Bourgeios
exhibit at
arts center
MATH
IS
COOL
Community/6A
REGION/3A
BRITAIN
BOOTS
RUSSIANS
WORLD/7A
THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 2018
142nd Year, No. 106
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
One dollar
Interfaith
leaders
to propose
assault
gun ban
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — As students
walked out of schools around
the nation Wednesday to urge
federal gun safety measures, a
coalition of interfaith leaders
announced that they will propose
an assault rifle ban in Oregon on
the November statewide ballot.
The group initially had
planned to try to get the proposal
on the November 2020 ballot.
Growing momentum nation-
wide for action on gun violence
and inaction by Congress and
the state Legislature prompted
the leaders to launch their
campaign earlier, said W.
J. Mark Knutson, pastor of
Augustana Lutheran Church in
Portland who will serve as one
of three chief petitioners for the
initiative.
“Now is the time,” Knutson
said in a phone interview
Wednesday with the Pamplin/
EO Capital Bureau. “We can’t
wait any longer. Given the
momentum and energy and the
networks we have, both inter-
faith and secular, we are ready
to roll. It will be a tight timeline,
and there will be opposition,
of course, but we are going to
make an incredible effort.”
The name of the campaign
was scheduled to be announced
at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Augus-
tana church. Chief petitioners
plan to submit paperwork for
the initiative Monday, Knutson
said. The proposed ban will
likely include assault weapons
and high-capacity ammunition
magazines, though organizers
were still finalizing language
Wednesday.
The
student
walkouts
Wednesday marked one month
since a mass shooting at Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High School
in Parkland, Florida, that killed
17 students and faculty.
The walkouts, organized by
EMPOWER, were meant as a
memorial to those who died and
as a protest to urge lawmakers
to ban assault weapons, like
the one used in the Parkland
shooting. Demonstrators also
want Congress to require
universal background checks
before firearm sales and to
pass a law that allows courts to
disarm people who are at risk of
committing violent acts.
About 500 students and
faculty walked out of Willa-
mette University at 10 a.m.
United in protest
Staff photos by E.J. Harris and Kathy Aney
Top left: Zion Waugh sheds a tear as she speaks about the 17 people who died at a Florida high school last month. She and about 50
other Pendleton High School students walked out of class Wednesday morning to rally against gun violence. Top right: Sophomore Zach
Duncan holds a door for his fellow students as they go back to class after a walkout protesting gun violence at Hermiston High School.
More than 300 student participated. Center: Hermiston High School students chant anti-gun violence slogans on Kennison Field during
a walkout in Hermiston.
Students walk out in Hermiston, Pendleton and across U.S.
on one-month anniversary of Florida school massacre
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
and ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
See GUN BAN/8A
On the one-month anniversary of
the shooting at Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School in Parkland,
Florida, that took 17 lives, students
across the country walked out of
class Wednesday for 17 minutes in
support and solidarity.
At Hermiston High School,
more than 300 students left their
classes
At 10 a.m., about 300 students
left their classrooms and filed out
onto Kennison Field. Some stood
quietly while others chanted their
support for gun control and school
safety.
“Protect our children, not our
guns!” A small group of students
started chanting at the back of
the crowd. The message quickly
spread.
Nayeli Martinez, a senior who
had started the chant, said a lot of
students had been feeling intim-
idated by a conservative point of
view, but now they were ready to
speak up.
“We’re going to respect people
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
A group of Pendleton High School students show emotion
and hold hands Wednesday morning during a rally against gun
violence. The students walked out of class and listened as a
peer read the 17 names of students killed in last month’s mass
shooting at a Florida high school.
who feel the opposite way,” she
said. “I have a feeling a few of us
will take action, and let our voices
be heard.”
Hermiston High School’s Asso-
ciated Student Body had provided
postcards and information for how
to contact state, local and federal
representatives, of which Martinez
said some of the students would
likely take advantage.
Jada Rome, a ninth grader
at Hermiston High School, said
participating in the walkout was
really important to her.
“They don’t have a voice. The
lives of the children lost, they no
longer have a voice,” she said.
“We’re the voice for them.”
Jeramy Simon, a sophomore,
stood quietly during the protest.
He said he participated because he
wanted to pay tribute to the Park-
land victims.
Simon said he felt more needed
to be done for all students.
“We should help out people,” he
said. “The Parkland shooter was a
bully victim.”
He said he felt Hermiston’s
school culture has improved, with
the signs recently put up around
campus and the Helping Hands
program.
“There’s always more that can
be done,” he said. “If a kid looks
sad or lonely, talk to him and be his
friend.”
Reed and Rian Middleton partic-
ipated in the walkout, standing
quietly in the front of the group of
students.
“I don’t feel like much action
has been taken,” Reed Middleton
said. “It’s a great way for us teens
See WALKOUT/8A