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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 6, 2015)
2C THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2015 Courtesy Columbia River Maritime Museum These mystery knives may have been used by Chinese for poppy harvesting. HISTORIC PHOTOS OF THE WEEK Artifact or Fake? By JEFF SMITH For The Daily Astorian T Courtesy Columbia River Maritime Museum Use of this knife is in question. It is in the collec- tion of the Columbia River Maritime Museum. his mystery item came to the Colum- bia River Maritime Museum recent- ly. The donor thought it might be an old sailor’s knife and was curious about the stamped words “The Shark” and “1842” on the blade. We know the USS Shark wrecked here on the bar in 1846 and left behind some carronades that lent their name to one of our beach communities — Cannon Beach. We also know that in 1842 the Navy schooner was patrolling off Peru. Is this knife an artifact from that ship? The donor said he purchased it off eBay from a man who found it in a tool box full of old tools on a farmstead the family owned. I decided to do a little investigating. One friend pointed out that it was unlikely that a sailor would have put “The Shark” onto a blade, as sailors consider their ships to be living things and therefore do QRWUHTXLUHWKHGH¿QLWHDUWLFOH³WKH´ZKHQ referring to them, they would simply say, “Shark” or “USS Shark.” Another thought the blade arrangement was somewhat troublesome for the mar- iner’s knife, too likely to cut the user. An Internet search suggested it could be an old mariner’s knife, just like the donor had be- lieved, and offered many similar examples for sale or auction, all suggesting they were from the 19th century or older. Unfortu- nately the “net” also posited that they could be modern knives used to harvest poppies in China or cut and weave coir for rugs. A drawing of a similar knife was found in a French book about knives of the world and LWZDVOLVWHGDVD¿VKLQJNQLIHIURP$VLD We may never know what it is for sure, Courtesy Columbia River Maritime Museum but one thing is certain, it is an object of This knife is stamped with “The Shark 1842.” curiosity. Bill would allow Warriors no more for a school mascot? sharing of wage info Tribal backers, CAPITAL THE By PETER WONG Capital Bureau SALEM — Workers could not be punished for asking about or sharing wage information under a bill that has cleared the Oregon House. House Bill 2007 went to the Senate on a 34-24 vote Tuesday. All Dem- ocrats voted for it, and all Republicans against it; one Democrat and one Republican were ex- cused. The bill resulted from a recommendation last year by the Oregon Council on Civil Rights, which issued a wide-ranging report on how Oregon can move to- ward equal pay. According to its report, women earned 79 cents for every dollar men earned in Oregon in 2012, slight- ly more than the national average of 77 cents. The gaps are greater for black and Hispanic women. Even in job categories that employ a majority of women, women earn 63.8 cents for every dollar earned by men. Rep. Shemia Fagan, D-Clackamas, the bill’s floor manager, said wom- FREE PUBLISHED THE FIRST FRIDAY OF EACH MONTH January 2015 en are less likely to know about disparities in pay or to speak up about them — and the bill would offer them protection. The bill would make it an unlawful employment practice for employers to punish workers for asking about or sharing wage in- formation. An exception would ap- ply to employees who have access to such information but disclose it to workers who are not authorized to have it; investigations, by the employer or others, are exempt. But critics say the bill would disrupt relation- ships between employers and workers. Among other recom- mendations of the council, which presented its re- port to state Labor Com- missioner Brad Avakian: A requirement for paid sick leave; changes in state-subsidized day care for working families; re- newal of child-care tax credits scheduled to expire this year, and more flexi- ble work scheduling.. The Capital Bureau is a joint project of EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. ess in the Chronicling the Joy of Busin n Columbia-Pacific Regio schools battle over mascots By PETER WONG Capital Bureau SALEM — Even as the state Board of Education tries to write rules to regu- late them, Oregon schools remain adamant about keep- ing tribal mascots — and tribal advocates are just as vocal in saying they must go. The board will hear a progress report at its meet- ing Thursday in Salem and is scheduled to adopt rules April 9. The board is trying to implement a 2014 law that allows such mascots if dis- tricts come to agreements with any of the nine federal- ly recognized tribes in Ore- gon. Fourteen high schools have tribal mascot names: Warriors, used by Ami- ty, North Douglas (Drain), Oakridge, Philomath, Leb- anon, Siletz and Warrenton; Indians, used by Mohawk (Marcola), Molalla, Rose- burg and Scappoose; Braves, moniker for Banks and Reedsport; Chieftains, ad- opted by Rogue River. The board in 2012 gave striverbusinessjournal crbizjournal.com • facebook.com/coa Volume 10 • Issue 1 stry spo allenges Inside: Indu copes with ch Shellfish farm an conditions oce nging s optimistic despite cha tlight: Taylor remain BUREAU districts five years to phase out such mascots. Law- makers overrode it in 2013, only to have then-Gov. John Kitzhaber veto that bill. Kitzhaber signed a revised version in 2014 sponsored by Republican Sens. Jeff Kruse of Roseburg and Fred Girod of Lyons, whose dis- trict includes Molalla. An informal work group attempted to craft a rule, but differences became evident during a two-hour rulemak- ing hearing last week con- ducted by Cindy Hunt, gov- ernment and legal affairs manager for the Oregon De- partment of Education. Tony Mann, superinten- dent of the Molalla River School District, said he has worked with the Confeder- ated Tribes of Grand Ronde on an agreement to retain the name of Molalla Indians. “The tribes expect to maintain a mascot that gen- uinely and respectfully rep- resents the Molalla people, the tribes, and all indigenous peoples in the state,” Mann said. “I humbly ask the board to remain neutral in matters related to this.” He said the state board’s role should be limited to whether districts simply comply with the procedure outlined in the law. “What I saw coming out of the work group was the necessity of having a rela- tionship — not just a one- time meeting and agreement but an ongoing relationship — with our tribal partners,” said Paul Young, Rogue Riv- er schools superintendent. Larry Parsons, Roseburg schools superintendent, crit- icized a proposed require- ment for districts retaining tribal mascots to map how they would close academic achievement gaps for stu- dents. He said such a re- quirement should apply to all Oregon schools. Parsons also said it would be impractical for Roseburg to adopt a name of Roseburg Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians, the nearest of Ore- gon’s nine federally recog- nized tribes. But tribal advocates say it’s time for the 14 schools to follow the lead of The Dalles High School, which adopted the name Riverhawks in- stead of retaining Indians as a tribal mascot. “These mascots under- mine the educational expe- rience of all students, par- ticularly those with little or no contact with indigenous Available at a newsstand near you NEWS County makes a splash PacifIc in the pot biz page 10 NEWS Seaside Muffler and Off-Road 21 revs up its reputation page BOAT OF THE MONTH The Sadie out of South Bend, Wash. page 24 or native Alaskan peoples,” said Se-Ah-Dom Edmo, in- terim president of the Ore- gon Indian Education Asso- ciation. “I think we can still be in- vested in our teams without mascot names or images as- sociated with them.” Edmo also said many students come from tribes outside Oregon and are not represented by the nine fed- erally recognized tribes. Sam Sachs, a Portland human rights commissioner and an activist for racial jus- tice, said the affected schools should do something similar to what his alma mater South Albany High School did. The school’s mascot is still the Rebels, but there is no Confederate flag — a sym- bol that blacks take offense to because of the legacy of slavery in the South. Sachs says if the board proceeds to adopt a rule, it will face a lawsuit from af- fected student plaintiffs. “I am done; there is noth- ing left to say,” he said. “We can list numerous human rights organizations here and throughout the country that say this needs to stop, this needs to end.” The Capital Bureau is a joint project of EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. crbizjou rn a l.com
