The film-maker may not use the phrase "fair and balanced", but I will. He did an excellent job of letting the truth speak for itself.I think the superintendent was wrong to change the name of the team from "Warriors" to "Cadets". What is wrong with the concept of the warrior? Such arrogant politically correct heavy-handedness is disgusting. Other than that, I don't see where he did much wrong.Somebody said that the foundation had a right to withhold money from students who worked against the foundation's principles and values. My understanding was that the foundation's mission and value was to provide tuition for all students who attended Philomath High. What a noble mission, freely, with no self-serving strings attached, to promote the education of those not as fortunate as you. Is this value not worthy and sufficient in its own right? And even if you don't think so, where is your respect for the person who provided the money for the foundation in the first place? It was Mr. Lowther - a fortunate heir and beneficiary of Rex Clemen's hard work and business success - who undermined these values. While you are enjoying the wealth that you yourself did not earn, Mr. Lowther, could you not at least honor the legacy of the man who did so much for you and others? They were not your toys to pick up and take home. You have only reaped and trampled where others have sown. Shame on you.

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!

"Quid-pro-quo" is way,WAY, WAAAYYY off the mark in his summary. The foundation was well within it's rights to pull money from a school that substantially did not stand for the beliefs of the foundation. TANSTAAFL! The money was not "owed" to students that worked against the education foundation's principals and values.I'm not sure where he gets the idea the students were singled out for persecution by the foundation over the gay and lesbian flier that was redistributed to the community (after it had been plastered all over the school) which contained the names of the students. The students proudly placed their names on the flier themselves.If they did not wish to be identified with gay and lesbian groups they should have remained anonymous instead of placing their names clearly in print.Congratulations to Mr.Lowther for standing up to a bunch of bullies and following his families principals. The only "lunatic" here is Mr."Quid-pro-quo". Perhaps he should move to San Francisco and pursue some free money for college there.

This film is about the legacy left by a man with altruistic intentions of providing a college education to students who would otherwise not have been able to afford one, and another man who mutated the original idea to his own ends.In the late 1950s, Rex Clemens, the 'hero' (per se) of this film saw the writing on the wall regarding the decline of the timber industry in Oregon, and wanted to give the children of Philomath, Oregon an opportunity to get an education that would save them from a dismal and uncertain career in a town were the timber industry that once reigned unfettered had come to a screeching halt--and branch out into more promising fields. His motivation was to give the youth of Philomath, a town he dearly loved, the chance to compete in a changing world economy. Thus, he created a foundation that supported school-building projects and provided a 4-year college scholarship to any student that graduated from Philomath High School.After Clemens' death, Steve Lowther, Clemens' nephew--who is now in charge of the foundation--lost sight of his uncle's original mission by using his personal religious and ideological agendas to keep 'undesirable' students from taking advantage of the generous opportunity his uncle created.During the film Mr. Lowther proves to be his own worst enemy: In one of many times Mr. Lowther contradicts himself, he states that one of the objectives of the education process was to teach children social skills, but in another statement he accuses the school superintendent, Dr. Terry Kneisler (whom Lowther shows an open contempt for) of pursuing a "social agenda". (BTW, Dr. Kneisler, now the Superintendent of Reynolds School District in Oregon, is an intelligent, well-liked and respected man in his district.) A public forum was held--overseen by an impartial arbitrator--wherein all interested parties were encouraged to participate and express their views regarding Dr. Kneisler and his position as superintendent; a decision was later made that he should continue as superintendent. This decision enraged Mr. Lowther who, in the film smirked, "We took our toys and went home," meaning he withdrew the scholarship altogether. This 'my way or the highway' attitude, and his choice of words used to describe his disdain for the board's decision, personified the childish attitude he embraced when he didn't get what he wanted.Additionally, the above-referenced forum was considered by Mr. Lowther to be underhanded, and declared that their differences be settled 'like men', behind closed doors, without the benefit of others listening to both sides of the issue and communicating their concerns, if any. Apparently, Mr. Lowther was either unaware of, or had no regard for Oregon state law that mandates School Board meetings OPEN to the PUBLIC (with limited exceptions, such as personnel contract negotiations, or consultation with attorneys).Another example of Mr. Lowther's dubious beliefs was when he spoke of his strong religious Christian values, then declared his wish to 'tar and feather' Kneisler, a value I find quite the contrary to Christian values.Ultimately, Mr. Lowther reinstated the foundation funding by attaching an admission restriction to students who had no "background" (i.e. who didn't come from families) in timber, mining and/or agriculture fields.The point that this documentary drives home is that, while Mr. Lowther thought he was hurting Dr. Kneisler and his supporters by dismantling the foundation his uncle had created, he was actually 'clear-cutting' the young men and women whose opportunity to create a better way of life for themselves was felled by a man with an ax to grind. Timber.