ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
WYATT HAUPT JR.
News Editor
JADE McDOWELL
Hermiston Editor
THURSdAy, MAy 13, 2021
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
State
money
comes with
a gag order
W
e read something peculiar in
the Malheur Enterprise: The
board of a public develop-
ment company has dictated that a family
in Nyssa is forbidden to talk to the media
if it wants up to $400,000 to help with an
industrial road.
That’s the government saying if you
want a benefit, you get gagged.
The background: The Froerers farm
about 4,000 acres. The plan is to close
a railroad reload center and move it to
another location. That means the Froerers
must truck their goods several additional
miles to get them loaded. The money is
from the Malheur County Development
Corp. to build a new access road for the
Froerers. The state department of trans-
portation is providing funding, according
to the newspaper. The gag order expires
when the project is completed.
The Froerers argue they were offered
an unfair choice: Accept the gag order
and get the money, or no money. They
signed.
It’s not clear exactly why a gag order
was put in place, though one reason could
be obvious. The Froerers have in the past
criticized Greg Smith, the reload center
project manager, director of the Malheur
County Economic Development Depart-
ment and a state representative. Smith
said he didn’t put the gag provision in the
contract. Lawyers did.
Gag orders do occur in court cases to
limit publicity and attempt to protect the
right to a fair trial. And parties some-
times have similar provisions in legal
settlements and nondisclosure agree-
ments in development deals. For instance,
Apple Inc. has had confidentiality agree-
ments with Crook County and Prineville
officials to keep them from talking about
the company’s plans there.
This seems different. State money
is being spent only on condition that a
family keep quiet, when the family has
been outspoken in the past. Yes, the
farmers are getting a benefit to compen-
sate them for an expense they will pay
because the reload center is moving. But
it also looks like state dollars are being
used to muzzle criticism. Is that OK with
you?
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opinions of the authors and not necessarily
that of the East Oregonian.
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211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
A journey into Soviet life
BRIGIT
FARLEY
PAST AND PROLOGUE
F
or this and next month’s column,
some personal history. This May
marks 40 years since the end of my
first extended stay in the Soviet Union. As
this experience remains one of the most
vivid I have had in decades of studying
history, I thought I would revisit some
memories of Soviet life in a particularly
fraught period of the Cold War.
When I arrived with the Council on
International Educational Exchange’s
spring 1981 Russian language semester at
Leningrad State University, the Cold War
was heating up fast. Ronald Reagan had
settled into the White House, Solidarity
was on the rise in Poland and the U.S. had
begun a sharp escalation of the arms race.
Our reception at Leningrad airport
reflected international tensions. Customs
personnel subjected us to an extensive
search, requiring each person to strip to
their underwear and dump the contents of
suitcases for thorough examination. Our
director’s experience was even more ardu-
ous, as officials insisted on listening to all
16 of his Willie Nelson tapes in search of
subversive messages.
Welcome to the USSR.
Life for natives and foreigners alike in
the Soviet Union had its well-chronicled
problems, including cramped quarters,
quarrelsome neighbors and substandard
plumbing. Everyone in my group had read
the standard works on life in the USSR,
secretly confident that the authors had
exaggerated the difficulties.
What we were actually in for was much
worse — in fact, the only phrase that
adequately described the living situation
was indoor camping. When we arrived at
our dorm, which we later learned had once
been a brothel, the dilapidated staircase
reeked of urine. The mold-covered shower
room was a shock: If you dropped your
washrag on the floor, it would stay there.
The toilets were disgusting — only half of
them ever worked and presented interesting
challenges when they did.
The women discovered that the USSR
did not prioritize the production of sanitary
products when they beheld both toilets and
wastebaskets overflowing with bloody rags
and cotton every morning. The men had to
cope with disappearing toilet seats. Strong
thighs were always in order.
The rooms themselves did not resemble
the Ritz. My room was smaller than most,
housing just one Soviet and one Ameri-
can roommate and me. It brought to mind
a large closet, with extremely high ceilings
accentuating the narrowness. It was inter-
sected by a long clothesline, which usually
featured someone’s wet clothing — wash-
ing machines were unheard of — which, in
turn, obscured our view when we sat down
on one of the beds.
Our room offered one additional
so-called advantage — a view of the
surrounding neighborhood. Across
the street there was a seedy bar, which
disgorged its patrons nightly at 10 p.m. in
various stages of inebriation. Sometimes
drinking partners would go down in a heap
with a misplaced foot on the icy street.
Then they would begin cursing and fight-
ing, bringing on the police and creating a
lively street scene for our nightly amuse-
ment.
The cafeteria demonstrated that if you
live to eat in some countries, you ate to live
in the USSR. Breakfast featured kasha,
a milk-based oat cereal, with a cutlet of
mystery meat. The lunch and dinner cooks
substituted potatoes or rice for kasha —
sometimes — with filet of mystery meat.
Fish turned up occasionally on the
menu, but you wondered about it when
recalling the odor of gas wafting up from
the holes in the ice-encrusted Neva river.
Some of us swore off seafood altogether
when a group member held up a piece of
sole with what looked like a malignant
tumor protruding from its left side.
If the food was questionable, the cafete-
ria was … colorful.
The cooks had a soft spot for cats, we
noticed. They could be seen wandering
around on the cutting boards inside the
kitchen, or crouched expectantly at diners’
feet, or walking empty tables to pick at
leftovers. If you didn’t find the cats amus-
ing, you could wait for the dishwasher to
appear.
We didn’t know her real name, so she
became George Burns for us thanks to her
centenarian visage, thick black glasses,
raspy voice and canny skill in maneuver-
ing the dish cart through unruly crowds of
students. All she was missing was a Cuban
cigar to make the analogy complete. And
then there was Nina Petrovna, the Pavlova
of the potatoes. She would sing and dance
as she served our food.
Clearly, Soviet musical theater had
missed a great talent when she opted for
cafeteria service.
Winston Churchill famously described
the USSR as “a riddle, wrapped in a
mystery, inside an enigma.” We could only
agree after our first few weeks. How could
the country responsible for Sputnik and the
first man in space settle for such disorderly,
even primitive, living conditions?
Answers to that question and many
others awaited as we continued our journey
into Soviet life.
———
Brigit Farley is a Washington State
University professor, student of history,
adventurer and Irish heritage girl living
in Pendleton.
YOUR VIEWS
Spencer a great
role model for children
I would like to throw my support for
Briana Spencer who is running for Pend-
leton School Board Position 7. Having
coached high school sports and worked
with schools for over 20 years, I have
never seen anyone more dedicated to help-
ing our children than Briana.
She is very passionate about helping
improve students well being, school expe-
rience, and overall quality of life. I have
seen this first hand with her work at the
Nixyaawii Community School Board.
Briana is a very strong and intelligent
woman who has been a great example for
my daughters and would be a tremendous
asset for the Pendleton School Board.
Jeremy Maddern
Pendleton
Spencer is a
woman of action
I write this letter as a show of support to
Briana Spencer on her goal of being elected
onto the Pendleton School Board, Position
7. Additionally, this letter is to show appre-
ciation for Briana.
Briana is an active member of this
community, even during the times of
shutdowns and closures. There is an aura
of determination that surrounds Briana.
Briana wants to ensure those attending
school in the Pendleton area are able to get
LETTERS DEADLINE FOR MAY 18 ELECTIONS
The East Oregonian does not run endorsements of more than 400 words.
The East Oregonian will institute a deadline for letters to the editor, so we can be fair with
all the letters we receive and allow for responses before Election Day, if necessary.
We run local letters of endorsement on a first-come, first-served basis. Please submit
your endorsement letters to the editor by 5 p.m. on Friday, May 7. You can email them to
editor@eastoregonian.com, or mail them to East Oregonian, c/o Andrew Cutler, 211 S.E.
Byers Ave., Pendleton, OR 97801.
We will publish our last letters on Saturday, May 15. Any letters received after the deadline
will not run. Election Day is May 18.
the most out of their academic venture.
From preschool students to the high school
students, Briana has their best interest on
her mind and in her heart. I truly believe in
Briana’s ambitions. Briana is a woman of
action.
I believe, the energy Ms. Spencer has is
contagious, and her spirit and will to work
hard during challenging times is inspir-
ing. Briana is strong and is attempting to
use any avenue she can to give back to the
community — something I hope inspires
other young adults to take strides in better-
ing this area in the future.
To the readers who find this piece, go out
and vote to determine who should be on the
school board. Vote to show your support
for the students going through school. The
children in school currently have an uphill
battle after having to adapt to school being
closed down for a long while.
As a PHS graduate, as a community
member, and as a supporter of the kids, I
am in full support of Briana Spencer being
elected to the Pendleton School Board,
Position 7.
Boots Pond
Pendleton
Spencer helped
me find my voice
Briana has always been an accepting
and kind person. She was one of the people
to come out and accept me and has helped
me a lot with my activism. She takes time
to sit down and listen to a problem and
concern and does whatever it takes to fix it.
She has helped a lot to use my voice
and understand as someone who is part of
LGBT community. I’ve always supported
her; she is a mentor, friend, and family that
I cherish.
Maxwell Maddern
Pendleton