4A | APRIL 16, 2020 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Cottage Grove Sentinel
116 N. Sixth St.
Cottage Grove, Ore. 97424
NED HICKSON , MANAGING EDITOR |
Opinion
541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ CGSENTINEL . COM
The First Amendment
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ongress shall make no law respect-
ing an establishment of religion or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
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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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Letters to the Editor Policy
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community discussion of issues on the local, state and national
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Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumentative,
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Letters containing poetry or from outside The Sentinel
readership area will only be published at the discretion of the
editor.
Political/Election Letters:
Finding strength during the coronavirus pandemic
(Editor’s Note: Viewpoint sub-
missions on this and other topics are
always welcome as part of our goal to
encourage community discussion and
exchange of perspectives.)
I
t seems like life is changing so
fast and the way we used to live
is far from coming back. Our old
way of living feels like a mirage that
we may never quite get to again.
My parents had difficult times to
deal with; they had to face World
War II. They made it through that
ordeal. I have ancestors that made
it through the Depression, the Dust
Bowl, and the Civil War.
They made it through ship rides
from England and Australia to the
US. They crossed our country in
covered wagons from east to west
from north to south.
They lived through wars, death,
and severe financial hardships.
I can learn from those who went
before me. They were extremely
strong and persevered through the
darkest fears that must’ve felt over-
Guest Viewpoint
By Diane Knee, MSW, LCSW
Owner, counselor
Gateways Counseling Center
whelming. I can do this. They are in
me.
My dad drew on every ounce of
strength he must have had to walk
through a concentration camp that
had just been liberated. He rare-
ly spoke of it, tears always running
down his face. When he did speak
of it, he talked of piles of shoes,
men as thin as the side rails of their
bunks, he spoke of the horrifying
and unimaginable cruelty.
He grieved, he prayed, he perse-
vered.
This pandemic is horrific and
terrifying, but we have a depth of
strength from our ancestors to draw
on. Their DNA is in us, their heroic
stories can guide us, their strength
is deep within our hearts and souls.
Let us follow their lead; lean on
our faith, family and friends.
We are strong.
We are unstoppable.
We are not alone.
—Diana Knee, MSW, LCSW is the
owner and counselor at Gateways Coun-
seling and Consulting Center in Cottage
Grove, 541-942-0040.
LETTERS
‘Temporary’ LCC staff in
CG committed full-time
to student success
The article in the April 9 edition
of The Sentinel (“LCC’s CG campus
adjusts to lay-offs”) held a number
of surprising statements by Lane
Community College.
As the only remaining staff
member at the Cottage Grove cen-
ter, I was taken aback by the lack of
awareness of what is happening at
the center.
The most offensive was that the
two staff terminated were “two
temporary employees.”
I worked closely with these two
employees for over five years and
can attest with no equivocation
that these two staff members were
vital in the operations and services
offered through our center.
They worked to support credit
students in a variety of ways and
were instrumental in the successful
development and operations of our
community education program-
ming. We have been a staff of three
for the last two and a half years and
yet we continued to support lo-
cal credit students, build and offer
community education classes, and
assist a variety of local business and
nonprofits with meeting space and
resources.
The two staff we lost were ded-
icated to serving our community
and supporting the educational
pursuits of our residents. Without
hesitation they did what was need-
ed, from recruiting and supporting
community education instructors
to cleaning bathrooms, if it needed
done, it got done.
The statement that “…the layoffs
don’t really impact those activities
because we were already looking at
suspending them” stunned me as
well.
While I am aware of discussions
around a health care clinic taking
over the majority of the building
space at the center, we were assured
by many in management that we
would still be operating activities at
the center. We were never informed
that staff would be terminated due
to the downsizing of the center.
We had not put operations on
hold, as indicated, and I have con-
tinued to work toward offering
summer classes and services to this
community.
I would like to leave you with
one piece of knowledge: the two
terminated staff members served
both the college and the communi-
ty with dedication, hard work and
an honest desire to improve educa-
tional opportunities for credit and
community education students in
the Cottage Grove area.
Their work contributed greatly
to our goals, and in no way should
their contributions be minimized
and reduced to non-essential. They
should be proud of the work they
did and the community should be
proud of them.
I know I was proud to work with
them.
—Holli Turpin
Cottage Grove
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
HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS
Oregon state
representatives
Oregon federal
representatives
• Sen. Floyd Prozanski
• Rep. Peter DeFazio
District 4 State Senator
PO Box 11511
Eugene, Ore. 97440
Phone: 541-342-2447
Email : sen.fl oydprozanski@
state.or.us
(House of Representatives)
405 East 8th Ave.
#2030
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: defazio.house.gov/
contact/email-peter
Phone: 541-465-6732
• 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
• 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
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