INSIDE
RIBS 101: FOUR METHODS FOR COOKING PORK RIBS |
HOME & LIVING, B1
$1.50
TUESDAY EDITION
October 19, 2021
EOU
student
vaccine
rate edges
past 75%
School’s employee
vaccination rate
climbs past 80%
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE — With the
vaccine deadline approaching,
Eastern Oregon University’s vac-
cination rate among on-campus
students stands at just over 75%,
while the staff vaccination rate is
above 80%.
As of the university’s latest
update to its COVID-19 dash-
board, on Friday, Oct. 15, 75.2%
of the on-campus students had
received a COVID-19 vaccine,
while 23.8% of students fi led
exemptions. The statistic mea-
sures all students attending
classes or engaging with the uni-
versity in an on-campus setting.
This number refl ects against a
56.3% vaccination rate in Union
County as of Oct. 16. Across all
employees at Eastern Oregon
University, 80.1% have received
the COVID-19 vaccine and 17.7%
have fi led exemptions.
Following the FDA approval
of the Pfi zer vaccine, the uni-
versity’s vaccine requirement
went into eff ect with a 60-day
window for getting the vaccine or
fi ling an exemption. The require-
ment states that all students and
employees who plan to work or
engage with the university in
person and on campus must have
proof of vaccination or an exemp-
tion on fi le by Oct. 22.
Since the university’s dash-
board began tracking data in
July, there have been 60 positive
cases among on-campus and off -
campus students and employees.
Twenty-four of the cases were
off -campus students, while 18
employees and 13 on-campus stu-
dents have tested positive with the
virus.
Throughout the 2020-21 aca-
demic year, the university expe-
rienced 157 positive cases, 93 of
which were reported to be off -
campus students. The 55 positive
cases so far this year come from a
batch of 157 total tests.
“Throughout the pandemic,
we have tracked our trends and
eff ectiveness through data. These
See, EOU/Page A5
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Kyler Petersen, 14, cuts samples of reeds from a dried up pond in La Grande on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2021, while attending the Discover After School program for
middle school students.
Learning in nature
After-school program puts middle school creativity, ingenuity on display
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — This after-
school classroom lacks walls
but not inspired students who
enjoy discovering the wonders
of nature.
It is an unadorned pavilion
on the south edge of La Grande
on land owned by the Blue
Mountains Conservancy. The
pavilion, about 50 yards south
of the currently dry Pete’s
Pond, is frequently the base of
the new Discover After School
program for La Grande Middle
School students.
It is at this pavilion that stu-
dents put their creativity and
ingenuity on display while
working on projects, many of
them artistic, that incorporate
elements of the outdoors. The
projects students are involved
in include painting moun-
tain scenes, making nature
looms composed of plants and
feathers of Rio Grande turkeys
that roost in nearby trees, dig-
ital photography, and adding
plants to the Pete’s Pond
landscape.
“This is where students can
learn a broad range of things
through nature,” said Carrie
Caselton Lowe, a leader of the
Discover After School program
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Treyton Miller works on a nature weave as part of an after-school program at Pete’s Pond in La Grande on Tuesday,
Oct. 14, 2021.
who is contracted with Art
Center East, which is helping
put on the program with the
La Grande Parks Department,
Cook Memorial Library the
Greater Oregon Science, Tech-
nology, Engineering and Math
program, also known as GO
STEM.
The projects students are
taking on are all of their own
choosing.
“We want them to engage
in something they want to do,”
Caselton Lowe said.
Caselton Lowe is joined in
running the Discover After
School program by Meghan
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The Discover After School program
is funded by a geography grant from
the Gray Family Foundation.
Information on signing up for the
Discover After School program can
be obtained by going to the Art
Center East website, artcentereast.
org.
See, Program/Page A5
National group defends Oregon’s new congressional map
By DIRK VANDERHART
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — A national
Democratic group is
pushing back against claims
that Oregon’s new congres-
sional districts are gerry-
mandered in the party’s
favor and urging a judi-
cial panel to okay the map
passed by Oregon Demo-
crats last month.
In a fi ling Monday, Oct.
18, on behalf of six Orego-
nians, the National Demo-
cratic Redistricting Com-
mittee insists the new
maps meet all legal stan-
dards and were in fact the
product of robust negotia-
tion between Republicans
and Democrats.
“This map represents
compromise not only
because of how it was
enacted — with Republi-
cans and Democrats nego-
tiating throughout the pro-
cess — but also because it
is a competitive map that
is refl ective of the state,”
Kelly Burton, president
of the NDRC, said in a
INDEX
Classified ...............B2
Comics ....................B5
Crossword .............B2
Dear Abby .............B6
statement.
With the
fi ling, the
NDRC is
seeking to
insert itself
Burton
into a fi ght
that began last
week, when former Secre-
tary of State Bev Clarno
and three other Republi-
cans sued to challenge the
congressional map Dem-
ocrats muscled through in
September.
That map includes four
U.S. House districts that are
WEATHER
Home & Living .....B1
Horoscope .............B3
Letters ....................A4
Lottery ....................A2
THURSDAY
Obituaries ..............A3
Opinion ..................A4
Records ..................A3
Sports .....................A6
either safe for
Democrats or
lean in the par-
ty’s favor, one
district that
looks to be a
Clarno
Republican
stronghold, and
one seat that is theoretically
a tossup. Clarno and other
Republicans say the map
was the product of Demo-
crats scheming with special
interest groups to secure
dominance. They argue
the map illogically anchors
four districts in liberal Port-
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Wednesday
52 LOW
60/39
A shower late
A few showers
OTEC USES VR TO CONVEY SAFETY MESSAGES
land, inappropriately splits
counties, and grants Oregon
Democrats far more power
in Congress than their share
of the statewide vote.
“The result of this
highly partisan process
is a clear, egregious par-
tisan gerrymander, as has
been widely acknowledged
both in Oregon and across
the country,” the Repub-
lican lawsuit said. “Demo-
crats are projected to win
fi ve of the six of Oregon’s
See, Maps/Page A5
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 123
2 sections, 14 pages
La Grande, Oregon
Email story ideas
to news@lagrande
observer.com.
More contact info
on Page A4.
Online at lagrandeobserver.com