OPINION
A4 HERMISTONHERALD.COM
SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2015
EDITORIAL • COMMENTARY • LETTERS
HermistonHerald
VOLUME 109 ɿ NUMBER 29
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EDITOR
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newsprint
Legal monkey
business
L
egal rights for animals?
Not so fast.
A few weeks
ago, says the New York
Post, Manhattan Supreme
Court Justice Barbara Jaffe
“inadvertently bestowed
human status on two
chimpanzees being used for
biomedical research at Stony
Brook University on Long
Island.”
The chimps, Hercules
and Leo, were granted
habeas corpus — a legal
action through which human
detainees can seek relief
from unlawful imprisonment
— in response to a lawsuit
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Nonhuman Rights Project.
The lawsuit requested that
Hercules and Leo be moved
to a South Florida sanctuary.
Justice Jaffe ruled that the
university must establish
cause for holding the two
chimps (to be reviewed at an
upcoming hearing).
Well, the Nonhuman
Rights Project people quickly
claimed that the initial ruling
“implicitly determined
that Hercules and Leo are
‘persons,’ ” which could,
potentially, open a big door
to granting legal rights to
animals.
An angry Jaffe said she
had no such intention and
quickly amended her court
order by crossing out the
words “Writ of Habeas
Corpus” — which means
Hercules and Leo do not
have any human rights at all.
The issue of legal rights
for animals has been a source
of debate for some time.
According to Science
Magazine, some legal
scholars take issue with the
current legal system that
treats animals as property
and not independent beings.
Cases like that of Hercules
and Leo are intended to call
attention to the matter and
eventually grant some legal
rights to animals.
Other legal scholars argue
that apes and chimps and
other creatures that are fairly
well advanced should have
rights similar to those of a
human child.
According to The
Washington Post, legal
scholar Stephen Wise, a
longtime advocate for legal
rights for some animals,
said that “Certain species
are capable of complex
emotions, can communicate
using language, and have
a sense of self. I don’t
see a difference between
a chimpanzee and my 4
1/2-year-old son.”
Letters Policy
720385&(//
&DJOHFROXPQLVW
That may be so, but
perhaps your son could use
a shave?
Wise said that chimps,
for instance, have complex
social interactions. They
use tools, count, do sign
language (at a 4-year-
old human’s level) and
demonstrate an idea of the
future, while remembering
the past.
Well, so do members of
Congress, but we don’t want
to grant more special rights
to them.
Wise said that when
you give a mirror to an
orangutan, he uses it to
explore parts of his body
he can’t see otherwise. This
indicates a sense of self,
according to Wise.
It’s also a sign that
orangutans have a lot of free
time on their hands.
In any event, advocates
who want legal rights
for animals want to give
animals “basic rights of
bodily integrity and bodily
liberty,” said Wise.
If animals have some
legal rights, for instance,
zoos and carnivals would
not be able to detain and
use them for entertainment
and medical labs would not
be allowed to use them for
testing.
Maybe there is something
to be said for that. Perhaps a
majority of people will look
back in the not-too-distant
future and think it barbaric
that animals were caged
in zoos or paraded around
carnival tents for so long.
We should treat all of God’s
PDJQL¿FHQWFUHDWXUHVZLWK
dignity and respect (though,
admittedly, I intend to keep
eating the tastier ones).
Still, it must remain clear
that, though humans and
some animals may have
similarities, our differences
DUHVLJQL¿FDQW2QO\KXPDQV
have moral capacity, the free
will to choose right or wrong.
We are, said Mark Twain,
“the only animals who blush
— or need to.”
— ©2015 Tom Purcell.
Tom Purcell, author of
“Misadventures of a 1970’s
Childhood” and “Comical
Sense: A Lone Humorist
Takes on a World Gone
Nutty!”, is a Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review humor
columnist and is nationally
syndicated exclusively by
Cagle Cartoons Inc
The Hermiston Herald welcomes original letters for
publication on public issues and public policies. Submitted
letters must be signed by the author and include the city of
residence and a daytime phone number. Phone numbers
will not be published. Letters may be mailed to the
Hermiston Herald, 333 E. Main, Hermiston, OR, 97838;
or emailed to editor@hermistonherald.com
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Bond passage will
help support county’s
economy
Editor,
We would like to urge voters to
support the BMCC bond, found
on the current ballot. BMCC has
served our region’s students of all
ages for over 50 years, providing
convenient, affordable and qual-
ity educational opportunities and
training while continuing to work
and live in our area.
We believe support of the
BMCC bond is important because
it will provide new state-of-the-art
training in job areas critical to our
unique agricultural and manufac-
turing needs, as well as enhance
existing programs in key areas of
nursing, dental and diesel tech.
Agriculture and manufacturing are
the backbone of our eastern Ore-
gon economy. A trained workforce
in specific areas is critical to the
economic development essential
to continue our region’s growth.
BMCC is partnering with our re-
gion’s agriculture and manufactur-
ing communities to address needs
for our growing economy.
Hermiston will benefit with a
new Precision Irrigated Agricul-
ture Center. Boardman will re-
ceive an Advanced Manufactur-
ing Workforce Training and Early
Learning Center. Pendleton will
have a renovated Agriculture Cen-
ter to support livestock, soil and
horticulture agriculture curricu-
lum. In addition, the school can be
a better steward of taxpayer mon-
ey by cutting operational costs of
its facilities by replacing aging
and inefficient heating, cooling,
plumbing and electrical systems at
all BMCC locations.
BMCC has listened to com-
munity members and responded
to concerns by offering a leaner,
more targeted budget. This new
bond will come onto the tax rolls
at a rate less than the bond that ex-
pired in 2014.
Support of the BMCC bond is
an investment in the future.
ANN AND DEAN FIALKA
HERMISTON
BMCC bond a
worthwhile investment
Editor,
For more than half a century
Blue Mountain Community Col-
lege, BMCC, has educated thou-
sands of students, many of whom
live and work in Umatilla and
Morrow counties. Family busi-
nesses have been established, job
training has expanded opportuni-
ties and lives have been enriched
with specific coursework. Theater,
music, the Arts and Culture Festi-
val and numerous other activities
have brought depth to rural life.
Beginning in 2014, President
Cam Preus, board members and
staff held 12 “active listening”
sessions throughout both coun-
ties. They heard the constructive
criticism and the priorities of our
citizens. The bond proposal re-
flects this wealth of community
input. The highest priorities were
workforce development, safety,
protection and updating of exist-
ing infrastructure and equipment.
Partnerships have been estab-
lished in Hermiston utilizing ex-
isting OSU facilities for precision
agriculture and critical workforce
training at the Port of Morrow in
Boardman. BMCC is collaborating
with the Energy Trust of Oregon
and could see an annual savings
of around $100,000 in utility costs
with upgrades to heating, cooling
and electrical systems.
Over 50 years ago,
the citizens of
Umatilla and Morrow
counties made a wise
decision to establish
Blue Mountain
Community College.
Please join us in the
continuing support
of this worthwhile
investment in the
education, training
and well-being of
both counties.
State and lottery funds will pro-
vide $4 million as a match to fur-
ther leverage the bond. The college
shaved $5 million from the origi-
nal bond and reduced the cost to 25
cents per $1,000 assessed property
value. The medium home value in
Umatilla County is $145,000 for
an estimated bond cost of $36.25
per year.
Over 50 years ago, the citizens
of Umatilla and Morrow counties
made a wise decision to establish
Blue Mountain Community Col-
lege. Please join us in the continu-
ing support of this worthwhile in-
vestment in the education, training
and well-being of both counties.
BMCC levy not
affordable
Editor,
Yes, BMCC is a major asset to
our community of northeast Or-
egon. As I have told the BMCC
president and BMCC board chair,
our family has much to appreciate
about BMCC. However, for this
letter, we will only discuss the “af-
fordability” of this levy.
Many of the taxpayers cannot
afford this loan that the voters are
being asked to take out for their
local college. At this point in Ore-
gon history, “Taxes are a big deal.”
The property tax on a $120,000
valued local residence per year, in
2002, was about $1,500. In 2008,
it was about $1,900. In 2011, it
was about $2,100. In 2014, it was
about $2,250.
With the federal increase in
fees, fines, co-pays, taxes and Or-
egon’s new upcoming taxes and
fees, what will 2015’s property
tax be competing with? We do not
have a choice on these levies. We
do have a choice on the BMCC
levy/loan. By the way, what do
you think “the carbon tax” will
cost us directly and indirectly (in
the cost of living)?
Recently, “The East Orego-
nian” newspaper published an
article concerning “The United
Way.” It reported that the United
Way no longer generates enough
volunteer donations from individ-
uals and businesses to contribute
to several nonprofit organizations
in Pendleton. Nor do they gener-
ate enough income to fund other
nonprofit organizations at the lev-
el they are used to getting from
The United Way. One of those un-
funded organizations will be the
Pendleton Salvation Army Meals
Program.
What about the lower end of
the economic food chain? For
those who recycle metal, they have
noticed, over the last year, that a
pick-up truck load of metal scrap
gets, on the average, less than one
half what it did a year ago.
Yes, the BMCC levy support-
ers paint a “rosy” picture of why
we should take out another loan
for BMCC. Well, right now, eco-
nomically speaking, all is not
“rosy.”
LARRY AND JEAN NYE
ATHENA
Recycle day very helpful
Editor,
I would like to thank the City
of Hermiston for its recycle day at
UEC last Saturday. I took advan-
tage of the free service with near
empty cans of paint. Thank you,
and I hope it was a success so that
it can become an annual thing.
PAUL AND MARY DAVIS
PIUS HORNING
PENDLETON
HERMISTON
ELECTED OFFICIALS
STATE
District 29: Sen. Bill Hansell,
R-Umatilla Co., 900 Court St. N.E.,
S-423, Salem, OR 97301, 503-986-
1729. 101 S.W. Third St., Pendleton,
OR 97801 (541) 278-1396. E-mail:
ssen.billhansell@state.or.us.
District 30: Sen. Ted Ferrio-
li, R-John Day; 900 Court St. N.E.,
S-223 Salem, OR 97301, 503-986-
1950. 750 W. Main, John Day, OR
97845, (541) 575-2321. E-mail: ferr-
ioli.sen@state.or.us.
District 58: Rep. Greg Barreto,
R-Pendleton; 900 Court St. N.E.,
H-480, Salem, OR 97301, 503-986-
1458. E-mail: rep.gregbarrento@
state.or.us. Website: http://www.ore-
gonlegislature.gov/barreto
District 57: Rep. Greg Smith,
R-Morrow, 900 Court St. N.E.,
H-280, Salem, OR 97301, 503-986-
1457. P.O. Box 215, Heppner, OR
97836, (541) 676-5154. E-mail:
smith.g.rep@state.or.us.
FEDERAL
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
Sac Annex Building, 105 Fir St.,
No. 201, La Grande, OR 97850;
(541) 962-7691. E-mail: kath-
leen_cathey@wyden.senate.gov;
(Kathleen Cathey, community repre-
sentative); 717 Hart Building, Wash-
ington, D.C. 20510, (202) 224-5244.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
One World Trade Center, 121 SW
Salmon Street, Suite 1250, Portland,
OR 97204; (503) 326-3386; Dirksen
6HQDWH 2I¿FH %XLOGLQJ 6'%%
Washington, D.C. 20510. (202) 224-
3753.
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (2nd
District)
843 E. Main St., Suite 400, Med-
ford, OR 97504, (541) 776-4646,
(800) 533-3303; 2352 Rayburn
+RXVH2I¿FH%XLOGLQJ:DVKLQJWRQ
D.C. 20515, (202) 225-6730