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.
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