CHANTELLE MEYER , EDITOR
| 541-902-3520 |
The First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion or prohibit-
ing the free exercise thereof; or abridg-
ing the freedom of speech, or of the
press, or the right of the people peace-
ably to assemble, and to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances.
CMEYER @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
SEPTEMBER 4, 2021 |
Opinion
SATURDAY EDITION
| 5A
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
LETTERS
(Editor’s Note: Viewpoint
submissions on these and oth-
er topics are always welcome
as part of our goal to encour-
age community discussion
and exchange of perspectives.)
Freedom vs. Rights
“Medical freedom” does not
include the right to transmit
a very dangerous disease to
others. The Second Amend-
ment right to keep and bear
arms does not include the
right to randomly discharge a
weapon in a manner that en-
dangers others.
I fully support the “right”
of a person to choose to con-
tract COVID-19 and possi-
bly die, but a person making
that choice should isolate
themselves at home and not
endanger others by seeking
medical treatment when they
realize the consequences of
their choice.
Hospitals are dangerously
overburdened by those who
choose to contract COVID,
and choose to spread their
disease to others. We are all
much better off if the per-
sons making that dangerous
choice are banned from any
form of public contact, in-
cluding employment in the
health care sector.
While such a prohibition
might slightly reduce hos-
pital staff, it would very sig-
nificantly reduce demand for
hospital services.
— Paul Floto
Florence
Where is the “Care?”
As a newly graduated met-
allurgical engineer in 1959,
my first job was with a com-
pany called Atomics Interna-
tional, a designer and build-
er of nuclear reactors. All
engineering personnel were
required to have an Atom-
ic Energy Commission “Q”
clearance, so my first assign-
ment was to fill out a multi-
page personnel security ques-
tionnaire. They probed every
aspect of my life though, as
a student, I had little oppor-
tunity to develop any friend-
ships with the hated “Com-
mies” and, to be perfectly
honest, I don’t think I ever
learned anything that would
have been of interest to the
Commies anyhow.
I don’t recall if they asked
about my smallpox vaccina-
tion status, about the only
one available at that time.
Some of my friends whom
I had put down as person-
al references later told me
that they were visited by two
guys in dark suits who grilled
them about anything and ev-
erything they thought would
make me a security risk, in-
cluding everything having
to do with my personal life.
Invasion of privacy? What do
you think?
Since I had led an exem-
plary life, at least up to that
point, I guess they didn’t
find anything and I was soon
sporting the company “blue
badge,” an indication that I
did, in fact, have a Q clear-
ance.
Later on, I spent many years
in the defense industry aero-
space sector, which required
another scrutinization for a
secret clearance. No clear-
ance? No job. Oh well, I could
always go work in something
like a steel mill.
Which brings me to the
health care industry. The
name says it: health care. The
workers who select this as an
occupation do it because they
care about the health and
well-being of the members of
the community. Putting food
on the table is no doubt im-
portant, but for most, I am
quite sure, compassionate
care for their neighbors is
just as important, if not more
important to them.
As a consumer of health
care, like virtually 100% of
our community, when I in-
teract with caregivers, I want
to be absolutely certain that
they are taking every possible
precaution available to them
to avoid making me or my
wife worse after an interac-
tion than we were before. If
they are not willing or able
to do that, then I think they
need to reevaluate if health
“care” is the right choice for
them. I doubt there are any
local steel mills, but there
must be something more
suitable for them.
— Kenneth Janowski
Florence
Excruciating Letters
Reveal So Much
In response to Stepha-
nie Spradling’s well-crafted
Letter to the Editor, “In Re-
sponse to an Excruciating
Letter,” Aug. 11, I respectfully
disagree with “you don’t have
to print the whackos.”
Dear Editor Meyer, please
keep printing letters which
reveal the state of minds of
a few of our neighbors. How
else do we learn the extent to
which this minority is willing
to go? We don’t receive in-
vitations to their “Unite the
Right” meetings.
Four years ago, racists, an-
ti-Semites, white nationalists,
Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, and
other alt-right groups met in
Charlottesville, Va., to receive
their marching orders and
“Unite the Right.” Tragically,
they also killed one and in-
jured many others. After this
death and injuries, then-Pres-
ident Donald Trump stated,
“There are very fine people
on both sides.”
I know some of these “very
fine people.”
We have every reason to be
very concerned. It’s urgent
that we stay informed. It’s ur-
gent that we protect the right
of all citizens to vote and to
protect our country from Au-
thoritarian rule.
Which side are you on?
— Kathryn Damon-Dawson
Westlake
WEEK #7 WINNERS
TOP
5
Women
Coo Clarkson 2.66%
Arlene Biron 2.50%
Katherine Hemmens 1.30%
BETTY SCARBROUGH 0.80%
LORI COFFINDAFFER 0.75%
DUSTIN WILLIAMS 1.81%
JAMES MCKINNEY 1.79%
DIRK ANDERSON 1.48%
TOP
5
Men
BRAD HANSCOM 2.35%
Contestant
Name
Weekly
% Lost
Season
%Lost
WOMEN’S RESULTS
Coo Clarkson
Arlene Biron
Katherine Hemmens
Betty Scarbrough
Lori Coffindaffer
Linda Harklerode
Linda Goalder
Sue James
2.66%
2.50%
1.30%
0.80%
0.75%
0.62%
0.55%
0.41%
OVER
6.45%
10.94%
6.18%
7.38%
7.39%
4.85%
4.50%
4.31%
$1,000 IN
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Contestants understand that they should not participate in the contest if they have
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all other risks involved in participating in the contest, and to grant to the Siuslaw
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Guadalupe Galvan
Debbie Haring
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Alyssa Cargill
AL ROJAS 1.84%
0.36%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
-0.12%
-0.12%
-0.49%
-2.37%
4.45%
3.96%
-1.63%
5.93%
3.05%
2.89%
2.07%
0.21%
OUNDS LOST TO D
AL P
A TE
TOT
268+
MEN’S RESULTS
Brad Hanscom
Al Rojas
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Brad Koehn
David Crowell
Jim Hecker
Jerry Whiting
2.35%
1.84%
1.81%
1.79%
1.48%
1.24%
1.03%
-1.03%
-2.23%
7.26%
8.87%
8.76%
5.97%
8.34%
6.21%
1.35%
1.72%
2.86%
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Siuslaw News
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