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OPINION
East Oregonian
Saturday, August 8, 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
Students need
online role models
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because we are worried about the
time they saw a teacher outside the
appearance of impropriety.
classroom — at say a grocery store
Certainly, school districts are
or the city pool.
right to have strong, clear social
Teachers eat food AND own
media policies. There is no need for
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students and teachers to be texting
Blown.
into the wee hours of the morning,
But students these days often
nor for them to have private
run into their teachers and coaches
conversations traveling back and
online before they
forth on some of the
run into them on the
more suspicious new
Like it or not,
street. And that can
messaging apps.
put both students
But it shouldn’t
teens and
and educators at
be an iron curtain.
pre-teens live
risk.
Teens must know
In an article
what responsible
online.
It’s
a
last week, this
online sharing
place they feel looks like. And
newspaper
spotlighted the
like every teacher
comfortable.
horror stories:
is taught, we must
Teachers
meet our students at
who committed crimes and
their level, not where we feel most
used technology and online
comfortable.
communication to do so. But while
Some teachers are using
we should always be vigilant about
something similar to a classroom
what teens are doing on the Internet, Facebook page — Mrs. Anderson’s
we cannot be scared away from
Class Page, for instance — where
technology by the horror stories.
teens can go to get information, ask
Like it or not, teens and pre-teens questions and form positive online
live online. They feel comfortable
relationships with classmates and
there. It’s a place where they
teachers. There are safer, better
can express themselves and be
online communities than Facebook,
themselves. But it’s also a place
of course, but there is still a niche
where they can be taken advantage
for age-appropriate social networks
of and hurt.
where education can be built right
That makes it an arena where
into our online worlds.
good role models are needed, not
Technology can be scary, but it’s
a place where we should scatter
best to face our fears.
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.
OTHER VIEWS
Trying to boost rural Oregon
The Oregonian
D
emographic trends are bleak for
rural areas. More than 4,000
rural Oregonians moved into the
Portland area between 2007 and 2010.
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or declining and some of the hardest hit
counties, such as Coos, hit their peak
more than 30 years ago. Nationally,
fewer than 19 percent of U.S. residents
lived in rural areas in 2013, down from
26 percent as recently as 1980. One-third
of U.S. counties have fewer residents
than they had in 2000, and almost all of
those counties are rural.
This depopulation of rural areas,
coupled in many cases with economic
declines, has implications for urban and
rural residents alike. State economists
have warned that if too many people,
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populated towns and counties it could
create a downward spiral that leaves the
counties unable to support businesses
and fund public services. Urban residents
are affected as rural refugees seek jobs
and housing in larger cities. Meanwhile,
those left in rural Oregon need more
taxpayer-funded services from the state.
Other states have taken a more
proactive approach. South Dakota, Idaho
and Wyoming are among rural states that
have launched marketing programs to
try to convince young people to return.
Arkansas has a Department of Rural
Services, which oversees programs
dedicated to everything from rural
economic development to rural health.
Minnesota launched the Intelligent Rural
Communities Initiative in 2009 with the
goal of helping rural areas keep pace
technologically and economically in a
technology-driven economy.
Those are just a few of the more
ambitious efforts across the country.
It’s possible that none of the initiatives
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trajectory of rural areas. But, at the least,
those states are more likely to improve
the living conditions of current rural
residents than states, like Oregon, whose
governments have been reluctant to
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non-urban areas.
The efforts that have been made
in Oregon have been led mostly by
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The Ford Institute Leadership Program
has trained more than 6,000 rural
leaders, including about one-third of
the state’s county commissioners, “in
how to work together, build agreement,
identify assets, leverage resources and
take action to make measurable change,”
said Craig Smith, executive director of
Rural Development Initiatives, which
developed the program. The Oregon
Entrepreneurs Network has teamed up
with Business Oregon, a state agency, to
offer programs aimed at rural businesses.
RDI has worked with some small
Oregon towns on exploring ways to
entice young residents to stay.
Those programs, commendable as
they are, will not be enough to halt rural
Oregon’s slide, much less reverse it.
Even increased logging on federal lands
— the number one policy change on
many rural leaders’ wish list — would
fall short of the economic boost needed
to stabilize downtrodden counties
such as Josephine and Curry. Oregon’s
non-urban counties, with the exception
of those in the Columbia River Gorge,
need help across a range of policy
areas — from schools to economic
development to infrastructure. That’s
why the types of initiatives moving
forward in other states are so important.
Before Oregon’s rural areas can make
real progress, the state must move past
the political polarization that was evident
in the 2015 legislative session and
re-establish bridges between urban and
rural areas. Those ties must go beyond
farmers markets, the only window some
urban dwellers have into rural living. As
Oregon Agriculture Department Director
Katy Coba pointed out at a recent public
meeting in Portland, people living
in Oregon can’t consume everything
Oregon farmers grow.
The necessity of getting products
to market makes the loss of container
shipping service at the Port of Portland
as disruptive in rural Oregon as in the
Portland metro area. But perhaps the Port
woes also will remind some urban resi-
dents, including Portland-area legislators,
that the entire state still is interconnected
in many ways.
OTHER VIEWS
Three U.S. defeats:
Vietnam, Iraq and now Iran
T
he purpose of war, military or
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economic, is to get your enemy
in their power, while the Obama
to do something it would rather
administration emphasized the limits
not do. Over the past several years
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the United States and other Western
nations. It’s striking how little Obama
powers have engaged in an economic,
thought of the tools at his disposal. He
clandestine and political war against
effectively took the military option off
Iran to force it to give up its nuclear
the table. He didn’t believe much in
program.
economic sanctions.
David
Over the course of this siege,
“Nothing we know about the
Brooks
U.S. policymakers have been very
Iranian government suggests that it
Comment
explicit about their goals. Foremost, to
would simply capitulate under that
prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear
kind of pressure,” he argued.
power. Second, as John Kerry has said, to
The president concluded early on that
force it to dismantle a large part of its nuclear
Iran would simply not budge on fundamental
infrastructure. Third, to take away its power to things. As he argued in his highhanded
enrich uranium.
and counterproductive speech Wednesday,
Fourth, as President Barack Obama has
Iran was never going to compromise its
said, to close the Fordo enrichment facility.
sovereignty (which is the whole point of
Fifth, as the chief U.S. negotiator, Wendy
military or economic warfare).
Sherman, recently
The president hoped
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that a deal would change
come clean on all past
the moral nature of
nuclear activities by the
the regime, so he had
Iranian military. Sixth, to
an extra incentive to
shut down Iran’s ballistic
reach a deal. And the
missile program. Seventh,
Western, Russian and
to have “anywhere, anytime 24/7” access
Chinese sanctions regime was fragile while
to any nuclear facilities Iran retains. Eighth,
the Iranians were able to hang together.
as Kerry put it, to not phase down sanctions
This administration has given us a
until after Iran ends its nuclear bomb-making
choice between two terrible options: accept
capabilities.
the partial-surrender agreement that was
As a report from the Foreign Policy
negotiated or reject it and slide immediately
Initiative exhaustively details, the U.S. has
into what is in effect our total surrender — a
not fully achieved any of these objectives.
collapsed sanctions regime and a booming
The agreement delays but does not end Iran’s
Iranian nuclear program.
nuclear program. It legitimizes Iran’s status as
Many members of Congress will be
a nuclear state. Iran will mothball some of its
tempted to accept the terms of our partial
centrifuges, but it will not dismantle or close
surrender as the least bad option in the wake
any of its nuclear facilities. Nuclear research
of our defeat. I get that. But in voting for this
and development will continue.
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Iran wins the right to enrich uranium.
arrangement that will increase the chance of
The agreement does not include “anywhere,
more comprehensive war further down the
anytime” inspections; some inspections would road.
require a 24-day waiting period, giving the
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Iranians plenty of time to clean things up.
regime. If you think its radicalism is
After eight years, all restrictions on ballistic
going to be softened by a few global trade
missiles are lifted. Sanctions are lifted once
opportunities, you really haven’t been paying
Iran has taken its initial actions.
attention to the Middle East over the past four
Wars, military or economic, are measured
decades.
by whether you achieved your stated
Iran will use its $150 billion windfall to
objectives. By this standard the U.S. and its
spread terror around the region and exert its
allies lost the war against Iran, but we were
power. It will incrementally but dangerously
able to negotiate terms that gave only our
cheat on the accord. Armed with money,
partial surrender, which forces Iran to at least
ballistic weapons and an eventual nuclear
delay its victory. There have now been three
breakout, it will become more aggressive. As
big U.S. strategic defeats over the past several the end of the nuclear delay comes into view,
decades: Vietnam, Iraq and now Iran.
the 45th or 46th president will decide that
The big question is, Why did we lose?
action must be taken.
Why did the combined powers of the Western
Economic and political defeats can be as
world lose to a ragtag regime with a crippled
bad as military ones. Sometimes when you
economy and without much popular support?
surrender to a tyranny you lay the groundwork
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wanted victory more than we did. They were
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willing to withstand the kind of punishment
David Brooks became a New York Times
we were prepared to mete out.
Op-Ed columnist in September 2003.
The big question is:
why did we lose?
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. 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.