Ashland man remembered by someone he helped

The obituary for Richard K. Mastain of Ashland appeared, courtesy of the Rogue Valley Times, in the Summer 2023 Friends of Nigeria Newsletter.

Fortunately for me and my volunteer colleagues, he was Eastern Regional administrator for the Peace Corps in Enugu, Nigeria, when he supported my case after I put my foot in my mouth in the early weeks of my teaching in a men’s teacher-training college.

In an English reading comprehension exam, I lifted text from the forward of an anthropological study that — to put it kindly — diminished the intellectual capacity of Africans. I believed in challenging students with controversial ideas, to engage their thinking.

I was naive in not knowing, as a colleague told me, that unsophisticated people often accept as truth almost anything presented in print. A local instructor monitoring the exam 180 degrees from me and sharing the same dais went to the principal and accused me of racism.

He also went to the Nigerian newspapers and the incident hit the headlines in Lagos and, I’m told, even made the CBS news here with Walter Cronkite.

Dick Mastain, other Peace Corps staffers, my principal, most faculty and many students — all adults — rose to my support and accepted my explanation. Even in a final hearing in Enugu, apology accepted, it was recommended that publicity was my enemy and I’d not be welcome anywhere else in Africa.

After a thorough debriefing in Washington, I was re-stationed in St. Lucia, BWI. Thank you, Dick.

Robert Davis / Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

St. Vincent de Paul offers thanks for recent support

The Medford office of St. Vincent de Paul is grateful to the funds and foundations that have supported our programs providing rental assistance and housing move-in assistance to our clients.

These programs help many deserving families in Jackson County avoid homelessness.

Most recently, generous grants were received from AllCare Health Resiliency Fund, Cow Creek Indian Foundation, the Reed and Carolee Walker Fund of Oregon Community Foundation, the Arthur R. Dubs Foundation and the Robert and Frances Chaney Family Foundation.

We are an all-volunteer organization, and all grant funds go directly and only to assisting our clients. We welcome new volunteers in all areas of our work.

Call 541-772-3828 and ask for our volunteer coordinator. Training is provided.

Phyllis Douglas / Medford

County needs new animal shelter, better foster program

Jackson County representatives acknowledged that the animal shelter is substandard, antiquated, overcrowded and understaffed in a recent KOBI-5 special report on “the dangers of kennel stress.”

Viewers learned that the county judges dogs against seven criteria to decide if they should be placed in foster homes, and even pays an employee to coordinate this. Yet for the last two months, the county has given ZERO dogs a break from kennel stress in a foster home.

Why isn’t the county using this free resource to mitigate the problems at the out-of-date shelter?

The program manager informed KOBI viewers that decisions are based on “the needs of the program” — NOT the needs of the animals or the community.

The program has needed to eliminate at least 17 ways that volunteers have traditionally served, from taking animals to adoption events, to answering phones, to sustaining the animals’ routines on Mondays.

But there is one new thing that the program does need. Volunteers now get to empty the poop buckets, not county staff.

We need sensible, humane, collaborative policies that prioritize the needs of the animals. More importantly, Jackson County needs a new shelter that meets modern standards.

Laura B. Ahearn / Applegate Valley

Updated requested on Ashland plan for unhoused

Silence isn’t the answer:  We do care about the unhoused behind the Ashland police station and would like an update on how this is working.  What can we do?

Local papers have not published a report and an inquiry to the police chief has not been answered. 

Wendy Eppinger / Ashland

Where are the crows?

My wife and I have lived in Ashland, just above the hospital, for 16 years. During the twilight hours when we have time to relax on our deck, large numbers of crows used to fly uphill over us.

Groups of two, three, or more, and occasional (tardy) singles. We would call this time “crow o’clock,” which was followed a bit later by “bat o’clock.” But this year we see no crows doing this evening flight.

Have others noticed this change in crow behavior? Perhaps there’s been a change in the roosting spot the crows were presumably heading for?

We hope the many birding folks in the valley might have an explanation.

John Kloetzel / Ashland