VIEWPOINTS
Saturday, March 11, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 5A
The importance of sharing stories
T
he salesman must have left our house
a happy man: Mom had purchased not
only his encyclopedias but also the
Book of Knowledge, a set of eight science
books and a shelf of Children’s Classics:
“Heidi.” “Treasure Island.” “Robinson
Crusoe.” “Kidnapped.” “The Adventures
of Tom Sawyer.” “Tales
from Shakespeare,.” “The
Arabian Knights.” “Robin
Hood.”
Our father was
devastated. How would
they make the payments?
Mom was unrepentant.
She spent her days
growing and canning our
food, baking our bread
and making our clothes,
but she knew her children
needed more than food
and shelter.
It took her nightly reading from the
Children’s Classics to bring Dad around. We
watched the back of his head — yes, he was
listening. Finally he turned his chair toward
us. Who could resist Robin Hood?
It’s a need as old as human community,
this gathering to share stories. That’s why on
the third Thursday of every month Pendleton
Center for the Arts hosts the First Draft
Writers’ Series, where writers from all over
the Northwest come read to us.
Some, like Molly Gloss and Craig Lesley,
are familiar names to readers in Eastern
Oregon. Some, like Ursula K. Le Guin, are
internationally known. Some we know as
neighbors: Judith Quaempts, Shaindel Beers,
Peg Willis, Ki Russell, Pamela Reese, Karen
Zacharias, Bobbie Conner, Jennifer Karson
Engum, Thomas Morning Owl.
Writers drive from the Willamette
Valley, from Missoula, Moscow, Spokane,
Seattle. Flora and Monument. Ashland.
Warm Springs. Fossil.
Port Angeles. Every
month brings a different
perspective.
We love it. So do the
writers. One evening poet
Alice Derry leaned over
the podium to tell us, “I
can feel you listening!”
And Craig Lesley wrote
afterward, “Truly, it was
one of the best adventures
of my writing career, right
up there with winning the
PNBA awards and being
interviewed by Studs Terkel.”
The magic comes from hearing writers
reading their own words in their own voices.
Last month, as poet Scot Siegel read about
his childhood fear when his Jewish father’s
print shop was torched — and then his poem
in the imagined voice of real life 1920s
teacher Grace Brandt telling her shivering
Lakeview students to “Write a poem, of
summer. Something /with lavender, or
watermelons” — we were there, inside those
stories.
Afterward, those who have signed
up for the open mic read from their own
writing. We get to hear voices from our
The magic
comes from
hearing writers
reading their
own words in
their own voices.
Quick takes
Weed odor case goes to trial
Who has enough time to call the police
because they can smell weed?
— Sydney Bleau Oldenburg
You all do realize that workplaces now
ask people not to wear fragrances because
of people’s allergies. An offensive odor is
offensive. I know I’m allergic to marijuana
and hemp but I’m more allergic to molds.
— Virginia Gehringer-Justice
A waste of the Justice Department’s
time. It sounds like more of a personal issue
to me.
— Diana Thompson
Oregon Republicans carry
high hopes for state races
That’s funny right there. We conserva-
tives are lucky we haven’t been lynched for
being here, much less gain power.
— Joe Ream
Man sentenced in mistaken
killing of Boardman man
own community, people we now know
better. What was it like to be waiting for
the bus that would carry you to Mississippi
for Freedom Summer just after those three
civil rights workers had been murdered? To
rediscover the moss-edged dock where you
learned to swim? To visit your brother for
the last time?
Just after the big December storm,
the one that dumped so much snow on
Pendleton that the city all but shut down,
two writers from Wallowa County were
scheduled to read. Should we cancel?
But they were on their way. Cabbage Hill
is closed, but hey, Tollgate’s open, Rich
Wandschneider said. One woman drove up
from John Day, and eight local residents
came out. We sat in a circle to hear
Cameron Scott’s river poems and Rich’s
essays about Standing Rock, and to share
our own stories.
Then came January and all that ice. This
time the Gorge was closed. We sent out
emails letting everyone know Joe Wilkins
couldn’t be here, but 34 folks wanted to
come anyway. Pamela Reese brought
a busload of students from Echo. Lynn
Robertson, who had taken a workshop from
Wilkins last summer, read from his poems
about growing up on the Big Dry in eastern
Montana. Nine people shared their work at
the open mic.
My mother died at 93, a year before First
Draft came into being. But that night I could
feel her in the room.
On March 16, Pamela Royes will read
from “Temperance Creek,” a memoir about
B ette H usted
FROM HERE TO ANYWHERE
her mid-1970s transition from hippie middle-
America college student to Hell’s Canyon
sheepherder. “Why don’t you come with
me?” the Vietnam veteran she had known for
less than a day had asked her. Sounds like a
story to me.
■
Bette Husted is a writer and a student of
T’ai Chi and the natural world. She lives in
Pendleton.
Winter in Eastern Oregon has been a disaster
By TED FERRIOLI AND BILL HANSELL
Oregon State Senators
O
ut of sight, out of mind.
For us that phrase describes our
failure to focus on the devastation
our farming and ranching families in
Eastern Oregon are currently experiencing.
Excessive snow, ice, and extreme winter
temperatures have culminated in a literal
disaster. And we urge our state’s major
newspapers and broadcast media to give this
catastrophe the coverage it deserves.
Damages and costs are still being
assessed, but full recovery could take up
to three years, and cost over $100 million.
Regardless of which side of the Cascades
you call home, it’s critical we are all
aware of and actively support our fellow
Oregonians through the near insurmountable
difficulties they’re facing from the terrible
effects of this past winter. Because we are
one Oregon.
The onion industry, which contributes
about $143 million annually to the state
economy, was hardest hit. Current estimates
place total commodity loss at 150 million
pounds, or the equivalent of four 10-pound
bags for every man, woman, and child in
Oregon. To date, at least 50 onion storage
and packing facilities have collapsed
from snow and ice accumulation, leaving
insufficient infrastructure for the 2017
harvest.
Insurance coverage is projected to only
cover 0-70 percent of replacement costs.
Many Oregon growers are considering
relocating and rebuilding in Idaho, taking a
good share of those $143 million revenues
with them.
Livestock suffered from the severe
weather. At least 1,000 mother cows are lost
and assumed dead. Calf births are down 30
percent so far this year. Livestock weight
gains are down 40-50 percent versus typical
years.
There is also significant expense to
infrastructure. Damage to roads and
buildings are considerable. County and
city budget reserves were depleted to fund
snow removal. Flooding remains a very real
concern.
Those affected are hard-working farming
and ranching families whose businesses
are vital to Oregon agriculture and the state
economy. The recent area visit by Governor
Brown, Senator Ferrioli and Representative
Bentz, and initial efforts to bring emergency
aid to these communities, should be
applauded, but more is needed to restore and
maintain a vibrant agricultural community
that contributes so much to Oregon’s
economic health.
Oregonians are urged to support House
Bill 2012, the Eastern Oregon Border
Economic Development Act, designating
Ontario, Vale, Nyssa, and the immediate
surrounding area as the Eastern Oregon
Border Economic Development Region. HB
2012 would use $10 million in borrowed
economic development funds from the
Oregon lottery; the money would be repaid
over time. HB 2012 would create a new
seven-member board run by locals to
promote workforce and economic growth in
the area, with the ability to award economy-
boosting grants and loans.
Please stand with us to support Eastern
Oregon families and businesses that have
suffered so much in recent months. Let’s
give this disaster the attention it deserves
to ensure a vibrant future for farming and
ranching families and businesses that
comprise the heart of this historic and
unique part of Oregon. Because we are one
Oregon.
■
Ted Ferrioli, of John Day, represents
Senate District 30. Bill Hansell, of Athena,
represents Senate District 20.
Why not deport him now and let Mexico
pay for the fool?
— Sandy Howland
As someone who had a family member
killed by someone that served their time in
jail and was then was deported, I looked into
it. Had they been deported they would have
done no time and would have just found a
way back to the States and not paid a day
for his crime.
— Heather Ann Howard Pearce
Another rural self-serve gas
bill debated in legislature
It would be great for nighttime hours.
Occasionally I must be on the road at those
times and not being able to fuel up when
needed is problematic.
— Montie Banks
I think this is a good thing as long as they
keep it limited to only after operating hours.
I prefer to pump my own fuel, but these are
good jobs for high school kids, people who
have had trouble in life, etc. It’s a good thing
that Oregon keeps these jobs open.
— Tanner Remillard
This is just one of many stupid laws
Oregon has on the books. Hope it’s a start
to overturning many more.
— Jeff Casey
Tweet your quick takes to @Tim_Trainor or
email editor@eastoregonian.com, and keep
them short.
A radical new way to prevent illness: Take your meds
By JOEL WHITE
and SLOANE SALZBURG
Council for Health Coverage
P
hilip Mandel, a 60-year-old Beaverton
man, is a stereotypical Oregon fitness
guru. He bikes hundreds of miles a
week, hits the gym regularly, and sticks to a
low-fat, largely vegetarian diet.
And like hundreds of thousands of his
fellow Oregonians, he has had trouble
adhering to his doctor’s orders. He recently
stopped taking his cholesterol medication
for two weeks after experiencing some odd
side effects. When his physician found out,
he ordered Philip back on the drug to help
prevent life-threatening conditions like heart
attack and stroke.
Too many Oregonians are still hiking
along Philip’s former path of medication
non-adherence. It leads to increased
hospitalizations and deaths — and staggering
healthcare bills. Fortunately, Oregon health
officials can prevent much of this devastation
with a few simple reforms that help patients
take their medicines as intended.
Oregon, despite its outdoorsy, athletic
image, isn’t the healthiest of states. More
than 61 percent of residents — about 2.5
million people — suffer from at least one
chronic medical condition. For example,
high blood pressure — a major risk factor
for strokes and heart disease — afflicts one
in four Oregonians.
Many of these conditions are easily
controlled with medication. High blood
pressure treatments, for instance, can cut
incidents of stroke by 35 to 40 percent and
halve the odds of heart failure.
Yet Oregonians take their pills about as
reliably as they drink mass-produced beer.
Two-thirds of Beaver State residents fail to
follow their doctors’ prescription plans. More
than one in five prescriptions goes unfilled.
Stunningly, patients with chronic illnesses
— the ones who most need these medicines
— are the most likely to skip doses or forgo
medications altogether.
Patients who fail to take their medications
suffer far higher rates of hospitalizations,
surgeries, and hospital stays. Poor adherence
to prescribed drug regimens accounts for at
least 125,000 untimely deaths in the United
States each year.
Non-adherence is also an economic
disaster. Oregon spends $4 billion every
single year on medication-related problems.
Nationwide, adherence costs $105 billion
annually.
More than 50 major health-care
organizations recently investigated why
patients seemingly ignore their doctors’
orders. Surprisingly, only 5 percent of patients
with chronic conditions weren’t taking
medicines because they couldn’t afford them.
A stunning 92 percent of patients say
that simply receiving clear information
about the drugs would help them take their
medications. Patients also say they’d be
more likely to adhere to treatment plans if
they received reminders or if they had better
discussions with their doctors.
Fortunately, there are several easy steps
the Oregon Health Authority and private
insurance companies can take to provide
residents with better tools to help them take
their medicines.
First, they could leverage technology more
effectively to identify when prescriptions
aren’t filled at the pharmacy.
Second, they could implement a
Comprehensive Medication Management
system.
Lastly, officials could start tracking
patients’ adherence statistics, in order to
better identify at-risk populations and
gauge the effectiveness of future healthcare
interventions.
Far too many deaths, surgeries, and
hospitalizations result from patients’ failure
to take medicines as directed. Giving doctors
and pharmacists a few simple tools to educate
patients would drastically improve outcomes
and save money for Oregon.
■
Joel White is President of the Council
for Affordable Health Coverage, a national
nonpartisan coalition of patients, providers,
payers and employers.