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The INDEPENDENT, November 21, 2001
Tho
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, Ver
nonia, OR 97064, as a free newspaper. Editors and Pub
lishers, Dirk & Noni Andersen. Phone/Fax: 503-429-
9410, e-mail: noni@vernonia.com
’ PATW>™<
Opinion_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Volunteers support
entire community
The Vernonia Christmas Bazaar, run entirely by vol
unteers, is a wonderful way to raise money for student
needs. But that is just the tip of the area’s volunteer
iceberg. Volunteers are the muscle, the conscience,
the will and, often, the brains behind so many endeav
ors.
Volunteer firefighters raise money, buy and gift wrap
toys, and distribute them to families whose Christ
mases would, otherwise, be pretty bleak. That project
is, of course, in addition to the hours and hours re
quired of them as volunteer firefighters.
The Vernonia Jamboree committee also raises funds
that are returned to the community in many ways.
Some goes to Toy and Joy, some goes to Vernonia
Cares. None of it goes in the pockets of these dedicat
ed volunteers because...they are volunteers!
Vernonia Cares also helps many people, and many
of the people who are helped, turn around and volun
teer for Vernonia Cares. What could be more fitting?
How anyone living in a small community could be
bored is puzzling. Look around and select your own
volunteer activity: Senior Citizens Center (and you
don’t have to be a senior citizen to volunteer your
help), volunteer Emergency Medical Technicians
(which takes a lot of time, but may lead to a career),
youth sports’ team coaching, community beautification,
and so much more.
There are also people who use their professional ex
pertise to help others: Accountants who take care of
others’ financial affairs. One man uses the gun prod
ucts he manufactures to raise money for charity via a
New Year’s Day Shoot. Another uses his HVAC diag
nostic skills as a way to thank veterans and emergency
service workers.
Helping takes many forms, most of them require no
monetary contribution, but that is helpful, too.
As we get to this time of year, we tend to think more
in terms of helping people...and we don’t have to go
anywhere to find good, well-run charities in our own
communities.
If you are unable to volunteer your time and skills,
how about writing a check to the charity of your choice.
It doesn’t have to be large; all charitable ventures need
funds, and that’s another way to volunteer.
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Letters to the Editor
Devaluing education
harms future of U.S.
To the Editor:
Instead of this letter, I had for
some time been mulling over a
piece on why it is that of all an
imal species, only the human
seems incapable of timely
weaning its young, pushing
them out of the sheltering nest,
or otherwise forcing them into
the necessary shock of survival
as adults. Now, events have
pushed more specific concerns
into keeping me awake at
night.
It has been my privilege, I
admit, to have had an extraor
dinary education, in more than
one country and in more than
one language. But I descend
on both sides from people who
valued education “above ru
bies," and sacrificed a great
deal for it. As the South Ameri
can son of the widow of an
American engineer, my Dad
had to spend a year in an
American high school because
his Argentine units wouldn’t
transfer, and then worked three
jobs to pay his way through
Stanford. My Great Grand
mother was one of the earliest
w o m a n im h /o rc itv n ra d n a to c in
this country, but she was no
bluestocking. She raised six
children in the villages in Natal
province in South Africa, and
had to let them go, as did my
Father’s mother and my own,
when the time came for them to
complete their education in this
country.
But I have also taught illiter
ate Hindu untouchables who so
honour any writing, any writing
as all, that any scrap of written
or printed matter they find they
immediately place higher than
their own head to dignify it. For
these people, these poorest of
the poor who Ghandi called
“harijans” or God’s children,
learning to read and write is
opening the doors to the world
of the highest. As in most reli
gious faiths, the ability to read
the sacred writings is an in
credible privilege. I have known
men so poor that they own
nothing but a few loin cloths, a
blanket, a bucket for food, a
container for water and their
holy book. And I have taught
prisoners who could not read
and write in their own lan
guage, but who recognized that
learning their ABC’s in English
would likely help them to
change their lives. In most cul
tures to be a teacher is one of
the highest possible callings,
and no one is more respected.
After all, the words “guru” and
“rabbi” (which Jesus was
called) mean simply “teacher”.
I admit that other than one
term in California at the age of
nine, I have had no experience
of American public education.
Although I have defended my
American heritage all over the
world, I knew that Americans
test among the lowest in the
world in many subjects, and
that teachers here are poorly
paid and under-appreciated. I
knew that there is a popular de
emphasis on knowledge - to be
a nerd is to be uncool - but the
reality of the utter abasement
of education in this country has
astounded me. I have taught
college seniors who could
barely read and write, and
when I had the temerity to ask
how they were accepted into a
degree completion program, I
was urged to pass them with
out asking too many questions.
This sort of policy is nothing to
be proud of. And it is doing a
terrible disservice to American
students and to American cul
ture in general.
Please see page 16