Page 4A
OPINION
East Oregonian
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
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
Agriculture the most
important use of water
When it comes to farming in
represents a limit on agriculture.
the West, all you have to do is add Cropping patterns are constantly
water.
changing. As water becomes
With water, the West has
available, that means farmers can
blossomed. Take a look at the vast grow higher-value crops and get
Columbia Basin in Washington and higher yields.
the Snake River valley in southern
To cut off irrigation at such a
Idaho. And the Central Valley in
paltry amount tells farmers and
California.
ranchers that they aren’t a priority
Or all of Eastern Oregon, for
despite their success as stewards
that matter.
of the land and economic drivers
Anywhere water is available,
for the state. It’s as though the
the predominant
amount of water
color is green,
designated for
with high-value
agriculture was an
Farmers and
and high-yield
afterthought.
ranchers produce Another study,
crops dotting
the countryside.
Oregon State
the food we all by
Without water,
University, adds
the countryside is
to our
eat. Doing that alarm
brown or growing
reaction to the
dryland crops with
requires water. Corps and OWRD
much lower yields.
study. It predicts
For that reason,
that by the turn
if no other, we would expect
of the next century, Willamette
Oregon leaders to make the well-
Valley farmers will be irrigating
being of agriculture a top priority.
more because of the changing
climate. It also found that the
That’s why a couple of recent
studies should be concerning to
lack of infrastructure — pipelines
them and anyone involved in
and canals — to distribute water
Oregon agriculture.
around the valley will limit
A recently announced study by
irrigation. More infrastructure can
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers be built, but more water can’t be
made.
has set off a debate among the
Another concern that came
region’s water users, including
out of the OSU study was that
farmers and ranchers. In it, the
the region’s growing population
Corps, with help from the Oregon
will ultimately max out the water
Water Resources Department, has
decided that only 16 percent of
supplies of several cities. That
the nearly 1.6 million acre-feet
means as more water goes to
stored by 13 federal dams in the
flushing toilets and other household
Willamette Valley would be used
uses, agriculture faces the
for irrigation. By contrast, 60
possibility of being squeezed out.
Agriculture should not be
percent would be set aside for fish
seen as just another use of water.
and wildlife.
The Corps is seeking comments It should be seen as the most
on that. Here’s ours: More water is important use. Farmers and
needed for agriculture. A lot more. ranchers produce the food we all
Any limit on irrigation
eat. Doing that requires water.
OTHER VIEWS
Is it time for Umatilla County
to study Mandarin?
C
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.
hina and Asia are big business
States.
for Oregon. In addition to
The dominance, however, may not
agricultural exports, Nike and
last. Not only semiconductors, but
Intel have a major stake in China. Intel,
the entire supply chain that makes
Oregon’s largest private employer, has
semiconductors possible is steadily
a plant in Chengdu. Umatilla County
moving to Asia with much of it going
and the entire American economy
to China.
need to keep their export and import
In the 1970s and 1980s, America
trade eye on political and economic
faced another major competitive
Kent
developments in China.
Hughes challenge that came to be known as the
China has just finished its every five
East Asian Miracle. In place of relying
Comment
year national Congress. As expected,
on private companies to compete in
Xi Jinping had been elected to a second
global markets, Japan and number of
five year term. Also as expected, the Congress
other East Asian countries set clear industrial
confirmed Xi’s growing centralization of
priorities, provided subsidies for their
power by approving appointments of the Xi
companies, kept their currencies undervalued
team to key position in the government. He
to give their exports an edge in international
has been elevated to the position of Chairman
markets, acquired intellectual property by
and his thinking is now embedded in the
many means and protected their key industries
Chinese constitution as “Xi Jinping Thought
from import competition.
on Socialism with Chinese
China has adopted many
Characteristics for a New
of the elements of the East
Era.” Only Mao Zedong
Asian Miracle while also
had his “thought” enshrined
relying on their thousands of
in the constitution. Even
state-owned enterprises, and
Deng Xiaoping was only
effectively using the leverage
recognized in the constitution
of its large market to persuade
for his theory. Xi had already
American companies to share
been pushing for a revival
their key technologies with
of teaching Marxism-
Chinese partners. China and
Leninism-Mao Zedong
America are playing by very
thought. Now speeches,
different rules. With China
textbooks, publications and
emerging as an economic,
university curricula will be
innovation, and military rival,
infused with Xi’s thought.
the United States may need to
In his report to the
rethink its tradition of letting
Congress, Xi moved away
the market dictate results.
from an early emphasis on
America still has many
market reform. Instead he
strengths: world class
spoke about a new era, an
universities, a leadership in
era marked by China moving
many key technologies and
onto the stage of global
an entrepreneurial culture.
prominence and leadership.
America beat the Great
In his first term, he had spoken about the China Depression, won World War II, and prevailed
Dream, not a Chinese version of the American in the Cold War. America responded to the
Dream of individual attainment but a dream of 1980s challenge of Germany and Japan with
greatness for China.
its leading companies, creative universities and
He has set ambitious goals for China:
an innovative government.
eliminating poverty and becoming a genuinely
In 1957, the Soviet Union beat America
prosperous nation. In his “Made in China
into space by launching the satellite Sputnik. It
2025,” Xi is intent on making China into an
was a threat to America’s security and a blow
innovative power marked by leadership in
to America’s pride. We responded by putting a
ten high-tech industries. In the place of low
man on the moon.
value added exports or the assembly work
Pendleton and Umatilla County were
where much of the value goes to the developed always part of America rising to meet the
world, he sees a China that will master the
challenge. If you take a look at the 1958
high value added parts that drive everything
Pendleton Senior High yearbook, you will
from robots to aerospace.
find the picture of the math club. The caption
Information technology and
refers to Sputnik and notes that “PHS has its
semiconductors that are central to almost
share of outstanding math students.” It is time
every electronic device are very much targets for America, like 1958 Pendleton, to prepare
for Chinese growth. Combining private
for the challenges of today and tomorrow.
investment and government support, reports
■
suggest that China will dedicate as much
Kent Hughes is a public policy fellow at
as $150 billion to dominate the coming
the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington,
generations of semiconductors, a field
D.C. He is a 1958 graduate of Pendleton High
developed and long dominated by the United School.
With China
emerging as an
economic,
innovation, and
military rival,
the United States
may need to
rethink its
tradition of
letting the market
dictate results.
YOUR VIEWS
Tax plan provision hurts
graduate students
I am a graduate student at the University
of Oregon, where I study marine invasive
species. I am writing to you to draw your
attention to how the House Republican tax
plan (HR 1) would impact the ~145,000
graduate students across the nation.
Higher education runs on graduate student
labor. We teach undergraduates and perform
groundbreaking research. In exchange for
40-80 hour work weeks, we receive a modest
livable stipend and tuition waiver. At the
University of Oregon, this waiver keeps us
from having to spend ~$17,000 per year or,
for international students, ~$28,000. The
tax bill would treat the value of our tuition
waivers as taxable income, increasing our
tax burden from ~$1,500 to ~$3,500. That
increase is even more staggering at private
institutions, where graduate students would
see their tax burden increase upwards of
$10,000, or 400 percent.
These increases would make graduate
education accessible to only the wealthiest
students, disproportionately discouraging
minorities from communities that are already
underrepresented in academia from pursuing
master’s or doctoral degrees. It would also
undercut our nation’s ability to stay at the
forefront of global academic achievement.
If this bill passes the Senate, I and many
of my peers would be forced to terminate our
graduate education, as the tax increase would
make our income simply impossible to live
on.
Zofia Knorek
Coos Bay
Roundabout safer option for
dangerous intersection
I am pleased to see the concern for the
danger at the Feedville/South Edwards
intersection. But, I am not convinced
adding stop signs on the east/west route will
solve the problem. I imagine every person
involved in an accident there thought there
were no cars approaching that intersection
when they blew the stop sign.
The lay of the land, with the adjacent
plant growth, often gives the impression
that there are no cars approaching. Since it
is a remote area, drivers may think that no
one will see them blow the stop. I am afraid
adding stop signs will probably not cause the
guilty drivers to change their behavior.
The solution is to construct a roundabout
at this intersection. This will cause all
approaching vehicles to slow down to move
through the roundabout. Problem solved.
Scientific evidence and my experience has
shown me that traffic does move more safely
and more rapidly under these conditions.
Once the county has this problem solved,
they can work on ODOT to get the trucks
off the Diagonal/Elm Street route before
someone else is killed.
Carlisle Harrison
Hermiston
Stop sign isn’t the answer
Congratulations to all of the people who
got their 4-way stop sign at the intersection
of Feedville and South Edwards roads.
Surely when an accident occurs at Feedville
and Canal Road you can get another one
there. Maybe Umatilla Road Department
with no budget can put up 4-way stop signs
at every intersection and stop grading and
chip sealing roads.
The only thing wrong with the
intersection at Feedville and South Edwards
roads is that over half of the people are
texting and driving, especially the young
people; when they get to the stop sign, most
stop, get done with their text messages,
then go through the stop sign without
even looking. I’m sure this has caused the
accidents as frequently as “blowing” the stop
signs.
I should know something about this
intersection. I worked for the Umatilla
County Road Department for 23 1/2 years,
live on East Loop Road in Hermiston, and
went through that intersection at least twice
a day to get back and forth to my job in
Pendleton.
Are we really to the point where we are
going to slow commercial (farm) traffic
down on Feedville Road to the point where
it creates an economic loss to not only them
but to all of us in the long run because some
parents won’t stop their teens from texting
and driving or no enforcement of the no
texting law is happening? I sure hope not.
Gary Roberts
Hermiston
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 newspa-
per reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual ser-
vices 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.