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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 2015)
COFFEE BREAK Saturday, November 7, 2015 PARENTS TALK BACK /LSSOXPSLQJ and a punch in the mouth A box arrived at my work with a seductive message. It promised “the pouty lips you always wanted. Naturally.” I had not given much thought to the state of my lips, but I supposed that maybe they could be a little plumper. “What harm could there be in trying a device that doesn’t involve needles or chemicals?” I thought. The company had VHQWP\RI¿FHWKH&DQG\/LS];WUHPH /LS6KDSHUWREHWHVWHG so why shouldn’t I test it? In retrospect, when “lips” is spelled with a Z and “extreme” with a FDSLWDO;LWPD\EHDUHG ÀDJDERXWWKHVFLHQWL¿F validity of the product. I vaguely recalled Aishi hearing about some Sultin ridiculous “lip challenge” Parents talk back that had been making the rounds among teenagers, but this wasn’t that, of course. This product came in a fancy box and retailed for $69.99. I handed the instructions to a colleague, who seemed a little too amused and eager to spearhead the experiment. After inserting my lips in the mouthpiece, I was told to compress the sides of the cylinder. When I released the tube, it created a vacuum that sucked my lips into the plastic tube. It hurt. I looked at the fashion editor who had been guiding this misadventure, and she said the directions said to keep it dangling there for two minutes. It hurt a lot. When the two minutes were up, I broke the seal and peeled my lips out. 7KH\ZHUHGH¿QLWHO\VZROOHQ:LWKLQ minutes, I saw a reddish-purple ring form around my lips. I looked like I had been punched in the mouth. The discoloration around my mouth got darker by the hour. My colleague advised PHWR¿QGDQLFHSDFN%\WKHWLPH,JRW home, hours later, it looked like my mouth had been lined with black marker. ³/RRNZKDW,GLG´,VDLGWRP\IDPLO\ “What happened?” my 13-year-old daughter asked. I described the product I had tried at work. “You know you just basically did the Kylie Jenner lip challenge, right?” she said, making no effort to contain her smirk. “No. Noooooooo.” The indignity of being called out by your child stings more than sticking your lips in a vacuum. Trust. My husband took one look at the ring of dark bruising around my mouth and said: “You are not a child. And you are not a Kardashian.” Duh. I didn’t have to pout. I was already there. ³,0$'($%$'&+2,&(´, announced to all parties who would be witnessing the results of said choice for days to come. My ego was bruised far worse than my lips. 6RPHWLPHVLW¶VGLI¿FXOWWRUHPHPEHU how the teenage brain operates. We may recall that we did some foolish things in our youth, but the plus side of thinning hair (and lips) is that experience and maturity make those occurrences far less common over the years. When confronted with some ridiculous behavior, we may be tempted to ask an otherwise intelligent young adult: What in the world were you thinking? So what makes teenagers — and, ahem, the occasional columnist — take such foolish chances? A study out of New York University suggests that adolescents are not inherently risk-takers, but they are more likely than adults to take actions when they don’t fully know or understand the consequences of their actions. “In risky situations where you know the outcomes and the probability of the outcome, teenagers didn’t take more risks than adults,” a lead researcher told /LYH6FLHQFHDERXWWKHVWXG\LQ “Teenagers went for the risky option when the outcome was not exactly known.” When adolescents know an activity’s potential dangers more precisely, they are less likely to participate. +DG,UHDGWKHDFFRPSDQ\LQJ LQVWUXFWLRQVRQWKH;WUHPH/LS6KDSHU myself and known that 80 percent of users end up with bruises on their face, I would have found someone else to test WKHSURGXFW&OHDUO\WKHUHZDVQ¶WPXFK forethought involved. I was reminded how easily rational adults can fall prey to marketing and peer pressure. )RU¿YHGD\V,WRRNSLFWXUHVRIP\ damaged lips and studied the photos for signs that the marks were fading. “I can’t believe I did this to myself,” I thought each time. I also took herbal remedies, and watched videos and read articles on how to heal bruises faster. As the days passed, I also embraced my humility and vowed to remember this feeling when one of my children does something head-shakingly dumb. There’s a thin line between a fat lip and a fathead. Ŷ Aisha Sultan is a St. Louis-based journalist who studies parenting in the digital age. Find her on Twitter: @AishaS. East Oregonian Page 9C Half of black millennials in U.S. know of police abuse :$6+,1*721 $3 ² /RQJ EHIRUH WKH GHDWKVRI7UD\YRQ0DUWLQ0LFKDHO%URZQDQG )UHGGLH*UD\PRUHWKDQKDOIRI$IULFDQ$PHU- ican millennials indicated they, or someone WKH\NQHZKDGEHHQYLFWLPL]HGE\YLROHQFHRU harassment from law enforcement, a new report says. 7KH LQIRUPDWLRQ IURP WKH ³%ODFN 0LOOHQ- QLDOV LQ$PHULFD´ UHSRUW LVVXHG E\ WKH %ODFN <RXWK3URMHFWDWWKH6WXG\RI5DFH3ROLWLFVDQG &XOWXUH DW WKH 8QLYHUVLW\ RI &KLFDJR UHÀHFWV VWDUNO\GLIIHUHQWDWWLWXGHVDPRQJEODFN/DWLQR Asian and white millennials when it comes to policing, guns and the legal system in the United States. 5HVHDUFKHUVZKRKDYHVXUYH\HGPLOOHQQLDOV several times during the past decade, point out that the disparities existed well before the ³%ODFN/LYHV0DWWHU´PRYHPHQWEHJDQ ,QWKH0RELOL]DWLRQDQG&KDQJH6XUYH\ 54.4 percent of black millennials answered yes WRWKHTXHVWLRQ³+DYH\RXRUDQ\RQH\RXNQRZ experienced harassment or violence at the hands of the police?” Almost one-third of whites, 1 in /DWLQRVDQGSHUFHQWRI$VLDQ$PHULFDQV surveyed said yes to the same question. 7KHVWXG\UHOHDVHGWR7KH$VVRFLDWHG3UHVV on Wednesday, comes as the United States grap- ples with concerns over policing in minority communities following the deaths of Martin, LQ )ORULGD WKUHH \HDUV DJR %URZQ LQ )HUJXVRQ0LVVRXULODVW\HDUDQG*UD\LQ %DOWLPRUHHDUOLHUWKLV\HDU7KHLUGHDWKVDVZHOO as those of other black men and women, have LQVSLUHG QDWLRQZLGH SURWHVWV XQGHU WKH ³%ODFN /LYHV0DWWHU´DQG³6D\+HU1DPH´PRQLNHUV %XWHYHQZKLOHEHLQJWKHZHOOVSULQJRIWKRVH movements, a clear majority of black millen- nials — 71 percent — said in that same survey they believe police in their neighborhood were ³WKHUH WR SURWHFW \RX´ (LJKW\¿YH SHUFHQW RI ZKLWHVSHUFHQWRI+LVSDQLFVDQGSHUFHQW of Asians also said police were in their neigh- borhood to protect them. “We know that young blacks are more likely to be harassed by the police. We know that they are more likely to mistrust their encounters ZLWKWKHSROLFH´VDLG&DWK\&RKHQFKDLURIWKH political science department at the University of &KLFDJRDQGOHDGHURIWKH%ODFN<RXWK3URMHFW ³%XWZHDOVRNQRZIURPDFWXDOO\FROOHFWLQJGDWD that a majority of them believe that police in their neighborhood are actually there to protect them, so I think it provides us with more complexity.” AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File In this Aug. 9 photo, protesters march to mark the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown being shot and killed by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson. Another survey done by the project in 2013, WKH %ODFN <RXWK 3URMHFW 4XDUWHUO\ 6XUYH\ showed that the percentage of blacks and /DWLQRVZKRVDLGWKH\NQHZSHRSOHZKRFDUULHG guns had declined, but more of them knew someone who was the victim of gun violence. Twenty-four percent of blacks and 22 percent RI/DWLQRPLOOHQQLDOVVDLGWKH\RUVRPHRQHWKH\ knew “carried a gun in the last month.” Almost half of white millennials — 46 percent — said they knew of someone who carried a gun. +RZHYHU SHUFHQW RI EODFN PLOOHQQLDOV DQGSHUFHQWRI/DWLQRPLOOHQQLDOVVDLGWKH\ or someone they knew were the victim of gun violence in the last year, compared with 8 percent of white millennials. It’s not surprising that young blacks and whites feel differently on these issues, given the different experiences the groups are reporting, VDLG-RQ5RJRZVNLDQDVVLVWDQWSROLWLFDOVFLHQFH SURIHVVRUDW:DVKLQJWRQ8QLYHUVLW\LQ6W/RXLV For example, white millennials don’t report having to explain themselves to police, while PLOOHQQLDOVRIFRORUUHSRUWWKDWRI¿FHUVVWRSSHG them simply to question them about what they were up to, he said. “We see story after story about how this leads into a more combative situation which has escalated and led to, in some instances, tragic RXWFRPHV´ VDLG 5RJRZVNL ZKR FRDXWKRUHG WKH %ODFN 0LOOHQQLDOV ,Q$PHULFD UHSRUW ³6R the experiences that these different communi- ties have had based on where they live and the kinds of policing procedures that are in place there, we would argue, lead to these different patterns.” After arrest, black millennials also don’t believe everyone gets fair treatment from the legal system in the United States. They’re not alone in this feeling, with only 38 percent of all millennials agreeing with the statement that “the American legal system treats all groups IDLUO\´LQWKH%ODFN<RXWK3URMHFWVXUYH\ The 2009 survey was taken between October and November 2008, May and July 2009 and November and January 2010 and included 4,345 people 18 years old and older. The 2014 %ODFN<RXWK 3URMHFW 6XUYH\ FRQVLVWHG RI IRXU surveys conducted between 2012 and 2014 and included 6,118 people. 7KH VXUYH\V ZHUH GRQH E\ *I. .QRZO- HGJH 1HWZRUN XVLQJ *I.¶V SUREDELOLW\EDVHG .QRZOHGJH3DQHO ZKLFK LV GHVLJQHG WR EH representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. OUT OF THE VAULT 1936 earthquake rocks Milton-Freewater area O n July 15, 1936, at 11:08 p.m., an earthquake registering between DQGRQWKH5LFKWHU scale shook residents of the Milton-Freewater area out of their beds. The strongest shock hit the Stateline area, cracking the pavement there, in places up to two meters wide, and at one point the ground dropped by 2.4 meters (7.9 feet). The shaking started slowly and lasted for 15 seconds; more than 54 aftershocks were reported by *HRUJH+DUVKPDQRI)UHHZDWHU following the initial shock, and they continued intermittently until November 17. The East Oregonian reported the earthquake was felt as far west as Arlington and as far north as Spokane, and severely damaged buildings in Walla Walla, Milton-Freewater and $WKHQD5HVLGHQWVRI3LORW5RFN 3HQGOHWRQDQGHYHQ+HSSQHU ÀHGWKHLUKRPHV and businesses during the quake. Among the reported GDPDJH+RPHV in the area were uninhabitable Renee Struthers due to large Out of the vault cracks in the walls, and chimneys and ÀXHVZHUHVKDNHQORRVHIURP roofs; a meat market and bank in Athena, joined together before the quake, were separate buildings the following morning; two freight cars were shaken RIIWKHWUDFNVDW%OXH0RXQWDLQ Station, and large rocks the VL]HRIFDUVERXQFHGLQWRWKH LQWHUVHFWLRQRI6RXWKHU&UHHN 5RDGDQG:DOOD:DOOD5LYHU +LJKZD\WKH5HY-00DUODWW¶V concrete home fell to the ground; and the quake shook loose artesian wells in the area — one on the A.M. Fix ranch that had dried up three weeks earlier, and another new artesian well from a previously shared well on the farm of Walter Maxson. In some of the places where ground cracks appeared, water also was present in the cracks, signaling liquefaction of the VRLO/LTXHIDFWLRQZKHQWKH soil temporarily loses strength and acts like a liquid) can cause extensive damage, bringing underground infrastructure like water and sewer lines to the surface and even swallowing people, buildings and cars whole in seconds during larger quakes, especially if the ground is already saturated with water. The epicenter of the 1936 HDUWKTXDNHZDV¿[HGDW 10 kilometers (6.38 miles) northwest of Milton-Freewater. It occurred along the Wallula fault system, which runs from near Milton-Freewater to Kennewick, :DVKDORQJWKH+RUVH+HDYHQ +LOOVDQGLVSDUWRIWKHODUJHU 2O\PSLF:DOORZD/LQHDPHQW that reaches from the Wallowa Mountains to the Olympic 3HQLQVXOD Our corner of Northeast Oregon is still seismically active, though the magnitude of earthquakes is generally EHORZRQWKH5LFKWHUVFDOH The Milton-Freewater area has recorded 66 earthquakes since 1931, the largest in recent history a 4.3 quake in November 1991. The most recent earthquake was Jan. 23, 2015, centered 4.7 miles southwest of Athena; it registered 3.7. Ŷ Renee Struthers is the Community Records Editor for the East Oregonian. See the complete collection of Out of the Vault columns at eovault. blogspot.com ODDS & ENDS WR%OXH6WDU0RPVDQRQSUR¿W supporting New Mexico troops. :DOOVD\VWKHRUJDQL]DWLRQ packages the candy along with clothes and food in holiday boxes to ship to soldiers in November. +LVRI¿FHFROOHFWHGPRUHWKDQ 1,000 pounds of candy last year. Finland to launch national emojis +(/6,1.,$3²)LQODQG is launching a series of “national emojis” that include people sweating in saunas, classic Nokia phones and heavy metal head- bangers. 3HWUD7KHPDQIURPWKH Finnish Foreign Ministry says the emojis will be released as a way to promote the country’s image abroad and are based on themes associated with Finland. She said Wednesday that emojis suit the character of the traditionally reticent Finns “who only speak when it’s necessary.” The free emojis will be released on the ministry’s web publication starting Dec. 1 at a rate of one a day, like a seasonal advent calendar. Emojis, unlike emoticons that use typographical displays in texts, are pictures used to express emotions or ideas. Company launches Bernie Sanders underwear line 02173(/,(59W $3²(PSOR\HHVRID 9HUPRQWFRPSDQ\KDYH launched a side business selling underwear featuring a black-and-white drawing of the Finnish Foreign Ministry via AP These are computer-generated emojis made available by Fin- land’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday Nov. 4, 2015. Finland is launching a series of “national emojis” that include people sweating in saunas, classic Nokia phones and heavy metal head-bangers. face of Democratic presidential FDQGLGDWH%HUQLH6DQGHUV 1(&1UHSRUWVWKDWWKH underwear, which features the PHVVDJH³)HHOWKH%HUQ´LV available for men and women and costs $15 plus shipping and handling. The three workers ZLWK.6(3DUWQHUVDVWUDWHJLF communications and government DIIDLUV¿UPVD\WKH\FUHDWHG %HUQLH¶V%ULHIVDVDIXQVLGH business. 7KH9HUPRQWVHQDWRUKDVVDLG UHFHQWO\RQODWHQLJKW79DQG talk shows that he prefers briefs over boxers. The startup’s founders called Sanders’ passion for serious issues admirable. One founder says the political process has EHQH¿WHGIURPKLVFDPSDLJQ Ten percent of the proceeds will go toward the Yellow 5LEERQ)XQGZKLFKVXSSRUWV injured service members. Albuquerque dentist offering to buy back Halloween candy $/%848(548(10 $3²$Q$OEXTXHUTXH1HZ Mexico, dentist is hoping to get DKHDGLQWKH¿JKWDJDLQVWSRVW +DOORZHHQFDYLWLHVZLWKFDVK .54(79UHSRUWVWKDW%\URQ :DOORI&RVPHWLF'HQWLVWU\RI New Mexico, said he is offering to buy candy back from trick-or- treaters on Sunday afternoon. Wall says children 14 years old or younger can pawn their VZHHWVDWKLVRI¿FH +LVRI¿FHZLOOSD\IRU every pound of candy up to $5. The purchased candy goes Seattle garbageman returns $12,000 in lost checks to school 6($77/($3²$6HDWWOH elementary school is thanking a JDUEDJHPDQIRU¿QGLQJQHDUO\ $12,000 in checks in the trash. .20279LQ6HDWWOH reports that Waste Management employee Micah Speir was picking up scattered trash next to some bins when he found a number of checks made out to /DZVRQ(OHPHQWDU\6FKRRO 3ULQFLSDO'RULDQ0DQ]D says he met Speir on his route and gratefully took the checks back. The funds were from a IXQGUDLVLQJGULYHDQGD3DUHQW Teacher Association member had accidentally dropped the bag along the garbage truck’s route. :KHQ0DQ]DWULHGWRWLS6SHLU for his good deed, the man turned him down. Speir says his only concern was doing the right thing and returning the money to the school.