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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 20, 2016)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Friday, May 20, 2016 Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN DANIEL WATTENBURGER Publisher Managing Editor JENNINE PERKINSON TIM TRAINOR Advertising Director Opinion Page Editor OUR VIEW Tip of the hat; kick in the pants A tip of the hat to the Helix elementary students who will pitch in to their cross-county neighbors in Hermiston’s effort to build a well in Africa. The older students have been studying water, and speciically the need for clean water in Africa. When their teacher Monica Curtiss read an East Oregonian story about Hermiston Altrusa’s efforts to build a well, they decided to donate 10 percent of the proceeds of their annual walk-a-thon to the project. When Helix students set their minds to something, watch out. The 78 students in the school raised $7,500 in pledges, meaning they’ll hand a $750 check to Altrusa at Friday’s Walk- 4-Water. The rest of the money will go to building an outdoor drinking fountain and funding for ield trips. That donation will be added to $1,608 raised between the website and private gifts made directly to Hermiston Altrusa. But the goal of $5,000 is still a ways off, and the deadline for donations is the end of May, according to Stephanie Hughes who has led the effort. If you’re inspired by the Helix students and want to help Altrusa reach the goal, you can donate online at www.thewaterproject.org (search for “Hermiston”) or drop a donation at American West Properties for Hughes. A tip of the hat to voters in Milton-Freewater, Athena-Weston and Echo school districts for their overwhelming support of bonds that will make a huge difference in the lives of their children. A ‘no’ vote is easy when it comes to tax increases. All it takes is one look at your monthly bank statement to see where you’d rather spend your income. Or one look at the amount you’re already paying to other places in government. But the voters of these three communities looked past the easy answer. For Milton-Freewater, a town that has not built a new school in almost a century, it was time. For Echo, which has one school building and is in desperate need of safety upgrades, it was time. For Athena-Weston, where too much of the school’s budget is spent on operating costs rung up by old facilities, it was time. Plus, all three districts will get nice boosts from matching grants from the state — a total of $12 million rolling into Umatilla County. And Milton- Freewater got the best deal of all with an additional $15 million from Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation. The heart of rural communities are their schools, and passing these bonds was good for the heart. 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 Rules protect both visitors and wildlife The Bismarck (N.D.) Tribune T ourism season has barely started and already there’s alarming behavior by visitors to our national parks. Their intentions might be good but their actions violate park rules and the laws of nature. Two visitors to Yellowstone National Park last week thought a newborn bison calf needed help and loaded it in their vehicle and took it to a park facility. Unfortunately, efforts by park oficials to return the calf to the herd failed and it had to be euthanized. The calf had been wandering between vehicles and approaching people, posing a danger. Park oficials said even if the calf could have been rehabilitated, it would have required months of quarantine to test for brucellosis, and Yellowstone does not have the facilities needed to monitor the calf. “Nor is it the mission of the National Park Service to rescue animals,” oficials said on Facebook, adding, “Our goal is to maintain the ecological processes of Yellowstone.” The visitors who picked up the calf were cited for their actions. They should have never handled the calf and, if they had followed park regulations, never been close to it. Yellowstone regulations require visitors to be at least 25 yards away from all wildlife such as bison, elk and deer and at least 100 yards away from bears and wolves. Park oficials can ine tourists for violating the rules and the wildlife can hurt, and kill, those who violate the rules. Yellowstone has been fascinating tourists for decades and the temptation to get close to the animals and even feed them has always existed. The danger existed when the park opened and it won’t go away. These can be dangerous animals and, if disturbed, they will defend themselves. Some visitors violating the rules aren’t shy about it, with park oficials noting some recent Internet videos showing visitors approaching bison at “extremely unsafe and illegal distances.” Five visitors were seriously injured last year after getting too close to wildlife, according to park oficials. And it’s not just Yellowstone, other parks across the country are having problems. A 50-year-old Missouri woman was hospitalized last week after being gored in the stomach by a bison in Custer State Park in South Dakota. Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota warns visitors not to feed animals and to view wildlife from a distance because they can attack without warning. There have been encounters with bison at the park. The parks provide an opportunity for tourists to see wildlife in their habitat; the only chance many people from urban areas have to see animals in a natural setting. It’s a lot different than going to a zoo. Since there are no cages, visitors need to follow the rules. Those rules, oficials point out, are pretty simple: Keep your distance, don’t feed them and don’t harass them. It’s for the safety of the people and the animals. By taking the calf away from the herd the visitors destroyed its connection with the other bison and doomed it. The story of the calf has gone viral on the Internet along with being covered by newspapers and other media around the world. Hopefully it will remind people tempted to push the rules not to do so. Not a happy ending for the calf, but maybe improved behavior by visitors. Tourists visiting parks in the West have violated park rules and the laws of nature. OTHER VIEWS Subtract one Clinton B ill Clinton should go home. But some still rose to do fantastic things It’s easy to see why his wife’s on their own. Margaret Chase Smith campaign is giving him a major got into Congress as a replacement for role. His political skills are legendary. her late husband, but she became the And he’s the spouse, for heaven’s sake. foremost opponent of McCarthyism Presidential candidates always rely on in the Senate all by herself. That’s the their families to ill out the schedule, spirit the Clinton campaign needs. Not show up where they can’t, spread good running as part of a team with your cheer. male predecessor. Gail But we all know this is different. Our country is now full of women Collins who’ve become senators, governors, Campaigning in Kentucky — where Comment her husband is more popular than she CEOs, diplomats without familial is — Hillary Clinton told voters that assistance. If they have spouses, they’re Bill would be “in charge of revitalizing off doing their own thing. Or — yes! — the economy” in her administration. At another taking care of the family. It’s a new world order stop she promised that if they returned to the Hillary has always championed. But the way White House, “I’ll expect him to go to work ... she’s running her campaign isn’t doing the new to get incomes rising.” world any favors. She presented herself as part of a duo that Bill isn’t the only man overshadowing her knows “a little bit about how to create jobs. I political life. Hillary has also been campaigning think my husband did a heck as a sort of Barack Obama of a job.” surrogate who’ll carry on the Hillary wants to be the irst president’s legacy for another woman ever elected president term or two. During a debate of the United States. The in South Carolina, she brought economy is the central issue up Obama 10 times — more in the campaign. The fact that than the other two candidates she’s assuring voters that Bill on the stage combined. In will take care of it is ... totally another debate, she laced into wrong. Bernie Sanders for disloyalty. It would be better if he (“The kind of criticism that wasn’t on the scene at all. Let we’ve heard from Senator us count the ways: Sanders about our president I — Implanting a husband expect from Republicans.”) in the center of White House All this identifying with policymaking is just a bad the last two Democratic idea. All other advisers, from presidents has left her own the vice president to the political image fuzzy. She’s chief of staff to the Cabinet pledged to do more to crack members, fade in authority down on Wall Street, but she when there’s one person sitting hasn’t really said whether at the table who happens to the deregulation during her be married to the boss. It husband’s administration was didn’t work very well when the Clintons were a mistake. She’s disagreed — briely — with offering “two for the price of one” in the 1990s. Obama on matters like immigration, trade and Turn the marital partner into a former president Arctic drilling, but the details are very hard to and it’s like adding a blue whale to the goldish pin down. bowl. What we haven’t gotten is a vision of how If Hillary wants Bill in her administration, a Hillary Clinton administration would be she can give him one of the useful-but-largely- different from either of her predecessors’. symbolic roles a irst spouse traditionally plays. That’s been the great weakness of her The Clinton Foundation, for all its messes, has campaign from the start. She’s become the done good work in developing countries. Let opposite of change. (Continuity You Can him be international ambassador to the poor. Believe In?) — The sex scandal issue isn’t really central, Even if she keeps going the way she’s been since Americans have a long record of voting going, voters may be so horriied by Donald for the candidates they think can deliver, Trump that she’ll win in November. But you regardless of private peccadilloes. And Donald don’t want the irst woman president elected by Trump has a history of boorish public behavior default. that could even overshadow the marital This is one of the most qualiied people baggage Hillary has to tote. However, she’d be ever to run for the ofice, and she doesn’t need in a much stronger position if she was toting on to hold on to anybody’s coattails. It’s time for her own. Hillary to stand alone. — It’s not surprising that the irst serious ■ female presidential contender would be Gail Collins joined The New York Times someone attached to a famous male name. in 1995 as a member of the editorial board For most of our history, women who rose in and later as an Op-Ed columnist. In 2001 she American politics were generally illing in for became the irst woman ever appointed editor a deceased (or sometimes indicted) husband. of the Times’s editorial page. If Hillary wants Bill in her administration, she can give him one of the useful- but-largely- symbolic roles a irst spouse traditionally plays. 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.
