A Short Paper With A Purpose
You are going to use some of what we have studied this term by
preparing a letter designed to persuade a person in a position of
responsibility to change or continue practices related to Earth
resource extraction (ie topics covered in this course).
Joel Corcoran works in Senator Jeff Merkley's Portland Office. He
is well versed in current issues before the US Congress and will
share his experiences with us on Wednesday, February 15.
On Friday, March 3, you must turn in a statement on the
subject of your letter. A single sentence identifying the topic
(eg mining laws in the US) and a likely decision maker (eg
Congressman Walden if you are from his district).
All letters must be turned in by Friday, March 17.
You are encouraged to complete this activity earlier in the
term.
To successfully complete this option you must turn in the
following materials:
1) The signed original and a photocopy of the letter
2) A two page summary of the research conducted in order to write
the letter (references included)
3) A stamped and addressed envelope in which the letter will be
mailed.
Grading criteria:
1. If you plagiarize a source, you will receive a zero
for the assignment. Cutting and pasting parts of your
references for your research summary will be considered plagiarism
for this assignment. Write new sentences that summarize the
research.
2. If you choose a topic that is not related to the
course, for example minimum wage policies, you will lose 25
points.
3. If you fail to provide references to your short
research summary, you will lose 20 points.
4. If you send the letter to the wrong level of government, you
will lose 20 points. For example, the Mt Hood National
Forest is a Federal government property. You cannot send a letter
to the mayor of Eugene, Oregon about mining on this Forest and
expect a good grade. You should send such letters to a member of a
congressional delegation. See me if you are uncertain about
your choice of policy maker.
5. If you've read this far, then you may have inferred that you
will earn 35 points for submitting an irrelevant, poorly
researched, long and poorly written letter to the wrong policy
maker. This is correct.
6. Your letter may oppose a position that I hold on a specific
issue. No points will be added or removed for such a disagreement.
A recurrent suggestion from policy makers and their staff is to restrict
letters to one topic.
Some useful sites where you can find mailing addresses, phone
numbers, position papers:
The Library of Congress site that tracks bills before the US Congress
National Politicians
U S Senate www.senate.gov
Jeff Merkley https://www.merkley.senate.gov
Ron Wyden https://www.wyden.senate.gov
US House of Representatives www.house.gov
Earl Blumenauer www.house.gov/blumenauer/
Peter DeFazio www.house.gov/defazio/
Kurt Schrader www.house.gov/schrader/
Greg Walden www.house.gov/walden/
Suzanne Bonamici bonamici.house.gov
U S President
Donald Trump www.whitehouse.gov
Oregon State Politicians
Governor Kate Brown h
ttp://www.oregon.gov/gov/Pages/index.aspx
Oregon Legislature is in session at this time. You may contact
your state Senator and House member with policy issues. You will
find them through the state legislature's home page
https://www.oregonlegislature.gov
Oregon Legislative Information System: Session meetings, bills,
committees, reports
https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2017R1
Local Governments
Some problems really are local, and as Tip O'Neal observed, "All
politics are local". You may have an issue which is best addressed
by one of the following:
Portland City Council Members of the City Council may be
responsible for local policies that interest you. You can locate
the appropriate City Councilor and the Mayor at the City's home
page
www.portlandonline.com
Metro is a regional body that overseas elements of land use
planning, the Port of Portland. It has a council and a President
with specific responsibilities. The home page is
www.metro-region.org/
Multnomah County Council www.co.multnomah.or.us
Washington County Council www.co.washington.or.us
Clackamas County Council www.co.clackamas.or.us
Clark County Council http://www.clarkcountynv.gov/county-commissioners/Pages/default.aspx
If you can't find an appropriate agency here, or if you are
writing to a policy maker outside of the Portland area, I think
you will quickly find what you need with a carefully worded search
on www.google.com