4 A
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SATURDAY EDITION
❘ FEBRUARY 6, 2016
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
DISASTER PREP
B Y D AVE R OBINSON
Special to the Siuslaw News
O
ne of the problems with disasters is
they have no soul. They don’t dis-
criminate and they don’t care who
they hurt. As evidenced by the recent mon-
ster blizzard on the East Coast, the only
advantages you have in some instances is
your level of preparedness or level-headed
judgement.
Watching the videos of motorists strand-
ed on freeways, I am flabbergasted at why
there are miles and miles of motorists stuck
out in the weather when they had five days’
warning that this storm was on its way.
That’s how people die. That’s the reason
we have weather forecasts. With computer
models, satellite imaging and all kinds of
technology at our disposal, weather fore-
casting isn’t simply a guessing game any-
more. There is no reason to be caught
unaware with a predictable storm system.
Then, after the initial event, there are two
kinds of people, those who have been
injured (or worse) and those who have not.
The uninjured fall into two categories:
There are those who are equipped to handle
a disaster and there are those who, for one
reason or another, never thought this could
happen to them and have failed to prepare.
Of the survivors, there are assets and lia-
RYAN CRONK , EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
Opinion
YESTERDAY’S NEWS
Asset or liability
bilities. Those who have sought out training
or set about storing up supplies have just
become assets. The survivors who have nei-
ther training nor supplies are now liabilities.
They, in many cases, are a drain on the
resources, much like the injured.
The military knows when the shooting
starts; soldiers don’t necessarily panic,
rather they perform to the level of their
training. When the bullets start flying, their
programming takes over and how they have
been trained becomes their pattern of
behavior. The more intense the training, the
more “routine” the activity seems. Instead
of running wildly in a circle, a trained com-
bat soldier will get down, seek cover and
concealment and hopefully live to see
another day. All because of training.
For those trained in First Aid, coming
across a traffic accident is simply another
exercise, except now the blood is real and
so is the pain. These are the ones who
become assets in time of disaster.
We all tend to rise to the level of our
training in a crisis. Maybe it’s time to ask
yourself: What am I trained for? When’s the
last time I was pushed into a crisis? How
would I respond in a real disaster? Would I
be an asset or a liability?
Why not seek out a First Aid class? Even if
you don’t think you could ever be used in a
disaster, maybe you could be the family hero
when your charge needs something slightly
more than a Band-Aid. At least your training
in triage gives you an understanding of what
needs to go to the emergency room and what
can be treated at home.
Citizen Emergency Response Team
(CERT) training is held periodically and is
a weekend well-spent that will equip you to
be a huge asset to your community in the
event of a disaster. In fact, many jurisdic-
tions won’t even let would-be volunteers
into the disaster area without CERT valida-
tion. The attitude of the on-scene command-
ers is that someone without proper creden-
tials is simply one more liability, but a
CERT member can help lessen the load of
the full-time emergency responders.
So what will it be? Asset or liability? The
choice is yours.
______________________
Dave Robinson is the postmaster in
Bandon, Ore., and author of “Disaster Prep
for the Rest of Us.” He may be contacted at
disasterprep.dave@gmail.com, or go to
www.disasterprepdave.blogspot.com.
LETTERS
American Revolution
revisited
With all the attention being
given to the Constitution by the
occupiers at Malheur Wildlife, I am
prompted to recall the colonists
who rose up in a revolution against
the British. One of my ancestors
sided with those patriots who
fought for independence.
It is timely once again for an
in-depth look at the American
Revolution, from its outbreak at
Lexington and Concord in April
1775, until its close with the sign-
ing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783.
Lane Community College is
offering an Adult Continuing
Education course of the history of
the U.S. independence through
the Great Courses program. This
six-class winter-term series (Part
I) will cover the first 12 lectures
presented by Allen C. Guelzo,
Ph.D., the Henry R. Luce profes-
sor of the Civil War era at
Gettysburg College.
The lectures by DVD will be
followed by class discussion led
by Craig McMicken and Martha
Lehr.
The course will be held each
Wednesday from 1:30 to 3 p.m.
beginning Wednesday, Feb. 10,
and each succeeding week for six
weeks. Part II will be offered in
the spring. Call Lane Community
College for details.
Craig McMicken
Florence
No on TPP
The Trans Pacific Partnership
(TPP) is treasonous to our laws
and the constitution. The invest-
ment chapters in TPP/TTIP are
the biggest reason these deals
must be stopped because they
enable corporations invested in
fossil fuel development to contin-
ue drilling, fracking and piping
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
MOMENTS IN TIME
The History Channel
On Feb. 14, 1867, Sakichi Toyoda, whose
textile machinery company spawned the Toyota
Motor Corp., is born. In 1937, Toyota was
formed as a spinoff of his Toyoda Loom Works.
“Toyota” reportedly was considered a luckier
name than “Toyoda” and is easier to write in
Japanese characters.
On Feb. 11, 1937, after a six-week strike
by General Motors autoworkers in Michigan,
GM president Alfred P. Sloan signs the first
union contract in the American auto industry.
Among other things, GM agreed to give work-
ers a 5 percent raise and permission to speak in
the lunchroom.
On Feb. 8, 1943, Japanese troops evacuate
Guadalcanal, leaving the island in Allied pos-
session after a prolonged campaign in which an
estimated 1,600 American troops were killed.
On Feb. 10, 1962, Francis Gary Powers, an
American who was shot down over the Soviet
Union while flying a CIA spy plane in 1960, is
released by the Soviets in exchange for the U.S.
release of a Russian spy. The event was chron-
icled in the 2015 film “Bridge of Spies” star-
ring Tom Hanks.
On Feb. 9, 1971, pitcher Leroy “Satchel”
Paige becomes the first Negro League veteran
to be nominated for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In August of that year, Paige was inducted. Joe
DiMaggio once called Paige “the best and
fastest pitcher I’ve ever faced.”
On Feb. 12, 1988, in the waning days of
the Cold War, two Soviet warships bump two
U.S. Navy vessels in waters claimed by the
Soviet Union off the Crimean peninsula. A con-
frontation was defused when the U.S. ships
departed.
On Feb. 13, 1991, Sotheby’s announces
the discovery of a manuscript of “Huckleberry
Finn” by Mark Twain. The manuscript, missing
for more than a century, was found in a trunk
with some old papers.
(c) 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.
filthy tar sands.
Why should a foreign corpora-
tion like Trans Canada be given
the legal means to sue the United
States for $15 billion because
Obama decided to listen to scien-
tists and halt the Keystone
Pipeline? Why should foreign
investors take precedence over
fracking laws already in place in
the United States?
TPP would further threaten the
United States and other countries
to set climate and environmental
policies by empowering corpora-
tions to sue us over lost profits.
Who will pay for these fines? We
will with our tax dollars. And
who decides who wins? A tribu-
nal made up of corporate lawyers
on leave from their corporations.
Guess who they will find for?
The TPP is a massive corporate
power grab that favors big corpo-
rations over the American people,
widening the gap between the
haves and the have nots.
When Sen. Wyden was here
several weeks ago he said TPP
will bring more jobs. The same
was said about NAPTA. After it
passed, we lost 5 million jobs.
TPP is called NAPTA on steroids.
Just how many more jobs will be
lost if this toxic trade deal is
passed?
On Feb. 4, the Trans Pacific
Partnership trade deal was
signed. Now, Congress will have
90 days to vote yes or no with no
modifications. You can bet the
highly paid corporate lobbyists
will be thick in D.C.
We must fight it! Sen.
Merkeley and Rep. DeFazio are
voting no. Looks like Wyden may
be voting yes (he did for the Fast
Track). Please let our representa-
tives know how you feel about
their votes.
Sharon Rieke
Florence
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USPS# 497-660 Copyright 2016 © Siuslaw News
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WHERE TO WRITE
Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the National
Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Periodicals postage paid at Florence, Ore.
Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax
541-997-7979. All press releases may be sent to PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com.
Pres. Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line 503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email:
Sen.ArnieRoblan@state.or.us
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email:
rep.caddymckeown@state.or.us
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416/ 800-944-9603
541-269-2609/ 541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan (Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
West Lane County Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email:
Jay.Bozievich@co.lane.or.us