4A |
SATURDAY EDITION
| JULY 27, 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)
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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
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Letters to the Editor policy
LETTERS
Political debate vs
climate change science
A few weeks ago, Frank Williams
wrote a Letter to the Editor (“Re-
port Concludes Climate Change
Not Human-Caused,” July 17)
about a report titled “No Experi-
mental Evidence for the Significant
Anthropogenic Climate Change,”
which claimed that global tem-
peratures are controlled primarily
by cloud cover — and that only a
small part of the increased carbon
dioxide is controlled by man.
Just because one research proj-
ect came up with this conclusion
doesn’t make it true. According to
the National Oceanic and Atmo-
spheric Administration (NOAA),
natural causes can not be held
responsible for global warming.
Virtually every credible source of
scientific research from around the
world indicates that human causes
— primarily the burning of fossil
fuels — are responsible for global
warming.
In fact, over 197 international or-
ganizations agree on this point.
More than that, according to
Josef Werne, a professor of geolo-
gy and environmental science at
the University of Pittsburgh, hu-
man-caused climate change is not a
scientific debate — it is a political/
economic debate.
So yes, this is one of our most
burning issues that we must tackle.
And if you want your kids,
grandkids and great-grandkids to
have a planet to live on, we must
make drastic changes and spend
whatever it will take to reduce the
burning of fossil fuels ... which is
entirely caused by man.
—Liat Meller
Florence
Give citizens more of a
voice with public art
Given the level of negative com-
munity response to the mural
project and the Public Arts Com-
mittee’s handling of the project, it
would seem better public input is
needed.
To this end, let’s make it easier
for Florence citizens to be aware of
— and respond to — future proj-
ects being considered. Establish in-
formation points and survey sheets
at many of the public locations
around town, i.e., the post office, li-
brary, Florence Events Center, City
Hall, Chamber of Commerce, Lane
Community College, and all of the
schools. Also, publish more infor-
mation in the Siuslaw News.
Much of the work of collecting
this data could be handled by vol-
unteers at very little cost to the city.
—Bruce Jarvis
Florence
Lack of civic leadership
is an embarrassment
We all see through different eyes.
We are all going to have differing
opinions as to what is “good” or
“bad” when it comes to art.
I am neither overly pleased nor
displeased by the mural on Quince
Street. What I am pleased by is the
use of art — any art — in highly
visible public spaces.
Art, by its nature, should invite
and encourage discussion; this is a
positive thing and I’m all for more
art.
Let it be varied; let it be diverse.
But let it be.
In the end, it’s only art.
The behavior by our civic leaders
on this issue has been an embar-
rassment. I’m almost certain there
are more important issues de-
manding the level of scrutiny being
imposed here.
—Randy Curtola
Florence
The point of art is to
generate discussion
Perhaps Mayor Joe Henry
“doesn’t buy, in his heart” that pub-
lic art can be an economic boon to
our community, but future deci-
sions should be based on data and
research — not our mayor’s inter-
nal organs.
Here’s a suggestion: Enter the
phrase “economics of public art”
in your favorite internet search en-
gine. You don’t need to read the 368
million hits that Google generates,
but a sampling of the first few pages
should give you a pretty clear pic-
ture.
All of us, sometimes, extrapo-
late our personal likes to equal the
community good; e.g., “I like those
painted seals, so they’re good for
Florence. I dislike that mural, so it’s
bad for Florence.” This is both silly
and egocentric.
Every work of art will promote
discussion; that’s the point. That
discussion, in turn, points to a vi-
brancy that Florence can benefit
from, economically as well as so-
cially.
—Bruce Hadley
Florence
Need to know number of
citizens, not population
Opinion: Within U.S., the num-
ber of State House of Representa-
tives districts and the number of
electoral votes assigned to states
should be based upon citizenship,
not population.
Reason: In order to form a “more
perfect union,” our founding fa-
thers crafted a compromise for
representation of the people within
our new democracy for the execu-
tive branch, which ultimately led to
a Civil War with a huge loss of life.
About 625,000 men died in the
Civil War. That’s more Americans
than died in both World Wars, Ko-
rea and Vietnam combined. This
amounted to 2 percent of the pop-
ulation at the time, which would be
the equivalent of about 6 million
Americans dying today.
In order to form a “more per-
fect union,” Congress passed am-
mendments 13 (abolishment of
slavery), 14 (citizenship) and 15
(voter rights). In 1920, the 19th
ammendment was ratified giving
women the right to vote. Finally, in
1924, Congress passed the Indian
Citizenship act.
Will we, the people of the U.S.,
learn from our past? Hasn’t the
loss and suffering over the last 150
years been enough?
I’ve heard it said, “History does
not necessarily repeat. However, it
often does rhyme.”
Summary: The union needs to be
perfected, and the number of elec-
toral votes and number of house
districts assigned to states should
be based upon citizenship, not pop-
ulation.
Our country needs an accurate
census to inform the citizens of the
State of the Union.
As the legislative branch, Only
Congress representing its various
districts within respective states,
has the legal power to put forth the
changes necessary for our country.
Congress, citizens of the U.S.
have vested power in you — please
do your job
As a citizen, I expect it.
—Jeff Stonelake
Florence
Thanks, Florence
The Van Fans has many busi-
nesses and individuals to thank for
the success of our Ice Cream and
Pie Social on July 20 at the Flor-
ence Events Center as part of the
Power of Florence.
Because of the generosity of this
community, this very needed ser-
vice continues to survive and is
here free for patients needing radi-
ation treatment at the Willamette
Valley Cancer Center and Oregon
Urology.
The van goes to Eugene and
Springfield five days a week, 52
weeks a year (weather permitting)
and is free to all patients. All of the
Van Fans drivers are volunteers, so
we are often looking for additional
drivers.
Our thanks to BJ’s Ice Cream
for its continued support and the
donation of the ice cream for our
annual social; also, thanks to Tony’s
Garage for all of the support it gives
in providing free service on our
vans when needed; and thanks to
the Rally Squad Girls from Siuslaw
High School who gave us a cheer
and helped keep the tables cleared
and set up; thanks to all who pro-
vided raffle gifts, including Kitchen
Klutter for the beautiful gift basket;
and to the music provided by Jeff
Lovejoy.
And lastly, a big thanks to ev-
eryone in the community for your
support.
—Connie Rosenbalm
Van Fans
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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Siuslaw News readership area will only be pub-
lished at the discretion of the editor.
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As with all letters and advertising content, the
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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