KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Editor/Senior Reporter
TuesdAy, AugusT 16, 2022
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Volunteers
help make
Umatilla
County Fair
a success
A
big shout out to the volunteers
who made the Umatilla County
Fair such a success this year.
More than 400 people converged on
the fair to lend a hand, and Fair Manager
Angie McNalley summed up their influ-
ence when she said the fair could not
happen without them.
The volunteers run the gamut in
terms of professions, and they are active
throughout the year to help make the
county event a success.
We’ve often used this space to call for
more volunteerism in the community
because we know how big a difference
one or two or even a dozen people can
make in their community.
The fair is a great example of what
occurs when like-minded people get
together and help out — not for monetary
gain but to just set a positive example.
In this world we live in, we need more
positive actions rather than fewer, so it
is always heartening to see what occurs
when volunteers arrive.
Volunteering to help your community
— in such venues as the fair — is the best
way to make a positive impact. But the
fair isn’t the only place where local resi-
dents can help out. There are an array of
causes and agencies and nonprofit orga-
nizations that could use assistance from
volunteers.
The best thing about becoming a
volunteer is how easy it is. That ease
means someone can step into a volun-
teer spot and begin to make a difference
immediately.
We frankly need more volunteers in
our community. The need for assistance
for a plethora of issues only grows with
each passing month.
The Umatilla County Fair by almost
any measure proved to be a rous-
ing success. We think that is excellent
because we believe in county fairs. They
are a great gathering place every summer
where children and adults can find enter-
tainment and see the excellent work of
those who are in FFA and 4H.
The volunteers make a difference,
but without the great work of McNalley
and her staff throughout the year the fair
wouldn’t be what it is every year. McNal-
ley and her group remain dedicated
servants to the fair and that pays real
dividends for the residents of Umatilla
County. Without a successful fair our
county would lose something essential
and timeless.
EDITORIALS
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.
LETTERS
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:
editor@eastoregonian.com,
or via mail to Andrew Cutler,
211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton, OR 97801
Enter the quantum realm
ALEX
HOBBS
PASTURES OF PLENT Y
hen the first images of the
James Webb telescope were
released, our collective reac-
tion was — justifiably so — awe. A
point in time in which we could finally
visualize the vast, recondite reaches of
deep space. Gossamer clouds of nebu-
lae unfolding before us, stellar nurser-
ies where protostars accumulate dust
against an infinite backdrop.
An occurrence in which if you stop
to think about the consequences of
the photos for too long, you’re likely
to spiral into a state of irreversible
hyper analysis of universal founda-
tions. Luckily, I have already started
to spiral for everyone.
In the first half of the 20th century,
scientists began to unspool the very
core of the universe. Men such as
Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg and
Erwin Schrodinger peered into the
subatomic world and saw chaos. The
quantum realm. Derived from the
Latin phrase for “how much,” quan-
tum physics and its subatomic parti-
cles are not governed by classical
Newtonian physics.
An atom, the foundation of all life,
is not beholden to the same forces as
our human bodies. Like Schroding-
er’s famous feline thought experiment,
they are able to simultaneously exist
and not exist. In other words, they
are able to inhabit multiple truths in a
single moment.
But the consensus in the field of
W
quantum physics, despite the unimag-
inably esoteric nature of its subject,
is that it is just a tool for calculating
probabilities. That the quantum realm
is merely an abstraction of a mathe-
matical proof.
The fact that a wave function — an
infinite collection of numbers used to
predict the location of an electron that
essentially disappears when measured
— doesn’t instill the same bewilder-
ment in the very brains who made the
discoveries is even more strange than
subatomic behavior itself. Because to
me, there is nothing more delightful
than forging connections.
Despite the fact that a consider-
able number of quantum physicists
posit that reality as we understand it
is incompatible with the subatomic,
humans are not so unlike the quantum
realm (abstraction or not). While my
body may be limited by the constraints
of Newtonian physics, our brains
seem very much capable of behaving
subatomically.
That is to say, capable of holding
multiple truths and understanding the
paradoxical milieu in which we’ve
found ourselves. The irony that our
very human minds have such a diffi-
cult time grasping the weft of quantum
mechanics is not lost on me. We are
conceived, born, live and die with such
little understanding of our universe
that it underscores the true duality of
human nature.
We are made of the same atoms
borne of billowing nebulae yet fail to
contextualize our place in the universe
day in and day out.
Take, this as an example: The
Federal Bureau of Investigation’s
“siege” of Mar-a-Lago. An event in
which Facebook patriots all over the
country have rallied to the aide of our
former president. Orbiting him like
frenzied electrons around a bloated
nucleus. Over the past few days,
we’ve witnessed a fantastic display
of mental gymnastics from the lock-
her-up faction such as Marjorie Taylor
Greene’s “Defund the FBI” call to
action. But one refrain that has been
on repeat is that if the FBI can “do
this” to a former president, “imagine
what they can do to you.”
I listen to Trump’s children say this
with cynical bemusement because I
am wondering in what reality does the
FBI not already do this to citizens?
Certainly, no one person, president
or not, should be above the law. And
while this is a spectacular moment in
history in which the Venn diagram of
“incompetence” and “malevolence” is
an overlapping circle, liberals would
do well to pause before fan-girling
the feds. Remember that an atom can
theoretically exist in two places at
once.
And politics aside, often our most
compelling moments occur when we
accept multiple truths. That often
certainty and uncertainty can coexist.
That we can hold these contradictions
close to our chests without ripping
any fabric of space-time. That we can
rid ourselves of the black-and-white
constraints of cultural hegemony if
only we remember that all around us
are inconceivably tiny particles, irrev-
erent to the laws of classical physics.
That we can choose not to choose.
———
Alex Hobbs is a former educator
turned full-time homeschooling mom. She
has a degree in political science.
YOUR VIEWS
B2H will allow Idaho to use
Oregon’s cleaner energy sources
Many, many years ago when Idaho Power proposed and
pushed hard for the B2H line to come through Oregon to serve
Idaho only, locals rose up against it and I was active in that
cause. So many issues and many negative impacts have still
not been addressed or resolved. At that time, I was in Merid-
ian, Idaho, often and was taken aback by the mass develop-
ment of large single-family homes on large lots often with
mandated large lawns, no solar, heavy electric use and little
sign of thinking about the future.
Reading many articles, Idaho does seem to be more conser-
vation oriented, and yet with a date of having all clean energy
by 2045 they are still behind Oregon, with our goal for clean
energy of 2040. Much of what Idaho is counting on is using
our cleaner electric sources by putting a 300-mile power line
through Oregon private and public lands.
So many Oregonians have spent so much time and money
fighting this proposal. In my opinion, Idaho has been so behind in
protecting the environment that they have not earned any right to
sabotage Oregon and so many special areas close to La Grande.
We are now, with good reason, subject to having our prop-
erties designated high risk for fire, which could impact insur-
ance costs. some of the B2H line construction and equipment
will be in hard-to-access forested areas. Will it impact fire
ratings? Do we really need another higher risk project tear-
ing up our state mostly for Idaho’s benefit and little that helps
Oregon? Not in my opinion.
Maxine Hines
La Grande
Not a single Republican voted in favor of
the American Rescue Plan
Regarding Echo’s water and waste water system, I’m glad
you’re getting the millions of dollars in funding to solve your
water problem.
But I want to remind you that not one Republican voted in
favor of the American Rescue Plan but are now trying to take
credit for it. Let’s be clear it was initiated by President Joe
Biden and not one single Republican voted for it.
Can you thank the president and Democrats for your
windfall?
Richard Kelly
Umatilla