4 A
❘
WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ NOVEMBER 30, 2016
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
LETTERS
Accept the facts
I just finished reading the latest edition of the
Siuslaw News section of the Letters to the
Editor. This makes the third straight edition that
has printed only letters of complaint by those
whose candidate lost the election.
There hasn’t been a single letter from the
Republican Conservative side.
I don’t for one minute think the newspaper is
printing only the left’s tired viewpoint and dis-
carding the rest, but I don’t understand why
those on the Republican Conservatives side
don’t write more letters; it seems that only two
L ETTERS TO THE
E DITOR P OLICY
The Siuslaw News welcomes letters
to the editor concerning issues affect-
ing the Florence area and Lane
County.
Emailed letters are preferred.
Handwritten or typed letters must be
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Letters are subject to editing for
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Publication of any letter is not guaran-
teed and depends on space available
and the volume of letters received.
Libelous and anonymous letters or
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ty of Siuslaw News and will not be
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Write to:
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or three of us are expressing our thoughts.
Also, I would like to see a section of the
paper, even if delegated to the back page, with a
list of those so-called Hollywood “stars” and
politicians who actually followed through on
their promise to leave the country if President-
elect Trump defeated Hillary, which he did.
I’m confident that space would, unfortunate-
ly, remain empty.
I wish those who supported Hillary would do
as the rest of us did when President Obama was
elected in ’08 and ’12.
How many riots, acts of vandalism and
destruction took place at the hands of
Republican Conservatives?
None.
So enough with the protest marches. Accept
the facts for what they are and have another go
at it in four years. And in the meantime, please
tell educators to keep students in their seats to
learn the things their parents are paying for
instead of sending them into the streets to act
like 5 and 6 year olds having a tantrum.
Tony Cavarno
Florence
Don’t take the risk
Dec. 1 is World AIDS Day. The Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), if left untreat-
ed, leads to AIDS. According to the World
Health Organization (WHO), since the begin-
ning of the pandemic, HIV has infected more
than 70 million people worldwide and has
claimed about 35 million lives.
At the end of 2015, 36.5 million people glob-
ally were living with HIV.
As a retired nurse practitioner who spent two
decades specializing in the care of people with
HIV, I was truly saddened to learn of the cluster
of new infections here in Florence.
HIV can infect anyone who is engaging in
unsafe behaviors, such as sharing infected drug
paraphernalia or unprotected sexual activity.
Media needs to Represent
both sides
I used to read Rolling Stone magazine
because it was anti-establishment. But it lost my
respect after reading Matt Taibbi’s latest one-
sided, political propaganda piece (December
issue), which does a great injustice to someone
who many people see as a national folk hero,
President-elect Donald Trump.
Rolling Stone, like a lot of mass media out-
lets, demonstrates — and in this case even
admits — how it hasn’t represented both sides
fairly.
But I thank Taibbi for his last three para-
graphs which say it all:
“We journalists made the same mistake the
Republicans made, the same mistake the
Democrats made. We were too sure of our own
influence, too lazy to bother hearing things
firsthand, too in love with ourselves to imagine
that so many people could hate and distrust us
as much as they apparently do.
“It’s too late for any of us to fix this colossal
misread and lapse in professional caution. Now
all we can do is wait to see how much this fail-
ure of vision will cost not just us, but the public
we supposedly serve.
“Just like the politicians, our job is to listen,
and we talked instead. Now America will do its
own talking for a while. The world may never
forgive us for not seeing this coming.”
Guthrie Wilson
Florence
The First Amendment
C
ongress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion or pro-
hibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridg-
ing the freedom of speech, or of the press, or
the right of the people peaceably to assem-
ble, and to petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.
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.
John Bartlett
Jenna Bartlett
Ned Hickson
Susan Gutierrez
Cathy Dietz
Ron Annis
Jeremy Gentry
To underscore that last sentence, here are a
couple of Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
statistics that should be of particular interest in
Florence:
“In 2014, people aged 50 and over accounted
for 17 percent (7391/44,073) of new HIV diag-
noses in the United States.”
“Of the 6,721 U.S. deaths from HIV in 2014,
2610 (39 percent) were among those age 55 and
older.”
Many older people are sexually active but
come from an era when openly discussing sex-
ual issues, even with a health care provider, is
embarrassing. Widowed and divorced older
folks often date again but mistakenly believe
HIV is not an issue for them, so they are less
likely to use protection.
Women over age 50 may believe that with the
worry of unwanted pregnancy behind them,
there is no need to ask a partner to use a con-
dom.
Lack of, or misinformation, can have deadly
consequences.
Use protection.
If anyone tries to convince you that a condom
isn’t necessary, that should raise a red flag. If a
bed partner truly cares for you, why would he or
she want to put you at any risk?
Get tested together and share your results
with a new partner before you agree to unpro-
tected sex.
Get tested if your behaviors past or present
put you at risk for HIV. Become informed by
visiting reliable websites such as WHO and
CDC for accurate data.
Spread the word, not the infection.
Mary McCarthy
Florence
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