A4
East Oregonian
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
CHRISTOPHER RUSH
Publisher
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ANDREW CUTLER
Editor
WYATT HAUPT JR.
News Editor
JADE McDOWELL
Hermiston Editor
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
What PETA does best
Y
ou have to hand it to the
folks at PETA — the Peo-
ple for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals. They know how to get
their names in the news. Whether it’s
trying to assert constitutional rights
for killer whales at aquariums, hav-
ing movie actresses to pose naked
for ads running down the fur indus-
try or even planning a pornographic
website, PETA has long ago demon-
strated itself to be lacking in ethics
but a master of hogging publicity.
Most recently, the folks at PETA
fired off a letter to the mayor of Cald-
well, Idaho, demanding the name of
Chicken Dinner Road be changed.
To what? Just Chicken Road. It’s a
“kinder alternative, one that cele-
brates chickens as the sensitive and
intelligent individuals they are, not
ones to be abused and killed for din-
ner,” Faith Robinson, PETA senior
strategist, told Capital Press reporter
Carol Ryan Dumas.
The mayor wisely decided to
ignore PETA.
But our suspicion is PETA’s motive
was not renaming the road so much
as it was to get PETA’s name out
in the public. The organization has
repeatedly found geographic ref-
erences to which the organization
Capital Press Photo/Brad Carlson
The northwest corner of Chicken Dinner Road and Idaho Highway 55 between Caldwell and
Marsing, Idaho.
feigned offense: the Tenderloin Sec-
tion of San Francisco and Fishkill,
New York, are examples.
In each instance, nothing was
accomplished, other than getting
some attention from the press, some-
thing the folks at PETA crave. The
organization brings in $52 million
a year in donations with its stunts,
arguing that animals and humans are
the same.
Which got us to thinking. What
would happen if a farmer, or farm
organization, adopted PETA’s tactics?
For example, a farmer could send
a letter to PETA decrying how the
group cared more about animals than
people by criticizing perfectly good
food in the name of animal rights.
Whatever happened to people’s rights
to have access to nutritious and
wholesome food? Nearly 800 million
people in the world go to bed hun-
gry every day, and PETA is worried
about Chicken Dinner Road. How
many people has PETA ever fed?
How about sending chicken din-
ners to hungry children in sub-Sa-
haran Africa or in Yemen instead of
seeking the public spotlight over such
piffle.
We understand PETA and its goal:
to attack animal agriculture. Thank-
fully, it does a horrible job of that.
It turns out, it’s a lot harder to have
an actual positive impact on soci-
ety than it is parading in front of the
spotlight.
Good job, PETA, you accom-
plished absolutely nothing positive
but looked good doing it. And raised
a lot of money in the process.
OTHER VIEWS
Partnership works to
help keep nurses safe
urses and other hospital employ-
LaRochelle said the changes have made
ees enter the profession because
a huge difference.
they want to take care of peo-
The toolkit also helps hospitals eval-
ple. But we know that too often they can uate a patient’s risk for violence, pro-
become victims of violent acts on the
vides new tools for recording and track-
job as they deliver that care.
ing incidents, and assists with educating
Consider these two data points:
and training staff, whether they work
Nurses are more likely to be assaulted at directly with patients or not.
work than police officers, and they are
We also know that the work does
nearly five times more likely to
not stop with the creation of
be injured on the job and miss
the toolkit. We are proud to be
work than other professions.
working with our labor part-
Hospitals have been work-
ners to further build momen-
ing to prevent workplace vio-
tum in Salem and across the
lence for years, but facilities
state. OAHHS and ONA shaped
managers weren’t always sure
the final language for Senate
how to go about it. “We didn’t
Bill 823A, which standardizes
have the tools to be effective,”
the schedule for hospital secu-
K atie
said Elaine LaRochelle, facil-
rity check-ins every two years
H arris
ities director at Grande Ronde
and clarifies anti-retaliation
COMMENT
Hospital in La Grande. LaRo-
rules for employees that report
chelle knew she needed evi-
violent incidences. The bill also
dence-based tools.
directs hospitals to use a vali-
When the Oregon Association of
dated resource like the toolkit.
Hospitals & Health Systems (OAHHS)
Oregon lawmakers have praised the
started the Workplace Violence Pre-
effort. “I love this bill,” said Rep. Alissa
vention project in 2014, we quickly saw
Keny-Guyer, who called out the groups
that there wasn’t a comprehensive set
that have teamed up on a shared goal of
of resources available for continuously
better workplace safety.
addressing hospital employee safety.
Lawmakers passed SB 823 in June
Working with partners at the Oregon
and it has been signed by the gover-
Nurses Association (ONA) and SEIU
nor. It goes into effect Jan. 1, 2020. We
Local 49, we created a Workplace Vio-
applaud the Legislature for its bipar-
lence Prevention toolkit that is now a
tisan support, because we believe this
national model. It helps hospitals assess
bill and the toolkit will make a differ-
their security environments and prac-
ence in keeping workers safe.
tices and come up with solutions that
Hospital employees sacrifice so
address each community’s specific
much to do a difficult job and care
needs.
for people, some of whom are at their
At Grande Ronde, that means there
worst possible moment. We owe it to
is now a fortified glass window at the
those caregivers to do all we can to
emergency department intake desk,
make sure they stay out of harm’s way
doors that lock nights and weekends,
on the job.
and more security personnel. Those
———
employees are also trained to greet
Katie Harris is director of rural health
patients and fetch wheelchairs to cre-
and federal policy at the Oregon Associ-
ate a friendly and calming atmosphere.
ation of Hospitals & Health Systems.
N
YOUR VIEWS
A novel idea, just too simple
The Pendleton Development Com-
mission (PDC) assistant executive direc-
tor, Charles Denight, spokesperson for
the city manager, put forth his proposal
to eliminate blight in the Urban Renewal
District with a complicated formula for
financial assistance that’s sure to con-
fuse both homeowners and renters alike,
would most likely require hiring a book-
keeper just to track the program, and
ultimately leave the city (meaning you
and I) holding the bag on unpaid loans
and legal entanglements.
I don’t think the mayor or the city
councilors were too thrilled with the pro-
posal put forth. They worried that land-
lords could raise rents once their loans
were repaid to recover their costs. Imag-
ine that! You won’t find many land-
lords that are in business just because
they’re nice guys or because they need
a hobby.They’re well aware that the tax
man is always watching, and busy try-
ing to cover all other expenses land-
lords incur. One councilor’s suggestion
that we should consider hiring experts
in the field of urban renewal/blight
elimination sounds suspiciously like a
call for another consultant, indicating
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.
a lack of faith in our current program
management.
Simple is better, and I think Mayor
Turner’s idea of just buying the prop-
erty outright and going from there to
either fix it up or tear it down and start
over is the most logical solution. Going
along with this option, since the city
has already donated some cash and very
valuable public land for the Farm II proj-
ect, and as responsible stewards of our
public lands, it’s time to consider giv-
ing something tangible back to the tax-
payers. This could start by demolishing
that old city-owned DMV building that
has sat empty for years, and construct a
multifamily housing project on the site.
After all, why not start with blighted
property the city already owns? In that
way, families required to move because
of a demolition would have a place avail-
able for relocation. It all sounds pretty
simple, maybe too simple for City Hall.
Here it’s only July and Bob Patter-
son has announced that street repaving
is wrapping up for the year. Do you sup-
pose the continued waffling by the PDC
in making a decision whether to contrib-
ute funding for streets could be a factor?
Rick Rohde
Pendleton
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Pendleton, OR 97801