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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2019)
BILLS ADDRESS MARIJUANA ACCESSIBILITY, OVERPRODUCTION NORTHWEST, A2 WEEKEND EDITION ALL-GIRL BAND RECORDS FAREWELL ALBUM WITH ROCK CAMP COUNSELOR PENDLETON’S NEWSOM NAMED IMC PLAYER OF THE YEAR SPORTS, B1 LIFESTYLES, C1 E O AST 143rd Year, No. 108 REGONIAN MARCH 16-17, 2019 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2018 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Forward thinking in the backcountry BMCC holds off increase in tuition College uses reserve fund to cover $1.8 million possible fi scal shortfall By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Senior Jenny Lee, left, and instructor Teresa Veach, right, look on as sophomore Vasco Park, center, works on a solving a prob- lem in advanced math on Wednesday at the Ukiah School. Ukiah students learn with hands-on science and tech projects By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN East Oregonian rom the outside, Ukiah School looks like a relic from the last century. The entire student body — about 40 students — is housed in one building. Students from different grade levels learn side-by-side. And on Wednes- day, a student brought her Scottish blackface lamb to class because the lamb’s mother had abandoned it and it needed to be bottle-fed. But the rural school, tucked in the southeast corner of Umatilla County, is also outpacing other schools in many ways. Students are immersed in hands-on science and technology programs, and as of next year, some of them will be learning computer coding courtesy of Amazon’s Future Engineers program. Science and technology teacher Laura Orr said about fi ve years ago she introduced simple programming con- F Staff photo by E.J. Harris Freshman Isabella Orr feeds formula to the bummer lamb she is raising during her mother, Laura Orr’s, science class on Wednesday at the Ukiah School. cepts to her middle school students. “They loved it, enough that I’ve tried to fi nd ways to do more with them,” Orr said. She applied for the Amazon program, thinking it was a long shot — but is pleasantly sur- prised at the support they’ve received. “I really thought they’d say, ‘You’re not big enough to be statistically important to us, or it’s not going to expose enough kids, so you don’t play well,’” Orr said. Blue Mountain Community College will not increase its tuition for the fi rst time in 23 years while facing a $1.8 mil- lion budget shortfall. Casey White-Zollman, vice presi- dent of public relations for the college, said the BMCC Board of Education on Wednesday voted unanimously against raising tuition for the 2019-20 academic year to keep the college affordable. “The decision did not come lightly,” according to a written statement from White-Zollman. “The board consid- ered survey feedback from students, as well as recommendations from a cam- pus-wide budget committee, before com- ing to a resolution.” The college has about 7,400 students in all. While setting the 2018-19 tuition last year, according to White-Zollman, students told the board they were at the point of choosing between their edu- cation and basic needs. BMCC has the highest tuition and fees for the 17 com- munity colleges in Oregon following a 12 percent increase over the past two academic years. Blue Mountain charges $108 per credit for residents of Oregon and border states plus various class fees. Accord- ing to Oregon community college data, going to BMCC for the 2018-19 school year costs $6,188, not including books and supplies. Southwestern Oregon Community College, Coos Bay, charges the sec- ond-highest annual tuition this year, $5,913, and Chemeketa Community College, Salem, has the least expen- sive in-state tuition at $4,725. The aver- age annual in-state tuition for commu- nity colleges is $5,399 and out-of-state is $10,058. The in-state average increased $227 from the previous school year while the out-of-state average bumped up $64. “The college has been conservative in planning and budgeting,” White-Zoll- man said, but that has not been enough to offset the rising costs of employees, See Students, Page A10 See BMCC, Page A10 Walden questioned on border wall vote at Hermiston town hall By JADE McDOWELL East Oregonian Hours after President Donald Trump signed his fi rst veto, Rep. Greg Walden’s vote in favor of the vetoed bill was on a lot of minds in Hermiston. During a town hall at the East- ern Oregon Trade and Event Center on Friday afternoon, Walden fi elded several questions about his deci- sion to vote for a resolution blocking Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to get more funding for a border wall. Trump vetoed the resolution Friday, and Congress is not expected to be able to rally the needed two-thirds majority to over- turn the veto. Patricia Maier of Hermiston pressed Walden on why he didn’t “stand with our president” as Trump faces opposition in enacting his vision for the country. “I’ve seen the deceitfulness and hatefulness through the media, through the Democrats and now through 15 or 16 Republicans, you being one of them,” she said. She accused Walden of doing a poor job of supporting Trump. Walden said on almost every issue he has voted with the pres- ident. He pointed out that he had voted in favor of a previous bill that would have given $25 billion over fi ve years for a wall and increased judges, agents and other resources at the border. He said he believed border security was essential to national security. See Walden, Page A10 CHI St. Anthony Hospital Family Clinic is recognized as a Patient -Centered Primary Care Home. What does that mean for you? • Better-coordinated care. • Healthcare providers who will help connect you • Listening to your concerns and answering with the care you need in a safe and timely way. questions. • Healthcare providers who play an active role in your health. • After-hours nurse consultation. 844.724.8632 3001 St. Anthony Way, Pendleton WWW.SAHPENDLETON.ORG Mon through Thurs, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. • Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sat and Sun, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Walk-ins are welcome but appointments are preferred.