Stories

OR Magazine is an iPad publication, but for greater access to our stories, we published them here.
For The Solutions Issue, we reported five stories:

Cannabis as a Treatment for Veterans with PTSD: As cannabis becomes easier to access and legal in more states, growing numbers of veterans are using marijuana as a treatment for the symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Grow for Vets, a national nonprofit with chapters in Eugene and Portland, aims to reduce the number of veteran suicides and drug overdoses by promoting cannabis treatment over the use of opiates.

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Video: Grow for Vets Member Woody Needler

Video: Grow for Vets Member Nathan Paine

Video: Grow for Vets Event

 

Engendering Equal Education: In early 2016, both the state of Oregon and the Obama administration released an unprecedented set of rules enforcing equal access for transgender students in educational facilities. But before this topic saw nationwide legislation, similar policies had gained momentum in Eugene. A policy adopted in Eugene’s 4J school district has been creating safe spaces for transgender students from kindergarten through high school, and gender-inclusive programs at the University of Oregon have marked the school as a national leader in LGBTQ acceptance.

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Video: Spencer Butte Middle School’s Gay Straight Alliance

Audio Slideshow: University of Oregon’s Gender Inclusive Residential Hall

 

Coexisting with Carnivores: Wolves and ranchers have a long history of conflict. Ranchers need to protect their animals and wolves need to eat. The historical solution to the conflict was to kill the wolves. But wolves are a crucial part of the ecosystem. Their presence supports biodiversity by controlling the overgrazing of elk and other prey species. The disappearance of wolves from an environment has extensive implications, making them a keystone species. Today, modern wolves and ranchers are figuring out how to coexist.

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Video: John Hyde, an Oregon Cattle Rancher

 

Against the Grain: A gender gap between men and women spans many of the nation’s economic sectors. Women farmers make up a relatively small share of the U.S. agricultural workforce. However, when compared to the rest of the nation, Oregon sits well above the national average. According to census data, only 21.7 percent of the nation’s agricultural workers were women in 2012, and women made up only 13.7 percent of principal operators, or farm directors. In Oregon, these percentages were 39 and 21 percent, respectively. More than 300 women around the state participate in Oregon State University’s Small Farms networks for female farmers. The farm networks are not the reason there are so many female farmers in Oregon, nor do they reach the whole farming population. However, for women who participate, farm networks have made the path to success in farming more viable by providing access to mentorship and supportive tip-sharing with other women.

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Video: Lindsey Trempler, Oregon Farmer

Video: Phyllis Morris, Oregon Farmer

Video: Leah Rodgers, Oregon Farmer

 

Tackling Teen Pregnancy: During the past seven years Oregon has put in motion a plan to reduce teen pregnancy and improve the quality of sexual health education in public schools. This plan was introduced in 2009 as a concept of what sex education could look like. Just three years after the plan was created, the rate of unplanned teenage births among females age 15-19 in Oregon had dropped from 4.8 percent to 3.2 percent.

 

Story Credits for The Solutions Issue