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4A | MARCH 25, 2021 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Cottage Grove Sentinel 116 N. Sixth St. Cottage Grove, Ore. 97424 ned hickson, managing editor | 541-902-3520 | nhickson@cgsentinel.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#133880 Copyright 2021 © COTTAGE GROVE SENTINAL Letters to the Editor Policy The 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anonymous, libelous, argumentative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or without documentation will not be published.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 The Sentinel readership area will only be published at the discretion of the editor. Political/Election Letters: High cost of education making it less valuable nizations and clubs as well as county, state and federal funds specifical- ly earmarked for college education. It’s essentially our tax dollars at work. And While reading about how a group of students has brought a class-ac- tion lawsuit against sev- en coleges for charging the same tuition last year despite the lack of on-campus services and opportunities, I had to nod my head at the need to overhaul our college educational system and its dependency on ris- ing tuition and even higher profiles. My wife and I have attended very helpful scholarship fairs where local community or- ganizations provid- ed information about the many scholarships available. In addition, we’ve at- tended workshops dis- cussing everything from how to apply for fed- eral education grants, to tips on interviewing and properly filling out scholarship applica- tions. What we discovered about the scholarship application process is that there is a lot of money out there, avail- able from local orga- make sense since, coin- cidentally, most of the side effects found on drug labels are the same symptoms I felt while researching annual tu- ition costs: headache, From the Editor's Desk Ned Hickson since I’ve been paying taxes nonstop since I was 17, I have no prob- lem getting a return on my investment to help our kids and others re- ceive a college educa- tion. Here’s the problem: After much consider- ation and analysis, in- cluding a mathematical formula involving me- dian income combined with cost projections, annual inflation predic- tions and an old abacus I found at a garage sale, I was able to determine what I believe is the biggest financial chal- lenge facing students and their families when it comes to continuing their education beyond high school: Colleges simply cost too much. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I’d say col- leges are being run by pharmaceutical com- panies — which would chest pain, shortness of breath, vision loss, loss of appetite… According to the American College Board, the average an- nual cost of tuition at a private college is $32,405. Or if you’re looking for a real bar- gain, $23,893 a year to attend a public college from out of state. However, your best bet is to enroll in a com- munity college as an in-state resident, where the average tuition is $9,410. Which, by the way, is still $9,310 more than we’ll have saved up for our youngest daughter’s college fund. I should probably mention I never went to college. It’s not that I’m advocating against receiving a college ed- ucation. I’m just saying I’ve owned two homes and done alright with- out one because, ulti- mately, with or without a degree, what matters most is a drive to suc- ceed and willingness to work hard for it. No degree can guar- antee success over an individual’s desire to be successful. Do I want my doctor to have a medical de- gree? You bet. Should a lawyer be required to have a law degree? Certainly. Would I be OK with a doctor without a medi- cal degree operating on the average lawyer? Most likely. If our kids choose to attend college, we’ll find a way to make it happen. The question is whether the rising cost of high- er education — cou- pled with revelations of those wealthy enough buying their way into a prestigious college for their children — are making it less valuable, not more. Especially when com- pared to what can be achieved with a high de- gree of dedication and hard work — and the freedom to pursue your life’s passions without the debt that so often goes along with the cost of higher education. 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 • 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 Email: rep.cedrichayden@ state.or.us • Rep. Peter DeFazio (House of Representatives) 405 East 8th Ave. #2030 Eugene, Ore. 97401 Oregon federal representatives 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 • Heather Buch Lane County Commissioner - District 5 Email: Heather.Buch@lane countyorg.gov 125 E. Eighth Ave. Eugene, OR 97401 Or call 541-682-4203 S entinel C ottage G rove 541-942-3325 Administration Jenna Bartlett, Group Publisher Gary Manly, General Manager... Ext. 1207 gmanly@cgsentinel.com Gerald Santana, Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1216 gsantana@cgsentinel.com Carla Skeel, Inside Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1203 csummers@cgsentinel.com Editorial Ned Hickson, Managing Editor... 541-902-3520 nhickson@cgsentinel.com Damien Sherwood, Lead Reporter... Ext. 1212 dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Zeahna Young, Sports Reporter... Ext. 1204 zyoung@cgsentinel.com Customer Service Meg Fringer, Office Manager, Legals, Classifieds... Ext. 1200 mfringer@cgsentinel.com Production Ron Annis, Production Supervisor... Ext.1215 graphics@cgsentinel.com Subscription Mail Rates in Lane and Portions of Douglas Counties: 10 Weeks ....................................................................................$11.50 One year .....................................................................................$43.50 Senior 62+ ...................................................................................33.00 e-Edition year ............................................................................$35.00 Rates in all other areas of United States: 10 weeks, $16; 1 year, $56.50; e-Edition $35. 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