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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2019)
4A | SATURDAY EDITION | FEBRUARY 16, 2019 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 NED HICKSON , EDITOR | 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM Opinion The First Amendment C ongress shall make no law respect- ing an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Govern- ment for a redress of grievances. “I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800) USPS# 497-660 Copyright 2019 © Siuslaw News Siuslaw News Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the National Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Pub- lishers 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. Jenna Bartlet Ned Hickson Susan Gutierrez Cathy Dietz Ron Annis Jeremy Gentry Publisher, ext. 318 Editor, ext. 313 Marketing Director, ext. 326 Office Supervisor, ext. 312 Production Supervisor Press Manager DEADLINES: Wednesday Issue—General news, Monday noon; Budgets, four days prior to publica- tion; Regular classified ads, Monday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Monday noon; Display classified ads, Friday 5 p.m. Saturday Issue—General news, Thursday noon; Budgets, two days prior to publication; Regular classified ads, Thursday 1 p.m.; Display ads, Thursday noon; Display classified ads, Wednesday 5 p.m. Soundings, Tuesday 5 p.m. NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In Lane County — 1-year subscription, $79; 6-month in-county, $56; 10-week subscrip- tion, $25; Out of Lane County — 1-year subscription, $102; 6-month out-of-county, $69; 10-week subscription, $35; Out of State — 1-year subscription, $134; E-Edition Online Only (Anywhere) — 1-year subscription, $65. Mail subscription includes E-Edition. Website and E-Edition: TheSiuslawNews.com Letters to the Editor policy Are rising costs, scandals devaluing college degrees? While reading about the college scandal involv- ing payments by dozens of wealthy parents to William Rick Singer to assure their children’s acceptance into the upper echelons of high- er education, I had to shake my head once again at the need to overhaul our college educational system and its dependency on rising tuition and high profiles. As parents, my wife and I have been very honest with kids about the level of finan- cial support they can expect from us for college. To do this, I used my annual do- nation to our local public broadcasting station as an example. “You know how they have different levels of supporters? And how the more money you contribute, the nicer the gift they send you as a show of their appreciation for your support — like a T-shirt or really nice backpack, or if you’re a gold-level member an entire season of your fa- vorite PBS show in a special limited-edition boxed set on Blu-Ray?” Our kids nodded. “As a gift, we received a re- frigerator magnet for a show that was canceled three years ago.” Blank stares from our kids. I explained that the only free-ride scholarship we could provide will have al- ready been spent on food and their unlimited texting and data plans. My wife and I have attend- ed very helpful scholarship fairs where local community organizations provided in- formation about the many scholarships available. In ad- dition, we’ve attended work- ter much consideration and analysis, including a math- ematical formula involving median income combined with cost projections, annual inflation predictions and an old abacus I found at a garage sale, I was able to determine what I believe is the biggest financial challenge facing students and their families when it comes to continuing their education beyond high school: Colleges cost too much. In fact, if I didn’t know From the Editor's Desk Ned Hickson shops discussing everything from how to apply for federal education grants, to tips on interviewing and properly filling out scholarship appli- cations. What we discovered about the scholarship application process is that there IS a lot of money out there, available from local organizations and clubs as well as county, state and federal funds specifically earmarked for college educa- tion. It’s essentially our tax dol- lars at work. And since I’ve been paying taxes nonstop since I was 17, I have no problem getting a return on my investment to help our kids and others receive a col- lege education. Here’s the problem: Af- better, I’d say colleges are be- ing run by pharmaceutical companies — which would make sense since, coinciden- tally, most of the side effects found on drug labels are the same symptoms I felt while researching annual tuition costs: headache, chest pain, shortness of breath, vision loss, vomiting, loss of appe- tite… According to the Ameri- can College Board, the aver- age annual cost of tuition at a private college is $32,405. Or if you’re looking for a real bargain, $23,893 a year to attend a public college from out of state. However, your best bet is to enroll in a community col- lege as an in-state resident, where the average tuition is $9,410. Which, by the way, is still $9,310 more than we’ll have saved up for our youngest daughter’s college fund. I should probably point out that I did not attend college and never aquired a degree. That said, it’s not that I’m advocating against receiving a college education. I’m just saying that ultimate- ly, with or without a degree, what matters most is a drive to succeed and willingness to work hard for it. No degree can guarantee success over an individual’s desire to be successful. Do I want my doctor to have a medical degree? You bet. Should a lawyer be re- quired to have a law degree? Certainly. Would I be ok with a doc- tor without a medical degree operating on the average lawyer? Most likely. The question is whether the rising cost of higher ed- ucation — coupled with the revelation that those wealthy enough to do so can buy their child’s way into a presti- gious college through acts of fraud — are devaluing those degrees and our system of higher education as a whole? Especially when compared to what can be achieved with a high degree of dedication and hard work instead — And the freedom to pursue your life’s passions debt free. LETTERS Representing Collard Lake Road to county On Tuesday, March 12, at the Lane County Board of County Commis- sioner’s meeting in Eugene, eight Col- lard Lake residents attended the meet- ing, where three spoke on our behalf from the Collard Lake Road area re- garding our ongoing issues with Col- lard Lake Road. The residents of the area would like to thank County Commissioner Jay Bozievich, County Administrator Steve Mokrohizky, Public Works Di- rector Dan Hurley and the rest of the Board for listening to and addressing our concerns. We look forward to updates regard- ing this situation. —Camille Thomsen Collard Lake Road, Florence Now is time to get involved, informed on mural I have become aware that there are — and have been — opportunities to be more informed about upcoming decisions per Florence City commit- tees. I must confess I didn’t pay much attention to the Siuslaw News issue of Dec. 22, 2018, which had an image of the proposed graffiti-style mural for the CLPUD building. Nor did I take an active interest in the PAC (Public Art Committee) ef- forts. I was busy with my job and other activities as many are. As I dug a bit more into the City of Florence PAC committee, I found published infor- mation that citizens of Florence need to review on the PAC’s activities (and other committees & commissions). There are other proposed “art” items to be aware of: • www.ci.florence.or.us/boardsand- commissions • www.ci.florence.or.us/bc-pac • www.ci.florence.or.us/bc-pac/ public-art-program You can also sign up for an email distribution list for the PAC as well as apply to participate in any of Flor- ence’s commissions and committees. I don’t know if there are more openings on the PAC committee or not. Now is the time to get involved, so ask if you can participate. I am sure the PAC committee mem- bers did their work diligently, but we only get to see the final choice of a small number of citizens. We just need to get more involved. According to what I have heard, there is a Facebook page with many negative comments about the pro- posed CLPUD mural. Social media is fine, but please directly tell our city council members, mayor and city manager how you feel so they can make an informed decision on wheth- er to proceed with the project. Put your comments (positive or negative) in writing, either via email or hand- written letter. A land use hearing and City Council vote on whether to proceed with the mural will be held April 1, at the FFEC at 5:30 p.m. Send in your comments to the council before that April meeting. Perhaps the citizens of Florence need to have their input as well, pos- sibly to a vote on a ballot. What I see as Portland-style graffiti art does not belong in Florence. —Don Drozdenko Florence The Siuslaw News welcomes letters to the edi- tor 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 sub- ject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of let- ters 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. Political/Election Letters: 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) En- sure 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 perspective rather than partisanship and cam- paign-style rhetoric. Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the editor column to outline their views and platforms or to ask for votes; this constitutes paid political advertising. As with all letters and advertising content, the newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publish- er, general manager and editor, reserves the right to reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above criteria. Email 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 Oregon 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 (4th 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 @oregonlegislature.gov 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
