The INDEPENDENT, July 19, 2007
Page 3
Letters
Thanks for support
of fireworks display
To the Editor:
Thanks to all of you who
contributed to this year’s fire-
works, either in response to our
letters, donating in the cans at
the businesses, or after the fire-
works.
Though many donated it is
apparent the community can no
longer support the 4th of July
fireworks. This is the second
year in a row that we have
come up short.
In addition to these dona-
tions Vernonia Pride has al-
ways done a fund raiser, in the
past it was a spaghetti feed,
this year we provided 400
desserts for Cycle Oregon. We
were fortunate to have several
young girls, who are working
towards their trip to Washing-
ton, D.C., help us out. They did
a marvelous job and we could-
n’t have done it without them.
Because we are such a
small group we feel we can no
longer sponsor this event. We
have in reserve enough to do
one more year and then we will
be through.
We hope some other group
will step in to take this over, as
we feel we have provided a
great fireworks show that the
community will surely miss.
DeLoris Webb
Vernonia Pride
School district again
displays favoritism
To the Editor:
I was conflicted when I saw
the news story about Principal
Miller being cited for posses-
sion of marijuana. First, be-
cause of the old standard of in-
nocent until proven guilty, fol-
lowed by his admission to the
police and their release of this
information. Second, because
the Superintendent was seen
saying Miller was very sorry for
what he’d done. What? When
students show lapses in judge-
ment they are dealt with very
harshly. I’m sorry doesn’t cut it.
Some high school students get
hammered for infractions com-
mitted while they are off cam-
pus when school isn’t even in
session. Some. Those in lead-
ership roles. The third problem
I had was with Superintendent
Cox saying he had decided
Miller would keep his job. Un-
less things have changed, the
Superintendent works for the
School Board and serves in an
advisory capacity for most is-
sues. The School Board hasn’t
even met yet, though I’m sure
the phone lines have been
busy.
Finally, this is the same
School District that went to the
Supreme Court regarding ran-
dom drug testing of students for
no cause. This community was
so concerned about drug use in
the schools it was willing to kiss
off the Bill of Rights for stu-
dents.
Few things in life are black
and white and most events ex-
ist in a grey area, to be decided
on their own merit. This is not
one of those events. How can
educators in this community
look their students in the eye
and say “don’t use drugs, even
though the Principal of the
grade school did and has the
support of the community and
the Administration?” What mes-
sage are we going to send to
the students in this District?
Unfortunately, it’s the same
message they have heard over
and over again from this and
past Administrations – rules will
be enforced, depending on who
you are.
Alice Brock
Vernonia
Use local situation to
teach about choices
To the Editor:
First I must state that I do not
condone the actions of Mr.
Miller, but I do support both Mr.
Miller and subsequently Dr.
Cox’s decision to “retain Mr.
Miller in his current position as
principal”. I would also like to
add that if Dr. Cox had decided
to dismiss Mr. Miller from his
current position, I would still
support his decision because I
know he did not make his deci-
sion based on how he feels to-
wards Mr. Miller. Dr. Cox based
his decision on the letter of the
law or bylaws that he has
sworn to uphold as the Super-
intendent of our school district.
I would also like to remind
those of us who don’t think Mr.
Miller will be held accountable
for his actions, that not only will
he be made accountable in a
court of law answering to the
State of Oregon for his actions,
but there will also be discipli-
nary action taken by the Super-
intendent which, by law, neither
the school board nor the Super-
intendent is allowed to dis-
close. All we know is that “Mr.
Miller will be dealt with in a
fashion similar to, but more se-
vere, than that which we deal
with students. (And that) If a
student is caught using drugs
they face consequences – but
being summarily expelled from
school is not one of them.”
I’ve heard people saying
what message does this send
to our children if he is kept on
as principal? My response is
what message does firing Mr.
Miller send? To me it sends the
message that you should lie
and hide mistakes and not take
responsibility. Maybe, we as
community members and par-
ents need to send the message
that if you do make a mistake,
and you do take responsibility,
and you’ve shown that you are
otherwise doing well, you will
be punished, but you will also
be given a second chance to
prove yourself.
I ask every community mem-
ber, parent or not, to examine
their own poor choices and look
at how we might fail our chil-
dren or neighbors’ children as
role models on any given day.
We are human, and thus are
going to make mistakes and
use poor judgment. But more
importantly, is the question of
what will we learn from our mis-
takes. If we don’t give Mr. Miller
the opportunity to make
amends and learn, how are we
as Vernonians going to learn
and grow as a community.
In conclusion, we as Vernon-
ians have a wonderful opportu-
nity before us to show our com-
munity and children, who may
have loved ones struggling with
substance abuse, that there is
an opportunity for change, for-
giveness is possible, and help
is available. Our community
also has the opportunity to take
this situation and use it to teach
our children right from wrong
and turn this into a positive and
productive learning experience
at the expense of someone
else’s mistake. I do believe that
out of adversity comes
strength, but only if we are
proactive and choose to make
it so.
Thank you,
Penny Costley
Vernonia
Miller good for two
years, now he’s bad
To the Editor:
A thesaurus can be a handy
tool when you simply can’t find
the words to say. Take for ex-
ample the word “principal.” It
says, “Headmaster, a person in
authority, superior, cardinal,
greatest.” In the previous two
years these words described
Principal Aaron Miller. As of
July 6, 2007, we can add one
more: illegal drug user. Over
and over during the past week
we have heard that Mr. Miller
made “a big mistake” and that
he deserves a second chance.
Mr. Miller did not make a mis-
take. He made several con-
scious decisions: first, to obtain
an illegal drug, second, to ob-
tain the paraphernalia to con-
sume it and third, to do so in a
public park. In doing this, he
erased the good reputation he
had justly earned during the
previous two years and in one
selfish moment replaced it for-
ever with the label of drug user.
This poor choice of judgment
has been further expanded by
Superintendent Cox and the
Vernonia District School Board
by supporting Mr. Miller and
continuing his employment with
the district. Mr. Cox in his state-
ment said, “I believe, however
that I have set a higher stan-
dard for Vernonia administra-
tors than for other staff mem-
bers.”
We as Vernonia parents and
citizens deserve a better stan-
dard. How are we to explain
this to our children and why do
we have to under these circum-
stances? How will Superinten-
dent Cox and Mr. Miller explain
this to our children? Most im-
portantly how are we to trust
Mr. Miller with our children’s
safety again?
As a community, we have
been placed in a negative na-
tional spotlight by Mr. Miller,
Superintendent Cox and the
school district. And in the
process they have figuratively
stuck a thumb in the eye of all
the groups and individuals who
have worked hard to keep
drugs out of our schools. These
include (and are certainly not
limited to) the Vernonia Drug
Free Coalition, OSSOM, Ver-
nonia Police Department, in
particular Officer Kay, and all
others who have worked hard
for our schools and community
to be drug-free only to be
shown that their work can be
overruled and negated by Su-
perintendent Cox.
We also feel that the dis-
trict’s action and those of Mr.
Miller have sent a negative
message to our children that
are counterproductive to the ef-
forts of Vernonia parents and
anti drug groups. Mr. Cox had
the rare opportunity to show
our children, Vernonia and the
nation the consequences of il-
legal drug use, to show that
even the greatest have to ac-
cept the consequences of their
actions.
Instead we got one final
word which the thesaurus once
again explained. “Whitewash:”
to excuse, downplay, gloss
over, cover up, to make al-
lowance for.
The message we have sent
to our children and our commu-
nity can be best explained by a
recent quote from a Vernonia
teen to the Oregonian, “It’s just
pot.” If this is the “higher stan-
dard” that our Superintendent
is setting than we have fallen
far indeed.
Eric and Nicole Larke
Joel and Jennifer Glass
Don and Kelli Schulte
Vernonia
Former volunteer is
no longer involved
To the Editor:
Vernonia Cares: If you had
informed one of your volun-
teers that this was a public en-
tity and to not bring her private
life to work you would have at
least one man.
As it now stands, Columbia
County Courts and this volun-
teer now have the ability to ban
a private citizen from entering
your building, except by ap-
pointment.
Please see page 21
Policy on Letters
The INDEPENDENT will not publish letters that include personal
attacks on private citizens. Because of space limitations, prefer-
ence will be given to brief letters, 300 words or less.
All letters must be signed and include a verifiable address or phone
number, and all letters are subject to editing for clarity or length.