Editorial
Rotating primaries
would at last give voice
to Oregonians
So, it has come down to George W. Bush versus Albert
Gore Jr. for the presidency of the United States of America - and there's still more than
seven months to the general election.
In fact, there's still more than six weeks to Oregon's primary election, but primary
voters in other states - not to mention the Republican and Democratic national committees
- have already decided it should be Bush against Gore.
Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradbury have bowed out early,
rather than throw more money at losing campaigns. The multitude of negative exit polls and
surveys helped seal their fate.
What a shame. While there were four formidable candidates, issues and policies had to be
voiced. Now there are just two, politics as usual can return - name calling, grandstanding
and entrenched partisanship.
(Republican Alan Keyes, whose campaign has failed to attract widespread support, and
Lyndon LaRouche, who submitted the required 1,000 signatures from Democrats in each of
Oregon's five congressional districts, will also be on the May 16 ballot.)
Maybe, just maybe, sometime in the not-too-distant future the people of Oregon will
actually play an active role in selecting future presidential candidates during the
primary season. At the moment, to use an agricultural analogy, the crops are planted and
picked before Oregonians have even plowed their fields.
Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury and his contemporaries in other states are pushing
for a change in the primary process.
The National Association of Secretaries of State is proposing the establishment of a
rotating regional primary system, and Bradbury intends to introduce legislation commiting
Oregon's participation in such a new system. Under the NASS proposal, presidential
primaries would be grouped by region beginning in 2004 with the East in March, the South
in April, the Midwest in May, and the West in June. In the 2008 election, the regions
would rotate with the South moving to March, followed by the Midwest, the West, and the
East.
Primaries in each state of a given region would be scheduled on or soon after the first
Tuesday in March, April, May or June of presidential election years. Not all states would
necessarily hold their primaries on the same day. Iowa and New Hampshire would retain
their leading positions in the selection process based on past tradition.
"Due to the rush by states to conduct their presidential primaries early, Oregon
voters have lost candidate options and influence in the nomination process," Bradbury
said. "To be placed in the same situation in 2004 is simply unacceptable."
A rotating primary schedule would be a better system than we have now.
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Letters
to the editor
Pac Rock truck cuts in
front of driver,
raises safety issue
To the editor:
In light of the recent approval by Clackamas County to increase the annual production at
Pacific Rock Product Inc.'s South Barlow Road facility, and the safety concerns regarding
the projected substantial increase in truck traffic due to the increased production
limits, I thought my "encounter" today may bode some vision of what we can,
unfortunately, expect in the future for the already dangerous intersection of South Barlow
Road and Highway 99E.
Today, (Friday, March 10) at 1:30 p.m., as I approached the entrance to Pacific Rock
heading toward Highway 99E, a large truck full of rock, apparently in a hurry, pulled out
in front of me causing me to brake hard enough to have to slow from 55 mph to 25 mph in
order to avoid running into him.
This, despite the fact that there was no traffic behind me and by waiting about five to 10
seconds, he could have let me pass, and then proceeded. He then headed down Barlow to the
intersection which had a red light. Rather than stop, he merely slowed down, not even
enough to qualify as a "Hollywood Stop" and turned right toward Canby.
I could not catch up to him to see the company name on his truck, but I did get the
license number, YAPN659, and I plan to let Pacific Rock know of this incident of unsafe
driving practice by a driver using their facility.
Today there was no rush hour traffic, no multiple trucks coming in or going out, and no
rain at the time I was driving. What will it be like when there are dozens (hundreds?) of
trucks a day? It only takes one driver in a hurry to create a traffic tragedy.
I think, based on what I observed today, that Pacific Rock's estimate of 5 million tons of
gravel being needed to fail the Barlow/99E intersection, which equates to 154 trucks in
the morning peak hour and 120 trucks in the afternoon peak hour, is a gross overestimate.
It failed today when it's only producing 250,000 tons and with only one truck.
Ellen Ferris
Aurora
Community support of
FFA program appreciated
To the editor:
On March 10, the Canby FFA Chapter held its annual event, Food for America. This program
is for elementary children to learn about the origin of their food.
There were 12 stations operated by more than 100 high school agriculture students, each
specifying various food productions from livestock to food processing.
We had about 1,000 kindergarten through third-grade students from local elementary schools
who attended.
The chapter would like to thank the following businesses and organizations who donated
goods: Wilco Farmers - Canby and Oregon City stores; Canby Fred Meyer; Ryder
Transportation; Oregon Women for Agriculture; Gary Roe from J B Instant Lawn; L B Lawn;
Agriculture in the Classroom; Canby Farm, Garden and Pet; Cutsforth's Thriftway; Oregon
Dairy Wives; Oregon Beef Council; Clackamas County Fairgrounds; and the numerous others
who made this event possible.
We also would like to thank everyone who was involved in the set up, clean up and
organization of the day. Through the community's contributions and high school students
donation of time, the Canby FFA was able to teach local children where their food comes
from.
Eryn Cramer, chapter reporter
Canby FFA
Canby Cooperative Preschool
says thanks for auction
To the editor:
The Canby Cooperative Preschool held its fifth annual fund-raising auction on Feb. 26. The
auction was very successful and the preschool was able to raise approximately $13,000.
We would like to thank the people and businesses in Canby and the surrounding communities
who gave donations for the auction. Without your contributions our auction would not have
been possible.
We would like to thank those who attended the auction and hope you enjoyed your evening.
Thank you for supporting a wonderful Canby Community Schools program.
Canby Cooperative Preschool
Fund-raising Committee
Local corporations
could help with
overcrowding at Trost
To the editor:
I have recently read the article regarding Trost Elementary School and its ever-growing
student population (Canby Herald, March 15).
I would hope that all the business owners who have children going to Trost could volunteer
time and services to help the growing problem. I think we need to encourage parents, local
business owners and staff to come up with good ideas to sponsor their own creative ideas
to get some money flowing into the school systems.
Maybe sponsoring a bazaar in which the majority of the proceeds go to the school would
help. I think getting the kids involved would be a great idea.
I recently attended a school function called "A Bug's Life." I was overwhelmed
at the lack of seating and overcrowding of parents whose children attend Trost.
I had to join people in sitting on the floor of the gym while trying to get a glimpse at
my niece in her play. The fact is there should have been room for everyone there,
including an aunt or grandmother wanting to see their kids.
The non-functioning equipment was also an issue. My niece is the closest thing I have to a
child and I am deeply concerned about her education.
More children equals less one-on-one time with teachers. To me, that is a great cause for
concern. We have recently acquired some major corporations in our area that might
volunteer donations and services.
Maybe we could launch a city and/or district campaign to help all schools in the Canby
area. The challenge will come to those businesses that can provide maintenance for little
or no charge.
The smallest gesture can be the biggest gain. I commend all the teachers who have an
overabundance of children. Their hard work and compassion will make better futures for all
of us.
I have teachers in my family and understand the stress and lack of time and funds to do
their job.
Lisa Stamp
Canby
Aurora resident
welcomes new bus
service to the area
To the editor:
I read with interest David Howell's article (Herald, March 15) concerning bus service in
Canby. I live in an area 1 1/2 miles from the city of Aurora with no public transportation
whatsoever. Ironically, we are directly across the street from the Aurora State Airport
and a short distance from the railroad tracks.
In order to get to Portland, I need to drive to Wilsonville or Canby. It seems to me that
there are enough people in the area who would welcome some kind of public transportation.
I work at the Woodburn Public Library on an on-call basis, so it's a 16-mile round trip
there. Anyhow, do we in the Aurora area have any chance for public transportation?
I have been told that there is a possibility of Salem running buses to Hubbard next year.
I'm sure there are those who do not want any kind of public transportation in the city of
Aurora, but I am not one of them.
Sue Dawson
Aurora
¡Justicia para Todos!
To the editor:
¡Claro! Dr. Deborah Sommer's "Q & A" column (Page 6 of the March 8 Herald)
rates an A+ for honesty and caring.
Thanks to Dr. Sommer and Sr. Joel Chavez, 600 ESL students will now have the extra funds
which Canby recibe para ayudarles. ¡Que magnifico! Dr. Sommer for your pledge to redress
the earlier injustice.
¡Muchas gracias, mi amiga! Several years ago I enjoyed teaching seventh-grade math from
identical libras de matematicas en Ingles y Español. What a treat to see my students two
or three years later at Canby High School excelling in math and working in English by
choice.
My fondest hope is to see us educators help our bilingual students become literate and
articulate in both their native tongue and in English. Imagine how strong they will be if
they learn to THINK and to DREAM in both languages. How will we monolinguals keep up with
them? I relish the challenge.
Dr. Sommer accurately explained the differences among Canby schools on the odious Oregon
Department of Education school report cards, a difference due to improvement, for which I
commend the Trost staff and students.
The blame for the ambiguity lies with ODE, which ignored a legislative mandate to tell us
about both achievement and improvement. The Legislature clearly understands the difference
between these two dimensions, but ODE does not.
Canby Herald readers are quite accustomed to reading all of the box scores for a high
school basketball game and forming their own opinions after seeing the raw data.
The "complex formula," which ODE uses to rate our schools is 37 pages long, and
it conceals much useful information. I've compiled the achievement raw data, which I would
be happy to share with anyone.
Readers who would like copies of my letters to state schools Superintendent Bunn
concerning other problems with the school report cards are welcome to request them from me
by e-mail. Paul M. Farrar
Canby
paul4r@teleport.com |
