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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 2016)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2016 The danger of a single story 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 Ditching day care would be a quake Lil’ Sprouts partnership is essential to parents and employers much, but most studies you have false allegiances. VKRZ D VLJQL¿FDQW HIIHFW You must embrace the That’s partly because most approved story to show you of the people who do seri- Q 1LJHULDQ ZULWHU are not complicit in a sys- ous crime are career crim- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie tem of oppression. Hillary Clinton is not inals. Among inmates gave a fabulous TED talk called naturally a single-story per- released from state prison ³7KH'DQJHURID6LQJOH6WRU\´ son. But while she is con- LQWKHDYHUDJHQXP- ber of previous convictions It was about what happens when trolling the delegate race this campaign, Sanders is ZDV ¿YH DQG WKH DYHUDJH complex human beings and situa- controlling the conversa- number of previous arrests David tions are reduced to a single narra- tion and she is gradually was greater than 10. Brooks tive: when Africans, for example, are coming around to his ver- • Less aggressive treated solely as pitiable poor, starv- sion of everything. For example, last policing means more crime. After LQJYLFWLPVZLWKÀLHVRQWKHLUIDFHV week she came closer to embracing WKH UHOHDVH RI WKH KRUUL¿F /DTXDQ Her point was that each individual a nationwide $15 minimum wage, McDonald video — which showed a life contains a heterogeneous compi- though still with caveats. Chicago cop killing him in cold blood One true minimum wage story is ²WKHUHZDVDSHUFHQWGURSLQWKH lation of stories. If you reduce peo- ple to one, you’re taking away their that corporations are reaping record nonfatal shooting arrest rate and a 48 SUR¿WV ZKLOH SXVKLQJ GRZQ ZDJHV percent drop in the homicide arrest humanity. American politics has always of the unskilled. But another true rate. In the meantime, according to an been prone to single storyism — can- story, embodied in the vast trove of analysis by Rob Arthur and Jeff Asher didates reducing complex issues to research, is that if you raise the min- of FiveThirtyEight, nonfatal shoot- simple fables. This year the problem imum wage too high, you end up ings rose 73 percent and homicides punishing less skilled rose 48 percent. is acute because Don- workers. One study ald Trump and Ber- • While the overall system is Every found the modest hike steeped in structural racial inequality, nie Sanders are the in the national mini- parts of the system don’t seem that giants of Single Story- problem mum wage between biased. As the criminologist Barry ism. They reduce pretty DQGUHGXFHG Latzer notes in his book “The Rise can be much all issues to the employment among and Fall of Violent Crime in Amer- same single story: the solved by young people without LFD´ WKHUH LV QRW D ZLGH GLVSDULW\ alien invader story. a high school degree between whites and blacks in time Every problem can finding E\DOPRVWSHUFHQW EH VROYHG E\ ¿QGLQJ served for various offenses. 7KHNH\LVWR¿QGD some corrupt or oppres- • Moderate, bipartisan efforts some balance between those are reducing inequality. Decades sive group to blame. If corrupt or stories. Raising the ago, evangelicals like Chuck Col- America is beset by minimum wage to $15 son joined with a swath of progres- wage stagnation it’s not because of intricate oppressive may make sense in rich sives to reduce incarceration rates. but in most of These efforts are having an effect. structural problems. It’s group to areas, the country there will Total U.S. imprisonment has declined because of the crimi- be horrendous con- for the past seven years. The impris- nal Mexicans sneaking blame. sequences for less- onment rate among black women has across the border or it’s because of this evil entity called “the VNLOOHGZRUNHUVWU\LQJWR¿QGMREV GURSSHGSHUFHQWVLQFHZKLOH In the realm of criminal justice, the rate of imprisonment among EDQNV´ Worse, the stories have become one true story is that America’s crim- ZKLWH ZRPHQ KDV ULVHQ SHUFHQW identity markers. This is a phenome- inal justice system was constructed Male imprisonment trends are similar non borrowed from campus political within a system of slavery and rac- though less striking. correctness. In order to express your ism. It enables police brutality, often As in life generally, every policy solidarity with the virtuous team, of a racist sort. It has led to massive has the vices of its virtues. Aggressive you have to embrace the socially over-incarceration, which has dev- policing cuts crime but increases bru- approved story. If you differ from the astated individuals, families and tality. There is no escape from trade- RI¿FLDOVWRU\²WKHZD\%LOO&OLQWRQ neighborhoods. offs and tragic situations. The only Yet there are other opposing sto- way forward is to elect people who GLIIHUHGIURPWKHRI¿FLDOSURJUHVVLYH crime story a few weeks ago — it is ries, also true: are capable of holding opposing sto- • Incarceration reduces crime. ries in their heads at the same time, not so much a sign that you are wrong (truth is not the issue). It is a sign that Experts disagree wildly on how and to reject those who can’t. By DAVID BROOKS New York Times News Service I t is understandable that city leaders would examine the Astoria Parks and Recreation Department’s scope of activities. For a town of 10,000, we enjoy a large inven- tory of park land and facilities. Erick Bengel’s April 1 story outlined the discussions within the citizens advisory committee that is tasked with evaluating the department’s programs and resources. Lil’ Sprouts, the child move the day care center care program that the parks from the First Presbyterian department operates within Church to Gray School, Gray School is one of the where classrooms would activities. As the commit- be remodeled for a new tee and the City Council purpose. Within a year, examine Lil’ Sprouts, it is the board of the nonprofit essential to know the his- crumbled and the cen- tory of how the city got ter desperately needed involved with day care new management. Parks management. Manager J.P. Moss sug- Some six years ago there gested that his department was a crisis in Astoria day manage what was known care when a budding non- as Lil’ Sprouts. SUR¿W SURJUDP EHJDQ WR IDLO Having a stable oper- and needed a new home. A ator for a day care cen- group of leaders convened at ter in a small rural town is The Daily Astorian. They rep- rare. The city parks depart- community resented Clatsop Community ment’s role in Lil’ Sprouts Strong was excited to attend a screening of College, Columbia Memorial is part of a coalition that has ³3DSHU 7LJHUV´ DQG WKH SDQHO GLV- cussion afterward April 5 at the Lib- Hospital, the U.S. Coast given the town’s parents erty Theater. I was also excited to hear Guard, the city of Astoria, and employers an essential of the organization Trauma Informed the Astoria School District asset. This partnership is Oregon — I have already signed up for newsletter — and that the move- the Bank of Astoria and the something we can be proud their ment to develop trauma informed of. If the parks department communities is getting a foothold in Astorian. Out of those deliber- pulled out of Lil’ Sprouts, this county. This is particularly evident in the ations came an offer to it would be an earthquake. Warrenton School District, and in Jill I Open forum I Again .... a scary leak at Hanford t’s an example of a culture at Hanford of ‘We don’t have problems here. We’re doing just ¿QH¶ :KLFK LV D WRWDO OLH´ former Hanford Nuclear Reservation worker Mike Geffre told KING 5 this week. Geffre was reacting to news that a supposedly supersafe double-walled underground storage tank for highly radioactive waste has a major leak in the space between its inner and outer walls. Geffre warned RI¿FLDOV LQ DERXW WKH potential for such an event, but a response was ridicu- lously slow in coming. Washington state’s Department of Ecology sought to allay public wor- ries, saying there is no sign that sludge created during plutonium production made it past the tank’s outer shell into the environment. To its credit, the state been a more zealous watchdog than other parties involved in Hanford oversight. But its reassurances are starting to ring hollow. ‘I ³7KLV LV FDWDVWURSKLF´ Geffre told KING 5. “This is probably the biggest event to ever happen in tank farm history. The double shell tanks were supposed to be WKHVDYLRUVRIDOOVDYLRUV´DV far as keeping waste away from people and the envi- ronment. A current Hanford worker said, “The primary tanks weren’t designed to stage waste like this for so many years. There’s always the question, ‘Are the outer VKHOOVFRPSURPLVHG"¶´ Three of Hanford’s other double-shell tanks have the same design as the one now in the news. Millions live downriver from Hanford. As massively expensive as the cleanup has been — around $40 bil- lion so far, with maybe $75 ELOOLRQPRUHLQWKHRI¿QJ² it will pale in comparison to damages from a major toxin spill into the air and groundwater. Citizens must use every political and legal tool to impose competent and responsive management on WKLVGUHDGIXO¿DVFR Quackenbush’s work with our pre- schoolers and Head Start. Kudos to them for being our pioneers, for they are creat- ing the road map for our community as a whole. I was glad to see many staff from Tongue Point Job Corps attending, as well as from Astoria School District. It is likely other school districts were rep- resented, as well, since this event was well attended. As a parent of two Asto- ria School District students, I can state ZLWKFRQ¿GHQFHWKDWWKHUHDUHVWDIIWKHUH who already practice the philosophy of unconditional acceptance, nonjudgment and in taking a nonpunitive approach, DQG WKDW P\ GDXJKWHUV KDYH EHQH¿WHG from this philosophy being enacted. If the school district as a whole gets on board, then this positive impact upon WKH VWXGHQWV ZLOO EH PDJQL¿HG DQG WKH ripple effects will go beyond what we could even imagine in terms of how they will then impact their/our community. I am also a mental health thera- pist who is now in private practice, and I think of Clatsop Behavioral Health- care as being, in a way, my alma mater. Therefore I was excited to see that Sum- muer Watkins, CEO, was on the panel, and to hear of all of the proactive work that this agency is doing to provide counseling services in our schools, and to support the creation of a trauma-in- formed community. And last, a shout out must go to my professional peer, trauma therapist Liz Covey, for keeping it real. She’s right, there is still much work to be done, both in educating our community members and in impacting our systems at the gov- ernmental level. It really does boil down to voting for people who are going to raise our taxes. But the research is there to support what we all innately know, that when you strengthen even just one community member, you strengthen the whole community. As an obnoxiously proud parent, I can tell you that my girls are already sup- porting this community and, by doing so, providing an example to their peers. This support is in part a result of our tax dollars in action, and they are now, at just 15 and 17, in a position to not only say ³WKDQN\RX´EXW³\RX¶UHZHOFRPH´ WYNNE PRESTON Astoria Letters welcome Letters should be exclusive to The Daily Astorian. We do not pub- lish open letters or third-party letters. Letters should be fewer than 450 words and must include the writer’s name, address and phone numbers. <RX ZLOO EH FRQWDFWHG WR FRQ¿UP authorship. All letters are subject to editing for space, grammar and, on occasion, factual accuracy. Letters written in response to other letter writers should address the issue at hand and, rather than mentioning the writer by name, should refer to the headline and date the letter was published. Discourse should be civil and people should be referred to in a respectful manner. Letters referring to news stories should also mention the headline and date of publication. Submissions may be sent in any of these ways: E-mail to editor@dailyastorian. com; Online form at www.dailyasto- rian.com; 'HOLYHUHGWRWKH$VWRULDQRI¿FHV DW ([FKDQJH 6W DQG 1 Roosevelt in Seaside. Or by mail to Letters to the Edi- WRU32%R[$VWRULD25 3ULGHLQWKH3DFL¿F RI HOHFWHGRI¿FLDOV JDYHLWDWKUHH\HDU extension at the end of last year. Now, a SULQJKDVFRPHWRWKH3DFL¿F1RUWK- broad coalition of businesses, commu- west, and many of us are getting out- nity leaders, and conservation groups are side to connect with the lands, waters, working to make LWCF a permanent wildlife, and great people that make this part of our nation’s legacy. The presi- region so special. dent’s budget calls for making this fund Our region and the prospects of permanent, and the four senators from maintaining these qualities for gener- both Oregon and Washington have con- ations to come were recently given a sistently fought for permanency. major boost from the White House. In We are excited about the opportunities KLVEXGJHWVXEPLWWHGLQ)HEUXDU\ WKDW3DWKZD\VWRWKH3DFL¿FZLOOEULQJWR to Congress, President Obama made an our region. It is this type of collaborative XQSUHFHGHQWHGLQYHVWPHQWLQWKH3DFL¿F conservation that shows how important Northwest by proposing to fund some- making permanent the Land and Water WKLQJFDOOHGWKH3DWKZD\VWRWKH3DFL¿F Conservation Fund is for our nation. This large landscape, collaborative GLENN LAMB conservation project will protect and Vancouver, Washington restore tens of thousands of acres along WKHODVWPLOHVRIWKHORZHU&ROXPELD River, from the John Day to the mouth Free press of the Columbia. The $30 million ded- he Daily Astorian editorial, “Fighting icated in the president’s budget would IRUSUHVVIUHHGRPDJDLQ´$SULO be largest federal funding request for the is much ado about nothing. The actions region in over 15 years. The projects in of the Arizona House of Representatives Pathways will tie together a network of constitute no threat to a free press. lands conserved and restored by federal, While I agree that “government must state and local agencies, and private non- DOZD\VEHZDWFKHG´LWLVDEVXUGWRDUJXH SUR¿WSDUWQHUVLQFOXGLQJWKH&ROXPELD WKDWOLPLWLQJSUHVVDFFHVVWRWKHÀRRURI Land Trust. the House is any potential threat to the 3DWKZD\VWRWKH3DFL¿FZLOOEHIXQGHG First Amendment. through the Land and Water Conser- The business of the people’s gov- vation Fund, arguably America’s most ernment must always be open to public important conservation program. Over scrutiny, but the demands of the press for its 50-year history, LWCF has provided special seating privileges are not a con- billions of dollars for parks, open space, stitutional concern. wildlife habitat, agriculture, and forest For a free press to be relevant, it conservation, and is funded from fees col- must also be reliable. Sensationaliz- lected by oil and gas leases, not taxes. ing this minor snit as “barriers thrown In our coastal region in Oregon and XSE\WKRVHLQSROLWLFDOSRZHU´EHWUD\V Washington alone, LWCF has pro- that responsibility. As does the claim that tected special places such as Cascade “by the time the Constitution was writ- Head, Fort Clatsop National Memo- WHQ´DQ³XQEULGOHGSUHVV´ZDVRSHUDWLYH rial, Nestucca Bay National Wildlife in America in the 1580s. It didn’t exist. Refuge, Lewis and Clark National His- I recommend that The Daily Astorian torical Park, and the Willapa National take its own advice to “do our jobs effec- Wildlife Refuge. WLYHO\´0RYLQJIRUZDUGWKDWZRXOGEH Although Congress allowed the the most responsible thing to do. 50-year old LWCF program to expire ROBERT JOHNSTONE LQ 6HSWHPEHU D ELSDUWLVDQ JURXS Astoria S T
