VIEWPOINTS
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Quick takes
Occupiers try to avoid
possible liberal Portland jury
They are correct. They won’t be able to
get a decent trial with a Portland jury.
— Melissa Lea
Make the venue where it happened. Let
a jury of their peers call it since y’all are so
against everything. Let the locals decide
their fate.
— Tory Covlin
Too bad. You do the crime, you pay your
time.
— Jeff Blanchard
I believe these terrorists will get a fair
trial anywhere in Oregon. They sure were
seeking press the entire time! Make sure
those in jail now stay in jail through all legal
proceedings.
— Jim Stengle
Outdoor school season
Some of my best memories are from
outdoor ed in ifth grade.
— Jodi Henline
My son had so much fun at outdoor
school. I still have all the pictures.
— Kristina Ream
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.
W
e can’t look
forward until we
look into the past.
The Ancient One has been
suspended in time for nearly
20 years. A death in Indian
culture is a very important
rite of passage. There were
so many of
our relatives
who went to
Congress on
behalf of the
Ancestors,
with
regards to
repatriation
of Indian
remains. This occurred
during the 1960s until the
end of the last century prior
to the Indian Religious
Freedom Act and the Native
American Graves Protection
Repatriation Act.
The Indian Religious
Freedom Act of 1978 is
very important because it
recognizes that the Indian
nations shared a diversity
of religious practices and
ceremonies. They were
seeking recognition of
Indian religious freedom.
This act helped tribes and
states realize the impact of
leverage, enabling them to
cooperate with institutions
and government-to-
government relations.
The President had a role
in directing federal agencies
to make the appropriate
changes to preserve and
protect Indian religious
practices. It took two years
for 70 Indian tribes to
embrace the act. Also, the
act provided Indians with
an important voice in the
decision-making over federal
and sacred land, paving
the way for protection of
American Indian cultural
resources. In 1990, there
were only four states that
implemented repatriation.
During these precarious
times, a few senators began
to clarify provisions for
a new act — the Native
American Graves Protection
Repatriation Act. In short, it
By MICHAEL SHAFER
I write to you today to show my support
for the upcoming bond for the Athena-
Weston School District. My father, John
Shafer, recently wrote a letter of support
for the bond, which your paper published.
Within that letter my father mentioned
the fact that he had two children currently
attending the high
school and so he had
a vested interest in
seeing the much-needed
repairs made. I decided
that I would share my
perspective on the school
bond.
I hold the point of
view that schools should
be palaces, teachers
should make six-igure
salaries, and education
should be incredibly
expensive for the
government and free of
charge for its citizens.
Unfortunately, I haven’t igured out
how to do that yet. I have, however, made
a difference. My school’s budget was not
large enough for it to purchase the kind
of technology that it needed to give the
students the education they deserve. For that
reason I went out and secured two grants
my freshman year to provide 100 iPads and
charging carts for my peers and me to use. I
take my education and the education of my
peers seriously.
Currently one in ive American children
live in poverty. One in ive children live in
the most gut-wrenching, abject, soul-tearing
provided the protection of
human remains, funerary/
sacred objects and cultural
patrimony. It prohibited the
sale, transport and trade of
human remains. It prohibited
using the remains, in
addition to damage, removal,
excavation or destruction of
Indian sites.
When
the Ancient
One was
found, the
Columbia
River
Indian tribes
claimed the
skeleton
and refused
to allow the bones to be
studied. The role of the
Corps of Engineers was in
favor of the tribes when they
learned of the radio carbon
dating that revealed how old
the remains were. In 2002,
scientists won a case to
study the remains. In August
2015, DNA conirmed that
the Ancient One was in
fact a relative to all Native
Americans. The other
factors that helped conirm
were diet, genetic data and
skull shapes of Natives that
changed over millennia.
Recently, Patty Murray
introduced a bill in the
name of the Ancient One
— a magniicent stride for
Columbia River Indian tribes
and the Corps of Engineers.
Elizabeth Wocatsie Jones
made two testimonials
on behalf of the Ancient
One. The irst was a Q&A
interview and the second
was Elizabeth speaking in
her native tongue for nearly
45 minutes. I asked her what
she said. She said that she
shared the creation story of
our peoples and she had just
one waa’shat song. Their
tracks may be washed away,
but not their religious beliefs
and certainly not their spirit
in the ight for repatriation.
At’twai, means a great love
who has passed away.
■
Lona Pond, of Pendleton,
studied repatriation at
Washington State University.
Their religious
beliefs have
not been
washed away.
Page 5A
Schools should be palaces, education should be free
An Indian perspective
of the Ancient One
By LONA POND
East Oregonian
poverty that you can imagine. Education
is the silver bullet that can break a vicious
and violent cycle of poverty. I mentioned
before that schools should be palaces, but if
they can’t be a palace they should at least be
a sound and sale place where children can
grow and the next generation of American
leaders can be formed.
One can simply walk among the three
schools in our district and
clearly see the problems
that our buildings face.
Ceilings that are sagging
from water damage,
buildings that do not come
close to meeting ADA
standards and securities
issues that would make any
parent turn pale from fear.
If the bond were to pass,
these are the issues that
would be ixed.
The bond is only asking
for an additional 44 cents
per assessed $1,000 on
your home. This slight raise would give the
district a $4 million matching grant from the
state of Oregon. This would give our district
$8 million to make much needed repairs.
This is really a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity that we have been handed. The
school district has identiied $11 million
worth of repairs that need to be made. This
means that even if we get the bond there
are still $3 million worth of things that
need to be ixed. It is clear that our district
desperately needs these funds.
My biggest concern as a student is not
education, it is safety. Not too long ago
we had an incident at the high school and
The passage of
the bond for the
Athena-Weston
School District
will dramatically
improve all three
of our schools.
middle school that reminded us all of how
vulnerable we are. Every week we see news
stories that shake us to our core. Children
are being killed in their own school. There
has been school shooting after school
shooting. The question I, and many others,
are asking is when will it happen here?
Students cannot learn if they are not safe. If
the bond passes the school district will be
able to provide security upgrades to all three
of our buildings and provide for the students
a safer learning environment.
There are some people in the district who
are hesitant to give more of their tax money
to the school district. They say that they are
already taxed too much. However, I believe
that this is too important an issue for a no
vote to be given. The safety of the students
in the Athena-Weston School District hinges
on the passage of this bond. A no vote is
a vote against student safety. A no vote on
this bond opens up our school district to the
terrible possibility of a horriic attack. To
vote yes is to take a stand against the waves
of violence that have been crashing into one
American school after another.
The passage of the bond for the Athena-
Weston School District will dramatically
improve all three of our schools. We can
ix dilapidated buildings, improve school
security, and become compliant with ADA
regulations. The passage of this bond will
improve the quality of education that I and
my classmates are receiving. Please, for my
sake and for the sake of future generations,
vote yes on the upcoming bond for the
Athena-Weston School District.
■
Michael Shafer is a 17-year-old junior at
Weston-McEwen High School.
YOUR VIEWS
Support Athena-Weston
schools bond
We support the passage of the
Athena-Weston School District bond
measure. Because the bond money
will qualify for a funding match with
state grant money, it makes good sense
to us. The need is there, and we have
an opportunity to leverage millions of
dollars for our schools.
We also appreciate the hard
working group of volunteers who have
worked for the passage of this issue.
You have done a great job.
Bill and Margaret Hansell
Athena
On Election Day May 17, the
Athena-Weston School District will
ind out whether or not the taxpayers
are going to take advantage of the
Oregon school capital improvement
matching program under Senate Bill
447, which was designed to encourage
communities to pass local school
district general obligation bonds to
address the deferred maintenance
problems present in Oregon’s schools.
On January 27 the Athena-Weston
School District was chosen by the
Oregon Department of Education to
receive a matching grant of $4 million.
If voters in Athena and Weston pass
the school bond on May 17 for $4
million, the state of Oregon will give
the district an additional $4 million,
for a total of $8 million to be used
for its schools. However, if the bond
does not pass, the $4 million from the
matching grant will be awarded to
another school district.
Because Athena and Weston are
small rural towns, schools are more
than buildings. They are important
centers of each community. From
athletic events and awards assemblies
to student fundraisers and community
functions, our schools are constantly
utilized by multiple generations,
bringing people together. The $4
million generated by the bond measure
and $4 million matching grant will
enable the school district to make the
necessary capital improvements to
improve school security and to protect
the investment in our schools and
respected communities.
Jim Reger,
Interim superintendent, Athena-Weston
Vote Fairley for
Pendleton city council
For the 13 years I was regional
advisor to the Oregon Department
of Housing & Community Services,
Scott Fairley and I covered the same
10 eastern counties and I had the
distinct pleasure of working with him
often.
In my experience, Scott Fairley
is bright, articulate, reasonable,
levelheaded and well versed in the
issues facing Eastern Oregon and
Pendleton. Fairley knows economic
development, infrastructure and
housing and is exceptionally well
connected throughout the state of
Oregon, which will be fruitful for the
city of Pendleton.
While I no longer live in Pendleton,
if I did I would cast my vote for
Fairley. I would ask my Pendleton
friends to do so as well.
Bruce Buchanan
Walla Walla
Join us in voting for Scott Fairley
for Pendleton City Council Ward 2.
Scott brings unique experience as
both a civic and community volunteer
and his professional work/training
is in economic and community
development.
Scott is gifted with patience and he
actually listens to people. His mission
is collaborative problem solving
— not having his own way. These
attributes uniquely prepare him to be a
positive and highly skilled member of
Pendleton’s city council.
Karen and Fritz Hill
Pendleton
Donald Trump a
deserving winner
It’s time to vote. The information
has lowed freely. You may not like
the current candidates but they got
the vote. We have the opportunity to
vote for the presidential candidate
in Oregon’s primary. While I am a
supporter of Sen. Cruz, Donald Trump
has the most delegates. In fact Sen.
Cruz and Gov. Kasich have withdrawn
and, barring some major unforeseen
event, Donald Trump has won as the
Republican candidate for president.
Is Mr. Trump a conservative? There
are many people who say they will
never vote for Mr. Trump because he
is not a conservative. Gov. Romney
lost the election twice as a Republican
candidate and he was considered a
conservative. Mr. Trump has been
gathering many voters for his ticket
and I think he can be elected.
Many of the issues he supports, I
support, which means I will vote for
Mr. Trump, and I encourage you to
vote for him also.
Donald Peterson
Pendleton
EOCI inmates should not
work outside prison
I have lived in Pendleton since
1966 and have seen many changes to
the city, both good and bad.
I was not in favor of a prison
being in Pendleton, but after it was
established, we were assured that the
prisoners would not ever be let out
in the community. In 1987 the state
of Oregon and the city of Pendleton
entered into a written agreement that
the inmates at the prison would be
prohibited from working outside the
prison.
Several years after the agreement
was entered into, a proposal was
presented to recommend the prisoners
be released to work in the public.
The community protested vigorously,
reminded the council of previous
assurances and promises, and the
proposal was not approved.
Now, again, the council has
decided that the agreement with the
state means nothing to the people
of Pendleton. The council is trying
to pass a resolution that work crews
made up of prisoners from EOCI will
be allowed to work in our city.
I am irmly opposed to this
proposal and do not want any
prisoners released to work in
Pendleton. I have recently been told
by several residents and business
people around town that the majority
of the council members are in favor
of the resolution and that it is a “done
deal.”
I certainly hope that this is not true
and I urge everyone who is opposed to
having prisoners working in our town
to please let the council members
know immediately. The resolution is
supposed to be addressed and possibly
approved on May 17 at the next
council meeting.
Frances King
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 num-
ber. 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.