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OPINION
East Oregonian
Friday, December 22, 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
Tip of the hat;
kick in the pants
With Christmas around the corner, we’re naturally in a hat-tipping kind of
mood.
So we say thanks to everyone in Eastern Oregon who contributed to our
opinion pages all year long, and debated civilly and respectfully both online
and in print. You made your community a better place. And we wish you all
a merry Christmas, a happy Hanukkah and a happy New Year.
A tip of the hat to the pheasant hunters in rural Morrow County who
helped nabbed two robbery suspects.
Phil Carlson, who owns TREO Ranches outside Heppner, was conducting
the hunt when a couple who were accused
of stealing a car from a neighbor, firing a
gun at a pursuer and breaking into a shed
— then crashed their vehicle and tried to set
fire to it nearby.
Luckily, that’s where the hunters jumped
to action — pointing their shotguns at the
suspects and holding them there until law
enforcement arrived. It doesn’t get more
Eastern Oregon than that.
We tip our hat to the hunting crew for
being at the ready, and stopping what could
have been an even longer crime spree.
We also tip our hat to Pendleton police, who cut short a crime spree
of their own back in November.
Pendleton Sgt. Tyler Reddington shot a theft suspect (who was carrying
a bb gun that looked almost identical to
a handgun) as the man ran from Walmart
toward the busy intersection of Southwest
20th Street and Court Avenue.
After dark and in the midst of an
adrenaline-pumping foot chase, its no
wonder that two officers at the scene
thought the fleeing suspect was armed while
he reached down into his waistband.
On Tuesday, Baker County District
Attorney Matt Shirtcliff confirmed those
findings and said officers were justified to
fire at the suspect.
It is critical that police shootings are
limited to only when necessary. But its just as important that when those
shootings take place, that they are independently investigated and the results
of the investigation be made public as quickly as possible. That’s what
happened here, and we tip our hat.
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
OSU seeks funds for Bend campus
Corvallis Gazette-Times
A
s Oregon State University
officials have worked to develop
the Cascades campus in Bend,
the big question has not been about
the demand for a four-year campus
in the central part of the state — the
enrollment growth the campus already
has seen is evidence of that.
No, the question is whether the state
is willing to properly fund what amounts
to its eighth four-year
campus. After this
year’s legislative
session ended with
a bit of a financial
thud for Cascades, the
question lingered.
But the February
short session of the
Legislature could
provide a big part of
the answer.
OSU’s top priority
in this legislative
session will be to
win approval for $39
million in capital
funding to build a second classroom
building on the Cascades campus. Gov.
Kate Brown recently backed the OSU
request, along with a handful of other
capital projects at other Oregon public
universities.
This request comes on the heels of
an odd turn of events at the end of this
year’s legislative session, when OSU
originally had asked for $69.5 million
for the Cascades campus, an amount
of money that would have allowed
for the construction of the classroom
building, along with site reclamation
work, infrastructure improvements
and a student success center. When the
dust settled at the end of the session,
the Legislature had allocated just $9.5
million for reclamation work, and
it’s still uncertain as to what exactly
happened.
OSU President Ed Ray said
university officials, understanding
that the Legislature faced a tight state
budget, trimmed their $69.5 million
request to $39 million during the course
of this year’s session. But, for whatever
reason, Ray said it appears that Gov.
Brown never saw the reduced request.
“She was never unsupportive,” Ray
said. “She never had all the information
she needed.”
In any event, Brown is supporting
the renewed $39 million request in
next year’s session, and Ray is grateful.
“This kind of wraps up a lot of what
we had hoped to accomplish in the first
session,” he said. (OSU says it has an
additional $10 million lined up from
private contributions for the classroom
building.)
The status of the Cascades campus in
Bend is important to the mid-valley for
a number of reasons,
and here’s one of
them: The enrollment
growth at Cascades,
which this year
increased 7.3 percent
to 1,204 students,
gives OSU another
tool to try to maintain
the relatively slow
growth of students
at the Corvallis
campus. This has
been a topic of some
interest throughout the
mid-valley in recent
years, as you might
recall.
Even while enrollment growth
is booming at Bend, the pace of
growth has slowed at the Corvallis
campus, where Ray has said he’ll cap
enrollment at 28,000. This fall, OSU
reported enrollment on the Corvallis
campus of 24,760, an increase of 0.4
percent from 2016. (As an aside, it’s
worth remembering that there’s still
considerable room under that 28,000 cap
for additional students in Corvallis.)
The fast-growing campus in Bend
offers a safety valve for enrollment on
the Corvallis campus. (The same thing
is true of OSU’s online offerings and its
growing presence in Newport.)
OSU asks students in Bend where
they would have gone if they hadn’t
enrolled at Cascades. The consistent
answer: “By and large, they would
have gone to Corvallis,” Ray said, so
Cascades “takes some of the enrollment
pressure off of Corvallis.”
The continued growth of Cascades,
however, hinges on whether the state is
willing to give it the support it needs.
The results of this year’s session weren’t
encouraging. Legislators will get a
chance next year to recover from that
fumble.
Even while
enrollment
growth is at
Bend, the pace
of growth
has slowed at
the Corvallis
campus.
OTHER VIEWS
When #MeToo goes too far
M
att Damon gave an interview
Americans — including, I’d bet, most
to ABC News last week
men — have been on its side.
in which he offered the
But what about a case such as
following observation: “There’s a
Glenn Thrush, The Times’ reporter
difference between, you know, patting
who was suspended after being
someone on the butt and rape or child
accused of inappropriate sexual
molestation, right? Both of those
behavior and, The Times said
behaviors need to be confronted and
Wednesday, will keep his job but
eradicated without question, but they
not his White House beat? Or what
Bret
shouldn’t be conflated, right?”
Stephens about Stephen Henderson, the Pulitzer
Crazy, right?
Prize-winning Detroit Free Press
Comment
Minnie Driver, Damon’s co-star
columnist and editorial page editor
in “Good Will Hunting,” thought
(and an acquaintance of mine) who
so. “There is no hierarchy of abuse — that
was recently sacked from his job?
if a woman is raped [it]
Henderson is not
is much worse than if
accused of sexual assault.
a woman has a penis
He is widely admired as
exposed to her that she
a pillar and champion
didn’t want or ask for,”
of his hometown. And
she told The Guardian.
Henderson has apologized
“You cannot tell those
for his behavior, which he
women that one is
said happened years ago
supposed to feel worse
and involved “sexually
than the other.”
themed conversations”
Kirsten Gillibrand
with a co-worker outside
agrees: “I think when we
of work along with a
start having to talk about
couple of rejected passes
the differences between sexual assault and
at a woman working in another department.
sexual harassment and unwanted groping,
Does this behavior really merit professional
you are having the wrong conversation,” the
decapitation? Wouldn’t the apology, plus, say,
Democratic senator from New York said at a
a monthlong suspension, have sufficed? Don’t
news conference when asked about calling on
we have the moral capacity to distinguish
Sen. Al Franken to resign. “You need to draw
between aggressive sexual predation and
a line in the sand and say none of it is OK.
run-of-the-mill romantic bungling — between
None of it is acceptable.”
a pattern of abusive behavior and a good
Of course none of it is OK. The supposedly man’s uncharacteristic bad moments? And
petty sexual harassment that so many women
do companies really have the resources, or
have to endure, from Hollywood studios to the the right, to police and adjudicate the private
factory floor at Ford, is a national outrage that
behavior of their employees?
needs to end. Period.
It will not serve the interests of women
But what about the idea that we should not
if #MeToo becomes a movement that does
even discuss the difference between verbal
as much to wreck the careers of people like
harassment, physical groping and rape? Here’s Henderson as it does to bring down the
a guess: A vast majority of Americans, men
Weinsteins of the world. Nor will it do much
and women, would agree with Damon’s
to convince men that #MeToo is a movement
comment in its entirety.
that is ultimately for them if every sexual
Another guess: A majority of women
transgression, great or small, vile, crass or
would not accept Driver’s suggestion that the
mostly clumsy, is judged according to the
unwanted sight of a man’s genitals, as wrong
same Procrustean standard.
as it is, is anywhere near as traumatic as the
Now to the inevitable rejoinder: You’re a
unspeakably violent experience of rape.
guy. What do you know? Or, as Minnie Driver
Think of it a moment more. If, as Driver
told The Guardian: “The time right now is
put it, “there is no hierarchy of abuse,” then
for men just to listen and not have an opinion
should Harvey Weinstein and Al Franken be
about it for once.”
punished in the same way? Should George
Listening is always essential. But one-way
H.W. Bush be subjected to the same obloquy
conversations go down about as well with
as Louis C.K.?
most men as they do with most women, and
All societies make necessary moral
#MeToo isn’t going to succeed in the long
distinctions between high crimes and
run if the underlying message is #STFU.
misdemeanors, mortal and lesser sins.
Movements that hector and punish rather than
A murderer is worse than a thief. A drug
educate and reform have a way of inviting
dealer is worse than a user. And so on.
derision and reaction.
Gillibrand, Driver and others want to blur
Every woman, and every thoughtful man,
such distinctions, on the theory that we need
is rooting for #MeToo to succeed, not just
by exposing male misbehavior but also by
a zero-tolerance approach. That may sound
transforming it for the better. It won’t get that
admirable, but it’s legally unworkable and, in
far if people like Gillibrand and Driver drive
many cases, simply unjust.
its high ideals and current momentum into the
It’s also destructive, above all to the
ground.
credibility of the #MeToo movement. Social
■
movements rarely succeed if they violate our
Bret Stephens won a Pulitzer Prize for
gut sense of decency and moral proportion.
commentary in 2013. He began working as a
Insofar as #MeToo has made an example of
columnist at The New York Times in April.
a Harvey Weinstein or a Matt Lauer, most
#MeToo isn’t
going to succeed
in the long run
if the underlying
message is #STFU.
YOUR VIEWS
Changes needed in District 2,
Tim White can bring them
Things need to change in the Congressional
2nd District. The district faces a myriad of
complex issues and it will take courage,
imagination, skill, financial/economic
expertise and integrity to come up with and
execute action plans to address our needs
in the Second District. I have found an
individual, Tim White, who has, not only the
requisite has qualities, but also a solid plan to
deal with our challenges.
Most importantly, we need more economic
opportunity. Per capita income in the rural
areas is lagging the national averages. Tim
has talked about investment in solar and
related technologies, apprenticeship training
programs and upgrading our highway systems
to encourage business to relocate here.
Economic planning is crucial to bringing
sustainable prosperity to the district by
adapting to the forces of globalization and
automation without damaging our precious
environment.
Second, working families are struggling.
Tim intends to defend and support middle
class families by advocating: a) for a
progressive tax system, b) measures to fund
substance abuse addiction recovery care, c)
enhancements to secondary education and
d) expanding access to affordable higher
education.
Third, quality and affordable healthcare is
crucial for the well being of District 2 families.
Not only does Tim White believe this true,
but he also plans to work assiduously to lower
costs, improve positive health outcomes, fight
to protect or augment ACA and strengthen
the social safety net by protecting Medicare,
Social Security, Medicaid so that our seniors
can live with dignity.
Fourth, the treatment of veterans in the
Second District is extremely deficient. Not
only do we have wait times for treatment
that are still unacceptable, but also the
number of homeless vets is a moral disgrace.
Volunteerism is wonderful, but it is the
obligation of the government, which asked
them to fight in the first place, to restore them
to spiritual health. Tim won’t stop fighting to
properly fund the VA until we make it right.
We need a fresh look at our issues. Tim
White has the wisdom, integrity, values,
expertise, skill, knowledge, experience and
courage to represent the interests of the people
of the Second District.
He has, moreover, a plan grounded in the
realities of today and focused on the needs of
our fellow Second District citizens.
Leo McGregor
Bend
The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues
and public policies for publication. 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.