VIEWPOINTS
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Quick takes
Pendleton marijuana stink
I don’t smoke anything, but have to say
they should make the same ordinance for
cigarettes and tobacco pipes as well...
If they are going to make an issue out of it
they need to make an issue out of all smoke..
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leaves as well? Something is always going to
be a nuisance to someone.
— Katherine Darrow
Don’t they have something better to do? I
don’t use any of it, but we sure are wasting a
lot of time on issues that don’t matter!
— Teresa Grosjacques
Everyone complaining, but nobody shows
up to voice their opinions at the city council
meeting.
— Ryan Preston
Pilot Rock city employees
I have a big problem with things as unfair
as this. Shame on those who feel they are
more privileged and especially when they are
supposed to be holding an honorable position.
— Colton McGee
City council members get paid $38 a
month for their service — all they get. Not
even really paid, just a savings.
— Brian Baird
One of the great lessons of the Twitter age is
that much can be summed up in just a few words.
Here are some of this week’s takes. Tweet yours
@Tim_Trainor or email editor@eastoregonian.
com, and keep them to 140 characters.
East Oregonian
Page 5A
Unvaccinated children should not be lepers
By KRISTOPHER PETERSON
T
he East Oregonian editorial board
had recommended that SB442, the
Senate bill that stops all non-medical
exemptions for vaccinations, be passed into
law. A subsequent editorial has lamented
that the bill died in committee.
Other states are also attempting to pass
similar bills. There has been much concern
and fear over Oregon vaccination rates
since the Disneyland outbreak of measles
earlier this year. However, there has been
very little evidence-based support of these
recommendations.
I am not anti-vaccination. Vaccinations
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we no longer see new polio victims and
smallpox is gone. If SB 442 had passed, it
would have stated that “an emergency is
declared to exist” and all students that are
presently non-medically exempt would
have been immediately expelled from
public and private schools, daycare centers
and preschools upon its passage. Much like
the past exclusion of lepers from society.
Here is the evidence about this so-called
“emergency” (based on Centers for Disease
Control, CDC and Oregon Health Authority
data).
• Oregon had one case of measles as
a result of the Disneyland exposure. The
subject recovered and is well.
• In 2013, there were six cases of
measles, the highest in 14 years, and all
recovered. It should be noted that 2 of
the infected persons were vaccinated
and were infected in India. The 2013
Oregon Communicable Disease Annual
Report states: “Though measles is highly
infectious, the risk of exposure to measles
in Oregon remains low.”
• The CDC has a target of 90 percent
vaccination rate for each
state. Oregon meets and
surpasses this target.
• Oregon has about 7
percent of its population
that is non-medically
exempt. But what is
the true status of this
population?
• Currently in Oregon,
23 vaccinations are
mandated. If a child
has 22 out of the 23
and another child has
0 out of 23 mandated
vaccinations, they
would both need to get
a non-medically exempt
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• Passage of SB 422
would have lumped all
children, those who have
missed one, even if it is
a vaccine for a non-contagious illness like
tetanus, or all vaccinations as unvaccinated
and these children would be expelled from
school.
• APIC is the agency that determines
the requirements for vaccinations. Let’s
suppose that in the future APIC requires
that all 9-year-old girls should receive
the HPV vaccination. HPV is a sexually
transferred virus that causes cervical cancer.
Under SB 442, if a parent decides not to
vaccinate their daughter and the child is
current on all other vaccinations, then the
child would be expelled from school.
• Oregon’s approach to vaccination is
not in a crisis, but it can
be improved. Currently
Oregonians who want to
exempt their child from
a particular vaccine or
all vaccines must view a
short online presentation
before they receive a
non-medically exempt
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• As noted previously,
7 percent of Oregonians
have not been convinced
by the information that
they were given. In our
country we value free
choice.
Instead of creating
leper colonies, it would
be better to listen to the
questions and concerns
that parents have and
respond with transparent,
evidence-based answers. Historically it
has been the 7 percent, those who have the
strength to question the status quo, who end
up bringing more light.
SB 442 was not well thought out
and though it is well intentioned, it was
dangerous for our society.
Ŷ
Kristopher B. Peterson is a chiropractic
internist in Hermiston.
It would be
better to listen
to the questions
and concerns
that parents
have about
vaccines than
force them to
vaccinate their
children or face
explusion.
Trade and trust: Without honest argument, can’t support TPP
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The remnants of war
By KAREN ZACHARIAS
J
oseph Galloway is a
military correspondent
who frequently
reported from war zones
and co-author of “We
were Soldiers Once ... and
Young.” In November 1965,
Galloway embedded with
the 1st Calvary Division in
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Vietnam War — the Battle
of the Ia Drang. He served
four tours in Vietnam and
became one of the most
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U.S. history. He is the only
civilian to receive a combat
medal during Vietnam.
Veterans aren’t the only
community who suffer from
PTSD. War correspondents
like Joseph Galloway suffer
as well. In the following
interview, Zacharias spoke
with Galloway about his war
reporting days and his own
PTSD. It can read in entirety
at www.eastoregonian.com.
KZ: As a young boy did
you ever hear any soldier
you knew talk about Post-
Traumatic Stress Disorder/
PTSD?
JG: I distinctly remember
family talking about a
returned soldier who came
home “damaged mentally.”
His legs were paralyzed
and VA got him a car with
hand controls. He became
a drunk, self-medicating,
and was found from time to
time passed out in his car in
a ditch somewhere. No one
knew quite what to do to
help him.
When do you think you
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with PTSD? What do
you recall about that
encounter?
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ran across who was clearly
unhinged by combat was
in the Landing Zone XRay
battle in November 1965.
Although he seemed
unwounded he was being
medevaced out of the battle.
I shot a photo of him as he
was walking toward the
chopper and he was cursing
everyone, me included.
Where you aware at
the time that person was
suffering from PTSD
or was that something
that only came to you in
hindsight?
This was 1965 and we
had never heard of Post-
Traumatic Stress. I think
that term did not come into
being until sometime after
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guy I saw was what my
uncles referred to as “shell
shocked.”
When did it dawn on
you that you yourself
might be suffering from
PTSD?
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lasted 16 months. I left to
go home and get married.
We settled down in Tokyo,
my next assignment. I began
having a nightmare that was
always the same: I was on
my knees begging for my
life and a North Vietnamese
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in my face.
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tightening on the trigger.
Just as he pulled it I came
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threw my wife out of bed
and against the wall of our
apartment. It scared her
badly; scared me worse.
But we journalists
were so sure that we were
immune to all we witnessed
in combat. After all, we
talked about our experiences
among ourselves. So I just
moved on with my life and
career.
Later I noticed that with
the arrival of fall each year,
November to be precise,
I went just a bit crazy. I
thought it was seasonal
depression until in 1986
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reunion of my old 1st
Cavalry Division buddies.
A light went on in my head.
We were ALL a bit crazy
at that time of year and for
good reason. We also found
that getting together and
sharing the stories helped us
all smooth things out so we
could go on for another year.
What do you think
the general public fails to
understand about PTSD?
I really can’t speak for the
general public and what they
know or don’t know about
PTSD. Or about war itself.
If you haven’t seen war up
close and personal you really
can’t know what it is and
what it does to those on the
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How has your own
PTSD affected you?
I notice that as the years
dwindle down to a precious
few I weep a lot more often
as the memories cross my
mind. A photo of a young
widow sprawled atop the
grave of her soldier husband
at Arlington Cemetery
leaves me choked with grief
and sobbing aloud. I used
to believe that time would
let those memories fade
and allow me a measure of
peace. I know better now.
We aren’t allowed to forget;
we aren’t supposed to forget.
As long as even one of us
remembers them our friends
are not dead.
ne of the Obama
years, has brought tariffs
administration’s
and other barriers to trade
underrated virtues is
very low to the point where
its intellectual honesty. Yes,
any effect they may have on
Republicans see deception
U.S. trade is swamped by
and sinister ulterior motives
other factors, like changes in
everywhere, but they’re
currency values.
just projecting. The truth
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is that, in the policy areas I
trade deal isn’t really about
Paul
follow, this White House has
Krugman trade. Some already low
been remarkably clear and
tariffs would come down,
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straightforward about what it’s
but the main thrust of the
doing and why.
proposed deal involves
Every area, that is, except one:
strengthening intellectual property
international trade and investment.
rights — things like drug patents and
I don’t know why the president has movie copyrights — and changing the
chosen to make the proposed Trans-
way companies and countries settle
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disputes. And it’s by no means clear
priority. Still, there is an argument to
that either of those changes are good
be made for such a deal, and some
for America.
reasonable, well-intentioned people
On intellectual property: Patents
are supporting the initiative.
and copyrights are how we reward
But other reasonable, well-
innovation. But do we need to increase
intentioned people have serious
those rewards at consumers’ expense?
questions about what’s going on.
Big Pharma and Hollywood think so,
And I would have expected a
but you can also see why, for example,
good-faith effort to answer those
Doctors Without Borders is worried
questions. Unfortunately, that’s not
that the deal would make medicines
at all what has been happening.
unaffordable in developing countries.
Instead, the selling of the 12-nation
That’s a serious concern, and it’s one
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that the pact’s supporters haven’t
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addressed in any satisfying way.
main concerns about the content of a
On dispute settlement: A leaked
potential deal; they’ve belittled and
draft chapter shows that the deal
dismissed the critics; and they’ve
would create a system under which
made blithe assurances that turn out
multinational corporations could
not to be true.
sue governments over alleged
The administration’s main
violations of the agreement, and
analytical defense of the trade deal
have the cases judged by partially
came this month in a report from
privatized tribunals. Critics like Sen.
the Council of Economic Advisers.
Elizabeth Warren warn that this could
Strangely, however, the report didn’t
compromise the independence of U.S.
DFWXDOO\DQDO\]HWKH3DFL¿FWUDGHSDFW domestic policy — that these tribunals
Instead, it was a paean to the virtues of could, for example, be used to attack
free trade, which was irrelevant to the
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question at hand.
Not so, says the Obama
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administration, with the president
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declaring that Warren is “absolutely
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been realized. A series of past trade
trade pact could force the United
agreements, going back almost 70
States to change policies or face
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one policy that might be in the line
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declared that the Volcker Rule, a key
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reform, violates the existing North
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Even if he can’t make that claim
stick, his remarks demonstrate that
there’s nothing foolish about worrying
that trade and investment pacts can
threaten bank regulation.
As I see it, the big problem here is
one of trust.
International economic agreements
are, inevitably, complex, and you
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minute — just before an up-or-down,
all-or-nothing vote — that a lot of
bad stuff has been incorporated into
the text. So you want reassurance that
the people negotiating the deal are
listening to valid concerns, that they
are serving the national interest rather
than the interests of well-connected
corporations.
Instead of addressing real concerns,
however, the Obama administration
has been dismissive, trying to portray
skeptics as uninformed hacks who
don’t understand the virtues of trade.
But they’re not: The skeptics have on
balance been more right than wrong
about issues like dispute settlement,
and the only really hackish economics
I’ve seen in this debate is coming from
supporters of the trade pact.
It’s really disappointing and
disheartening to see this kind of thing
from a White House that has, as I said,
been quite forthright on other issues.
And the fact that the administration
evidently doesn’t feel that it can make
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Partnership suggests that this isn’t a
deal we should support.
Ŷ
Paul Krugman joined The New
York Times in 1999 as a columnist on
the Op-Ed Page.
Tubman versus Jackson: Who should be on the $20
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“That’s how it was done
et’s discuss putting a
in the 1920s when Andrew
picture of a woman on
Jackson was put on the $20,”
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she said.
How many of you remember
Ah, Andrew Jackson. The
Ivy Baker Priest?
perfect target. Slave-owner
OK, nobody. Good thing
who came to national renown
I’m hard to discourage. But
as an Indian-killer. Who, as
stick with me for a minute, and
president, made hatred of the
then we’ll talk about Harriet
Gail
Tubman versus Andrew
Collins national bank his big issue,
while showing a certain
Jackson.
Comment
fondness for state banks owned
In the 1950s, Ivy Baker
by his cronies. On the positive
Priest was the U.S. treasurer.
side, he really loved his wife.
This is not to be confused with
The Treasury Department hasn’t
secretary of the Treasury, a job of
changed a portrait since 1934, when
far greater power. We have never
it honored Woodrow Wilson, whose
had a woman running the Treasury
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Department, but the last 15 treasurers
elusive $100,000 note. All of our
have been female. Try not to be
diverted by that factoid. We have work paper money feature white men, at
least half of them slave-owners.
to do.
A website called Women on 20s
The treasurer does get her
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signature on all our paper currency,
woman to replace Jackson. It was a
and I remember as a child being very
great educational tool. But about the
impressed when my mother pointed
poll: Harriet Tubman won.
out Priest’s name on a dollar bill. It
Pretty perfect. Replace the slave-
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owner with the escaped slave who
a person of my gender could be in a
returned to the South — again and
position of public authority without
again and again — to lead other slaves
being the queen of England.
to freedom. These days “freedom”
The message here is that what
is a much-abused word, which gets
goes on our money has an impact.
applied to everything from capital
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country,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen
Harriet Tubman could get freedom
of New Hampshire. As part of the
back to where it once belonged.
current debate about putting a woman
So, we’re all happy, right? Harriet
on one of the bills, she’s introduced
Tubman for Andrew Jackson. Best
legislation that would require the
trade ever. Not so fast. We should have
secretary of the Treasury to convene
guessed it wouldn’t be simple when all
“a panel of citizens” to discuss the
we got from the Obama administration
whole portrait issue.
was the president’s “pretty good idea.”
Changing American paper currency
turns out to be a huge ordeal. The
main decision-maker is something
called the Advanced Counterfeit
Deterrence Steering Committee, with
representatives from a whole bunch
of government entities, including the
Secret Service. “Whenever a decision
is made, it’s not just done. It takes
years of research before the process
even gets remotely underway,” said
Lydia Washington of the Bureau of
Engraving and Printing.
But the British switch their
currency portraits all the time! (Jane
Austen is about to supplant Charles
Darwin on the 10-pound note.) Sure,
the United States currency is a global
currency. We should regard change as
a serious matter. However, not an epic
challenge of herculean proportions.
The government did start on a $10
bill redesign in 2013, and the process
being what the process is, the effort
has only just begun to twitch. The
plan is to add a tactile feature that
will allow blind people to identify the
value of the currency.
All in all, it’s clear we’ve got a lot
of work to do. Maybe Ivy Baker Priest
understood what a heavy lift change
is when she said women didn’t care
about having their pictures on money
“as long as we get our hands on it.”
“Getting our hands on the money
is equally important,” said Shaheen
mildly. But, really, we can go for both.
Ŷ
Gail Collins joined The New York
Times in 1995.