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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 2016)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Wednesday, December 14, 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 OUR VIEW OTHER VIEWS The dangers of echo chambers on campus A Winter a time for good Samaritans Some days weather makes for nice small talk. Whether it’s hot, cold, rainy, windy or just perfect, you can always strike up a conversation with an acquaintance or even a total stranger. It’s a shared experience. Other days, especially days with snow, ice and sub-freezing temperatures, weather must be a shared experience. We must look out for one another, and especially the most vulnerable among us. It starts on the roads, one of the most dangerous places to be when winter hits hardest. We always worry about the “other guy” on the roads, but remember you are the other guy to other motorists — take it slow, signal early and, as always, get rid of all distractions while you’re behind the wheel. And when that “other guy” loses control, or gets lost, or simply gets stuck, it’s time to put on your good Samaritan boots and help out. We’ve seen many examples of this in the past week, and know the kindness of strangers is alive and well in Eastern Oregon. That’s the obvious, but we implore our readers to consider the less obvious as well. Check in on your elderly or otherwise susceptible neighbors, maybe with a plate of cookies or thermos of hot chocolate. It can be hard to ask for help, but if a friendly face shows up to ask how you’re doing you might be willing to express a personal need, if only for groceries, a shoveled sidewalk or an extra blanket. The power failure in Pendleton on Sunday night was a reminder of how reliant we are on electricity, as many people were without heat. It’s a good thing warming shelters in Hermiston and Pendleton have settled into new locations and are able to accept homeless people with nowhere else to go. They quite literally are the difference between life and death in weeks like this, and rely on community support to stay open. Buckle in, because this week is going to get nasty, and remember those around you. 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 Poaching and justice La Grande Observer, Dec. 5 T hose of us who live in our great corner of Oregon owe a big thanks to the Oregon State Police in the wake of the arrest of three individuals charged with poaching in mid-November. Most readers are probably aware that in November two bull elk were shot and killed under cover of the night. The carcasses — left to rot — were discovered off a county road near Elgin. Three people are charged in the poaching case — including one who is apparently not in the state — and police credited public assistance as a key reason the investigation was successful. The help from the public was so key because many poaching cases go unpunished. Finding the culprits of such crimes — and that is what poaching is, a crime — is an often long and difficult process. The public helped make the first step toward justice in the case much easier than it could have been. And while we can collectively pat ourselves on the back for helping, OSP should get a great deal of credit as well. Sure, finding these types of criminals is the job of the state’s biggest agency, but that doesn’t take anything away from the fact their tireless effort to find the culprits in this crime deserves praise. What is troubling is that such wasteful, reckless and senseless acts continue. Poaching bull elk is a crime and, really, an attack, if you will, on one of Eastern Oregon’s great institutions. Hunting is part of our culture. This means abiding by the rules should be a hallmark of how we, as a collective group, conduct ourselves. Fact is, the elk, deer and other game that inhabit our area are a resource that must be safeguarded. When someone senselessly poaches an animal, it is really a crime against every law-abiding citizen who hunts in Eastern Oregon. It sends the message that all the time and effort — not to mention money put down for items such as tags — really doesn’t mean much. Those of us who are law abiding and follow game rules and regulations understand that our ability to do what we enjoy depends on ensuring that resource remains viable. That is why there are rules and laws. Perhaps in the grand scheme of things two dead bull elk may not seem like a big deal. But for a rural area and for thousands of hunters who follow the rules to enjoy one of the great benefits of our area, two elk killed by poachers is a big deal. Hats off to the OSP for running this case down on the road to justice. 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. fter Donald Trump’s election, Sunstein, a liberal and a some universities echoed Democrat who worked in the Obama with primal howls. Faculty administration, concluded that the members canceled classes for best judicial decisions arose from divided panels, where judges had to weeping, terrified students who confront counterarguments. asked: How could this possibly be Yet universities are often happening? the equivalent of three-judge I share apprehensions about President-elect Trump, but I also Nicholas liberal panels, and the traditional fear the reaction was evidence Kristof Democratic dominance has greatly increased since the mid-1990s — of how insular universities have Comment become. When students inhabit apparently because of a combination liberal bubbles, they’re not learning of discrimination and self-selection. much about their own country. To be fully Half of academics in some fields said in educated, students should encounter not a survey that they would discriminate in only Plato, but also Republicans. hiring decisions against an evangelical. We liberals are adept at pointing out the The weakest argument against hypocrisies of Trump, but we should also intellectual diversity is that conservatives address our own hypocrisy in terrain we or evangelicals have nothing to add to the govern, such as most universities: Too often, conversation. “The idea that conservative we embrace diversity of all kinds except ideas are dumb is so preposterous that you for ideological. Repeated studies have have to live in an echo chamber to think of found that about 10 percent it,” Sunstein told me. of professors in the social Of course, we shouldn’t sciences or the humanities are When students empower racists and Republicans. misogynists on campuses. But inhabit liberal whatever some liberals think, We champion tolerance, except for conservatives and and “bigot” bubbles, they’re “conservative” evangelical Christians. We are not synonyms. want to be inclusive of people One of America’s most not learning who don’t look like us — so eminent scientists is Francis much about their Collins, an evangelical long as they think like us. I fear that liberal outrage Christian who is director of own country. at Trump’s presidency will the National Institutes of exacerbate the problem of Health. Few scholars had as liberal echo chambers, by creating a more much impact on modern thought as Gary hostile environment for conservatives Becker, the conservative University of and evangelicals. Already, the lack of Chicago economist. Condoleezza Rice, ideological diversity on campuses is a a secretary of state for George W. Bush, disservice to the students and to liberalism would add value to any campus. itself, with liberalism collapsing on some I’m not arguing for affirmative action campuses into self-parody. for conservatives — partly because At Oberlin College soon after the conservative academics say they don’t election, students erupted in protests after a want preferences. But I do think we local bakery was accused of racial profiling can try harder to recruit job applicants of a black student in a shoplifting case. who represent diverse views, to bring The student senate endorsed a boycott of conservative speakers to campuses and the bakery, and demonstrators carried signs to avoid a hostile work environment for calling the owner a racist. conservatives and evangelicals. But allegations of a pattern of racist We’re seeing an uptick in hate crimes behavior were undermined by police records in society tied to Trump’s rise, and the last showing the overwhelming share of people thing we need on campuses is reciprocal detained for shoplifting at the bakery were illiberalism, this time led by liberals. white. This may actually have been a case As individuals, we can also follow smart of liberal hysteria. people on social media whom we disagree Some of you are saying that it’s OK to with. In my latest email newsletter, I suggest be intolerant of intolerance, to discriminate some conservatives to follow. against bigots who acquiesce in Trump’s I fear the damage a Trump administration record of racism and misogyny. By all will do, from health care to foreign policy. means, stand up to the bigots. But do we But this election also underscores that we really want to caricature half of Americans, were out of touch with much of America, some of whom voted for President Barack and we will fight back more effectively if Obama twice, as racist bigots? Maybe if we are less isolated. we knew more Trump voters we’d be less When universities are echo chambers, inclined to stereotype them. they become conservative punch lines, and Whatever our politics, inhabiting a liberal hand-wringing may be one reason bubble makes us more shrill. Cass Sunstein, Trump’s popularity has jumped since his a Harvard professor, conducted a fascinating election. study of how groupthink shapes federal It’s ineffably sad that today “that’s judges when they are randomly assigned to academic” often means “that’s irrelevant.” three-judge panels. One step to correcting that is for us liberals When liberal judges happened to be to embrace the diversity we supposedly temporarily put on a panel with other champion. liberals, they usually swung leftward. ■ Conversely, conservative judges usually Nicholas Kristof has been a columnist for moved rightward when randomly grouped The New York Times since 2001. He grew with other conservatives. up on a farm in Yamhill, Oregon, graduated It’s the judicial equivalent of a mob from Harvard, studied law at Oxford mentality. And if this happens to judges, University as a Rhodes Scholar, and then imagine what happens to you and me. studied Arabic in Cairo.