IN REPLY TO "PICKS: NOT JUST A NUMBER" (5/27)
I stopped by Troy field on three different times this Memorial day. Each time, Tracy and some of her dedicated people continued to read the name, age, and town that our fallen heroes heralded from, followed by a single beat of the drum. The boards with the names of the fallen carefully arranged around the area where the drum and the readings were taking place. It doesn't matter what your age, gender, race or political affiliation. This is a very solemn and special event to attend. If you have children, bring them and teach them that they are able to sleep safely at night because of the men and women who's names are written on the panels. Thank you Tracy and your staff for enduring the long day that it takes to bring a voice to our fallen heroes!
—Dave Westoby
IN REPLY TO "POLL SHOWS MAJORITY SUPPORT FOR OSU-CASCADES" (6/4)
The questions in the poll were extremely biased. The results, therefore, are meaningless PR.
—Shannon N Jimmy Sbarra
Shannon, it is my opinion that the Truth in Site group has been spreading biased disinformation for over a year now, so advocacy in the opposite direction is warranted.
—Scott Aycock
.003 percent of a random sampling isn't a large enough sample size to be meaningful. I fully support an extension college here, I just feel there are other parcels of land better suited for future growth of the campus. No matter where it's built [it] will take a major capital investment! Lots of money being spent already on keeping a gravel pit closed—$30k a month, not sure on the PR feel good stories.
—Michael 1
Coalition members have a vested interest in the proposed campus site. It is too bad they can't look beyond their bank accounts and see what is needed for a real university campus.
—RM
IN REPLY TO "BRAIN DRAIN OR BRAIN GAIN" (6/3)
In the June 4 Glass Slipper op-ed article you made an apt comparison of Southern Oregon University with the planned OSU-Cascades campus in Bend. OSU-Cascades is planning for roughly 5,000 students, and SOU currently has 6,000. However, there is a critical comparison you failed to mention. The SOU campus occupies 175 acres. I repeat, 175 acres. As in one hundred and seventy-five acres. For a comparable number of students, OSU-Cascades intends their campus to begin with 10 acres and expand to an additional 46 acres. The LaGrande campus of Eastern Oregon University, which also has a comparable number of students, occupies 110 acres. That's 110 acres. Yet OSU-Cascades plans for just 56 acres? WTF? Do we want a first-class university in Central Oregon, or are we willing to accept this cobbled together insufficiently sized patch of old industrial land that's being pushed down our throats, and that will result in a second-rate campus?
—Viki Wooster
Viki Wooster's post is a classic example of the anti-intellectual NIMBYs on the westside trying to twist facts to fit their meritless argument. So OSU-Cascades will have 10 acres and the SOU and EOU campuses, with comparable enrollments, are much larger campuses. So what?
SOU established its current campus in 1926, and EOU established its campus in 1929, nearly 100 years ago. University education and instructional techniques may have changed just a little bit since the 1920s. One obvious change is that all students used to live on campus, but now most college students live off campus.
Is there some reason why OSU-Cascades cannot thrive with a campus much smaller in physical size than traditional universities? Have the leaders and planners of OSU-Cascades missed some critical aspect of planning a college campus that requires thousands of acres? Does Viki Wooster know some secret that everyone from the Oregon Legislature to the President of OSU has missed? —NIMBYs Ruin Bend
In reply to NIMBYs Ruin Bend: First, I am not a NIMBY. I live in northeast Bend and would love to have a university campus in my back yard. Second, I have a masters degree and doctoral candidacy, pursue continuing education always, and am hardly anti-intellectual. Third, of the 1000 reported apartment units to be built in the near future in Bend, just 151 of them are on the westside. It's likely that the majority of OSU-Cascades students living off campus will be living on the eastside. And I don't believe for a moment that all of them will be riding bikes or taking the bus all the time, unless the bus routes and frequency are vastly improved. Fourth, none of us can predict what OSU-Cascades will be like in 30, 50, 100 years in terms of enrollment, programs and so forth. Why shoot ourselves in the foot before we even begin? And last, this is an opinion column. I have mine, you have yours.
—Viki Wooster
IN REPLY TO "LETTER: TIME FOR OUR FOREST SERVICE TO GO SMOKELESS!" (5/6)
Forest Service Poisons Air for 80K in Town! What if the headline read like this instead of announcing another vaguely directed "Controlled Burn?" I woke this morning to see Bend covered with the poisonous residue of another useless effort to control forest fires by somehow predicting where lightning will strike. I have never seen any evidence or claim that a previous burn has prevented or even helped control a forest fire outbreak and yet we suffer air worse than L.A. could possibly generate. I wonder how many cases of lung disorders are generated or aggravated and how many subsequent deaths might be attributed to the noxious leftover from useless Forest Service exercises? Let's consider the tradeoff and consider people more than playing "Where will the Lightning Strike?"
—davidap42
IN REPLY TO "LETTERS" (6/3)
Re: Listening local. Bands pick their openers, not the venue.
Re: Drinking local. I think there is probably a contract involved with who provides beer at Les Schwab. Last year, 10 Barrel was there, but for several years prior to that, it was Deschutes. There's probably a couple years left of 10 Barrel beer at Schwab, then my vote is for Boneyard after the contract is up.
—Wheelie
CROSSWORD PUZZLE REPEAT
Question: What is an eleven-letter word explaining why the June 4th crossword puzzle was a repeat of the May 28th crossword puzzle? Answer: "INATTENTIVE." Boo! —A bummed Bender
