4 A
❘
WEDNESDAY EDITION
❘ MARCH 17, 2018
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
Opinion
Our future depends on a generation
that is anything but silent
In a time when our
teenagers are often labeled as
addicted to the digital world
and unwilling to engage
beyond the confines of social
media, I found it inspiring and
hopeful to see the contrary
this past Wednesday as local
students joined others around
the nation in taking it upon
themselves to get involved.
In contrast, I found it dis-
heartening to see so many
people willing to criticize
students for doing so — often
based on inaccurate assump-
tions as to the purpose of the
walkout.
Ironically, much of this
criticism took place on social
media, spewed from the same
fingertips of those who rou-
tinely bemoan how the
“younger generation” is too
busy texting and tweeting to
do anything productive.
Regardless of whether you
agree with — or even know
the reasons for — the walk-
out; whether you support
tougher gun legislation or see
it as a threat to the Second
Amendment; believe it’s their
First Amendment right to
voice their opinion or merely
see it as a political ploy urged
on by far right liberals, dis-
couraging our youth from
exercising their civic duty
fosters the kind of apathy and
disengagement that led us
here in the first place.
The one common denomi-
nator among the majority of
Americans regardless of
political affiliation, right or
left, or even racist or humani-
tarian, is our frustration with
Congress and its apparent
unchecked by those they were
elected to represent.
Back in 2008, we took our
four children to a small, fam-
ily-friendly political rally
here in Florence. Our oldest
was 12. As they made finger-
printed signs and made their
way toward the sidewalk
overlooking Highway 101, I
From the Editor’s Desk
N ED H ICKSON
inability to govern beyond
special interests and self
preservation.
Since 1972, according to a
study by the Bipartisan Policy
Center, voter participation
went from nearly 61 percent
in 1968, to hovering around
an average of 53 percent,
including a low of just 49 per-
cent in 1996 — the lowest
since records began being
kept in 1828.
Without Americans willing
to voice their opinions on
issues, and then vote on those
issues as well as for those
who they believe will best
represent them, means we
have no one but ourselves to
blame for the current state of
government we now find our-
selves faced with — because
saying nothing says it all.
It says we are willing to let
our representatives operate
was proud of them for partic-
ipating in a fundamental right
established centuries ago by
our forefathers through the
U.S. Constitution.
I was glad to know that we
were doing what we could, as
parents, to raise our children
to be aware of their responsi-
bility, as citizens, to engage in
civic dialogue that ensures
everyone has a voice in our
democracy.
I will never forget the looks
on their faces as they stood
there, excitedly waving their
signs — and then watching
that excitement fade as
passers by began yelling dis-
paraging
remarks
and
obscenities from their cars.
These children, along with
dozens of others, were 8 to 10
years away from voting, yet
the individuals passing by
that day felt it was more
important to squelch the
enthusiasm of these young
Americans than it was to fos-
ter the notion of being
engaged in one of our coun-
try’s most important rights.
Our two youngest are still
in school, and both took a dif-
ferent stance on Wednesday’s
walkout; one participated and
one did not.
But both respected the
other’s decision.
As I scrolled through local
social media pages later that
day and read comments refer-
ring to the students who par-
ticipated as “Hitler youth,”
“liberal wingnuts” and other
names, it reminded me of that
day back in 2008.
Again, in many cases those
participating are too young to
vote and will be for at least a
few years or more.
Part of Wednesday’s walk-
out focused on observing 17
minutes of silence for those
who lost their lives in the
Parkland shooting tragedy.
I hope we will also remem-
ber, as Americans, that dis-
paraging the next generation
into silence would be an even
bigger tragedy for our
nation’s future.
Write Siuslaw News editor Ned
Hickson at nhickson@thesiuslaw
news.com or c/o Siuslaw News, 148
Maple St., Florence, Ore. 97439.
LETTERS
L ESS INVASIVE WAY TO
ELIMINATE INVASIVE S COTCH
BROOM
With the approach of spring and the
blossoming of the prolific and invasive
Scotch broom, I would like to suggest a
way to remove it that is somewhat dif-
ferent from the standard techniques.
This method permanently removes
Scotch broom without as much labor.
The key to this technique is the knowl-
edge that Scotch broom can generate
chlorophyll from its stems — meaning
when any part of the plant is left
exposed to sunlight, it will regrow.
That is why mowing only temporari-
ly removes the plant; it generally leaves
a few inches of the stem exposed to sun-
light, allowing it to regrows from those
few inches.
You can identify plants that have
been cut like this because they will
grow multiple stems as opposed to the
single trunks of a previously uncut
stalk.
The solution is to cut the Scotch
broom flush to the ground, leaving no
part of the plant to regrow with the help
of sunlight.
This technique can be done any time
of the year because it does not disturb
the ground and leave bare earth where
the plants can easily reseed.
You can use a variety of tools to cut
down the Scotch broom, keeping in
mind that very small plants can simply
be pulled up. For larger plants, pruners
of different sizes work on different sized
plants. When the plants are too large for
pruners, a small pole saw can work
well.
The ARS SC-EXW18 Telescoping
Pole Saw I use works excellently for
this job. It can be found on Amazon.
When cutting really large, hard, old-
growth Scotch broom, an electric chain-
saw with a long blade works well.
Excellent saws can be found right
here in Florence, and an electric saw can
be used during the dry season.
Keep in mind that a chainsaw doesn’t
allow you to cut the stalk flush to the
ground without damaging the chain. In
that case, the stub of the plant can be
covered with dirt and in order to cut off
access to sunlight; it too will not grow
then.
The cut plants, meanwhile, can be left
where they are because there is no bare
ground for the seeds to grow from.
Try this method on a test site of your
choice to determine its effectiveness.
Once you know it works, you can get
together with friends and clear large
areas of Scotch broom in half the time
and effort of uprooting them from the
ground.
Always wear gloves when working
on Scotch broom.
—Leif Danielson
Florence
B E CAREFUL WHO YOU CALL
FOR HELP
Recently, my freezer along with its
light and fan stopped working, so I
called a local electrical contractor.
He came in and I showed him the
problem. He went into the garage and
pushed a GFI switch that the freezer
was plugged into.
Everything came back on.
He then charged me $150 for pushing
a switch.
My husband passed away in
December, and I’m sure he would have
known what to do.
I didn’t, and it cost me.
Be careful who you call.
— Louise Barney
Florence
S TANDING CORRECTED
In Jared Anderson’s Letter to the
Editor “Gun Control Commentors
Should Use Real-World Context”
(March 14), I stand corrected.
I did not do my math.
Both my 9mm pistol and a semi-auto-
matic AR-15 or AK-47 would only be
able to fire about 170 rounds per minute
if one was capable of pulling the trigger
for a long period of time.
My math should have been on the fire
rate of a fully automatic assault weapon
which, by published accounts, is
approximately 1,200 rounds per minute.
In his letter, Mr. Anderson says he
owns nine AR-15 rifles. My question is:
“Why?”
And are any of them fully automatic
or equipped with bump stocks?
I am not against owning weapons
because I have owned them most of my
life. My first weapon was a pea-shooter,
then a sling shot, Daisy BB gun, single
shot 22, single shot 410 shotgun and
along the way a Ben Pearson 40-pound
semi-recurved bow.
All of them would be considered sin-
gle-shot weapons except for the BB
gun. I then had a Browning 16-gauge
shotgun that held around eight or nine
rounds, but by state law only four were
allowed so you had to put a wood plug
in.
My last gun on the list was a
Winchester 30/30 rifle.
If you exclude the pea shooter and
bow, I have shot and killed frogs,
snakes, sparrows, quail, dove, chucker,
squirrels, rabbits and a few mule deer.
I never had a need to shoot anything
requiring 1,200 or even 170 rounds per
minute.
—Win Jolley
Florence
(Editor’s note: The letter writer
mentioned above shares the same name
as Siuslaw News community reporter
Jared Anderson but is not the same per-
son.)
R ECORD NUMBER OF JOB
SEEKERS , OPPORTUNITIES AT
JOB FAIR
A sincere thanks to all those who par-
ticipated in this year’s 3rd annual
Community Job Fair held at Three
Rivers Casino Resort.
Despite the challenges of nature’s
stormy weather, more than 200 atten-
dees made employment contacts, and
participating businesses reported that
this year’s job fair brought the highest
number of actively engaged and serious
job seekers so far.
While we remain grateful that
Oregon’s unemployment rate is the low-
est since the mid-1970s, events such as
the Community Job Fair remain impor-
tant and a valuable way of marketing
businesses and assisting with their
recruitment needs — which benefits our
community.
With 45 vendors this year, we will be
looking to expand even more next year.
Thanks again to everyone who partic-
ipated.
—Rich Colton
Director of Marketing
Three Rivers Casino Resort
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
The First Amendment
C
ongress shall make no law respecting an estab-
lishment of religion or prohibiting the free exer-
cise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of
the press, or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.
USPS# 497-660
Copyright 2017 © Siuslaw News
Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the
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Ned Hickson
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Soundings, Tuesday 5 p.m.
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L ETTERS
TO THE
P OLICY
E DITOR
The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the editor
as part of a community discussion of issues on the
local, state and national level.
Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or
typed letters must be signed. All letters need to
include full name, address and phone number; only
name and city will be printed. Letters should be
limited to about 300 words. Letters are subject to
editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication
of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on
space available and the volume of letters received.
Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumen-
tative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are
unsourced or documented will not be published.
Letters containing poetry or from outside the
Siuslaw News readership area will only be pub-
lished at the discretion of the editor.
P OLITICAL /E LECTION L ETTERS :
Election-related letters must address pertinent or
timely issues of interest to our readers at-large.
Letters must 1) Not be a part of letter-writing
campaigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2)
Ensure any information about a candidate is accu-
rate, fair and not from second-hand knowledge or
hearsay; and 3) explain the reasons to support
candidates based on personal experience and per-
spective rather than partisanship and campaign-
style rhetoric.
Candidates themselves may not use the letters to
the editor column to outline their views and plat-
forms or to ask for votes; this constitutes paid polit-
ical advertising.
As with all letters and advertising content, the
newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publisher,
general manager and editor, reserves the right to
reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above crite-
ria.
Send letters to:
nhickson@thesiuslawnews.com
WHERE TO WRITE
Pres. Donald Trump
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, Ore. 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
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office
Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-
228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.gov
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
( 4 th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
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
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@
oregonlegislature.gov
State Rep. Caddy
McKeown
( Dist. 9 )
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email: rep.caddymckeown
@state.or.us
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