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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 25, 2021)
Hermiston 2040 survey asks residents’ input | REGION, A3 E O AST 145th year, No. 94 REGONIAN Tuesday, May 25, 2021 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Student aid requests signal enrollment decline Financial aid applications from prospective community college students down 44% from last year By JEFF MANNING The Oregonian PORTLaNd — students by the thousands appear to be steer- ing clear of Oregon’s public and Opening homes to kids in need Foster parents honored during National Foster Care Month community colleges this fall. early figures suggest enroll- ment could be 5% lower this fall compared to a year ago, which itself was a historically bad year for Oregon higher education due to the pandemic. Through april, the state’s public colleges had received the fewest financial aid applica- tions since 2009, which admin- istrators attributed to lingering concerns about the pandemic and the economic impact of the virus. “It’s really scary,” said Chuck Knepfle, vice president of enroll- ment management at Portland state university, which is preparing for a 5% enrollment decline this fall on top of a 7% drop in the current year. The biggest drop for Psu has been from low-income families in the Portland area. “This pandemic has hit poor families really hard. I think there’s some general frustration at the value of a college education.” The state’s two highest-pro- file universities, the University of Oregon and Oregon state univer- sity, say they’re doing fine. Oregon state said it’s enjoying record numbers of applications. The state’s community colleges, on the other hand, may suffer the hardest blow. Financial aid appli- cations from prospective commu- nity college students are down 44% from the same time last year. administrators had hoped that moving back to traditional in-per- son learning would lure back the thousands of gap-year students, high school graduates who took the academic year off, as well as a normal load of incoming freshmen to enroll. But while weeks remain before final enrollment deadlines, prelimi- nary numbers indicate that a sizable number of potential students are apparently not ready to return. That means more financial strug- gles for colleges and uncertainty for a generation of college-age Orego- nians and their families. See Decline, Page A11 ‘I just feel really blessed’ Taekwondo studio holds fundraiser for child’s chemotherapy By BRYCE DOLE East Oregonian s By JADE MCDOWELL East Oregonian HeRMIsTON — For Bianca Osuna, being a foster parent is a dream come true. “I know it sounds kind of cheesy, but I didn’t dream of being a fire- fighter when I was growing up, I dreamed of being a mom,” she said. When Osuna didn’t end up having biological children, she turned to the foster care system three years ago as a way to still provide a home for children. Her first placement — a set of four siblings — lasted about a year. The umatilla resident has continued to care for other children since, and said she has enjoyed the “ever-learn- ing” experience. Many of the children who come into her home after a last-minute phone call from the Oregon depart- ment of Human services are coming from very difficult situations, such as homes with drugs and abuse. Osuna said she has had to learn a lot about parenting in a different way than the way she was raised. “People think, ‘How hard can it be? It’s just babysitting,’” she said. “But it’s not. It’s retraining the brain from trauma.” Osuna has no regrets, however, about becoming what dHs now calls a “resource parent.” even her first experience, when she went from having no children to having four dropped off at a moment’s notice, was a rewarding one she said she would do again. she enjoyed taking the kids around to their sports and other activities and spending time See Kids, Page A11 TaNFIeLd — audrey Bailey was overwhelmed with emotion at the sight of the crowd. dozens of taek wondo students gathered with their families and friends at eastern Oregon Family Taekwondo in downtown Stanfield on Satur- day, May 22, for a “break-a- thon” to raise funds in support of Bailey’s daughter, Maysie, a 2-year-old girl from Hermiston who is undergoing treatment for brain cancer. “I just feel really blessed,” said Bailey, 23, holding her daughter outside the studio. “I just love knowing these people and it’s inspiring to me and it’s making me want to do more for others.” The event raised nearly $15,000 for Maysie Bailey’s upcoming chemotherapy treat- ment in Portland, according to erwin Watson, the studio owner and lead instructor. “We’re just really thank- ful for the community coming together,” said drexlyn Bailey, Maysie’s father, who is 24 and a plumber in Hermiston. “you just see that people have a good heart and that they want to help.” students from the taekwondo studio during the past month were tasked with selling $5 planks of wood, with the prom- ise they would break with their bare hands each board they sold. That culminated in the streets of downtown stanfield as the drizzly morning gave way to sun. Families snapped photos and cheered while their chil- dren chopped down hard on hundreds of planks set between cinder blocks, at times winc- ing with pain when the plank wouldn’t budge. Bryce Dole/East Oregonian Isaiah Medrano, 8, chops down on the wooden boards he sold to raise money for Maysie Bailey, a 2-year-old Hermiston girl who is undergoing treatment for brain cancer. Medrano and dozens of other students from Eastern Oregon Family Taekwondo broke hundreds of boards in the streets of Stanfield on Saturday, May 22, 2021. Months-long process of chemotherapy Bryce Dole/East Oregonian The Bailey family, from left: Maysie Bailey, 2; Audrey Bailey, 23; Drex- lyn Bailey, 24; Joel Bailey, 4 months. Maysie Bailey finished up six weeks of radiation treatment in Seattle last week after she was di- agnosed in February with a brain tumor. Now she begins a months- long process of chemotherapy in Portland. The event on Saturday, May 22, 2021, was a fundraiser for her upcoming treatment. Members of the Bailey family stood nearby. each expressed gratitude and surprise at the size of the gathering. several shed tears while reflecting on the kind- ness of the people that came out to support their family. “It confirms that there’s still some good in people,” said Bill Bailey, Maysie’s grandfather. “This shows there’s good in the world that’s worth fighting for.” The fundraiser was the third the studio has held in recent years, and the second for a child with cancer, Watson said. It began when Watson’s daughter, who raised money for the Baileys through haircuts, proposed the idea to her father, prompting Watson to organize the fund- raiser. “It’s good not to feel alone and have community around you when you’re going through some- thing like this,” audrey Bailey said. after having most of her brain tumor removed through surgery in February, Maysie Bailey finished six weeks of radiation treatment in seattle last week, the family said. doctors told the family the treatment went very well, with some remarking she had been the best patient they had treated. she did not have to go through physical therapy and only lost a small patch of hair near the back of her head, the Baileys said. “They said she would have See Blessed, Page A11 Fourth of July parade is revived for 2021 Veterans of Foreign Wars “Let ‘er Buck” Post 922 canceled 2020 event due to pandemic By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian PeNdLeTON — Pendleton’s Fourth of July Parade is back this year, portending bigger things to come. Veterans of Foreign Wars “Let ‘er Buck” Post 922 recently announced it will stage a parade on Independence day in 2021 after canceling its 2020 event due to the COVId-19 pandemic. While the pandemic is ongoing, the state’s restrictions on large events are starting to loosen. after a lost summer for major events in Pendleton, organizer Fred Brad- bury said the Fourth of July Parade will act as one of the city’s first returning events this year, along with Burger the recently revived Pendleton Whisky Music Fest. The parade also has named VFW Commander Judith Burger its grand marshal. In an interview, Burger said she agreed to hold the ceremonial role back in 2020. Back then, one of her fellow VFW members asked her for her resume, but she didn’t ask what it would be used for. Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File See Parade, Page A11 Children rush to pick up candy thrown from parade floats during the 2019 Pendleton Fourth of July Parade.