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The INDEPENDENT, May 16, 2001
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INDEPENDENT
Serving the upper Nehalem River valley. Published twice
monthly, on the first and third Wednesdays of each
month, by Public Opinion Laboratory Ltd., 725 Bridge
Street, Vernonia, OR 97064, as a free newspaper. Edi
tors and Publishers, Dirk & Noni Andersen. Phone/Fax:
503-429-9410, e-mail: noni@vernonia.com
Ballot measure falls
for the wrong reason
The INDEPENDENT opposed passage of the Co
lumbia County ballot measure that would have raised
$750,000 over five years for a fund to support and ex
pand county museums operated by the historical soci
ety. Well, the measure clearly lost, by more than two
to one, but the results are disappointing, none-the-less.
If the measure had received a majority of Yes votes,
it still would have failed because only 40 percent of el
igible voters returned their ballots. When money is
concerned, Oregon election law requires not just a
majority decision by voters, but that a majority of reg
istered voters cast their ballots. Forty percent is not a
majority in anyone’s calculations.
The amount sought in this measure was out of pro
portion with the needs and revenues of Columbia
County, but a reasonable request should be on a fu
ture ballot, possibly in November. A sensible approach
would scale down such grandiose ideas as traveling
exhibits and a full-time professional director. The pop
ulation of this county is still small though some of the
needs are large; this must be considered before going
to the voters for additional funds.
Ball park should not
be priority for state
As Rep. Elaine Hopson reports, on page 3, the at
tempt to use lottery funds for a major league ball park
was defeated. Since she wrote that, however, metrq
area supporters have come up with a new scheme:
They want to use future income taxes from the big
salaries that would be earned by professional ball
players to pay back the state for a ball park.
If you’re willing to buy that...well, there’s some great
real estate for sale only 50 miles west of Cannon
Beach.
This great bargain would require taxpayers to pro
vide funds for half the cost of the ballpark, with private
investors funding the remainder. The phantom income
taxes that would put the money back in state coffers
would materialize at some unspecified future date,
when or if a major league ball club moved to Portland.
Oregon has enough problem gamblers without our
legislature betting the rent money on a ball game.
The only people who make money on a tax sup
ported stadium are the team owners and players. The
owners do especially well when they move in to a new
ballpark paid for by taxpayers, build a following and
sell for really big bucks.
Oregon schools are in bad shape; the state needs
to pay the money it owes federal retirees; senior ser
vices should not be reduced; rural transportation and
infrastructure desperately need funds; the Oregon
Health Plan needs to be expanded; more people than
ever need emergency food and shelter; educators
cannot meet additional mandates without additional
funds; ballot counting equipment in some counties
needs to be replaced.
These are needs. A ball park is a rich man’s subsidy.
Coyoti. !
After nine years, cartoonist gets people’s attention
By Robb Wilson
One of my fears was quelled with my most re
cent cartoon rendering for The Independent’s
May 2 issue. For nine years now, I have drawn
the political cartoon for the paper, not knowing if
people even look at it. I can count, on one hand,
the number of responses I have had—a couple
of positive replies and three less pleased re
marks. Not much input for almost a decade of
sketching.
But, things changed recently when, only min
utes after The Independent hit the stands, I re
ceived two inquiries about the meaning of my
cartoon. I didn’t think much about it at the mo
ment, then asked the person on the other end of
the phone, “What was your take on it?”
The reply was “It seems racist!” “What?” I
thought, “Where did they come up with that?"
Then I thought back to a few days before, when
I drew it. The first person to see it stated “DI
VERSITY.” I didn’t think much about it until the
calls came in.
My second question to people who asked
about it was, “Do you read the paper? The Let
ters to the Editor?” Most people said, “No.”
Evidently, people do look at the cartoons!
Good! But many look at the cartoon and breeze
through the rest of the paper, not reading the
“meat”. People seem to see things the way they
want to, and reach conclusions without under
standing the facts.
Many people asked me about this particular
cartoon so I looked at it from a different per
spective. I can see how the point I tried to make
was unclear to anyone who had not read that let
ter to the editor. Those who didn’t read it would,
and did, have a different take on/from it!
I had a specific idea in mind when I drew it
and it was not even remotely close to the
thought that so many of you lookers (not read
ers) thought it meant.
The primary intent of the cartoon was taken
from a letter to the editor in the April 18 Inde
pendent, from Alice Brock, a parent who was
charged with trespassing, lost in court and
whose access to the grade school is restricted.
Don’t ask me for details, I don’t know them.
Her letter and a few other for-instances rest
ing in the back of my mind surfaced, conjuring
up the idea for this particular cartoon. One of the
other thoughts was about a youngster here who
isn’t well liked by other boys and, in his adoles
cence, is a little awkward and uncoordinated.
He, like other lads, wants to play baseball, the
game he loves. But, his application (not at
school, but for summer baseball) was sent back
to him and he was told he would not be allowed
to play because the other boys don’t think he is
any good!! Can you believe it?
This sort of thing is not new, mind you. It has
gone on in this town for 40 years, at least! Why
are people shunned, dislocated, put down, by
others? I was thinking along these lines when
drawing the cartoon. I was going to make all the
fish the same, as the boy is the same as the oth
er boys on the baseball team, in looks, color,
stature, etc. But Alice is known for her long hair,
so I made the fish with long “hair”; maybe I
should have put it in handcuffs or strung a guitar
on it. A simple line or two can change the whole
idea or meaning. The fish coincidentally looked
like a tropical fish, but the cartoon has nothing to
do with the new tropical fish store in the Bridge
Street Mall or with the proprietor. One person
thought it might have something to do with the
salmon runs and dams.
Political cartoons should make people think.
And this one did! Finally, I raised seme eye
brows, provoked some thought...but r .. ... ihe
way or context I wanted.
It caught me off guard when people brought in
the racist issue and I started looking at how it
might be construed. One stroke of the pen could
have made it say/show something else. Shading
and tone have effects, too. The reason the bot
tom fish was dark was that this paper prints in
black and white and the purple fish came out
dark. The contrast was intentional, so it would
stand out from the other fish in the school!
If this cartoon made people think, good!
That's the idea. Whatever issue you associate it
with is in your own mind. Most people I talked
with didn’t know where I was going. If only they
had read the letters to the editor...
A few high school students I talked with didn’t
see it as pointing fingers at anyone, but thought
it conveyed the idea that we, as humans, need
to look in our own lives at issues dealing with di
versity. Things and people who are different,
whether color, race, religion, politics, etc., are not
to be put down just because they are different!
I find those youths’ ideas refreshing. Espe
cially since I hear that there is a lot of negative
talk of this nature among students here, and
many are uncomfortable with it.
Maybe I brought out, unknowingly, a point
that needs to see the light of day.
I rendered this week’s cartoon many years
ago and never felt the time or feeling was right.
The time is right now!
The news is full of stories about people and
diversity/differences. I wonder which fish or
“school” we belong to.