OPINION READER’S FORUM
Founded in 1906
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020
A4
EDITOR’S DESK
Please drive carefully during winter weather
I
t’s been a beautiful fall in the
Columbia Basin so far, but it
feels inevitable that the fi rst icy
roads of the season for Hermiston
aren’t far off. Already, the mountain
passes east of Pendleton have closed
at least twice for crashes in snowy
weather.
As more people stay
home than usual this
winter and meetings
over video chat have
become the norm, we
Jade
have an opportunity to
McDowell
reduce traffi c fatalities
NEWS EDITOR
this winter.
According to prelim-
inary data released in October by
the Federal Highway Administra-
tion, traffi c fatalities were down by
about 2% in the fi rst six months of
2020, compared with the fi rst half of
2019. That’s good news, but less pos-
itive when considering the same time
period in 2020 saw a 16.6% decrease
in overall traffi c. That means while
there were fewer fatalities total, there
were more per miles traveled.
Experts have offered up sev-
eral theories on this. People who are
spending more time at home and are
feeling higher levels of stress may
be drinking and consuming drugs
more, causing more impaired driving.
Less traffi c may also be encourag-
ing people to feel comfortable engag-
ing in other risky behaviors, such as
speeding.
That’s why it is important that we
don’t let down our guard this win-
ter. All driving is a serious respon-
Hermiston Herald, File
A vehicle navigates a partially snow-covered road on Old Highway 30 west of Meacham in
2018.
sibility that, when taken lightly, can
have disastrous consequences —
death, injury, hospitalization, prison
or large fi nancial costs — but driving
on slick roads and/or in poor visibil-
ity increases the danger.
In my decade as a journalist, I’ve
seen the consequences fi rsthand. I’ve
seen gruesome crash scenes with
details I wish I could forget. I’ve
seen the outline of the body under
the sheet on the road, or the drips of
blood left behind as someone was
loaded into an ambulance.
In both my personal and profes-
sional life, I’ve seen what is left
behind, too. I’ve interviewed victims’
loved ones as they cried. I’ve inter-
viewed people left paralyzed from
the neck down for the rest of their
life, or written about people going to
prison for accidentally killing some-
one while driving drunk.
I’ve seen friends and relatives
commemorate the anniversary each
year of the family member who was
killed by an intoxicated or distracted
driver. When I write about someone
being killed in a crash, I usually seek
out their Facebook page to see if we
have any mutual friends in common,
so I can be prepared for the conversa-
tion that often follows as that friend
seeks me out to ask hard questions
like, “Do you know if she suffered
before she died?”
I know it’s easy to rationalize that
it won’t be you. Many years ago I
COLUMN
used to text and drive occasionally,
before this job cured me of it. It is
true that most of the time those who
think, “I won’t crash if I look down
at my phone for 5 seconds to send
this text,” or “I’m steady enough to
make it home without a taxi,” do
make it home safe. But for about
40,000 people in the United States
each year, that thought is their last
thought.
A state trooper once told me he
had responded to a fatal crash and
found the dead woman’s phone
among the wreckage. Front and cen-
ter was a grocery list she had been
making as she drove, a half-com-
pleted word marking the last moment
of her life.
There are no do-overs when it
comes to car crashes. There is no,
“I don’t want to spend the rest of
my life in this chronic pain from my
accident so I’m going to go back in
time and put on a seat belt.”
So please, while you’re driving,
wear a seat belt. Drive the speed
limit. When bad weather or icy
patches hit this winter, slow down
and leave more room for stopping.
Keep your eyes on the road at all
times. Turn your phone on silent and
throw it in the back seat if it’s too
much of a temptation. Make sure any
time you get behind the wheel of a
car you’re sober and wide awake.
When in any doubt, pull over and
get some sleep, call a taxi, or call a
friend who would rather pick you up
at 2 a.m. than get a 3 a.m. call about
your death.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
What is dyslexia, and how to help children cope
KidWind program combines clean energy,
education
D
Oregon’s energy landscape is rapidly chang-
ing. Here among Columbia River communities,
where most of Oregon’s wind farms are located,
we’re fortunate to not just be a witness to our
state’s incredible growth in clean energy, but a key
participant.
Importantly, this also means bringing renew-
able energy education into the minds of Oregon
students. Through the support of the KidWind pro-
gram, EDP Renewables (EDPR) believes this is a
critical link to the success of clean energy in our
state.
The inaugural REpowering Schools Awards
recently took place to recognize the growing value
of renewable energy education. EDPR was proud
to receive the Industry Champion Award for our
support of the KidWind program. KidWind pro-
vides several unique workshops that show how
wind and solar projects work to inspire our next
generation.
The awards also recognized the important rela-
tionship that takes place between local educa-
tion and developers of renewable energy proj-
ects. Building support for KidWind in Boardman
has meant working with educators like Rhonda
Fox-Brennan, who twice has traveled across the
country with her team of students to compete at the
highest level at the National KidWind Challenge
thanks, in part, to funding from EDPR.
Our drive to provide sustainable, clean energy
for our state helps the environment and the econ-
omy, but it also means taking our commitment one
step further to support the education of Oregon stu-
dents looking to enter the workforce.
These recent awards are a great reminder: sup-
porting the growth of renewables in Oregon means
affordable energy — and new careers — for
decades to come.
Jarod Wizner, operations manager
Rattlesnake Road/Wheat Field Wind Farm
Umatilla
yslexia — what is it?
Dyslexia is not
simply letter rever-
sals or not trying hard
enough. With the advance-
ment of technology, research-
ers have been able to observe
the brain while people who
struggle with
reading are
reading infor-
mation. From
this research,
they deter-
mined people
with the current Scott
defi nition of
Smith
dyslexia often
struggle with language devel-
opment along with distin-
guishing sounds found in our
language and transferring
them to text.
Language is a natural skill
that we all develop at differ-
ent levels, whereas text has
been created by man. About
20% of the population’s
brains have diffi culty pro-
cessing human-created sym-
bols. There is no correlation
between intelligence or cre-
ativity. Dyslexics are often
very visual and creative in
their thinking.
Children who appear to be
dyslexic often have a family
history of dyslexia. The spec-
trum of dyslexia is wide and
a person may only exhibit
minor indicators, whereas
others may exhibit many
indicators to an extreme.
With early identifi ca-
tion and frequent interven-
tions, the characteristics can
be minimalized, making edu-
cation and reading easier for
children with dyslexia. Not
hearing sounds in words and
rhyming as a preschooler is
an indicator, along with rap-
idly reading colors, objects
or letters. With practice, pre-
schoolers and kindergartners
have no problem mastering
these skills and move on to
letter recognition and sound
representations.
Normal reading patterns
are pre-alphabetic, partial
alphabetic, full alphabetic
and consolidated alphabetic.
Pre-alphabetic begins in pre-
school and increases during
kindergarten. This is when
the child begins to become
aware that letters have mean-
ing and begins to use visual
clues.
Partial alphabetic is when
the child knows their let-
ter names and is becoming
aware of sounds in words
and linking them to the let-
ters. This happens most often
toward the end of kindergar-
ten and during the start of
fi rst grade.
Full alphabetic aware-
ness should be strong by the
middle of fi rst grade. Stu-
dents understand the pho-
neme/grapheme relation-
ship and are able to blend
words. Consolidated under-
standing should be mastered
by the end of fi rst grade and
at the latest in the fi rst part
of second grade. This means
the students are able to read
decodable texts fl uently
along with being able to spell
words applying their phonic
knowledge.
Dyslexic students often
exhibit other instructional
diffi culties, such as dys-
graphia (inability to write
coherently); visual processing
issues; auditory processing
issues; attention problems,
such as ADHD; memory
struggles; language devel-
opment; mood swings; and
coordination. One thing for
sure is that dyslexia is not a
determination of intelligence.
Dyslexia is not just found
in one gender, though how
the different sexes display
frustration with dyslexia can
be quite different. Boys most
often become frustrated and
become active, often lead-
ing to behavior problems.
Therefore, they are often
identifi ed earlier. Girls many
times become complacent
and quiet. They are often
not identifi ed as having dys-
lexia until upper grades or
even in college. Even though
they have the same strug-
gles, many appear to be able
to develop coping skills and
are able to move through the
system.
Dyslexia affects every per-
son differently. They may
have some of the same char-
acteristics, but their brain
makeup is different. Often,
they have problems with spo-
ken language, reading, writ-
ing and other subjects in
school. But they may also
deal with self-image issues
and interactions with peers. It
is something they deal with
for life. They carry that worry
and anxiety with them every
day. Many times it leads to
depression later in life.
Though there are weak-
nesses and struggles, many
dyslexics have strengths that
others may not have, such as
thinking outside of the box.
They are often able to imag-
ine in a three-dimensional
mode and are able to see the
“big picture” when presented
with projects. They usually
love to problem solve.
These are all skills we
need in every part of our
society.
———
Dr. Scott Smith is a 40+
year Umatilla County educa-
tor and serves on the Decod-
ing Dyslexia-OR board as
their parent/teacher liaison.
CORRECTIONS
Printed on
recycled
newsprint
VOLUME 114 • NUMBER 47
Andrew Cutler | Publisher • acutler@eomediagroup.com • 541-278-2673
Jade McDowell | News Editor • jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4536
Jeanne Jewett | Multi-Media consultant • jjewett@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4531
Audra Workman | Multi-Media consultant • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4538
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