Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 2016)
Page 8A OFF PAGE ONE East Oregonian Thursday, November 3, 2016 CIVICS: Umatilla seniors must pass a civics class to graduate Continued from 1A products any longer,” Walker said. Beth Anderson, who teaches English at Hermiston High School, said although Wednesday’s public debate featured Advanced Place- ment students, all Hermiston students get exposed to the principals of a civil debate during their junior year. “I understand that in our current political environ- ment we’re not seeing good examples of this, but I tell them there used to be a time that adults could vehemently disagree and still part ways as friends,” she said. Anderson said debate teaches students to research multiple points of view, cite credible sources to back up their opinions and disagree with others in a mature way. Those are skills that they can use in future jobs, but they are also important to being an informed, engaged citizen. Anderson said she had the students participating in AP Language write two persua- sive research essays, one on each side of the question, to teach them that “the best arguments are from people who have considered the other side.” In addition to learning the principals of civics during English and Social Studies classes, Hermiston High School students also take Civics or AP Government before graduation. Students at Pendleton High School are offered the same choice. Brian Johnson, who teaches both classes in Pend- leton, said the community can “rest assured that civics Staff photo by E.J. Harris Speaker Mariah Manhione gives a summary statement on her team’s position of increased diplomatic negotiations with China while maintaining current trade levels during the Hermiston High School debate finals Wednesday. “One of the big- gest things we’ve learned is our rights, or know- ing them more clearly, and how to protect them.” — River Engum, Pendleton High School AP Government student Staff photo by E.J. Harris Speaker Marvin Hozi makes his team’s final statement as the con team confer with each other during the Hermiston High School debate finals on Wednesday in Hermiston. education is going on every day.” Students study the United States Constitution and three branches of government, but Johnson said he also makes sure they study the Oregon Constitution, state ballot measures and local political issues. “I tell them, maybe Ballot Measure 97 is going to be more important in your life than the President of the United States,” Johnson said. The seniors recently held a mock election, and 47 percent of students voted for Donald Trump, compared to 32 percent for Hillary Clinton, 11 percent for Gary Johnson and 10 percent for Jill Stein. They also voted on a variety of state candidates and measures (63 percent voted against the $3 billion a year corporate tax in Measure 97) and voted in favor of Ryan Lenhnert for Umatilla County Sheriff at 69 percent. By a vote of 239 to 235, they voted against repealing Pendleton’s ban on marijuana dispensaries. In Johnson’s AP Govern- ment class, only four students are old enough to vote in the real election next week, but students said their daily discussions on civics were encouraging them to pay closer attention to the upcoming election, and the news in general, than they would have otherwise. “It’s just really sparked my curiosity,” Samantha Schmitz said. She said now instead of just focusing on her own political views, she is inter- ested in learning the facts and motivations behind opposing views. Isabelle Chapman said it is more interesting reading and watching news about government issues now that she understands more of what the reporters are talking about. She and other students said they knew basic information about how the United States government is structured before, but now their understanding goes deeper. “We learned about it in middle school, but we didn’t fully understand the concept then,” she said. River Engum said the class wasn’t just about learning about the different positions in government. “One of the biggest things we’ve learned is our rights, or knowing them more clearly, and how to protect them,” he said. In smaller schools that don’t have enough students for an Advanced Placement program, students still learn about principles such as the Electoral College and the Bill of Rights. Heidi Sipe, superintendent of Umatilla School District, said students there must pass a civics class their senior year in order to graduate, and they get exposed to the concepts in the younger grades through Social Studies classes. Dirk Dirksen, superin- tendent of Morrow County School District, said all students in the district must pass a citizenship test as one of their graduation require- ments. The tradition dates back more than 20 years, he said, after teachers realized that the questions admin- istered by the government to would-be U.S. citizens aligns with state standards for Social Studies learning. In Morrow County, students take a semester of civics education as a sopho- more to introduce them to the basic concepts of democracy, then take a second class as seniors when they are preparing to become legal voters at age 18. “I think it’s one of the more interesting classes, especially during an election year,” Dirksen said. “It makes it come alive for the students.” ——— Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@eastorego- nian.com or 541-564-4536. Pipeline company could face fines; protesters pepper-sprayed CANNON BALL, N.D. (AP) — Officers in riot gear clashed again Wednesday with protesters near the Dakota Access pipeline, hitting dozens with pepper spray as they waded through waist-deep water in an attempt to reach property owned by the pipeline’s developer. The confrontation came hours after North Dakota regu- lators criticized the pipeline company for not immediately reporting the discovery of American Indian artifacts and a day after President Barack Obama raised the possibility of future reroutes to alleviate tribal concerns. Public Service Commis- sion Chairwoman Julie Fedorchak said she was “extremely disappointed” that Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners waited 10 days before reporting last month’s discovery of stone cairns and other artifacts. The panel could decide to levy fines of up to $200,000, Fedorchak said, though she said such a high amount would be unlikely. After an inspection, company consultants decided to divert the construction by about 50 feet, even though they determined there was a “low likelihood” any addi- tional artifacts were buried nearby. The State Historic Preser- vation Office did concur with the company’s plan on how to proceed after the artifacts were found. Although that change was relatively minor, Obama said it was possible the Army Corps of Engineers could eventually examine much larger ones that would reroute the pipeline in southern North Dakota to alleviate tribal concerns. He made the remarks during an interview Tuesday with the online news outlet NowThis. On Wednesday afternoon, protesters tried to build a wooden pedestrian bridge across a creek to enter the property, then attempted to swim or boat across when officers dismantled the bridge, Morton County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Donnell Hushka said. Two arrests were reported. Volunteer medics treated some of the protesters for hypothermia during the confrontation near the mouth of the Cannonball River. About 140 people were arrested on the property last week in a law enforcement operation that cleared the encampment. The potential for damage to American Indian sites and artifacts has been a flashpoint in a monthslong protest over the pipeline, which is intended to carry crude from western North Dakota almost 1,200 miles to a shipping point in Mike Mccleary/The Bismarck Tribune via AP Dakota Access Pipeline protesters stand waist deep in the Cantapeta Creek, north- east of the Oceti Sakowin Camp, near Cannon Ball, N.D., Wednesday. Officers in riot gear clashed again Wednesday with protesters near the Dakota Access pipeline, hitting dozens with pepper spray as they waded through waist-deep water in an attempt to reach property owned by the pipeline’s developer. Patoka, Illinois. The Standing Rock Sioux, whose reser- vation lies near the pipeline route, have led a protest over that issue and the pipeline’s potential hazard to drinking water. Tribal officials said in September they had identified cultural artifacts on private land along the route. After that finding, North Dakota’s chief archaeologist, Paul Picha, inspected the area and said no sign of artifacts or human remains had been found. Picha said he was notified in a timely manner of the most recent discovery in a new area but didn’t report it to the commission because he thought the pipeline company would. Both Picha and Fedorchak said the site itself was properly handled, with Energy Transfer Partners moving the pipeline route to avoid the artifacts. In West, Clinton paints grim picture of life under Trump LAS VEGAS (AP) — Hillary Clinton painted a grim picture for minorities of life under a Donald Trump presidency Wednesday, as she sought to energize Democrats and sway unde- cided voters in the election’s final days. Clinton was campaigning in the West, both in battle- ground Nevada and in Arizona. The latter is a reli- ably Republican state where Democrats see an opening against Trump given his unpopularity with Hispanics. Speaking to a union-heavy crowd in Las Vegas, Clinton urged voters to imagine what life would be like if Trump is inaugurated on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in January. For Hispanics, she said, that would mean having a president “who doesn’t see you as Americans.” And for blacks, she said it would mean having a president who believes their lives are consumed by “crime and poverty and despair.” For Clinton, the final AP Photo/John Locher Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton takes the stage at a rally Wednesday in Las Vegas. full week of the presidential campaign has turned into a greatest hits list of her most searing attacks on Trump and the Republican’s most glaring missteps. On Tuesday, she campaigned in Florida with Alicia Machado, a former Miss Universe winner who Trump criticized for gaining weight, and slammed Trump repeatedly for his demeaning comments about women. In Las Vegas Wednesday, Clinton took aim at Trump’s feud with an American-born judge of Mexican heritage who ruled against the busi- nessman in an ongoing legal matter. Trump said earlier this year that Judge Gonzalo Curiel’s Mexican roots meant he had a conflict of interest in the case given his proposal to build a wall along the U.S. Southern border. Clinton said Curiel “is as American as Donald Trump.” Clinton’s efforts to sharpen the contrast with Trump has left her campaign shrouded in a dark, nega- tive tone as she closes out her White House bid. It’s a conscious choice her campaign says it necessary as polls tighten ahead of next Tuesday’s election. “The fact is the choice that Donald Trump represents is pretty dark,” Clinton commu- nications director Jennifer Palmieri told reporters trav- eling with Clinton to Nevada Wednesday. “You need to make it real for voters who are undecided.” Clinton’s camp says it saw polls tightening even before the FBI announced Friday that it was reviewing new material that could be related to a dormant investigation into the former secretary of state’s handling of classified information. While Clinton says the FBI has “no case,” the review has set Democrats on edge, worried that it could turn off late-deciding voters. “We reviewed the infor- mation, wrote a letter of correspondence ... saying we agreed with the avoidance plan,” Picha said. He also noted that the rerouting isn’t unusual. During development of the project, “there were multiple reroutes of the pipeline corridor for various reasons — cultural, environmental, landowner concerns — 140, 150 reroutes,” he said. Company spokeswoman Vicki Granado didn’t imme- diately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press about the potential for fines over the lag in reporting about the artifacts. The company would have an opportunity for a hearing to dispute any allegations. A company attorney said in an Oct. 27 letter to the PSC that the company didn’t inten- tionally delay notifying the agency. Although there’s no set time frame for reporting such a discovery, PSC Commis- sioner Brian Kalk said that typically “the intent is imme- diately.” Fedorchak said the company could potentially be fined either for the reporting delay or for moving on with construction without getting PSC clearance. Both will be investigated, she said. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has not weighed in on the find. The 1,172-mile pipeline is largely complete outside of North Dakota. The federal government in September ordered a temporary halt to construction on Corps land around and underneath Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reser- voir in the Dakotas. The Corps is reviewing its permitting of the project but has given no timetable for a decision. McConnell gives strongest statement yet in favor of Trump GEORGETOWN, Ky. (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has made his strongest statement yet on his party’s presidential nominee, telling a rally in his home state Wednesday that “we need a new president, Donald Trump, to be the most powerful Republican in America.” McConnell has warned repeatedly that Republicans could lose control of the Senate this year as they are forced to defend a handful of seats in swing states across the country. Since endorsing Trump shortly after he secured the nomination, McConnell has been mostly silent about the nominee so that vulnerable incumbents — like New Hampshire’s Kelly Ayotte — could distance themselves from Trump and his increasingly erratic comments. McCo- nnell even told a group of business leaders at a recent speech that if they wanted to hear him discuss Trump, they “might has well go ahead and leave.” But speaking in a cavernous tractor dealer- ship in central Kentucky on Wednesday night — where McConnell was introduced as the “most powerful Republican in the world” — the senator went all in for Trump before a small but enthusiastic crowd. “If America votes like Kentucky, we’ll be fine,” McConnell said. While McConnell has not been eager to discuss Trump, he has had plenty to say about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. His decision to block Obama’s Supreme Court nominee has emboldened members of his party. Some, including John McCain of Arizona and Ted Cruz of Texas, have vowed they would not confirm any Democratic nominees, leaving the court with eight members.
