Joellenbundle by The Weekly Sun

desk

column on life’s terms

For The Fourth

Photo by Scott Smith

Baby racoons on the back streets of Bellevue.

Photo by Scott Smith

Damsel fly adding color to grass in Bellevue.

Letters

We Should Not Abandon Gun Control

To begin, I disagree with the argument of the editorial “Shame could control guns better than new laws.” We should not abandon common sense gun regulation. However, I do agree with the intent behind the editorial, which is to save lives and create a cultural shift. It should be known that I don’t consider those who protested in front of the Idaho Mountain Express or any law-abiding citizen to be a threat. However, they contribute to a culture of fear that convinces many of us that we need to arm ourselves against a constant threat. This fear enables us to believe everyone should have a gun, even when we see them being used for senseless violence. Who uses them for violence? They are not always identifiable; hence, the problem. When you see armed individuals coming toward you, your first thought is not, “Oh, they are carrying guns to peacefully demonstrate their support of the Constitution.” People instead respond with fear, like in Michigan, where an open-carry protestor caused a nearby high school to go into

lockdown and the police to be called to respond to what could have been an active-shooter situation. These incidents are too common. So what is gun control meant to control? It is meant to control individuals who may use weapons violently. That requires compromise. We as a society agree there should be speed limits when driving. We suspend licenses of unsafe drivers. Guns should be no different. We have to compensate for those not as responsible with a weapon that can take a life. The attempt to have that discussion in this Valley has regrettably created backlash rather than dialogue. This reaction is part of the problem. To quote Australian scholar Jim Jefferies: “In Australia, we had the biggest massacre on earth, and the Australian government went: ‘That’s it! No more guns!’ And we all went, ‘Yeah, all right then, that seems fair enough, really.’ Now, in America, you had the Sandy Hook massacre, where little tiny children died. And your government went, ‘Maybe ... we’ll get rid of the big guns?’ ” Even in

the face of tragedy there is an unwillingness to confront the problem. Following the shooting in Charleston, President Obama quoted this statistic: “Per population, we kill each other with guns at a rate 297 times more than Japan, 49 times more than France, 33 times more than Israel.” This staggering information should give all of us pause. The Weekly Sun’s article (Public Shame Is Sad Rhetoric) asked about responsible local media. I am currently a college student who writes for my college paper. We ran an editorial about Greek life and discussed instances of sexual assault. There was backlash from members of Greek life, similar to the response from local gun owners. I bring this up because both of these editorials are not irresponsible. Without them, this ever important and ongoing dialogue would not have taken place. It is imperative that we face this growing problem as individuals and as a community. Chase Hutchinson Ketchum resident

T h e W e e k ly S u n •

j u LY 1, 2015

BY JOELLEN COLLINS

ne of my repeated clichés is that on the Fourth of July I feel like little flags are popping out of my ears. The first time I expressed this was on a Fourth many years ago when, as a young woman, I traveled alone to Greece and Spain for a summer. On the way, I stayed with my mother’s cousins, who lived near Catholic University, where her cousin-in-law, Giovanni, was a professor. In spite of his profound sadness about the government’s negative treatment of a couple of rebellious poets he knew, he adored and respected this country. That Fourth we went to Arlington National Cemetery and observed JFK’s memorial and the thousands of graves of the honored. When “Taps” were played, I felt a familiar swelling of emotion, that of pride in my country. I grew up in a time when my father (crippled, so he couldn’t enlist in WWII) was director of the USO in San Francisco. Meeting young soldiers and sailors invited to our home for Sunday dinners and being mesmerized by the quick extinguishing of city lights during air raids was exciting to me. I was too little to understand the sacrifice some of the handsome Courtesy photo young men com- JoEllen Collins—a longtime ing through our resident of the Wood River doors would soon Valley—is a teacher, writer, face in the Pacif- fabric artist, choir member and unabashedly proud ic. When I was in grandma known as “Bibi Jo.” junior high, I became fascinated with Hitler and also read John Hersey’s Hiroshima in a quest to understand the horrors hidden from me. I remember feeling sad but still full of patriotism for America. I am still a patriot and happy I was born in a country that, on the whole, has provided me with a sense of safety and a rule of law: I don’t fear a militia group coming to my door in the middle of the night. I still deeply believe that the principles upon which the USA was founded are honorable and worth fighting for. I am teaching a class this summer for bright juniors and seniors on literature of and about the ‘60s in America. To see the knowledge of this era dawn in the consciousnesses of students of this generation is amazing. They are studying the ups and downs of a time when most of America’s values were challenged. We just finished reading Tom O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, and one of the assignments was for these bright young scholar-athletes to imagine what they would have done had they been summoned in the draft to fight in Vietnam. I was impressed with the universal sense that, whatever decision they made, they honored their country. If people warn about the lack of respect for values of this generation, they should meet these inquisitive minds and read these papers. In spite of this time’s terrors, I have some renewed hope for the future. I am highly impressed with the intelligence and dedication of my students. They make flags pop out of my ears! tws

desk

column on life’s terms

UNCIVIL DISCOURSE BY JOELLEN COLLINS

O Courtesy photo

ood River High School’s swimmers excelled at the Idaho State High School Championships on Nov. 6-7 at the YMCA in Boise. Wolverine wom(senior Maddie Johnson, senior Olivia Wentzel, junior Landry Walker and freshman Petra Glenn) won the 4-A Division. Wolverine men (junior colo Traveri, sophomore Mason Johnson, freshman Zach Deal and freshman Owen Ruggerio) placed third. Junior Chiloe Spelius, swimming o for Community School, placed second in a combined team division of 1-A, 2-A and 3-A schools. Back row, from left to right: Brian Gallagher oach), Owen Ruggerio, Zach Deal, Petra Glenn, Landry Walker, Chiloe Spelius, Olivia Wentzel, Nicolo Traveri. Front row: Maddie Johnson, left, ason Johnson, right.

hoto ART snyder’s eye

T h e W e e k ly S u n •

november 18, 2015

ne has to be careful to discern the truth behind the news from even reputable media sources and the instantly available judgments on social networks. Nonetheless, I am dismayed by ubiquitous examples of a lack of civility that bombard even a casual observer. One caveat: I am amazed at the positive effects of the Internet, a dissemination of information to faraway places and peoples. Lest my readers think I am naive, let me assure you that I was a young woman in the ’60s and ’70s when even righteous and valid concerns often spilled over into emotional excess and violent repercussions, of innocent observers being manhandled by authority, and by the proponents of civil disobedience being punished far beyond assumed consequences. Images like the young girl weeping over the body of a classmate at Kent State still burn at the edges of my memory. Today I am afraid of the lack of civility that arises, I think, both from a sense of anonymity and yet the immediate 15 “minutes” of fame engendered by the spotlight’s exposure. In my life I have learned that anonymity is not insured, even from the relative sanctuary of a keyboard in one’s Courtesy photo own home. Recent JoEllen Collins—a longtime sexting scandals resident of the Wood River make me sick with Valley—is a teacher, writer, a motherly concern fabric artist, choir member over the abuses and unabashedly proud of one of the most grandma known as “Bibi Jo.” sacred of human interactions and the reality that future consequences aren’t being considered. Certainly no one can see people hurling insults and death threats in confrontations between those of contrasting beliefs without shuddering. Political opinions are often shouted over to silence. Even on a small, personal basis, when I slowed down at an intersection that didn’t have a stop sign as a cyclist ran the stop sign on his side of the corner, he turned on me, yelling obscenities and flipping me “the bird.” I do admit to using bad language when frustrated while driving (what I call Edgar Allen Poe’s “imp of the perverse”), but only quietly to myself. I am ashamed afterwards. I once got a hideous letter – hate mail, truly – from a reader who disagreed with the gist of a piece I wrote. It was excessive and frightening, and only a sample of what columnists who are more assertive than I must get all the time. Nonetheless, as a rather mild writer, I was aghast at the ferocious tone. A friend suggested I respond to the author by noting that I thought he should know someone was using his name to express stupidity, or that I could simply throw it away and wish the sender a better life with less of the hatred that must diminish it. I threw it away. I am increasingly dismayed at what I see is an omnipresent amount of disrespect between us, fellow human beings who understand that proper protest is valid and necessary. We are surely shocked by the abuses of power and terror beyond our control, but maybe on a personal level we can exercise restraint and work toward addressing our own differences and concerns in a civil manner. tws