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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 2017)
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017 FRIDAY EXCHANGE Urban Core plan s the Astoria City coun- cilors draft a set of goals (“Library remodel, Heritage Square are priorities,” The Daily Astorian, Jan. 16) I note that one is to “Complete the Urban Core area of the city’s Riverfront Vision Plan.” This is the area between Second and 16th streets, which is Phase 4 of the plan. I would respectfully suggest the council, as a public policy, give priority to this long-pend- ing project. Last June, City Manager Bret Estes offered to seek grant support for Phase 4 of the Riverfront Vision Plan. Hopefully, the consultants who designed the first three phases are still available. It’s been almost 30 years since the city sponsored Sat- urday work parties to clean up our Columbia River water- front, as advised by the Murase Plan. Before that, it was unsafe to even go down to the river. The ensuing result of the cleanup became the four- mile Astoria Riverwalk, which Estes, as former community development director, pro- moted to completion. The Riv- erwalk has become the sig- nature attraction of Astoria, offering its users a sense of place on the Columbia River. It was not my intent, in the early 1990s, to go down to the river, loppers in hand, and clean up a 50-foot swath of the river’s edge to have a recent outside developer capitalize on such a grassroots project. Will the council indicate its concern for the Urban Core area of the Riverfront Vision Plan? JUANITA PRICE Astoria A Speculation write this letter reluctantly, not because I have some- thing else I’d rather be doing, but because I think the sub- ject is none of my business — though, as a resident of the city of Gearhart, I am assured it is my business. A Daily Astorian head- line asks “Is gambling ‘good for Gearhart’?” (Feb. 8) in the matter of the owner of a soon-to-open brew pub being required to ask the city for per- mission to install four video lottery machines in his place of business, on his own prop- erty. The question cannot be answered, as no one is quali- fied to speak for “Gearhart,” much less to know what is “good” for it. In the course of my life of 79 years, I doubt if many more than half the decisions I have made for myself have been “good” for me. Even less would be the probability that I can know what will be good for another person, and it is entirely out of the ques- tion that I can accurately guess what will be good for a town of about 1,000 residents and numerous visitors. In a free enterprise econ- omy, such as we have in this country, consumers “vote” with their dollars. If a business receives enough “votes,” it will thrive; if it does not, it will wither and die. There is no way to predict its future, because it is not known how future gen- erations will care to spend their dollars. It is hubristic for any group of citizens, includ- ing a so-called Planning Com- mission, to decide now what will be good for my children or grandchildren, or any other future residents of Gearhart. In the current matter of video lottery games, I am with Thomas Jefferson in princi- ple — whether a man install four or 40 gambling machines, it “neither breaks my leg nor picks my pocket.” LOUIS SARGENT Gearhart I Free zoo animals am an eighth-grader at Broadway Middle School. Zoos are bad. The animals live in cages, the food is horrible, and the animals only have fam- ily to rely on. First, the animals live in cages. OK, imagine yourself being in a cage, how lonely you would be. And, think how the cheetah and the tiger and the reptiles and the birds are feeling right this very second, all alone and most likely crying — like you probably would be doing. Second, the food is horri- ble. The food is pretty artificial. The animals get lazy because I Keep the $1 trolley ride he Astoria Riverfront Trolley has been an increasingly “must experi- ence” feature in our city for almost 18 years. The approximately hour-long, 3 1/2-mile trip along the south bank of the great Columbia River has been a true bargain at $1 per ride ($2 all day) for the families and tourists visiting the “oldest city west of the Rockies.” Every year there has been talk by some well-meaning supporters for rais- ing the fare. As a trolley volunteer oper- ator for about eight years, and a former T they can’t chase after the “food” or their prey in zoos. The animals do not get a lot of food in zoos. And they don’t get enough vitamins, iron, nutrients and bacteria killers. And they are bored enough to sleep all day. Imagine yourself, how worried you would be. If I were you, I would make signs to say free the animals, protest, tell every zoo to let them go and write in newspapers. So as you can see zoos are bad. The animals live in cages, the food is bad, and they only have family to rely on. HAYDEN SPRATT Gearhart Chopping block n Valentine’s Day, the state Land Board voted 2-1 to sell our largest piece of state managed land to a private timber company. The Elliott Forest, covering 93,000 acres in the Southern Oregon Coast Range, is a complex, natural ecosystem, containing some of Oregon’s last remaining old growth — one-half of the for- est is over a century old. It is estimated that 22 percent of all Oregon coho salmon originate from this source. Privatizing the Elliot will mean industrial-style log- ging of the area, loss of public access (including hunting and fishing) and destruction of the forest habitat itself. State Treasurer Tobias Read and Secretary of State Dennis Richardson, who both voted for the sale, stressed the need for money to finance educa- tion. We need to “give our chil- dren the world class education they deserve,” says Richard- son. The two of them seem to have gotten into the same boat as the Tillamook County com- missioners — drawn to the immediate profit the forest can provide, unable to imagine and implement other possibil- ities for revenue, oblivious to the harm and loss such a short- sighted action creates. Gov. Brown, who voted against the sale, issued a state- ment a few days before the meeting describing the Elliott as one of Oregon’s treasures that should be preserved for generations to come, and sug- gested logging in a sustainable way, and finding other sources of revenue in addition to the forests. Because of a motion made by Brown, the decision was not finalized in the Feb. 14 meeting, but will be brought up again on April 4. Here are phone numbers for your elected representatives if you wish to give your reac- tion to this issue: Secretary of State Dennis Richardson, 503- 986-1523 (press No. 3 to get through); and State Treasurer Tobias Read, 503-378-4329. GWENDOLYN ENDICOTT Nehalem O Racist effigy ’m disappointed the town of Warrenton continues to glo- rify racist effigies, rather than taking pride in their school dis- trict for standing on the side of social justice by ridding their schools of the Native Amer- ican mascot. Below is an excerpt of a statement I read before the Warrenton-Ham- mond School District in 2016, as they considered their final decision to disband with Native American imagery to represent their mascot: When humans are used as a mascot, their personhood and culture is trivialized and tokenized; in essence, their power is diminished. Native American lack of control over the images used to represent Indian mascots is a perfect I voting member of the operations com- mittee, I’m hoping the fare will remain at $1. We can pay for all regular operation costs of the trolley from this fare and the donations we get. Already, the many hours we put into operating the trolley as volunteers translates into a savings of more than $50,000 per year. And, as Astoria Ambassadors, the dialogue by the trolley conductor promotes our city and businesses, as well as providing a colorful depiction of history and points example of how dominant cul- ture oppresses native “power.” Many times, in this com- munity, I’ve heard individ- uals claim the warrior mas- cot is meant to honor Native Americans. I ask you to con- sider how we ever honored the native population of this community — the Clatsop, Nehalem and Chinook tribes — by depicting them with a Plains chief head on uniforms and T-shirts, the cartoon Indian images or the disgraceful pur- ple statue? I’m fairly certain the tiny Indians that make up the larger purple sculpture do not accu- rately represent any particu- lar tribe. Now, the spear with a feather running through the W … can anyone tell me what native heritage that is associ- ated with? The warrior mascot does not honor Native Americans, it only generates more psy- chological harm for a popu- lation who has already expe- rienced significant collective suffering. In the sports arena, mascots will always serve as the enemy punching bag of the opposing team. “Whip the Warriors, Beat the Braves, Kill the Indians!” I’m confident you don’t want Native American chil- dren to hear this racist speech, but are these phrases we want any children to hear? I see no difference between these phrases and “Kill the Jews” or “Kill the n-word.” MORIA GOLUB Astoria of interest along the way. Also, there could be a reduction in onboard dona- tions if the fare was raised. I’m hoping this Astoria “magic car- pet ride” will remain a real bargain at $1 for our tourists and local citizens for years to come. By the way, if you’re looking for a real Northwest Columbia River experience, join us this coming season, noon to 6 p.m., on the Astoria Riverfront Trolley. DAVID SKARRA Hammond In certain circumstances, they assert, we have a pre- dilection for violence, espe- cially when there is high resource competition (ter- ritory, food, water, mates or social status). But others argue that there is no evidence whatever that human beings who are nonviolent eventu- ally feel a need to commit mayhem. Indeed, there’s abundant evidence that people are quite capable of renouncing vio- lence. I agree, recalling polit- ical activist Susan Sontag’s cogent observation: “Nobody can think and hit someone at the same time.” Let’s not forget that we humans also promote con- structive social activities including altruism, empa- thy and volunteerism. Essay- ist George Saunders framed it well when he eloquently tapped into a desire in all of us to lead kinder, more fulfill- ing lives. (See his Syracuse University commencement address. Congratulations, by the way.) Albert Einstein advocated nonviolence when he said “I believe that Gandhi’s views were the most enlight- ened of all the political men of our time. We should strive to do things in his spirit: not to use violence in fighting for our cause, but by nonpartici- pation in anything you believe is evil.” Psychologist Steven Pinker believes that we humans may slowly be on track toward building a more peaceable future. But you probably couldn’t tell that to the Pal- estinians in the Gaza Strip, Native Americans in North Dakota, black Americans in metropolitan America, Lati- nos threatened with deporta- tion or Muslims seeking ref- uge from violence. There’s a Cherokee story that speaks well to this mat- ter. A young girl was troubled by a recurring dream in which two wolves fought viciously with each other. When she recounted the dream to her grandfather, a village elder renowned for his wisdom, he explained that there are two wolves inside everyone, one peaceful and one war- like. At this, the girl was even more upset, and asked which one wins. Her grandfather’s response: “The one you feed.” DR. ROBERT BRAKE Ocean Park, Washington Population control he Trump administration’s plan to build a 20-foot high wall along the south- ern U.S. border with Mex- ico is effectively a plan to treat the symptoms of a prob- lem, rather than the problem. It also may become $15 bil- T 5A lion thrown down the politi- cal-promise rat hole. In a recent article in the Christian Science Moni- tor, a border guard stated that a 20-foot wall is expen- sive, but a 24-foot ladder at Home Depot is cheap. That guard also stated that what he wanted to see was solar pow- ered motion sensors on high steel poles, with GPS track- ing and sensor triggered flood lights. This option also allows wildlife to cross the border. The actual problem in Mexico occurred years ago, with a birth rate of six chil- dren per female that grew to a peak fertility rate of 7.2 children in the early 1960s, declining at about one child per decade to 2.3 children per female today, thanks to fam- ily planning and birth control technology. During the period 1950 to 1990 the birth rate far exceeded the job creation rate, which meant there were far more people than jobs, thus suppressing wages, ensur- ing poverty and creating a huge pool of unemployed who moved north to a country with a lower birth rate, abundant resources and jobs. So while there will be a relative trickle of immi- grants moving across the bor- der in the future, including those from Guatemala, where the birth rate is 3.0, most of the incentive to migrate has already been ameliorated. The ironic issue is that Trump has made the situa- tion worse by invoking the gag rule and proposing to defund Planned Parenthood to appease the voters who think instinctively, rather than objectively. Birth rates will now go up. It is in the best interest of the U.S. that birth con- trol technology be available around the globe to make sure that every region’s population is in balance with its resources and its capability to provide jobs. That balance reduces poverty, thereby reducing political and economic unrest and the need to emigrate. DAVID FITCH Astoria Regressive plan started my morning dis- covering Packy is gone; my Public Employees Retire- ment System (PERS) pen- sion might be “retired”; the Ducks lost to the Bruins; my Moda Health insurance plan was hosed by the fed- eral government to the tune of at least $214 million; Rosie O’Donnell will play Steve Bannon on Saturday Night Live; and, under Oregon HB 2877, which “requires own- ers of vehicles 20 years old or older to pay $1,000 every five years,” I will pay the state of Oregon a tidy sum for own- ing several vehicles over 20 years old. And then I drove to work. Considering I took my 1989 GMC pickup with 67,500 miles on it, I was won- dering how much it would have been worth under Barack Obama’s “Cash for Clunkers” program. Now it seems Oregon legislators favor their own version of “Cash for Clunkers,” in which the state cashes in on clunkers myself and many other Ore- gonians choose to drive. In many cases, people of mea- ger means are forced to drive clunkers, so it is quite appar- ent some Oregon legislators didn’t consider the regressive aspects of this proposition. I wonder if any of these state officials will stay up late to see Rosie on SNL, have a 1956 Chevy in the garage or wake up one day and regret not having piped up about the enslavement of an innocent elephant for the past 54 years. MATT JANES Astoria I Dementia Conversations & Effective Communication Strategies Wednesday, March 8 1:30 to 4 p.m. Astoria Senior Center (1111 Exchange St., Astoria, OR 97103) The Alzheimer’s Association Oregon Chapter is pleased to present these back-to-back community classes in Astoria: “Dementia Conversations” and “Effective Communication Strategies.” In the first class, you will learn some tips for breaking the ice and setting the stage for meaningful and productive conversations about dementia. In the second class, you’ll explore how communication takes place when someone has Alzheimer’s, learn to decode the verbal and behavioral messages delivered by someone with dementia, and identify strategies to help you connect and communicate at each stage of the disease. This class is free, but registration is required. To register, call 800-272-3900. Question on violence re we hard-wired to com- mit violence? Playwright Robert Ardrey and anthro- pologist Napoleon Chagnon argue that as Cain’s children, we have a natural predispo- sition for war that becomes highly-destructive and a self-fulfilling prophecy, mak- ing war more likely. A Offered in collaboration with:
