FROM PAGE ONE
A6 — THE OBSERVER
TUESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2022
BMCC fi ghting declining enrollment
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
Susan Wagner/Contributed Photo
Sam Morgan, of Enterprise, is recovering in Seattle after a fall
outside his home that resulted in several broken vertebrae in his
back on Jan. 12, 2022.
FALL
Continued from Page A1
the bank, though still up
to his chest in water.
When he was delayed
returning home, his son,
Samuel Drake Morgan,
went to check on him. He
heard his father yelling,
and eventually found
him in the creek. He
was located at around
12:30 p.m., Wagner said.
“He jumped over the
bank to get Sam out, but
he couldn’t,” Wagner
said. “They called the
ambulance, it came, (and)
it took them six guys
to get him out of Trout
Creek.”
According to Wagner,
Morgan’s tempera-
ture had dropped to 81
degrees. He had three
broken vertebrae in his
upper back, one or two in
his lower back, and three
cracked ribs.
He was originally
taken by medical heli-
copter to St. Alphonsus in
Boise, Idaho, for surgery,
but ran into a snag there.
Due to the hospital
being overrun with
COVID-19 patients, “they
didn’t have room for him
in recovery,” Wagner
said.
Morgan was trans-
ferred to Harborview
Medical Center in Seattle
and, after a 24-hour wait,
had a 10-hour surgery,
according to Wagner. She
said he was to be trans-
ferred to a rehabilitation
center near Harborview.
The family believes
there have been several
miracles in recent days
that have led to Morgan
being in the place he is.
“God provided so
many miracles, and we
already know that,” she
said. “Him not being par-
alyzed, him living to
begin with. … We just
recognize the blessing
that God has given us all
along. And Sam does,
too.”
Wagner said she has
spoken with her brother
since the surgery, and
described him as being
“in good spirits, but it’s
hurting him.”
She also said he has
been conveying a mes-
sage of love to many
people who have been on
his mind in the days since
his fall.
“Sam would say
he really loves every-
body, and thanks every-
body for their prayers,”
Wagner said. “He just
wants to let everyone
know. He thinks about
a lot of these people
he knows. That’s what
he’s been telling me all
along — call this person
and let me know I love
them. He wants to let
other people know God’s
with them. … And what
a miracle it is that he is
alive and not paralyzed
in any way.”
HERMISTON — Blue
Mountain Community Col-
lege has changed a great
deal, according to school
administrators. Its students
are adjusting, too.
Eric Hoyos, 18, of Uma-
tilla, is one of those students
who has had to make diffi -
cult adjustments. In his last
two years of studies at Uma-
tilla High School, he had to
grow accustomed to online
studies. When the pan-
demic closed his school, his
in-person classes switched
to online ones.
“I feel kind of odd
talking to a screen,” he said.
This being the case, he
struggled with working
online with teachers, which
led to a drop in his grades.
His usual A and B grades
fell, and he had diffi culty
maintaining a 3.0 GPA, he
said.
In time, however, he got
used to his online classes,
and he was able to move
on to studies at BMCC, his
current school. Hoyos has
completed two terms at the
college, and is doing well,
he said. He has even taken
a hybrid class, in which
he studied online and in
person, and he felt good
about it, he said.
Hoyos said he wants to
become a nurse because he
has seen a need for people
in health care. When his
mother became sick with
COVID-19 and was hospi-
talized, he witnessed fi rst-
hand the importance of
nurses. He said he will com-
plete studies to accomplish
his goal, even if he must do
all his courses online.
Hoyo’s example is typ-
ical, said Nayeli Contreras,
director of Blue Mountain’s
Hermiston center. Like
Hoyos, many other students
are getting used to studying
online, she said.
“Since COVID forced
everyone to go online, (stu-
dents) have become much
BMCC President Mark
Browning said enrollment at
the college is down 5%, year
to year, and getting students
to return to classes is one of
the big challenges.
The school recently held
sessions in which admin-
istrators have heard from
students, past and present,
about their attendance. The
meetings included students
who dropped out or changed
their academic plans due to
the coronavirus pandemic.
“There is a lot of uncer-
tainty,” he said.
The student body is con-
fl icted, he said, with some
students wanting in-person
classes and others preferring
distance learning. He said
he has heard from students
who are concerned about
COVID-19 exposure and
others who need attention
they can only get from face-
to-face instruction.
Many other stu-
dents, Browning said, are
expressing they do not know
what to do and are fearful
of committing to academic
programs. Rather, they are
sitting out school until they
can develop their career
intentions.
“Traditionally in years
past, especially in commu-
nity colleges, we’ve been
able to serve that role in
which students can explore
diff erent career options,”
he said. “And we still serve
that, but it’s diff erent under
COVID.”
Browning explained the
pandemic has made students
unsure of what they want to
do with their lives. But the
community college pres-
ident also stated there are
other reasons why enroll-
ment at the school is down
— namely, the economy.
Right now, he said, the
economy is good, and this
is something that typically
lowers college enrollment.
demand is,” Harris said.
“Right now, we have so
many people coming to the
courthouse who are just
doing their very best to
try and fi ll out these forms
correctly, and it just puts a
huge burden on the court-
house staff to reject a form
and tell them to go back
and do it right.”
The responses the bar
has received on the pro-
posal through its public
comment portal indicate
the general consensus
aligns with the PSU survey
data. A number of resi-
dents support the propo-
sition and cite the high-
cost barrier of entry to
legal matters as a principal
cause.
The responses of those
who identifi ed as lawyers,
however, were a mixed
bag.
Although nearly all of
the respondents acknowl-
edged the dearth of ser-
vices for lower-income res-
idents seeking legal aid,
some expressed concern
that licensed paralegals
acting as a lawyer would
be akin to a nurse practi-
tioner performing surgery.
Others took exception
with the paltry experi-
ence required to become a
licensed paralegal.
Landlords took issue
with the program due to
concerns it would further
imbalance landlord-tenant
relationships and empower
bad tenants to seek legal
redress against law-abiding
landlords. The proposal
specifi cally cited instances
where landlords could use
a licensed paralegal’s ser-
vices in fi ling notices of
eviction, though the doc-
ument noted this mostly
would apply to landlords
with a smaller portfolio of
real estate assets.
Harris said making this
move requires something
of a kind of a leap of faith.
“There’s a huge demand
for this kind of service,
and based upon what we’ve
seen in other states, we’re
anticipating that a sizable
number of qualifi ed para-
legals will want to step
up and start to help out in
these areas of the law,” he
said. “But, you know, we
really don’t know until we
launch it and see how it
works.”
more comfortable with
taking classes online,” Con-
treras said.
Fighting the trend
PARALEGALS
Continued from Page A1
forms. Union County court
facilitator Teala Sunderman
said she assists people with
fi lling out forms related to
self-represented cases, but
she is unable to give spe-
cifi c legal advice, and her
offi ce is busy.
“I think especially in
urban areas it’s probably
close to unmanageable,”
she said. “I am able to
still provide good contact.
I’m able to answer most
questions, and get back
to people in a reasonable
amount of time. So I think
we do OK here.”
Senior Judge Dan
Harris is vice chair of the
bar’s Paraprofessional
Licensing Implementation
Committee. He said para-
legals can cover a gap in
the legal system but they
are not going to serve as
attorneys.
“Divorce cases, for
example, a lot of these
people are going to have
to go into court and ask
the judge for a specifi c
release,” he said. “The
paralegals can help them
fi ll out the forms and fi le
the forms correctly, but
they can’t appear with
them in court. So at some
point, it’ll have to be
handed off to an attorney
to handle that part of it.”
In demand
According to a survey
Portland State Univer-
sity conducted in 2019,
more than 84% of Ore-
gonians with a civil legal
problem did not receive
legal help of any kind. The
same survey found 84.2%
of people who needed a
lawyer were unable to
obtain one.
Similarly, Oregon Judi-
cial Department case
count data shows between
2016 and 2021, more than
83% of all parties in land-
lord/tenant cases had no
attorney. In dissolution
cases 71% were unrepre-
sented. In other domestic
relations cases 55% were
unrepresented.
“The biggest ben-
efi t will be in the area
of family law because
that’s where the greatest
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