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Opinion Letters Letters and comments for the week ending March 8, 2008
Letters and comments for the week ending March 8, 2008
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Poole, West, Miller, Johnson, Bales, Koopman, Snider, Babb, Farmer, Schoeppner
Paracelsus, a physician/alchemist, who practiced in Austria or Hungary in the 1500s, is said to have been asked to treat a man who had been hit by a carriage and wounded. He told people standing ‘round to grab some fresh steaming horse manure and spread it on the wound. In spite of revulsion and disbelief, the people did as told. After several minutes they cleaned the manure from the wound and saw that the swelling was gone and the wound appeared to already be healing. Paracelsus theorized that the dung would contain immunizing and antibiotic qualities from inside the horse’s stomach. Our politicians, both parties, have gone several steps further. They have integrated and dispensed liberal amounts of verbal horse manure along with billions of your tax dollars. With this mixture, they infer, they are immunizing and vaccinating you against all suffering. You are to believe they are generous and philanthropic, intend to protect your health, insure your prosperity, and even replace any stupidity with great intelligence and forethought. A billion in perspective: A billion minutes ago Jesus lived. They, the politicians, believe they are the government rather than that they are your representatives. Seems you are to accept them as missionaries sent from a nebulous city, Benefactorsville, from whence the dollars flow and never need to be repaid. Ah, yes! Be grateful, faithful and docile and keep re-electing these same politicians because of their generosity and caring. If they were to write a nonfiction book about their actions it would be titled “The Art of Buying Taxpayers With Their Own Money.” Every campaigning politician for decades has inferred he, or she, will bring change. Change? The only change Obama, Hillary or McCain are apt to give is the wrist action they use when flinging away your tax money. Gary Poole Wallowa We are writing to express our gratitude to Bill Junnila, the manager of Ski Anthony Lakes, and his staff. We have been involved in the Boy Scout Klondike Derbys at Anthony Lakes for many years and were very impressed with the support the scouts received from Anthony Lakes this year. The Klondike Derby is an annual overnight event for scouts from Baker, Wallowa and Union counties. The troops build snow caves and elaborate camp sites. On Saturday, the patrols compete in various events for the coveted snowshoe award. Bill made sure we had adequate parking space for the scouts and ample area to build our snow caves and igloos in. He made sure there was no conflict with other users. He provided free lift tickets to 35 older scouts to get them to the top of the mountain for glacier travel training. Bill closed one ski run so the scouts could practice self arrest and climbing skills. The older scouts spent two hours learning climbing skills from Ken Dowden and Jeremy Morris that will enable them to safely climb on glaciers. The younger scouts spent the morning competing in various events including first aid, shooting and orienteering. The scouts learned new skills and had a good time in the process. Bill Junnila is very community-minded and deserves recognition for all that he and his staff have done for the Boy Scout Klondike Derby this year. Russ West, Ariel Miller, Aric Johnson, Tana Bales In the Feb. 20 paper, The Observer had a great insert “Blue Jackets ... Bright Futures” in celebration of National FFA Week. For that I thank you. My father, Norm Koopman, who passed away this past November, would have been shocked and embarrassed at the way the La Grande Chapter was represented. Looking at all the chapters you had pictures of, please notice how all but La Grande looked well dressed for the pictures, which represented FFA. Shame on you, La Grande. The FFA teaches young people to be proud, and look that way. The FFA jackets, as you so rightly printed in the article, stand for Bright Futures. My father was the FFA adviser in La Grande for many years and I can guarantee he would have never allowed that chapter to look like they did for that picture. My family has received a number of phone calls saying how embarrassed Norm would have been. Come on, La Grande, keep the tradition that my father worked so hard for and was so proud of. Look the part! Ron Koopman, Portland (Formerly of La Grande) A recent Observer editorial supported Mayor Colleen Johnson’s stance that this city and valley need growth. It stated that “a steady, well-modulated growth is the best thing that can happen to us all.” This seems like a reasonable position, but is it? Growth is growth. Slow or explosive, modulated or not, population growth will unavoidably fill the Grande Ronde Valley “from pillar to post,” in the Observer’s words. Slow growth simply delays the inevitable; it does not stop it. Perhaps advocates of growth in this valley believe in the back of their minds that the creep of urbanization can be contained at some point when growth is no longer desired. Can you name a city or county that has successfully pulled the plug on unwanted population expansion? I wonder how many longtime residents of Deschutes County appreciate growth now. I assume that most of the people of Union County continue to live here because it is not like many other places. We love magnificent views of farmlands, marshes and mountains. We cherish plenty of elbow room. We enjoy open green places to relax, recreate or walk our dogs. We may love our neighbors, but we don’t want to be overrun with them. Population expansion might generate more dollars, but some of us view the beauty, quiet and naturalness of this valley as even more enriching. Michael Snider La Grande Deported individuals have a habit of coming back again and again because of our lax border situation and difficulty in identification. Deportation case numbers tattooed on the forehead of the offender would make identification immediate and easier for our officials and general public. Frank Babb La Grande Growth is not the “magic problem solver.” I’ve had the opportunity to reside in various-sized communities starting from a childhood home in southwestern Oregon to cities in Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, Connecticut and Washington. These communities ranged in size from several hundred residents to several million. A common theme was the need for “growth” to solve issues. The issues are similar from location to location — school funding, police protection, fire protection, transportation, sewage systems, water supply, clean air, noise. We can see the same list on a national level, yet in every instance we have various levels of growth occurring without a lessening of the issues. In most cases the issues become aggravated. So, what’s the answer for communities like La Grande? We are going to have growth whether we encourage it or not. Experience tells me that growth will not solve our issues. Managed growth requires the same discipline that is required for a family to live within its means. First you start with a clear goal. For the community, that can look like lifestyle, growth boundaries, desired industries, physical appearance, recreational space. Just as in the family, each choice comes with a cost. Can you afford it and does it carry you to your goal? If we encourage an industry to come into our community by subsidizing its costs with reduced taxes or below-cost resources, other parts of the community must fund that increased burden. When we encourage new home construction, that adds to the cost of community-provided resources like schools, water treatment, police protection. Plus, we will live with that new construction and its physical change to our area.
We each live in Union County as a choice because of something we receive from being here. It can be an income, a lifestyle, family, recreation or any number of reasons. Let’s make sure our community choices are justified by the cost and that they fit with our area goals. Union March is Colon Cancer Awareness Month. Although colorectal cancer rates have been declining over the past two decades, partially due to screening, this malignancy remains the number two cancer killer in the U.S. In the state of Oregon there were an estimated 1,830 new cases in 2007 and 640 cancer deaths. Research has shown that we can prevent the risk of dying from this disease by 75-90 percent if all average-risk people undergo screening at age 50. Individuals considered being at higher risk, such as patients with a positive family history of first-degree relatives with cancer, or patients with ulcerative colitis should be screened much earlier. Yet, only 50 percent of the population chooses to have this life-saving procedure done. Oregon has a state mandate for colorectal cancer screening. In fact, Oregon’s law receives an A grade from the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance which rates states on their colorectal cancer requirements. It requires coverage of colorectal cancer screening for everyone over age 50, as well as those under age 50 who are high-risk. Coverage includes a colonoscopy every 10 years. The best screening modality in 2007 is a colonoscopy, where the patient is examined under sedation with a fiber optical instrument. Polyps, which are considered the precursor of colon cancer, can be removed at the same time, thus preventing the development of cancer. The procedure in the hands of a gastroenterologist, a physician trained in the field of digestive diseases, is very safe. Newer bowel preparations have been developed to make the cleansing part easier and the sedation is tailored to the needs of each patient. Expert centers follow strict quality guidelines as proposed by organizations like the American College of Gastroenterology.
Let us all work together to stamp out colon cancer in Eastern Oregon. Please discuss the screening with your doctor. gastroenterologist, St. Mary Medical Center, governor for the American College of Gastroenterology |
