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Opinion Letters Letters and Comments for May 12, 2009
Letters and Comments for May 12, 2009
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Brooks, Deatherage/Bieker/Bieberdorf, Schiller, McCracken, Heinemann Thoughtfulness and integrity To the Editor: I would like to express my appreciation to the person who turned in our lost checkbook at Wal-Mart on May 8. This is a big deal to me because in that checkbook was a check written to me for $1,000 and a deposit slip, which I was going to deposit after my shopping. The check was endorsed by me. I reported the missing checkbook with the customer service people at Wal-Mart, giving them a description and a phone number where I could be reached in case it might possibly be turned in. In the meantime my husband and I did some frantic banking decisions. Well, later in the day my husband was at Wal-Mart, stopped by the customer service department and inquired if anyone had turned in my checkbook. Shockingly it was there. Someone turned it in. Thank you, thank you, thank you! In these tough economic times, this person avoided temptation and did the honest thing. We are so grateful and I wish I knew who the person is, where the checkbook was found, etc. On the other hand, we were somewhat disappointed that we were not called by customer service letting us know that they had the checkbook. Could have saved hours of worrying and inconvenience for us and so many others that were trying to help. Anyway, kudos to whoever turned the checkbook in. We truly appreciate their thoughtfulness and integrity. C.J. Brooks La Grande
To the Editor: Neighbor to Neighbor first met Mike Berglund when he dropped by, introduced himself and offered his help with our local food bank. Since then we have enjoyed working with him, appreciate his loyalty and respect his dedication to this time-intensive organization. Mike has proved to be a good listener and considers people’s concerns as he works with others to help make good decisions. His prior years of private and public employment and service elsewhere during his career demonstrate Mike’s commitment to the community where he lives. Having children in La Grande public schools gives him perspective in the needs and possibilities of education in these trying times. Mike is lucky to have found La Grande. La Grande is lucky to have found Mike. Please join us in supporting Mike Berglund for La Grande School Board Position 5. Helen Deatherage, food coordinator Chuck and Jeanette Bieker Gary Bieberdorf La Grande Offended by comment To the Editor: I was very offended at Mary McCracken’s wisecrack about Catholic colleges deliberately hiding information as if Catholics acknowledge that traditional Catholic teaching is to “blame” for population increases. Sounds like a childish conspiracy theory like the one found in “The Da Vinci Code.’’ Despite the myths proclaimed by some bigoted people, Catholics are very invested in responsible conservation practices. Catholics believe in abstaining from sexual relations until an agreement can be made in love by both parties to be open to having children. Family size for married couples can be controlled effectively through natural family planning. Every child is priceless, and intentionally disposing of any unborn child through abortion is a grave offense to God and humanity. Catholics are very aware of the social ills that are consequences of uncommitted couples using each other’s bodies solely for pleasure. Artificial birth control gives a false sense of security as unintended pregnancies still result, along with risks to health. Many Catholics devote their entire lives to the Lord by doing what they can to relieve human suffering, and live a celibate life in order to devote themselves more fully. This does not sound to me like a formula for population increase. Sharon K. Schiller La Grande
To the Editor: The letter “Subtle Catholic prejudice?’’ published May 5 accuses me of Catholic bashing. Just for the record, my mother came from a multigenerational German Catholic heritage and I experienced eight years of Catholic education. My reference to the limited, biased information available on demographics at my Catholic college in the 1960s was meant to point out that accurate information requires unbiased sources. As a college freshman I wrote a paper on the dramatic global rise of human population. The elderly sociology nun spent two days explaining that since birth rates had not increased but life expectancy had, it was simply a matter of the elderly becoming more elderly. No worries. Information in the school library confirmed that theory. Population growth seemed too steep and prolonged for that explanation, so I visited the university library. My paper gave the nun partial credit. Increased life expectancy was the root cause, however, not in the elderly. Due to advances in medical treatment and sanitation, infant mortality had decreased dramatically. Rather than dying, many more infants lived to themselves reproduce, thus compounding the problem. Curbing population growth required reducing birthrates to offset declines in infant mortality. The ‘A’ for composition and ‘D-’ for content did garner parental approval to transfer to the university. Amen. Earth is under ever-increasing pressure from overpopulation resulting in hunger, wars, pollution and decreased biodiversity. Obituaries list descendants and location of services. It suggests which religions discredit or ignore this reality. Yet people wonder why children have to leave the valley to find jobs! The search gets ever harder. Mary McCracken La Grande
Time for new state To the Editor: On the Observer’s May 6 opinion page was a guest editorial from the Baker City Herald lamenting the fact that rural issues seem to fall on deaf ears in the Oregon Legislature. But it’s not only the Legislature that doesn’t seem to care about things important to Eastern Oregonians. It’s also your fellow citizens in the western part of the state who deny us the benefits of democracy. Too often, ballot measures on which we on this side of the state overwhelmingly vote one way, end up going the other way because the greater population on the west side nullifies our voice with their votes in opposition to ours. That makes a mockery of democracy. I’ve heard plenty of complaining by my fellow east-siders about this situation, but it rarely occurs to anyone to actually do anything concrete about it. But then, even the founding fathers recognized this human tendency when, in the Declaration of Independence, they wrote, “all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable.” The solution, as I see it, is to separate ourselves politically from the west side by creating a new, 51st state of the United States to (as the aforementioned Declaration puts it) “provide new guards for our future security.” Unfortunately, even our very own Eastern Oregon legislators don’t seem to care enough. Last year I wrote letters proposing just such a “new state” solution to Rep. Greg Smith and Sen. David Nelson. To date, neither one has responded. Maybe they viewed me as just another kook sounding off. But if more of us raised the issue, something good might come of it, even if it was just to stop having our views and concerns so easily dismissed.
La Grande
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