The independent., March 22, 1995, Page 2, Image 2

Page 2
The INDEPENDENT, March 22,1995
The
u,s.
INDEPENDENT
Serving the upper Nehalem River valley. Published
twice monthly on the second and fourth Wednesdays of
each month, by Public Opinion Laboratory Ltd., 1206
S tate A venue, V ernonia, OR 97064, as a fre e
new spaper. E ditors and P ublishers, Dirk & Noni
Andersen, (503) 429-9410.
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Supreme Court just
another sport event?
Everyone who has been following the story of
mandatory drug testing in the Vernonia School Dis­
trict knows the lie, oops..., line about “protecting our
athletes.” The district has managed to hit a new low,
however, with envelopes emblazoned with the Stars
and Stripes flying above a slogan saying “U.S.
Supreme Court, here we come!”
Instead of using this opportunity to educate, the
district has spent more than four years brainwashing
students, trivializing the Constitution and the Bill of
Rights and, now, equates a hearing in the U.S.
Supreme Court with an athletic contest!
This is disgusting and degrading but, unfortunately,
not surprising.
It’s not surprising because this district has already
said Vernonia students use drugs; it has already said
that drugs are openly available in town; it has already
said that students smoke marijuana in the restaurant
across from the school. If you think they haven’t
made these claims, you need to read the district’s re­
sponses to the lawsuit filed by the Acton family, and
the transcript of trial testimony.
Instead of educating, this school district trivializes
the foundations of our country. It’s obvious they are
willing to destroy those foundations in favor of a world
of blind, unquestioning conformity and, no, it’s not be­
cause some students used drugs; there are ways to
deal with that, as other school districts have shown.
This district’s mandatory, suspicionless drug testing
policy was started because a few high school teach­
ers couldn’t maintain discipline and the administration
didn’t support those who tried.
There was no concern for athletes. If there had
been, the tests would have included steroids, but they
didn’t. If there was real concern for the students, the
tests would have included alcohol, but they didn’t.
How many thousands of dollars that could have
been used for education, have been wasted on this
policy? What if that money had been used to beef up
instruction in some neglected course—like the Con­
stitution? And how much is it going to cost the tax­
payers when the district’s insurance rates jump be­
cause the insurance company has been taking care
of this legal defense?
Why are some students going to Washington,
D.C.? Not because it’s educational, no. The superin­
tendent has openly said it’s great “propaganda” .
That’s why only those who support drug testing were
selected. Independent thinkers need not apply.
Sadly, this whole situation came about not to pro­
tect athletes or any other students, but to protect a
few teachers and administrators who lacked the
courage to tell students that inappropriate behavior
would not be accepted.
These few teachers and administrators would
rather lie and subvert the foundations of our demo­
cratic way of life, than accept responsibility for doing
the job they were, and in some cases still are, paid to
do. No matter what the eventual outcome, their be­
havior is worse than any of the students.
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The Josi Report
By Rep. TimJosi
Oregon Representative, District 2
Last Monday [March 13,1995], hundreds of
opponents and proponents of Ballot Measure
18, the provision passed last November that
bans certain hunting practices in the taking of
bear and cougar, descended on the Capitol. In
an emotional afternoon of testimony before
the Subcommittee on Agriculture and Forestry
on HB 2584, which repeals the new law, com­
mittee members heard three solid hours of
testimony supporting HB 2584.
Instead of using one of the customary ways
of calling on witnesses, first come, first heard;
those that traveled the farthest speak first; or
a balanced approach of one pro, then one con
argument; the committee chairman “stacked”
the list of witnesses by first listing the names
of people he had contacted before the meet­
ing to testify. During the three hours of this
one-sided testimony, the chairman constantly
chided the opposition for their requests to be
heard. Reluctantly, during the last two hours,
he allowed some opponents who had traveled
great distances to speak. Regardless of how
one feels about this issue, this kind of treat­
ment at the hands of elected officials is uncon­
scionable.
I truly believe that if we, as a nation, are to
survive long-term, we must be willing to listen
to each other in a respectful manner. If we
cannot do that how can we hope to agree on a
long term public policy rather than one that
swings wildly from one extreme to the other
depending on who has the momentary majori­
ty?
I
By Dale Webb, member
Izaak Walton League, Nehalem Valley Chapter
In this column I would like to lay out what is
on the agenda for the Nehalem Valley “Ikes”
for the upcoming year.
Our first major undertaking of the year in­
volves riparian-area tree-planting projects. We
have five project sites slated for planting this
year, which will encompass 11,300 feet of ri­
parian area. This program is just getting start­
ed and is likely to get bigger on an annual ba­
sis. Aproximately 2650 trees will be planted.
The trees were purchased by the Izaak Wal­
Take Measure 18, for example; I did not
vote for it. We hire competent professionals to
staff the Department of Fish and Wildlife to de­
termine a sound wildlife management policy; I
do not believe they would institute a policy
that was inhumane to animals. Also, one of
the Departm ent’s goals is to “m aintain all
species at an optimum level” which would pre­
clude over-hunting. However, at the polls last
November, the majority of Oregonians decid­
ed to take control of certain wildlife manage­
ment practices by limiting the use of bait in
hunting bears and the hunting of bear and
cougar with hounds.
Now, some people who opposed this mea­
sure are claiming it should be repealed for a
variety of reasons. They run the gamut from
public safety, to hunting with hounds keeps
kids out of gangs and teaches responsibility,
to it’s city vs. rural dwellers, to the voters were
fed lies by out-of-state interests during the
election, to this is the first step in an attempt
too stop all hunting.
The bottom line is, even if all of this is
true-and we do not know that for sure— we
cannot ignore the vote in November. Even if
the majority of Legislators may wish to over­
turn this new law, we must not; for if we do,
we will be destroying the initiative process.
Then why stop with Measure 18? What other
initiative results do “we” dislike?
Re!
Salem, OR 97310
Phone; (503)986-1402
FAX: (503)986-1575
ton League, but we hope to secure a grant to
recover our costs and finance future projects
since our chapter is not able to fund this pro­
ject on an ongoing basis. The purpose of the
project is to reestablish a conifer component
to the existing hardwood riparian area, which
is in a d e q u a te to p ro v id e shade fo r the
streams. This, obviously, is a tong term project
with a tong term goal.
Our biggest project this year is going to be
at Cedar Ridge on Rock Creek. It is located at
the former Perry’s Sport camp now owned by
Larry Steele. This project will involve using en-
Please see page 3