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THURSDAY EDITION
‘Please
donate
blood.
Now.’
National blood
shortage felt locally
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
EASTERN OREGON
— Blood doesn’t last long.
Platelets last only fi ve days,
according to the Amer-
ican Red Cross, while red
blood cells will last up to 42
days. Plasma can last up to
one year if frozen. Nor can
blood be manufactured; the
supply of blood relies entirely
on donors rolling up their
sleeves.
The American Red
Cross, which held a nation-
wide blood drive in Jan-
uary including several blood
donation stations in Eastern
Oregon, reports it is facing
a blood crisis. The organi-
zation’s website stated its
blood supply is at the lowest
levels in more than a decade.
The alarm was sounded last
month during National Blood
Donor month.
“While some types of
medical care can wait, others
can’t,” said Dr. Pampee
Young, chief medical offi cer
of the Red Cross. “Hospitals
are still seeing accident vic-
tims, cancer patients, those
with blood disorders, like
sickle cell disease, and indi-
viduals who are seriously
ill who all need blood trans-
fusions to live even as omi-
cron cases surge across the
country. We’re doing every-
thing we can to increase
blood donations to ensure
every patient can receive
medical treatments without
delay. We cannot do it
without more donors. We
need the help of the Amer-
ican people.”
Local hospitals react to
shortage
The national blood
shortage has hit uneven
ground in Eastern Oregon,
with area hospitals reporting
their blood supply falling
below critical levels.
Most hospitals are han-
dling it well, given the cir-
cumstances, while others
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Trae Frank uses a palm sander in Union High School’s new woodshop on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. Frank is among a handful of students participating in a Geometry in
Construction class that merges mathematics with physical learning.
Real-world relevancy
Union High School
students applying
geometry principles
in woodshop class
By DICK MASON
The Observer
U
NION — Union High
School geometry stu-
dents are trading pro-
tractors and compasses for
hammers and circular saws.
The students are making the
swap each school day because
of a fi rst-year class now giving
a new twist to the instruction
of one of the oldest branches of
mathematics.
The course, Geometry in
Construction, is providing stu-
dents a real-world look at how
geometry principles are used.
Each morning its 30 students,
all freshmen and sophomores,
spend a 56-minute period in
UHS’s geometry classroom and
another 56-minute period in its
new woodshop.
“It is changing the way we
teach math,” said Union math
teacher Carol Wyatt, who
co-teaches Geometry in Con-
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
John Townsend, Union High School’s woodshop teacher, instructs Wyatt McCants on an assignment on Monday, Jan. 31,
2022. UHS received a grant that allowed it to renovate an old bus barn into a fully outfi tted woodshop and to hire wood-
shop and welding teachers to provide career-focused learning.
struction with the school’s
shop and robotics teacher, John
Townsend.
Wyatt and Townsend pro-
vide traditional geometry
instruction each morning for
one period and then lead stu-
dents into the Union School
District’s new woodshop where
they tackle building projects,
while applying geometry prin-
cipals they just studied.
“It reinforces what they
learned in the classroom,”
Wyatt said.
For example, if students
See, Geometry/Page A5
See, Blood/Page A5
Concerns linger over MERA project
Advisory board looks to find
middle ground in first public
meeting since start of logging
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The Mount Emily
Recreational Area Advisory board met
virtually on Tuesday, Feb. 1, opening the
doors for public comment for the fi rst
time since the start of the Red Apple
Forest Improvement Project.
The forest management project, which
drew public opposition, offi cially started
on Wednesday, Jan. 26, after ReedCo For-
estry was awarded the contract for the
project Jan. 5. The project includes log-
ging on the 300-acre Red Apple area at
MERA — those opposed are worried that
the project will bring damage to the trails
and ecosystems in the area. The Zoom
meeting was attended by roughly 15 indi-
viduals and included a letter voicing con-
cerns from Friends of MERA, a group
of local residents who aim to protect the
INDEX
Business ............B1
Classified ..........B3
Comics ...............B5
Crossword ........B3
See, MERA/Page A5
WEATHER
Dear Abby ........B6
Horoscope ........B4
Lottery ...............A2
Obituaries .........A3
SATURDAY
Opinion .............A4
Spiritual Life ....A6
Sports ................A9
Sudoku ..............B5
Trees are
processed and
stacked as forest
management
operations
begin in the Red
Apple portion
of the Mount
Emily Recreation
Area outside
La Grande on
Friday, Jan. 28,
2022.
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Friday
26 LOW
34/25
Mostly cloudy
Afternoon snow
ICE-FISHING CURES THE WINTER DOLDRUMS
CONTACT US
541-963-3161
Issue 15
3 sections, 32 pages
La Grande, Oregon
Email story ideas
to news@lagrande
observer.com.
More contact info
on Page A4.
Online at lagrandeobserver.com