SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, O CTOBER 17, 2018 | 5A
Siuslaw News
Community Voices
Natural Perspective — Going Batty
“scary” creatures like black cats,
spiders or ravens. However,
many of the holiday’s animal
icons get a bad rap in real life —
and that’s especially true for bats.
Perhaps because of their noctur-
nal nature, and Bram Stoker cer-
tainly didn’t help either, bats are
widely misunderstood.
Despite popular notions, bats
are not rodents. As the world’s
only flying mammal, they’re
members of their own group,
By Emily J. Uhrig, Ph.D
Chiroptera, which means “hand
Special to Siuslaw News
wing.” This name refers to their
ith Halloween near, deco- wings being formed by thin
rations everywhere sport skin stretched across elongated
W
finger bones similar to those
in our hands. The claw on the
wing’s upper edge, which helps
with grasping, is actually their
thumb.
Images of bats as blood con-
noisseurs are also mostly mis-
placed. While blood-drinking
bats do exist, their feeding
habits are more mundane than
Dracula’s. Real vampire bats,
found in Central and South
America, are tiny creatures that
don’t suck blood, but rather lap
it up much like a puppy.
Blood meals, however, are
limited to only a few species;
most bats feed on insects, fruit,
or nectar.
Oregon’s 15 bat species are
all insect eaters. Their taste for
bugs makes them useful visitors
to yards and gardens, yet their
role in pest control tends to be
underappreciated. Instead, bats
themselves are often seen as
pests, particularly when roost-
ing in barns or attics, which is
common this time of year with
weather becoming cooler.
Bats do sometimes carry
diseases, but transmission to
humans is fairly rare, usually
occurring only through close
contact with bats or their drop-
pings. In large numbers, bats
make quite a mess, so remov-
ing them from buildings is rea-
sonable, but best done non-le-
thally. Bats can be evicted by
simply waiting until they leave
then sealing up the structure to
prevent their re-entry.
About half of Oregon’s bats
have populations considered
in need of conservation ef-
forts. They are important eco-
system members, but bats are
often victims of habitat loss,
frequently due to human ac-
tivities. Additionally, bats are
threatened by an emerging fun-
gal disease called White Nose
Syndrome. While humans are
seemingly unaffected, the dis-
ease is deadly to bats and has
caused dramatic population
declines in the eastern U.S. Re-
cently, the disease was found in
Washington and, unfortunate-
ly, will likely travel to Oregon
despite prevention efforts.
So, enjoy your spooky hol-
iday decorations, but look be-
yond the bats’ traditional rep-
utation. They’re more than just
holiday icons and can really
use some support.
Siuslaw Valley Fire & Rescue — Man, we’re really running some calls!
A
Capt. Pete “Boa” Warren
Special to Siuslaw News
t 2:19 a.m. on Sept. 16, Siu-
slaw Valley Fire and Rescue
was tapped out to its 500th call of
the year.
So, what’s so significant about
the number 500, well other than
that after race milk drenching in
Indianapolis?
Well fine folks, that’s how many
calls we’ve been tapped out to this
year. That being the case, we’ve
already exceeded the amount of
calls we’ve ever done in any single
year.
Last year’s new high was 495 —
and we still have a quarter to go!
When do you think we get the
most calls? You’ll find out at the
bottom of this article.
Most of our calls (47 percent)
are rescue calls of some type.
Those include assisting West-
ern Lane Ambulance District on
medical calls, search and rescue,
water rescue, technical rescue,
dunes calls and motor vehicle in-
cidents.
Fire prevention has been doing
a great job, as our actual fire calls
have dropped from 2017’s 8.9 per-
cent fires versus 6.4 percent fires
so far this year. Then again, it’s
getting cooler already, so …
Our normal on-scene response
time from being called out is 8.5
minutes, with about seven re-
sponders jumping in their rigs.
When there’s truly a rip-roaring
fire, we’re averaging 14 firefight-
ers showing up to put the wet on
the red. It would be great to have
20, and that’s one reason we’re
getting the word out — come on
in and volunteer!
People aren’t driving any bet-
ter either, in fact, as of Sept. 26,
vehicle collisions have increased
to 113 from last year’s total of 80.
That’s higher than the national
average for a small town like ours.
Slow down y’all!
We’ve been running a lot of
Duty Chief (DC) calls this year.
Our Duty Chief program has re-
ally taken off since we added four
of our volunteer captains to the
program. This relieves a lot of
stress on our responding crews as
they don’t have to respond when
one DC can take care of the issue.
Oh, don’t forget something else
your department does: Training.
There are numerous training
events during a week. This adds to
the amount of time your Siuslaw
Valley firefighters are dedicating
to the protection of our area.
What did I forget? Oh yeah,
I recommend chilling out on a
lounge around 4 p.m. on Satur-
day as it’s rock’n in Florence and
there’s a good chance you’ll hear
sirens at this time. According to
the numbers, Saturdays are when
we get our most calls.
Military Heritage Chronicles — Umatilla Military Facility
Cal Applebee
Special to Siuslaw News
I
recently hauled home yet an-
other derelict old military jeep
that brought back some child-
hood memories, and caused me
to re-discover an iconic Oregon
military facility I had nearly for-
gotten. The jeep is a 1952 M38A1,
which was originally purchased
in 1975 by a family in Hermiston,
Ore., at a surplus auction at the
then Umatilla Chemical Depot.
When I was a kid in junior and
high school, I made numerous
trips, some by car and some by
Greyhound, along I-84, shuffling
back and forth between my real
parents in Tillamook and my
foster family in Idaho. That road
trip always went through the area
around Hermiston, including the
Umatilla Indian reservation and
the Umatilla Chemical Depot.
As with many of the military
facilities created around the Unit-
ed States in preparation of World
War II, it was established in 1941,
encompassing slightly more than
17,000 acres. Its original mission
was to store and maintain a vari-
ety of military items, from blan-
kets to ammunition.
At the height of WWII, an un-
explained nighttime explosion
of 265 500-pound bombs at one
of the huge underground vaults,
called igloos, took the lives of six
people. The resulting crater is
still there; the Army never deter-
mined the cause of the accident.
In 1962 the mission changed
with the addition of chemical
weapons, including nerve agents
and a blistering agent often re-
ferred to as mustard gas. Al-
though these chemical weapons
were stored in our backyard for
decades, they were never official-
ly used, and constituted 10 per-
cent of the nation’s stockpile of
such weapons.
Environmental as well as hu-
manitarian concerns grew in the
1970s and led Congress to direct
the U.S. Army in 1985 to destroy
the entire U.S. chemical agent
stockpile, beginning a process
that would take decades itself
to accomplish. In 1994, the base
was scheduled for closure, but it
wouldn’t be until 2004 that dis-
posal actually began, and 2017
when it was considered complet-
ed.
In late 2017/early 2018, the
Oregon Military Department
became the owner of 7,500 acres,
to be transformed into “Camp
Umatilla,” a state facility de-
signed to serve numerous roles
for various elements of the Or-
egon National Guard. Roles will
include training facilities for both
Oregon National Guard as well as
other military branches, shoot-
ing ranges for both public as well
as law enforcement agencies,
and the Guard’s 249th Regional
Training Institute.
Despite the vintage nature of
the aging facility and its infra-
structure, the Oregon Military
Department plans to preserve a
historical district, which will in-
clude a chunk of concrete from
the tragic 1944 igloo explosion,
with some public access as well.
Like so many other hidden
gems around our State, this is just
one more example of the state’s
rich military heritage — and it
appears we will eventually get to
visit and enjoy this one.
And yes, when its finished, my
vintage jeep will carry the mark-
ings of the Umatilla Chemical
Depot.
The Oregon Coast Military
Museum is located on Kingwood
Street adjacent to the Florence
Municipal Airport, and is open
from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday
through Sunday. You can learn
more about military heritage by
visiting the museum online at
oregoncoastmilitarymuseum.com.
Notes from the Siltcoos — The importance of being less earnest
By Barry Sommer
Special to Siuslaw News
A
s humans we have, despite
ourselves, blurred the line
between want and need. Our con-
sumer culture tells us what we
“want” and then goes about laying
out the details as to the “how” of
the “want.” You know, low inter-
est or no interest for a year, free
delivery, no payment until next
year (which always seems to pop
up in November), your choice of
colors and styles or my favorite,
the deal where for the one price
you get two, just pay a separate
handling and postage fee. I mean
really, it’s as if they don’t know we
know that in the end we will pay
for two items in full, hidden fees
and charges notwithstanding.
Us ruralites are just as prone
to this siren song of want as our
city dwelling cousins, but instead
of, oh let’s say a new BMW or dog
sweater, we here in the sticks tend
to be drawn to things like glitter
finish bass boats, a new hunting
trailer and “Oh, I gotta have that
four-seater quad with electric
steering and a turbo.”
Sure, we sign on the dotted
line and snatch the keys from the
salesman’s hand and run (skip,
actually) to our new toy and do
doughnuts in the parking lot be-
fore the engine is warmed up, yet
in that fleeting rush of endorphins
we forget that fleeting it is — just
a temporary flood of brain chemi-
cals that justifies our spending the
kids’ inheritance.
Let’s not fool ourselves. In this
laissez-faire theater that we all
agree to be actors in, being the
good consumer means our “want”
is the fuel that drives the engine of
business (hat-tip to Harvey Mack-
ay.) It’s not the everyday costs of
living that keeps everything afloat,
that figure is pretty much a con-
stant. It’s the “want” spending that
really drives our headlong rush
towards the belief that the more
we spend the more we save, and
the greater and greater need to
find somewhere to store the stuff
acquired because of all the money
we saved.
Kind of silly if you ask me.
When I lost a long-time job to
the follies of the financial collapse
of ‘09, I had to make some hard
decisions regarding lifestyle. Not
so hard I found out, if one has no
emotional attachments to their
things. And therein lies the rub.
Pride of ownership, especially
after spending many Benjamins,
creates for most an emotional at-
tachment. Our hard work and the
savings build-up enables the pur-
chase of that thing we want, and
darn it if we don’t treat it almost
as a child, loved and protected as
well as susceptible to our whims
and desires. It is no longer just
an inanimate object; it is a reflec-
tion of who we are. Look at me, I
have this, isn’t it cool and trendy?
Like having children attached to
retractable leashes (you’ve seen
them at the supermarket) we dis-
play but keep close, we don’t want
anything to happen to our new
thing but we are proud as punch
to show it off. Doesn’t matter if it
rolls, floats, glitters, flashes, spar-
kles or lets food slide out with no
sticking, we are completely sold
on what it will do for life and we
willingly accept the emotion-
al responsibility of ownership.
Otherwise, why would we throw
a fit when the almost new thing
doesn’t work like we were told it
should?
The ease with which we can
buy things today plays a very im-
portant part in determining how
many things of want we have. Pay-
Pal, Google wallet, MasterPass,
any manner of online payment
options provide the greenback an
easy avenue from A to B. Since the
movement of little green pieces of
paper is quickly being replaced
with digital dots and dashes me-
morialized within small pieces of
plastic, our concept of the value of
money has changed.
If we had to use real paper
money for transactions instead
of digital plastic, how we think
about what we want versus what
we need would, I believe, slow us
down. Hopefully, enough to allow
for introspection on the question,
“I want it but do I really need it?”
There are things we absolute-
ly need — food, shelter, clothing,
transportation and the ancillar-
ies that go with each. Without
these, we cease to exist. These cost
money. We pay the asking price
because those are our needs. We
complain, but we endure the cost
of life.
For me, and I hope for many of
you, those things that satisfy the
want are comprised of that which
is simple. I’ll let John Burroughs
speak:
“To find the universal elements
enough; to find the air and the
water exhilarating; to be refreshed
by a morning walk or an evening
saunter ... to be thrilled by the stars
at night; to be elated over a bird’s
nest or a wildflower in spring —
these are some of the rewards of
the simple life.”
We live, work and play in one
of God’s most beautiful places
on earth. Just look around. Ev-
erything we could want, family,
friends and a life worth living, is
right in front of us.
It couldn’t be simpler.
Us TOO Florence — Behind the headlines October
By Bob Horney
Special to Siuslaw News
I
f you think the information
and recommendations available
for men to decide whether to be
screened for prostate cancer with
the PSA blood test is confusing,
you are absolutely right. And, if
you thought it couldn’t get worse,
guess again — and follow along.
The only information I intended
to write about this month (until I
received the October HOTSHEET)
was a retrospective cohort study
done by Dr. Paul F. Alpert, M.D.,
Department of Urology, Kaiser
Permanente Medical center, San
Rafael, Calif.; Department of Urol-
ogy, University of California San
Francisco School of Medicine. The
headline that caught my eye was:
“New Evidence for the Benefit of
Prostate-specific Antigen Screen-
ing: Data From 400,887 Kaiser Per-
manente Patients.”
This was a study of 400,887 men
under age 80, with no history of
prostate cancer, who had PSA test-
ing at Kaiser Permanente Northern
California in 1998 through 2002,
with a follow-up of 12 to 16 years.
The objective of Dr. Alpert’s
study was to see, first, if prostate
cancer screening with the PSA
is beneficial in reducing prostate
cancer mortality, and if so, to de-
termine the optimal screening in-
tervals and age groups benefiting
from screening.
The results of his study showed
that PSA screening did, in fact,
reduce prostate cancer mortali-
ty. The optimal (most effective)
screening interval was — get this
— annually. When used with men
ages 55 to 74, it reduced mortality
64 percent. Wow! With these same
men, if the screening interval was
18 to 24 months, reduced mortal-
ity dropped to 54 percent. At 2 or
3 year screening, it dropped to 46
percent, losing its statistical sig-
nificance. The study showed no
screening benefit at any interval for
men under age 55.
Dr. Alpert stratified the study
group into six groups based on
the PSA screening interval: 12 to
18 months, 18 to 24 months, 2 to
3 years, 4 to 9 years, and no prior
PSA test. He also categorized the
patients into seven groups based
on age: younger than 50, 50 to 54,
55 to 59, 60 to 64, 65 to 69, 70 to
74, and 75 to 79. Of the 400,887
men in the study, 8,542 had a bi-
opsy-proven prostate cancer diag-
nosis during the 5-year study pe-
riod. During the 12 to 16 years of
follow-up, 770 of those diagnosed
died of prostate cancer, 2,512 died
from other causes and 5,260 re-
mained alive.
The study also showed a reduc-
tion in all-cause mortality of 24
percent.
This Kaiser Permanente study
had me feeling pretty good … and
then along came my monthly sup-
ply of the Us TOO HOTSHEET.
This monthly newsletter features
current published articles that
provide important prostate can-
cer information. Us TOO CEO,
Chuck Strand, started his cover
page with a personal note, “You’ll
notice a controversial article
about the value of PSA screening
on page one.”
Going to page 1, there it was,
a new systematic review and me-
ta-analysis proclaiming “Prostate
Cancer Screening Has No Effect
on Overall Mortality.” In addi-
tion to having no effect on overall
mortality, the article also states
that screening with a PSA blood
test leads to only a small reduction
in disease-specific mortality. This
corresponds to one fewer deaths
per 1,000 men screened over 10
years. These results were pub-
lished online Sept. 5 in the British
Medical Journal.
Reading further: Routine test-
ing for prostate cancer is not rec-
ommended for most men because
the benefit is small and uncertain
and there are clear harms, say a
panel of international experts.
This international panel consisted
of clinicians, men at risk of pros-
tate cancer, and research method-
ologists who reviewed five ran-
domized controlled studies, one
of which was the U.S. PLCO.
With the above differing results
having been published, what is a
guy supposed to believe? To sort
it out, I suggest attending an Us
TOO Florence Prostate Cancer
Education/Support Group meet-
ing, held twice a month — the
second Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m.
with Dr. Bryan Mehlhaff and the
third Tuesday lunch from noon to
1 p.m. with Dr. Roger McKimmy
— both at Ichiban Restaurant.
Come with questions — leave
with answers.