for all the physical and mental chal- lenges of each day. One condition of modern America for most of us, and these days even for all ages of youth, but mainly for those who’ve reached middle school age and thereafter, is that physical exercise for the most part is concentrated in those young men and women who, in school or by private means, join a team sport. These young people usually get a lot of exercise in preparation for team play. Those youth who are not out for a school sport or in a private club sports program do not get the physical activity they need. gene h. mcintyre Even those opportunities have largely ceased during the COVID-19 pan- demic. Hence, with the pandemic a limit- ing factor in all of our lives and much of formal learning taking place by electronic connections, it would seem timely and appropriate that the human resources of our schools K-12, espe- cially, now invested in distance edu- cation endeavors, could be organized into open area activities in the many empty sports fi elds around Salem and Keizer that would allow for calisthenics of large numbers while honoring the six-feet distance rule. Then we could assemble a lot of kids for physical ac- tivities and serve the social interaction needs of so many of these youth. The Chromebook is a huge help but does not nearly serve the com- prehensive, wide-ranging needs of our youth, regardless of age. It would seem high time to get more involved in their lives, now exclusively left to computer screens. ( Gene H. McIntyre lives in Keizer. He shares his opinion frequently in the Keizertimes.) COVID recession shows need for changes By PAUL EVANS My father, and his father before him, were small business owners. And though my time in the private sector was brief, I remember well the emotional impact of pouring one’s heart into a business only to see it vanish because of a seis- mic shift in economic realities. All small businesses matter. Our national security depends upon a robust small business ecosys- tem—it is the backbone of our econ- omy. Tens of thousands of Oregonians depend upon a locally owned enter- prise for a job. The COVID recession demon- strates that our legacy thinking for wealth generation is no longer aligned with 21st century realities. Glob- al supply chains leave us ill-prepared for emergencies. Many tourism relat- ed service industry jobs vanish when people must shelter at home. And du- rable goods manufacturing demands signifi cantly decline in times of global uncertainty. The critical factor for survival in times like this is capital. Access to affordable capital is the difference be- tween businesses that endure—and those that cannot. This crisis has il- lustrated how big business continues to maintain ready access to capital—as small busi- nesses struggle just to keep the lights on, and the lease paid. Absent an immediate rescue, Oregon will per- manently lose thousands of home-grown small enter- prises. It is time for a new playbook. Accordingly, I urge three new policies: 1. Establishment of sec- tor-specifi c assistance to businesses with an Oregon workforce; 2. Ze- ro-interest grants for all businesses willing to maintain current employ- ees; and, 3. Establishment of an Or- egon State Bank (through amending the Oregon Constitution). Oregon must act now. Congress passed an enormous assistance pack- age that was misaligned with the real- ities of “small business” and “working families.” There is a promise of more assistance to come, but we have lost too much time already. We must reward companies that put employees fi rst. We must reward partnerships through providing ad- ditional assistance to the businesses guest column that support their employees. Loans are insuffi cient. Many small businesses will not take out a loan because of the uncertainty of this crisis; they are jus- tifi ably wary of adding debt without a guarantee of future sales. It is time that we accept “For- Profi t” banks are an inappropriate instrument for disbursing large-scale public fi nancial assistance. This was demonstrated during the last “Great Recession” and again this year. Banks are built to minimize risk: it is count- er-intuitive for banks to push dollars “out the door” as envisioned. The failure today, again, of timely disburse- ment of public assistance to small businesses is not the fault of the banks but of Congress. Ultimately, the challenge we face today is less about the COVID-19 contagion than a decades-in-the- making breakdown of our strategic investments and underfunded societal safety nets. COVID-19 did not create our problems, it illuminated legacy thinking and systemic vulnerabilities. Luckily, we have a chance to save our small businesses if we demand struc- tural changes. (Paul Evans represents District 20 in the Oregon House of Representa- tives.) t s e t n o c o t o h p presented by Keizertimes, in partnership with Capitol Auto Group, will publish a special section in June, filled with your pet pics. 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd place prizes will be awarded for both cutest pet photo and funniest pet photo. SUBMIT BY JUNE 1 please include pet’s name and owner’s full name email: kt@keizertimes.com DE ADLINE EXTENDE D!
