My grandparents were long-time residents of Philomath and my mother graduated from Philomath High School. The Clemens Foundation provided scholarships to every PHS graduate for many years. When people heard about the scholarships, they started moving their kids into the high school for their last year just so they could get free money. When it was realized that this was happening, the rules changed a little bit, and understandably so.
The Clemens family has done so much for that little community. It's difficult for most people to fully understand how small the community really is if you just watch the documentary and haven't really been there. The Clemens has donated property to build a school, built a nice pool and countless other efforts to better the community.
I don't think it was too much to ask for the school (including an obvious "tree-hugger" superintendent) to fairly recognize the timber industry and its contribution to that community. Teachers like those in the documentary didn't want to 'promote' logging but yet they were the first in line to expect money from a foundation that was started because of it! The Lowther family has every right to stipulate how the foundation funds will be distributed. If the school district didn't want to educate the children about the logging industry, why should the foundation continue to support the school district in the manner it had been all those years? The scholarships haven't stopped completely - they're just not handed out so readily anymore.
I commend Steve Lowther and his family for everything they have done and everything they are doing for their community. They weren't willing to sit idly by and continue to let some of the district staff continue to snub their noses at the industry that provides the money but also expect perpetual handouts from it.
I support the Clemens Foundation!