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OPINION
East Oregonian
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Publisher
Managing Editor
JENNINE PERKINSON
TIM TRAINOR
Advertising Director
Opinion Page Editor
OUR VIEW
Carbon choices are
climate choices
While many economists and
energy regulators remain convinced
that the best approach to controlling
greenhouse gases is to tax carbon
emissions, it nevertheless is good
to see that Oregon is continuing
to closely examine an alternative
approach: an economy-wide carbon
cap-and-trade system in partnership
with other governments around
North America.
Under cap-and-trade, agencies
assign individual carbon emitters a
“cap” based on emissions history
and future targets. Emitters can
then use, buy and sell their rights to
produce carbon dioxide pollution.
By providing a monetary incentive
to emit less — either to preserve
emission rights to use or sell for
a proit or to avoid having to
buy those rights from someone
else — advocates believe CO2 will
cease to be so easily discharged into
the atmosphere, where it becomes
everyone’s problem.
Detractors of cap-and-trade
believe it is needlessly complicated,
essentially creating a new proit
center for corporations that will
require an unwieldy private/
public bureaucracy to maintain.
In contrast, a direct tax could be
crafted to speciically discourage
emissions, with the revenues going
to offset impacts on needy residents,
to conduct research and for other
purposes.
These are, however, early days in
what will surely be a long process
of iguring out how best to wean
industrial society off its addiction
to fossil fuels, a dependency that
permits carbon dioxide to warp
our climate. Just this year, CO2
levels are stuck above 400 parts
per million in the atmosphere, after
starting out at 280 ppm before the
industrial era. Levels will continue
going up, possibly for decades. We
probably will need to explore an
array of regulatory and technological
solutions before we arrive at a
satisfactory set of answers.
Climatewire, a publication of
Environment & Energy Publishing
(www.eenews.net), recently reported
a helpful summary of Oregon’s
cap-and-trade steps. Read it at www.
tinyurl.com/OR-cap-and-trade.
Decisions on these matters will
have a pervasive impact on citizens
and society. It is worthwhile for all
of us to try to understand our options
and participate in deciding what to
do.
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
dd Paul Tremblay’s new horror
novel “A Head Full of Ghosts”
to your summer reading list.
The taut, disturbing work comes under
300 pages and is just the thing to add
chills as the temp rises.
Marjorie Barrett,
14, starts acting a little
mean, a little creepy,
her behavior worsens
(maybe it’s a disease
or psychological), the
family suffers under
the stress, and by
the end it sure seems
like something vile
has moved in and
kicked Marjorie to the
basement.
Writing that kind of
scary novel is tough
work. William Peter
Blatty’s “The Exorcist,”
after all, remains an
imposing monolith in horror iction
even after 45 years (and if you have
not read it, do. It’s better — and more
ambiguous — than the subsequent ilm,
itself a horror classic).
But the familiar road stops and
this tale takes on new tones because
most of it is told from the point of
view of Marjorie’s little sister, Merry,
just 8. Tremblay then adds the most
postmodern of elements to the mix
— a reality TV show to air the whole
sinister unraveling and a blogger’s
comments on that show.
I’m not a fan of popular iction, and
I don’t read much of it. The English
major in me is too much of a snob.
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
was often a slog through
list-making and weak
characterizations. I
couldn’t even inish
the irst 25 pages of “A
Game of Thrones,” and
I’ve read “Moby-Dick”
about a dozen times.
Tremblay’s not
weaving the “great
American novel” here
but telling a good story
well. His dialogue
sometimes is forced,
but he builds tension in
steady steps, sprinkles
in plot twists that make
sense, and adheres to
Edgar Allen Poe’s rule
of keeping horror short. And he uses
literary devices to ine effect.
The best writing doesn’t tell us how
something is, it shows us. Demonic
possession stories are at their dark
heart rape stories: a malevolent spirit
forces its way into a victim, usually
young and female, and she and
everyone else seem helpless to stop the
violation.
“A Head Full of Ghosts” shows us
that well enough.
— Phil Wright, senior reporter
YOUR VIEWS
City could deed ball ield
to BMCC if they wanted to
It appears that the mayor and city
council have been less than candid about
the agreement signed with the state of
Oregon concerning the property that
hosts the Blue Mountain Community
College baseball ield.
At the May 3 city council meeting.
Chuck Wood stated that as per the
agreement with the state of Oregon,
if they deeded the property to the city,
they would only use it for economic
development and they wouldn’t consider
asking the state for approval to deed
the property to BMCC because of the
lengthy period of time it took to negotiate
the transfer of the property to the city.
A request to the state through
Representative Greg Barreto and
forwarded to Scott Fairley, Regional
Solutions Coordinator, resulted in the
following statement; “deeding the
baseball ield to BMCC would not
violate the city’s agreement with the
state. The land was given to the city
based on an argument of the economic
development, however, the city is not
required to use the land for industrial
development.”
I submit that the construction of
the baseball ield in itself has provided
the city of Pendleton with a measure
of economic development as students
are drawn to the city and contribute
both rent and, of course, they must eat,
buy gas and clothing, and entertain
themselves.
The words of the city ring hollow
when it’s a tangible show of support that
is needed.
Rick Rohde
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.
OTHER VIEWS
Is the internet living up
to its potential?
ccess to the internet brings
constantly suring just the headlines
such amazing promise. It offers
also change the way that we process
access to specialized health
information.
care, regardless of location; easier
Abuse of digital technologies
can lead to other, more serious
access to government at every level;
things as well. Internet addiction is
access to the global economy; the
a real problem. A St. Bonaventure
opportunity to get an education, even if
University study, “Internet Addiction:
you can’t physically attend a particular
A New Clinical Phenomenon and Its
campus; and the ability to connect with
Joseph
friends and family in real time over
Franell Consequences,” compares internet
addiction with an addiction to
great distances. But, is the internet
Comment
gambling in that both are impulse-
living up to its potential, and are we
control disorders. The study highlights
using it appropriately?
some signs of internet addiction which include:
I remember when we irst started using
online affairs (I was surprised that this made
email in the Army. I was a captain serving
it into a clinical paper, so it must be a bigger
as an administrative oficer for a year. My
problem than I imagined.), changes in sleep
group effectively illed the role of a human
patterns, personality changes, ignoring other
resources department for the 500-man unit I
responsibilities, evidence of lying, and a
was assigned to. We had computers when I
declining investment in relationship. Further,
irst got that job, but we used them mostly as
the paper states that college students are the
gloriied word processors. They were not even
most at-risk population to develop an addiction
connected to a network.
to the internet because of the following
Then the Army rolled out email. There
contributing factors:
was great hope that it would streamline
• Free and unlimited internet access
communications and reduce paperwork.
• Huge blocks of unstructured time
Sadly, it soon became apparent that it had the
• Newly experienced freedom from parental
opposite effect. Since it was suddenly so easy
to communicate, the volume of memorandums, control
• No monitoring of what they do or say
letters, and notes exploded. Instead of reducing
online.
paperwork, electronic communications made
This is not just a problem for college
it easy to transmit even the most mundane
students. In a survey by Vault.com, an online
thought — and so people did.
analyst irm, 37 percent of employees admitted
The commercialization of the internet has
had a similar impact on the rest of society. The to suring the Web constantly while at work.
International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates The implications for lost productivity are
staggering. According to a survey done by
that by 2020, the global population will be
Salary.com and AOL, employee non-work-
creating 40 zettabytes (40 trillion gigabytes)
related online suring costs employers in the
of data every year. Let me help put that into
U.S. $282 billion in lost productivity every
perspective. A pickup truck full of books is
year!
the equivalent of about one gigabyte of data.
Several years ago, I had the privilege of
So, in just a few years, we’ll be collectively
hearing Amber Case, a cyber-anthropologist,
generating enough new data on the internet
speak. She is a very bright young lady from
to ill 40 trillion pickup trucks (if that data
Portland who studies the impact of technology
were printed in book form). Since our global
on society. I was impressed by her passion for
population is now about 7.4 billion people,
leveraging technology to enhance our lives.
each person on the globe would have to have
Her vision for how we can use smart phone
5,405 pickup trucks full of printed books to
apps to connect and enable ourselves to be
equal the amount of new data that will be
better was inspiring. She also recognized
generated in 2020. That’s a bunch of data.
the negative impacts of hyper-connectivity
Obviously, creation and availability of that
on individuals and community. She talked
much new data beg the question of reliability.
about how social media connects us and
Is it fact, opinion, or fabrication? The fact
isolates us at the same time and how civility in
that it looks authentic does not necessarily
communication has been eroded because of the
mean that it is. Or perhaps it is authentic, but
incomplete. I remember reading an incomplete anonymity of electronic communications.
The sad reality is that the internet is not at
copy of the Maylower Compact online. There
fault. The questions I posed at the beginning of
was no mention that it had been abridged,
this article were, “Is the internet living up to its
but the meaning and purpose had been
potential and are we using it appropriately?”
signiicantly altered. In the days of physically
published materials, you could generally judge The internet is like any other inanimate
object. It is neither good nor bad; it is how
the reliability of the data by the reputation of
we use it that matters. Coffee is good for you
the publishing house. It is much more dificult
if used in moderation. If abused, it can have
to judge what you ind on the internet. And
serious consequences to your well-being. The
yet, people form opinions and make decisions
based on generally unsubstantiated data, rarely problems we are experiencing with the internet
are our fault. We have become so enamored
even considering the need to validate the
with our ability to connect, we have become
information. This is disturbing.
When I was a second lieutenant in the Army obsessed as a society. Putting boundaries in
place can help correct the problem.
back in the late ’80s, I received instruction on
Dell suggests these healthy internet habits:
how to develop training for soldiers. One of the
• Set rules for internet use. A good set of
core premises I learned was the need to train in
20-minute blocks of time, because that was the rules should include things like the amount of
time kids are allowed to be online, what types
average attention span of an adult. According
of content are appropriate and whom it’s okay
to “An Empirical Study of Web Use,” by
to chat with, as well as proper online conduct
Weinreich, Obendorf, Herde, and Mayer,
published in 2015, the average attention span is and good internet citizenship.
• Balance time online. Model a healthy
now 8.25 seconds. This makes me wonder how
balance between your online and ofline
a person who struggles to focus for more than
activities.
a few seconds at a time can effectively reason
• Distinguish between fact and opinion.
through complex problems or situations.
Similarly, a recent Pew online survey, which Teach your family how the internet works,
and encourage critical thinking. Train them to
polled 2,462 middle and high school teachers,
use a variety of online resources and to always
indicates that 87 percent believe that digital
check, question and verify what they see
technologies are creating “an easily distracted
online.
generation with short attention spans.” Sixty-
• Keep personal facts private. Ensure that
four percent of those surveyed believe digital
technologies “do more to distract students than you understand the risks involved in making
private or personal information public online.
to help them academically.” What happened?
Discuss and evaluate online relationships as
What has caused this erosion of our ability to
you would any other relationship in your life.
focus?
Ms. Case predicted that we would either
DOMO’s Data Never Sleeps 3.0 report
learn to put healthy limits on our use of the
tells us that every minute of every day, users
internet, or we would not survive as a society.
like 4,166,667 posts on Facebook; users
Since it is my business to connect people to the
like 1,736,111 Instagram photos; Netlix
internet, I am hopeful that we apply a healthy,
subscribers stream 77,160 hours of video;
responsible, and measured approach to its
Apple users download 51,000 apps; and
use and realize the incredible beneits that it
Twitter users send 347,222 tweets. Why is this
a problem? A University of Gothenburg report, promises.
■
“Intensive mobile phone use affects young
Joseph Franell is the CEO of Eastern Oregon
people’s sleep,” tells us that intensive use of
mobile phones, tablets, and computers is linked Telecom, an internet and phone company based
in Hermiston. His column typically appears on
to stress, sleep disorders, and depression.
the Business & Technology page.
Receiving information in “sound bites” and
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