SURGING SEATTLE
VACATION PUT ON HOLD
Mariners beat Tigers, B1
Two-day break to discuss Missouri, Iraq, A5
MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2014
Serving Oregon’s South Coast Since 1878
theworldlink.com
■
$1
Standards create angst for Bay Area educators
Jam session
Teachers rush to find gaps in curriculum in order to fulfill Common Core ■
BY CHELSEA DAVIS The World
By Alysha Beck, The World
More online: See the gallery at theworldlink.com/galleries.
Eileen and Jeff Walter jam on fiddle and guitar with fellow musicians Friday during Fiddle at the Beach, put on by the Oregon Old Time Fiddlers Association in Winchester Bay.
Battling disease with art BY EMILY THORNTON The World
NORTH BEND — Some of the pastels depicting landscapes are from his imagination and some are from real life. Dusty Harrington-Collins, a retired Army veteran, has been painting for 20 years. Now, the Parkinson’s disease patient says it helps ease his symptoms. “It’s tremendous,” said HarringtonCollins, “When I’m painting, I hardly have any shakes at all.” Harrington-Collins was diagnosed with Parkinson’s eight years ago, and he now battles his symptoms, which often include tremors, slowness of movement, muscular rigidity or stiffness and postural i n s t a b i l i t y. Parkinson’s Other symptoms of the disease disease may For more information include pain, on Parkinson’s disease, dementia or visit the the Parkinson’s confusion, Disease Foundation at fatigue, sleep www.pdf.org or call 800disturbances, 457-6676. d e p re s s i o n , constipation, cognitive changes, fear or anxiety, and urinary problems. There is no cure for the disease, but symptoms can be manBy Lou Sennick, The World aged with medication, therapy and Dusty Harrington-Collins poses at Baycrest Village with some of his artwork that decorates a surgery. hall at the facility. Painting is part of his therapy and uses his work to raise money for the Harrington-Collins has continued Parkinson's Foundation. his hobby of creating art with pastels. “It’s just a good feeling,” he said. “I really enjoy what I’m doing. It’s been Second-leading neurodegenerative disease very good for me.” He said he envisioned fictional places Five people in Coos County died of Parkinson’s disease in 2012, said Susan and projected them on canvas, such as a Wickstrom, lead communications officer for the Oregon Health Authorityno-name European town he called Public Health Division. Oregon reported 362 Parkinson’s deaths in 2012. “Fantasy Land.” Other pastels came Wickstrom said the disease is nonreportable, so physicians aren’t required to from real places, many of which were provide information about patients who have it until their death. local. One he named “Autumn River” The disease is the second-leading neurodegenerative disease, affecting depicted a section of the Umpqua River. about one million people in the U.S., following Alzheimer’s, according to the Harrington-Collins said he decided in National Parkinson Foundation website, www.parkinson.org. July to give the proceeds from sales of his paintings to the Parkinson’s Disease other patients,” said Lori Smith, his Foundation. In the past, he said he gave the use of his legs. He sold his work from $35 to $150 speech therapist. away much of his work, but wanted to Smith worked with Harringtonhelp the PDF. The organization provides apiece, the normal range for his projects. research, education and public advocacy. He also displayed them at the Port Orford Collins to improve his voice from a The Port Orford resident raised $620 Library and local coffee shops. In addi- whisper and increase his swallowing. Roy Dalde, Harrington-Collins’ during a recent showing at Baycrest tion,the PDF’s Creativity and Parkinson’s Village, where he is staying following a Project showcased one of his works, “To physical therapist, said he was proud of his patient. couple of back surgeries five months Be Alone,” in its 2014 calendar. The artist has impacted his peers, “He’s made a lot of progress since we ago. The procedures to remove spurs and to fuse vertebrae together was encouraging them to take up hobbies, started,” Dalde said, noting the pain assounrelated to his Parkinson’s, he said. such as painting. “He’s a real advocate for some of the The surgery left him without much of SEE ART | A8
NORTH BEND — South Coast educators are in the same race as schools nationwide, trying to find instructional materials that align with the Common Core State Standards. The North Bend School District put $120,000 toward new elementary math material for seven years. Elementary teachers piloted two programs and eventually chose Go Math! The workbooks point out a specific standard that aligns with the problem at hand. That standard will also be noted in letters sent home to parents, as well as an online component for more practice and software to use on Smart Boards in class. “There’s multiple ways to practice that skill beyond just the workbook,” said Tiffany Rush, North Bend schools’ curriculum director. Every Oregon school district is implementing the Common Core math and English language arts standards this school year. This spring, those standards will be tested for the first time in the new Smarter Balanced assessment, which is replacing the Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, or OAKS. “None of us truly know how students will respond to these assessments,” Rush said. Oregon Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction Rob Saxton said this summer that only 30 to 40 percent of students will likely pass the new exam, given the rigor of the new standards. In May, the Oregon Education Association called for a moratorium on what they and teachers unions nationwide have dubbed a “high-stakes” testing culture. “When the timeline doesn’t allow for giving 100 percent to preparing our students, none of us should be surprised by the prediction that 65 percent of all students will fail the first test,” said OEA President Hanna Vaandering in May. While the standards are mandated, the curriculum and how they’re taught are not. The new standards are tougher, meaning curriculum teams and teachers have poured hours upon hours into figuring out best practices. “Smaller districts don’t have huge curriculum teams,” Rush said, meaning groups of teachers sat down over the past couple summers to look at the new standards, the curriculum already in place, and where gaps exist. “How, as instructional staff, do we scaffold that learning?” Rush said. “It creates a bit of SEE SCHOOLS | A8
Insurers are still avoiding sick patients BY RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Ending insurance discrimination against the sick was a central goal of the nation’s health care overhaul, but leading patient groups say that promise is being undermined by new barriers from insurers. The insurance industry responds that critics are confusing legitimate cost-control with bias. Some state regulators, however, say there’s reason to be concerned about policies that shift costs to patients and narrow their choices of hospitals and doctors. With open enrollment for 2015 three months away, the Obama administration is being pressed to enforce the Affordable Care Act’s anti-discrimination provisions. Some regulations have been issued; others are pending after more than four years. More than 300 patient advocacy groups recently wrote Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell to complain about some insurer tactics that “are highly discriminatory against patients with chronic health conditions and may ... violate the (law’s) nondiscrimination provisions.” Among the groups were the AIDS Institute, the
Comics . . . . . . . . . . A6 Puzzles . . . . . . . . . . A6 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . B1 Classifieds . . . . . . . B5
Gaining control Iraq says it has taken back the Mosul Dam, but militants and U.S. officials say they don’t have complete control of the facility. Page A7
FORECAST
Police reports . . . . A2 40 Stories . . . . . . . A2 South Coast. . . . . . A3 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . A4
WORLD
INSIDE
SEE HEALTH | A8
Partly sunny 64/55 Weather | A8