NEWS & COMMENTARY
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2016
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Eye health a window
to overall health
Eye disease and de-
creased vision can impact
productivity and adverse-
ly affect quality of life. It
can lead to blindness and
disability. We are all aware
of the beneicial preven-
tive health measures that
have become incorporated
into our day to day lives.
Comprehensive eye exams
can provide the same pos-
itive results with regard to
our vision – particularly in
preventing the ill effects of
glaucoma, macular degen-
eration, and diabetic reti-
nopathy.
The problem with the
three diseases listed is that
early on they may not pro-
duce any symptoms. Glau-
coma has often been called
the “sneak thief of sight” in
that a sufferer is not aware
of it until signiicant vision
has been permanently lost.
In fact, half of the approxi-
mately 3 million Americans
with this disease are un-
aware that they have it until
they see an eye doctor. Di-
abetes is perhaps the most
common cause of blindness
in working aged individu-
als. More than 30 million
people in our country have
this disease, and approxi-
mately one third of them are
unaware that they have it. It
is not unusual for the diag-
nosis to be made in an eye
doctor’s ofice. And despite
the fact that macular degen-
eration runs in families, it
too is often not discovered
until visual acuity has been
reduced signiicantly.
There are good and
effective treatments for
these three diseases. It is
important for all individ-
uals to have a general eye
screening (which includes a
comprehensive dilated eye
examination) at around the
age of 40.
There are many good
ophthalmologists and op-
tometrists in our area.
Please plan on seeing the
practitioner of your choice.
The key to preventing
visual loss is early detec-
tion.
PERS is a promise
for public service
I am a third-generation
ireighter with about 20
years left to serve before I
retire. I follow in the foot-
steps of my grandfather
and great grandfather who
showed me the importance
of public service and of
keeping my word. I do my
best to live up to their leg-
acy every day as I work to
protect my community here
in Umatilla County.
Unfortunately,
some
politicians in Salem want
the state to pay their obliga-
tion to retired ireighters.
Instead they want to take
money from my retirement
to pay the state’s debt. This
rolls back the beneits I was
promised when I was hired.
It is also an unfair Ponzi
scheme that allows state
leadership to dodge respon-
sibility.
My family would take a
double hit because my wife
is teacher. These attacks af-
fect more than ireighters.
Teacher pensions, public
nurse pensions, all public
employee pensions would
be reduced.
If these proposals were
to pass, our only hope will
be the Oregon Supreme
Court would once again tell
the politicians in Salem that
they can’t go back on their
word. They cannot reduce
the beneits we were prom-
ised when we were hired. It
is unfortunate that after two
lengthy and costly lawsuits
that lesson wasn’t already
learned.
MATT FISHER
HERMISTON
Measure 97
beneits students
For more than 20 years,
Oregon has been disinvest-
ing in public education.
This November, voters
have an opportunity to
turn that around by voting
yes on ballot Measure 97,
which asks large and out-
of-state corporations to
pay their fair share.
As an educator I am
deeply committed to the
success of all students. I
have been an educator for
15 years and have spent
the last 10 years as a kin-
dergarten teacher in Herm-
iston. Even in our rela-
tively small town, classes
are crowded, programs
are often cut, and even in
kindergarten, children are
not always prepared. For
example, in Oregon 60
percent of all 3 and 4 year
olds don’t attend any pre-K
programs, leaving many
children reeling when they
do reach kindergarten.
The bottom line is that
we are missing an op-
portunity for educational
success for our students.
All students, including
kindergarteners, deserve
a well-rounded education,
which includes PE, librar-
ies and technical educa-
tion that keep disappearing
from schools. That is why I
am voting yes on Measure
97.
The biggest 1,051 cor-
porations in the state de-
serve to give a little back
to our students. Because,
I’m tired of seeing my kids
fall behind.
Measure 97 doesn’t
have to be a partisan or
one-sided issue. Because
ultimately, Measure 97 is
about our kids and doing
right by them. And if we
don’t do something to im-
prove education, we are
letting them down.
MARTHA LIEBE
HERMISTON
DR. MICHAEL DEITZ
HERMISTON
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CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Umatilla County Fire District 1 Battalion Chief Jeff Adkins,
right, and Kenda Irby, associate for Gas Transmission
Northwest, hold up a check for a new cardiac monitor.
Fire District 1 gets
new cardiac monitor
Umatilla County Fire
District 1 has a new cardiac
monitor in one of its ambu-
lances thanks to a $32,500
grant from TransCanada
Corporation.
The new monitor will
replace one of ive aging
monitors, Battalion Chief
Jeff Adkins said in a news
release, allowing the dis-
trict to focus on securing
funding for the remaining
monitors. The monitor will
be placed in the district’s
irst-responding advanced
life support ambulance.
“Last year, we responded
to almost 3,400 emergency
medical calls,” Adkins said.
“Having this monitor could
literally affect thousands of
lives.”
The donation was made
through TransCanada’s Gas
Transmission
Northwest
Pipeline. Gas Transmission
Northwest has operated a
natural gas pipeline in the
Hermiston area since 1961.
Rick Duncan, Regional
Director for TransCanada,
said in a statement that the
companies understand and
appreciate the role that irst
responders play in a com-
munity and wanted to sup-
port that.
“We believe in support-
ing the communities where
we have pipelines because
thriving communities are
good for everybody,” he
said.
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