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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 2015)
OPINION 4A Founded in 1873 STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager Central School block is a strategic opportunity A Important for the City Council to build consensus t a time when the demand for housing is high in Astoria, the opportunity to develop an entire city block is especially timely. In Astoria, if you stand in the same place long enough, a certain turn of events will come around again. In the late 1980s, the Astoria School District razed Central School, originally called Lewis and Clark School. Some 16 years later, a private developer proposed to put that full city block into housing. Not surprisingly at that time, adjacent property owners — who had become used to open space — were anxious, and they raised concerns. The economic downturn curtailed the project. Now a new developer pro- poses housing on the Central School block. And he does so at a time when Astoria’s housing vacancy rate is approaching or effectively at zero. Edward Stratton reported in last Tuesday’s edition that the site’s neighbors are in the pro- cess of consolidating their con- cerns. It is equally important that city planners and the City Council develop a consensus on what can happen with a site of WKLVVWUDWHJLFVLJQL¿FDQFH It is easy to get hung up on rules and miss the big picture. That is why the concept of per- formance zoning appeared in the 1970s. The idea was to de- velop a desired outcome and then modify the rules to achieve that goal. This is an opportunity for more housing, as well as an op- portunity for innovation. Timber merger will cement arrogance S Combined company will be nation’s largest private landowner tudying a map of Weyerhaeuser and Plum Creek’s timberland ownership is like trying to read tea leaves in an effort to discern the future of forest communities. Across large swaths of rural America, the pro- posed merger of these huge land- owners will have very tangible consequences. Post-merger, the combined company will be the nation’s larg- est private landowner. Weyco’s Doyle Simons will be president and CEO, while Plum Creek’s Rick Holley, who is near- ing retirement, will continue in a leadership position as non-ex- ecutive chairman, according to Barron’s magazine. “The deal is a testament to Weyerhaeuser’s transformation under Simons in the past two years and his drive to unlock val- ue,” Barron’s gushes. If regula- tors OK the deal, “Plum Creek’s expertise in real estate and opti- mizing land values” will be ben- H¿FLDOWR:H\FR¶VJURZWK2WKHU analysts expect the combined ¿UP WR LPPHGLDWHO\ VKDYH million annually in what are eu- phemistically called “hard syner- gies” — cost savings in the form of layoffs and other cuts in oper- ating expenses. From a purely capitalistic standpoint, shareholders will see more money squeezed from the company’s more than 13 million acres. This will include incre- mental gains for all who carry a sliver of Weyco-Plum Creek stock in their retirement portfo- lios. Employees who survive the merger will likely be more secure LQDFRUSRUDWLRQWKDWKDVVROLGL¿HG its global competitiveness. For local communities, the pro- cess of “unlocking value” prom- ises to continue Weyerhaeuser’s march away from paying any- thing more than lip service to cor- porate citizenship. In northwest Montana, where Plum Creek has large holdings, this sparks con- cerns about having to pay for rec- reational land access — a policy much beloved by Weyco. This is a long way from the Weyco’s postwar advertising as “the tree-growing compa- ny.” Weyco’s switch to the real estate investment trust form of organization minimizes federal tax payments while increasingly turning forests into fungible as- sets, easily sold or converted to other purposes. With the popula- tion expected to rapidly increase west of the Cascades this century, Weyco will doubtless maximize SUR¿WVE\FRQYHUWLQJVRPHODQGV LQWKH&ROXPELD3DFL¿FUHJLRQWR housing. There are communities in which this will be welcome — a growing population needs more housing. Such transforma- tive land-use changes should be decided upon by local citizens DQGDJHQFLHVEXWWKH\ZLOO¿QGLW GLI¿FXOWWRFRQWHVWSURSRVDOVE\D corporate behemoth. (For a historical perspective on these timber companies, see George Ochenski’s column in The Missoulian: tinyurl.com/nsr- 97wr.) Weyerhaeuser is already so big it effectively doesn’t care what anybody thinks. The long history of concentrating land ownership in fewer hands strongly suggests that such arrogance will be fur- ther cemented by this marriage between two giants of America’s corporate “landed gentry.” There will a relentless focus on the bot- tom line, forest access will be re- stricted, workers will be squeezed and state legislatures will comply with what Weyco wants. THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015 Trump, meet a Syrian refugee named Heba me, pointing down at the far simpler for the Islamic tight jeans she was wear- 6WDWH WR LQ¿OWUDWH WKH 86 ing as we spoke, “my head by dispatching European passport holders (like those ESBOS, Greece — Ben would come off.” She of- fered a hollow laugh. who carried out the Paris Carson has compared Syrian I spoke to her after she attacks) on tourist visas, or refugees to rabid dogs. Donald left her mother and sib- just use supporters who are Trump says that he would send lings behind in Syria (her already U.S. citizens. The anti-refugee legis- father died years ago of them back. lation that overwhelming- QDWXUDO FDXVHV DQG ÀHG Who are these Syrian refugee ly passed the U.S. House with a handful of relatives Nicholas monsters who terrify U.S. politicians? on a perilous journey to of Representatives would Kristof Meet Heba, a frightened, desper- Turkey, then on a danger- effectively end the intake ate 20-year-old woman who dreams ously overcrowded boat to this Greek even of Christians and Yazidis who of being an artist and has just made island. I took Heba and her relatives have been particularly targeted by the a perilous escape from territory con- to a dinner of pizza — Western food extremists. trolled by the Islamic State in north- is banned by the Islamic State — and In person, Syrian refugees are less ern Syria. as we walked to the pizzeria she made scary than scared. Heba wouldn’t al- She was detained a game of pointing low me to use her last name or publish two months ago with all the pass- her photo for fear of getting her fam- Ben Carson out her sister by Islam- ers-by who would ily in trouble, and she cannot contact ic State enforcers decapitated by her mother for the same reason. (I’m and Donald be because her sister’s the Islamic State for not mentioning the town she lived in baby girl had too Trump, Heba improper dress, con- EHFDXVHVKH¶VWHUUL¿HGWKDWWKH,VODPLF short a skirt — even sorting with the op- State might try to identify and punish is neither a posite sex or sundry her family for her escape and for her though the baby was candor to a Western journalist.) just 3 months old. other offenses. rabid dog Really, Ben Carson, you want to “That was crazy,” “It’s a million Heba said, shaking nor a crazed percent difference,” compare this freedom-loving woman her head. “This was she exulted of life in to a rabid dog? an infant!” terrorist but the West. “Once you Donald Trump, when you said of Heba says she leave that area, you Syrian refugees, “If I win, they’re and her sister ar- a desperate feel so good. Your going back,” do you really intend to gued that infant girls whole body relaxes.” deport Heba back to the Islamic State young should have a little Americans are WREHÀRJJHGRUGHFDSLWDWHG" Heba is fed up with violence and leeway in showing u n derstandably woman skin, and eventually afraid of terrorism extremism — but now in the West the family was let off after the Paris at- she encounters a new kind of political whose life with a warning. tacks, and that fear is extremism that targets refugees like is on the But Heba, strong- channeled at Syrian KHU7KHVH6\ULDQUHIXJHHV¿QGWKHP- willed and self-con- refugees. So pander- selves accused of potentially being line. ¿GHQW SHUKDSV KDG ing politicians por- WKHWHUURULVWVWKH\ÀHH “We have no connection to terror- been too outspoken tray the refugees as or too sarcastic, and the police then menaces whom the vetting process is LVP´VKHWROGPHP\VWL¿HGWKDWDQ\- cast a critical eye on her clothing. unable to screen out, and Americans one could fear her. “We’re running She was covering even her hands and by nearly 2 to 1 oppose President away from all that.” Heba showed me her abaya, which face, but the authorities complained Barack Obama’s plan to admit 10,000 she keeps in her backpack. She says that her abaya cloak wasn’t loose Syrians over a year. enough to turn her into a black puff In fact, despite the impressions left she never wants to wear it again, so I that concealed her form. The police by U.S. politicians and by the Islam- asked why she doesn’t discard it. “I’m scared,” she admitted. “If detained her for hours until her fami- ic State, Syrians are in general more O\EDLOHGKHURXWE\SD\LQJD¿QH educated and middle class than many they send us back, I will need it.” Ben Carson and Donald Trump, Heba was lucky, for other women other people in the region, and the KDYHEHHQÀRJJHGIRUYLRODWLQJFORWK- women more empowered. Heba’s as- Heba is neither a rabid dog nor a ing rules. Her sister saw a woman pirations to be an artist aren’t unusual. crazed terrorist but a desperate young stoned to death after being accused of Security concerns are legitimate, woman whose life is on the line. Let’s adultery. but the refugee screening is a rigor- drop the fearmongering and let Heba “If I were wearing this,” Heba told ous two-year process. It would be cast away that abaya forever. By NICHOLAS KRISTOF New York Times News Service L Tales of the super survivors By DAVID BROOKS New York Times News Service T he age of terror is an age of shocks. Individuals, fami- lies and whole societies get torn apart by unexpected stabbings, shootings and bombings. It’s horrible, of course, but over the past few years the ¿QGLQJVRIDFD- demic research into the effects of these trau- mas have shift- David ed in a more Brooks positive direc- tion. Human beings are more resilient than we’d earlier thought. Many people bounce back from hard knocks and ex- perience surges of post-traumatic growth. ,Q WKH ¿UVW SODFH SRVWWUDXPDWLF stress disorder rates are lower than many of us imagine. According to a study by the Centers for Disease Con- trol and Prevention, only about 13 SHUFHQWRIWKH¿UVWUHVSRQGHUVRQ had symptoms that would qualify as a stress disorder. Only about 13 percent of the people who saw the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in person experienced PTSD in the next six months. The best general rule for all of society seems to be that at least 75 percent of the peo- ple who experience a life-threatening or violent event emerge without a stress disorder. Even many of those who are un- lucky enough to fall victim to the horrific pain of PTSD are able to recover and rebuild better lives. These are people you sometimes meet who have experienced the worst in life but still radiate love and joy. They get to live a second life and correct the mistakes they made before the earthquake shook everything loose. As Philip A. Fisher, a Universi- ty of Oregon psychology professor, noted in an email, the big back- ground factor that nurtures resilience is unconditional love. The people who survive and rebound from trau- ma frequently had an early caregiver The people who survive and rebound from trauma frequently had an early caregiver who pumped unshakable love into them, and that built a rock of inner security they could stand on for the rest of their lives. who pumped unshakable love into them, and that built a rock of inner security they could stand on for the rest of their lives. There are some foreground fac- tors, too, traits super survivors tend to have that enable them to come back stronger then ever. These people are often deluded in good ways about their own abilities, but completely realistic about their situations. That is to say, they have positive illusions about their own talents, and an op- timist’s faith in their own abilities to control the future. But they have no illusions about the world around them. They accept what they have lost quickly. They see problems clearly. They work hard. Work is the reliable cure for sorrow. Recovering from trauma is main- ly an exercise in storytelling. As Richard Tedeschi, a psychology professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, has pointed out, trauma is a shock that ruptures the central story that you thought was your life. The recurring patterns that make up life are disrupted. The sense of safety is lost. Having faced death, people in these circumstances are forced to confront the elemental questions of life. But some people are able to write a new story. As Tedeschi writes, post-traumatic growth comes not from the event but from the struggle afterward to write a new story that imagines a life better than before. Researchers have found that people who thrive after a shock are able to tell clear, forward-looking stories about themselves, while those who don’t thrive get stuck ruminating darkly about the past. Book 1 is life before the event. Book 2 is the event that shattered the old story. But Book 3 is reintegra- tion, a reframing new story that in- corporates what happened and then points to a more virtuous and mean- ingful life than the one before. These are intensely moral nar- ratives that describe a life of higher purpose. Viktor Frankl survived the Holocaust and concluded that those who could best survive the camps were those who could satisfy their hunger for lives of meaning. Even if they were suffering, they could di- rect their attention toward those they loved and those they would serve in their future lives. Frankl, who went on to become a professor of neurology and psychia- try, cited Nietzsche’s dictum that he who has a why to live for can endure almost any how. The stories super survivors tell have two big themes: optimism and altruism. It’s interesting that this age of terrorism calls forth certain practical skills — the ability to tell stories, the DELOLW\ WR SKLORVRSKL]H DQG GH¿QH D meaning to your life. Just as indi- viduals need moral stories if they are going to recover, so probably do nations. France will most likely need a parable to make sense of what hap- pened, just as the United States still has competing parables about the meaning of 9/11. This is why foreign policies that pursue amoral realpolitik are always impractical. If a country can’t dis- cern a moral purpose in its foreign policy, it will lack resilience. It will lack the capacity to bounce back from an attack. It will lack a satisfy- ing narrative and lose the ability to thrive in terror’s wake. The good news is there is no rea- son to be pessimistic during the war on terrorism. Individuals and societ- ies are tough and resilient, and usu- ally emerge from attacks better than before.
