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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 9, 2018)
5A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2018 GUEST COLUMN GUEST COLUMN Student journalists have the same press rights T he attack of the far right against the press isn’t just coming from the Trump administration. It is being felt all the way down to regional and local news organizations, and even the high school press. The First Amendment, which includes the freedom of the press, is often sabotaged by persons who are afraid of points of view that DON differ from ANDERSON their own, and afraid of news they think might make their political outlook look bad. It would be wrong to think that the attack on the free student press comes solely from the right, however. Journalism teachers and their students must be aware of bias that can arise from either end of the political spectrum, and to ensure that their pieces are rooted in the truth. As a journalism teacher of 19 years, I am particularly aware of the tendency to want to quash student expression. Students, particularly high school students, are often perceived as having less right to express themselves than do adults, or it is assumed that student newspapers should be all about sports and dances, but should avoid tough issues. Is this the way we want to teach young people, to avoid issues like suicide, teenage pregnancy, dress-code inequality, the opioid crisis, and the possibility of arming teachers? Both the student writers and the student readers deserve better. Journalism teachers across the country have an important job of preparing their students to enter the real world. School newspapers and magazines are authentic publications and significant sources of information and opinion. Many of them, like the one at my school, are also public forums because they are delivered to the whole community, and take submis- sions and letters from both the community and school. Fortunately, our school has an administration that respects Don Anderson/For The Daily Astorian Jewell High School students Isaac Wilson, William MacNi- coll and Amber DeWees relax in the press room of The Jay, Jewell School’s literary magazine. The Jay is produced by Falcon Graphics, Jewell’s graphic design class. the First Amendment and pro- tects our publication, The Jay, from forces that would like to dismantle it, or make it into a “fluffy bunny” news source. Every year, the Student Press Law Center takes on cases where high school newspapers are censored. They provide information to schools and school boards who might not know the laws regarding student censorship, as well as legal advice to students and staff who feel they are being censored or harassed. Many students, parents, teachers and administrators do not realize the extent of press freedom that the Supreme Court has afforded student publications, stating in 1969 that, “It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional right to freedom of speech at the schoolhouse gate.” It is true that in 1988 the Supreme Court ruled in Hazelwood SD vs Kuhlmeier that administrators have the right to occasionally censor student publications, if they view the piece is detrimental to students’ education. However, Oregon and sev- eral other states have given students stronger protection, requiring administrators to legally justify the reason for their censorship. Additionally, while the 1988 Hazelwood decision limited the press rights of student publications, it also established that this limitation doesn’t apply to publications that have been opened as “public forums for student expression.” Some student newspapers have historically been edited and proofread by the administration, while other publications, such as The Jay, assign, edit and publish their own stories, based on the decisions of the student publi- cation staff with the guidance of the journalism teacher/ adviser. This distinction is import- ant, as there is a tendency for some school boards and administrations to whittle away at the First Amendment rights of students if they per- ceive articles or artwork to be controversial or not in keeping with an alleged standard. Most student publications, like the one at Jewell, subscribe to the same journalistic ethics of all major newspapers, and use the Associated Press Stylebook for their writing standards. The Journalism Education Association, another group that advocates for student journalists and their teachers, fundamentally believes that journalism and student publications should teach students the value of a free press, encourage lifelong learning, promote high writ- ing standards, and support the freedom of expression. Journalism teachers across the country want to develop students who think for them- selves, aren’t afraid to take on a difficult topic and write with power and concision. Smart school boards and administrators realize that allowing students to fully express themselves through a student publication can go a long way to easing pressures within a school. All children, and particularly high school students, deal with a fusillade of issues today that continually threaten the stability of their own lives and the lives of students around them. A student newspaper or magazine is an excellent outlet for students to write and read about topics they identify with. This doesn’t mean that good news isn’t published along with more difficult issues, but it does mean that students should have the right to read all kinds of writing from the minds of their own classmates. When I attended the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism a few years ago, the very first thing we did as a group of educators was memorize the First Amendment. One of our professors, Leonard Downey Jr., former executive editor of the Washington Post, told us repeatedly, “The First Amendment is the rock on which you stand, and a free press is the foundation of a democracy.” It is fitting that this foundation of a free press be conferred on our youth, just as it is conferred on adults. Students don’t give up their constitutional rights just because of their age, and journalism teachers, in fact all educators, must be vigilant in protecting those rights, espe- cially in the current anti-press climate. Don Anderson teaches advanced placement litera- ture, communications, psy- chology and graphic design at Jewell School, and is on the Cabinet for Public Affairs at the Oregon Education Association. GUEST COLUMN Why sell the Birch Street ball field? O n Valentine’s Day, Astoria Mayor Arline LaMear, members of the City Council and staff held a special working session to determine if four parks cur- rently under review could be declassi- fied as city parks and converted JIM into surplus STOFFER property. There are two reasons the mayor and council would like to see these parks turned into sur- plus property — first, to reduce the budget burden on the parks department, and second, to make land avail- able for housing. Once a property is deemed surplus, the city is free to offer the parcel for sale and the land can be sold for devel- opment or other uses. Of the four parks dis- cussed, only the baseball field at 47th and Birch Street was deemed convertible to sur- plus status. The others were too complicated with historic designations. The Birch Street field, in Astoria’s Alderbrook neigh- borhood, sits on a little more than an acre of flat ground near the Columbia River. For the past 60 years or so it has functioned as a kind of sand- lot ball field with a back- stop. During the season the Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian The backstop at Birch Field in the Alderbrook neighbor- hood of Astoria is the only visible evidence of the base- ball diamond. city would put out bases and do the mowing, in the win- ter the outfield fills with water and ducks move in. So far this is an All-American story of a low-key neighborhood ball field making good use of a marginal piece of property while the city provided neces- sary but limited maintenance. When the current city admin- istration came into power this all came to a halt. Historically the ball field was river bottom, and accord- ing to reports local sawmills filled the low-lying area with sawdust to create what we have today. Not suitable for housing but pretty good as a neighborhood ball field. Due to lack of attention the field has been used less and less. But over the years when the city did its part, it saw steady use from a wide group of users. T-ball and local pickup softball games were common during the summer. What the mayor and coun- cilors see now is an underuti- lized ball field. According to the parks director, her depart- ment spends about $60 a month on maintenance, not a lot. She admits the poten- tial $60 savings per month doesn’t exactly ring her bell, “but anything helps.” And inexplicably, rather than being an advocate for the ball field, the parks director appears fine with selling it. That’s exactly what the mayor and council decided to do. In a non-official straw poll, they agreed to declare the field surplus and offer it to a developer. The official vote will be taken at an upcoming council meeting where public comments will be accepted. What was missing from the discussion was the extreme level of engineering that will be needed to trans- form this field into housing. Remember this is in the flood plain, within the tsunami zone and likely falls into the cate- gory of wetlands. The question is, will the city even be able to sell the land for housing? The engi- neering challenges will be significant and thus the sale price will need to be steeply discounted to motivate a builder. Something doesn’t add up here. The parks department saves $60 a month, the city ends up with a piece of sur- plus property that may not be suitable for building at any price, and the neighborhood loses a ball field. The next day, Oregon Pub- lic Broadcasting interviewed the mayor about selling city parks. As I listened, she did a good job explaining her dilemma, “not enough money for parks and not enough land to build houses on.” The question is, does sell- ing the Birch Street field address either of these issues? Jim Stoffer is a 40-year member of the Alderbrook neighborhood and played catcher in Little League. Louie Opatz Members of the Seaside eighth-grade girls Pacific Basketball League team present a check for $1,539.60 to help fund middle school sports to the students of Broadway Middle School in 2014. Celebrating 25 years of PBL success I f you’ve spent more naments that first fall of than one winter in 1993, but quickly realized Seaside, you’ve likely that was simply too early in witnessed the droves of cars the season. With Portland that show up in Seaside on schools also slashing sports from program budgets, there weekends between January was a true need for tourna- and early March. Drive ments like the ones they had your car along Highway 101, past Broadway Middle developed, and more teams started doing club-type School and Seaside High, sports. and you’ll see both Recently, 94 parking lots filled teams participated with Chevrolet from grades five Suburbans and through eight. Some SUVs from of the tournaments Washington, Oregon include fourth and even Idaho. JON grade, but all cap These cars and RAHL out at the eighth- their occupants rep- resent the families, grade level. Kerri coaches, and players from told me they’ve had as the nearly 500 teams that many as 108 teams. come to Oregon’s North It’s not just Seaside that Coast each year for Pacific benefits from the influx of Basketball League (PBL) hoops teams. tournaments. It’s a stagger- “In the 1990s, we had ing number when you think a few big tournaments about it. Seven weekends, where we started to use as many as 96 teams (and Camp Rilea and Warrenton support crews) per week and schools,” Kerri said. “It’s a nearly built-in guarantee probably been in the last that local hotels, shops and seven years that we’ve part- restaurants will have a great nered with Astoria.” And it’s not just gym- weekend. nasiums (up to eight gyms Now running tourna- ments for the 25th year in with 12 teams per site) Seaside, I was interested and cash registers in the about the history of this communities that balloon wildly successful venture, on Saturdays and Sundays. so I spoke to PBL Director Kerri also partners with the Kerri Januik by phone school programs (not just recently to learn how it all sports) in Seaside, Astoria got started. Surprisingly, and Warrenton. it came because of a “It’s a huge win-win,” newfound need in our com- she said. “They (the kids munity. With the expansion and coaches) want to do it, of Broadway Middle School and I need somebody to do in the early 1990s, sixth it. It’s a great fundraising graders from Cannon Beach, opportunity for all these Seaside and Gearhart would kids when budgets have move to the expanded been cut for different school. This move meant activities.” fifth- and sixth-grade ath- The groups work the letic teams — which once gym, keep score and run the game clock, with coaches closely mirrored the middle and teachers supervising and high school’s year- the efforts. Each weekend, round programs — were these efforts result in money planning to be eliminated. going towards a plethora of Then Seaside High basket- ball coach Larry Elliott was school programs. particularly concerned about Teams have arrived all developing future Gulls and the way from Alaska and keeping sports a part of their California for the tourna- ments, and inquiries have lives. come from as far as Hawaii. Januik and her husband, Much of it is the result of a Frank, were still fairly new group of community leaders to the area and both were realizing a need for its already involved in sports. Frank was a physical educa- children. tion teacher and local coach, “It’s been a good thing while Kerri was coaching for everybody,” Kerri told eighth-grade girls basketball me as we wrapped up our and teaching classes with conversation. “You know, her fitness management it’s a good thing for me and degree. a good thing for my family. A local group that I could be a stay-at-home mom (to her three children), included teachers and busi- ness leaders got together they got to be a part of it on to discuss the concept of the playing side and also on running a few tournaments, the working side of it later according to Kerri. But they in life, and it’s good for desired a leader. the community. It’s good “They’re all teachers, for our teams. I just think busy and doing their thing,” there’s really nothing bad she remembered, “and about it and it has been a everyone turned their head real blessing.” and looked at me.” Have a thought or a Without a full-time job question about tourism in at the time, and the support Seaside, or maybe an idea of Frank, they decided to for a future column? Drop give it a try. A nonprofit was me an email at jrahl@city- ofseaside.us. established and Kerri was Jon Rahl is the director of named as the paid director. tourism for the Seaside Vis- “Our goal was to try to itors Bureau and assistant get about 16 teams each tournament (that first year)” general manager of the Sea- side Civic and Convention she said. They tried some tour- Center.