4A |
WEDNESDAY EDITION
| MAY 29, 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
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Publisher, ext. 318
Editor, ext. 313
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DEADLINES:
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Letters to the Editor policy
Recognizing teachers at graduation is fi tting
tribute to seniors, school district
Admittedly, I had a bit of
a crush on my high school
College Prep English teach-
er, Mrs. Fillers, who was
young, inventive and ex-
tremely encouraging to the
only freshman in her class
of 25 juniors and seniors.
The first semester was
a breeze as she allowed us
to explore creative writing
with few boundaries Each
week, along with our read-
ing assignments, we were
given a new list of 20 vo-
cabulary words — usually
with a theme — that we
were required to use in a
story.
Most of my classmates
crammed as many of those
words into a single sentence
as they could (The decrepit,
cantankerous, ill-tempered
man raised his wrinkled,
weathered, sallow fist in a
show of furious and frus-
trated rage over losing his
car keys...”)
I, on the other hand,
fleshed out 15 to 20 pages
of handwritten storyline,
usually with the last five to
six pages devoid of vocabu-
lary words.
I got good grades but, as
you can probably imagine,
was rarely asked to read
my stories in class due to
the time constraints of a
45-minute period.
Throughout that semes-
ter, I noticed strange red
marks on my pages with
comments like “incomplete
sentence,” “check spelling,”
“punctuation needs work.”
As a result, I’d get “A+”
for content and creativity
but “D” for mechanics.
My thinking was, Who
cares about mechanics
when the story is so great?
Mrs. Fillers did.
As we headed into the
had never received before.
Well, not for English.
At that point, I had
learned our family was
moving to Florence and I’d
be attending a new school
whose name I couldn’t yet
From the Editor's Desk
Ned Hickson
second semester, she took
me aside and told me that
raw talent wasn’t enough,
and that I needed to learn
the tools of writing if I
wanted to get serious.
She described my writ-
ing as something similar
to chainsaw sculpture: Cre-
ative and interesting, but it
would never be Michaelen-
gelo unless I learned the
tools needed to smooth
the edges into something
seamless.
I listened carefully to her
advice and then, like any
teenager, disregarded ev-
erything except that part
about having “raw talent.”
Surely that was enough.
However, in the weeks
ahead I realized it wasn’t
nearly enough in the eyes
of Mrs. Fillers. I began
to fail miserably on my
assignments, which had
shifted from creativity to
the analysis of writing pros
and recognizing the me-
chanics and devices used
by writers like Shakespeare,
Hawthorne, Hemingway,
Emerson...
...Blah, blah, blah.
When the final grades
were given, I went from
having a crush on my
teacher to being crushed
by her and the “F” on my
report card — something I
tential.
Mr. Danielson taught me
about essay format and the
need to have a logical be-
ginning, middle and end
— and that energy and en-
thusiasm are wasted if they
aren’t given a direction that
readers can follow.
He remains one of my fa-
vorite and most influential
teachers. But I also know,
if not for Mrs. Fillers’ will-
ingness to teach me an even
more important lesson
about writing, I may not
have recognized what Mr.
Danielson had to offer me.
A few weeks ago, students
at Siuslaw High School pe-
titioned to have teachers
hand them their diplomas
rather than school board
members, breaking with a
long-standing tradition.
I applaud the students
for taking that initiative,
and also the board and ad-
ministration for recogniz-
ing the students’ desire to
share that moment with the
teachers who helped guide
them to this point in their
lives.
And, in the case of one
newspaper editor, contin-
ues to guide them long af-
ter.
It’s a fitting tribute in
recognizing the educators
in our community whose
influence in our lives goes
well beyond our time in the
classroom.
And Mrs. Fillers, if you
somehow ever read this...
Thank you for the “F”
that changed everything.
pronounce. With that in
mind, I went to Mrs. Fillers
and told her how unfair I
felt my grade was, and that
I’m sure my new school and
its teachers would be better.
To this day, I still get
knots in my stomach when
I think about what I said,
and how visibly upset she
was by my hurtful words.
My sophomore year at
Siuslaw, I was enrolled in
College Prep English once
again. For our first assign-
ment, Mr. Danielson asked
us to write an essay titled
“At My House.”
We were given no fur-
ther instruction other than
it being due the following
day. When I turned in my
five-page essay, I felt I was
off to a good start with a
teacher who would surely
overlook the petty details
of mechanics and grammar
in favor of creativity.
When he handed back
our assignments, he had
written the following com-
ment: “A+ for enthusiasm/
D+ for mechanics. What
are you trying to say with
your essay?”
It seemed there was no
escaping what I eventual-
Write Siuslaw News editor
ly came to realize were the
demands of engaged teach- Ned Hickson at nhickson@the
ers unwilling to bend at the siuslawnews.com or P.O. Box
expense of a student’s po- 10, Florence, Ore. 97439.
LETTERS
Remembering our history
and those who made it
On a somewhat overcast day at
Veterans Park, the Memorial day re-
membrance of our fallen dead was
surely solemn and somber, honor-
ing the sacred fallen heroes who
gave the “last full measure” of devo-
tion to their country.
It would be fitting and proper
to extend the short program with
words of consolation denoting not
only where we derive our freedoms
and liberty but who and what it all
means. Names such as Washing-
ton, Jefferson, Madison, Franklin,
Lincoln and Adams should be as
resplendent as the wonderful Coast
Guard ceremonies.
If we remember not who and why
we have the glorious freedoms put
together over the many millenia,
our children’s children will grow
up despising the very freedoms our
forefathers preserved and wrought.
Each generation has a responsi-
bility to light freedom’s vanguard
for all to see, especially the present
and future generations who so des-
perately need to know.
We need more words of Washing-
ton, Jefferson and Lincoln so that
we may preserve the “last best hope
of man on Earth” for future heroes.
God bless America.
—Joel Marks
Florence
holidays’ meaning is lost
This past Friday I was watch-
ing a morning show when one of
the commentators said Memorial
Day Weekend is when families and
friends get together for cook-outs to
celebrate “False Summer.”’
I was appalled in that the true
meaning of Memorial Day was
not addresses. I then realized that
most of our younger population
has a mindset of what holidays are.
Christmas is a time for a decorated
tree and presents; Easter is decorat-
ed eggs and chocolate bunnies; July
Fourth is fireworks, hotdogs and
beer.
Most do not seem able to under-
stand the true meaning of holidays
and why we recognize them.
—Win Jolley
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.
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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.
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Letters must 1) Not be a part of letter-writing
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sure any information about a candidate is accu-
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candidates based on personal experience and
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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