The INDEPENDENT, April 5, 2007
Page 3
Letters
Program on Iraq was
thought-provoking
To the Editor:
Thank you to the Vernonia
Library, the Friends of the Li-
brary and the Oregon Council
for the Humanities for making
possible the Oregon Chautau-
qua Program in the community
of Vernonia. On March 12th
Vernonia was privileged to host
Joel Preston Smith, a photo-
journalist who has spent con-
siderable time living and work-
ing in Iraq with civilian families
and among U.S. soldiers de-
ployed there. Smith has docu-
mented Iraq during the U.S. oc-
cupation and recently pub-
lished a book, telling intimate
stories and showing photos of
an Iraq very few of us have an
opportunity to see or hear
about, an Iraq where citizens
live in a constant state of fear
and terror while struggling daily
to survive. We heard stories
about families trying to find
work, feed themselves, and en-
tertain their children, while a
civil war rages all around them.
He told us about the tremen-
dous hospitality and generosity
the Iraqi people showed to-
wards him, welcoming him and
sharing meals even though
they had almost nothing them-
selves. Smith also talked about
working embedded with U.S.
military units, living with the sol-
diers, and the experience of
firefights and patrols that make
up their daily assignments.
Joel Preston Smith clearly
expressed his opinion that he is
against U.S. involvement in
Iraq, but tried to show all sides
Ike Says…
From page 2
produce automatic fire with one
pull of the trigger. Weapons
with this type of fire mode are
called assault weapons. What
is very important to remember is
that civilian variants of the ARs
and AKs can fire only one shot
per pull of the trigger, which is
no different than other semi-au-
tomatic rifles currently used by
hunters across America.
What was most interesting
about this episode, though,
was the reaction of outdoor
writers across the country.
Simply put, they seemed con-
fused and alarmed at how fast
and vicious the reactions of
sports people were toward Mr.
Zumbo’s remarks. Maybe this
is because they are out of
touch with the people that they
write articles for. To gain some
clarity they need to remember
that many sportsmen and
women today feel under attack
from the public at large. There
are the animal rights groups
that want nothing better than to
ban hunting. Then there are
the anti-gun groups that want
to ban the tools that sportsmen
use for hunting. So when one
of their own is viewed as turn-
ing against a segment of the
sports hunting community, it
should be no surprise that they
left no prisoners. Yet, there
persists a certain tone in the
sports writers’ community that
this public tar and feathering
was not justified. Bill Monroe
recently wrote a column that
was basically slanted against
the AR type of rifles. The
headline told it all, “Oregon
hunters mostly back writers
(Zumbo) stance against AR-
15s”. Most people will take this
headline as the truth and as-
sume that most hunters don’t
support the use of AR-15s for
hunting. They would be dead
wrong.
I conducted a poll on one of
Oregon’s premiere hunting fo-
rums and asked if the hunters
supported Mr. Zumbo’s stance
on the use of AR-15s in hunt-
ing. Of the 129 hunters re-
sponding, 45 supported Mr.
Zumbo’s position and 84 did
not. Approximately two-thirds
of the respondents did not sup-
port Mr. Zumbo’s position. I
asked Bill Monroe about the
headline for his article and he
stated that he had no control
over the wording. So how was
it that the Oregonian got it so
wrong? Who knows, maybe
they wanted to slant the story
too, but one thing is for sure,
they didn’t ask the people who
they claimed they were repre-
senting. What is most interest-
ing, is that Mr. Zumbo realized
that he made a mistake and is
now learning more about ARs
and AKs and their role in hunt-
ing so he can defend their use.
Izaak Walton League,
Nehalem Valley Chapter
meets monthly on the 3rd
Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Call
503-428-7193 for location.
of the story. Whether you are
for or against our involvement
in Iraq, this was an amazing op-
portunity to see and hear about
the real lives of real people.
The daily horror, fear, and de-
struction that these people live
with is unimaginable, and I for
one, think we should all know
more about the hardships of
trying to live in a war zone.
Smith asks difficult questions
during his presentation, “Were
Iraqis better off before the U.S.
invasion, living under a terrible
dictatorship with limited free-
doms? Living in a society
where you could go to jail for
questioning the government
publicly, but also had most
modern conveniences like reg-
ular electric service and clean
water? Where women could
hold professional positions as
teachers and lawyers and chil-
dren were not afraid to go to
school or out in public?” Smith
asked, “When the United
States chooses to go to war,
what responsibility does our
government and its citizens
have for the results of that war
– for the starvation, the de-
struction, the rape, and the mu-
tilation that are sure to occur in
any war zone?” And, “What has
been the ultimate result of Unit-
ed Nations sanctions against
Iraq after the first Gulf War,
sanctions that have been di-
rectly attributable to United
States pressure, and have lead
to the estimated deaths of
400,000 Iraqi citizens due to
poor health care and malnutri-
tion.” These are hard and diffi-
cult questions, questions I think
most of us would prefer not to
have to think about.
I am thankful for The Chau-
tauqua Program and the
chance it offers us to consider
other cultures, our relationships
with other countries, and the
world around us. And thank you
to Joel Preston Smith for an
amazing and disturbing, yet
thought provoking evening of
photos, stories and discussion.
Scott Laird
Vernonia
Students seek funds
for Washington trip
To the Editor:
We would like to tell every-
one in our town how great it is
to have the support of every-
one. There are nine students
going to Washington, D.C.,
from Vernonia Middle School,
in April with two teachers. This
is not just a sight-seeing trip but
we will be taking classes and
learning how our government
really works. We want to thank
the Lions Club of Vernonia for
their generous gift to us to help
pay for our trip. We also want to
thank the school and the teach-
ers that are going with us for
their support and all of our fam-
ily and friends that have helped
us out with money and good
wishes. We have a rummage
sale planned for April 7th at
Vernonia Middle School, and a
blanket raffle. We hope to see
you at the rummage sale be-
tween 10:00-5:00. When we re-
turn in May we will be happy to
share our experiences with
you. Just ask.
Kayleigh Johnston
Chelsea Johnson
Parker Roach
Kristina Halverson
Ariel Rock
Elizabeth Poulin
McKenzie Tarkalson
Rachel Brown
Nora Hieronimus
Interested in haiku?
Join the workshop
To the Editor:
I would like to take this op-
portunity to thank the Vernonia
Community Learning Center for
the opportunity to offer a Haiku
workshop. Most importantly, I
would like to give special
thanks to the director, Jesse
Jones, for approaching me with
the idea and for being a
tremendous source of inspira-
tion and support. The Vernonia
Community Learning Center is
such a great asset to town.
Jesse and her staff of volun-
teers have done a wonderful
job developing and expanding
what is offered to the communi-
ty! The best way to support the
Center is to take a class. This
will ensure its doors stay open
for many years to come. I en-
courage all to take the time to
stop in, look around, and sign
up!
I am looking forward to
meeting all who are interested
in taking the Haiku workshop. I
will be providing a brief synop-
sis of the class to the Vernonia
Community Learning Center
and distributing flyers around
town for all of you. If you are
considering the workshop but
are unsure about scheduling or
would just simply like a little
more information before mak-
ing the decision please feel free
to contact the Vernonia Com-
munity Learning Center at 503-
429-1030 or Jill Hult at 503-
928-1800. If I am unavailable,
you can leave a message with
questions or comments and I
will return your call.
There was an error in the
spring schedule regarding the
dates for the Haiku workshop.
The workshop will be Wednes-
day, May 2; Wednesday, May
9; and Wednesday, May 16.
Jill Hult, instructor
Haiku Workshop
Vernonia
Fresh farm egg sales
are moved to Fridays
To the Editor:
Farm Egg Buyers: I’d like to
take this opportunity to thank
my faithful customers. Having a
more organized and central
way to sell the eggs our chick-
ens produce has made my life
much simpler.
Since I started selling eggs
this way, last July, I’ve experi-
mented with different times and
places. I am still in the vicinity
of Black Bear Coffee, but inside
or outside in the pocket park
depends on the weather.
I am changing the day of of
week to FRIDAY, beginning
April 6th. I’m hoping this will
disrupt my schedule less, slid-
ing this little market closer to
the weekend. I will be there
every Friday, from about 10:00
until the eggs run out, or 1:00
p.m., just after the lunch rush.
I’m interested in adding farm
products during the summer.
Call me if you are interested,
503-49-8930.
Egg cartons always gleefully
accepted…
Schann Nelson
Vernonia
Help make Vernonia
Shine on April 28th
To the Editor:
Vernonia Pride is once again
inviting the community to come
out on April 28th and “Make
Vernonia Shine.”
Registration will be at 9 a.m.
Please see page 20
Between the Bookends ,
the Library column, may
be found on page 12 .