The INDEPENDENT, June 3, 2004
Page 3
Letters
Students object to
censorship at VHS
To the Editor:
I have lived in this communi-
ty for nine years. I have come
to know every inch of this town
from the green bridge to
Lincoln Grade School. I have
also lived in the United States
of America my entire life, and
love both its democratic history
and its Bill of Rights.
As I am certain you have
noticed, several months ago,
both our stand of trees (back by
the shop) and our hedges were
cut down. Involved in both of
these actions (though not sole-
ly) was the superintendent of
the school district, Mike
Funderburg. Mr. Funderburg
has been reigning over our
school district for the last two
years and he has, in my opin-
ion, absolutely no regard for the
opinions of the community.
With changes to the vegetation
as dramatic as the ones that he
has undertaken, it seems only
decent that he consult us
before carrying out his plans.
Town meetings and local
democracy have a longer lega-
cy in America then even our
governmental system. This
goes down into the very fabric
of who we are as a nation.
Without any word in what is
done to our own town, we are
being subjected to what
amounts to a fascist oligarchy.
You may feel that I am over-
exaggerating the degree of
control that the school adminis-
tration is exercising on us. I
would almost agree with you if
it were not for my being muz-
zled for expressing my view on
the issue above. The political
cartoon (on this page) was pre-
viously posted in the school
I will not rest until every piece of
green shrubbery is cleansed from
this land!
newspaper “The Timberline.”
After being submitted to the
principal for approval, it was
rejected. When I asked what
was wrong with it, and what I
would have to change, I was
told to go speak with the super-
intendent. At the school district
Curt Scholl, the principal, my
best friend Ben Brookins, Mr.
Funderburg and I met. After
arguing about the content for
an hour and a half they still
would not let the cartoon be
published and would only let
several other things be pub-
lished conditionally. Despite the
fact that Ben repeatedly point-
ed out Supreme Court cases
that set a legal precedent for
what we wanted to include in
the school paper, they would
have nothing to do with it.
Ben and I were being very
reasonable and civil, regard-
less, they both only became
angry and at one point Mr.
Scholl threatened to get us into
trouble. If it hadn’t been for me
pointing out that we had done
nothing for which he could
legally punish us, and Mr.
Funderburg quietly agreeing,
we probably would have been.
Their inappropriately harsh
response – censorship – and
disregard
for
the
First
Amendment just reinforced the
opinion I had already formed;
both of these men feel that they
should
have
unchecked,
unconditional control over all of
Between the Bookends
By Ann Krutsinger, Library Assistant
Banks Public Library
A big thanks to everyone
who voted for the Wash-
ington County Library Levy
34-77. The “yes” votes
exceeded the “no” votes,
but because the majority of
registered voters did not
vote, the measure ultimate-
ly failed. All Washington
County library patrons will
begin to notice changes in county library servic-
es due to cutbacks.
On a happier note, the Banks Public Library
Summer Reading Program will get under way
Tuesday, June 1st with sign-ups continuing
through July 17th. This summer, there will be a
total of six programs. Programs are on
Thursdays at 2:00 p.m., as follows:
June 24, Anne Glover – Uncanny String
Magic. She’ll string you along and leave you in
stitches as she weaves her stories using zany
antics and mystifying sound effects.
July 8, Pink Pig Puppet Theatre – Join us for
the show “Adventure on the Arctic Trail,” a story
about two friends and their discoveries on the
way to the North Pole.
July 15, Rhys Thomas – Wow! Did you see
that? No? You won’t want to miss this incredibly
talented, funny juggler extraordinaire.
July 22, BJ The Clown – He’s back! Summer
wouldn’t be summer at the library without BJ’s
latest fun-filled show!
July 29, Angel Ocasio – A very funny and
high-energy one-man act. His performances
combine physical comedy, jokes, magic and
more!
August 5, Creature Feature – Steve Lattanzi
is a well-traveled reptile naturalist. He will share
a wide variety of live reptiles from all over the
world.
In addition to the Summer Programs,
Preschool Story time will continue every
Wednesday at 10:15 a.m. through July.
For some adult entertainment, the library has
purchased some new hot titles. These aren’t
even on the shelves yet! But watch for them
soon. Bill Clinton’s long awaited biography, “My
Life,” is sure to be a best seller.
Other titles include Dean Koontz’s newest,
“Taking,” James Lee Burke’s newest mystery “In
the Moon of Red Ponies,” and Tawni O'Dell’s
newest, titled “Coal Run.”
Banks Public Library: 111 Market Street.
Hours: Tues., Wed., Thurs., 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.;
Fri. and Sat. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Preschool Story Time: Wednesdays, 10:15
a.m., through July.
Phone: (503 ) 324-1382
Internet: www.WILInet.wccls.lib.or.us.
to browse library resources or to
reserve materials electronically.
the school.
With no other medium,
except this one, through which I
could express my views, I have
written this letter. I will probably
end up unfairly targeted at
school because of this, but I am
more than willing to accept
those consequences in order to
preserve both the First
Amendment rights of Vernonia
High School students and to
protect our community’s say in
what our town looks like.
Carrick Flynn, Valedictorian
VHS Class of 2004
Ed. note: Mr. Funderburg declined
to comment on the students’ objec-
tions or his response.
Vernonia “home” is
good for SCCA Rally
To the Editor:
As competitors in the recent
SCCA
Oregon
Trails
Performance Rally, we wanted
to express our gratitude for
once again allowing us a “home
base” for the event.
The generosity shown by the
City and its residents is much
appreciated and truly assists in
making the Performance Rally
event a success. We know we
speak for all of the Organizers
and Participants when extend-
ing our full appreciation for
allowing us the opportunity to
come to Vernonia.
Thank you again for the gen-
erosity and we look forward to
returning soon. We hope, too,
that this event has provided
you all with a unique chance to
be a part of our growing sport.
Regards,
Paul Eklund, driver
Jeff Price, co-driver
Primitive Racing car # 233
Tigard
Performers need room
with good acoustics
To the Editor:
I just last night attended in
Vernonia possibly the best per-
formance ever of a junior high
school play. It was the musical:
A Twist of The Tongue.
Performances, particularly by
the leads, were better than
good. I genuinely liked Byron
Schorzman as Moses Roses
and Mackenzie Carr as Sally
Seashell and, of course, my
grand-daughter Amie Rombach
as Dora Dimbulb. There was
only one negative to this enjoy-
able evening.
The bad part was the horri-
ble
acoustics
of
the
Washington School gymnasi-
um/auditorium. The ambient
noise level was distracting to
everyone in the audience. It
was so bad that I think that as a
community we should all con-
sider building a new theatre-
type multiple use auditorium,
one with decent acoustics, and
locate it midpoint between
Washington School and the
high school.
It is a matter of quality-of-life
in Vernonia. I personally
oppose many (maybe most)
bond measures but I would
vote for one to give us a first
class theatre that could be
used by both schools and other
community organizations.
Regards,
James Woods
Mist
Help is needed for
July 4th festivities
To the Editor:
Vernonia Pride is making
plans for this year’s Fourth of
July fireworks and we need the
community’s support.
Although we have turned
over all of the legal details, per-
mits, etc., to the Volunteer Fire
Dept. we are still doing the fund
raising for this event.
Some of you have received
a letter asking for a donation.
For those who did not receive a
letter, we are asking you to
bring an extra dollar or two to
the fireworks, as we will be col-
lecting money that night.
The fireworks display costs
$3,500, so you can see your
support is needed.
The Buckhorn will be doing
their spaghetti dinner on June
27, and all profits will go to sup-
port the fireworks.
The parade will start at 7:30
p.m. The Boosters and the Boy
Scouts will have their usual
concessions, hamburgers, hot
dogs, popcorn, etc.
The walking tour books have
been selling well, you can pur-
chase these at City Hall or
Vernonia Sentry, where I under-
stand Sandra tries to put one in
every bag.
Watch our new reader board
located next to Vernonia Realty
for coming events.
See you at the Fireworks.
DeLoris Webb
Vernonia Pride