THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2015
College supports art
I
have been pondering
Rhonda Grudenic’s letter
published in The Daily Asto-
rian on May 1 regarding the
importance of art as part of
a school’s curriculum (“Art
changes lives”). At first
I appreciated the writer’s
supporting that importance.
However, I am compelled to
write on behalf of my dedi-
cated colleagues at Clatsop
Community College who do
put a high priority on art.
I work as the dean of
Transfer Education at the
college, including the arts,
and am also the college’s
institutional
research-
er. While true that in the
spring of 2012, the college
reduced the size of its full-
time faculty by 67 percent
(40 to 27), and one of the
two full-time art instructors
retired, section offerings in
the Art Department went
from an annual average in
2011-2012 of 21 classes per
term to 18 classes per term
in the following year. In
the current year, the college
offered an average of 19
classes per term.
In addition, the college
and its dedicated art faculty
continue to support a world
class teaching gallery, fea-
turing five exhibitions per
year, including the interna-
tionally known Au Naturel
and a cultural art exchange
from New Zealand. The
college’s level of support
for these activities has not
declined since the financial
challenges of 2012.
What has changed is
student enrollment. In the
2012 academic year, there
were an average of 129 en-
rollments in art classes per
term. In the current academ-
ic year, the average enroll-
ments per term is 101. This
decline is not significantly
different from the college’s
total enrollment decline
over the same period.
These facts suggest that
Grudenic may be aiming
her barbs at the wrong tar-
get. The strained condition
of the arts in the college,
and in Oregon’s schools
generally, can be directly
linked to the state’s retreat
from support of one its core
responsibilities, public edu-
cation.
Years of a state govern-
ment that has difficulty
saying no to interest groups
have spread the state’s re-
sources so thinly that Or-
egon recently was ranked
second to the lowest (49th)
among the 50 states (recent-
ly improved to 46th). K-12
education has been similar-
ly squeezed to the detriment
of the visual and performing
arts, the lack of which may
arguably contribute to the
challenges of teaching basic
skills, as Grudenic points
out.
Please realize that your
community college, while
struggling with limited re-
sources, is not responding
to the detriment of art offer-
ings. And I can assure you
that our art faculty remains
committed to providing a
quality experience for stu-
dents seeking one.
I am writing this on my
own time and not as a rep-
resentative of the college.
The opinions expressed are
my own and do not neces-
sarily represent those of the
college.
THOMAS GILL
Astoria
Vote Jan Horning
I
n the upcoming election
on Tuesday, May 19,
there is a very important
contest: For Position 5 on
the Astoria School Board.
In May 2013, the ma-
jority of the current board
voted down a proposed
school-based health cen-
ter at Astoria High School
that would have provided
lab services, screenings,
preventative health, prima-
ry care, mental health ser-
vices, educational material
and counseling.
It is important to remem-
ber that there are young
people in our area who have
an especially hard time get-
ting access to services due
to homelessness, abusive
home situations and other
factors. They are the ones
who desperately need the
extra help that our commu-
nity can provide.
FRIDAY EXCHANGE
Special cruise guests visit Astoria
O
n May 5, Norwegian Jewel cruise
ship passengers Victor and Tedra
from Germany, who belong to Lions
Clubs International, came to Astoria spe-
ci¿cally to exchange their local Lions
Club Àag with Astoria’s local Lions Inter-
national Club.
They stepped off the bus in downtown
Astoria and immediately met my husband,
Cruise Host Lenard Hansen, who happens
to belong to the Astoria Lions Club. He
took the couple to the local Lions Club
meeting/lunch, which just happened to
take place at the same time.
There, Victor and Tedra were intro-
duced to the Astoria club, and the Astoria
Lions received the German Lions Club
Àag, and the visiting Lions couple re-
ceived Astoria Lions Club mementos in
exchange. Present at the Lions Club lunch
were the Scandinavia Court members
who also met and talked with the visiting
German club members. After the meeting
Lions Club member Norm Davis, also a
Cruise Host, took the couple sightseeing
around Astoria before taking them back
to their cruise ship later that afternoon.
The German couple expressed repeatedly
that this visit to Astoria “made their whole
trip,” and stated that they would de¿nitely
be visiting Astoria again.
It is not unusual at all to experience this
I support Jan Horning
for Position 5 on the school
board. She is a special ed-
ucation teaching assistant,
taught at Cannon Beach Pre-
school and worked at Astoria
Middle School for 11 years.
She served on the Olney
School District Board, the
PTA, Boy Scouts and other
community organizations.
Her platform includes
improving the graduation
rate, promoting science, en-
gineering and mathematics
education and resuming di-
alogue on a health center.
If you feel strongly that
the needs of Astoria’s chil-
dren come first, vote for Jan
Horning.
ELIZABETH MENETREY
Astoria
Choose Talamantez
J
oe Talamantez is cur-
rently serving Warren-
ton students as a member of
the school board, and he is
also active with community
youth as a baseball and wres-
tling coach. He is dedicat-
ed to supporting excellence
in classroom learning and
teaching, as well as bring-
ing respect and cooperation
to the table as a board mem-
ber. He has the qualities and
integrity which make him
the best choice to represent
parents and the communi-
ty on the Warrenton School
Board. Joe Talamantez de-
serves your vote.
CHRISTINE BRIDGENS
Warrenton
Warren right for job
I
have known Dennis War-
ren for decades, having
worked with him at War-
renton High School for 15
of those years. He not only
was a dedicated teacher and
coach, he welcomed the re-
sponsibility of leadership
for his union, serving on the
negotiation team.
After retirement, he
served on the local school
board, and during that time
his service convinced me
he truly had a heart for not
only the students of Warren-
ton, but of the whole com-
munity. He was the founder
of People Energizing Or-
egon Promoting Literacy
and Education (PEOPLE), a
college scholarship for stu-
dents. One of the prerequi-
sites was that the successful
candidate would be respon-
sible for giving back volun-
teer time to the community.
This creative rationale
convinced me he would be an
excellent candidate to again
serve our community as a
school board member. You
can be sure he will earnestly
research a project or problem
prior to make a decision. He
brings the kind of indepen-
dent voice we need on our
school board. He has my vote.
BARBARA BALENSIFER
Warrenton
Still amazed
M
y car keys, complete
with two remotes and
house keys, were lost for four
days, and I was the only one
in my home who could drive.
5A
duct a “tour with the design-
er” at the garden around 11:30
a.m. on this very special day.
Please feel free to share the
following link about the out-
ing with the North Coast com-
munity: http://bit.ly/1R66Heg
SUENN HO
Portland
No pot shops
O
Photo by Leonard Hansen
From left, German Lions Club members, cruise ship passengers Tedra and
Victor, who were visiting Astoria for the day, are pictured with Astoria Lions
Club President Nancy Lockett.
type of event as a volunteer cruise host
with visiting cruise ship passengers. Many
of us have similar-type stories of such
events that take place, and our visitors
share with us over and over how much a
visit to Astoria has meant to them.
It’s very humbling and satisfying to
play a part in helping to make a cruise
I was out at Alderbrook walk-
ing our three dogs when I got
a phone call from the Astoria
Library. They told me that my
keys had been found and were
at the Sheriff’s Of¿ce, but
that I should stop by to get the
phone number of the man who
had found them.
I did so, and was given
the name of John Beale, and
my car keys, a bit worse for
wear. John said that he had
found them three blocks from
our home on the street near
his apartment. He took them
to the sheriff, where Andrea
Kennet saw my library card,
and called the library to get a
name.
John Beale could have
seen my keys and left them
or tossed them. He took them
to the Sheriff’s Of¿ce where
they could have thrown them
in the lost and found. Library
staff could have done noth-
ing. But I have my keys and
remotes, and I am supremely
appreciative of good peo-
ple who go the extra mile
ship passenger’s “dream come true” while
they visit Astoria. We receive thousands
of sincere thank yous from our guests, and
I want to share this experience with our
awesome community, who help make our
visitors’ time in Astoria so special.
CINDY HANSEN
Warrenton
for someone they don’t even
know. I still have no idea how
they got there. Thank you,
good people.
JAN MITCHELL
Astoria
Nothing good about pot
W
hat is good about mar-
ijuana? In my opinion,
really nothing. But I have to
say those folks who are living
next door to a friendly neigh-
bor who is growing the stuff
and smoking it, will now be
able to get away from the sec-
ond-hand smoke by going to
their local smoke-free park.
Crazy, is it not? Second-hand
smoke is hurting many peo-
ple, especially children. This
additional contributor of can-
cer is now going to triple in
strength, and the nonsmokers
will have to suffer even more.
Great world we live in.
On top of that, check your
future utility bills. For grow-
ing marijuana, there will be an
increase in water and electric
that is sure to be shared by
all of us. The environmental
downsides are obvious. I am
not a doctor, and know little
about how many medicines
work. But I know what drugs
can do to a person. I served in
law enforcement for 30 years.
I have seen the results of
what can happen when a per-
son starts out small in mari-
juana, and goes on to heroin
and/or other illicit drugs. It is
not pretty. Family, friends, so-
ciety all suffer.
MEL JASMIN
Warrenton
Visit garden designer
A
s the designer of the Gar-
den Of Surging Waves
and the Concept Master Plan
for the Heritage Square, I am
very glad that this urban gar-
den has been well liked by the
community in the past year.
Time Àies and this coming
May 17 will be the garden’s
¿rst anniversary. The Sierra
Club has invited me to con-
pen letter to Seaside City
Council: To me, there
is no good reason to allow
marijuana dispensaries in the
downtown core of Seaside.
Broadway should be off lim-
its, since there are many other
locations that could be used
without making it so visible
to family visitors to Seaside.
This is a tourist town, and we
have no medical clinics in the
downtown corridor.
As far as I am concerned
there does not need to be one
here at all, but that has already
been decided for some un-
known reason. Pot — really,
why do we need to ¿nd anoth-
er reason to make people stu-
pid? Granted, there is lots of
money involved, so that must
be the reason. Money talks.
Being under the inÀuence
does make you out of your
mind. It may dull the pain, but
many of these folks do not take
it for the pain, but to just dull
their mind. There may be med-
ical reasons to take it, but even
more just do it to get high.
So we let the medical shops
open, and then the recreational
shops follow shortly. There are
studies at colleges about all the
harm pot is doing to the grades
of the students. They cannot
concentrate or retain anything
in their pot-¿lled minds. Colo-
rado businesses are complain-
ing about their employees not
doing their jobs, or even show-
ing up for work, due to the ex-
cess pot use.
I realize there is nothing I
can say or do about this, but
being a downtown business
owner, I feel I should at least
be listened to. Please don’t hurt
our reputation by allowing pot
shops in the downtown. We are
already looked down upon for
stuff that has happened in our
past. Don’t let pot shops in the
downtown add to that reputa-
tion.
M. DIEBOLT
Seaside