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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2017)
July 21, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 3A A presidential moment REBECCA HERREN/SEASIDE SIGNAL Walter Trumbull portrays President Abraham Lincoln in his one-man show “Lin- coln: For the People” at the Seaside United Methodist Church. Sixteenth president recalled onstage By Rebecca Herren Seaside Signal The words of a young Abraham Lin- coln, and as the 16th President of the United States, are as relevant today as they were then. Lincoln fought for the inclusion of all people who come to this country. He spoke out fervently in favor of women’s suffrage and for assisting all foreigners who wanted to make a life in this great nation. And, as it was with slavery, America was and still is divided. Standing just shy of Lincoln’s 6-foot- 4-inch stature, Walter Trumbull brought Lincoln’s words to life in his one-man show “Lincoln: For the People” on June 23 at Seaside United Methodist Church, where he fi rst performed eight years ago. A slide show of Civil War pictures preceded the recitations, as did an in- troduction and singing of Julia Ward Howe’s stirring “Battle Hymn of the Re- public” led by Debbie Vail. His show comprised a chronologi- cal fi rst-person narrative of Lincoln’s humble origins growing up on Little Pi- geon Creek farm to Lincoln’s troubling years in the White House. It wasn’t just a monologue of Lincoln’s speeches, but an intimate portrayal into the man who freed people from the bonds of slavery while saving the Union. It was a look of Lincoln during his political years inter- twined with recollections of childhood memories that infl uenced his path and character. Though Lincoln was a man who took his job as president seriously, he was a storyteller with a good sense of humor and liked to make jokes. He loved read- ing and was a great fan of poetry, once considering himself a future poet. Under the large oak trees on the farm, Lincoln wrote his fi rst poem: “Abraham Lincoln, hand and pen, he will be good, but God knows when.” Afterwards, his mother broke out in laughter, but his father who remained stoic said, “Abraham, that explains you perfectly.” The idea of slavery was personal for Lincoln. During his childhood, it was law that fathers owned their children in all manners, even to hiring them out for labor. Lincoln was 17 when he was hired out as a laborer chopping wood and split- ting rails for 25 cents a day. He didn’t like the idea and thought of himself as an indentured servant, but he respected his father and accepted this as a duty to help him. At age 18, he left his father’s farm to forge his own path. It wasn’t long thereafter when he came face to face with slavery while working on a fl atboat heading toward New Orleans. About two weeks later, he witnessed a well-dressed man leading a dozen slaves through the streets. Shackled at the ankles, he treated them as common stockyard pigs, kicking them if they spoke as if they were noth- ing. Being opposed to the oppression of all peoples, this experience sickened Lincoln and left such an impression, he decided to study law and eventually run for offi ce. He ran for a seat on the Illi- nois General Assembly in 1832, but lost that campaign. He ran again in 1834 and won. Two years into his service, Lincoln made his fi rst public declaration against slavery. He tried again in 1849, this time proposing an amendment to abolish slav- ery in the District of Columbia, but lost. These defeats did not deter Lincoln as he continued his service in the polit- ical arena. It was the Electoral College and not the popular vote that elected Lincoln the fi rst Republican president in 1860. Lincoln won re-election to his sec- ond term, this time by the popular vote against George McClellan who want- ed to reinstate slavery and restore the Union, as it was prior. Lincoln knew well the growing pow- er of capitalism’s threat to justice and liberty to all mankind, as it was promised in the Declaration of Independence. He understood that plantation owners in the South wanted free labor and slavery to endure forever. Slavery was the catalyst the South needed to start the Civil War and as he saw it, the elephant in the halls of Congress was slavery. During his presidency, Lincoln stood strong against many threats and foes, and it was his belief of “all men are created equal” that ended his life. Trumbull’s performance leaves one with a deeper awareness of the power of Lincoln’s words and actions in both his public and private life that showed Lin- coln’s deep love he had for his nation, his family and for all people. Trumbull has written variations of his Lincoln show bringing in more and more information about the man and myth. He says he started right after Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, and dedicates his show to his father who was a collector of modern day Civil War memorabilia. He has made a YouTube video reciting Lincoln’s second inaugu- ral speech, receiving more than 70,000 views; it is as realistic as if witnessing it in person. As the country celebrated another In- dependence Day, Americans continue to be thrust into a period of intense political polarization, anger and distrust; poten- tially jeopardizing the ideals for which Lincoln so honestly fought. Trumbull has lived in Seaside since 2000. He studied to be an opera singer pursuing a degree in opera performance and theater at Denison and Kent State universities. He enjoys the local arts scene and has performed at both the Coaster and Liberty theaters. Trumbull says he is at the point where he hopes to take his Lincoln show on the road. Mobile summer camps build hard science skills Camp from Page 1A systems, creating wind tur- bines and building handmade speakers. “In a lot of small, rural communities, they’re not go- ing to have classes with many of these activities,” said Ra- chel Johnson, a senior bioengi- neering major at OSU. Johnson was one of four OSU students facilitating Sea- side’s Center for Outreach in Science and Engineering for Youth Mobile Science and Engineering Camp, operated by the Precollege Programs at OSU in partnership with the Oregon Coast STEM Hub. Gearhart Elementary School fi fth-grade teacher Erica Acton served as the lo- cal host. Students from the Seaside School District could participate in the camp, which included lunch and materials, at no cost. Stress-free environment The mobile summer camps — which so far have been held in Tillamook, Lincoln City, Astoria and Seaside, and next will travel to Coquille and Brookings — offer several benefi ts, according to Johnson. The campers are in a comfort- able, familiar environment with their friends and peers from school. Additionally, the camp is an outlet where they can learn STEM-related infor- mation without the pressure of impending tests or homework assignments. Sometimes, Johnson said, students will show up feeling reluctant about the idea of do- ing “more school,” so to speak. During the two days of camp, however, the instructors have the pleasure of showing the campers how enjoyable it can be to engage the STEM topics by providing hands-on application. KATHERINE LACAZE/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL Rachel Johnson, a camp leader and bio engineer- ing major at Oregon State University, talks with local students while they worked on building a water infi ltra- tion system. When it comes to building and retaining children’s in- terest in STEM topics at the middle-school age, that’s “a big step in the right direction,” said camp instructor Apoorva Ayyagari, another senior bio- engineering major at OSU. “It’s an easier way to piece together information that’s be- ing thrown at you,” she said. ‘Just problem-solving’ Most students are exposed to science, math and technol- ogy by the time they are en- tering ninth grade, but engi- neering can be a more elusive subject for children. Acton felt the camp was especial- ly successful in exposing the students to what engineering entails and making the topic accessible to them. “It’s really just prob- lem-solving,” she said. Johnson agreed most of the activities they do with the campers put a heavy fo- cus on critical thinking and problem-solving. Each project involves multiple variables, which allows the students to play around with changing one or two and seeing how that affects the outcome. If changing one variable doesn’t accomplish what they hope, they can address another. What strikes the instructors as particularly interesting is how creativity varies consid- erably from school to school, and even from student to stu- dent. During the fi rst activity, students were put into teams, and each team had to use plastic pipe and connectors to build a freestanding dog sculpture. This activity helped them warm up to the idea of engineering as problem-solv- ing, as well as group work and sharing and listening to others’ ideas. One group chose to have their dog sitting, instead of standing on all fours. Al- though unconventional and surprising compared to the structures made by other groups, it wasn’t “a wrong an- swer within the specifi cations of the problem,” Acton said. Similarly, when the students build solar-powered cars from kits, “not a single car looks the same,” Ayyagari said. In general, the young stu- dents seem more apt to ex- ercise creative thinking and personalized approaches than adults, Johnson said, adding, “They don’t see the obstacles we see.” In another activity, held on the second day of camp, the instructors talked to the students about college ad- missions and the professions available in the STEM disci- plines. The purpose, Ayyagari said, was “to encourage them to pursue education after high school and inform them on the benefi t of doing so.” Providence Seaside weathers cutback gale Higher costs, lower subsidies stress system By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal Providence Seaside Hos- pital, the city’s largest em- ployer with 375 employees , is bracing for changes amid a changing health care land- scape. Members of the hospital’s corporate offi ce responded to comments after an Ore- gonian report of “aggressive cost-cutting and layoffs” by Providence Health & Ser- vices early this month. For Oregon-based care- givers — including those at Providence Seaside Hospi- tal — there are no planned layoffs, wrote Providence Health & Services Region- al Chief Executive Offi cer Dave Underriner in a letter to employees this week. “That doesn’t mean we will not continue our regu- lar stewardship of business, making decisions that can change employment for some caregivers, but we are not having Oregon region- wide layoffs,” Underriner said. “Financially in Oregon, we are doing OK and meet- ing our budget.” In 2016, Providence Sea- side Hospital saw more than 1,000 inpatient admissions, with 146,000 outpatient visits, including more than 10,000 in the emergency de- partment. “In 2017, we are running ahead of those fi gures, and defi nitely expect to exceed those 2016 totals,” Prov- idence Health & Services Communications Director Gary Walker said Tuesday. Higher costs, lower reimbursements Lower government health care reimbursements are driving higher costs through- out the system, Underriner said. Since the start of health care reform in 2011, Providence cut $340 million in costs in Ore- gon, he said. Dave But new state taxes Underriner on hospitals and health insurance, along with uncertainty at the fed- eral level “means we need to continue to focus on meeting the needs of the community in light of the revenue we re- ceive,” Underriner said. “We are busier than ever, serving thousands more patients, but there continues to be a fun- damental shift in reimburse- ments to cover the costs. It’s unlikely that reimbursements will improve anytime soon.” Providence’s 50 hospi- tals handled more than 1 million Medicaid patient visits in 2016. The Renton, Washington-based company was forced to subsidize the unfunded portion of Med- icaid at a cost exceeding $1 billion, said Providence spokeswoman Colleen Wad- den. The current year is bring- ing more of the same, she said. This is all a dramatic contrast to 2014 and 2015, when many large hospitals enjoyed windfall profi ts, in large part because Medicaid eligibility was loosened and millions of Americans joined the program. Oregon alone added more than 400,000 to the Medicaid rolls, and many fl ocked to hospitals for long-delayed treatment. “This trend is continu- ing into 2017,” Underriner said. “We are a safety net for many patients, especial- ly those with Medicaid, and we are deeply committed to continuing to serve this vul- nerable population.” The state Legislature passed the $550 million Ore- gon Health Authority budget and a hospital and provider tax package that allows the state to continue covering health care for low-income families.
