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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 28, 2015)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Tuesday, April 28, 2015 Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN DANIEL WATTENBURGER Publisher Managing Editor JENNINE PERKINSON TIM TRAINOR Advertising Director Opinion Page Editor OUR VIEW Between a rock and a harder place Producers and processors who use a lot of migrant labor are used to being between a rock and a hard place. Those hoping President Obama’s recent executive actions to defer deportations and offer work permits to illegal immigrants might make their lot easier may be disappointed. There are 12 million illegal immigrants already in the country. 0DQ\¿OOLQYDOXDEOHUROHVLQRXU economy, particularly in agriculture. Farmers who raise vegetables, fruit and nursery crops depend on immigrant labor, as do many processors and packers. It’s generally agreed that most of these workers, as many as 85 percent in some areas, are in the country illegally and are providing employers with fake papers. There’s no question producers and processors need the labor. So, an informal “don’t ask, don’t tell” arrangement exists between employers and employees. So when the president announced he was taking executive action that would defer deportations and grant work permits to as many as 5 million illegal immigrants, many employers could be heard to breathe a sigh of relief. Illegals made legal, even temporarily, could be a boon to employers for all kinds of reasons. The president’s programs are currently tied up in the court, but LPPLJUDWLRQRI¿FLDOVDUHWDNLQJ applications. As part of that process, applicants must prove they’ve been in the country the required time period. Employment records can help establish worker eligibility for the program. When an employee reaches out to an employer to help provide documentation for the application, it quickly becomes obvious the worker is in the country illegally. Enter Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Washington Farm Labor Federation asked ICE if employers who become aware through this scenario that an employee is illegal can have safe harbor from prosecution as the worker completes the application process. No. Applying for a program doesn’t make an applicant eligible for employment. Employers who hire, or continue to employ, workers who they know to be undocumented are liable for audit and prosecution for violating immigration law. Once you know an employee is in WKHFRXQWU\LOOHJDOO\\RXKDYHWR¿UH them. Welcome to the harder place. This is why we’ve been opposed to extralegal attempts to change immigration policy. We think the president has overstepped, and lacks the authority to offer work permits to millions of illegal immigrants. But even as the president moves to make illegals legal, his administration stands by to enforce the laws as they apply to employers. Only Congress can change immigration law, and change it Congress must. We continue to call for a program that secures the border, revises the guest worker program, and grants illegals currently in the country a reasonable path to permanent residency. It’s time to bring everyone in from the cold, whether through some grand bargain or by incremental reform. OTHER VIEWS I 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. We’re taxed enough already The Pendleton Tea Party Patriots believe Blue Mountain Community College is a needed asset to our community. We believe our roads need improvement, our drinking water should be safe and some of the statues are a welcome asset in helping to make Pendleton a pleasing place to visit/ live. However, we also believe “TEA” stands for “Taxed Enough Already.” It is SDVWWLPHWR¿QGRYHUIXQGHGRUREVROHWH programs to eliminate so those funds that can be better used on other needed projects. The Pendleton Tea Party Patriots have reached our limit in increased taxes. When is enough, enough? So, Cam, what programs can you cut? How can you better use the assets you already have? Why blame the BMCC board for unnecessary projects? We ask, “Why are we building new facilities in Boardman and Hermiston?” Didn’t BMCC implement online classes to service those areas? Over $2 million is designated for expanded technology. Would these funds further enhance the online classes programs? We ask, “Why are we building new facilities for these area? Do these areas really need of both these class options?” Next up for questioning is the city of Pendleton. Phil and Bob, we ask, “If the budget is LQVXI¿FLHQWWRUHSDLURXUIDLOLQJURDGVDQG or water pipes without requesting additional Are you smarter than an 8th grader? am afraid you’re eligible to read this because too few Americans understand column only if you can answer this them. And people assume far too much question faced by eighth graders of “averages.” around the world: After all, American adults have, on What is the sum of the three average, one ovary and one testicle. consecutive whole numbers with 2n %XWWU\¿QGLQJVXFKDQ³DYHUDJH as the middle number? person.” A. 6n+3; B. 6n; C.QD.Q I know many readers will 0RUHWKDQWKUHHTXDUWHUVRI6RXWK Nicholas grumblingly protest that they’re just Korean kids answered correctly (it is Kristof not good at math! True, there are math B). Only 37 percent of American kids prodigies who are different from you Comment were correct, lagging their peers from and me. When the great mathematician Iran, Indonesia and Ghana. Carl Gauss was a young boy, his We know Johnny can’t read; it appears that teacher is said to have asked his class to Johnny is even worse at counting. calculate the sum of all the numbers from 1 to The Educational Testing Service released 100. Gauss supposedly supplied the answer DJOREDOUHSRUW¿QGLQJWKDW\RXQJDGXOWVIURP almost instantly: 5,050. the United States rank poorly in reading but 7KHWHDFKHUÀDEEHUJDVWHGDVNHGKRZKH are even worse in math — the worst of all knew. Gauss explained that he had added 1 and countries tested. This is the generation that will 100, 2 and 99, and realized that there would be EHLQWKHODERUIRUFHIRUWKHQH[WKDOIFHQWXU\ 50 such pairs each summing 101. So 50 times struggling to compete with citizens of other 101 equals 5,050. countries. So I agree: Let’s resent the Gausses of the It’s not just that U.S. results are dragged world for being annoyingly smart. But let’s not down by poverty. Even U.S. millennials with use that as an excuse to hide from the rigor of graduate degrees score near the bottom of numbers. Countries like Singapore manage to international ranks in numeracy. impart extraordinary math skills in ordinary We interrupt this column for another children because they work at it. problem: Numeracy isn’t just about numbers, of How many degrees does a minute hand course. It’s also about logic. Let me leave you of a clock turn through from 6:20 a.m. to 8 with a logical puzzle — a family favorite, a.m. on the same day? RQHWKDW,¿UVWKHDUGDVDOLWWOHNLG²WKDWLVQ¶W A. 680 degrees; B. 600 degrees; mathematical at all. Yet people with math C. 540 degrees; D. 420 degrees training seem better at thinking it through and 2QO\SHUFHQWRI$PHULFDQHLJKWKJUDGHUV solving it: correctly answered B, below Palestinians, You’re in a dungeon with two doors. One Turks and Armenians. leads to escape, the other to execution. There In a recent column, I offered a paean to the are only two other people in the room, one humanities. But it’s also true, as a professor of whom always tells the truth, while the notes in a letter to the editor, that science other always lies. You don’t know which is majors do take humanities courses. In contrast, which, but they know that the other always humanities majors often desperately avoid lies or tells the truth. You can ask one of them any semblance of math or science (except for one question, but, of course, you don’t know classes like “Physics for Poets”). ZKHWKHU\RX¶OOEHVSHDNLQJWRWKHWUXWKWHOOHU Numeracy isn’t a sign of geekiness, but a or the liar. So what single question can you ask basic requirement for intelligent discussions of RQHRIWKHPWKDWZLOOHQDEOH\RXWR¿JXUHRXW public policy. Without it, politicians routinely which door is which and make your escape? get away with using statistics, as Mark Twain It’s not a trick question. When you hear the supposedly observed, the way a drunk uses a answer, you’ll see it’s straightforward. I’ve lamppost: for support rather than illumination. posted the answer on my blog, nytimes.com/ (I believe U.S. high schools and colleges ontheground, but you won’t need the help, will RYHUHPSKDVL]HFDOFXOXVDQGGRQ¶WVXI¿FLHQWO\ you? teach statistics. Statistical literacy should be Ŷ part of every citizen’s tool kit.) Nicholas Kristof grew up on a sheep and cherry farm in Yamhill, Oregon. He is a colum- Public debates often dance around basic nist for The New York Times. statistical concepts, like standard deviation, YOUR VIEWS tax funding, then why were statues and speed bumps funded?” The Patriots believe that the operating budget should take care RIEDVLFVQHHGVRIWKHFRPPXQLW\¿UVW After all, when I can’t pay rent, I don’t go on vacation. This is simple logic. And by WKHZD\LIWKH¿UHVWDWLRQLVUHORFDWHGWRD site closer to downtown, won’t it be further from West Pendleton and the hospital? The Patriots suggest that funding for these projects and the BMCC bond should come from funds allocated for obsolete/ RYHUIXQGHGSURJUDPV,VLW\RXUSODQWR tax the property owners until you take 90 percent of their pay and leave them ZLWKRQO\LQVXI¿FLHQWIXQGVWRFRYHU their own living expenses? Our county commissioners, as does the sheriff department, understand the consequence of increasing taxes so they are operating within their current budgets. We thank them for that. New taxes for roads. New taxes for water and new taxes for a BMCC bond. When is enough, enough? Bond is short for “bondage”! Eli Stephens Pendleton Early childhood center a crucial part of BMCC bond Blue Mountain Community College’s $23 million proposed bond on the May 19 election ballot includes multiple LETTERS POLICY community and industry partnerships that KHOSWRUHGXFHWKH¿QDQFLDOEXUGHQRQORFDO taxpayers. One of those partnerships would create the Workforce and Early Childhood Education Training Center in Boardman adjacent to the SAGE Center. The Port of Morrow has agreed to lease around three DFUHVRIODQGDWDPLQLPDOFRVWOHDVHWR BMCC for the facility. The center would house workforce training programs, including training in advanced manufacturing, mechatronics and data center technician — skills businesses at the Port of Morrow are asking for in new employees. Due to the type of facility BMCC is looking to construct, other partners have reached out to the college to assist ZLWKIXQGLQJDQGVWDI¿QJ$SDUWQHUVKLS between BMCC, local school districts, the InterMountain Education Service District and Head Start would enable the center to house the college’s Early Childhood Education program. This program, which the college has offered for about 10 years, provides instruction to BMCC students interested in working in the HDUO\FKLOGKRRGHGXFDWLRQ¿HOG$QHDUO\ childhood education center in Boardman would provide a learning lab — preschool and early childhood education programs for children ages birth to 5 — for BMCC VWXGHQWVWRJDLQKDQGVRQH[SHULHQFH with children in a classroom setting. Just as BMCC’s animal science students The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues and public policies for publication in the news- paper and on our website. The newspaper reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. Submitted letters must be signed by the author and include the city of residence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send letters to Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com. QHHGOLYHVWRFNIRUDFTXLULQJKDQGVRQ experience, Early Childhood Education program students need kids. If approved by voters, this center would be a positive effort for the community — children in Morrow County would have an opportunity to receive early learning educational programs, while BMCC VWXGHQWVZRXOGJDLQKDQGVRQH[SHULHQFH to become skilled workers ready for jobs in education. Ed Taber, chair BMCC Board of Education Mark Mulvihill, Ed.D., superintendent InterMountain ESD Gary Neal, general manager Port of Morrow Naked child not a police issue According to your recent “Public Safety Log,” someone called the police because a IRXU\HDUROGFKLOGZDVSOD\LQJQDNHGLQWKH sprinklers in his/her own yard. I’m curious as to why this was inappropriate. The child was *gasp* running through sprinklers in their own yard. The mother of this child even said WKDWWKHSROLFHRI¿FHUVHHPHGHPEDUUDVVHG to show up on this call and said something like, “What is the world coming to?” I’m just wondering if children are supposed to be ashamed of their bodies and covered at all times (even at four years of age), or if parents in Pendleton need to be worried about neighbors policing their parenting at all times. Neither seems like a good situation to me. It sounds to me like this neighbor needed a “talking to” and not the child’s parents. Shaindel Beers Pendleton
