TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, May 31, 2000
The Official Newspaper
Letters to the Editor
01 the City of Heppnei and the County ot Morrow
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H ep p n er
GAZETTE-TIMES
U S P S 240-420
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where
l)a\id Sykes
April Hilton-Sykes
Publisher
Editor
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The Voice of Middle America
Why It Isn ft Fun Anymore
By David P. Price. Ph.D.
America is full of conflict. Conflict that comes from many
sources; government, being one of them. A primary reason for
conflict in government is that politics are no longer based on
fairness, merit or balance. Politics today are decided on power.
This is the influence of campaign contributions and lobbying as
criticized by Senator John McCain.
But money has corrupted more than just government. Money has
also corrupted advocacy groups. Indeed, organized advocacy could
be deemed a growth industry. Represented as non-profit. .. these
organizations collect an enormous amount of money. Likewise,
executive staff are often highly paid; some receiving six figure
salaries.
Probably the most egregious example was the ministry of Rev.
Jim Bakker. A non-profit church organization, Rev. Bakker paid
himself a salary in excess of $ 1,000,000. But unlike Rev. Bakker's
organization, most advocacy groups are not criminally corrupt.
However, the formula for many non-profit organizations is the
same. A corps of highly paid staff members greatly profit by the
existence of the organization. Instead of preaching hell fire and
damnation to solicit contributions . . . they harangue and
exaggerate their causes.
It makes no difference what the issue is; be it environment, diet
and health, race, gender, foreign trade, gun control . . . for or
against; the advocacy groups typically exaggerate the issues. As a
result, the public becomes polarized.
But worse than polarized . . . the public becomes misinformed.
This makes reaching a consensus on reasonable solutions
impossible. It also creates hostility. No matter what issue you are
for or against. . . there is an advocacy group that will distort your
position or motivation. This has created the "us against them"
sbaety we live m: ftue longer matters what is right or wrong. It's
"\vTi6£?Vide are voii on?",
_•______________’
Tfiff’has to stop. Bin frou ? One wiy is to take the profit out of
it. If the public knew how much the officers of many "non-profit"
advocacy organizations made - they would be less likely to
contribute the amount of money they do. Likewise, if the public
knew how much many of the organizations spend on
administration - they would likewise become more skeptical.
What is needed is a federal law requiring that any non-profit
organization inform their contributors as to how much each
salaried employee receives; and what percentage of contributions
are spent on internal administration. Upon receiving a contribution;
within 30 days a disclosure must be sent to the contributor; and the
contributor then has 30 days to request a refund.
What would this accomplish? It would take the spin doctors and
professional marketing people out of advocacy. If there were no
pressing issues, there would be no motivation to create bogus
issues as a means of perpetuating the organization. As it is today,
no advocacy group is ever going to admit that a problem has been
solved If it did . . . it would be out of a job.
As logical as this sounds, enacting such legislation will be
exceedingly difficult. The reason, of course, is that most advocacy
organizations are heavily involved in lobbying. The politicians,
lobbyists and advocacy executives all know their best interests are
served by financial anonymity. As a result, groups that bitterly
appose each other on advocacy issues, will all come together to
lobby against publicizing their accounting.
But if life and politics in America are ever to return to relative
tranquility and common sense, we have to make advocacy a matter
of conscience . . . not a profession. Therefore, if you support a
presidential candidate advocating campaign finance reform,
communicate to them that financial reform needs to be taken a step
further. Urge them to initiate legislation to require public financial
disclosure for non-profit organizations.
Halls earn yard of the month
Gene and Harriet Hall
The home of Gene and Harriet
Hall has been selected as the
Heppner Garden Club yard of the
month for May.
The Halls have lived in their
home on Chase Street in Heppner
for the past six years. In addition
to a beautiful garden, one of the
special things about the Hall
residence is the seasonal
woodwork they make themselves
and place in their yard. "The
kids on the block can't wait til the
I
first of the month (when the
Halls change the yard scene),"
said Harriet.
Harriet (Ball) was bom and
raised in Heppner. Gene is a
relative "newcomer", coming to
the area in 1942.
COPY PAPER
Ream • Carton
Gazette-Times
6 7 6 -9 2 2 8
Prevention, education not
institutionalization
To the Editor:
The public need not be
confused nor impressed by big
words and false promises.
Measure 11 doesn't stop crime or
criminals. It institutionalizes the
people who get sentenced under
it.
There are some inmates who,
if re-sentenced under the former
"guidelines" system, could get
much more time if the judge
deems it necessary. First time
offenders and people with
previous records ajike get the
same time under Measure 11.
All that will happen is that, for
the young offender who gets
sentenced to 7Vi to 15 years: his
mind will be corrupted with
prison life and his heart turned
cold from lack of family contact
over a long period of time.
We should put the power of
sentencing back in the hands of
the
judges.
They
can
individualize cases. Yes, certain
people the public doesn't like will
have to be re-sentenced, but what
makes anyone think the judges
will have a soft spot for that
person? They won't.
Go back to education and
prevention,
not
institutionalization.
(s) Jason Walter
c/o EOCI, Pendleton
County residents deserve better
advice from superintendent
To the Editor:
Morrow County residents de
serve better advice from their
Superintendent of Schools than
they have been getting. Superin
tendent Anderson needs to enu
merate the pros and cons of build
ing more high schools in the dis
trict.
Instead Superintendent Ander
son has been quoted in a May 24
paper as saying, “Funding for a
new school in Irrigon would come
from anticipated growth in the
north end. The more students at
tending the district, the more state
funding it would receive. Equip
ping a new school may be a con
cern because a construction bond
levy cannot be used to pay for
equipment.”
However, he fails to state that
state reimbursement for schools
is based on the last year’s enroll
ment so we are always playing
catch up with growth and fund-
mg. This is difficult to do with no
ending fund balance.
Superintendent Anderson’s
consideration of a new high school
ignores the fact that a high school
is more expensive to staff than an
elementary school And that an
additional athletic program would
need funding.
If the school does not have a
really adequate staff, the students
will lose their flexibility in sched
uling. Fewer courses will be of
fered so students will have fewer
paths to pursue. How can this be
in the students’ interest?
Why is Superintendent Ander
son offering proposals that do not
advance and serve students’
needs?
Do county residents have the
tax dollars for poor direction in our
children’s education? Do our stu
dents have the time?
(s) Meg Murray
lone
Museum funding cut lops
off link to the past
To the Editor:
Because my job as a travel
writer takes me more than 10,000
miles a year along Oregon's
backroads, I've discovered that
the difference between a small
town's survival and its demise is
often determined by the presence
or absence of three elements: a
school to secure its future, a
museum to preserve its past and
a library to link its history with
its destiny. Think of these three
elements respectively as the
heart, the memory and the
intellect of a town, and you'll see
that the Morrow County court's
recent decision to cut funding
from its museum lops off one leg
of a tripod that provides stability
to the community.
The tragedy in this decision is
that the Morrow County Museum
is a jewel among the state's
museums, a treasure of a
storehouse that the Morrow
County Tourism Committee
calls, "the home of the largest
and most comprehensive history
of pioneer and homestead life in
Eastern Oregon."
This claim is more than a brag,
for spread over the museum's
5,000 square feet is more than a
century's worth of photographs,
artifacts, and displays that tell the
story of life on the farm and in
the city. From buckets to
bayonets, grade schools to
hairdos, mammoth bones to
massage vibrators, the museum
celebrates our past: how we
furnished our bedrooms, parlors,
H E P P N E R BAR REL BLAZE
B A R R E L RACE
June 3, June 17 and July 8
!\1C Fairgrounds, Open Arena
10 a.m. first race start time,
p.m. race will start after tim e onlys
OPEN NOVICE, AMATEUR
& YOUTH CLASSES
E n tries o p e n t h e T h u rsd a y b efo re ra c e
day, 8 - 1 0 p .m . E n trie s c l o s e ra c e d a y
Call S u e a t ( 5 4 1 ) 6 7 6 - 5 4 4 6
Farm Foundation seeks donations
To the editor:
The Farm Foundation was
formed to accept tax deductible
contributions for the antique
farm equipment museum as well
as the existing museum.
The recent loss of tax funding
for the museum has accelerated
the need for contributions to help
sustain the existing facility and to
get the antique farm equipment
portion ready to open to the
public.
The museum commission is
working to organize a volunteer
group to keep the museum open.
If you can donate some time to
help, please contact Sharon
Harrison.
The Farm Foundation is
offering lifetime memberships
for $500 which may be paid at
the rate of $100 per year. Annual
family
memberships
are
available for $25 and individual
at $15. All members will be
granted free admission to the
museum facilities.
We also need contributions of
any size to help us build an
endowment fund to ensure future
operation of the museum
facilities.
Please send your membership
dues and contributions to: FARM
Foundation, P.O. Box 515,
Heppner, Oregon 97836.
If you have already send your
membership dues we appreciate
your support.
(s) Cliff Green
President, Farm Foundation
Heppner
and kitchens; how we delivered
our babies, played our games,
taught our kids, and did our
work. In short, it's one of the best
small town museums you'll find
anywhere-but now the county
will pull the funding that once
guaranteed its quality.
Sure, money is tight; sure,
volunteers will do their best to
keep the museum going, yet by
cutting everything from the
museum's budget except its
utilities, judge Terry Tallman
and commissioners Dan Brosnan
and John Wenholtz show they
underestimate the museum's
value to the community as well
as to the visitors who gain their
impression of Morrow County
from what they find inside those
doors. "It's one of the best small
town museums I've ever seen,"
was the comment of a recent
visitor. "It seems to be a
reflection of the people who live
here-the community's face to the
outside world."
She's right, for to step inside the
Morrow County Museum is to
discover the lessons it teaches us
as well as the values the
community holds dear: that the
lives and the deeds of the people
who came before us are
deserving of our respect, our
care, and our remembering. And
that, in turn, deserves not only
the commitment of the Morrow
County community, but also the
support and vision of its leaders.
(s) Mark Highberger
Wallowa
Nice serie s awards offered
with nomination fee of $5
RACES OPEN TO EVERYONE
Sponsored by local merchants
and OBRA-proftts go to local 4-H club
5C
• Jennifer Christenson & Jason Palmer
ft
8
8
*
St. Patrick7; Senior Center
___ Bulletin B o a rd ___
m
Success for the memorial dinner project came with about 130
guests including representatives of pioneer families: Adkins,
Anderson, Batty, Beamer, Beckett. Bergstrom, Brosnan, Buschke,
Christianson, Clark, Cox, Crawford, Doherty, Drake, Gonty,
Green, Hoskins, Huston, Jones, Kirk, McCaleb, McDaniel.
McMurdo, Morgan, Munkers, Nelson, Peck, Robinson, Steers,
Thomson, Wilkinson, Wright and others. Over 20 were members
of the Adkins family, planning this event as part of a family
reunion.
On the program our able emcee Greg Smith introduced Rick and
Cecilia Drake for a duet of "The Star-Spangled Banner," Jane
Rawlins who read "In Flanders Field," and Rev. Grace Drake, who
gave the invocation. Several members of early pioneer families
spoke briefly. The Heppner Garden Club made the table
centerpieces.
After a plentiful buffet, prizes were given to the oldest one there,
Velma Huston Parker (Pasco); the youngest, Megan Malvrick
(Milwaukie); and the one coming the farthest, Jim Adkins
(Cupertino, CA).
The central planning committee was Jane Rawlins (chair), Judy
Buschke, Judy Rickert, Jo Anne Burleson, Kathryn Hoskins.
Meredith Walters and Alice Voluntad. Many others helped.
Many expressions of thanks and appreciation were received that
day and in phone calls coming in since then.
&
wedding: June 10, 2 0 0 0
charene Coe & Randolph Brncher
wedding: July 8 , 2 0 0 0
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