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My second chance came not in spite of an illness or tragedy, but because of one. I was a busy graduate student working on my PhD, workimg full-time at my dream job in public service, and doing all the things I thought I wanted to do and be. Then I started to experience debilitating symptoms of a rare congenital brain malformation I didn't know I had. Within a month I was barely walking, and had neurosurgery. A childhood car accident has left me with undiagnosed PTSD, which was retriggered by this event. I struggled to resume my career and life, and soom could barely function due to the pain, anxiety, dissociation and medication needed to control them. This taught me that the path I was trying to return to no longer was I wanted, what I needed and what was healthy. I quit my career, my PhD, and put all my energy into becoming a healthy person physically and mentally. I got off all of the debilitating medications, learned to accept and control my anxiety and learned to love the n

posted 2 years, 4 months ago
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Regardless of the impact on how ethically the fishermen try to be, it is much more likely that fishermen will bring further impacts and degradation to the environment, and change the nature of the experiment and recovery efforts.  Clearly, someone who wanted to fish up there already planted fish, even one person's indescretion can ruin it for everyone else. 

All of us will benefit from this research.  Other places where disasters on this scale take place can benefit from research on ecological recovery.   Volcanoes erupts in highly populated areas in regions where recovery efforts need to work in order to support economies, agriculture and people's lives.  Should we jeapordize that for the benefit of a few individuals' pursuit of sport?  These fishermen should go to Coldwater lake and leave the Spirit Lake to benefit everyone.

posted 4 years, 1 month ago
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As the head of the Nevada State Historical Society just said, people learn to become citizens by visiting historical museums, but it is the same for archives and libraries. 

I think there is a false dichotomy being set up between archival and museums collections, here.  Information in the archives support and makes meaning for the materials in the museum collections, and vice versa.   Neither have any real meaning and keeping them in the name of the "public trust" is meaningless unless the public have access to them.

The question I have is why did the board and the OHS leadership not see that someday the collections and archives might face such difficulties, and why didn't they set aside funds and create a plan of action to prevent this from happening? 

Any well functioning non-profit should have a year's worth of funding set aside for normal operations.  Donna's timeline above indicates that capital campaign projects to expand buildings and infrastructure during times when people are free with their money were taken on, but it seems little funding was diverted to the core activities of the organization.  New buildings are expensive, and cut into funding for research, collections, and so on.  I speak from experience as an archaeologist and museum specialist.   So, now we are in this quandry.  

I would like to see both the museum and the library operate normally, but maybe a re-think about how OHS is structured and managed is necessary for it to survive through the current financial downturn.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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Read Filthy Shakespeare and maybe you will change your mind about many of the "classics."  Homer's Iliad begins with two soldiers fighting over a concubine, and a lot of what you call "deviant sex."

 Sexual content is present in almost all of the world's literature, "classic" or not.  As a parent, you have a right to help control and guide what your child is exposed to, but they will be exposed to things in ways you can never control.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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If you were listening, Mr. Cahill stated his change to the play included removing that word.  He also was not going to have the one incident of female partly unclothed.  Many of the lines that were deemed offensive by the community WERE read on air. 

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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Kudos to you for helping the students perform the play on their own.  Our world needs more educators like you and Mr. Cahill.

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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I graduated from La Grande High in the 1990s, and am a former student of Mr. Cahill, who helped prepare me for my own success in college and graduate school.  I continue rank him amongst the most influential teachers in my life, as he encouraged me to think critically about all aspects of my life, not just in the classroom.

Theater is a dialog between the actors, the audience, the playwright, and society at large.  I am happy that Think Out Loud is taking this dialog to our community.

I also have read Steve Martin's play, and though there are adult themes in this play, those same themes are present in a lot of literature that people hold up as "classics" such as Shakespeare (read "Filthy Shakespeare" by Pauline Kiernan if you are surprised about that).

By the time students are in high-school, they are being confronted with a lot of difficult decisions about what being an adult means.  We learn through role-playing and testing things out in a safe environment when we can consider the consequences of our behavior.  Asserting that by acting out such behavors equals condoning or supporting them is dangerously naive and condescending towards the ability of young adults to think and consider these issues for themselves and come to their own conclusions.

"Picasso at the Lapin Agile" is not about sex, it is about the nature of scientific and artistic discovery, and the nature of human relationships.  Trying to protect our young adults from such themes is a losing propsition, at best, because society at large will do it for you, and will backfire in my experience, at worst.

I am planning on coming to see this play.

Danielle Myers Gembala

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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I would love to hear a show about the recent censorship of the Steve Martin play "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" at La Grande High School.  This is not the first nor probably the last instance of a small but vocal minority objecting to material that can be found by students broadly in not only society in general but also in a school's regular curriculum (sex, violence and alcohol are present in the same quantities in Shakespeare as in Martin's play, the language is just more subtle for the uninitiated). 

I attended this school in the 1990s, and when I was there another play was almost censored (Pippin) but was successfully performed.  I took classes from Kevin Cahill, the teacher directing the show and who is helping the students resist the censorship.  He ranks among the most influential teachers of my life.

This situation brings up a lot of questions for everyone, not just Oregonians.  What role does the school play in catering to those who wish to censor students and curriculum?  What responsibilities and rights do the students have in these situations?  What role does the community play in determining what students can and cannot do artistically?  Should we be concerned about comedies that laugh at the human condition and make us consider the difficulties life presents us, or more concerned with violent and sexually explicit TV, video games and internet content that glamorize sexual behavior and violence?  What lessons can we learn from this situation?

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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