Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
OTHER VIEWS
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Publisher
Managing Editor
JENNINE PERKINSON
TIM TRAINOR
Advertising Director
Opinion Page Editor
OUR VIEW
News as a service,
not a product
News is a hot commodity, but
it’s a buyer’s market. There are a
number of places to ind out about
things happening in the world or in
your neighborhood.
At the East Oregonian, we strive
to be a valuable source. In fact, we
aim to be the most valuable source
in our area — not just trusted or
well-liked, but essential.
To reach for that goal, we pay
a staff of journalists to spend
every working day explaining the
happenings of Eastern Oregon.
We’re intrigued by a chorus of
emergency sirens, but also by the
silence when the public interest is
being debated behind closed doors.
We share the joy when the news is
good and pain when it’s not. We
are part of the community and have
been for 140 years.
While we put out a product
ive days a week — a physical
newspaper, from our Pendleton press
to your doorstep — our value is not
the ink and paper. It’s the content
within, created by reporters and
photographers and editors. It’s the
time spent at meetings, at ires, in
classrooms, at our desks poring over
budgets, iling records requests and
chasing down sources. And like all
good services, we can’t do it for free.
Because most of our news is now
consumed digitally, we can’t sustain
a model where only print subscribers
like you pay for our work.
Our online paywall is an attempt
to continue to serve the community
without undercutting ourselves.
Though some content providers
are using them, we know it’s rare
and annoying to encounter one.
But hopefully it’s a reminder of the
resources expended to get you that
information — much of which you
won’t ind anywhere else.
We’ve settled upon a structure
we plan to test over the course of
the summer. The East Oregonian
website is open to everyone and
includes many free features, such as
obituaries, coming events calendars
and other public notices. Visitors
will get to see three free articles a
month, plus one bonus article each
day that they ind via social media.
Our 20,000 Facebook friends make
up a large portion of our daily online
audience, and we hope they have a
positive experience on our site.
We also hope those online
readers, especially residents who
ind themselves returning again and
again to our site, consider the work it
takes to report the news and invest in
that process — like print subscribers
have done for generations.
We also ask that our invested
readers join the effort in serving
the community. Tell us what we’re
missing and which stories have an
unexplored layer. You can send tips
or ideas to editor@eastoregonian.
com or call us directly: 541-966-
0835 connects you to the heart of the
newsoom.
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
Opioids in Oregon
The (Eugene) Register-Guard
O
regon is awash in opioids,
with the second-highest rate of
prescriptions in the country and a
skyrocketing death rate from opioids. The
death rate in Oregon from these drugs
— which include Vicodin, OxyContin
and Percocet — surpasses any other type
of drug poisoning, including alcohol,
methamphetamines, heroin and cocaine.
Physicians who are dealing with this
are, unhappily, reaping a crop that was
sown more than 25 years ago.
There was a major movement in the
1990s to push doctors to do more to
treat pain — or risk possible censure by
medical boards for failing to do their job.
Opioids were deemed a safe and effective
option.
One small company, Purdue Pharma,
touted a new medication as not only
effective in reducing pain, but also
having a lower risk of abuse because of
its time-release properties. The new drug,
Oxycontin, quickly became popular.
In 2007 Purdue admitted, after being
hauled into federal court, that it had
misled the public about OxyContin’s risk
of addiction.
That admission came too late.
Health care professionals are now
aware that opioids are not as safe — or
even effective — as once believed.
The same cannot be said for patients,
particularly those who have become
dependent on opioids and need them to
feel normal. There are Oregon physicians
who say they have been threatened with
malpractice lawsuits, even physical
violence, by some patients and their
families when they try to wean a patient
off opioids.
These patients latly refuse to believe
the opioids are, in fact, ineffective in
treating many types of pain and may
even make it worse in some cases, such
as lower back pain.
Research now shows that weight loss
and exercise are the most effective ways
to reduce pain in many cases, but that
prescription can be a tough sell to many
patients.
Oregon has made some progress
in recent years in dealing with opioid
dependency. There is a statewide registry
that allows allow doctors to see if a
patient has additional opioid prescriptions
from other physicians. Local emergency
rooms no longer prescribe opioids for
migraines and urgent care clinics won’t
prescribe opioids for chronic pain.
After peaking in 2006, prescription
opioid deaths in Oregon had fallen by
about 35 percent by 2012, according
to Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention statistics. But this was still
250 percent higher than in 2000 — and
some physicians say they see use and
abuse growing again.
Opioids still account for 6.7 percent of
all prescriptions written in Oregon today
— about a third more than the national
average. If Oregon is to win the battle
against opioid addiction, more needs to
be done.
This includes looking at areas with
the highest rate of opioid prescriptions
to determine what’s going on and deal
with it.
It also means increasing connections
and sharing more information among the
different parties who deal with opioid
addictions, including all types of health
care providers and nonproits that deal
with addiction.
While there is a reporting system
that allows doctors to see if a patient is
obtaining multiple opioid prescriptions,
there is no requirement to check the
database, which does not include
prescriptions written in emergency
rooms. And physicians who have used
the site complain that it is cumbersome
and hard to use.
Better partnerships and connections
between health care providers, insurers
and employers also is needed for a
coordinated approach to attack opioid
addiction.
Some insurers, for example, may not
cover alternative treatments for pain that
would replace opioids. And programs to
help a patient lose weight and exercise as
part of a program to reduce pain may not
be readily available.
A system to identify and divert
patients who are at high risk for opioid
abuse to an agency that specializes in
substance abuse also would be helpful.
And speciic guidelines for prescribing
opiates should be in place, focusing on
such parameters as prescribing the lowest
active dose for the minimum amount
of time and considering offering other,
non-addictive options if there are factors
on record that show a possible disposition
to abuse.
There is room for, and a need for,
innovative approaches in dealing with the
opioid epidemic.
Opioid abuse is not just an issue for
the people who are dependent on opioids,
and their families, it is an issue for the
community. It causes needless deaths,
takes people from being productive
members of society to non-productive
and feeds into rising health care costs and
crime.
It will take a coordinated effort, with
support from everyone from individual
community members to health care
providers, health insurers, counselors,
employers and law enforcement.
But it is an effort that is worth making,
and that promises a signiicant payback.
Why is Clinton disliked?
For example, her campaign recently
I understand why Donald Trump
released a biographical video called
is so unpopular. He earned it the
“Fighter.” It’s illed with charming
old-fashioned way, by being obnoxious,
and quirky old photos of her ighting
insulting and offensive. But why is
for various causes. But then when the
Hillary Clinton so unpopular?
video cuts to a current interview with
She is, at the moment, just as
Clinton herself, the lighting is perfect,
unpopular as Trump. In the last
the setting is perfect, her costume is
three major national polls she had
perfect. She looks less like a human
unfavorability ratings in the same
David
ballpark as Trump’s. In the Washington
Brooks being and more like an avatar from
some corporate brand. Clinton’s
Post/ABC News poll, they are both at
Comment
57 percent disapproval.
unpopularity is akin to the unpopularity
In the New York Times/CBS
of a workaholic. Workaholism is a form
News poll, 60 percent of respondents said
of emotional self-estrangement. Workaholics
Clinton does not share their values. Sixty-four
are so consumed by their professional activities
percent said she is not honest or trustworthy.
that their feelings don’t inform their most
Clinton has plummeted
fundamental decisions. The
so completely down to
professional role comes to
Trump’s level that she is now
dominate the personality and
statistically tied with him
encroaches on the normal
in some of the presidential
intimacies of the soul. As
horse race polls.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones once put
There are two paradoxes
it, whole cemeteries could be
to her unpopularity. First, she
illed with the sad tombstone:
was popular not long ago. As
“Born a man, died a doctor.”
secretary of state she had a
At least in her public
66 percent approval rating.
persona, Clinton gives off
Even as recently as March
an exclusively professional
2015 her approval rating was
vibe: industrious, calculated,
at 50 and her disapproval
goal-oriented, distrustful. It’s
rating was at 39.
hard from the outside to have
It’s only since she
a sense of her as a person;
launched a multimillion-dollar campaign to
she is a role.
impress the American people that she has made
This formal, career-oriented persona puts
herself so strongly disliked.
her in direct contrast with the mores of the
The second paradox is that, agree with her
social media age, which is intimate, personalist,
or not, she’s dedicated herself to public service. revealing, trusting and vulnerable. It puts her
From advocate for children to senator, she has
in conlict with most people’s lived experience.
pursued her vocation tirelessly. It’s not the
Most Americans feel more vivid and alive
“what” that explains her unpopularity; it’s the
outside the work experience than within. So
“how” — the manner in which she has done it.
of course to many she seems Machiavellian,
But what exactly do so many have against
crafty, power-oriented, untrustworthy.
her?
There’s a larger lesson here, especially for
I would begin my explanation with this
people who have found a career and vocation
question: Can you tell me what Hillary Clinton
that feels fulilling. Even a socially good
does for fun? We know what Obama does
vocation can swallow you up and make you
for fun — golf, basketball, etc. We know,
lose a sense of your own voice. Maybe it’s
unfortunately, what Trump does for fun.
doubly important that people with fulilling
But when people talk about Clinton, they
vocations develop, and be seen to develop,
tend to talk of her exclusively in professional
sanctuaries outside them: in play, solitude,
terms. For example, on Nov. 16, Peter D. Hart
family, faith, hobbies and leisure.
conducted a focus group on Clinton. Nearly
Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote that the
every assessment had to do with on-the-job
Sabbath is “a palace in time which we build.”
performance. She was “multitask-oriented” or
It’s not a day of rest before work; you work
“organized” or “deceptive.”
in order to experience this day of elevation.
Clinton’s career appears, from the outside,
Josef Pieper wrote that leisure is not an activity,
to be all consuming. Her husband is her
it’s an attitude of mind. It’s stepping outside
co-politician. Her daughter works at the Clinton strenuous effort and creating enough stillness
Foundation. Her friendships appear to have
so that it becomes possible to contemplate and
been formed at networking gatherings reserved enjoy things as they are.
for the extremely successful.
Even successful lives need these sanctuaries
People who work closely with her adore her — in order to be a real person instead of just a
and say she is warm and caring. But it’s hard
productive one. It appears that we don’t really
from the outside to think of any non-career or
trust candidates who do not show us theirs.
pre-career aspect to her life. Except for a few
■
grandma references, she presents herself as a
David Brooks became a New York Times
résumé and policy brief.
Op-Ed columnist in September 2003.
Her formal,
career-oriented
persona puts her
in direct contrast
with the mores
of the social
media age.
YOUR VIEWS
Playground equipment leaving
Pendleton neighborhood parks
I write this letter to draw attention of
Pendleton residents to the quiet taking of
playground equipment from Pendleton city
parks currently in process, with hopes of
discouraging or preventing its removal — at
least without a full public discussion.
In my area, the May Park playground
equipment was fenced off about two weeks
ago without explanation or notice. I believe
the other two parks with scheduled removal of
playground equipment are Aldrich and Rice.
In conversation with a Pendleton Parks
Department representative, I was told the
removal is the result of an insurance audit
regarding the danger of an uncushioned fall
from monkey bars, yet the swings and seesaw
are also scheduled for removal.
The representative said notice was planned
for area residents of the three parks affected
but had not been mailed out. The schedule
for this notice was not yet set. My concern
is that the equipment will disappear with no
discussion and then be too late for retrieval.
We discussed the shortage of resources for
the parks department and the costs of dealing
with vandalism in May Park affecting the
restroom there, forcing its closure during the
school year. I’ve seen the vandalism to the
playground equipment also, and repaired it
where possible.
However, I’ve also witnessed the use of
playground most often by preschool children
year-round and elementary school-age
children during the summer. This is the only
park in a neighborhood with many children.
Removal of the equipment removes this
resource for the youngest children in the
area — there is no unaccompanied walking-
distance alternative for younger children.
This neighborhood, sadly, is under-funded.
The park, even with the sad state of repair, is
one of few city resources available close by.
The loss of the playground would mean
more than a terrible inconvenience, but would
deprive the inhabitants of a rare resource. This
becomes more stark while parks in distant,
more afluent neighborhoods, with more
alternative resources continue unaffected.
The estimate for replacing wood chips to
cushion falls from the monkey bars is $1,500
plus labor to install them. Perhaps we could
trade the restroom, open only three months
each year, to keep a year-round resource for
local children?
I’m grateful to the parks department
for all they do and offer this in the spirit of
consultation.
Bill Young
Pendleton
LETTERS POLICY
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues.
Submitted letters must be signed by the author and include the city of residence and a
daytime phone number. Send letters to 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email
editor@eastoregonian.com.