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: