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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 2015)
COMMENTARY WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2015 Most local news still depends on the newspaper don’t have as many readers as we once had. People’s connection to the paper is not as strong as it was in the years before Internet and cell phone technology gave everyone the ability to carry a mini computer with them. People don’t need news- This is National Newspa- papers for the same things per Week. It is great to have they used to need them for. a week that honors one’s Everything from weather chosen career, but for those to coupons, from comics to of us in the newspaper busi- puzzles, from game scores ness, every week is newspa- to TV listings can be found on the phones most people per week. It consumes our lives, in carry. But what can’t be found good — and sometime not so good — ways. We do as readily is local news from sources other than the this, because we love Hermiston Herald or it and want to help East Oregonian be- keep our neighbors cause no one else has informed about the as many journalists things happening in covering Hermiston our hometowns. and surrounding com- A newspaper munities as we do. serves many functions What we do is still for a community. In Gary L. West a great value. A sub- informs, teaches, en- SHADES scriber can get a year tertains, and some- OF GRAY of the Hermiston Her- times antagonizes its readers. It marks milestones, ald in print, and unrestricted like births, graduations, mar- online access to all stories, riages and anniversaries. It’s including years of our on- a place people turn in times line archives, for less than of tragedy, whether a death $43 a year. That’s probably in the family or a communi- about half the cost someone ty calamity, like many Ore- would pay for one month gonians did last week during of cell phone service with the tragic school shooting at a data plan or less than the Umpqua Community Col- cost of one month of cable lege in Roseburg. It tells us TV. It’s about what a fami- where fun things are hap- ly of four would pay to go pening and who won the to an evening showing of a game at our alma mater. It movie at the local theater if tells us what’s on sale at our you skipped the soft drinks, popcorn and other conces- favorite stores. It’s hard to be and do so sions. We want to make sure many things for so many people. But that doesn’t stop you get even better value for your subscription dollar. us from trying. The Herald staff has long That’s why we will contin- worked to be a newspaper XH WR PDNH UH¿QHPHQWV WR you want to — and need to what we do in the months — read in order to be well ahead. If you have thoughts informed about events in the on what you can’t live greater Hermiston area. But without or don’t need at all for the past three months we in your Hermiston Herald, have been actively making please let us know. I sus- changes in how we work pect our comics pages may and present the news. It is a not have many loyal read- work in progress. We con- ers, for example, yet we tinue to tinker with the look spend two pages of space of the paper, for example, on it each week. If m sus- but we are not convinced picion is correct, we’d like we’ve hit on the perfect for- to spend that space on more mula. We live in a rapidly local stories and photos. You can write me at ed- changing community in a itor@hermistonherald.com. rapidly changing world. In many ways, the Herm- We are also still looking for iston Herald of today is a far volunteers for a community superior newspaper to what advisory committee to help it was when I last worked us decide how to make the here more than 23 years ago. Herald more relevant to the Technology makes it possi- community in the 21st cen- ble for us to run full color tury. In the meantime, thanks photos and advertisements on every page of the paper. for reading and happy Na- We have a computer system tional Newspaper Week. Gary L. West is editor that allows us to report news in print and online faster. In of the Hermiston Herald fact, there was no Internet, and Hermiston editor at least that we were aware for the East Oregonian. of or had access to in 1992. Reach him at gwest@ We barely had email and we hermistonherald.com or ZHUHVWLOOSURFHVVLQJ¿OPWR follow him on Twitter @ GaryLWest or on Face- put photos in the paper. But we’ve lost some book at www.facebook. things too. Most notably, we com/journalist.glwest. Herald staff still looking for feedback to keep making your paper better HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7 LETTER TO THE EDITOR Mars may be key to disproving evolution For years, I have been hopeful that evidence for liquid water would be found on Mars. That dis- covery has now been made though its surface liquidity seems to vacillate with sea- sonal changes. The reason I have hoped for this may surprise many. As a Bibli- cal creationist, I believe the discovery of even microbial life on Mars would validate the theory of evolution. My hope is being real- ized as scientists discover all of what they believe to be the essential ingredi- ents to foster the evolution of microbial life. With the discovery of liquid water added to the previously discovered sulfur, nitro- gen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon — all discovered in material drilled out of an ancient streambed called Yellow Knife Bay, it would seem that the stage is set to prove or disprove evolution as be- LQJVFLHQWL¿FDOO\YDOLG There is just one big question: Will the key in- gredients for life have as- sembled themselves into living organisms by now as is supposed they have on Earth? The fallacy we continue to hear from scientists and journalists is that if there is the combination of these key ingredients of life, with water for a long enough time, microbial life (bacte- ria, viruses, spores, fungi, algae) will evolve. The unspoken frustra- tion of many scientists lies in their failure to discov- er organic carbons — the building blocks of life. When present, they are easy WR¿QGXVLQJJDVFKURPDWR- graph mass spectrometers which the Mars rovers pos- sess. To illustrate, when a living system (microbial plant or animal) synthesiz- es proteins it incorporates carbon in the form of sever- al stable isotopes that vary slightly in mass (weight), as seen with carbon 12 and the heavier carbon 13. On Earth the average natural abundance of car- bon 12 to carbon 13 is 90 to 1. But if you were to an- alyze some living thing like a plant, its ratio would be 92 to 1. This slight differ- ence is the signature of bio- ORJLFDOV\VWHPV,I\RX¿QG some questionable residue and want to know whether it ever breathed, using the spectrometer you measure this ratio. If it measures 92 to 1, then it was once alive. So far they have struck out. The complexity of a single, so-called simple one-celled microbe (e.g., amoeba) is incalculable — more com- plex than all the moving parts of New York City at rush hour. The jury is yet out on the Martian question. My con- viction is that the evidence will show that chemical evolution is an invalid hy- pothesis not only for Mars but for Earth, and that I will have an added reason to celebrate the truth that “in the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth.” PASTOR KENT KNIGHT (RETIRED) HERMISTON SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH 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. Bob Jenson, R-Pendleton; 900 Court St. N.E., H-480, Salem, OR 97301, 503-986- 1458. 2126 N.W. 21st., Pendleton, OR 97801, (541) 276-2707. E-mail: rep.bobjenson@state.or.us. 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. Paperwork. STUDENT OF THE WEEK Jacob Hendrickson P ILOT R OCK H IGH S CHOOL PRHS student of the week is Jacob Hendrickson. Jacob is a senior this year and very involved with his class as the vice- president. He is a National Honor Society member and looking ahead to college. His involvement in Key Club encompasses many volunteer hours in all kinds of community activities. Jacob is an all-around great student who always exemplifies a positive attitude and outlook on life. Congratulations Jacob. Proudly Sponsored by Everything takes on a whole new meaning when you become a parent. With locations throughout Washington and Oregon, Mirasol Family Health Center serves hundreds of young families each year. We are now accepting new patients. Mirasol Family Health Center enjoyparenthood.org 2801 St. Anthony Way, Pendleton, OR • 541-276-5121