A high wall is best between church and state

I have very much enjoyed the back and forth on this page over the separation of church and state issue, and the Founding Fathers’ part in it. A high wall separating church and state is good policy because it makes so much sense. And as an extension of that good policy, government should get out of the marriage business.

There has been a lot of controversy over President-elect Obama’s invitation to the Rev. Rick Warren to deliver the inaugural invocation. My hope is that this controversy may bring more attention to what the good reverend has to say.

What a perfect opportunity to advocate the common-sense policy of getting government out of the marriage business, leaving this to the church. Government should focus on sanctioning civil unions, regulating matters concerning children, property, and the like — all the nonreligious matters. Who can argue that marriage is not a religious issue, unworthy of Rev. Warren’s attention?

Robert G. Gourley, Corvallis

Sustainability plan goals not reasonably attainable

The article regarding Lincoln City and its efforts toward sustainability in the Dec. 20 Gazette-Times was very interesting and reminded me of Corvallis and our efforts.

As pointed out in the article, there is no widespread community support — or opposition, for that matter, just a handful of city officials and community activists working without a blueprint. Sounds like home to me. Heavy use of carbon credits and the like. The goals presented in our sustainability plan are, to be kind, somewhat ridiculous, very costly and not reasonably attainable.

Ted Langton Sr., Corvallis

Urban-renewal district would improve Corvallis

There have been two letters to the editor from David Grappo recently (Dec. 8 and 21) about the Urban Renewal District (URD). Mr. Grappo states that this district, if formed, will remove money from the school district. On the contrary, the school district is held harmless and, in fact, the state backfills any monies so that Corvallis will receive about $11 million from the state over the 20-year life of the URD.

What is urban renewal? Many probably remember when it was used for redevelopment of slums or blighted areas. Nowadays it is used for downtown revitalization or other projects driven by community wants and needs. Sixty cities in Oregon have active UR agencies. Corvallis will vote this May whether to adopt an URD.

No new taxes are used to accomplish urban renewal goals. Instead, the financing comes from a reallocation of existing taxes, above the base established, on the properties within the urban renewal district. This method of funding is called “tax-increment financing.” The web site www.heartofcorvallis.org has information on the proposed URD for Corvallis. As the 20-year plan goes on, our downtown will prosper and there will be greater value to the properties. This increase in value will result in increased revenue for the city and county.

This is an investment to sustain and improve the quality of downtown Corvallis now and in the future. After all, it is the heart of our city.

Anne Schuster, Corvallis

Take the $5 challenge to help somebody out

I would like to challenge people to take $5 and make a difference in another person’s life today. It can be someone you know, or a stranger.

My only condition is that you NOT donate the $5 to charity. The idea is to make a human-to-human connection. You don’t have $5? Do you have something worth $5 you can share, maybe make a meal and take it to someone, and sit and eat with them? An extra pair of gloves that you give to a stranger who looks cold? A favorite book to share?

Other ideas: Help a stranger pay for their groceries or medication at a store. A gift certificate for a local coffee shop. You will be amazed that if you look around yourself today, the little things that will make a difference in another person’s life.

Please share what you have done, and how it affected you and/or the other person. You can e-mail me either at DesignsByA@aol.com or FiveDollarHelp@aol.com. I would also like to hear from people that have been on the receiving end of the $5 challenge. What did someone do for you? How did it affect you?

Feel free to share my letter with others, and challenge them also.

AnnaLiese M. Moran, Corvallis

Maybe we should measure Gross National Happiness

Last November, as Americans celebrated the promises of change from President-elect Obama, in the tiny country of Bhutan, the torch was passed from a king to his heir. More significantly, Bhutan also replaced the measurement of its Gross National Product (GNP) with a new indicator: the “Gross National Happiness,” or GNH.

As the composite value of all the goods and services within a country, the GNP accounts for all of our economic products, but also how much we spend on lawsuits and medical bills, machines of war and prisons, and on many other unhealthy things. Perhaps Bhutan has it right: We should use another indicator that captures the true performance of our nation.

So how does one measure the GNH? May I propose that we start with all the statistics that we already have: healthy life expectancy, literacy and employment rates. The GNH is inversely proportional to the rates of childhood mortality, teen pregnancy, homicides and suicides, domestic violence and divorce; to the number of citizens who are homeless, incarcerated, or on death row; and to pharmaceuticals, door locks and guns sold every year. Finally, the GNH will be adjusted to account for the gap between the haves and have-nots, racial groups, and genders.

We currently use the GNP to rank nations in economic power and wealth. From now on, let nations compete on the value of their GNH, which truly reflects the civility and quality of life of their society. That’s the change we want, President Obama!

Chinh Le, Corvallis

Here are facts on law for union organizing

In Vern McDonald’s Dec. 26 letter (“Easing formation of unions bad for economy”), he repeats several misguided claims regarding the proposed Employee Free Choice Act. Let me set the record straight:

Under existing federal law, workers can choose to form a union only by holding an election after 30 percent or more of employees have signed a petition. EFCA would add another way for employees to unionize: If 50 percent plus one of employees were to sign a card supporting unionization, then the employer would be forced to begin collective bargaining. However, the older method would still rule: If 30 percent of the proposed bargaining unit signed a petition calling for an election, and 50 percent plus one signed cards, an election would be held. Therefore, anyone who says that EFCA would eliminate the secret ballot is either misinformed or lying.

Oregon has had card check in place for a year, yet Oregon’s economy seems far more affected by Wall Street than unionization. And a glance at history will show that unionization was a driving force for the economic growth of the 1950s, especially in regards to the formation of the middle class. Both McDonald and Epstein seem to have consumed copious amounts of corporate propaganda on this topic n and Epstein in particular should know better than to make such bad-faith arguments. It’s rather unseemly for a scholar.

For those interested in learning more about EFCA, as McDonald suggests, I would suggest you start here: www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voiceatwork/efca/whatis.cfm.

Dennis Dugan, Corvallis