4
Wednesday, October 7, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Internet connectivity grows more important in Sisters
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
The latest addition to the
vernacular of the <wired
world= is an example of ono-
matopia 4 a word that sounds
like the noise or action desig-
nated: hiss, buzz, bang.
In this age of pandemic
restrictions for gatherings,
up pops <zoom.= As in, <We
can set up a Zoom meeting to
discuss the contract.= Face-to-
face conversations via com-
puter or phone screens can be
Zoomed, which brings to mind
fast or instantaneous trans-
mission (zoom like a fast car)
and up close (as zooming in).
Zoom is the name of a
computer application that
enables groups of people to
come together in a <meeting
room= while on their own
computers. They have the
ability to either see everyone
on the screen at once or one at
a time as they speak.
Many normal meetings,
gatherings, presentations,
(even weddings) in Sisters
or elsewhere are now acces-
sible via Zoom, so people
can gather as a group while
maintaining their social dis-
tance per the COVID guide-
lines. No need for masks or
leaving the house. The public
can attend meetings in City
Hall via Zoom or have family
gatherings at a distance.
As a result of pandemic
adaptations for working from
home, more people are dis-
covering they can. And the
like that option. Conversations
around Sisters lately are going
something like this:
If more people in the big
cities discover they are able
to work from home all the
time, pandemic or not, they
may decide to leave behind
the congestion and demon-
strations and high-priced
real estate and come over the
mountains to Sisters.
According to an article
by Eric Mortenson, editor of
<The Other Oregon 3 A Voice
for Rural Oregon= newslet-
ter, Oregon already had the
second largest percentage of
people working from home
(7.5 percent), behind only
Colorado. According to some
recent surveys, the share of
remote workers nationwide
has approached 50 percent.
If people decide to migrate
to rural areas, and work from
home, economists see that
migration as a positive for
those communities, with city
folks bringing their jobs,
money, and spending to town.
Possible negative impacts
on a quiet rural community,
Mortenson points out, is that
these <Zoomers= also bring
their big city taste, expecta-
tions, and politics with them.
Something that could slow
this urban exodus is directly
related to the fact that reli-
able high-speed internet isn9t
always available (or speedy)
and if it is, the price of that
connection can be higher than
in the big city, with fewer pro-
viders to choose from.
As pointed out in the two
previous articles (see The
Nugget September 9 and 16),
the infrastructure to accom-
modate thousands of new-
comers working from home
just isn9t there yet.
Very recently, due to the
pandemic, headlines are
beginning to reflect this
dearth of connectivity in rural
America. Here in Sisters, we
aren9t without connection
to the internet, but it can be
expensive, not all that fast,
and not reliable all the time.
Tollgate resident Matt
Wessel, who has always
worked from home, even
prior to COVID-19, has ongo-
ing problems with the inad-
equate upload and download
speeds he has with his internet
provider. As the online load
increased with the pandemic,
he has experienced dropped
connections right in the mid-
dle of online meetings. His
transmissions are very data
heavy and it takes a long time
for them to load. He is frus-
trated with the service, or lack
thereof, that he receives from
his ISP, a complaint com-
monly heard in Sisters.
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telemedicine has gained in
popularity, allowing patients
to contact their medical
providers via video calls,
a phenomenon that likely
will remain long after the
pandemic.
Telemedicine has seen a
particularly big jump in pop-
ularity in Sisters since the
onset of COVID-19. High
Lakes Healthcare reports they
do their telemedicine calls
with patients in the afternoon.
They average 10 telemedicine
appointments a day and report
it is working well, proving to
be a time-saver for both the
doctors and the patients.
Summit Oregon, Bend
Memorial Clinic9s Sisters
office, estimates 25 percent
of their appointments are
now successfully being done
via telemedicine. The issues
addressed include urgent care,
writing new prescriptions,
and general family medicine.
They report that the appoint-
ments over the internet are
particularly convenient for
their patients who live outside
of Sisters Country and would
need to travel a long dis-
tance to come in. Plans were
already being made to initiate
telemedicine appointments in
2020 and they just got sped
up when the pandemic hit. If
patients don9t have internet
access, the appointments can
be done just over the phone,
unless their condition requires
an office visit.
St. Charles Family Care
Clinic in Sisters reported
that in the early days of the
pandemic as cases peaked,
an estimated 50 percent of
their appointments were
via video and telephone.
They are currently see-
ing far fewer patients that
way. The clinic nurse indi-
cated that telemedicine has
its place but they believe
in-person appointments
provide better care overall.
Schools have had to find
creative solutions during the
pandemic for students who
don9t have access to com-
puters and/or the internet for
virtual instruction. However,
this is not a new problem.
A certain percentage of stu-
dents have never had internet
access, which impacts their
ability to do homework and
attain the same education as
their wired classmates.
Todd Pilch, director of
technology for the Sisters
School District, explained that
the district has been provid-
ing Chromebooks connected
through Google to students at
all grade levels, but it wasn9t
until schools were closed
due to the pandemic that all
students were able to take
their Chromebooks home. If
students don9t have internet
connection and live in a cell
coverage area, they are given
a personal hot spot, which is a
device about the size of a cell
phone. The hot spot is paired
to the student9s Chromebook
creating their own cellular
connection. The school is able
to set controls which dictate
what the student can access
online.
Pilch believes that full-time
online instruction is probably
not the answer for everyone.
<The quality of instruction
can be good if it is carefully
chosen,= he said.
The quality of
instruction can be good
if it is carefully chosen.
— Todd Pilch
Some high school students
had already been part of the
Education Options program
where they work indepen-
dently online, with a check-in
weekly with staff. For most
students, however, Pilch
thinks the human interaction
that comes in the classroom is
necessary.
One positive outcome of
the pandemic is that a spot-
light has been shone on the
necessity of having high
speed internet available
everywhere in the country.
As so many employees work
from home, and students learn
in virtual classrooms due to
the pandemic, the reliance on
computers and internet access
has highlighted the inequity in
access within a wired society.
The internet has become a
vital tool for participating in
our economy, our educational
system, our healthcare sys-
tem, and most facets of every-
day life. All Americans need
access to high speed, afford-
able, and reliable broadband
service.
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