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OPINION
East Oregonian
Saturday, January 17, 2015
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Publisher
Managing Editor
JENNINE PERKINSON
TIM TRAINOR
Advertising Director
Opinion Page Editor
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MIKE FORRESTER
Pendleton
Chairman of the Board
STEVE FORRESTER
Astoria
President
TOM BROWN
Bigfork, Mont.
Director
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Pendleton
Secretary/Treasurer
JEFF ROGERS
Indianapolis, Ind.
Director
OUR VIEW
Can recently
divorced districts
still be friends?
The headline of our last
picture on many issues, that’s not
editorial on the Hermiston School
what they nor superintendent Fred
District and their plan to leave the
Maiocco were tasked to do.
InterMountain Education Service
But enough of that. Those
District was “Breaking up is hard to bygones are long gone by now.
do.”
Our advice is no different now
So now that the relationship is
than it was in that rst editorial.
of cially kaput, we
As with most adult
ask: Can we still be
relationships that
friends?
come to an end,
As with
Because that is
the most important
every adult
the key to keeping
thing to remember is
the education
the kids have to
relationship that that
community
come rst.
humming along
There is
comes to an
smoothly in Eastern
still plenty of
end: the kids
Oregon. And it’s
collaboration
important that
that can happen
have
to
administrators from
between the school
come first.
both organizations
districts, even
let bygones be
though they’re not
bygones and start to
all under the same
nd out how best to coexist in the
ESD umbrella anymore. Hermiston
new environment.
students still will use Eastern
e appreciated the sentiment
Promise as a pathway to secondary
from IMESD director Mark
education. Political alliances will
Mulvihill, who said: “It’s time to
need to remain strong in Salem. And
move on. e’ve done it, and we’ve
Hermiston, in its oft-stated mission
had the emotion, and Hermiston
of being the premier school district
is moving forward and we respect
in Oregon, must lead by example
that.”
and be willing to share what’s
For most students and teachers
working and what’s not.
in school districts from Hermiston
Yet it’s hard to ignore an
to Baker, they won’t notice the
underlying issue at play here, too.
difference in the new arrangement.
A decade ago Pendleton was the
And that’s a good thing. If you’re
largest city in Eastern Oregon. It was
a student with special needs in
the home of a U.S. Senator, a state
the Hermiston district, or an
representative and a state senator.
administrator trying to schedule
None of the above are true anymore.
services, maybe things got a little
Hermiston leaving the ESD is just
better for you. If you’re a special
another sign that the natural balance
needs student outside that district,
of power in Umatilla County — and
things probably got a little worse.
the larger region — is heading west.
But as we said back in October,
As that power shifts, there are
the Hermiston school board’s
bound to be these tectonic shudders
responsibility is to the students in
that rattle the establishment. But
their district. And while it’s great
they shouldn’t keep us from building
to take a step back and see the big
anew.
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board of Publisher
Kathryn Brown, Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, and Opinion Page Editor Tim Trainor.
Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of the East Oregonian.
Let’s rethink hemp ban
The Albany Democrat-Herald
The pieces of the puzzle are starting
to come together to possibly allow
Oregon’s farmers to stake their claim on
what could become their next cash crop:
industrial hemp.
It’s about time.
In fact, it’s well past time. Now that
Oregon has moved
forward with medical
marijuana and its
voters have approved
a measure allowing
the use of recreational
pot, it seems silly to
leave industrial hemp
tainted by its long-time
association with the
drug.
e’re not alone in
believing this. In fact, this might well
be the only issue on which Oregon’s
Democratic U.S. senators, Ron yden
and Jeff Merkley, agree with their two
Republican colleagues from Kentucky,
Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell.
The four senators this week said they
were co-sponsoring a bill, the Industrial
Hemp Farming Act of 2015, which
would remove federal restrictions on the
domestic cultivation of industrial hemp.
The bill would remove hemp from the
federal Schedule I controlled substance
list — a frankly ludicrous designation
in the rst place — and would de ne it
as a nondrug as long as it contained less
than 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC). THC is the active ingredient in
marijuana.
Once you eliminate the THC, it
turns out that hemp itself has a number
of uses, including as a ber. A number
of farmers are positively high (sorry;
couldn’t resist) on prospects for
industrial hemp, including a Salem-area
enthusiast who told The Oregonian this
week that it “could save America. I am
talking about everything from biodiesel
fuel to food to health care products to
paper. It’s endless. There are thousands
of applications.”
A couple of problems remain: For
starters, if you’re a farmer in one of
the 20 states that has
de ned industrial hemp
as being distinct from
marijuana (the list
includes Oregon and
Kentucky), you still
must seek a waiver
from the federal
Drug Enforcement
Administration to grow
the crop or risk raids
by federal agents. You
could see how the prospect of having
DEA agents tromping around the back
40 might have a chilling effect. The
yden-Merkley-Paul-McConnell bill
(and, yes, it’s weird to place those names
in the same sentence) would x that.
Another piece of the puzzle started
to fall into place this week in Salem,
where the state Agriculture Department
held a public hearing on draft rules that
could allow farmers to plant industrial
hemp crops as early as this spring. The
state rules aren’t perfect — it’s not clear,
for example, why the state is asking
producers to pay a $1,500 fee for a three-
year license — but they appear to be a
solid step forward.
Progress to clear the way for
planting of industrial hemp may not
in itself be suf cient to save America,
as some proponents hope. But these
developments do seem to be small
victories for common sense, and those
are rare enough to be worth celebrating.
It seems silly to
leave industrial
hemp tainted
by its assocition
with the drug.
OTHER VIEWS
Dropouts and politics and cats
L
et’s talk about governors. Or
one of us is a governor, so there’s a
college dropouts.
point for the dropouts right there.
ow, we’ve only been
His early departure may have had
together for a few seconds and already
something to do with disappointment
I sense a strong preference for college
over an unsuccessful career in campus
dropouts. Lucky I didn’t say, “Let’s
politics. Or just not being very into
talk about governors. Or cats.”
school. Apparently, alker was a
A number of our governors are
mediocre student. By the way, how
nursing presidential ambitions. hy
much do we care about presidential
Gail
not? They have experience running
Collins prospects’ college grades? Not much
things and dealing with cranky
— these are middle-aged people, for
Comment
legislators. Also, they look at the herd
heaven’s sake. Actually, we just need
of presidential hopefuls and think,
to be sure that if the grades were bad,
“Clearly, I could do better.” This is true of
the candidate has gotten over it.
every elected of cial down to and including
John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004
members of the zoning board of appeals, but
was hobbled by outrageous attacks on his war
we tend to take governors more seriously.
record, which Kerry might have been able
The most brazen prospective candidate,
to bury by releasing all his Navy records. He
Chris Christie, prepared for his State of the
wouldn’t, until long after the race was over.
State speech this week with a special off-
Then reporters discovered that everything
the-record news conference to which only
about his military career was exactly as Kerry
national journalists were invited. Honest — he had portrayed it. The only news was in his
barred the state reporters
college transcript, which
from his discussion of the
was included in the le and
state of the state. Maybe
pretty dismal. I’ve always
the governor was afraid
wondered if the entire
they’d distract him with
course of modern American
small-bore questions about
history would have turned
New Jersey’s eight credit
out different if Kerry had
downgrades.
not wanted to conceal
Then it was on to the
the fact that his academic
speech, during which
performance at Yale was
Christie talked about
worse than George .
America’s world leadership
Bush’s.
(“called into question”)
As far as quitting school
and the state of the nation
goes, alker left during
(“beset by anxiety”). And if
his senior year to take a
you don’t believe that last
marketing job with the
part, he had a story about a little old lady he
local chapter of the American Red Cross.
met in Florida.
This doesn’t seem totally unreasonable. He
Meanwhile, Gov. Mike Pence stuck pretty
obviously wasn’t into school. And in many
much to Indiana. ...
lines of work, it’s only the job history that
hoops, I feel you drifting away at the
matters.
words “Mike Pence.” ell, he appears to have
However, we want to make sure that when
presidential ambitions as well. Plus two cats
students of the future are making decisions
named Pickle and Oreo.
like this, they’re grounded in reality. alker
Now that I’ve regained your attention,
claimed that he was about to get the rest
let’s consider Scott alker, the governor of
of his credits while he was working, but
isconsin. alker really, really wants to run
then he got married. (Actually, as PolitiFact
for president. His State of the State speech
isconsin reported in a stupendously thorough
was about opposing terrorism and shrinking
investigation of this matter, he had several years
the government, plus 10 billion mentions
of potential night school time before he wed.)
of the Green Bay Packers. He’s already
Then he was going to go, but he was county
hired a political consultant for his run. The
executive and too busy. And it keeps going on.
consultant’s claim to fame is having helped
“Maybe in the next few years,” he told
oversee the presidential campaign of Rudy
reporters in 2013.
Giuliani, but nobody’s perfect.
This is a bad sign. I think I speak for all
If alker was elected, he’d be the rst
of us when I say we do not want to hear
president without a college degree since Harry any arguments that we should elect alker
Truman. Yes! This is the college dropout
president so he’ll have time to nish his senior
connection. How important do you think it
year credits.
is for a president to have a college degree?
But at least he didn’t hug the Dallas
If alker gets traction I am looking forward
Cowboys’ owner.
to digging into this a lot. Perhaps it will give
me a chance to explain why illiam Henry
Gail Collins joined The New York Times
Harrison quit medical school in 1791.
in 1995 as a member of the editorial board
alker went to Marquette University in
and later as an Op-Ed columnist. In 2001 she
Milwaukee. I went to Marquette, too. Had a
became the rst woman e er appointed editor
great time. Unlike alker, I got a degree. Only of the Times’s editorial page.
If Walker
was elected,
he’d be the
first president
without a college
degree since
Harry Truman.
YOUR VIEWS
City councilors get guff,
but much of it is undeserved
I have been reading the East Oregonian
for almost 20 years now after moving to
Pendleton. There have been many articles,
comments, letters, editorials, etc. Many I have
agreed with, some I didn’t. Some I thought
were, well, completely wrong. I have been
on the Pendleton City Council for four years
and previously on the Planning Commission.
Being in the public eye, you can expect
comments both good and bad toward you and
the job you are doing. If you are thin-skinned,
may I suggest that you not run for a public
position?
Recent letters to the editor are way out
of line. It saddens me, my fellow councilors
and the mayor. Yes, the mayor and councilors
are elected of cials, elected by you. e are
expected to perform our duties for the city
of Pendleton with the information, training,
funding and laws provided by our great city,
county, state and federal government. The
constant ridicule by some people of our ne
city, for the most part, is undeserved.
You could say being on the council is
similar to volunteering to umpire a Little
League baseball game. If you call little Billy
out at home, everyone on the home team is
ready to tar and feather you. So guess what
happens when you need a volunteer for the
next game — no takers. Recently, three other
councilors and I were sworn in for a four-year
term, one for her rst term. I had no intention
to run for a second term and waited for people
in my ward to put their name in the hat for the
position. Guess what — no takers.
I praise our mayor and council for the
countless hours put in with the best intent
for the city of Pendleton. There are hours
of personal time taken away from families
and jobs, vacation time, as well as expenses
not always being reimbursed. e do receive
a small stipend for each month; a lot of
Pendletonians spend more on lattes per month
than we receive.
It is a thankless job; we don’t do it for the
money, the glory, or the power. e do it for
the city of Pendleton. I am sure this letter
will be taken by some as a pity party; others
may take it as it is truly meant. Just a simple
reminder that we do our best with the means
given to us.
In closing, it would be wonderful if, before
judgment is made, you might get involved,
ask questions, and come to some open to the
public meetings. Basing your information on
what is printed in the paper may not always
be correct — unfortunately, negativity always
gets the headlines.
Sometimes the correct call is: little Billy
was out, even though it isn’t the call you were
hoping for.
Neil W. Brown,
president, Pendleton City Council