Page 20
The INDEPENDENT, June 17, 2004
Questions and 47J survey
From page 1
from the audience implied dis-
agreement.
Asked about moving the
modular classroom from LGS
to WGS in order to locate all
classrooms outside of the
basement, district maintenance
supervisor John Lewis ex-
plained that, in addition to be-
ing the district’s oldest mod, it
is infested with ants, and the
heating system is in bad shape.
WGS Principal Nate Under-
wood said that art and music
would have remained in the
basement, regardless of com-
pletion of a new building, as
well as one other class. Rather
than attempt to hold K–8 spe-
cial education in a single room,
Underwood said, he decided to
move the sixth grade to the
basement.
Public Opinion Survey
Do
n
Funderburg gave an over-
view of the results of a non-sci-
entific survey of community,
staff and student attitudes
about the district. The survey
was divided into eight topic ar-
eas (Safety, Staff, Character
Education, Specialized Pro-
grams, Academic Programs,
Facilities Communication and
Technology) and participants
were asked to agree or dis-
agree with several questions in
each category. In spite of ef-
forts to distribute the survey to
the community, he said, most
of the community responses
were from parents. Staff and
students also completed the
survey.
In the area of safety, while
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staff, community members and
younger students feel safe at
school, older students had a
different view. WGS students
felt the schools do not do a
good job of preventing fighting,
harassment and bullying. High
school students, mostly neutral
on the issue of fighting, agreed
that the schools could do a bet-
ter job in preventing harass-
ment. High school students
also felt the school did not do a
good job of preventing theft
and drug use.
All groups feel that the staff
is knowledgeable and skilled,
but staff disagreed with other
groups about being provided
with adequate resources.
In specialized programs, dif-
ferences in perception from in-
side and outside the schools
were evident regarding the
dropout rate. Community mem-
bers strongly agreed the school
works hard to prevent dropping
out, but staff and high school
students solidly or strongly dis-
agreed. The groups also con-
trasted in the area of atten-
dance. While younger students
and the community felt that at-
tendance rates were accept-
able, staff and high school stu-
dents disagreed. All agree that
talented and gifted students re-
ceive inadequate enrichment.
In other business, the board:
• Changed the date of the
budget hearing from June 24,
to June 22. The public is en-
couraged to attend.
• Were told that grants will
fund attendance of Underwood
and Scholl at the National
Charter School Conference.
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Black bear facts help alleviate concern about visits
With the recent black bear
siting within Vernonia city limits,
some information on bears
might be useful. Black bears
are the most common and gen-
erally the smallest of North
American bears and the only
bear known to currently exist in
Oregon. Black bears were once
hunted for bounties as a preda-
tor and nuisance animal and
were not protected as a game
mammal until 1970. Since then,
bear numbers have increased
under a managed harvest pro-
gram.
The current Oregon black
bear population is estimated at
25,000 animals. A black bear
can live 20 years or more in the
wild. Black bears are very agile,
can run in bursts up to 35 mph
and can run up or down hills
quickly and easily. Their short,
curved claws help them to
climb trees. Black bears are
also strong swimmers.
Threats to black bears in-
clude diseases, predation and
starvation. Natural enemies in-
clude other bears and moun-
tain lions.
Black bears eat almost any-
thing, including human food,
garbage, hummingbird food,
pet food and livestock feed.
Once a bear has found the eas-
ily accessible, consistent food
source that humans offer, it
may overcome its wariness of
people and visit regularly, inc-
creasing the chance of a hu-
man/bear encourter. By han-
dling food and garbage respon-
sibly, encounters with bears
can be prevented.
Get Q
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Ja
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d To
day!
THE INDEPENDENT
503-429-9410
in almost all cases, the bear will
detect you first and leave the
area. Bear attacks are rare
compared to the number of
close encounters. However, if
you do meet a bear:
• Stay calm. If you see a
bear and it hasn’t seen you,
calmly leave the area. As you
move away, speak softly to let
the bear discover your pre-
sense.
• Stop. Back away slowly
while facing the bear. Avoid di-
rect eye contact as bears may
perceive this as a threat. Give
the bear plenty of room to es-
cape. Wild bears rarely attack
people unless they feel threat-
ened or provoked.
• Speak softly. This may re-
assure the bear that no harm is
meant to it. Try not to show
fear.
In the unlikely event of at-
tack by a black bear, fight back.
Black bears have been driven
away when people have fought
back with rocks, sticks, binocu-
lars and even their bare hands.
Most black bears are just oc-
casional visitors, not pests.
n!
For Jamboree Display Ads
Call
To decrease the likelihood of
meeting a bear in the yard; re-
move all food attractants, keep
all garbage inside until just be-
fore garbage pick-up, pour
bleach in garbage cans that
bears have already ransacked.
Most bears sighted in resi-
dential areas do not cause any
damage. If a bear doesn’t find
abundand food, it will move on.
A bear exhibiting the follow-
ing behaviors is considered a
human safety hazard:
• Exhibits little or no fear of
people;
• Displays aggressive or
warning behavior when in con-
tact with people such as false
charges, growling or teeth pop-
ping;
• Attempts to break into resi-
dences or buildings, thus indi-
cating no fear of people;
• Repeated feeding in
garbage, pet/bird feeders or
stock feeders;
• Animal is in poor condition
due to injury or malnutrition; or
• The bear is frequently seen
around people during daylight.
If you do encounter a bear,
No ducks were harmed in the
Making of this ad.
Vernonian Jim Fields is working as a flagger on the OA Hill
project. Fields says that people near the construction have
been great to him, bringing coffee and treats while he works
the night shift on the project that now has 24-hour flagging
due to the closure of one lane while a new pedestrian walk-
way is installed.