A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Divide present in
student survey
T
he most sobering aspect
of a new survey of
Oregon high school
students is how much their
views align with those of their
elders.
Each generation wishes for
future generations to be better
off. Yet Oregon’s high school
population feels the same
divides and discontents as the
rest of the country.
There is a divide between
those high schoolers who are
satisfied with their lot in life
and those who are not. There is
a yearning for greater respect
and for greater involvement
in the governmental decisions
that affect their lives. There
is widespread concern about
access to mental health care.
These issues are revealed
in the newly released “State
of Our Schools: Examining
Oregon’s High Schools
Through Students’ Eyes,”
which might be the first
statewide student survey
conducted by Oregon students
themselves. More than 2,200
high schoolers participated
in an online survey or focus
groups.
Oregon Student Voice, which
is open to students in sixth
through 12th grades, conducted
the study with the assistance
of two respected partners —
the Chalkboard Project and
DHM Research. Participation
was voluntary, so the statistics
might not carry the same
weight as randomized surveys.
But the conclusions remain
relevant, especially because
they were written by students.
High schoolers are
insightful. They know who’s
a good teacher and who’s
not. They recognize whether
discipline is administered fairly,
equitably and consistently.
They care whether the school
administration — all the way
up to the school board — heeds
their ideas.
As a society, we know that
students who feel valued and
engaged are more likely to
carry those attitudes into civic
life as adults. In contrast, the
Oregon Student Voice report
states: “Exclusionary cliques,
social tensions and bullying
are all present within schools.
Students assert that those who
do not fit into the typical high
school student mold do not
receive the respect, stability
and support needed to succeed
in their school. Students believe
that high schools are oriented
toward helping those already
on a path to success, leaving
behind everyone else.”
Among the research
findings:
▪ Most students enjoy high
school, but 32 percent cite a
lack of trust and mutual respect
in their schools.
▪ 40 percent consider access
to mental health resources to
be the most important issue
facing K-12 policymakers. The
No. 2 issue, identified by 22
percent, is career and technical
education.
▪ 77 percent of students feel
engaged in class. Among those
who do not have post-high
school plans — college, trade
school or the military — that
figure drops to 49 percent.
▪ 76 percent have a teacher
or other school staff member
whom they trust as a mentor.
Again, that figure drops
significantly among students
who do not plan to attend
college.
▪ 81 percent say their
teachers are good, but only 51
percent think the content of
required courses is relevant to
their futures.
▪ Students favor teachers
who welcome feedback
and adapt their teaching
accordingly. The report states:
“Students want to learn in
interactive, collaborative
and hands-on environments.
Students are critical of rote
memorization and inflexible
approaches that favor higher-
achieving students while
leaving others behind.”
The research contains many
positives about students’
views of their education.
But their concerns should
generate a statewide call to
action. Otherwise, the divides
that roil our state and nation
will continue to manifest
themselves.
USPS 226-340
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
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L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Security priorities
raise questions
To the Editor:
I hope things have improved,
but fairly recently I needed to talk
to someone about a matter in Grant
Union High School, and I just walked
in, unchallenged.
I also have had business with the
John Day police headquarters and
jail. In both places, I had to buzz to
get in a heavy, securely closed and
locked door, then buzzed in another
securely closed and locked door —
all just to see a man in a bullet-proof
vest trained in the martial arts with a
badge and a gun the size of a dinner
plate on his hip, and a mace and a ba-
ton (read “club”) and handcuffs.
Maybe in light of all the recent
school horror stories, we should put
the kids in jail and the cops in school.
Richie Colbeth
John Day
‘Cooperative
democracy in action’
To the Editor:
I recently listened to a program
host ridiculing controlled elections in
the old Soviet Union by saying they
had to throw a party and serve food
at the polling stations to get anyone to
vote. As an observer of OTEC’s elec-
tion process over the years, I must say
that the charade is similar, except that
OTEC also bribes members to vote
with a $500 prize drawing. The bribes
are understandable, given the usual
slate of incumbents and the obstacles
OTEC has erected to keep candidates
from running.
OTEC’s four-month election
period begins quietly with the ap-
pointment of a secretive, elite “nom-
inating committee,” whose task is to
determine if you are “qualified” to
run. They could actively reach out to
members to find potential candidates,
but little if any effort is expended for
that. Sometimes a director retires ear-
ly so that an insider can be appointed,
giving them incumbency status and
a leg up in the next election. The re-
sult is that often the only choices on
the ballot are incumbents, but in one
case where another well-qualified
candidate was in the race, important
experience was left out of his Ruralite
profile.
The bylaws allow additional nom-
inations not less than 60 days prior to
the annual meeting if a member can
get over the next hurdle, which is to
collect 50 member signatures by peti-
tion before the end of the time period.
Several years back, there was a can-
didate who was told that nominations
were closed even though the nomi-
nation period was not over. He then
had to go out and find 50 members to
sign a nominating petition to get on
the ballot.
This year, if you were unhappy
with the incumbent candidates final-
ly announced by OTEC in the March
Ruralite, you might have wanted to
try and get 50 signatures to get on
the ballot. Too bad, you would have
been out of luck, because the signed
petitions had to be submitted by Feb.
20, several days before the candidates
were even announced in Ruralite, and
write-ins and nominations from the
floor are not allowed. Cooperative
democracy in action!
Christopher Christie
Baker City
A public
safety solution
To the Editor:
Recent headlines warned resi-
dents about a report stating “costs for
police services have grown signifi-
cantly faster than revenue over the
past 20 years.” The report also states
population decline and economic
stagnation have reduced available
revenue for public safety services in
John Day. They concluded that po-
lice and emergency communications
costs increased 3.5 times faster than
the city’s property tax base and the
situation was unsustainable going
into the future.
So now public safety is in ques-
tion. Add that to the lack of funding
for schools, mental health and other
revenue our county needs. Citizens
should demand the commissioners
explore all options and put forward a
plan to deal with all the budget short-
falls, especially when it comes to
public safety. So, what if the county
could tap into a source of revenue of
millions of dollars distributed 40 per-
cent to schools, 25 percent to mental
health, alcohol and drug abuse, 15
percent to law enforcement, 10 per-
cent to cities and 10 percent to coun-
ties, and the only requirement is al-
lowing operations of a business that’s
100 percent legal under Oregon law?
Most people would think it sounds
too good to be true.
Well, it’s a fact. By allowing legal
recreational marijuana, Grant County
could share in the millions being col-
lected in tax from sales of recreation-
al marijuana. The commissioners are
well aware of these facts. They told
me and others at prior meetings they
would find money elsewhere, and it
was an ethical issue. So what’s more
ethical? Watch the county continue to
deteriorate financially and put pub-
lic safety at risk? Or opt into a pro-
gram that addresses everything Grant
County lacks the revenue to pay for?
It’s obvious they have no Plan B.
Politicians are elected to do what’s
best for the community, and some-
times that means making decisions
on economics, education and public
safety that go against your base but
are necessary for a community to
grow and prosper. Fortunately, May
15, citizens can do what’s ethical for
Grant County. Vote yes on initiative
12-71, lift the ban and bring jobs and
revenue back to Grant County.
Cindy Kidd
Mt. Vernon
Women, be careful
To the Editor:
I was “approached” last week in
Chester’s parking lot. As I was leav-
ing, a car pulled up behind me, and a
tall man, in his 50s or 60s, knocked
on my window and said, “I’m in a
bind, and can you lend me $10? I’ll
take your address and send you the
money back.”
Well, now I am a giving person
and love to help people, but some-
thing about this situation was not
right. He looked “off” or distressed,
and I’ll admit I was not at ease. No
one was close by, so I just said, “Sor-
ry, no.”
This letter is a shout-out to all
women in Grant County to be care-
ful, and next time this happens, take
down license plate numbers and tell
the store owner. (I did neither.)
If we are unaware, we can be
compromised. I also should have told
him to seek out the police department
for help. We see they are also losing
numbers in our county, so we must
step up and be responsible. I’m sorry
I wasn’t.
Mya Ennis
Mt. Vernon
Innocent lives
matter more
To the Editor:
A former Grant County doctor, Dr.
Janssen, in a letter to the Eagle, react-
ed to the Sandy Hook slaughter of
20 children and six teachers, saying
“something is broken” in our country.
Immediately, people argued — guns
don’t kill, people do; it was a con-
spiracy by the government; it is about
an attack on our Second Amendment
rights. Having grown up a very se-
rious hunter here in Grant County, I
have deep-rooted convictions about
my right to own guns — either for
hunting or for protecting my wife or
myself. But the body count contin-
ues to pile up. Time after time, I have
discussed one of these mass shooting
tragedies with NRA members. They
briefly acknowledge the loss of lives,
but immediately inject their fear of
losing their guns. I don’t pretend to
be wise enough to know what the an-
swer is to stop all shootings. I believe,
however, there is something that can
be done about mass shootings.
The NRA would like us to believe
differently — that if we give an inch,
we will lose all our guns. Nationally,
they have been brutal, showing no
compassion for shooting victims. In
Florida, they openly threaten to si-
lence political leaders standing up for
regulation of certain weapons. They
dismiss students who demand that the
adults in their world do something to
stop shootings. Locally, on the Eagle
Facebook page, disgusting low-life
commentators (worried about losing
their guns) called 10 of our students
vulgar names. They demanded their
punishment because the students
walked outdoors to honor the 17 lives
lost in Florida and to demand safety
in schools.
What can be done to stop mass
shootings? Part of the solution is
found in the opinion of a conservative
Reagan appointee, Supreme Court
Justice Antonin Scalia, who stated,
“Like most rights, the right secured
by the Second Amendment is not un-
limited…” It is “…not a right to keep
and carry any weapon whatsoever in
any manner whatsoever and for what-
ever purpose.”
What I see as broken is people
valuing their right to own rapid-fire,
high-capacity weapons over the lives
of innocent victims.
Terry Steele
Ritter
You think it’s over
a gun, but it’s not
To the Editor:
You think it’s over a gun, but it’s
not. It’s the people who decide to pull
the trigger. You said that the kids who
wanted to remember the dead peace-
fully couldn’t. All they wanted to do
was stand for those lost and those
who are scared. Then you threatened
that they couldn’t do what made them
happy. You said, “It’s a waste of school
time,” but what about the kids who are
thinking their lives are on the line?
People who stood are getting called
names because of people like you who
think it’s all about the gun. When was
it decided that going to school could
end a person’s fate? Because for all
those kids, now it’s too late. It’s not
the gun. It’s not the gun that decided
to kill. It’s not the gun that decided to
scare people. It’s the people pulling the
trigger. It’s the people we’re scared of.
It’s not the gun.
A student
Grant Union
Editor’s note: The Eagle withheld
the name of this student at their re-
quest because of fear of reprisal. The
name was provided to the Eagle, and
we will still not accept anonymous
letters. We will only withhold a name
in rare circumstances.
‘Looking forward
to visiting again’
To the Editor:
I had the opportunity to spend
an afternoon in you all’s nice town.
Thank you, ladies at Hair It Is, for
the laughs. Lunch at the Outpost was
very good, as always. The espres-
so was nice. After a quick visit with
Mrs. Knowles and mentioning get-
ting stuck in the mud above their cab-
in up Calamity Creek a few days be-
fore, another good chuckle. As I was
leaving town, I thought I’d wash the
truck of the muck and was dismayed
to discover that there are no usable
car washes going south through Can-
yon City. Maybe with some of your
town’s grant monies, it would be use-
ful to upgrade the one that was kind
of operational but not open? Just an
idea. There’s nothing wrong with
mud on the tires. I’m looking forward
to visiting again.
Mitzi Defenbaugh
Drewsey