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In Our View: Cheers & Jeers

Scientific advancements alive in Clark County; public records require diligence

The Columbian
Published: January 16, 2016, 6:01am

Cheers: To science and to exploration, as a pair of recent articles in The Columbian highlighted innovation on display in our community. Several schools in Clark County are testing a beta version of virtual field trips, courtesy of the Google Expeditions app. Using cardboard viewers and a smartphone, students are able to experience three-dimensional, 360-degree visions of a trip to the moon or a deep-sea dive; each turn of the head offers a different view.

Meanwhile, engineers at Washington State University Vancouver are developing a glove that uses haptic technology and allows users to experience a realistic sense of touch with virtual objects. Professor Hakan Gurocak has been granted two U.S. patents for innovations related to the project. In the end, both stories demonstrate the essence of technology: An ability to put the world at the fingertips of the user.

Jeers: To the Clark County Sheriff’s Office for its lack of diligence in processing a request under the Public Records Act. A Superior Court judge has ruled that the county acted in “gross negligence” and has levied a fine of $35,000.

Public records laws can be treacherous territory for institutions, and there is no doubt that some members of the public have abused those laws by filing specious requests. A citizen requesting, for example, thousands of emails in an effort to simply be a nuisance is harmful to the process and violates the spirit of the laws. But the laws exist for a very good reason — an effort to hold public officials accountable to the taxpayers who provide their salaries. Officials must be diligent in complying with them.

Cheers: To MLK Day. The holiday in honor of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. annually is embraced as a day of service, and millions of people across the country on Monday will donate their time and ability to benefit charitable causes. Many local opportunities for service can be found at Columbian.com (http://tinyurl.com/hshh2f5), and the city of Vancouver website (http://tinyurl.com/z6xxen8).

The holiday was signed into law by President Ronal Reagan in 1983, and in 1994 President Bill Clinton signed a bill declaring it a day of service. It is a fitting memorial for a leader credited with saying, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?’ ”

Sad: Dave DiCesare, a longtime community leader, died recently at the age of 66 after suffering from a rare form of leukemia. While his name might not be well-known to the general public, DiCesare had a large impact on Vancouver over the past couple decades. Among the projects that have his fingerprints on them: The Vancouver Land Bridge, the downtown library, and the downtown renovation.

“He had an impact on thousands of people who don’t even know who he is,” said Rick Melching, former president of the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington. And state Rep. Sharon Wylie, D-Vancouver, added: “David could take that big vision, make sure all the pieces were in place, then figure out what we need to do going forward.”

Cheers: To the Clark County Public Health department. By adopting an electronic system for filing death certificates, the department has entered the 21st century and is doing away with a paper process that has been in use for a century.

The new system will expedite the filing and processing of death certificates, allowing funeral directors, doctors, and the Clark County Medical Examiner to use a secure website to complete and approve death records. The improved system reduces the time it takes for a record to reach the state, providing better efficiency for death benefits and better monitoring of public health concerns.

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