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Page 4A East Oregonian Tuesday, March 6, 2018 KATHRYN B. BROWN Publisher DANIEL WATTENBURGER Managing Editor TIM TRAINOR Opinion Page Editor Founded October 16, 1875 OUR VIEW Solve persistent Northwest elk problems Ask ranchers or farmers across much of the Northwest what they think of elk. “They’re robbing feed that is intended for livestock,” said Veril Nelson, who ranches near Sutherlin. He estimates 50 to 60 elk dine on his pasture each night. A mature elk eats as much as a 600- to 700-pound steer, he said. The elk problem has migrated to coastal towns such as Warrenton and Gearhart, where the mushrooming population of elk has menaced citizens, torn up a golf course and caused traffic accidents. This will become more of an issue as human population pressures expand into traditional elk range. The problem isn’t confined to Oregon. Near Salmon, Idaho, farmer Lowell Cerise told the newspaper last fall that elk were eating his hay crop. Near Challis, Idaho, elk have been raiding rancher Steve Bachman’s haystacks. And in Skagit County, Wash., farmer Randy Good estimated in a letter to the editor that local farmers lose $10,000 to $15,000 a year from elk damaging their feed crops. It appears to us that state wildlife managers across the Northwest have a problem: the nearly 300,000 elk that live in the region. It’s an incredible success story for a species that was hunted down to a few small, coastal herds by the early 1900s. It’s the states’ job to manage wildlife, but for some reason some wildlife agencies appear to be shy about doing that when it comes to these prized game animals. Feeding sites have been set up in some spots here in northeastern Oregon, but overall there are just too many elk. They overrun ranches, farms, towns and anywhere else they find food. The irony is that many hunters see elk as a highly prized game animal. It would Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Ten state-managed feeding sites along the Elkhorn Range in northeastern Oregon are intended to keep elk and deer from venturing onto private land where they can damage fields, fences and haystacks. Many ranchers across the Northwest report losing tens of thousands of dollars to elk damage. seem that extending the season on elk in many places would take care of the problem. Another solution would be to trap and kill some of the elk and donate the meat to food banks. But we’re not wildlife experts. Instead, we’ll look forward to wildlife managers in Oregon, Washington and Idaho coming up with an effective solution to the elk problem, and soon. OTHER VIEWS Hooray for Harvey-less Hollywood! H OTHER VIEWS Public pressure as good (or better) at bringing about change By St. Cloud (Minn.) Times T here was a time in the not-so-distant past when the outrage of the day was whether the star of a redneck reality TV show should lose his gig over expressing an opinion that homosexuality (and heterosexual promiscuity, and lying to boot) are sinful. He didn’t lose his job, although the comment sparked a national shouting match. He was suspended from “Duck Dynasty” for a time and a national restaurant chain stopped selling associated products. Still, the show lasted until March 2017. At the time, the debate went like this: “He is entitled to his opinion. Plus, the First Amendment.” Conversely: “The First Amendment is about government interference with speech; it has no power over the public’s right to denunciation. Plus: He’s entitled to his opinion, but not to be free of conse- quences.” Ah, 2013 was a simpler time. The “Duck Dynasty” dust-up was a relatively minor one compared to other times when public — not political — pres- sure was put on a business or organization to change. It happened in the 1990s when the Boy Scouts of America struggled with its history of disallowing gay members and leaders and suffered the loss of donations and some supporters. It has happened when countless TV shows ran afoul of audience interest groups and suffered advertiser boycotts. It happens when small investors seek out mutual funds that don’t run afoul of their personal ethics. Every time it happens, some folks on the side of the embattled business or organization cry foul. You can’t do that, they say. Or, you shouldn’t do that. Even, it’s un-American. As the nation takes sides (again) over our national gun policies and politics (again) and interest groups put pressure (again) on gun retailers, the National Rifle Association and businesses associated with it, here we are. (Again.) Airlines, including Delta and United, have cut ties to the NRA. Car rental companies — including Enterprise, Hertz, Alamo, Avis, Budget and National — said they’ll stop offering discounts to NRA members. MetLife, Symantec, First National Bank of Omaha (the bank behind NRA-branded credit cards), SimpliSafe, Paramount RX and Starkey (the hearing aid company) have all announced they’ll be ending discount and benefit programs for NRA members. We name them here for a reason, but we’ll get to that in a minute. First, this editorial board wants to go on the record: This kind of social and economic pressure is exactly what people with strong beliefs should do. It’s the most American thing we can do, short of voting. In a nation that has built its economic consciousness on free market mythology and tells itself that we — Americans — stand up for what we believe it, this is exactly how it’s supposed to work. When we codify money as speech in the context of campaign donations, we cannot be surprised when economic pressure comes to bear on political and social questions. This is just another way — and an extremely powerful one — for people to be heard. Back to companies that have pulled away from the NRA so far. Why do we name them? So consumers who disagree with those decisions have a chance to let their money do some debating, too. When the people are savvy enough to use all peaceful means of protest at their disposal — including economic — to make societal change, we avoid the messy conspiracy theories and campaign-donation fueled doubt that can come from purely legislative solutions. Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the East Oregonian. OLLYWOOD — I ran have written new sexual harassment into Harvey Weinstein at guidelines. Some companies are the Vanity Fair Oscar party making employees sit through seminars last year. He should have been where, as one top entertainment boss in his element, dominating and told me, they learn that “you can tell a manipulating the Oscars, using the woman her dress is beautiful as long as you do not comment on what’s inside statuettes as a golden lure for young the dress.” actresses, swanning around as a rare This is a noted improvement in avatar of good taste and champion of Maureen an industry where, for decades, men roles for older women in an industry Dowd felt no qualms undressing in front consumed with comic books and Comment of female executives, asking job teenage boys. applicants to take off their tops and But he was acting disjointed, bringing in pea shooters to aim at the cleavage talking smack to people from The New York of female producers. Times. Yet many women here fear that the Maybe with his sixth sense for great reckoning is merely a therapy session, or stories, he somehow knew he was about to that “it’s just Kabuki,” as Min said. “When become one of the most scorching stories in people talk about who will take over for Bob Hollywood history, with an ending echoing Iger when he eventually retires, no woman that all-time classic of female empowerment and great shoes, “The Wizard of Oz.” As with is ever in the mix. And so shouldn’t we be the Wicked Witch of the West, all Weinstein’s questioning why that is and how do you start grooming women for those jobs?” Even when power and malevolence would go up in a woman gets to be a studio chief, there’s smoke when an ill-used woman (or in his a man above her helping make the final case, 84) finally fought back. decisions for the biggest budgets. The melting of Harveywood, the fervid The Oscar telecast is trying to keep out hunt for other predators and the pulling back most of the politics — viewers don’t like it — of the curtain on Hollywood’s big little lies but they tried to have a symbolic moment by about sexual assault, harassment and sexism asking Ashley Judd, one of Weinstein’s first are making for a fraught awards season. accusers, to be a presenter. That, however, This is a town built on selling sex, beauty got overshadowed by news of publicists and youth. At the Oscars, actresses who have plotting how to steer their clients around Ryan paid a fortune to dermatologists and surgeons Seacrest, a host of the E! red carpet show, will still vogue on the red carpet as they do the Roger Ailes twirl in gowns and jewels that who has been accused of sexual misbehavior. Men are quaking. Business here has been they are paid handsomely to model. on pause for months. As one male executive “It’s a perfect confluence of two industries at the heart of the hive complained: “Men’s historically built on the objectification, heads are on sticks with blood pouring fetishization and peddling of women — down their faces. Whatever happened to fashion and Hollywood — and both are the fun boy-girl game?” A game, after all, fighting for their reputation and relevance that Hollywood made famous with dazzling right now while still hanging onto their directors like Ernst Lubitsch and Billy Wilder. codependence, hoping the moment we are in Physically abusive behavior will be doesn’t subsume a pretty damn good business curtailed, for sure. Men will think twice relationship,” said Janice Min, former editor before coming out of showers exposing of The Hollywood Reporter. “How far can themselves. “So much of Hollywood is about this moment really go without completely what’s perceived to be cool,” said a top male endangering and questioning everything producer. “And it’s no longer perceived as Hollywood has held dear?” Time’s Up, after all, was born at CAA, the cool to be a pig. Everyone here wants to win, but the way of winning will no longer include agency dominated by white men who, their despoiled clients charge, served as a conveyor being a bully.” But an instant fix for sexism is wishful belt to the Weinstein hotel suites. thinking. “All the stuff that allowed these This moment, with women feeling guys to be protected is so subtle and baked triumphant about finally shaking up into the cake, it’s really hard to unravel it,” the network of old, white men who run one top woman at a major studio told me. Hollywood in a sexist way, is a bit of an “Men are doing a head fake, saying, ‘Yeah, illusion, since the entertainment industry yeah, of course we want to fix it,’ while what has been taken over by an even more they’re really thinking is, ‘How do we get out impenetrable group of younger, white men of this looking like we do something without from the tech universe, which has an even doing anything?’ Men like to say, ‘We choose more virulent bro culture. It’s like gasping the best people,’ but the best people are with relief as you climb up to the mountain peak, only to discover that it’s actually a much always white men. The only place they think that they need women is as babes in films. As bigger mountain. long as men have power over women, they’re “Netflix is No. 1, spending 8 billion going to try to have sex with them.” on original scripted television content and But I’m sanguine for this reason: Men Amazon is No. 2, with 5 billion,” said only give up their grip on power when an Scott Galloway, author of “The Four: The institution is no longer as relevant, like when Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook they finally let women anchor the network and Google.” “Hastings and Bezos are the evening news. And Hollywood, as we knew new studio chiefs, the new kings. Amazon it, is over. could create the next ‘Game of Thrones’ and ■ monetize it by selling paper towels.” Maureen Dowd, winner of the 1999 Pulitzer On the surface, there are a lot of promising Prize for distinguished commentary, became a signs for women. There’s the new Anita columnist on The New York Times Op-Ed page Hill-led Commission on Eliminating in 1995 after having served as a correspondent Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equity in the paper’s Washington bureau since 1986. in the Workplace, which is looking into a She has covered four presidential campaigns technology system that would allow women and served as White House correspondent. to share information on predators. The guilds 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. 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.