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the Snake River salm on
Established 1970
STAFF
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Charles H. Washington
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Larry J. Jackson, Sr.
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Gary Ann Taylor
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Joy Ramos
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Shawn Strahan
4 7 4 7 NE M a r tin L u th er K ing,
Hidden deep in the news stories on
the federal government’s decision to
put in p la c e e n v iro n m e n t and
technological fixes, in an effort to
save the wild Snake River salmon
instead o f removing four dams on the
lower Snake River was a quote that
should be lost. W hen asked about
those risky and uncertain fixes,
George Frampton, the White House
expert, said that the dam removal was
in fact “the single most beneficial
thing we could do “ to save fish.
The draft biological statement that
a c c o m p a n ied
the
fe d e ra l
governm ent’s decision supported
Frampton’s statement. In it was a
passage that said that under this
schem e o f so -c a lle d tech- and
environmental fixes, the dams would
continue to be allowed to kill up to 88
percent o f juvenile fall Chinook that
attempt to navigate these manmade
masses o f concrete and earth.
If the four lower Snake dams do kill
nearly 90 percent o f the young fall
Chinook salmon and if the federal
g o v ern m en t’s expert on saving
salm on truly believes that dam
removal is the surest way to save the
fish, then why are these dams being
allowed to stand?
In these same news stories Frampton
was quick to also point out that the
dam removal was an impossibility at
this time because o f a lack o f support
among the region’s members o f
congress.
That lack o f support, combined with
the Clinton Administration’s lack of
courage in overriding the opposition
to dam removal by regional political
leaders like Washington state Sentor
Slade Gorton does not bode well for
the salmon or the citizens o f the Pacific
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The cruel irony o f this decision is that
when these politicians and federal
policy makers finally come to the
realizationthat, in order to save the
salmon the dams must be removed, it
will lickely be too late. A trout
Unlimited-sponsored completed by
a well- respected biologist last year
found that if conditions don’t change,
wild Snake River spring and summer
Chinook could be functionally extinct
by 2017.Simple math skills tell us that
five to ten y e a rs the federal
government has said they will keep
the techo- fixes in place, coupled with
7 to 9 years it will take to dismantle the
lower Snake dams, brings the salmon
right on edge o f extinction or, in worst
case scenario, actual extinction.
But it is not just the salmon that will
suffer from this cruel play o f politics,
it also the citizens and taxpayers o f
the Pacific Northwest. We have been
forced to deal with the decades-long
controversy surrounding efforts to
save the salmon and now will continue
to have to do so as this debate shifts
to the courtrooms. We, like other
Americans, will see our tax bills
increase to pay for risky and uncertain
salmon saving efforts like fish barging
and continued modifications to the
four dams
It has been said that in this day and
age political courage is in short
supply.
Nowhere is that more evident in the
decision o f the federal government
and the members o f congress not to
support the decision o f the one fix
they know will save the salmon -
removal o f the four lower Snake River
dams. Unfortunately, once again it
will be the salmon and the public - not
the politicians -w ho will be forced to
bear the costs o f this lack o f political
courage.
P ortland O bserv er
Dr. Edward Cornell III is an accomplished surgeon and
the Trauma Chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital in
Baltimore, Maryland. He sees many o f the most
devastating injuries that come through the hospital’s
emergency room door. Far too often, this means
treating young people who are victims o f gun violence.
In 1999 Johns Hopkins Hospital treated 390 gunshot
wounds, more than one a day, and almost two-thirds
o f them were patients between 15 and 20 years old.
Much o f the city’s gun violence is linked to the
widespread drug trade. A federal study released this
summer found Baltimore leads the nation in heroin use
and also has one o f the worst crack cocaine epidemics
in the county. Dr Cornell uses experience as a trauma
surgeon to go into classrooms and youth centers and
teach workshops in violence prevention. At a
workshop he presented at the Samuel Proctor Institute
for Child Advocacy ministry at Haley farm, CDF’s
c e n te r fo r sp iritu a l renew al and lead ersh ip
development, he began by apologizing to the audience
because his stories about his work need to be rated
“R ’ for excessive violence, but he explained, “That my
world. For as a trauma surgeon, when it comes to
seeing the results o f children without love, without
positive role models, without activities and without
instruction, I’m at the end o f the food chain. The only
one behind me in line is the medical examiner that does
the autopsies.”
He shared the story o f typical patients he had treated
just three weeks earlier: a sixteen year-old boy brought
to the emergency room at 2:00 on a Saturday morning
with a gunshot wound. The wound itself was just a
tiny hole less than an inch wide on his buttocks. But
the internal damage was devastating, and Dr, Cornwell
described the long procedure over twenty doctors,
nurses, and paramedics had to go through to try to
save him: pumping on his chest, cutting it open to
reach in and massage his heart, inserting a breathing
tube, emptying his stomach to administer anesthesia,
giving him drugs to try to increase his blood pressure,
inserting an IV to give him extra blood. He than
described the scene after the boy finally died and he was
left to break the awful news to tlie boy’s mother, girlfriend
and young child, brother, and the other family members
anxiously gathered in the hospital’s waiting room.
Dr. Cornwell says those moments with families are the
one part o f his job he hates - and no mater what the
circumstances, the horror, shock, and pain are the same
every time. He also says he hears over and over again
that the young victims o f gun violence he threats were
“good kids who fell in with the wrong crowd’s outthere
somewhere, but they never get to my hospital. Everyone
is someone’s good kid.”
Why is this true? It may be because so many o f theses
young victims really were just “good kids,” and some
adults simply cannot understand what happened when
a child they love goes in just a few short years for being
a “good” 8-or 9-Year-old to a teenagers who is a victim
o f drug abuse or violence. This is what Dr. Cornwell sees
hispositioninthe trauma ward as the end o f a very long
chain o f events in these young people’s lives. It is also
what in addition to being a surgeon he makes a point o f
finding ways to see that fewer children ever reach his
link in the chain.
Before coming to Baltimore, Dr. Cornwell was part o f a
team o f Los Angeles trauma surgeons who participated
in the Youth Impact Program, a violence offenders ages
12-17. The surgeons show the youths operating room
photographs o f gun violence injuries and them to
intensive care units to meet young people who survived
shootings but were paralyzed or otherwise injured. In
Baltimore, on top o f his 80-hour workweeks as Trauma
Chief, Dr. Cornwell is a board member o f Baltimore’s
Police Athletic League. He continues the same kind o f
violence prevention outreach he did in the Youth Impact
Program, and also holds a monthly all-male “Rap With
Doc” session at an East Baltimore center, plays basketball
with the youths who attend his sessions, and otherwise
serves as a mentors.
I am so proud all ofD r. Cornwell ’ s important work. I am
grateful for the extraordinary gift he has been given as
a surgeon, and for the way his work has led him to a
commitment to prevention and to sharing his experiences
with the young people he does not want to see grow up
to be his future patients.
Advancingthecauseoftolerance
Jr. B lvd.
o f such ad.
by M arian W riutll E m l m a n
rob T he
USPS 9 5 9 -6 8 0
E
A surgeon’s story about the gun
war and children
hir
T he P ortland O bserver
I thought w e-that is, A m erican
Society-had settled the issue o f a
presidential candidate’sreligion forty
years ago in the 1960 Presidential
Election that put John F. Kennedy in
the W hite House.
I thought American society had
d e c id e d th at a p re sid e n tia l
candidate’s faith is not an issue.
That ’ s what has been so comfortably-
and perhaps, smugly-said since the
Kennedy years.
But now we know that the issue o f a
presidential, or vice-presidential,
candidate’s religion had not been as
settled as we thought.
We know by the reaction-both the
positive reaction and the negative
reaction-that has welled up to Vice
P re sid e n t G o re ’s se le c tio n o f
C o n n e c tic u t S enator Jo sep h I.
Lieberman as his running mate for the
Democratic Party ticket.
Yes! It's your time! You couldn't
have dreamed it better if youd
tried. You've learned tha t hard
w ork and long hours definitely
pay o ff and tha t ge tting ahead is
easier w h e n there's family behind
you. That's the w ay it is w ith
American Family Mutual Insurance
Like you, w e understand it's
consistent performance th a t builds
strong reputations. That's ju s t one
o f m any reasons w h y year after
year wete awarded an A+ (Superior,
rating from the respected insurance
r a tin g a u th o rity , A. M. Best.
The pundits have declared that Gore’s
move in drafting a Jewish American
to run with him at the top o f the
national ticket-a first-is a bold stroke
politically.
Well, I say it’s an inspired choice
socially.
By that I mean, it’s a great decision for
the so c ia l w ell b ein g o f the
Americanpeople by taking on who
votes for whom.
By tak in g on the u n spoken
conventional wisdom that a Jew
shouldn’t be tapped for the top
electoral spots o f the major parties-
fo r the u ltim a te p o sitio n s o f
leadership.
In doing so, the action has advanced
the cause o f to le ra n c e for all
Americans; for progress can never
be made on that front unless the
intolerance is directly confronted.
That was one o f the lessons o f JFK ’s
choosing to directly answ er the
have family behind you.
Before you make y o u r move,
m ake o n e call a n d a h e lp fu l,
friendly agent w ill be delighted to
tell you more. Then go o u t there
and conquer
th e w orld...
we'll be right
behind you.
( Please see 'Tolerance' page 6)
Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor,
There is currently a lot o f talk in the US media regarding the candidature of
Joseph Lieberman, the Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate. They make it
sound as if its a big deal to have a non-Christian at this high post, rhey also
talk about Lieberman being the only non-Protestant senior-level candidate
after Kennedy. They talk about whether Americans will accept a Jew as the
VP. Such talk comes after 2 centuries o f democracy!
In this light, it is interesting to look at India. Just like USA, it is a
secular democracy with no State religion. Independent and democratic for
about 53 years. 3% Christians, 18% Muslims, the rest Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists
etc. Still, India has had 2 Muslim Presidents and numerous Muslim and
Christian Ministers and ChiefMinisters. Current President and Naval Chief are
Christians. Heck, even the true original Roman Catholic Sonia Gandhi - a
European bom to boot - is the Leader o f the Opposition in the Parliament!
This is not to say that India is better than USA, or that USA needs to learn
from India. It is simply a presentation of reality. Those whoclaim that minorities
are systematically discriminated against in India should take a look at this
picture. Automatic vilification o f Hindus for attacks against Christians is all the
more deplorable because o f the recent findings that the Church blasts were
caused by a Pakistan-inspired Islamic cult.
Let us pick up good from everywhere while refraining from unjust, false
accusations.
?
All Your Protection Under One Roof.
!™Î»«ÎήÏS- m S i
American Family Mutual Insurance Company and its Subsidiarlos, Madison, Wl 53783-0001 www.amtam.com
Sincerely,
Mac Kher
i