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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 2015)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Friday, February 27, 2015 Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN Publisher JENNINE PERKINSON Advertising Director DANIEL WATTENBURGER Managing Editor TIM TRAINOR Opinion Page Editor OUR VIEW Tip of the hat; kick in the pants A tip of the hat to the city of Pendleton IRULQYHVWLQJLQWKHLU*,6 program — geographic information systems, for those of us who don’t speak in letters. Updating and compiling this data will allow future users to have more reliable information about what is underneath their yard and their street. Once the database is up and running, the information contained within will allow faster diagnosis of problems and more SUHFLVHDQGFKHDSHU¿[HV ,IDKRPHRZQHUZDQWVWRFKHFN where city lines pass through their property, there will be a map for that. And if a prospective business is curious how large the sewer and water lines are outside a property, there will be a PDSIRUWKDW,WFRXOGDOVRDYRLGFRVWO\ zoning snafus like we saw recently in ,UULJRQ ,WDOOPDNHVVHQVHIRUDFLW\WKDWKDVDOUHDG\IDOOHQEHKLQGRQPDLQWHQDQFH DQGLQIUDVWUXFWXUH,I3HQGOHWRQZDQWVWRJHWPRUHEDQJIRUWKHLUSXEOLF ZRUNVGROODUVUHOLDEOHLQIRUPDWLRQWKDWFDQEHSURYLGHGE\*,6LVRQHZD\ to do it and a worthwhile investment. A kick in the pants to the clock at McKenzie Park in Hermiston, which hasn’t been working for months. Rather than relying on internal gears to keep it ticking, the clock communicates with a satellite that keeps that second hand moving at just the right speed. Hermiston Parks and Rec director Larry Fetter said it’s a high quality system that works well — except when it doesn’t. And that’s not acceptable for the city’s centerpiece park, and a clock tower built in celebration of Hermiston’s 100th birthday. ,WZRXOGEHFRVWO\WRFDOORXWDVSHFLDOL]HGUHSDLUPDQVR)HWWHUVDLGKH has been looking at other ways to get the clock back in time. No luck yet, he said, and he’s preparing to bite the bullet and pay the professionals for their service. ,WPLJKWQRWVRXQGOLNHWRRELJRID deal, but we’re now all familiar with the broken windows philosophy of policing — where cops concentrate on the little WKLQJVWKDWLQÀXHQFHGDLO\OLYHVLQWKH hopes of stopping big problems before they start. Clocks in parks are a little like that. Make sure the small things are working before you tackle the big problems. Yes, a broken clock is still right twice a day. But for the other 23 hours DQGPLQXWHVLW¶VZURQJZURQJZURQJ/HW¶V¿[LW A tip of the hat to the city of Irrigon and the Oregon Trail Library 'LVWULFWIRU¿QDOO\¿QDOO\ agreeing to rules that will reopen the public library. Whew! The $1.2 million library was open for just a few weeks, then closed for a few months while the two sides argued over a nondescript shared space between the two buildings. The whole controversy was pretty ridiculous, and neither side should be happy with how the silly sniping over minutiae forced the closure of an important community space. %RWKVLGHVORRNOLNHWKH\¶YH¿QDOO\ signed on the same dotted lines, and bearing any last-minute shenanigans ZKLFKZH¶UHQRWUXOLQJRXWWKHFLW\ZLOOJHWLWVOLEUDU\:KLFKZHWKLQN they should have had months ago. 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. LETTERS POLICY The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. Submitted letters must be signed by the author and include the city of resi- dence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not be published. Send letters to Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pend- leton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com. Requa statue would be revered at PHS There is no doubt, even for those that didn’t play football, that the man deserves a tribute and a lasting legacy for all the reasons stated in the letters and probably many others. $W¿UVWJODQFH,XQGHUVWDQGWKH thinking of locating the statue on Main Street that has been that has been stated in numerous letters. After all, they want the statue in DSODFH¿WWLQJWKHKLJKUHJDUGIRU which they hold the memory of Coach Requa. Sure, Main Street is a good location while those that remember him are still alive, but what happens in a decade or two when most of those people have passed on? Who will remember Requa 50 years from now? The key to having an enduring legacy for any icon is to have future generations hear the story, take ownership, and pass it on to the next generation. Now ,DVN\RXLV0DLQ6WUHHWWKHEHVW location to accomplish that? ,IWKHVWDWXHLVORFDWHGDWWKH high school across from Bedford Bridge, it has the potential to become so much more than just another bronze on Main Street. ,HQYLVLRQLWFRXOGEHXVHGDVWKH centerpiece of some new traditions to promote Pendleton football. Since the team walks from the high school to the Round-Up Grounds, why not include the fans and other students in the walk in support of the team? Can you imagine the boost it would give the team to have a bunch of screaming fans following them to the stadium? The statue could be a good luck icon that people touch on the way, and every future fan is exposed to the Requa legacy — where the story could be incorporated into the ethos of the Pendleton football program, where every player hears the story, takes ownership and passes it on. Or do you locate it downtown, where only the odd tourist or people walking the levee, see the statue, read the plaque, and think “That’s nice” and move on. The only high school students that care about it are the ones using the statue of some old dude to do skateboard tricks around. $JDLQ,DVNGRHV0DLQ6WUHHW still seem like the best location for an enduring legacy 50 years IURPQRZ",GRQ¶WRSSRVHSXWWLQJ OTHER VIEWS White House traps itself in terrorism word games W hy has the Obama particularly virulent strain of extremist administration tied itself ideology has tried to insert itself in the in knots over what to call Muslim community,” Earnest said. ,VODPLFWHUURULVP":HNQRZWKH Weaving back and forth, Earnest noted president has rejected the term in favor that extremism can take other forms, of “violent extremism,” ordering his such as in the 2012 shootings at a DGPLQLVWUDWLRQQRWWRUHIHUWR,VODPLF Sikh temple in Wisconsin, although WHUURULVWVOLNHWKH,VODPLF6WDWHRI,UDT on the other hand “that does not DQG6\ULDDV,VODPLF³1RUHOLJLRQLV diminish in any way the concern that Byron responsible for terrorism,” Obama we have that some extremists have York declared at the recent White House made some inroads into some Muslim Comment Summit on Countering Violent communities.” Extremism. Earnest’s contortions left some And yet in the same speech, Obama uttered OLVWHQHUVEDIÀHG³<RXMXVWZRQ¶WFDOOLW the word “Christianity” once, “Judaism” PLOLWDQW,VODPRUDQ\WKLQJOLNHWKDW"´DVNHGD RQFH³%XGGKLVP´RQFH²DQG³,VODP´RU UHSRUWHU³:HOO,WKLQNZH¶YHEHHQYHU\FOHDU ³0XVOLP´WLPHV,IDOLVWHQHUGLGQRWNQRZ about what we call it,” Earnest replied. better, he might think there was something Later, another reporter asked about a ,VODPLFDERXWWKHH[WUHPLVP statement Earnest released a that was the subject of the few days earlier condemning White House conference. WKH,VODPLF6WDWH¶V Obama’s semantic beheading of 21 Egyptian preferences have left his Christians. The statement spokesmen struggling to referred to the victims as ¿QGZRUGVWRGHVFULEHRQH “Egyptian citizens,” rather of the United States’ top than “Egyptian Christians.” national security concerns. Why was that? ,W¶VDSDUWLFXODUWURXEOLQJ Earnest quickly conceded problem now, with the rise the victims were killed RIWKH,VODPLF6WDWHEXWLW not just because they were has deep roots; the president Egyptian, “but also because KDVORQJDSSHDUHGFRQÀLFWHG they were Christian.” When RQKRZWRUHIHUWR,VODPLF asked why he didn’t just say terrorism. that last weekend, Earnest ,QKLVERRN³7KH$XGDFLW\RI+RSH´ DQVZHUHG³,FDQ¶WDFFRXQWIRUWKDWVSHFL¿F 2EDPDUHIHUUHGWR³,VODPLFEDVHGWHUURULVP´ line in the statement.” The statement, of DQG³,VODPLFPLOLWDQWV´DQG³PLOLWDQW,VODPLF course, was his own. organizations.” But at other times, Obama Still later, yet another reporter asked was deeply reluctant to connect the words about a comment from State Department ³,VODPLF´DQG³WHUURULVP´ spokeswoman Marie Harf, who during a TV ,Q$SULOIRUH[DPSOH2EDPD interview discussed the Lord’s Resistance outlined his vision of a post-Bush, post- Army in Africa. “That’s a Christian militant ,UDTZRUOGGXULQJDQDGGUHVVDWWKH&KLFDJR group,” Harf said, correctly. The question for Council on Global Affairs. The speech was Earnest was: Why does the administration missing something. “Remarkably, he doesn’t refer to a Christian militant group as Christian PHQWLRQ,VODPPXFKOHVV,VODPLFH[WUHPLVP´ ZKHQLWZRQ¶WUHIHUWRDQ,VODPLFPLOLWDQW a Washington Post editorial noted. JURXSDV,VODPLF" That was nearly eight years ago. Now, the ³:HOO,GLGQRWVHHP\FROOHDJXH¶V SUHVLGHQW¶VDYHUVLRQWRWKHSKUDVHV³,VODPLF comments on this topic,” Earnest said, “so WHUURULVP´DQG³,VODPLFH[WUHPLVP´KDVPDGH ,GRQ¶WZDQWWRVRUWRIZHLJKLQDQGWU\WR LWGLI¿FXOWIRUWRS86JRYHUQPHQWRI¿FLDOV explain what she meant.” to discuss world affairs without becoming At that moment, the administration’s self- caught in word games. When is it OK to created confusion became total. The men and PHQWLRQ,VODP":KHQLVLWQRW":KDWDERXW women who face reporters each day, trying Christianity and other religions? to explain the president’s policies, simply White House spokesman Josh Earnest don’t know what to say when it comes to the fell into a variety of holes recently as he terrorist attacks that so often dominate the tried to navigate the president’s vocabulary news. requirements. For example, a reporter noted At the summit, Obama said Americans WKDW2EDPDDQGWRSDGPLQLVWUDWLRQRI¿FLDOV “can’t shy away” from discussing the true “have gone to great lengths to not say that it’s nature of terrorism. And yet that is what his DVXPPLWDERXW,VODPLFH[WUHPLVPEXWLI White House is doing every day, to the utter you look at the groups that are participating, confusion of those whose job it is to deliver most of them ... are related in one way or the president’s message. another to the Muslim community. How do Ŷ you square the message with the participants?” Byron York is chief political correspondent “We’re very mindful of the fact that a for The Washington Examiner. The men and women trying to explain the president’s policies don’t know what to say. YOUR VIEWS the Requa statue on Main Street EHFDXVH,GRQ¶WWKLQNKLVOHJDF\ LVJRRGHQRXJKIRU0DLQ6WUHHW, RSSRVHLWEHFDXVH,WKLQNKLVOHJDF\ deserves better than to be forgotten on Main Street. Mike Navratil Pendleton Requa to Hermiston, where athletics matter You might consider placing the statue in Hermiston. Coach Requa drove a group of Hermiston sports boosters to demand excellence in athletics from our school board. We had been told that Hermiston just didn’t have the athletes. We used his example of decades of success to debunk that myth. Great sports teams are a source of pride to every community. This pride extends from young to old. So if you can’t agree on a place for the statue, send it west. Mike Mehren Hermiston Goodwin the right FKRLFHIRU%URZQ¿HOG Having taught at Pendleton +LJK6FKRROIRUSOXV\HDUV, can think of many other educators who deserve statues as much as, or even more so than, Don Requa ZKRP,YHU\PXFKUHVSHFWHG At the very top of my list would be Rudy Rada, who not only devoted his life to education, but WRWKLVFRPPXQLW\DVDZKROH, am sure anyone who has attended, or who has children in Pendleton schools, could add names to this list. Almost 100 years after they made history at the Pendleton Round-Up, Jackson Sundown and George Fletcher are still remembered. One hundred years from now who will remember Don Requa, and since not one team ever won a state football championship, what will they remember him for? We agree with many who have ZULWWHQWRVXJJHVWDPRUH¿WWLQJ personality without whom there would be no city of Pendleton. His name is Moses Goodwin, who donated the land this city sits upon. The park in question is directly across the river from his YHU\KRPHVWHDG,Q'HFHPEHU 1868 Moses Goodwin and his wife deeded land from which WKHRULJLQDOWRZQZDVSODWWHG,W FHUWDLQO\VHHPVPRUH¿WWLQJWKDW this man should be honored in such a manner. ,WVHHPVWRXVWKDW'RQ5HTXD¶V larger-than-life statue would be much more of an inspiration to future athletes at Pendleton High School rather than as a curiosity DW%URZQ¿HOG3DUN:HXUJHWKH city council of Pendleton to rethink their approval of the placement of the Requa statue. Ken and Sabra Crysler Pendleton Put Requa at location approved by council 7KH5HTXDVWDWXHDUWVKRXOGEH located where it has already been DSSURYHG²%URZQ¿HOG3DUNRQ Main Street. To me the Requa statue represents what hard work and the pursuit of excellence can accomplish, not only on the IRRWEDOO¿HOGEXWDOVRLQWKH classroom and in life. These are the attributes that should be celebrated on Main Street along, with our western heritage. Mike Carey Milwaukie
