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OPINION
East Oregonian
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Publisher
Managing Editor
JENNINE PERKINSON
TIM TRAINOR
Advertising Director
Opinion Page Editor
OUR VIEW
BMCC baseball
looks for rally
If you threaten to demolish it,
company wanting to move into the
attractive Westgate spot is appealing,
they will come.
but at this point it’s just a dream.
Supporters of Blue Mountain
The college, on the other hand,
Community College baseball will
dig in at the Pendleton City Council has a long-time vested interest in
seeing Pendleton grow, and the city
chambers Tuesday to defend the
should have the same view of the
ield that has been the team’s home
college.
for the past three decades.
Without certainty that a ield will
To be fair, the council hasn’t
be available to the
exactly said it intends
for a period
to demolish the ield
The relationship college
of at least two years,
it was recently gifted
when land near the
between Pendleton the program won’t
prison was transferred and BMCC should be able to recruit or
schedule — putting
to the city from the
supersede the
it at a severe
state. But members
in the
of the council did
relationship be- disadvantage
Northwest Athletic
discuss adding a
tween Pendleton Conference. It’s at
180-day eviction
risk of losing the
notice to the lease
and a business to real
roster of 40 athletes
between Pendleton
be named later. who are also full-time
and the college in
students at the school.
case a developer
Our hope is that the council takes
wants to build in the industrial zone
the college’s concerns seriously,
and needs a bigger footprint.
rallies up some teamwork and puts
If the city does decide to change
the partnership irst.
the terms of the lease, an interested
Maybe BMCC baseball isn’t
buyer could show up and effectively
meant to be played at the prison ield
throw BMCC out of the game.
forever. But rather than being forced
That’s worth kicking some dirt
to scramble to ind a new home —
over.
or held in limbo for an unknown
The relationship between
amount of time — the city should be
Pendleton and BMCC should
wary of hurting the relationship in
supersede the relationship between
order to beneit what at this point is
Pendleton and a business to be
named later. The idea of a big-league only imaginary.
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.
Culture corner
A long-awaited sequel to a beloved
literary classic hit the shelves today.
And unlike last year’s much-hyped
sequel to “To Kill a
Mockingbird” that arrived
via dubious channels, this
one you’ll feel good about
reading.
Pulitzer prize-winning
author Richard Russo’s
1993 novel “Nobody’s
Fool” introduced us to
the masterfully crafted
character most of were
able recognize in our own
lives: aging, down-on-his-
luck, troublemaking and
kindhearted Donald “Sully”
Sullivan. In 1994, Paul Newman would
inhabit the character in his last ilm role
in an excellent and underrated ilm based
on the novel.
Now, 15 years after the book was
published, Russo takes readers back
to the small town of North Bath and
the cast of characters who reside there.
The new book is titled
“Everybody’s Fool.”
No more than a bit part
in the irst book, Sully’s
occasional nemesis Oficer
Raymer is the lead in the
sequel — which means this
work carries a bittersweet
air, too. Philip Seymour
Hoffman, who played
Raymer in the ilm, died of a
drug overdose in 2014.
The two deaths show that
no story is totally free from
loss. Readers will ind some
of that in “Everybody’s Fool” — but
tempered by the sweetness and comedy
that is always present in Russo’s writing.
— Tim Trainor is the opinion page
editor of the East Oregonian.
OTHER VIEWS
The choice explosion
few years ago, social
perspective by asking these questions.
psychologist Sheena Iyengar
The Heaths recommend making
asked 100 American and
deliberate mistakes. A survey of new
Japanese college students to take
brides found that 20 percent were not
initially attracted to the man they ended
a piece of paper. On one side, she
up marrying. Sometimes it’s useful
had them write down the decisions
to make a deliberate “mistake” —
in life they would like to make for
agreeing to dinner with a guy who is
themselves. On the other, they wrote
not your normal type. Sometimes you
the decisions they would like to pass
David
on to others.
Brooks don’t really know what you want and
the ilters you apply are hurting you.
The Americans illed up the side
Comment
They mention our tendency to
for decisions they want to decide for
narrow-frame, to see every decision
themselves. Where to live. What job
as a binary “whether or not” alternative.
to take. The other side was almost blank. The
Whenever you ind yourself asking “whether
only “decision” they commonly wanted to
or not,” it’s best to step back and ask, “How
hand off to others was, “When I die.”
can I widen my options?” In other words,
The Japanese illed up the back side of the
sheet with things they wanted others to decide: before you ask, “Should I ire this person?”
what they wore; what time they woke up; what Ask, “Is there any way I can shift this
employee’s role to take advantage of his
they did at their job. The Americans desired
strengths and avoid his weaknesses?”
choice in four times more domains than the
The explosion of choice means we all
Japanese.
need more help understanding the anatomy
Americans have always put great emphasis
of decision-making. It makes you think that
on individual choice. But even by our own
we should have explicit decision-making
standards we’ve had a choice explosion over
curricula in all schools. Maybe there should
the past 30 years. Americans now have more
be a common course publicizing the work of
choices over more things than any other
Daniel Kahneman, Cass Sunstein, Dan Ariely
culture in human history. We can choose
and others who study the way we mess up and
between a broader array of foods, media
sources, lifestyles and identities. We have more the techniques we can adopt to prevent error.
This is probably especially important for
freedom to live out our own sexual identities
and more religious and nonreligious options to schools that serve the less fortunate. The
explosion of choice places extra burdens
express our spiritual natures.
on the individual. Poorer Americans have
This opening has produced much that
fewer resources to master decision-making
is wonderful. But making decisions well is
techniques, less social support to guide their
incredibly dificult, even for highly educated
decision-making and less of a safety net to
professional decision-makers. As Chip
catch them when they err.
Heath and Dan Heath point out in their book
As researchers Sendhil Mullainathan and
“Decisive,” 83 percent of corporate mergers
Eldar Shair have shown, the stress of scarcity
and acquisitions do not increase shareholder
itself can distort decision-making. Those who
value, 40 percent of senior hires do not last 18
experienced stress as children often perceive
months in their new position, and 44 percent
threat more acutely and live more defensively.
of lawyers would recommend that a young
A school principal I met in Pittsburgh observed
person not follow them into the law.
that living in an area of concentrated poverty
It’s becoming incredibly important to learn
can close down your perceived options,
to decide well, to develop the techniques of
and comfortably “relieve you of the burden
self-distancing to counteract the laws in our
of choosing life.” It’s hard to maintain a
own mental machinery. The Heath book is a
feeling of agency when you see no chance of
very good compilation of those techniques.
opportunity.
For example, they mention the maxim,
In this way the choice explosion has
assume positive intent. When in the midst of
contributed to widening inequality.
some conlict, start with the belief that others
It’s important to offer opportunity and
are well intentioned. It makes it easier to
incentives. But we also need lessons in
absorb information from people you’d rather
self-awareness — on exactly how our
not listen to.
decision-making tool is fundamentally lawed,
They highlight Suzy Welch’s 10-10-10
and on mental frameworks we can adopt to
rule. When you’re about to make a decision,
avoid messing up even more than we do.
ask yourself how you will feel about it 10
■
minutes from now, 10 months from now and
David Brooks’s column on the Op-Ed page
10 years from now. People are overly biased
of The New York Times started in September
by the immediate pain of some choice, but
2003.
they can put the short-term pain in long-term
A
YOUR VIEWS
Support Athena-
Weston schools
To the community members of
Athena and Weston:
I am writing to urge your
support of the Athena-Weston
School District’s Bond, Measure
30-113. Our communities have
the rare opportunity to receive
an unprecedented $4 million
matching grant from the state of
Oregon, which, when coupled to
the proposed $4 million bond,
will allow the district to address
a wealth of safety and security
improvements, energy eficiency
projects, and upgrades and
renovations at all three schools —
all directly beneiting kids in our
communities.
We all know the wonderful
work that our district’s staff
perform daily at our schools,
and passage of this bond will
not only address much needed
safety improvements, but also
allow the district to put more
money back into the general
fund budget through reduced
operating costs — a direct result
of the proposed energy eficiency
projects and addressing the “death
by a thousand cuts” maintenance
expenses the district incurs now.
This will have a direct beneit
to the classroom, and, more
importantly, to our students.
The grant from the state is
a rare opportunity and, when
matched with the district’s $4
million bond, will allow us to
beneit from $8 million work of
improvements and upgrades while
still retaining one of the lowest
tax rates in the region.
As the proud parent of two
children in the district, and a
proud resident of our respective
communities, I urge your support
for Ballot Measure 30-113.
Scott Rogers
Athena
A vote for Trump is a
vote for Hillary
After what seems a never-
ending election cycle, it is now
Oregon’s turn to vote. For the last
several elections it has been said
that “this is the most important
election our lifetime” and this
year, it’s more true than ever.
At the beginning the primary
season, the Republicans provided
Be heard!
Comment online at eastoregonian.com
a candidate ield of great depth,
albeit much too large. We’ve
watched one after another
suspend campaigns, leaving two
major contenders, along with
debris from the ugliness of this
year’s process. Zealots in each
campaign are still energized but
the mean seventh grade mentality
has left way too many disgusted.
While it was hoped to hear policy
and principle discussions, we
have witnessed bullying, personal
attacks and bait and switch
deceptions.
With all the raucousness of
the internet wars, and the bias of
a media valuing proit over fact,
the truth is that the consequences
of this vote are so important that
the America I have grown up
knowing hangs in the balance.
Anger and frustration, it is
said, fuel Trump’s candidacy. I’m
angry and quite frustrated with
what has happened over the last
eight years.
Trump, everyone agrees, has
tapped into that anger and has
great campaign slogans. Being
an effective president requires
more that arousing large crowds.
(I still see Obama standing in
front of Greek columns.) To
be a president who navigates
America out of these turbulent
times requires many skills and
character traits such as trust,
honesty and faithfulness; Trump
has a recorded history of lacking
these. Also lacking is any history
of conservative convictions.
Like most conservatives in the
last two election cycles, I held
my nose voting for McCain and
Romney. Please consider very
carefully when voting; a Trump
nomination ensures a Hillary
presidency, for, like thousands of
rock-solid conservatives across
the country, I will NOT vote
Trump in November.
Annette Lathrop
Joseph
Dale Primmer checks
all the boxes
Dale Primmer is the best
choice for Pendleton City Council
Ward 3. Having been raised
in Umatilla County, Dale has
been able to see the evolution of
Pendleton’s economics. Being
a father, Dale is interested in
the quality of life here and the
opportunities for his children.
Being a department head for
Community Justice at Umatilla
County, Dale has the professional
experience that is needed on the
Pendleton City Council.
Dale has experience with
managing community programs
during times of declining funds.
Dale has experience making
dificult decisions that are
unpopular. Dale has experience
with developing collaborative
partnerships that make public
dollars go farther. Dale is
motivated to serve on city council
because he wants to add value and
make a difference.
I have had the pleasure to work
with Dale for two years and have
seen him in action consistently
taking a goal-oriented, solutions-
based approach. Dale is about
doing something, not just talking
about it. Dale is a courageous
and convicted leader who I
would be proud to have represent
Pendleton. Join me in voting for
Dale Primmer and then support
him once he takes his seat.
Susan Bower
Pendleton
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.