To: skinowski who wrote (479124 ) 3/27/2012 10:51:52 PM From: ManyMoose 5 Recommendations Respond to One can only wonder for how long the goose will be able to keep laying those nice big ol' golden eggs...... Your comment is a perfect springboard for something I wanted to say after just watching a TV documentary called "Clear Cut." I stumbled on it completely by accident, is how deeply it was buried. It was on Netflix and I haven't seen or heard of it anyplace else. Link to the film website Clear Cut tells the story of Philomath, Oregon, a formerly logging town that had thriving mills and a population who had a shared set of values. I wanted to settle there myself about 25 years ago, but alas it was never to be. I had no clue that the following was going on, although apparently it was on the news at the time. Philomath is the home of the Clemens Foundation. Link: Clemens Foundation The Clemens Foundation is funded by the estate of Roger Clemens, who made his fortune in the timber industry in Philomath despite a very humble background. Roger Clemens wanted to make a difference, so he decided to give a college scholarship to every student who graduated from the local high school. After his death this practice was continued by relatives who formed a foundation which they named after him. Students and citizens alike were very appreciative of the scholarships, and many began to depend on them. The high school principal removed a historic chainsaw carving of a Native American chief from the halls and challenged the athletic team name "Warriors" in favor of some milquetoast name which I forgot (evidently it was never changed, or was changed back). The school board hired a guy with a PhD from Chicago to be Superintendent of Schools. This guy started to implement policies that were inconsistent with original community values. For example, a student organization promoting gay and lesbian values was formed under his leadership. Some teachers started to teach that logging and forestry were bad, environmentalist values good. The Clemens Foundation executives, relatives of the founder, started to object. Soon there was a full scale community uprising, with traditional values on one side and the values espoused by this Superintendent and, to be frank, a growing majority in western Oregon, on the other. Finally there was a meeting of the school board which included a Foundation executive, the superintendent, and it was chaired by a former school board member who had no ax to grind. Everyone had their say, but the foundation people stayed silent. A member of the audience asked the family to speak, and one did. He explained the history of the foundation and the values behind it, and how deeply disturbing the current goings on were. After he spoke the School Board chairman offered the Superintendent a new contract. The Foundation decided to withdraw the scholarships in the face of ardent pleas that they not do so. Later Foundation changed the criteron for receiving a scholarship from a purely local one to a national scope. Then it added a provision for students pursuing science and natural resource careers, including forestry. The year after that the Superintendent and the High School Principal and a few others voluntarily resigned. Now local second-generation residents of Philomath are eligible, and the scholarships are restricted to private, vocational, and medical schools. Kids who met the criteria before this crisis but were so unlucky as to graduate in the middle of it were simply out of luck. I was so mad after watching this movie that I came over and typed what you just read. I'm still angry. Hence, the bold type face. I'm not shouting, just mad.
