SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 2021
Baker City, Oregon
4A
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EDITORIAL
Trains and
city voters
The Baker City Council didn’t make a fi nal deci-
sion Tuesday, June 8, but councilors discussed asking
voters in the future what they think about the city
applying for a “quiet zone” within the city limits,
in which freight trains wouldn’t sound their horns
except in emergencies.
That’s a reasonable idea. Certainly our elected rep-
resentatives would be wise to try to fi nd out, to the
extent possible, what their constituents think about
the matter.
If the city puts the issue on the May 2022 ballot, it
would avoid having to spend money for the election,
as would be the case this November, as no other local
issues are slated for that election.
A ballot measure is also an effi cient way to gauge
public sentiment about the issue, one that’s likely to
reach far more residents than other survey methods,
some of which would entail costs. An online survey
the Baker City Police Department conducted in
March, for instance, attracted about 575 respondents.
There are around 6,000 registered voters in the city.
Councilor Lynette Perry suggested the city have a
town hall to gather opinions on the issue prior to an
election. That’s also a worthwhile proposal.
If the quiet zone topic ends up on the ballot next
May, the council needs to explain the situation as
thoroughly as possible to avoid misleading voters.
For instance, although some people might assume
that eliminating most train whistles would pose a
danger to drivers and pedestrians, federal studies
that included more than 560 quiet zones in 2011 and
2013 showed no statistically signifi cant difference
in accidents after quiet zones were established. The
obvious reason is that federal offi cials don’t approve
quiet zones unless the affected crossings have more
robust gates, medians or other equipment installed
to prevent vehicles from reaching the tracks while
a train is near. Quiet zones don’t merely eliminate
most whistles — they also make it less likely that a
vehicle will be on the tracks when a train is passing.
Voters also need to understand that a local group
promoting the quiet zone intends to raise money to
pay for the crossing improvements Baker City would
need to qualify for a quiet zone. The city council
should invite members of the group to a future meet-
ing to give an update about the group’s efforts, which
include, in 2019, gathering signatures from 230 local
residents who support the quiet zone. The potential
for the city to have a quiet zone without spending
public dollars would undoubtedly be an important
factor for some voters.
— Jayson Jacoby, Baker City Herald editor
Your views
Lack of consistency in
reporting of COVID data
This letter is regarding an article
I read recently about COVID data.
The Government Executive article,
“America’s Entire Understanding of the
Pandemic Was Shaped by Messy Data,”
is authored by Kara Schechtman and
Sara Simon if you want to look it up.
They are part of The COVID Tracking
Project.
Data were compiled from the 50
states and territories for a total of
56 systems reporting to the national
database. There were no consistent
methods or approaches among the
56 so data are defi nitely “apples and
oranges” and no one knows how differ-
ent any of the data are within the fi ve
metrics — tests, cases, deaths, hospital-
izations, and recoveries — each state
or territory had its own methods. How
data were reported within each state
was not identifi ed but each agency/
organization had their own approach.
It took a while for any federal guidance
so the early months of 2020 are even
more suspect.
• Tests: Variances included the
number of tests (a person could be
tested several times) vs. number of
persons tested. Therefore, states only
reporting persons tested appeared to be
testing far less than other states even
if not so. Race and ethnicity data were
“ ... highly incomplete and unstandard-
ized, impeding efforts to understand
the pandemic’s disproportionate effect
on Black, Latino, and Indigenous
communities.” Even though nightly
news was reporting minorities were
more affected than whites, reality is
no one really knows. The report says
each state had different weak points in
their equipment so reported differ-
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bakercityherald.com.
reporting it except for the eight states
that report hospital discharges.
My conclusion is that very signifi cant
state and national decisions were made
that affected all our lives, our families,
our activities, our mental health, our
economy, and political operations.
These decisions were made, and are
still being made, on fl awed data.
Jim Carnahan
Baker City
Bill eliminating graduation
requirements is absurd
ently, e.g. electronic vs. faxed (yes, some
systems were that old) transmission
and ignored what wasn’t easy to report.
Some states reported only certain
types of tests while some reported
none. Some states reported only clinic
authorized tests while others included
all tests.
• Cases: Some states included clinic
determined cases, some only if tested
positive, others included probable cases
(a person with symptoms), and some
included all possibilities. As another
variable, testing means changed over
the pandemic period.
• Deaths: Reporting differences
included those dying from COVID vs.
those dying with COVID. Regarding
timing, some reported deaths as they
occurred, some reported only after
death certifi cates were issues.
• Hospitalizations: Variances in-
cluded current vs. cumulative and the
same variances as listed above under
cases.
• Recoveries: It was extremely dif-
fi cult to defi ne if, or when, someone was
recovered. Was just not dying enough?
Was someone recovered if they lived
but had long-term effects? This metric
was so diffi cult that they stopped
Every time I look at the news I
realize just how absurd things have be-
come. Yet I can still be surprised by our
state legislature. For example, we now
see a proposal that students will not be
required to know anything of substance
in order to graduate from school. While
I admit there are many loony ideas
being advanced as legislation, this one
in particular is tantamount to criminal
on two fronts.
First, we have child abuse and
endangerment. Children are being
brainwashed to believe they are the
wisest segment of the population.
Simultaneously, they know little of
history but are pounded with corrupt
ideology which they are expected to
parrot on command.
Secondly, a fraud. The parents are
being betrayed by an educational
system for which they pay a signifi cant
amount annually. The local school
board needs people who value proper
education for all the children. I would
hope parents across the state will raise
an outcry against this particular bill
and keep a closer eye on their local
curriculum.
Rick Rienks
Baker City
The genius behind such delicacies as the Frito
I am fascinated by the reality
that anyone, in contemplating a
pile of plain old cornmeal, could
conceive of something as magical,
as truly life-changing, as the Frito.
I am equally entranced by the
genius that is required to turn
sugar, water and a tropical nut into
Coca-Cola, Pepsi, or some other re-
freshing elixir, or to transform the
humble cacao bean into a decadent
candy bar.
I have for some years harbored
an obsession with people who
fi gured out how to convert the sim-
plest foodstuffs into cultural icons
that generate billions of dollars in
revenue every year.
It is, I suppose, an unhealthy
interest.
Studying the history of popular
processed foods is neither the high-
est of intellectual pursuits, nor is
it a topic likely to appear on any
syllabus at the fi nest universities.
Moreover, most of the products
that have attained iconic status
would cause a nutritionist to shud-
der (and, perhaps, to nibble on
some fresh kale for solace).
Certainly that trio I cited above
JAYSON
JACOBY
— deep-fried corn chips, sugar-lad-
en sodas, and chocolate — is the
caloric wrecking ball to the respon-
sible food pyramid, a barrage of
empty calories that lays waste to
tooth enamel and to arteries with
equal aplomb.
But each is also indubitably
tasty.
The oily crunch of a Frito, the
chilly and fi zzy swallow of cola, the
creamy texture of milk chocolate
— these gratify our souls in a way
kale never could.
But I fi nd comfort in these foods
not only in the traditional sense of
that word, but also because they
have endured for so many decades,
an edible thread connecting gen-
erations of American gullets.
By comparison, so many other
things integral to society have
changed so dramatically that
today we scarcely recognize their
ancestral equivalents.
We still drive cars, most of us,
but the vehicles that emerge from
factories in 2021 have little in com-
mon with a Model T, save the basic
elements of an engine, four tires
and a steering wheel.
We’ve been chatting on phones
for more than a century, but as
recently as 20 years ago few of us
would have expected that these
previously umbilical devices
would become so indispensable
and so capable.
But a Hershey chocolate bar is
still the same luscious treat that
it was during the Roaring Twen-
ties.
And a Lay’s potato chip is just
as satisfying as ever it was.
Given my affi nity for these
items, both for their fl avors and
for their historical authenticity,
I wasn’t even slightly surprised
by how much I enjoy the History
Channel’s series, “The Food That
Built America.”
But in common with any com-
petent documentary, this one has
educated me even while it was
entertaining.
I wasn’t utterly ignorant of the
topic, to be sure.
As I suspect is true for most
people who are powerless against
the lure of chocolate and soda, I
had a passing familiarity with the
stories of Milton Hershey and John
Pemberton.
But I didn’t know that HB Reese
— the man who fi gured out that
the combination of chocolate and
peanut butter can wobble the Earth
slightly on its axis — himself toiled
for Hershey before setting out on
his own sweet and decadent path in
business.
Nor was I aware that behind both
of the pizza titans, Domino’s and
Pizza Hut, stands a pair of brothers.
I was equally fascinated, if not
more so, to learn that Pabst, the
brewing behemoth with its famous
blue ribbon, survived Prohibition
in part by producing a spreadable
cheese, and that in so doing the
company ran afoul of a certain Mr.
Kraft, who wasn’t keen on having
his years of oily, smelly work in the
kitchen foiled by a big beer outfi t.
“The Food That Built America”
isn’t perfect.
I fi nd the dramatic reenactments
occasionally cloying. These are
necessary, certainly, given the lack
of archival fi lm and photographs
from episodes that in some cases
happened more than a century ago,
and that wouldn’t have seemed
historic at the time.
But the actors’ exaggerated facial
expressions distracted me from
such epochal scenes as the fi rst
meeting between Herman Lay and
Charles Elmer Doolin.
The fi rst name is of course in-
stantly recognizable to potato chip
afi cionados.
The latter is not — I’d never
heard of the man — but should be.
Doolin created the Frito, a level
of accomplishment that Lay, even
though his name still graces those
shiny bags fi lled with deliciousness,
can’t claim for potato chips.
Doolin ought to have something
majestic named for him.
Thousands have been honored
for doing nothing nearly as conse-
quential.
Jayson Jacoby is editor
of the Baker City Herald.