Posted: Friday, August 3, 2007 12:00 am
Decades ago, Mr. Munford helped me to decide on my career, partly through his column in the Gazette-Times, but also in our brief conversations. Our mutual interests included Corvallis history and writing, and he was generous with his time, answering my questions and urging me to look deeper into odd details, such as the swastikas that used to decorate many Corvallis sidewalks. It was the personal logo of a local flatwork mason, engraved long before Hitler contaminated the sign forever.
Mr. Munford helped me immeasurably, at a critical time in my life, with his advice and wise questions. I owe him a great debt, which he absolved with the advice to "pay it forward," although those were not his words. Goodbye, sir, and thank you for everything. You showed me that one individual life matters to us all, if it's lived properly.
Jeff Taylor
Forest Grove
Local biker inspired to race a Segway?
I think your tongue-in- cheek endorsement of the Segway technology was a clever shift from your usual, more straight-forward notation of the power of innovation. But you should be aware that at least one person took you seriously as evidenced by a bike rider yelling at me that a bike was better as I rode my Segway to the grocery store.
I didn't think we were having a contest, or I would have challenged him to race me up Witham Hill Drive (Where I would have cleaned his clock even if the wind did catch the propeller in my beanie). Keep up your insightful editorializing, and don't get discouraged when you're at your typewriter and someone tells you to get a computer. I mean not everyone can be an early adopter. If you want a ride on a Segway let me know, but be aware that they are more fun than your are supposed to have (no propeller beanie required for first time rides).
Logan Norris
Corvallis
Allow patients to treat themselves
Thanks to Brandon Goldner for his very informative, enlightening letter July 31 letter, "Scary story misled about pot's dangers." How such things ring so true (in an attempt) to stigmatize homeopathy in favor of such synthetic concoctions like Lexapro, Prozac, et. al.
As a survivor of such ravages known more commonly as schizophrenia, manic-depressive "disorder," among others, it has become quite apparent to me that my self-medication is far more effective and affective than most generalized pharmocopiae.
Others may question my ability to self-diagnose my personal conditions, but need I remind you that even the most educated and learned in the fields of mental "illness" are merely making their best guesses. They cannot possibly be certain, and I'd like to think that my best guesses are better … they always are. (I have memorized the DSM IV) I have found that which works for me, and it was this epiphanous realization that led me to the awareness of the fact that the only person I can wholly trust to treat myself is … me.
By the by: One might be inclined to asked a local homeopathic representative about (medicinal) options.
I, too, would be more than willing to answer any questions regarding any medical conditionst. No such thing as a stupid question.
Jordon Eaton
Corvallis
Conference positive; coverage wasn't
Between July 14 and 18, virologists at Oregon State University welcomed colleagues from across the country and abroad for the 2007 annual conference of the American Society for Virology.
Dennis Hruby, an internationally regarded researcher in OSU's Department of Microbiology, was the main local organizer, ably supported by OSU Conference Services and a bevy of volunteer students.
About 1,300 scientists attended. Topics ranged from the molecular to the epidemiological, and covered viruses infecting organisms from humans to bacteria.
One thing has been known for a long time: These conferences are influential in the progress of science and in promoting the host institution. A second thing became apparent during the ASV conference: OSU and Corvallis are able to host unquestionably first-rate meetings. With conferees attending single symposia during the mornings and scattered among nine concurrent sessions for the rest of each day, this was probably the most complex conference yet held at OSU.
Attendees were universally laudatory. They kept OSU's dormitories busy while also filling all available hotel rooms. There was much work for OSU and private catering businesses, as well as restaurants and bars. We scientists enjoyed presenting and hearing science while showing off our home territory.
In the July 13 article previewing the conference, the Gazette-Times struck an odd emphasis by focusing on the issues of distance from the Portland airport and smell from the dairy farm.
Now that those were proven to be non-issues with attendees, could the G-T please focus on the positive when reporting on future OSU conferences?
Theo Dreher
Professor and head
of Microbiology
Oregon State University
Smoking marijuana not necessary to use
Regarding Lisa Aldrich's Aug. 1 response ("Positive pot study was misrepresented") to Cynthia Cutting's July 25 letter, "Marijuana more like meds than menace":
It is not necessary specifically to smoke marijuana. Benefits can be gained by using a vaporizer or by baking with it. THC is in the trichromes, which sit atop the leaves, from which the THC is released at temperatures over 375 degrees.
In the case of the medical use of marijuana, the focus is not on getting high; the focus is on treating pain, depression, lack of appetite, nausea, inflammation, tense muscles, anxiety - to name a few. It is about producing effective results without the harmful side effects so often caused by pharmaceutical drugs.
The study to which Ms. Aldrich refers is not the study that was referred to in the July 25 letter. Interested parties can check with the American Association for Cancer Research to learn more about information presented recently at its annual meeting.
However, the NORML Web site appears to have the most comprehensive range of information that I know of. It is important to note that the motivation for suppressing the use of marijuana has relatively little to do with marijuana itself.
It will be a shame if we allow ourselves to run out of oil and forests before we begin to discuss this matter in depth. One can only hope that the big corporations and insufficiently informed citizens will wake up and smell the brownies before it is too late.
Kathy Korolden
Corvallis
More history about split of church, state
In addition to the fact that Thomas Jefferson was not a participant in the debates prior to the passage of the First Amendment and its religion clauses, there are other reasons why his "wall of separation" phrase in his letter to the Danbury Baptist Association amounts to a very shaky foundation for any court decision involving church-state relations.
It is not clear what Jefferson meant by his "wall of separation" statement. He wrote it in 1802.
In 1803, Jefferson was president, and he recommended that Congress pass a treaty with the Kaskaskia Indians that provided, along with other things, an annual stipend from the federal treasury of $100 for seven years for the support of a Catholic priest to minister to the Kaskaskia Indians. This and two similar treaties became law during Jefferson's administration: one with the Wyandotte Indians and other tribes in 1806, and one with the Cherokees in 1807.
If, by a "wall of separation," Jefferson meant that the federal government was prohibited from supporting or encouraging religious work, why would his administration do what I described?
It is likely that Jefferson borrowed his metaphor from Roger Williams, a Baptist, who wrote of a "wall of separation" to protect the "garden of the church" from the "wilderness of the world." Jefferson may have meant to use the phrase as Williams did.
Today the metaphor has been twisted to mean a wall to protect the state from the church.
David R. Prichard
Corvallis