Page 30 - Flathead Beacon // 7.22.15

LIKE I WAS SAYIN’
TWO FOR THOUGHT SAME TOPIC, DIFFERENT VIEWS NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICIES
KELLYN BROWN
ODE TO A DWARF PLANET
WHEN PLUTO WAS DOWNGRADED TO A dwarf planet, I bought a T-shirt that read “Pluto: 1930-2006: Revolve in Peace.” You’ll be happy to read that I only wore it once. No one thought it was as cool as I did.
I’ve long had an affinity for the former planet, likely because of the name and learning as a kid that it was the farthest in our solar system (usually, occasionally it orbits inside of Neptune). Still, it’s a true underdog.
So last week, when the unmanned space probe New Horizons buzzed by Pluto, I was more excited than most. The probe launched in early 2006, and for it to travel for more than nine years and more than 3 billion miles and to be almost universally considered a success is as mind-boggling as space itself.
NASA has had a series of triumphs since it shuttered its manned space shuttle program four years ago. In the summer of 2012, Curiosity, a robotic rover about the size of a car, landed on Mars to explore the climate and geol- ogy on the Gale Crater. As Forbes contributor Peter Dia- mandis pointed out at the time, only about 33 percent of “Mars lander missions have succeeded, and this landing was particular complicated.” A lot can go wrong when a 1-ton robot needs to slow from 13,000 miles per hour to 1 mile per hour and land on another planet. But little did.
Yes, the U.S. space program is on a bit of a roll, and, after years of criticism, has rebranded itself as reliable, accessible and even personable. On its latest missions, NASA’s New Horizons probe is carrying the ashes of a man who requested his remains be launched into space.
Not just any man, Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930 and, before he died in 1997 (when his discov- ery was still considered a planet), he made an incredible request. And NASA fulfilled it.
Tombaugh grew up on a family farm in Illinois and was attracted to astronomy at a young age. He built his first telescope in 1926, taught astronomy at New Mex- ico State University and made his most famous discov- ery in 1930.
On the canister in which New Horizons carries Tom- baugh’s ashes is an inscription written by Alan Stern, head of the mission. It reads, in part: “Interned herein are remains of American Clyde W. Tombaugh, discov- erer of Pluto and the solar system’s ‘third zone.’”
“My Dad always said if he ever had the chance, he’d love to visit the planets in the solar system and around other stars,” Tombaugh’s daughter, Annette, told NASA. She was on hand at mission headquarters last week as New Horizons fulfilled part of her father’s wish.
We’re lucky to live in a relatively rural area where we can still look up to a dark sky and see distant stars and planets and, occasionally, the Northern Lights. It’s good to feel small and curious and appreciate what’s beyond our reach.
John Ashley, who we interview in this week’s Bea- con, appreciates this, too. The photographer, biologist and seasonal researcher has documented the night sky above Glacier National Park for three decades.
He wants to keep it dark and keep the Andromeda Galaxy, which is about 2.5 million light years away, vis- ible from this small corner of the Earth. The National Park Service is already working with its Canadian coun- terparts to designate Glacier and Waterton parks as the first international transboundary dark sky preserve.
Like the New Horizons mission, it’s a worthy cause. Enough to dust off an old T-shirt honoring a former planet few thought we would ever reach.
BY TIM BALDWIN
All Montana children have a right to education.
Our state constitution explicitly provides this. This means the school environment must be conducive for learning. Setting policy to this effect is good. Currently, our local public schools are consider- ing updating their discrimination policy to create a new class of students based on gender “identity” or “expression.” Is this language necessary or good for education equality?
Some who say yes do so based on a political agenda: they want “victory” over people who oppose LGBTs. Some who say no do so based on a religious perspec- tive. They don’t want to give any social credibility to LGBTs. But consider something more logical.
Our schools have a firm policy that prevents stu- dents from mistreating other students and prevents discrimination based on sex. Under federal and state law, the “sex” class has universal application to include LGBTs. It seems the school board thus wants to create a special “sex” class. This appears superflu- ous. Too, when society creates a special class within an already protected class, there is a tendency for the “special class” to be treated better than every- one else. Thus, there is a danger that such a policy could defeat the goal of educational equality.
Jesus once expressed, hurt no one without cause. If everyone followed this simple principle, special class protections would be unnecessary.
BY JOE CARBONARI
By adding sexual orientation, expression, and
identity to the schools’ non-discrimination rules some feel we would be tempting Pandora. I doubt it would be a significant problem.
Our sexual guidelines have grown out of our experience as human beings. The traditional cou- plings seem to work best. As to its being God’s Law, that’s stopping the thinking process a bit short. It’s akin to saying “because I said so ... now shut-up.” Really?
I am willing to accept the marginal sexual exploration that may ensue if we acknowledge the decency and “sameness” of those who differ on their sexual makeup. I believe our species will survive, right down to our valley. It’ll be OK.
It is not OK to inflict psychological hurt, in gen- eral. That’s what the rules are about. In a changing society with changing views, more of us now see the balance between the threat of societal dissolution and undeserved hurt favoring an embracement of what may be somewhat uncomfortable.
Self-expression is a freedom. It is not to be con- fused with a license. Sexual relationships are pow- erful, directly and indirectly. One must be careful.
I think we have a responsibility to assist this transition in thinking. To those who feel otherwise I ask their further consideration. What value do you set for harm on the scales of decency? Much hurt is unintentional.
AMERICAN RURAL DIANE SMITH BEYOND THE WHINE
I
sustainability.
Each of these issues could easily devolve into a
“what about me and mine” whine-fest. But it doesn’t. Even really tough issues between our countries, like the Keystone-XL Pipeline, are dealt with profession- ally and cordially.
The leadership of the organization obviously gets a lot of the credit for this, as do the policymakers and business representatives who bring their best, most grown-up selves to these discussions. Of course, the fun and tasty pitchfork fondue and the great scenery (we were in Montana after all) probably also contrib- uted. In addition to the pitchfork fondue, one of my favorite events was a speaker who urged us to strive for “Kitty Hawk moments,” referring to the small town in North Carolina where the impossibility of flight mor- phed into reality.
At a time when we hear so often about self-cen- tered, juvenile behavior run amok among our politi- cians and executives, it was refreshing to spend a few days among people, so many of whom hail from small towns and rural areas, willing to work together for the greater good. Cooperation and collaboration? Maybe so. After all, there’s an organization out there that’s already doing it. Beyond the whine-fest, Kitty Hawk moments seemed within reach again.
WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO SPEND A FEW DAYS last week at a conference hosted by an organiza-
tion I’ve come to greatly admire called PNWER. PNWER stands for Pacific NorthWest Economic Region and it is a bi-national (U.S.A. and Canada), multi-partisan, public-private organization. In other words, there’s a lot of potential conflict going on there.
Officially, PNWER is a “public-private partnership chartered by the states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington; the western Canadian prov- inces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan; and Yukon and the Northwest Territories ... PNWER is dedicated to encouraging global economic com- petitiveness and preserving our world-class natural environment.”
Unofficially, it’s a great example of what can happen when smart, hardworking policymakers and business leaders are willing to work together toward the simple goal of making life better for the folks back home.
Some of the issues being worked on by PNWER include updating certification requirements for trades such as welding to allow easier cross-border work opportunities, particularly for veterans; streamlining border crossing rules to allow more efficient movement of goods between our countries; and learning about each other’s best practices for energy production that fosters energy independence alongside environmental
Learn more about Diane by following her column here or visit American Rural at AmericanRural.org.
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JULY 22, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM