Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2019)
A4 East Oregonian Saturday, September 21, 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 Tip of the hat, kick in the pants A tip of the hat to the Umatilla County Historical Society, who needs to do some reno- vating and wants help from the Pend- leton Development Commission. The organization already raised a lot of the cash needed for its cap- ital improvement project but asked the commission last week for $15,803 to help complete repairs at the Heri- tage Station Museum and Community Thrift Shop. Repairs include fixing a leaking roof, window replacements, new fenc- ing and other minor upgrades. Investing money into a community organization like the historical society is never a bad idea. In fact, it makes a great deal of sense. The commission should carefully consider the proposal but, in the end, give the local group a hand up with their effort. The action will not only help the group but also facilitate the ongoing effort to preserve our history and celebrate our region. A kick in the pants to the long list of intoxicated drivers who appeared in our police log on Tuesday after the weekend of the Pendleton Round-Up. We’ve all been taught since our school years about the dangers of driv- ing impaired, and we have all seen the tragic, fatal consequences that sometimes come with that decision. It should be a no-brainer to make alter- nate arrangements for transportation when you have plans for a night of drinking, but unfortunately some peo- ple never learn. A tip of the hat to Walmart for their pollinator garden projects. The company is planting butterfly- and bee-friendly gardens at select stores and encouraging others to do the same. Scientists have sounded the alarm in recent years about declining bee popu- lations. More than a honey shortage is at stake — bees are a vital part of the pollination process that helps grow our food. A handful of pollinator gardens across the country is a small step, but Staff photo by Ben Lonergan The Umatilla County Historical Society has requested funds from the Pendleton Develop- ment Commission for repairs at the Heritage Station Museum and the Community Thrift Shop. we hope it inspires others to look at what they can do to make the world a more pollinator-friendly place. A kick in the pants to the possibil- ity of a strike at Oregon’s seven pub- lic universities. SEIU 503 represents 4,500 classified staff who have autho- rized a strike starting Sept. 30 if an agreement can’t be reached before then. The union has been bargaining with the universities since February. The main disagreement centers on cost of living allowances: The union wants 3% this year and 3.5% next year, while management has proposed 2% increases each year. We hope this con- tract can be settled at the bargaining table on Sept. 23, to avoid disruptions in services for over 100,000 public university students at the beginning of the school year. OTHER VIEWS FROM HERE TO ANYWHERE CBD products need immediate oversight Making the American dream a reality Eugene Register-Guard C annabidiol, commonly known as CBD, may be the wonder drug that its users and advocates hope and claim it to be, offering relief for everything from anxiety and arthritis to Par- kinson’s disease and other chronic health problems. But right now too little is known about its effective- ness, side effects and interactions with prescribed drugs. Federal reg- ulators need to move quickly to remedy that lack of knowledge, both for the sake of consumers and for a booming new industry. CBD is a naturally occur- ring, non-psychoactive compound extracted from hemp and mar- ijuana. The passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp, spurred rapid growth in the indus- try but didn’t provide a clear frame- work for overseeing the manu- facture and marketing of CBD products. It’s legal in Oregon and other states that have approved the sale and use of recreational or medi- cal marijuana. The remaining states have adopted a confusing patch- work of regulations guiding its availability. This summer, the Food and Drug Administration held a hearing and solicited public comments on how to best regulate CBD products. Although it’s staked out regulatory authority over CBD, the FDA has done little beyond issue warnings to companies that make unproven therapeutic claims, such as cures for cancer, Alzheimer’s and other dis- eases. So far, the FDA has approved 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. only one CBD-derived prescription drug, Epidiolex, for use by children with rare forms of epilepsy. Full regulation of CBD oil and its various products could take years to develop, but greater oversight is needed sooner than that. CBD is already a billion-dollar industry, and some experts expect it to reach $22 billion in just three years. Major corporations such as Coca-Cola are poised to introduce CBD products if and when the federal government approves using the extract in food. As The Register-Guard recently reported, CBD can be found in a variety of products throughout Ore- gon, including CBD-infused drinks, baked goods, snacks, gummies and tinctures. In Oregon, CBD products sold through dispensaries are tested for potency and pesticides. Those sold at gas stations and other venues, however, are not. “There should be required test- ing of pesticides, additives, potency, heavy metals for all CBD products,” Emma Chasen, a Portland-based cannabis educator and industry con- sultant, told The Register-Guard. “The analytical testing laboratories should be required to receive fed- eral accreditation with universal operating procedures.” In concert with FDA oversight, the federal government should fund more scientific research of CBD and other marijuana and hemp com- pounds. Several studies point to genuine therapeutic benefits, but more work, including clinical tri- als, is needed. In 2017, the National Institutes of Health supported 300 pot-related research projects, includ- ing $15 million on CBD. A stand that no chief had the authority to nother Round-Up is behind us — demand this of his people. In his culture, a week of beautiful September weather with a dream coming true for everyone must make up their own mind about the right thing to do. Mahto Nunpa 20-year-old Pendleton High School gradu- ate Calgary Smith, who took the team roping offered himself and his son as hostages championship with his roping partner, Jason while they negotiated further, but the offer Stewart. was declined and he returned to his “When he was just a kid,” Annie village. Of course we know the attacks of Fowler and Brent Kane reported in Sept. 2001 were not the first attacks the East Oregonian, “Calgary Smith on American soil. People tried to watched the cowboys compete at the flee, but hundreds were killed at Pendleton Round-Up, and dreamed White Stone Hill, many trapped in of being in their boots.” a ravine while soldiers fired down We were also remembering upon them. Parents strapped babies the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the B ette to small travois and urged the dogs World Trade Center and the Pen- H usted tagon that happened 18 years ago pulling them to run. After dark, sur- COMMENT vivors crept away, leaving behind during another Round-Up week. hundreds of tipi lodges, parfleche Would people forget? Some wor- ried. After all, younger people have no mem- bags of tools and supplies, and the win- ory of where they were that day or how it felt. ter’s meat supply — all of which the soldiers The rest of us do, though, and enough time would burn. has passed that many wanted to share their Mahto Nunpa, Powers says, was admired experiences. for his eloquence and calm, “that imperturb- able grace the Buddhists call ‘equanimity.’” One story I found especially moving was Looking at his portrait 10 years after Sept. by Yanktonai Dakota author Susan Power. 11, 2001, she has another vision — “a turn- On August 31, 2001, she recorded a vivid ing in his gaze,” like the wheeling of a dog dream in her journal — four jets on a run- way, waiting. A group of foreign men who chasing its tail in circles. She takes it as a hate us so much they want to bring about warning. “our complete economic collapse.” “I see us like that mesmerized dog, declar- Power wrote about this dream in “Vision,” ing we’re learned something, we’re changed by the hard lessons of each generation, only an essay published in the journal Granta on to forget and spin back on ourselves.” the 10th anniversary of the attacks. At the The day our Round-Up visitors left for time of her dream, she says, her vision was home marked another anniversary — the smaller — she thought stocks might plunge KKK’s 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Bap- in value. “Then,” she writes, “the full story tist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, on washed over me, like everyone else, and Youth Sunday, a terrorist attack that killed I was mortified by the tiny splinter I was four young girls. I remember that day, too. shown and believed to be the entire piece.” “We must be concerned not merely about Power goes on to describe another who murdered them,” Martin Luther King Jr. September attack, this one on her great-great-grandfather, Chief Mahto Nunpa, told their grieving community, “but about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which or Two Bear, and his people. On Sept. 3, produced the murderers. Their deaths say to 1863, they were drying buffalo meat for the us that we must work passionately and unre- coming winter when he learned that soldiers were approaching. He quickly put on his cer- lentingly for the realization of the American emonial clothes and with one of his grown dream.” To make that dream reality, it seems more sons walked out to meet them. He had heard about the uprising of another group of distant clear than ever that we must work together. relatives, the Dakotas who had been starving Team roping might not be such a bad metaphor. in Minnesota, so he may not have been sur- prised when the general demanded the sur- ——— render of the non-involved Dakotas gathered Bette Husted is a writer and a student of on the prairie. T’ai Chi and the natural world. She lives in Pendleton. But he couldn’t make the general under- 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 the editor to editor@eastoregonian.com, or via mail to Andrew Cutler, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
