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OPINION
East Oregonian
Saturday, November 5, 2016
Founded October 16, 1875
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Publisher
DANIEL WATTENBURGER
Managing Editor
TIM TRAINOR
Opinion Page Editor
MARISSA WILLIAMS
Regional Advertising Director
MARCY ROSENBERG
Circulation Manager
JANNA HEIMGARTNER
Business Office Manager
MIKE JENSEN
Production Manager
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OUR VIEW
A roundup of
endorsements
Finally, finally. Election Day
draws near.
It has been a long campaign
season, and it’s possible you may
be feeling so down about the whole
thing that you’ve buried your ballot in
the back of your mind, or under your
stack of unopened mail.
But voting is your responsibility,
and one you should not make any
excuses about. So take a deep breath,
dig out that ballot and start filling that
thing out.
The East Oregonian editorial
board has been able to sit down
with a number of candidates
this campaign season, as well
as proponents and opponents of
measures. Perhaps you would
be interested in what we learned
through that process, and how we
made up our minds on who to vote
for. Over the last month, we have
published detailed endorsements of
some of the candidates and policies
we can get behind.
Now that procrastination must
come to an end and voting is at hand,
we thought it would be helpful to
briefly run down our list of contested
candidates and issues:
President: Hillary Clinton
(Democrat) It’s no contest from
our point of view. Donald Trump
is ill-informed and impulsive — a
dangerous combination.
U.S. Senate: Ron Wyden
(Democrat) One of America’s most
useful senators last session, especially
from the minority Democratic party.
U.S. House: Greg Walden
(Republican) The kind of
Republican we want to help restore a
divided party.
Oregon Governor: Bud Pierce
(Republican) A smart mind and
moderate policies would be a
welcome addition to Oregon politics
after decades of few checks and little
balance.
Secretary of State: Dennis
Richardson (Republican) An
important job for a Republican if
the state remains under Democratic
control.
Attorney General: Ellen
Rosenblum (Democrat) Facing only
token opposition with important work
to be done.
Treasurer: Tobias Read
(Democrat) Only candidate for the
position who has reached out to
Eastern Oregon.
State Senate District 29:
Bill Hansell (Republican) The
hard-working, well-connected
representative is who we want
speaking on behalf of northeastern
Oregon.
Umatilla County Sheriff: Terry
Rowan (nonpartisan) Has managed
the department successfully in his
first term, deserves another four years
to address further problems.
Local decisions
Marijuana bans: In Hermiston,
Pendleton and Milton-Freewater, we
recommend voters repeal the ban on
marijuana business and enact a local
tax. Prohibition is a losing battle that
could be turned instead into revenue
for these cities.
Hermiston City Council:
Personal choice on five councilors
running for four spots. Rod Hardin
is the steady hand, Doug Primmer is
the hard-working everyman, Manuel
Gutierrez is the voice of the little guy,
John Kirwan is the hands-on fixer
and Mark Gomolski is the outspoken
contrarian.
Umatilla schools bond:
Resounding yes. It’s a chance for
the school district to upgrade aging
facilities.
The Measures
Ballot Measure 94: Yes.
Constitutional amendment to
eliminate the mandatory retirement
age of 75 for state judges.
Ballot Measure 95: Clear yes.
Constitutional amendment to allow
public universities to invest in stocks,
giving additional revenue potential.
Ballot Measure 96: No.
Constitutional amendment to dedicate
1.5 percent of lottery proceeds on
veterans’ services shouldn’t be
mandated.
Ballot Measure 97: No. Would
increase taxes on companies with
more than $25 million in annual sales
in Oregon without clear direction
to keep the money from being
squandered.
Ballot Measure 98: Yes.
Require state funding for high
school programs, including dropout
prevention, college readiness and
career training, all important pieces
in fixing some of Oregon’s biggest
education problems.
Ballot Measure 99: Yes. Dedicate
lottery proceeds to outdoor school
programs. Something all of Oregon
should agree on.
Ballot Measure 100: Clear
yes. Prohibit sale of endangered
species and products, with important
provisions added to protect legacy
items.
Thanks for reading and
considering and keeping your
subscription this election season.
It was one of the most divisive and
angry that we can recall.
We’re through the worst of it and
hope everyone votes Tuesday, then
after the dust is settled, we look for
ways to find common ground.
OTHER VIEWS
The banality of change
A
few weeks ago I met a guy
If you wanted to design a
in Idaho who was absolutely
personality type better suited to getting
certain that Donald Trump
things done, you might come up with
would win this election. He was wearing
James Baker, Robert Gates or Ted
tattered, soiled overalls, missing a bunch
Kennedy, but you might also come up
of teeth and was unnaturally skinny. He
with Hillary Clinton.
was probably about 50, but his haggard
None of us should be under any
face looked 70. He was getting by
illusions. Wherever Clinton walks, the
aimlessly as a handyman.
whiff of scandal is always by her side.
David
I pointed to the polls and tried to
Brooks The Clintons seem to have decided
persuade him that Hillary Clinton
that they are righteous and good,
Comment
might win, but it was like telling
and therefore anything that enriches,
him a sea gull could play billiards.
empowers or makes them feel good
Everybody he knows is voting Trump so his
must always be righteous and good. They
entire lived experience points to a Trump
surround themselves with some amazing
landslide. He was a funny, kind guy, but you
people but also some human hand grenades
got the impression his opportunities had been
who inevitably blow up in their faces.
narrowed by forces outside
But Clinton does possess
his control.
the steady, pedantic skills
One of the mandates for
that are necessary for
the next president is to help
governmental change: the
improve the life stories of
ability to work doggedly
people like that.
hard, to master details and
Trump speaks to this man’s
to rally the powerful. If the
situation and makes him feel
Clinton campaign emails
heard. But when you think practically about
have taught us anything, it is that she and her
which candidate could improve his life, it’s
team, while not hugely creative, are prudent,
clear that Clinton is the bigger change agent.
calculating and able to create a web of
Let’s start with what “change” actually
interlocking networks that they can mobilize
means. In our system, change means
for a cause.
legislation. It starts with the ability to gather a
Clinton was at her best in the Senate. She
team of policy experts who can craft complex
worked very well with Republicans (and not
bills. These days, bills often run to thousands
just the amenable ones like John McCain and
of pages, and every bad rookie decision can
Lindsey Graham). She was an operations
lead things astray.
person, not a publicity person. Whereas
Then it requires political deftness. Deft
Barack Obama sometimes seemed to see his
politicians are not always lovely, as Lyndon
fellow politicians as objects to be studied,
Johnson demonstrated, but they are subtle,
Clinton got on with them as an equal. Her
cunning and experienced. They have the
accomplishments — post-9/11 funding for
ability to work noncontentiously with people
New York, saving Army bases in upstate New
they don’t like, to read other people’s minds,
York — were concrete.
to lure opponents over with friendship,
Passing legislation next year is going to be
cajolery and a respectful nudge.
hard, but if Clinton can be dull and pragmatic,
Craftsmanship in government is not like
and operate at a level below the cable TV
craftsmanship in business. You can’t win
ideology wars, it’s possible to imagine
people with money and you can’t order people her gathering majorities behind laws that
around. Governance requires enormous
would help people like that guy in Idaho: an
patience, a capacity to tolerate boredom and
infrastructure push, criminal justice reform, a
the skill of quiet herding. Frustrations abound. college tuition program, an apprenticeship and
When it is done well, as a friend of mine in
skills program, an expanded earned-income
government puts it, each individual day sucks
tax credit and a bill to secure the border and
but the overall experience is tremendously
shift from low-skill to high-skill immigration.
rewarding.
Many of us disagree strongly with many
Change in government is a team sport.
Clinton policies. But any sensible person can
Public opinion is mobilized through
distinguish between an effective operating
institutions — through interest groups, activist officer and a whirling disaster who is only
organizations, think tanks and political
about himself.
parties. As historian Sean Wilentz once put it,
The thing about reality TV is that it isn’t
“political parties have been the only reliable
actually real. In the real world, the process of
electoral vehicles for advancing the ideas
driving change is usually boring, remorseless
and interests of ordinary voters.” To create
and detail oriented, but the effect on people
political change, you have to work within
out there, like the guy in Idaho, can be
groups and organize groups of groups.
profound and beautiful.
Now, if you wanted to design a personality
■
type perfectly ill suited to be a change agent in
David Brooks became a New York Times
government, you would come up with Donald Op-Ed columnist in September 2003. He has
Trump: solipsistic, impatient, combative,
been a senior editor at The Weekly Standard
unsubtle and ignorant.
and is currently a commentator on PBS.
Change in
government is
a team sport.
Phil Knight’s big investment
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.
The Oregonian, Oct. 28
here are few superlatives that adequately
describe the staggering $500 million
gift from Phil and Penny Knight to the
University of Oregon. But once Oregonians
get past the dizzying number of zeroes in
that $500,000,000 bequest, they should pay
attention to the other bombshell in last week’s
announcement: The ambitious future that
the gift seeks to create for the University of
Oregon — and the state as a whole.
Over the next decade, the university aims
to establish a research and entrepreneurial hub
that will rival any for national prominence.
The Phil and Penny Knight Campus for
Accelerating Scientific Impact will focus on
taking researchers’ discoveries and speeding
up their development into cures, treatments
and products that benefit the greater public
and the Oregon economy. Hundreds of
students will work with top-flight scientists
and business innovators at the three-building
campus, outfitted with state-of-the-art labora-
tories and equipment.
As envisioned, the science campus could
be a game-changer for a state that lands a rela-
tive pittance in research dollars and attention.
As The Oregonian/OregonLive’s Andrew
Theen reported, UO, Oregon State University,
Oregon Health and Science University and
Portland State University collectively brought
in fewer research dollars than University of
Washington in Seattle alone. But the main
T
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. Send letters to 211 S.E.
Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.
driver of the idea, developed by UO faculty,
is to move more of their research out of the
ivory tower and into actual solutions, said
Jim Hutchison, associate vice president for
research and the Lokey-Harrington Chair in
chemistry.
One example of what the campus could
help accelerate: In the early 2000s, the
university’s researchers were exploring how to
attach nanoparticles to surfaces like clothing,
said Hutchison. That eventually led to the
creation of a spinoff company, Dune Sciences,
whose antibacterial coating technology is now
used in anti-odor clothing treatments sold
under the deFUNKit brand name. Dune is also
researching possible medical applications. Not
a bad outcome from a research paper titled
“Patterned Gold-Nanoparticle Monolayers
Assembled on the Oxide of Silicon.”
In a phone interview with The Oregonian/
OregonLive Editorial Board, Nike co-founder
Phil Knight said that he and his wife appreciate
university President Michael Schill’s leadership
and were impressed by the UO faculty members
who pitched them the idea. But the sheer ambi-
tion of the project also appealed to them.
“I want to remind people that Oregon
doesn’t have to be that soccer field between
Washington and California,” he said.
That’s likely part of the message that the
university will pitch to the rest of the state when
it asks the Legislature to approve $100 million
in general-fund-backed bonds to construct one
of the buildings.