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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 10, 2018)
4A • COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • OCTOBER 10, 2018 O PINION “I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800) The First Amendment Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridg- ing the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition their Government for a redress of greivences. Letters to the Editor Policy Th e Sentinel welcomes letters to the editor 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 subject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumentative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or without documentation will not be published. Letters containing poetry or from outside Th e Sentinel readership area will only be published at the discretion of the editor. Political/Election Letters: Celebrating National Newspaper Week A t least once a week, some 7,500 commu- nity newspapers — those with a circulation of less than 30,000 — land on porches, inside mail boxes or at local supermarkets and coffee counters across the United States. According to a survey conducted by the University of Missouri-Columbia, more than three-quarters of respondents said they read most or all of each edition of their local newspaper — with 94 percent of those people holding subscrip- tions. Locally, on Wednesday mornings, you can see the front page of The Sentinel suspended in front of faces in coffee shops, restaurants and markets around Cottage Grove are as people inform themselves about what’s hap- pening in the community — from upcoming festivals and events, to recaps of the latest board meetings and features on local issues and residents. While there is a notion that print journalism is dying, the truth is that many community newspapers are actually thriving compared to many of their large metro and national counterparts. “Community papers are doing better than many large, daily papers because they provide news coverage about things that matter to their local community that would otherwise be over- looked without them,” said Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism at the University of Kentucky. In fact, in 2017, the com- ant understanding that con- tinues to define us as a com- munity newspaper: To our readers, we are not just the newspaper; we are their newspaper. USC professor Judy Muller told the Stanford University Press that, while local jour- nalism is certainly about police blotters, obituaries, bake sales and club meet- ings, “The best community newspapers also hold local From the Managing Editor’s Desk Ned Hickson bined readership of those 7,500 non-daily newspapers was almost 20 million more than that of daily newspa- pers, with non-dailies tally- ing 65.5 million subscribers — compared to 45.5 million daily-paper subscribers. This is according to the National Newspaper Association (NNA), which also noted that 70 percent of those small non-dailies have a circulation of less than 15,000; The Setinel is among that smaller group. When I became an editor- in-chief in September 2016, I’d had the good fortune of working with three terrific editors over the past 20 years I've spent as a journalist. And while each brought their own style and focus, there has been one import- governments and institu- tions accountable by cover- ing meetings, asking ques- tions and recognizing the good as well as the not-so- good because ... if not them, then who?” While we’ve received equal amounts of accolades and criticism regarding our coverage of controversial issues ranging from housing and education, to guns and hate crime over the past year, our story meetings are underscored by the notion of “If not us, then who?” I am reminded of my first day as a journalist covering sports in November 1998 — and how intimidated I felt sitting at my desk listening to the constant sound of key- board hammering eminat- ing from behind partitions on either side of me. Twenty years later, it’s a sound that I have come to love in the same way a mechanic appreciates the sound of an engine hitting on all cylinders, or the way a music conductor savors the convergence of musical notes into a singular harmo- ny. (Keep in mind I still type with two fingers, so my con- tribution to that harmony is more like the cow bell, but still...) As we continue through National Newspaper Week (Oct. 7-13), I’d like to thank you, our readers, for sup- porting your local newspa- per. Not only with your sub- scription or weekly trip to the office to buy your copy, but also for your participa- tion and contributions — through letters, emails, phone calls and conversa- tions in our office — that help make The Sentinel one of those 7,500 non-daily community newspapers that is continuing to grow. In the words of Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Col. Edward Carrington on Jan. 16, 1787: “ Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspa- pers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hes- itate a moment to prefer the latter.” 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) Ensure any information about a candidate is accurate, 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 campaign-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 publisher, general manager and editor, reserves the right to reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above criteria. Send letters to: nhickson@cgsentinel.com or cmay@cgsentinel.com HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS Oregon state representatives Oregon federal representatives • Sen. Floyd Prozanski District 4 State Senator PO Box 11511 Eugene, Ore. 97440 Phone: 541-342-2447 Email : sen.fl oydprozanski@ state.or.us • Rep. Cedric Hayden Republican District 7 State Representative 900 Court St. NE Salem, Ore. 97301 Phone: 503-986-1407 Website: www.leg.state.or. us/hayden Email: rep.cedrichayden@ state.or.us • Rep. Peter DeFazio (House of Representatives) 405 East 8th Ave. #2030 Eugene, Ore. 97401 Email: defazio.house.gov/ contact/email-peter Phone: 541-465-6732 • Sen. Ron Wyden 405 East 8th Ave., Suite 2020 Eugene, Ore. 97401 Email: wyden.senate.gov Phone: (541) 431-0229 • Sen. Jeff Merkley Email: merkley.senate.gov Phone: 541-465-6750 C ottage G rove S entinel (541) 942-3325 Administration Jenna Bartlett, Group Publisher Gary Manly, General Manager ..................................................... Ext. 1207 gmanly@cgsentinel.com Allison Miller, Multimedia Marketing Specialist ....................... Ext. 1213 amiller@cgsentinel.com Editorial Ned Hickson, Managing Editor...............................................541-902-3520 nhickson@cgsentinel.com Caitlyn May, Editor. ....................................................................... Ext. 1212 cmay@cgsentinel.com Guest Viewpoint End-of-life choice is about compassion By Bruce Yelle End Choices Death is nothing to be afraid of no matter what your belief, we all have to do it. It’s not death but the dying that is what I and many others fear — partic- ularly for those suff ering for years with debilitating conditions and diseases. I for one do not want artifi cial measures keeping me alive past my God-given expiration date. Too much money is made by keeping people alive. Roughly 37 million baby boom- ers will turn 65 over the next decade, bringing the percentage of people aged 65 or older to 20 percent — or more than 71 million people by the year 2029. In addition, 42 percent of people who live to the age of 70 will spend time in a nursing home before they die, half of them for two years or more. Today, 1-in-9 people over age 65 suff er with Alzheimer’s. By 2050, the number of those with Alzheimer’s is expected to grow to 13.8 million. If you include other dementias, neu- rodegenerative diseases, autoimmune diseases and cancers, the number of people considering an end-of-life de- cision is going to grow exponentially. Th erefore, something needs to be done about expanding our end-of-life choices and making our end days more comfortable. A survey done a few years back of Oregon hospice and palliative care doctors and workers noted that patients that had their Death with Dig- nity Provisions in place had a much more comfortable quality of life. Just the knowledge they had that they would not have to suff er was a great comfort to them and their fam- ilies. In 2019, there will be a couple bills in front of the Oregon legislature to ex- pand Oregon's end-of-life choices. Non-profi t organizations like End Choices were created to educate Ore- gon citizens on the restrictions of the current death-with-dignity law, ad- vance directives and the need to ex- pand them. I encourage everyone to educate themselves on how they can help make Oregon more compassionate. Zach Silva, Sport Editor ................................................................. Ext. 1204 zsilva@cgsentinel.com Customer Service Mandi Jacobs, Offi ce Manager ...................................................... Ext. 1200 Legals, Classifi eds ................................................ Ext. 1200 mjacobs@cgsentinel.com Production Ron Annis, Production Supervisor ............................................... Ext.1215 graphics@cgsentinel.com (USP 133880) Subscription Mail Rates in Lane and Portions of Douglas Counties: 10 Weeks .........................................................................................$11 One year ..........................................................................................$41 e-Edition year .................................................................................$35 Rates in all other areas of United States: 10 weeks, $15; 1 year, $53; e-Edition $35. In foreign countries, postage extra. No subscription for less than 10 weeks. Subscription rates are subject to change upon 30 days’ notice. All subscritptions must be paid prior to beginning the subscription and are non-refundable. Periodicals postage paid at Cottage Grove, Oregon. Postmaster: Send address changes to P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424. Local Mail Service: If you don’t receive your Cottage Grove Sentinel on the Wednesday of publication, please let us know. Call 942-3325 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Advertising Ownership: All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by the Cottage Grove Sentinel become the property of the Cottage Grove Sentinel and may not be reproduced for any other use without explicit written prior approval. Copyright Notice: Entire contents ©2017 Cottage Grove Sentinel