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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 2016)
9A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2016 Small town laments loss of football season due to hazing Hazing took place at a camp at Camp Rilea By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press PHILOMATH — The scoreboard at the edge of Phi- lomath High School’s foot- ball ield is dark. The stands are empty. This year, there are no varsity games that brought together many of the town’s 4,500 people. Hazing inlicted by upper- classmen on 11 freshman players at a conditioning camp at Camp Rilea in War- renton has led to the season’s cancellation, investigations by authorities and the school district, and calls for healing and for the tradition to stop. Studies show more than half of college students in sports teams, clubs and orga- nizations have experienced hazing. Many were hazed in high school. Just last week in California, three varsity high school football players were charged in a separate incident. Breaking the cycle is dif- icult, but Philomath is tack- ling the issue head on. “The school district is paying attention to both what happened and what could prevent this from happen- ing again,” Superintendent Melissa Goff told The Asso- ciated Press. “We’re pay- ing very close attention to the mental health needs of our students and how we, AP Photos/Andrew Selsky LEFT: Rhonda Lewis speaks during an interview at the C D & J cafe in Philomath. One of the town’s biggest events is Friday night football games, but football season has been canceled at the high school in the midst of a hazing episode. RIGHT: Philomath High School football scoreboard is shown in Philomath. as a community, can pull together.” Small town Philomath is a small, sleepy town. Trafic barrels past shuttered businesses on Main Street, a highway head- ing into the Coastal Range to the west. Corvallis, home to Oregon State University, lies 3 miles to the east. The town formed around Philomath College, which existed from 1865 to 1929. Its name is Greek for “lover of learning.” Philomath has little in the way of entertainment, and several people said the loss of the football season will be a blow. “It’s a little bitty town, and there’s not much else to do, so there was usually a pretty big turnout there,” said Rhonda Lewis, a waitress at the C D & J Cafe, on Main Street. “I don’t know what’s going to happen now.” Pastors representing seven churches have made them- selves available “to listen, pray for and offer counseling to local students, parents and school district personnel,” said Jim Hall, senior pastor of Living Faith Community Church. They’ve had conver- sations with a broad spectrum of townspeople, Hall said. Investigations The school district con- tracted an independent inves- tigator, Goff said. That inquiry is ongoing. The Oregon State Police also investigated, because the incident happened at a state-owned camp. Benton County District Attorney John Haroldson said 11 freshman players had intimate parts of their bodies targeted during an initiation. In court Thursday, one of six upperclassmen charged with misdemeanors pleaded guilty to harassment. As part of his sentence, he will speak out against hazing and stand up for the victims. Haroldson, who advo- cated for the term, said vic- tims are being blamed for the football season’s cancellation and some students’ expul- sions, and instead should be recognized for their courage. The hazing existed for years, “instilled as part of the institution,” and had gotten worse, Haroldson said. “The coaches didn’t stop it,” he told Circuit Court Judge Locke A. Williams. “They chose not to stop it or couldn’t stop it.” Refuges: Volunteers play a key role Continued from Page 1A budget to move law enforce- ment oficers to preserves scat- tered in remote locations across the West, said David Houghton, president of the National Wild- life Refuge Association. Many refuges are patrolled by a sin- gle oficer who covers several states. Some refuge managers have since sent their law enforce- ment oficers to additional training or updated security plans. “People are paying atten- tion to that whole dynamic. I only have one law enforcement oficer here and she covers the entire range of refuges, and she’s by herself,” said Michelle Potter, who manages seven ref- uges and three other habitats in and around Long Island, New York. “I worry about safety.” Local refuges Nearby, the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Colum- bian White-tailed Deer is part of the Willapa Complex, which includes the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge and Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge. All together, the refuges protects approximately 56,000 acres of important habitat for birds such as migratory water- fowl, endangered species such as the Columbian white-tailed deer, and ish such as salmon and sturgeon, according Megan Nagel, National Wildlife Ref- uge System’s regional public affairs oficer. As for stafing, “At the ref- uges, we work with what we have,” she said. She points to conservation actions to restore habitat that wildlife depend on, including stream restoration for salmon and other aquatic species, coastal dune and beach resto- ration for threatened snowy plover and streaked horned larks and estuary restoration in Willapa Bay. Nagel says volunteers are a key part of the mix. “Environmental education is an important part of what we do at the refuges, and vol- unteers are an important part of our success. They play an especially important role in our environmental and interpreta- tion programs,” she said. “For example, the Friends of Wil- lapa National Wildlife Refuge work with us to run the fourth- grade education program in Paciic County (Washington). Together, we work with teach- ers to provide kids the oppor- tunity to learn about wildlife in the classroom and at the refuge.” Sam Beebe/Wikimedia Commons Willapa National Wildlife Refuge is one of three refuges in our area. Tight budget Vanessa Kauffman, a spokesman for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, declined to comment on the study but did acknowledge a tight budget in a phone interview with the AP. The agency oversees the refuge system. “The budget determines the staff, and if you have attrition and you have a shortened bud- get, you’re not going to be able to replace staff,” said Kauff- man. “We do what we can.” The refuges, as well as 178 other federally protected areas dedicated to waterfowl habi- tat and wetland preservation, attract 47.5 million visitors a year for bird-watching, hunt- ing, ishing and educational activities, but their primary mission is the preservation of critical habitat for fragile spe- cies. Many, but not all, are in remote areas. Because they are focused on wildlife preservation, ref- uges are less well known by the public than their lashier, selie-friendly cousins at the National Park Service, yet they have expanded rapidly in recent years as funding has shrunk. Since 2010, the overall ref- uge budget dropped by $17 mil- lion to $486 million while the system added more than 700 million acres, said Houghton. Much of that expansion comes from the addition of two massive marine monuments, including one designated in the Atlantic Ocean last week by President Barack Obama that includes 5,000 square miles of underwater canyons and moun- tains off the New England coast. Meanwhile, existing refuges are struggling to complete their mission with a staff so pared down that some can’t keep on volunteers because there’s no one to manage them. In Rhode Island, for exam- ple, a refuge complex cut edu- cational programs for school- children by 20 percent, lost its visitor center manager and hasn’t been able to treat huge swaths of land for invasive species. Charlie Vandemoer over- sees ive refuges in Rhode Island but has security from only one oficer who also patrols refuges in Massachu- setts and Connecticut. He relies on more than 23,000 volunteer hours a year to get the most critical work done and recently sent his soli- tary law enforcement oficer for additional training. “If it wasn’t for volunteers, they’d have to shut the doors,” said Marvin Plenart, a retired manager in Portland who used to oversee the Western region. “It’s pathetic, is what it is.” Pelican Brewing Company is NOW HIRING YEAR ROUND POSTIONS The judge noted haz- ing isn’t isolated to Philo- math and said there must be an “understanding that this is a practice that cannot continue.” A 22-year-old volun- teer assistant coach stands charged in Clatsop County where the hazing occurred. All the coaches are on leave, Goff said. Canceled season The decision was made to cancel the varsity sea- son after other athletes and coaches evaluated the readi- ness of eligible players. The junior varsity season remains on track. Brittany Dryden, manager of Wilson’s NAPA Auto Parts store, feels the cancellation is “a little harsh.” “I understand people make mistakes ... but I don’t see why we have to punish the whole football team, and pun- ish other people that weren’t involved, had nothing to do with it,” Dryden said. “It’s just not fair to those kids.” Goff has a rebuttal: “High school football in Philomath is important, but it is not as important as our kids.” Hazing might be part of human nature, and “it dei- nitely goes back to ancient Greece and Rome,” said Susan Lipkins, a psycholo- gist and an expert on hazing. Victims take the experi- ence to college and the mil- itary, primed to be hazed again and again, Lipkins said in a telephone interview from Port Washington, New York. Over time, they often become perpetrators, feel- ing they “have the right to do unto others what was done to them,” Lipkins said. Ending the cycle requires breaking the silence. Philomath seems to be handling its case right so far, Lipkins said. To prevent haz- ing, schools must encour- age victims to come forward, using clearly established methods like the internet and even reporting abuse anony- mously so they aren’t labeled wimps. But few high schools and colleges follow through on promises to eliminate hazing, Lipkins noted. “They react,” she said. “They don’t prepare for it and don’t have a system in place in any meaningful way.” Attention Hunters & Forest Recreationists he Lewis & Clark Timberlands managed by GreenWood Resources in Clatsop County will again open for motorized recreational access this fall. Public access is allowed from one hour before sun- rise until one hour ater sunset. Camping, camp- ires, of-road driving, ATVs and motorcycles are prohibited. All access is subject to change. Gates open from Oct. 1, through Nov. 25, 2016 • L&C Camp Gates • Elk Mtn. W (98/99) (71/75) • L&C ML at Saddle • 400 Line (72) Mtn. Park Rd East/ • 300 Line (73) West (56/57) • Klootchy Park (39) • Fisher ML (83) • Sugarloaf (24) • Twilight Gates • Charlie Cr. (26) (110/113/114) • Clatsop Fir XO (25) • Bear Cr. 300 (80) • Tidewater (49) • Elk Mtn. East (53) • Snow Point (54) Any gate that may be open but is not listed above could be closed at any time, as unlisted gates are open for active Lewis & Clark Timber- lands operations only. Please report any illegal or suspicious activity to the Sherif ’s Oice at 503.325.2061 or the Oregon State Police at 1.800.452.7888 TO REPORT A FIRE OR EMERGENCY CALL 911 Road maps showing gate locations are available at our Gearhart oice. Current ac- cess information is available on the Recreational Hotline at 503.738.6351, ext.2. 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