THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 2017
Hooray for Title 9
T
he picture of “Dynasty Days”
on the front of The Daily
Astorian, May 22 (“‘Dynasty
Days’ for Lady Fishermen”), made
an impact within this household.
In my high school, in 1968, there
was no Title 9. The federal act,
which made public school girls
and boys sports teams, across the
board, equally funded, was enacted
in 1973. Girls back then had field
hockey, tennis and cheer leading,
but no basketball, baseball, soccer
or swim team, track, football or
wrestling.
A year after I graduated from
high school, Title 9 passed the U.S.
House and Senate. It was a day of
celebration for women in this coun-
try. Lessons learned within sports
are necessary for women to break
glass ceilings. Teamwork, strategy,
perseverance and other skills boys
had benefited from for decades,
now were part of a young woman’s
educational experience.
To see these strong, vibrant,
young women holding their track
and field trophy made me teary
eyed. I’m deeply grateful for Title
9, for the benefits those girls and
women after me won. Protect what
you have. Call, email or write to
your senators and congress people
to continue to support Title 9.
PAMELA MATTSON
McDONALD
Astoria
Leaving girls out
s a parent in the Astoria School
District, I had been looking for-
ward to the spring band concert to
hear the students’ progress with the
new band director. Unfortunately,
my husband and I left the May 25
concert disheartened. Many students
dropped out of band in the 2015-
16 school year, after a succession of
interim band directors. Our daughter
persisted, and was one of four girls
in intermediate percussion at the
start of this year. By mid-year, two
of the four girls had quit band.
Anticipating hearing our daugh-
ter play the snare drum in a song
honoring military veterans for
Memorial Day, we were surprised
when our daughter did not play.
There were not enough drums,
and the boys in percussion told my
daughter she would have to “sit this
one out.” The only other girl in per-
cussion was already sitting out. The
four boys never sat out. My daugh-
ter would have enjoyed playing for
her Navy veteran dad, if she had
been allowed to play her assigned
part.
Immediately following, we
saw the debut of the Astoria High
School percussion ensemble, which
I had hoped would be an inspiration
for my daughter. The percussion
ensemble consisted of eight boys …
no girls.
It’s not my intention to discredit
the band program, but to bring for-
ward a situation that threatens girls’
access to education, in spite of Title
IX. Title IX has been in place since
1972, providing kids at federal-
ly-funded schools with equal access
to education, including sports and
band, regardless of the child’s gen-
der. I hadn’t prepared my daugh-
ter for a world in which she will
have to fight harder in order to gain
access to the same opportunities
as boys. I was naïve to think that
girls today no longer faced these
inequities.
My daughter hasn’t decided
if she’ll stay in band next year. I
remember how proud she felt when
her first band director complimented
her on a drumming skills test, and
she came home and started show-
ing her little sister how to play. I
A
FRIDAY EXCHANGE
hope this letter reaches the par-
ents and teachers in our community,
who can make a difference by pro-
viding girls with opportunities and
encouragement.
KIM CATTON
Astoria
Mental health help
ay is Mental Illness Aware-
ness Month. Oregon legisla-
tors observed it last week by unan-
imous votes on two bills in the
Oregon House and Senate. HB 3090
requires hospitals to develop policies
and procedures around the assess-
ment and discharge of people who
utilize emergency rooms during a
behavioral health crisis. Its com-
panion, HB 3091, explicitly states
that insurance, both commercial
and Medicaid, must pay for clinical
assessments for people who present
in emergency rooms with behavioral
health crises. It removes any ambi-
guity of the issue of insurance parity.
Both bills were advocated by
Oregon members of the National
Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI),
including the local affiliate, NAMI
Clatsop, which meets on the second
Tuesday of each month at the Sea-
food Center in Astoria. It welcomes
families and friends of people suffer-
ing from brain diseases
JUANITA B. PRICE
NAMI Clatsop board member
emeritus
Astoria
M
Unsettling thoughts
was thumbing through a pile of
Daily Astorians recently, before
putting them in the recycling, when
my eyes landed on a letter to the edi-
tor in the May 12 edition, “Subhu-
man savages.”
The author doesn’t like the kind
of people who protest against our
unpopular president, and he feels
that arrest is the least they should
be made to suffer. He advises that
the police “use their clubs on these
creatures, but not below the neck.
Cracked skulls … broken jaws,
smashed cheekbones and noses” are
what he recommends. What?
When I was growing up the after-
math of World War II, a lot of people
used to wonder out loud how the cit-
izens of Germany could have gone
along with fascism the way they did
in the 1930s. Well, it doesn’t happen
overnight, it happens step by step,
and authoritarian dictatorships have
historically evolved in a very pre-
dictable way.
Crushing dissent with brutal
assault is right out of that playbook,
as is blaming the country’s economic
woes on a particular class of peo-
ple defined by race or religion, as
is demonizing and eventually sup-
pressing the press, and the list goes
on. Whether fascist or communist or
military or monarchistic, this is how
regimes that rule the many for the
benefit of the few operate.
As for how you get masses of
people to think, believe and behave
this way, the first step is that you stir
up fear — Be afraid! Be very afraid!
“They” are coming to get you!
— and then comes rage, and then
comes violence.
I am unsettled not only by the
thought that some of my neighbors
are beginning to think this way, but
that the newspaper I subscribe to
thinks that thoughts like this are fit
to print.
JOSEPH STEVENSON
Astoria
I
Nuclear voting
he National Popular Vote (NPV)
will ensure that the winner of
the presidential vote wins the elec-
T
tion. Five times now, a loser has
been elected president, like in 2000
and 2016.
Recently 26 Oregon senators,
including Betsy Johnson and Sen-
ate president Peter Courtney, voted
in favor of SB 990 that essentially
overturns ORS 469, silencing Ore-
gon voters, and ignoring their 1980
law enacted by ballot Measure 7.
ORS 469 requires new nuclear
plants to be preceded by a licensed
nuclear waste repository, and a
majority vote of Oregon voters in
favor of a building site.
Strangely, Courtney has
expressed his desire to refer NPV to
the costly barrier of a ballot initia-
tive, without any petition calling for
it. Having opposed the NPV three
times before, using political subter-
fuge to prevent it from being voted
on, Courtney clearly appears to still
be opposing Oregon voters, who
overwhelmingly believe that the
winner of a ballot should be the win-
ner of the election.
The only likely reason why he
has changed his position from open
opposition of NPV to maneuvering
for a costly delay of a referral, with-
out a single signature, is because, led
by Clatsop County, 23 other Central
Committees have passed a resolution
for the NPV before the state Dem-
ocratic Party passed the resolution,
itself, last March.
How do Democrats reconcile
their vote to silence voters over cit-
ing freaking nuclear reactors in
our back yards without our con-
sent, when they insist on the obsta-
cle of an initiative for the simple rule
change of the NPV? What makes
protecting the presidency from the
winner of the popular vote more
important than protecting us from
another Chernobyl?
And what is to prevent them from
voting to overturn such an initiative,
like Courtney just voted to do with
Measure 7? Must we go nuclear?
Shall the fallout of such conduct
end in 74-year-old Courtney’s recall
petition?
Stop it, Peter. It is over, just stop
it already. Enact the simple rules
change of the NPV, and help prevent
the national nightmare of having to
endure another unpopular president
ever again.
TED THOMAS
Astoria
Relax with mindfulness
ccording to the National Net-
work of Depression Centers:
One in five people will experience
a mental illness; we lose about as
many people each year in Amer-
ica to suicide as we do to breast can-
cer; and suicide is the No. 2 cause of
death for people ages 15 to 44.
Mindfulness is a tool that can
help with this problem. Mindfulness
is not a religious practice. It is not a
hocus pocus fix to a deeply serious
problem in our society. It is a sci-
entifically proven way to calm and
relieve anxiety.
Mindfulness is the ability to
allow your mind and your body
to exist in the same moment at the
same time. Mindfulness leads you
to accepting yourself, your past and
your emotions.
Mindfulness uses different tech-
niques to bring your attention away
from your anxiety and allows you
to live in the present moment by
acknowledging your breath and
your surroundings. When you focus
on your breath, you are no longer
focused on the pain of the past or the
fear of the future; your mind can rest
in the present moment, this is when
the anxiety starts to ease.
Thich Nath Hanh, a Buddhist
monk from Vietnam, says “the true
miracle is the moment when you
A
stop thinking.” One of his techniques
when teaching mindfulness is to say
to yourself, “this is my in breath, this
is my out breath.” Do this as many
times as you need to until you have
gained control of your mind.
Another techniques is square
breathing. This is when you breathe
in to the count of four, breathe out
to the count of four, then you do that
four times.
These techniques may seem sim-
ple, but that is the point. Life is com-
plicated enough; practicing ways to
simplify life counteracts the chaos
around us and brings peace when we
need it most.
AMANDA ZINN
Seaside
Commission needs a plan
he headline in the May 26 edi-
tion of The Daily Astorian
asked this question about the Clat-
sop County Commission: “Who’s in
charge?” (“Who’s in charge? County
commissioners split over role”). The
reporter cites that commissioners
are split on understanding their per-
sonal role in researching and making
decisions.
When a local governmental ques-
tion like this occurs, the first place
one goes for an answer is the orga-
nization’s charter. Unfortunately, the
defining of council or commissioner
qualification and duties in charters is
rather unspecific.
County and city manager duties
are pretty clearly defined as “respon-
sible for the day-to-day operation” of
the organization, per the ordinances
adopted by the council or commis-
sion. When pressed, the duties of a
commissioner or council member is
to ensure that “the real concerns of
the people are being addressed by
the council.”
Well, the top concern of the peo-
ple should be pretty obvious: The
Clatsop County Commission has
gone through nine county manag-
ers in 16 years. This can only be
a reflection on the lack of capable
commissioners who can run an orga-
nization. The only way to fix this
is to have an independent, impar-
tial, and intelligent interviewer talk
to the departed county managers and
assemble a set of recommendations
on how to rationally run this county.
I would hazard a guess that
in prioritizing the concerns to be
addressed, it will soon become obvi-
ous that what the commission has
been missing is any rational plan to
address “it’s the economy, stupid.”
The county is transitioning from
having family-wage jobs to mini-
mum-wage jobs. The county does
not have a source of housing for
minimum-wage job earners. You
won’t get that plan sitting in your
chair with a rubber stamp.
JOHN DUNZER
Seaside
T
Alarming display
was disappointed to see the fla-
grant display of religious symbols
at Astoria’s Maritime Memorial over
the Memorial Day weekend. The
memorial is public property and, as
such, should be designed and man-
aged in such a way that everyone
will feel welcome there. I found the
exclusive display of more than 60
Christian crosses extremely offen-
sive and threatening.
What was more troubling was
the thought that someone in our city
government would approve such a
blatantly sectarian use of a public
park at such a time. Do they think
there are no Jews, Muslims and God
knows what else here? Our parks are
for everyone.
If a family installs a plaque at the
memorial in memory of a departed
I
5A
loved one, they certainly can include
on that plaque whatever religious
symbol pleases them. Even a reli-
gious group should be allowed to
use the park for a special occasion,
assuming they have a permit and the
event does not conflict with some-
thing more transcendent such as a
national holiday in which the park
plays a prominent role.
However, for the city of Astoria
to sanction using the entire park for
just one religion, and on a national
and nonreligious holiday that com-
memorates the sacrifice of all who
gave their life to defend this coun-
try, no matter their faith or national-
ity, is unconscionable and, I suspect,
illegal.
The city of Astoria owes the peo-
ple of Astoria an explanation and an
apology.
PAUL HAIST
Astoria
See where money goes
une is a very busy month: high
school and college graduations,
weddings, and, for Astoria, the con-
sideration of a budget for the fis-
cal year 2017-18. There is a budget
committee composed of the mayor,
the other four council members and
five citizen members appointed by
the mayor. All the city departments,
various outside agencies who con-
tribute to the good of the commu-
nity, and the Warrenton-Astoria Area
Chamber of Commerce seek funding
from the property tax base and lodg-
ing taxes.
The total allocated to the agen-
cies who provide musical and artis-
tic programs and others who provide
safety nets for needy and troubled
citizens is only $50,000. The total
allocated to the Chamber of Com-
merce is close to $300,000. Not sat-
isfied with that amount, the Cham-
ber has requested that in the future
its funding should be a percentage of
the lodging taxes collected.
Needless to say, as it has been for
the past two years, there was seri-
ous discussion about how this large
amount is utilized, and how much
it really benefits the city. It is undis-
puted that the number of visitors to
our fair city has steadily increased
over the past few years; but there is
not a scintilla of substantial evidence
that this has been due to the efforts
of the Chamber of Commerce.
At one point in this discussion,
the Budget Committee chairman for-
bade further debate. The chairman is
also on the board of directors for the
Chamber of Commerce.
Apart from the large discrepancy
in funds provided to various agen-
cies compared with what is provided
to the Chamber, under the proposed
budget, the Parks and Recreation
Department will have a $100,000
shortfall. This will result in limit-
ing recreation programs, neglecting
maintenance of our many parks, the
scenic Riverwalk and possible clo-
sure of the Astoria Aquatic Center.
Good people of Astoria, some-
thing is out of whack in this bud-
get. You may review the budget by
going to www.astoria.or.us; on the
left side of the page under “Informa-
tion Links,” click on “Finance Bud-
get Information.”
On Monday, June 5, at 7 p.m., in
the Council Chambers at City Hall,
there will be a public hearing regard-
ing the budget. The total to be dis-
tributed is over $37 million.
Good people, this is your money.
Hopefully you will attend this hear-
ing, even if you have to forfeit a bit
of your evening and leisure time.
Come and let the City Council know
that you are concerned about how
and where your money is spent.
GEORGE McCARTIN
Astoria
J
With deterrence so delicate, Trump misfires on NATO
By CHARLES
KRAUTHAMMER
Washington Post Writers Group
W
ASHINGTON — So what
if, in his speech last week
to NATO, Donald Trump
didn’t explicitly reaffirm the provi-
sion that an attack
on one is an attack
on all?
What’s the
big deal? Didn’t
he affirm a gen-
eral commitment
to NATO during his visit? Hadn’t
he earlier sent his vice president and
secretaries of state and defense to
pledge allegiance to Article 5?
And anyway, who believes that
the United States would really go to
war with Russia — and risk nuclear
annihilation — over Estonia?
Ah, but that’s precisely the point.
It is because deterrence is so del-
icate, so problematic, so literally
unbelievable that it is not to be tri-
fled with. And why for an American
president to gratuitously undermine
what little credibility deterrence
already has, by ostentatiously refus-
ing to recommit to Article 5, is so
shocking.
Deterrence is inherently a barely
believable bluff. Even at the height
of the Cold War, when highly reso-
lute presidents, such as Eisenhower
and Kennedy, threatened Russia with
“massive retaliation” (i.e., all-out
nuclear war), would we really have
sacrificed New York for Berlin?
No one knew for sure. Not Eisen-
hower, not Kennedy, not the Soviets,
not anyone. Yet that very uncertainty
was enough to stay the hand of any
aggressor and keep the peace of the
world for 70 years.
Deterrence does not depend on
100 percent certainty that the other
guy will go to war if you cross a
red line. Given the stakes, merely
a chance of that happening can be
enough. For 70 years, it was enough.
Leaders therefore do every-
thing they can to bolster it. Install
tripwires, for example. During the
Cold War, we stationed troops in
Germany to face the massive tank
armies of Soviet Russia. Today we
have 28,000 troops in South Korea,
12,000 near the demilitarized zone.
Why? Not to repel invasion. They
couldn’t. They’re not strong enough.
To put it very coldly, they’re there to
die. They’re a deliberate message to
the enemy that if you invade our ally,
you will have to kill a lot of Amer-
icans first. Which will galvanize us
into full-scale war against you.
Tripwires are risky, dangerous
and cynical. Yet we resort to them
because parchment promises are
problematic and tripwires imply
automaticity. We do what we can to
strengthen deterrence.
Rhetorically as well. Which is
why presidents from Truman on
have regularly and powerfully reaf-
firmed our deterrent pledge to
NATO. Until Trump.
His omission was all the more
damaging because of his personal
history. This is a man chronically
disdainful of NATO. He campaigned
on its obsolescence. His inaugural
address denounced American allies
as cunning parasites living off Amer-
ican wealth and generosity. One of
Trump’s top outside advisers, Newt
Gingrich, says that “Estonia is in the
suburbs of St. Petersburg,” as if Rus-
sian designs on the Baltic states are
not at all unreasonable.
Moreover, Trump devoted much
of that very same speech, the high-
light of his first presidential trip to
NATO, to berating the allies for not
paying their fair share. Nothing par-
ticularly wrong with that, or new
— half a century ago Senate Major-
ity Leader Mike Mansfield was so
offended by NATO free riding that
he called for major reductions of
U.S. troops in Europe.
That’s an American perennial.
But if you’re going to berate, at least
reassure as well. Especially given
rising Russian threats and aggres-
sion. Especially given that Trump’s
speech was teed up precisely for
such reassurance. An administra-
tion official had spread the word that
he would use the speech to endorse
Article 5. And it was delivered at a
ceremony honoring the first and only
invocation of Article 5 — ironically
enough, by the allies in support of
America after 9/11.
And yet Trump deliberately, defi-
antly refused to simply say it: Amer-
ica will always honor its commit-
ment under Article 5.
It’s not that, had Trump said the
magic words, everyone would have
100 percent confidence we would
strike back if Russia were to infil-
trate little green men into Estonia, as
it did in Crimea. But Trump’s refusal
to utter those words does lower
whatever probability Vladimir Putin
might attach to America respond-
ing with any seriousness to Russian
aggression against a NATO ally.
Angela Merkel said Sunday
(without mentioning his name) that
after Trump’s visit it is clear that
Europe can no longer rely on others.
It’s not that yesterday Europe could
fully rely — and today it cannot rely
at all. It’s simply that the American
deterrent has been weakened. And
deterrence weakened is an invitation
to instability, miscalculation, provo-
cation and worse.
And for what?