A4
V IEWPOINT
Hood River News,
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
O ur readers write
JOE PETSHOW
Publisher/President,
Eagle Newspapers, Inc.
CHELSEA MARR
General Manager
JODY THOMPSON
Advertising Manager
DICK NAFSINGER
Publisher, Emeritus (1933-2011)
TOM LANCTOT
Past President,
Eagle Newspapers, Inc.
KIRBY NEUMANN-REA
Editor
TONY METHVIN
Columbia Gorge Press Manager
DAVID MARVIN
Production Manager
Subscription $42 per year in Hood River trade area. $68 outside trade area.
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
ASSOCIATION
Printed on
OREGON NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
recycled paper.
Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County
Published Every Wednesday & Saturday by Hood River News,
P.O. Box 390, Hood River, Oregon 97031 • (541) 386-1234 • FAX 386-6796
Member of the Associated Press
Youths Matter
Keeping kids safe, and sustained,
includes showing them support
K
eeping kids safe is the basic goal with our an-
nual “Just Say No!/Soli Di No” special section
in this edition.
The coloring book contains ample informa-
tion about prevention and tips for talking with
kids about drugs, tobacco, and alcohol. It’s an annual
partnership with Hood River Police and supporting
sponsors.
Most parents are in tune with the issues and con-
cerns about kids’ exposure to unhealthy things, but this
publication, along with other efforts by law enforcement
and programs by the county Prevention Network, can
serve as a helpful tune-up.
The publication includes a variety of insights; per-
haps the most basic one is this: “Help your children es-
tablish realistic personal goals in academics, athletics
and social life.
“Encourage and help them to achieve these goals.”
Italics are ours.
We can all, not just parents, encourage our youth to
participate and excel in positive activities. The opportu-
nities are extensive for attending or otherwise support-
ing the things kids are involved in, or projects that offer
positive alternatives for youth in our communities. St.
Francis House, The Next Door Inc., Start Making A
Reader Today, Little League, middle school sports, and
Community Education are just a few of the ongoing pro-
grams always deserving support.
In the near term, many events and programs are
ready for anyone to show up and pay an admission price
(if any). They include Kids Soup, scheduled Thursday at
Springhouse, and the plays at Hood River Middle School
and Hood River High School opening Thursday, Tongue
Twister Tournament for SMART on Friday, and the
Horizon Hawks’ playoff game, also on Friday.
It’s not too late to form a team for the March 8 Bowl
for Kids’ Sake for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of the Gorge,
and mentors are always needed there.
The high school and middle school AVID program
(Advancement Via Individual Determination) seeks tu-
tors; a training is planned Feb. 28 — call 541-387-5704 for
details.
Add to that the Community Work Day program by
the high school, coming April 29: in it, HRVHS students
spend a day working at a local business or organization,
and turn their earnings over to a fund that is donated to
a needy local organization to be determined.
In Hood River County, young people are always up to
something good. Supporting their efforts can be enter-
taining or educational, or both, and has the immediate
effect of bolstering what the kids happen to be doing, be
it music, drama, or community service projects.
In addition, it sends a signal to other kids, be they
younger or less-involved. It says, “People who know you,
as well as those who don’t, will make an investment of
time or money to observe or help experience what you
are pursuing.”
Supporting these efforts shows kids they matter, and
that their creative and positive pursuits are what drives
them as individuals and the community as a whole.
An interesting
notion
I am 13 years old and I’ve noticed as
I am talking to my classmates that (in
my opinion) more and more are be-
coming ignorant of things going on in
our own community. Though some
people might disagree with my notion,
this would be what I would say. One
day I might be talking to a friend of
mine and say, did you hear about
what’s going on tomorrow over at the
WAAAM museum or such? My class-
mate’s answer … WHAT’S THAT? So
as I am saying, why don’t parents and
guardians maybe contemplate about
well .. .let’s see ... teaching your kid
something about their own communi-
ty. But again, just sayin’.
Jonathan Harris
Hood River
Shades of
chicanery
I am glad you published the hilari-
ous cartoon (Feb. 21) titled “Fifty
Shades of GOP.” It shows the Republi-
can brain trust of Ben Carson, Scott
Walker, Jeb Bush, Bobby Jindal, Mitt
Romney and Chris Christie smiling in
an adorable, cartoony and lovable way.
Your readers might wonder why
these Republicans are so happy and
lovable. Make sure you don’t tell your
readers why Secure Rural Schools has
not been reauthorized by the Republi-
can controlled Congress. Don’t tell
them income inequality from the Re-
publican inspired 2007 Great Reces-
sion is at levels not seen since before
the 1929 Great Depression.
What is not to love about successful-
ly opposing any response to global
warming? For these smiling men, dis-
allowing health insurance coverage
for female contraception is just a good
joke. Gutting affordable health care
for millions of low income Americans
and diagnostic health care services for
low income women gives them a
happy tingle. They just changed the
rule funding Social Security disability
setting up a hilarious social security
crisis for 2016. Happiness is holding
the government hostage threatening
to defund and cripple Homeland Secu-
rity over their demand to deport 11
million immigrants.
These lovable Republicans refuse to
allow a vote on bipartisan immigra-
tion reform in the House of Represen-
tatives where the immigration reform
bill would easily pass. They oppose fix-
ing the Voting Rights Act. They are
creating Voter ID laws that make it
harder for college students, poor peo-
ple and minorities to vote. They are
gleefully obstructing an increase in
the minimum wage for everyone and
pay equality for women. They have an
activist majority of Republican ideo-
logues on the Supreme Court where
they plan to kill affordable health care.
They managed to destabilize the Mid-
dle East with disastrous wars and
failed states in Iraq and Afghanistan
empowering terrorist organizations
like ISIS and Al Shabaab.
Yes, there is much for these Repub-
licans to smile about. Grifting their
supporters and extracting donations
with coded racist rants is hugely prof-
itable. These are the public faces of
chicanery that has no policy solutions
except racial animus, world war and
most important, tax cuts for the rich.
John Kramer
White Salmon, Wash.
Corporate
takeover
I applaud Eric Cohn for his writing
in Another Voice Hood River News
Feb. 21 concerning standardized test-
ing. The answer to his question, who
started this and what was their intent
is simple: corporate America for prof-
it. The single biggest influence has
come from the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation with funding documented
at 250 million (but potentially as high
as 2.3 billion according to Jack Has-
sard, Professor Emeritus at Georgia
State) all in the interest of implemen-
tation and advocacy of the Common
Core State Standards (CCSS) The
Gates Foundation has partnered with
the British corporation Pearson, the
giant textbook publisher, to create on-
line curriculum for CCSS which will
drive the volume of testing. The prof-
its here are staggering.
According to surveys by the Pew
Center on the States and the Brook-
ings Institution, state spending on
standardized testing rose from $552
million in 2001 to $1.7 billion in 2012.
As an example of individual state
impact, let’s look at Texas. Pearson is
the exclusive testing contractor for the
State of Texas. According to Pearson’s
year end review for 2011-2012, more
than 11.5 million tests were adminis-
tered to Texas public education stu-
dents in grades 3 through 12 for the
State of Texas Academic Readiness, or
STARR. The cost was more than $89
million! By 2015 the cost for standard-
ized testing, is expected to cost Texans
nearly $100 million. Based on figures
provided by Texas Education Agency,
Pearson’s five year contract with
Texas from 2010-2015 will total more
than $468 million. Even more stagger-
ing is the grand total from 2000 -2015
that Texas taxpayers will have paid
Pearson — nearly $1.2 billion for de-
veloping standardized tests and relat-
ed materials.
In spite of our Constitutional
rights, Bill Gates and corporations
have attempted to set public policy by
funding and marketing CCSS to Amer-
icans and thereby circumventing vot-
ers on educational issues. The 10th
Amendment leaves education to state
and local control. Allowing private
corporations to set public policy and
to control American education is dan-
gerous and must be stopped. The
movement against standardized test-
ing is growing and is shared across
party lines. To learn more, google
United Opt Out, or Opt Out Oregon
and remember, Standardized Testing
= Standardized Thinking.
Gregory Shepherd
Hood River
Fairness
and water
While I may lean more towards
David Michalek’s views towards Nes-
tle regarding the water bottle industry
in general (Viewpoint, Feb. 21) his
statements on what Nestle is doing re-
garding “privatizing the public’s
water” create false perceptions
around Oregon water law and the
premise of western water law.
Under Oregon water law, the state
and the people own all of the water in
the state. It is granted for use for free
for all users, mostly private. So for Mr.
Michalek to attack one company for
using the water legally for its intended
purpose is to attack all private users of
water in this state, including the farm-
ers that grow our food, the other in-
dustries that make our products, and
the breweries that brew our beer. The
Oregon Water Resources Department
does not discriminate over individual
water users, as long as the water is
being put to full and beneficial use as
it was intended.
If Mr. Michalek chooses to discrim-
inate, that is his choice, but I do not
want my state to regulate and decide
which private group, company or indi-
vidual can have access to water. He
does bring up an excellent point re-
garding charging for the use of water
like oil. Again, you are playing a dan-
gerous game in charging every private
user (no discrimination allowed) the
true value for water, which then cre-
ates significant issues for those less
fortunate and poor.
Ryland Moore
Hood River
YOUNG VOICES
W HERE TO WRITE
President — Barack Obama, White House, 1600 Pennsylva-
nia Ave., Washington D.C., 20500
E-mail: president@whitehouse.gov
U.S. Senators — Jeff Merkley, SDB-40B, Dirksen Senate Office
Building, Washington D.C., 20510. Phone: 202-224-3753; E-mail:
oregon@merkley.senate.gov; Ron Wyden, 717 Hart Office Build-
ing, Washington D.C., 20510. Phone: 202-224-5244.
Web address: www.senate.gov/member/or/wyden/general/
2nd Congressional District Representative — Greg
Walden, 14 N. Central Ave., Suite 112, Medford, OR 97504.
Phone: 541-776-4646;
E-mail: www.walden.house.gov/contactgreg
Governor — John Kitzhaber, 254 State Capitol, Salem, OR
97310. Phone: 503-378-3111;
E-mail: www.governor.state.or.us/email.htm
District 26 State Senator — Chuck Thomsen, 900 Court St.
N.E., S-307, State Capitol, Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-
1726; E-mail sen.chuckthomsen@state.or.us
District 52 State Representative — Mark Johnson, 900
Court St. N.E., Bldg. H-385, State Capitol, Salem, OR 97301.
Phone: 503-986-1452; E-mail: rep.markjohnson@state.or.us
Hood River County Board of Commissioners — Chair
Ron Rivers, Vice Chair Maui Meyer, members Les Perkins, Bob Ben-
ton and Karen Joplin, Hood River County Courthouse, Hood River,
OR, 97031. Phone: 541-386-3970.
County Administrator — Dave Meriwether, Hood River
County Courthouse, Hood River, OR, 97031. Phone: 541-386-
3970.
Hood River City Council — Mayor Paul Blackburn, members
Laurent Picard, Mark Zanmiller, Kate McBride, Becky Brun, Peter
Cornelison and Susan Johnson Hood River City Hall, Hood River,
OR, 97031. Phone: 541-386-1488. E-mail: cohr@gorge.net
Is the media killing our confidence?
By MADI WOFFORD
F
ing money. But what if we stopped
buying into all this nonsense? We
all know that these images are un-
realistic, so why do we even bother
feeling bad about it? I think it’s
time that we stopped feeling bad
about ourselves and started feeling
confident instead. I mean, ask any
man; confidence is way more attrac-
tive than a ribcage sticking out of
your sides. If we stop idolizing
these photo shopped women and
started idolizing ourselves instead,
maybe society would finally see
that “being perfect” isn’t about the
way you look on the outside, but the
way you feel and act on the inside.
HRVHS
rom the time we are born,
even before understanding
what we are seeing, we are
hit with a barrage of unreal-
istic and unattainable im-
ages. This is what is bred into our
psyche in the media world we live
in today.
The question is; how can a per-
son’s confidence not be killed in
this generation? Everywhere you
look, TV, movies, magazines, cloth-
ing adds, billboards, and even video
games, are all littered with images
of (mostly) women, who probably
only 1 percent of us will ever look
like in our lives. That leaves the
other 99 percent of us feeling any-
thing but perfect. Then, once you
consider that the images we’re look-
ing at, of these perfect people, are
photo shopped and retouched so
they’re even more perfect, it makes
you realize that even the super mod-
els aren’t good enough. The media
is constantly retouching and photo
shopping to create the image of
what they see as perfect, hoping
that everyone else buys into it,
which we do. The more and more
we buy into it, the worse we feel
■
Madi Wofford
about ourselves.
Considering the media is practi-
cally unavoidable these days, this is
a social conflict teens and women
will probably have to deal with for
the rest of their lives. But who says
“skin and bones” is perfect? Of
course the fashion designers and
magazine publishers want us to
think that so we keep purchasing
their products and they keep mak-
Madi Wofford, a junior at Hood
River Valley High School, wrote this
essay as part of Judy Miller’s Well-
ness class. It was among a select
number of projects Miller posts in
the hallway outside her class-
room.“Madi was working off of dis-
cussions we had about how our cul-
ture socializes us into gender roles
and expectations. We also talked a
lot about the increasing influence of
both mainstream and social media
in that socialization process,” notes
Miller, who also teaches Global Stud-
ies and Psychology.